Stop the Cap 2

Intro

We are going to continue our stop the Cap series

Just like I asked last week. Who can tell me what Stop the Cap means?

with that being said that is what our new whole sermon series is going to be about

What is the truth?

How do we know what things are lies?

Why do we lie?

What lies that we hear alot?

How many of you have ever had someone lie to you before?

my hope and prayer

Is that as you go into 2026 we would be confident in the truth of God

But also that you would STOP THE CAP

Last week we spent time talking about lies that we hear from our world about Christianity

And we talked about how the truth is not a bad thing, but a good thing.

Today I want to talk about lies again

But I want to talk about the Lies that we tell ourselves.

Today i am going to go through 4 lies and dissect them similar to how I did last week

1. Everyone Expect me has it Figured out

Proverbs 20:24 “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”

Ya’ll the remember the debate of wheather or not water is wet?

Whenever I think about that trend I remember sitting at lunch one time

and we started to talk about whether or not water is wet

And there was a girl at the table named Aliza

She is the kind of person that will get super heated about whatever she believes in

My buddy Josh and I realized that we could say enough stuff to get a rise out of her

slowly but surley with this whole “Is water wet thing”

we made her so mad

to the point is that literally everyone except for her knew what was going on

She was so mad, and all of us knew it was just a joke to get her fired up

I share this story because

maybe not in this exact way

But have you ever felt like you are the “only one” who doesn’t get it?

I think all of us in some way shape or form we have all felt like this at some point.

And if you feel like you haven’t yet. at some point you will

youll feel like everyone else gets this Math problem except for you

Everyone else can make that shot

Or when you get into Highschool

Everyone else knows what they are gonna do when they graduate.

Everyone else fill in the blank

And we live like this so much, but what does our scripture say

“ “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”

When we are living for the Lord He is the one that directs our steps

we don’t need to Worry about the things that we don’t fully understand

Yes we should try to learn new things, and strive to be better for sure

But Many times we believe the Lie from the Devil that we are only one who could possibly be dealing with whatever negative thing it is

And so today If i could encorage you with this

1. You are not alone

2. even more so. there is no such thing as figuring it out

Because even the people who seem like they have it all together still don’t know everything

The Lord directs our steps

You have savior that has lived through every single sin and struggle

2. I am only valuable if I am noticed

Ephesians 2:8–9 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

A few weeks ago I talked about Rockband

There is another game very similar guitar hero.

How many guitar hero fans we got?

There is a thing in guitar hero called star power.

Does anyone know how you activate it?

The whole point of using star is to do the most flashy stuff and to get the most points

When you use it. you get X2 points

And your character does crazy stuff

Its all about getting noticed for doing the most stuff

Why do I say all of this

Because I think that for many of us in our lives we are living for the “Star Power moment”

Because just like in the game. When I use it. “All Eyes are on me”

For many of us. all of our chips go into that exactly

And we think things like

“If only they could see me do that”

“If you only I got recognized for that”

“Oh I should do that so they see it”

“Oh I should dress like that, because then they will notice me”

And for so many of us we put so much weight into these things

And God is saying your value your meaning. doesn’t come from any of this

Here is what I want you to hear

You are the most Valuable thing to God

In fact it doesn’t even come from you. it comes from me

So only if you could see that your Star Power moments don’t matter

Your not getting double cool points for acting like that in front on your friends

You don’t need to wear that outfit, and you don’t need to claw for that attention

“I have something better for you”

3. I would be a “better” Christian if I was more like them

Galatians 6:4–5 “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

How many of you guys know who that is?

The GOAT correct MJ

6x NBA championships

5x MVP during that time

Completely re shaped the Chicago bulls

Known by many as the greatest player of all time

One thing that I saw about Michael Jordan that I found interesting was how he carried himself during his time in the NBA

Many of his team mates described his as the tough guy

He was always on 10 all the time

He didn’t show emotion

Straight-faced or angry that was pretty much all they ever saw from him

However there was one moment that this entire perception around him changed

in 1991 The Chicago Bulls 1 their first ever NBA championship after 7 years of being with the team

For many of them this was the first time that they ever saw MJ cry

This stoic , cold dude. let the whole image around him let loose as the celebrated this win.

Why share all this about MJ

For many of us we have people in our lives that we look up to

Not only look up to, but we think only if I were like them

Only if i could be as great

As good

As smart

Fill in the blank

And to be honest. this is not just with people in pop culture

But we do it in Christianity all the time

We look at our faith , what we have seen, experienced, or even done for Jesus.

And we put it up next to someone else.

Your friend

Your Brother or Sister

Your Life group leader

Your Pastor

And we find out that when we compare ourselves we never measure up

Comparison is the thief of Joy

I gave the example of MJ not becasue he made a mistake by crying or that he messed up

Because even though he had this image around him.

He is still human

He is still going through the same things that you and I go through

4. If God really loved me then life wouldn’t be hard

Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

One of the biggest lies that we find ourselves falling into

is that because I am struggling with x y z God doesn’t love me

I am not as favored by God

It can be difficult right

because from a worldy view on relationships. this is actually how it works.

Right if we are friends, and you lie to me. than we aren’t friends anymore

Or if someone is boyfreind girl friend and one of them really says some hurtful things to them. they break up or they are mad each other

This is how the world views relationships

But what does our scripture say about God’s love for us

“But while we were still sinners”

So even though we still do make mistakes

Even though we still do fall short

God’s word tell us that he loves us.

“But if thats what it says about his Love?”

“What about the bad things that I am still experienceing?”

John 16:32–33 “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.””

And he makes it clear to them that they will still face tough times.

Here is what I want you to hear today

God’s love for you is not determined by good or bad stuff that you have to go through

Pray