The bag that just Won't Let Go
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Welcome to week 4 of the series… Baggage.
We are all on a trip called life and things happen and we don’t deal with it and it attaches itself to us and that’s what we call baggage.
Bags attach themselves us in a couple of places. First place is some mistake you made in the past… guilt and shame. The other is people. People hurt us… say things … do things that hurt us.
These things can become strongholds which means you are a prisoner locked up by a lie.
Today, we want to learn how to get rid of the bag that just will not let go. When we get saved, we get rid of a lot of bags, but For so many people, there is still one area that won’t let go.
God wants you to be free from whatever that bag is… addiction… lust… click… anger…
Look at…
15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
Paul had bags.
That’s what this message series is about… that one thing that you want to stop but can’t. Here are some things to help you see what those bags look like,
Cycle of Destruction
Cycle of Destruction
It becomes part of your identity
It becomes part of your identity
It’s just who I am… my daddy was like that and…
That doesn’t have to be you…
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
You can be free.
AA vs. CR
You feel more and more hopeless
You feel more and more hopeless
You think that you are what your problem is… I feel hopeless. That’s what identifying in your sin does.
You become defensive
You become defensive
Then you begin to defend your problem … or even deny your problem. You think you are the only one who has been through what you have been through.
You become it’s slave
You become it’s slave
Whatever that struggle is becomes your master.
You begin to lose your life
You begin to lose your life
Your life begins to dwindle… You begin to think… I’ll never have…
So you begin to cope like the opener… you just carry those bags.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Sin is no longer you master....
food… what you do after you eat… what you look at… what you drink
How do you know?
Do your family and friends say you have a problem?
do you keep doing it even though it’s hurting people?
Do you arrange your schedule around it
Can you go one week without it?
Is it leading you to isolation?
Are you trying to keep it a secret?
If you answered yes to any of those, you probably have a problem. Chances are you are being mastered by something that you are trying to cope with.
JOKE - Science discovered men lust on certain days of the week. T... Tuesday… Thursday… today or tomorrow.
God’s word has some solutions for us.
Breaking Free, How do we do that?
Breaking Free, How do we do that?
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Spirit - neuma - power of God. Breath of God.
Wherever God is there is freedom.
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Jesus came to set you free… not point an accusing finger at you. In him is freedom.
Three things you can do to help you experience freedom
Three things you can do to help you experience freedom
1. Stop the excuses
1. Stop the excuses
You may have been through difficult times…
But at some point, you have to take responsibility for where you are and the bags you are carrying and say NO MORE!
Jesus was inviting these people to a wedding banquet… look what these people said.
18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
You have to stop the excuses. If you want FREEDOM, you have to take responsibility and get rid of the excuses.
I have had people say I just can’t… Say this with me.
13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
I want to help you replace the lie you have been told and replace it with the truth of God.
2. Break the ties
2. Break the ties
You can’t come here and drop the bag and go right back to doing what you were doing and who you were doing it with. You have to look at who you are spending time with and maybe you need to change that.
You have to change people, places and things…
33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.
This is true all the time. BAD company corrupts good character.
Bad company can be the internet…
ILL - of Chris’s son wanting covenant eyes on his computer when he went to school. Cut ties.
It can also be the past… You may have to get rid of stuff from the past. Maybe you need to get rid of stuff from old boyfriends… girlfriends…
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3. Fill the void
3. Fill the void
You can’t leave an empty sport. You have to put something meaningful back in it’s palce.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Jesus talked about the room that was cleaned of spirits and they came back to find it empty
What do you put in it’s place?
God’s Word
God’s Word
I had the opp to read the Bible 1 hour per day in school after I was saved. You need to read this thing.
OYB… Devo has a reading plan…
Here’s what will happen when you read it…
26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
Prayer
Prayer
Conversation with God. Just talk… no fancy language.
When you come to God with your … porn addiction… lust… cheating… lying… he understands.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Jesus understands.
An accountability partner
An accountability partner
Find someone to talk to. That’s probably not someone who is constantly seeking you to tell them what’s going on…
Find someone you can trust to unload on.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
If you travel… have someone who will ask you what you did while you were gone… whom you can say this makes me struggle…
You need that. You do not need that during this service… you don’t need to be in the hall talking… this has value and you need to hear God’s word taught.
Ministry
Ministry
Get involved in some ministry. Children… Fuel the Future… Outreach … Usher… greeter … cooking… prayer
21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Conclusion
Stop the Excuses… Break the Ties… Fill the Void (God’s Word, Prayer, Accountability Partner, Ministry)
You cannot make these changes on your own. You have to have the power of God IN your life.
You need to give Jesus control of your life. You give him your weakness and he gives you his power.
Who needs to come to the Lord? Who needs to come to the Lord again?
Pray…
You need to tell him… pray out loud.