Sermon Tone Analysis

White water rafting… always had to sign this waiver… never thought much about it… because I was taking some one else’s kid… But one year on our way to do some Katrina work, I took my daughter… on the outside I was like “this is going to be awesome” but inside I was a bit nervous… not overly so, b/c I had done this several times now, and while parts of it were rough, I had never felt like I was in danger in any way.... then we got there.

Our groups had about 6 boats, we were in the last boat… walking the boat down to the water, I’m trying to encourage everyone who is worried about our daughter… this is going to be great!!! we get in the water and come to the first little rapid, it’s within 100 feet of the launch and another of our boats, it has a group of big guys in it flips… we have the first aid kit so they call us over and as we approach them, everyone is getting back in the boat and we see the effects of their first rapid… one guy has hit his face on a rock in the water and is bleeding like crazy… it’s at this point that I look at my daughter and panic sets in… my fears go through the roof… there is no funny story I can tell, no cheer leading line I can offer, that will get people to forget about what they have just seen… I’m taking my little daughter into

Intro Series

We are in a series of messages titled Life’s Healing Choices.

This series is based on a book by John Baker, the founder of Celebrate Recovery, and over the 8 weeks, it iis my prayer that you will find freedom from your hurts, hang-ups, and habits by taking these eight healing choices that promise true happiness and life transformation based on the first 8 verses from Jesus’s famous “sermon on the mount”, called the Beatitudes.

Invite to jump into small group

To get the most of these messages, I want to invite you to join a small group.

In these groups you will work through these choices each week.

You will learn how to apply these choices to your life.

But some of you don’t think you have issues.... yea right....

Not only will this help you.... but it will help you help others who struggle.

You will better understand them, you will find compassion for them, and this understanding and compassion will help you help them to deal with their problem in healthy ways.

Last Week:

Reality Choice: I ADMIT I need help; that I’m powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable.

That’s the first step, getting real.

Owning our problem.

We talked about this last week but getting honest with ourselves and with God is the first step.

Owning my issue, that it’s a mistake to take your daughter into danger.

This week we are going to look at where we go from there.

This week we are looking to find hope

Hope Choice: Earnestly believing God exists, that I matter to him, and that He has the power to help me change

Mourning… associated with Grief-Loss

Death of a loved one… not always crying… when my dad died after his stroke… I didn’t cry… had done that when I was with him at the hospital… but I certainly mourned

Also… Sorrow and sadness due to suffering in the world… when you saw or heard about the towers falling on September 11

Remorse and regret at our mistakes and failures, knowing we have disobeyed God, damaged others, demeaned ourselves

I shared with you when I was a kid playing with matches I caught my bed on fire… before I got in trouble I was crying not because I knew I would get in trouble, but because I knew I had done something that could have had tremendous problems

Mourning is normal… and it’s healthy

We have to let it out or it will eat you up.

That’s the reality.

But we don’t like being sad…we prefer comfort.

We try to avoid it or hide it

Our path to comfort and hope: Escape

gamble, self medicate, go shopping, eat, drink, work more, sleep, sex, porn,

anything we can make ourselves feel something more “normal” than pain.

We all want to escape discomfort and replace it with comfort.

But God says:

God's path to comfort and hope: Mourning

Most people who are mourning turn to God or anyone else for help.

Usually we just cover it up.

Example of covering things up

It may look right, but underneath nothing is solved

Just because I have a comfortable life doesn’t mean my will be comforted

Exchange coping for hope

God Blesses those who mourn.

See who GOD REALLY IS…a loving father

Father’s who are disciplinarians… fathers who are distant…

Who we think God is… cosmic cop, judgmental parent

Thinking God is condemning us…

Some of us can’t imagine that God would love us after what we did or what was done to us....

That is a lie.

It’s possible that the consequences of sin that we are suffering may be God’s way of getting our attention

Parents who could never be pleased… grades were never good enough, work hard enough, we never measured up

He is the source of true lasting comfort

IT might be strange to get comfort from the one we have wronged… but just like we call home when we get in trouble, that’s where we go… to the one who knows us best.

The rod adn staff that is used to discipline the sheep, to guide them actually provides us comfort.

We say all the time that kids need structure, that without structure, we look for things we can rely on.

The question is, why wouldn’t a loving God discipline those he loves?

– The Bible is full of descriptions of God that range from apparent harshness to pure love.

Sometimes our hurts make us focus on the harsh descriptions and forget the loving side, so we may feel that God is looking for ways to condemn us.

And we may project the imperfections of our earthly father onto our heavenly father.

But God is a loving father.

See who I REALLY AM…broken and loved

Who we live like God is… i’m good enough...

I’m not that awesome...

I’m not that bad… at least I”m not as bad as them

That’s how we hide from ourselves… we compare ourselves to others… our sin isn’t as bad as theirs

I’m broken

It’s silly to try to hide the truth

It takes a strong person to face their brokenness

Pride causes us to hide… we don’t want others to see the real us, but what happens is we miss seeing ourselves

The truth is: I’m broken … It’s not that I’m a failure… a reject…

I’m broken and yet… I’m loved

Human love is unstable

God’s love is lasting… permanent… not dependent on circumstances

Hiding doesn’t change who I am… it just changes my ability to live in relationship with my father.

Feeling worse before we feel better

How to experience God’s love

That’s the comfort we find, that through Christ’s weakness… yes that’s right, weakness that allowed him to be killed for us.

You see it is our weakness that allows God’s strength to be made real.

- We are each loved by God for who we really are.

To grow spiritually it is important that we face our sinful nature and turn to God for comfort.

To do this we need others with whom we can share our pain, hurts, and habits, and receive their unconditional love and support as they support us in our journey to know ourselves and God better.

See how GOD CAN CHANGE ME… God gives power

The power in us is very different from the power from God

Whitewater Raft.... Panic… “Don’t worry, I’ve got her.”

Changing ourselves can be exhausting and frustrating

How does God work within us?

Hope Choice: Earnestly believing God exists, that I matter to him, and that has the power to help me change

It’s a step of faith