Closing the Gap

6:40 - Countdown

6:45 - games (extended game time)

7:00 - music

7:15 - preaching

7:45 - discussion

8:00 - dismiss

Summer. It’s hot, short, and hot…did I mention hot?

But it is also an opportunity for reflection. Its a great time to ask questions like…

Were you the person you wanted to be this past school year?

Did you meet your goals?

Are you further along in your journey with Christ?

Or did you just sort of coast and took the wait and see approach?

Sort of just stay stagnant and where you are?

Who do you want to be?

Do you want to be regarded as someone with good moral character?

Assuming that everyone in this room has something they need to improve or an area in their life they feel less that adaquate...

How do we get from where we are, to where we want to be?

What steps can we take to get us from where we are to where we want to be?

1. Identify the gap

i. where do you fall short?

ii. what is your standard for morality? (Bible, reality TV, Friends, your heart) ()

2. Plan NOT to fail - Develop a strategy to bridge the gap

2. Plan to NOT fail

i. “We usually don’s plan on making mistakes, the problem is that we don’t plan NOT to” - Andy Stanley

ii. If you don’t actively plan not to fail each day, you are setting yourself up for failure. If I decided when I wake up that I am not going to give into temptation, I am less likely to let myself get close to the temptations making it harder to give in because the further away from my temptation that I get, the less likely I am to give into it. (James 1:13-14)

ii.

iii. if you know where you fail, how do we keep ourselves from doing the same thing over and over again?

3. Leave the vomit alone

i.

Proverbs 26:11 NIV

11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

You can’t do anything about mistakes that you’ve made in life. You can’t unsay words, you can’t go back and fix everything, sometimes it's just too late to say you’re sorry. But what you can do, is leave the vomit alone. What I mean is move past it, get over it. But don’t necessarily forget about it, just stop beating yourself up about it. Remember it so you don’t repeat it and move on.

We just wrapped up our study of the book of Mark this semester. Mark is one of my favorite Bible characters, maybe the one I identify with the most. You see, Mark was kind of a spaz.

He was probably the guy running around naked the night Jesus was arrested, he deserted Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, and it was such big deal, that when Paul and Barnabas decided to do an encore Barnabas wanted to bring Mark, and Paul was so mad that he walked away and the first missionary team of the church was dissolved…mostly because of Mark!

So what does Mark have to do with this? We are talking about how have a successful summer, right?

There is a book in the NT called Philemon. You see, Paul was writing too Philemon about a guy named Onesimus. Onesimus was sort of a screw up, it’s not completely clear what he did, but he was obviously in the dog house with Philemon. So much so that he was considered his slave. Was that to pay back debt from something he stole? [research this]

The point is Paul says, welcome him as a brother and if he owes you anything, I got it. And Paul ends with this.

Philemon 23–25 NIV

23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. 24 And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Paul pleads with Philemon to accept Onesimus, and ends with ‘oh, btw, Mark says hi.’ Why does that matter? Because it was well known in the church that Paul did not accept Mark. He chose to walk away from his parter in the ministry to avoid ministering with Mark. But Paul came to the realization that Mark was useful for ministry.

Mark didn’t do everything right, in fact, he probably did a lot wrong. But he pursed Jesus. I find so much hope in Mark’s story, because I see me in there. I know my shortcomings, I know where I’m weak, but I also know that if I pursue Christ and leave the vomit alone I can be useful for God’s kingdom. And you can too.

I don’t care how old you are, you can be useful. Closing the gap isn’t about being a better version of yourself, it’s about being a more useful version of yourself. Being someone that God can use to further His kingdom here on Earth…

Response:

Is it hard to quit bad habits? Why?

What are some good habits we can start to replace our bad habits?

Set a goal for yourself this summer, pray about it, and take steps to accomplish your goals before next school year.