Breaking News: Leaving Lies, Finding Life

THE MANDELA EFFECT

I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT NOT EVERY NEWS HEADLINE WE READ IS TELLING THE TRUTH

NOT JUST THE HEADLINES, BUT SOMETIMES THE WAY WE REMEMBER THINGS IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE

THERE’S A PHENOMENON CALLED THE MANDELA EFFECT…

SLIDE: FRUIT OF LOOM WRONG

SLIDE: FRUIT OF LOOM CORRECT

SLIDE: BEAR FAMILY

SLIDE: BERENSTAIN BEARS

SLIDE: MONOPOLY WRONG

SLIDE: MONOPOLY CORRECT

WE ARE SO CONVINCED THAT LIFE LOOKED THE WAY WE REMEMBER IT

SLIDE: WHAT IF THE WAY WE SEE LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS THE TRUTH?

THE MANDELA EFFECT IS MOSTLY JUST FOR FUN

BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THINGS WE BELIEVE ABOUT GOD OR OURSELVES IS A LIE?

READ: PROVERBS 14:12 ESV

English Standard Version Chapter 14

12  There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death.

MANY OF US ARE HOPING FOR A NEW YEAR, NEW ME KIND OF EXPERIENCE, BUT…

SLIDE: A NEW YEAR DOES NOT GUARANTEE A NEW ME

IF WE WANT A NEW ME, WE NEED A NEW PERSPECTIVE

JESUS DIDN’T GIVE US GOOD ADVICE, HE BROUGHT US GOOD NEWS

WE MUST LEAVE THE LIES IF WE WANT TO FIND LIFE

THIS PASSAGE WILL BE THE FOCUS OF THIS MONTH:

READ: ROMANS 12:2 ESV

DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD

THE WORD USED FOR CONFORMED IS AN IMPORTANT WORD FOR UNDERSTANDING THIS PASSAGE

IT HAS TWO MEANINGS SIMULTANEOUSLY

THE FIRST IS TO BE CONFORMED UNAWARE OR PASSIVELY IN THE BACKGROUND

SLIDE: THE LIES WE BELIEVE ARE RARELY OBVIOUS

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 11:12-14 ESV

WHAT ARE YOUR DISAPPOINTMENTS?

SEEMINGLY UNANSWERED PRAYERS?

LIFE PLANS THAT AREN’T WORKING OUT?

YOU WILL ULTIMATELY LAY THE RESPONSIBILITY

AT THE FEET OF GOD YOU’VE COME TO BELIEVE AS HIS FAILURES

OR YOUR SHORTCOMINGS.

A.W. TOZER WRITES:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. ... Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. ...”

― A.W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy)

SLIDE: WE MUST ACCEPT GOD AS HE IS, NOT AS THE IMAGE WE WANT HIM TO BE

OUR DISTORTIONS OF LIFE AND OF GOD ARE NOT PURELY OF OUR OWN MAKING

THE SECOND DEFINITION OF THE WORD TO BE CONFORMED IS WHAT WE PASSIVELY ACCEPT

“IT IS WHAT IT IS”

“IT’S WHO I AM”

“GOD DOESN’T ANSWER MY PRAYERS”

“I WILL NEVER HAVE THAT KIND OF LIFE”

THESE STATEMENTS PROBABLY COME FROM OUR EXPERIENCES OF LIFE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE THEM TRUE.

THERE ARE OTHER VOICES SPEAKING TO US EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG

AND THOSE VOICES ARE EITHER LEADING US TO CLOSER TO GOD OR AWAY FROM HIM.

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5 ESV

English Standard Version Chapter 10

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ

BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND

THE BIBLE USES WORDS LIKE “WAGE WAR” “DESTROY” “TAKE CAPTIVE” TO COMBAT LIES

THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT CONFORMING DOES.

CONFORMING IS WHAT WE BELIEVE APATHETICALLY AND FROM DEFEAT

BEING TRANSFORMED MEANS WE HAVE TO BECOME ACTIVE IN OUR PURSUIT OF LIFE

THE NEXT 3 WEEKS WE ARE GOING TO ADDRESS LIES THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE ACTIVE IN WAGING WAR AGAINST SO THAT WE CAN FIND LIFE.

INVITATION

TODAY IS YOUR FIRST STEP

YOU CAME TO CHURCH, BUT ARE YOU OPEN AND WILLING TO ACCEPT GOD AS HE IS IN YOUR LIFE?

ARE YOU WILLING TO WAKE UP TODAY?

ARE YOU TIRED OF BELIEVING YOU CAN’T GROW CLOSER TO GOD?

ARE YOU TIRED OF A STALE AND DEAD RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?

TODAY, TAKE THE FIRST STEP

WIPE THE SLEEP FROM YOUR EYES

SLIDE: WHAT LIE ARE YOU WILLING TO LAY DOWN TODAY TO FIND LIFE?

PRAY