Victim or Victor? (Week 2)
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
NEW COUNTDOWN (shorter, maybe 60 sec)
Good morning, I’m Michael Clark, Lead Pastor at Emmanuel, and before we get started with our service I wanted to share some worship from home from our friends at Red Rocks Worship. Enjoy!
VIDEO
10 SEC COUNTDOWN
How’s everyone doing? This morning as we get started I want to remind you to chat with us on the side. Let us know what is speaking to you today. Give us some praise emojis during worship, some amens during the sermon, and don’t forget to let us know how we can be praying for you.
You can message us on Facebook or email us at mail@emmanuelag.com. If you are new to joining us for worship, contact us and let us know how we can be praying with you right now. We would love to send our most recent visitors a small gift, and for our regular attendees, we want to stay in touch with our Emmanuel family. So please, let us know how you are doing, what these days are like for you right now, and if there is anything we can be praying with you about or any help needed.
We love and miss you guys!
But this morning, let’s get started with some worship. So, right where you are prepare you heart, prepare your environment by removing any distractions, and let’s worship the King of kings and Lord of lords together this morning because He is worthy!
Worship
Worship
Song 1
Song 2
Sermon
Sermon
Last week, we began a short series I titled Victim or Victor. These messages were something God dropped in my heart months ago, but I felt an urgency to bring them now, in this time, in this hour. As I mentioned at the beginning last week, I don’t want to make light of the difficulties and tragedies that have occured in anyones life. But when our life begins to become defined by circumstances and situations we give power to the the negative ebbs and flows of this fallen world. If the enemy can keep us in a posture of victimization he will keep us from every walking in the full victory that Christ intended for us.
What we have experienced doesn't dictate, define, or determine our future. We have choices to make and a great God to believe in who does what no man can, and that is to make us a victor instead of a victim.
This is what we celebrate through Christ’s death and especially through His resurrection. Jesus did say:
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Trouble is a guarantee. Jesus didn’t say if you have trouble or you might have trouble. No, He said, “you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” This is vital for us to get into our souls right now as many of us walk through difficult times.
When we give our voice to being a victim we minimize the effects of what Christ has done for us. Let me say that AGAIN. When we give our voice to being a victim we minimize the effects of what Christ has done for us.
But this morning, let’s take a look at some characters in the Bible that very easily could have stunted or even stopped what God was wanting to do in their lives by playing the victim role.
Let’s look first at:
ADAM
From the very outset of the Scripture, we see how man tried to play the victim card through the blame game. When God arrives on the scene in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve are hiding, covering themselves out of guilt and shame. When God asks if they had disobeyed and eaten from the tree He forbid Adam jumps to shifty answers.
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Both Adam and Eve could have played the victim the rest of their lives as why they were in the state of sin that they were. Adam could have blamed Eve for their circumstances, claiming that he was victim to her coercion. Eve could have remained bitter and stuck blaming the snake who tempter her.
PERSONAL: Have you ever felt tricked into something you don’t think you would have done without a little coercion or help? Have you ever felt robbed of the plan God had for you because you listened to the wrong person? Can you relate to not wanting to take responsibility for your own choices and wanting to shift the blame to someone else? I can.
But none of this would have helped them; it wouldn’t have changed a thing. Remaining a victim to their past wasn’t going to change their current circumstances or bring them future freedom. Christ brought an end to not only the symptoms of sin in their life but brought us the power to live a victorious life over the thought patterns and behavior pitfalls that cripple us as a victim.
TRANSITION: Let’s look at story of two brothers.
ESAU & JACOB
Custom in their culture was that the firstborn would receive a larger inheritance, but these two brothers had literally been fighting over who would be first, greatest, most loved and valued since in their mother’s womb. One was more loved by their father, while the other more loved by their mother. You probably know who I am referring to already, I am talking about ESAU & JACOB. And as Genesis 25 records for us, Esau came home hungry after hunting all day with no game to show for his efforts. His deceiving brother, Jacob. Jacob preyed upon his older brother’s misfortune to get something he wanted that would never be his, the inheritance of the firstborn son. He took advantage of Esau’s situation to get the birthright for a single meal.
Lie upon lie, deceit upon deceit would unravel as their stories would unfold. Jacob now entitled to something Esau sold for some soup.
Esau could have wallowed (as in fact I believe he did to a great extent) as a victim to his brother’s lies and deceit. Esau could have felt justified to hate his brother and seek revenge.
PERSONAL: Can you relate to be passed over for something that should have been yours? Maybe it was a promotion at work or raise or responsibility you had been preparing yourself for, but instead someone else get it before you do. Has some else’s lies ever held you back? Can you relate to being wronged by someone else because they wanted something you had?
Then you are not alone.
TRANSITION: Let’s look at one of my favorite characters in Scripture.
