Good Times: False Fun
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INTRO STORY
INTRO STORY
SERIES INTRO
It’s summertime which is primarily characterized as a time in which we HAVE FUN!!!
What do you think of when you think of having fun?
video games
sports
the pool
hanging with friends
There are so many avenues of good times in our world…especially in the summer.
However, there are a lot of things in our society that are presented as legitimate sources of good times that are actually traps set by our enemy.
We focus on these a lot at NLS
It seems like we are talking alot about the “DON’T’S” when we come together.
DON’T HAVE SEX, DON’T DO DRUGS, DON’T DRINK, DON’T DATE UNTIL YOUR READY
It would be easy to assume that following Jesus means NOT HAVING FUN...
BUT FUN WAS GOD’S IDEA!!!
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
THE BEST PHRASE YOU WILL EVER HEAR AT NLS: IT IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU TO HAVE FUN!
GOD’S WILL CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED GOD’S WAY
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The premise of this series is the fact that fun was God’s idea...
I’ve told you guys numerous times that the enemy is not creative
Satan has never created anything....He simply takes what God has created and manipulates it for his purposes
FUN IS NO DIFFERENT.
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS FALSE FUN!
Tonight we are focusing on identifying and avoiding false fun in our lives.
Next week we will talk about how to capitalize on the FUN that God has for us.
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
The first thing that we see playing out in the story of the prodigal son is the fact that the son misunderstood the nature of the fathers desire.
He asked for the money before His dad died…because he didn’t trust the process, timing, or stewardship of His father.
THIS IS THE PICTURE OF GETTING AHEAD OF GOD.
There are many times that we enter into illegitimate FUN not because we are doing things that are wrong…but because we are doing things in the wrong timing.
Many times the fulfillment that God has in store for you life can only be found by patiently waiting for God’s perfect timing.
BUT WE LIKE TO DO THINGS ON OUR SCHEDULE
I’m going to date now
I’m going to do what I want now
I’m going to prioritize everything ahead of my time with Jesus.
ONE OF THE REASONS FOR OUR DISTRUST OF THE FATHER IS OUR TENDENCY TO INTERPRET HIS “WAIT” AS HIS “NO”
The son requested the money ahead of his ability to handle it because he thought to wait on his inheritance would cost him all the pleasures that were waiting out side of his house.
“SO HIS FATHER AGREED”
You need to know God loves you enough to let you have what you want.
Many times we interpret God’s allowance as God’s approval.
God let me get drunk and nothing bad happened....so he must be ok with it.
I slept with my girlfriend and nothing happened
I cheated and didn’t get caught.
The book of Romans has an interesting first chapter in which the writer tells us that God gave some people up to a reprobate mind…that is a mind that has zero understanding of the consequences of sin.
Don’t play games with the allowance of God...
God will let you have what you want…and if you tell God you want pleasure more than Him long enough…he will give you what you want.
WHAT YOU WANT ISN’T WHAT IT SEEMS>
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.
Here is where we see the “FALSE FUN” come into play.
The younger son thought that the fulfillment and pleasure of life could only be found in a “distant” land…so he moved there and took all of his inheritance with him.
Some of you think that the only way to have fun is to do the opposite of everything we do here.
You’ve convinced yourself that CHRISTIANITY = NO FUN
So you are doing everything you can to find fun outside of the church world.
He spent his money on “WILD” living.
What does that mean?
does that mean he was doing shots and going to the club every night?
Possibly…but wild actually just means wasteful...
IT WAS WASTEFUL BECAUSE HE WAS SPENDING HIS MONEY ON THINGS THAT DIDN’T LAST
This is the thing you need to know about every worldly pleasure…it is bound by a law
THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS
(PORN, ALCOHOL, DRUGS, SEX, POPULARITY, SOCIAL MEDIA LIKES)
You are spending your resources on things that are WASTEFUL because they are fleeting.
What resources do I have PT?
TIME
FOCUS
HERE’S A PRIMARY DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN GOD’S FUN AND FALSE FUN
ENTERTAINMENT
ENJOYMENT
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
GOD IS INVESTED IN OUR ACQUISITION OF ENJOYMENT.
Whats the word in the middle “JOY”
Joy is a permanent fixture when you receive it from GOD.
IT BECOMES A SOURCE OF STRENGTH IN TROUBLING TIMES
We allow the enemy to substitute entertainment instead of enjoyment.
This is what drives us to binge netflix when we’ve had a bad day.
BUT ENTERTAINMENT HAS A FIXED BEGINNING AND END
I am only entertained by a movie or a song as long as it is going on....when it ends…it’s over.
WHEN I SPEND MY TIME AND FOCUS ON THESE THINGS…I AM SPENDING MY RESOURCES ON “WILD” LIVING…IT’S WASTEFUL
THIS MAN SPENT EVERYTHING HE HAD ON THINGS THAT WOULD NOT LAST…MANY OF YOU ARE DOING THE SAME.
They’re not necessarily bad things…they’re just not lasting things.
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So he spends everything he has on things that don’t last…and then something super unfortuante takes place.
A famine hits
About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!
REMEMBER WHERE THIS GUY CAME FROM.
He was living at home....good food…comfortable life…but he didn’t trust the process.
He asked for his inhertitance and wasted it.
His initial sin wasn’t that bad…it was just a lack of trust.
But now look at where he’s at…eating the pig food that they didn’t finish.
THIS IS A PICTURE OF WHAT SIN WILL DO TO YOU.
Sin is progressive by nature…remember the law of diminishing returns.
What seems like an innocent rebellion against God’s perfect will can lead to a further step until you find yourself doing things you swore you’d never do.
REMEMBER THE IMPORTANCE OF TIMING....GETTING AHEAD OF GOD GETS YOU OUT OF SYNC WITH THE HS.
He won’t direct you once you get ahead of him...
I’D RATHER SUCCEED IN SUBMISSION…THAN FAIL IN FALSE FREEDOM.
HE THOUGHT HE HAD TO LEAVE THE HOUSE TO HAVE FUN…BUT IT WAS FALSE FUN.
Long story short he comes to his senses and the father receives Him back.
There are some of you that need to get your fun source fixed tonight.
MY PRAYER IS THAT MANY OF YOU WOULD REALIZE THAT YOU ARE INVESTING YOUR TIME AND YOUR FOCUS INTO FALSE FUN.
And return to the father....He’s not mad at you.
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.