Surprise, don't do that.

Where are the good people? The Kind? The Nice? Generous?

Remember last week?

Proverbs 3:27–28 CSB

27 When it is in your power, don’t withhold good from the one to whom it belongs. 28 Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go away! Come back later. I’ll give it tomorrow”—when it is there with you.

Prov

Can you think of 3 times you were generous this past week?

Name 3 specific times you were oo

I want to start you off right than. I want u to look to the person in front or behind you. Pray that they can hear from God today. That God makes them so aware of what He is doing in their lives. God speaks to them directly through this sermon today. That this sermon is for them. Will you be kind and generous and in just a second will you silently pray for your neighbor to your right, left or at the ends the ones in front of you? Raise your hand.

Let’s Pray

I’m gong to take 2 things and wrap them into a thought for you ok. They are seperate but when I am done it should make sense. A TV show and then a frightening thought. Which probably means it won’t but it might taste good? No I think it’ll make sense.

Blackish - a show about a successful black man from tough LA and a mixed race black woman whose kids grow up in a very nice neighborhood with nice schools. There kids have the skin color of black but they don’t come from the upbringing of their father. So his oldest son walks around with a cape as he loves Harry Potter, carries his youngest baby brother around with his shirt off so the baby gets skin to skin, does all the stereotypes of a rich white child and the Dad spends every show as funny as possible asking what does it mean to be black because his kids blew up his idea, He says they are black-ish.

Now the other idea. I was at my daughter’s church. Church under the bridge

guy walking around.

a bunch of papers

What is the scariest verse in the Bible?

Matthew 7:23 NIV84

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus said that people will be able to do a lot of amazing religious and fantastic stuff including drive out demons and miracles but they will never have been a follower of Christ.

You see how scary not to walk with Christ but to think that your cool with Jesus and then he go no, no you’re

Christian-ish but not a follower of Christ.

Like the guy in Black-ish is trying to figure out what it means to be different and loyal to his Black culture in this modern world. Everyone of every color and culture needs Jesus. We can’t be Christian-ish but Christians wherever we are in this huge world! People who may look like everyone else but are different from everyone else.

Different in how we live, noticeably different.

So last week we saw we are the kind.

This week we see what we are not.

Proverbs 3:29–32 CSB

29 Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you. 30 Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm. 31 Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways; 32 for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

Proverbs

Let’s start with the first verse

Proverbs 3:29 CSB

29 Don’t plan any harm against your neighbor, for he trusts you and lives near you.

Explain - Conspire, or think of how to hurt a neighbor. Like a guy who hated his my neighbor because he parked in front of his house, looked weird to him. Imagine if he was like I’m going over there and going to stab his tires.

He is always getting packages I’m taking them.

A neighbor is not just next door, but ...

Harm means evil. It means messed up stuff

Surprise! Followers of Jesus should NOT plan to do evil to people.

Harm means evil. It means messed up stuff

Hopefully your neighborhood is not one where your thinking someone is out to get me. Trying to steal from me. hurt me. If it is not how stressful and horrible that is. What if there was someone you can trust in the midst of that chaos.

You know what there should be. Remember when I said that we are the good? We are the ones who don’t plot evil too! We are the ones that can be trusted.

A follower of Jesus just doesn’t plan to hurt others. you know what else? They

Proverbs 3:30 CSB

30 Don’t accuse anyone without cause, when he has done you no harm.

Prov

Accuse here is just like court. Just like going to human resources, Just like being brought before the principle or the police.

Surprise! Followers of Jesus should NOT lie about someone to cops, bosses, courts, or anyone.

And if you weren’t aware of that I have one more big surprise for you.

Proverbs 3:31 CSB

31 Don’t envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;

Explain - envy is jealousy, is wanting what they have.

The guy who solves everything with hitting, attacking. Not just men but have met women who try to impress that they can throw down, go off at any second.

The woman who is always threatening, always with the ability to get her jewlery and purse off in 1.7 seconds so she can mix it up.

These ways might scare people, intimidate people, but they are not the ways of Jesus or his followers.

Surprise! Followers of Jesus shouldn’t beat, attack or try to injure people.

Your amazing biblical insight for today is

Follow Jesus by NOT

Planning evil towards people

Lying about people

Attacking people

In the last 2 weeks I have laid out the bombshell facts that followers of Jesus should do good and not hurt other people.

I know these ideas are not new to people but than

why do people claim Jesus and still think violent, plotting and lying ways are ok?

Heard people bring up their past violence to scare people away, to brag

Usually adults don’t hit, we get arrested for that and nobody likes to go to jail.

But planning, imaging, working so that no one can take advantage of you, no one can hurt you.

Yet all around us and even in our midst there are people hurting and continuing to get hurt.

From the wealthy

My friends if you have ever been a victim

the horror of being controlled, no way out but just survival.

Here I am saying don’t be a violent person

Truth is being violent makes horror your fault.

If you just had been more violent, didn’t take crap from anyone, more plotting to see it coming and get them first you could have stopped it. But that isn’t true.

The violence wasn’t your fault because no one is Chuck Norris.

More likely you would make more victims and throw yourself into a world of chaos as the natural course of life and broken relationships makes you weaker and weaker. But there is a different way.

Proverbs 3:32 CSB

32 for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

Prov

- God helped you make it through. No matter what, right now,

Proverbs 3:32 CSB

32 for the devious are detestable to the Lord, but he is a friend to the upright.

God helped you make it through. No matter what, right now, God has surrounded you with people that Love you and have committed to encourage you, help you.

God has surrounded you with people that are committed to Love, encourage and help you.

Because of what you survived you can help others see hope from what they went through

You can’t fight enough to get that, God had to bless you and others choose to obey.

Psalm 44:6–8 CSB

6 For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory. 7 But you give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced. 8 We boast in God all day long; we will praise your name forever. Selah

Ps 44:

From the beginning of time God fights Victoriously the battles we could never win !

You can put down your anger, rage, battle plans, the ways your going to talk crap about them, You can lay it down and trust in the victorious God!

You can lay down your grudges, your memories, your heart-ache and you can give it to the victorious God. Let him take up your cause!

How?

Commit to follow Jesus, not Christian-ish but completely, Love God and Love Others, any others.

Remember the scariest words in the Bible? They are followed by the most refreshing words in the Bible

look to love

Matthew 7:24 CSB

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Which will you follow?

Love in Honesty, Generosity and with Truth and Boundaries

If you would like to commit to being a follower of Jesus begin today.