#2 - The Way Out
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Opening
Opening
Message deals with all three parts of title
Lot of hope in today’s message
Like to talk about this in this time to help keep us out of the despair that this season can cause.
Theme verse:
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.
Don’t like what you’re getting in life - THINK ABOUT IT
Billy Graham said something profound:
“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.”
- Billy Graham
61% of divorces say that money was an issue
Want to bring a message of hope and freedom - not just give, give, do, do
5X more scriptures about giving, money than prayer
16 of 38 parables had to do with possessions
Debt is an issue - bad modeling - gov’t 20T in debt
Lay away - thing was new when you got it
Not just about money - also about life
All of us find ourselves in a desperate situation
Want to use a parable to deliver the message
How Did We Get There?
How Did We Get There?
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Don’t think he intended for it turn out like it did
There will always be a day when there is a famine in your land - there will be a day of reckoning
Sometimes takes famine for us to wake up and see the light
Find out that nothing but God can answer it
Don’t have to let it get to that point
Everything the devil has to offer - it will put you in a pig pen
Story of how he got in that mess applies to the situations WE get into in our lives. The progression is always the same:
First:
We believe a lie.
Devil has one weapon - lies
He will treat you better
She’s a lot prettier
Grass is greener (water bill is higher)
Lot of myths and lies that relate to money. We’ve believed a lie - need to come back to principles that work.
Where we’ve gone - The Day America Told the Truth
25% Would abandon their entire family
23% Would become prostitutes for a week or more
16% Would give up their American citizenship
10% Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free
7% Would kill a stranger
3% Would put their children up for adoption
Root causes - people are self-absorbed - they just want more things
Haughty spirit at the beginning of every downhill road - haughty spirit - I need it, I deserve it
Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
If content with what we have
Humble spirit
Pride BEFORE
Haughty spirit BEFORE
Live a life of humility
Can’t fall from being on your face
Prideful spirit played out always ends up in some type of:
We engage in self-destructive behavior.
Maintain discipline
Life mismanagement leads to destructive behavior
Some warning statements:
I just can’t help myself
I deserve this
What harm could it do?
For these statements:
There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;
look again—it leads straight to hell.
Want to avoid the pit - back yourself out of these steps
If you ignore warning on pride, goes to step three:
We isolate ourselves from those who can help.
“Don’t want them to know”
Hide what we’re doing
Statements like:
I don’t owe you an explanation
They don’t understand me
I don’t need them
I can do it on my own
I hear it all the time
They have some reason they go there
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
When you cut off those who can help:
We find ourselves in a dark place.
Prodigal found himself in a desperate situation
(give testimony)
Here’s what we come to believe:
You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out.
If you feel this way, this message is for you.
The Way Out
The Way Out
Its a lie, here’s the truth:
The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
As a father - closer when kids are in bad situations
Some have lost all hope
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
No matter what you have done
Never too far, never too late
God can raise the deat
That’s what happened with the prodigal
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Didn’t just think about it - he DID it
God wonders if today is the day you’re going to let me help them with that
Some just need to declare today is the day
YOu can do the same in any situation you find yourself in
HEre’s the way out. Start with:
Acknowledge the reality of where you are.
Just admit it
Got a facade on
God never expected you to be perfect - to be able to do it
Just want the truth and I’ll help
When David messed up:
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
Not in your notes:
When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.
A promise for you
God’s not looking for perfection, he’s looking for the truth
Not the only step - to just be truthful
Have to:
2. Develop a plan of attack.
Prodigal son had a plan. Just need to have a plan
The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
Groups
Debt is bad.
Saving is good.
Giving is fun.
Stuff is meaningless.
Not only have the plan, but
3. Do it now.
For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
4. Humbly ask your Father for help.
Humility puts you back in the favor of God
In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.