Break-Away Night 3
Break-Away Summer Event • Sermon • Submitted
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Break-Away from Expectations
Break-Away from Expectations
Hey all!
How was that trampoline park today?
What did you all think?
I found it to be quite amazing!
I think expectations are some of the hardest things to nail down...
But don’t we do this when we talk about expectations?
Does anyone have any stories where you expected something great or terrible and it turned out to be opposite?
Some other examples of expectations are:
Life should be fair
Opportunities will fall into my lap
Everyone should like me
People should agree with me
People know what I’m trying to say
I’m going to fail
Things will make me happy
I can change him/her
Expectations are common.
I feel like every time we have a camp or an event I get asked one questions more then any other question, can you guess it?
What are we going to do next?
This questions comes from a desire to be in the know but also because you want to build up your own expectations.
We build things up— we assume the best or sometimes the worst of things.
We get told what we should expect or we see someone else’e reality or in most cases their fake reality and expect the same thing in our lives.
We scroll through the Gram and see everyone’s glam pics, what the perfect marriage looks like, what relationship are, and we find ourselves wishing, wanting and expecting those things to happen in our lives.
We all have expectations about life, dating, marriage, sex, religion, school, vacations, kids some good and some not so good.
And hear me please— that not all expectations are bad.
We asked you the first night to tell us about some of your expectations for Break-Away.
Here is where expectations can go sideways.
It is when we build up something in our mind and it then plays into this false reality.
But the truth about expectations is why we build up false ones anyway.
For that I believe it is because we get to a place of chasing happiness.
We get discontent, we say things like if only I had this, or if only I worked here, or if only I had these friends then I would be here or there or everywhere.
So tonight, I am not asking you to lay down your expectations because there can be some power in expecting certain things.
The Bible actually has some good things to say about expectations.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
That sounds pretty good.
While we do not want anyone to really lower their expectation of themselves as studies show that those who have high expectations are ones that typically do better in their fields.
No, what I want us to break-away from is the expectations that others put on us— the expectations to be someone else, the feeling that in order to get the likes we must become like the world, that we would rather look like everyone else and not stand out.
Standing out is scary.
I get it.
The world is more enticing— we believe that it offers us what Christianity takes away, freedom.
We think that Christianity is about rules and laws and no fun and happiness is not part of the equation.
So we give into this world and expect things to be better.
We expect that living to no standard is more freeing then living up to God’s standard.
We throw care to the wind and go for it.
You see what I am going to ask you tonight is to break away from the world.
Not that we want to become people who are living with our heads in the sand not pay attention to the world.
But we are not indulging with the world.
And I think that this is one of the hardest things to do.
While God did talk about expectations a bit— He spoke a lot about not becoming like the world.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
I think that God has a different view of the world then we do.
Remember this is the same God who flooded the earth because of the wickedness of the world.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
God did make a promise not to flood the earth again and I am personally very thankful for that, because I believe that our world is wicked, and it has terrible things that happen in it and on it.
However we know this but yet, we turn to it all the time for answers.
We look to the world to solve our problems, to solve our relationships, to tell us how to treat others, and how even how we are suppose to worship God.
We look to a world that is broken and expect it to fix us.
That would be like asking an alcoholic how to quit drinking.
It doesn’t make sense.
It doesn’t work like that.
So what are we to do?
Well we are going to break down a couple of verses that I hope can give us just that, hope.
tonight I have a couple of challenges for us:
Do not be conformed to this world
Do not be conformed to this world
Paul gives us a pretty good picture of how we are suppose to behave when it comes to the world.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul knew that this world was not good.
Paul knew that he lived in this world , but he did not have to embrace the world.
Paul is challenging us to be transformed.
When one enters a relationship with God, we must believe that transformation happens.
Paul clearly believes it, he says that we are not to give into the world but instead be transformed in your mind.
So that we can determine what is good and acceptable and perfect to God.
We are to no longer to look to the world— but to God.
Here is the tragedy behind this thought.
That all Christians have been introduced into the life of the world to come; and the tragedy then, is they conform to the perishing world they live in currently.
Our eyes are focused on heaven yet, we still want to bring a bit of this earth with us.
We say Jesus I want to follow you, but man the world you created as some enticing stuff that won’t kill me but I know it is not good for me.
And what Paul is saying here is, don’t do it, don’t give in.
I hope that you have noticed that I have not said a phrase that goes with this idea of being in the world but not of the world.
That is because I think while we know we do not want to be conformed to this world, we do have a calling to this world.
So our second point is:
Not of but sent to
Not of but sent to
I know many of us have heard the phrase we want to be in the world but not of the world.