JOSEPH
As young man, God began to drop destiny in this boy’s heart. I can relate to him as a teenager having high hopes for how his life would turn out and the great ways God might us him. He shares it with his family, who isn’t really as supportive, mostly his brothers who weren’t. I am talking about JOSEPH, the man with the coat of many colors even before Dolly had hers. You remember the story. His brothers took his coat, faked his death, threw him in a pit, only to decide to sell him into slavery where he landed in Egypt. Once in Egypt, he was elevated to a position of authority and influence. Only to find out, that once he got there his boss’ wife would make a move to get him in bed. He refused to compromise his call, but she claimed to be the victim in this story, hiding her wrongdoing with lies to cover herself.
This deceitful scenario led to Joseph being wrongfully thrown in prison. He was guilty before being proven innocent. He was foreigner, an outsider, with no chance to plead his case. Until, God would elevate him again. He was needed for his special skill set of interpreting dreams. Isn’t it interesting that the very thing (dream) that got him in trouble with his brothers is what God would use later in his life to get him out of prison? God wants to use the very thing that landed you where you are at. He wants to come through strong on your behalf. He wants to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it to good.
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
PERSONAL: Can you relate to following God even against the pressures of a family that isn’t supportive? Have you ever been lied about? I mean it didn’t matter how outlandish the lies were or if your character said otherwise, the lies still had the loudest voice and you fell prey to lies you could never defend.
But God wants to take all these things and be your Great Redeemer. He wants you to live in the victory that He purchased for you. He wants to silence the Accuser in your life and bring an end to the voice of being the victim. He want to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it to good.
TRANSITION: Let’s talk about another person whose start was a little rocky.
MOSES
His mom was afraid that the government would kill her baby, so she did what she had to do to give him a fighting chance. It was before Safe Baby Court, but she operated by the same procedures. Floating him down the river in a wicker basket from World Market, this baby boy ended up on the arms of royalty. He was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, while seeing his people enslaved by the Egyptians. I am talking about Moses. Moses would have felt that he was a victim to a corrupt government that kept him from being raised by his biological mom with his other brothers and sisters. He would later rise to an occasion to bring justice for his people, Israel.
When Moses does finally make an attempt to be a leader from the position and influence he had grown up around in Pharaoh’s house he did it in such a way that took matters into his own hands, not following God’s leading. His own people chastised him and didn’t identify with him as one of their own.
Years later, God would call him to a lead roll in seeing the Israelites, his people, set free from the bondage they were experiencing in Egypt. Moses felt inadequate and could have leaned as a victim on his speech impediment. He tried to get God to let someone else, like his brother Aaron, to take the lead role in this endeavor. Someone more gifted, more talented, more eloquent and poised.
PERSONAL: Have you felt inadequate, like you didn’t have what it takes, like you were enough? I have. Have you ever let those inadequacies and insufficiencies keep you from something bigger, something better? These feelings don’t know economic status or upbringing. They select us all equally, and we have the choice to not live from fear of failure but from a place of faith in His ability.
TRANSITION: This next young lady was courageous.
RUTH
She lost her husband at an early age, and her mother-in-law decided to go back to her family in Israel. She told the young ladies to go back to their families, remarry, and start again. But RUTH, said...
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.
So, Ruth left her family and traveled as a foreigner with her mother-in-law to a land she didn’t know, to a place where she had no connections. She made herself vulnerable of embarrassment, getting in the food line to gather leftovers. It was while gleaning in the fields that she was noticed. She could have been a victim of her misfortune and remained stuck in her grief. She made the choice to move forward, and followed an unfamiliar path that led her to hope and a future, as well as a family.
She is in the lineage of Christ, but her outcome could have been very different.
PERSONAL: Can you relate to losing someone too early? Can you relate to the loss of a spouse or loved one? Do you know what it is like to pick up and move to a place where you know absolutely no one, you have no connections, no family, no friends? Have you ever put yourself out there? I mean, where someone could easily have hurt you or taken advantage of your vulnerability, where you could have experienced real rejection. Can you relate to RUTH?
LANDING:
These men and women didn’t allow their situations and circumstances to have the final word. As unique as each one is there remains a common thread: we will all face trouble in this world. It is what we choose to do with these adverse experiences that will determine the ending to our story. It is in those moments that we drop to knees, tears streaming down our face, broken and without anywhere else to go, that God comes through making what seems to be impossible-possible. He helps us walk through these dark days. He is our Comforter and our Strength, and He takes what the enemy means for evil and turns it into our good.
Would you pray with me right now? I want to take the things you know God is still restoring and redeeming in your life and lay it at His feet once again. As we sing this next song together, would you proclaim these promises over your life.
SEE A VICTORY (from Easter service)
PRAY
Father, we thank you that we can come to you as your children, dependent upon Your unfathomable mercy and grace. I thank you that You are a Good, Good Father. That that really is who You are. More than song, make this a reality in our lives today. Take the things in our life Lord that have hurt and been hard. We need your healing and perseverance in our life. Give us your peace right now, oh, God. Wrap your loving arms around Your children right where they are. Remind them of how much You love them. That You’ve got them. That You’ve got this. We love You; We love You; We love You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen and amen!
Wrap-up
Wrap-up
Thank God for the victory He gives and brings into our lives. Amen?!? Would you stay on with us for a few minutes and chat with us on the side? Let us know how you are doing, and how we can be praying for you. We love you guys and look forward to when we will gather again!