While this can be helpful, I think we may need to change it up because how do we respond to John 17 then?
Look at John 17:14-19
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
In this passage Jesus is praying to God about his disciples.
And the reality is the world is going to hate us, because we do not belong here.
Jesus did not belong here, and the world hated him.
We have a true home that is not here.
Yet, we live to please a world that will just hate us it will not like us.
The truth is that it does not care about you.
And this is not intended to stick it to the world— no, but it does show us that we will not be liked by this world.
We spend so much time wanting the attention of the world rather then giving our attention to God.
So we do not want to be like the world— I hope that we are all coming to that conclusion here.
Mean that if we get that, it almost sounds like we should head out as soon as we can to our true home with Christ.
Think about Paul in Philippines he says in:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Yet, here Jesus is praying to God, about his disciples and he tells God— to leave them in this world!
Do not take them from the world but protect them from it.
I don’t think we pray often enough to be protect from this world, or to be sent into the world.
This world is broken, messed up, lost, and frankly devastated.
Is this really the place we want to look to, in order to find peace, love, joy, happiness?
NO, not at all.
But Jesus does give a mission for the disciples, and this I believe, carries over to us today.
He says in verse 18
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
While we may not want to be of this world, we are sent into this world.
So i think the phrase needs to be changed— to we are not to be of the world but sent to the world.
If you are a believer you have a mission— you have an objective— you have a role to play in God’s kingdom.
While we strive to not be conformed the world
and we are ask to be sent into the world— i think a good question is why?
Why are we sent into this world?
We are sent into this world to be lights to this world.
We are to be lights
We are to be lights
We can’t do this on our own.
Nope.
We have to have a light to share in order to be a light.
I want to draw your attention to John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus says I am the light of the world— If you follow him you are not in darkness— for you have the light of the world.
While Jesus is identified as the light of the world here— but also calls us the light of the world in Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
You are the light of the world.
Turn to your left and say you are the light of the world.
Turn to your right and say you are the light of the world.
If you have a relationship with Jesus— this reigns true.
You are the light of the world.
I love this passage here.
It is one of my favorites because the imagery is so powerful.
First off we are compared to a city on a hill.
This is significant because cities on a hill can’t be hidden.
It is actually impossible to hide a city that is built on a hill.
Meaning that your faith can’t be hidden either.
It is impossible to conceal your faith.
Jesus is saying that you have a task as a light to the world— to be visible and to be distinguishable from others.
He continues in verse 15 to say that no one lights a lamp to place it under a basket.
That would not make sense.
Why would someone do that?
The lamp’s purpose is to give light.
It is to give off light to everyone in the house.
Jesus is says that your light is not to be hidden.
The very purpose of being a follower of Jesus is to give light.
When you say yes to Jesus— this is what you sign up for— to be a light to this world.
Not to be of the world but sent into the world to be a light.
But see when we conform to the ways of this world we hide our light.
We shine for something else.
We share in the world rather than the light.
We embrace disfunction for acceptance.
We choose the world over the savior.
And I know some of you may be thinking that this is extreme.
But where do we draw the line?
At what sin to we say— oh no that sin is messed up but all of these ones are okay?
When do we look to the world and truly believe that it has our own interest at heart?
I think the answer is it doesn’t.
Jesus is calling us to live a life that shines brightly into the world.
And I know some of you right now hear that and are immanently scared.
You think to yourself— I can’t be that light.
But you can.
Some of us get so nervous about our faith— we get so scared of what others will think— that we clam up and we decide not to share the greatest news that have ever heard.
WHY?
Why are we not bold?
Do we believe that this Gospel is true?
Do we believe that Jesus is the savior of the world?
Do we believe that the world needs Jesus?
If you answered yes to those three questions then my question to you then is what are we doing?
We have no problem sharing pointless FB stories/retweeting garbage/ sharing raunchy tic toks/ and sharing what a picture of what we ate.
We have no problem with any of that...
We do it without thinking about it.
Why?
Because those are accepted by the world.
That folks is conformity at it’s best.
The world tells you that no one wants to hear from you about Jesus.
The world tells you that people will reject you and hate you.
Wait no that is actually Jesus that said that:
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
I want you to know that Christianity and the world does not mesh.
No matter how much you want it to— you have to make a choice on who you are going to follow.
Jesus called you light of the world.
Let your light shine.
You see I’m going to ask that we shut of all the lights in here.
It is easy to feel alone in a dark place.
It is easy to feel like you are the only one holding a light in this world.
But you are not.
You are not.
I want to encourage you tonight to be a light.
To not hide from who Jesus has called you to be.
I want to challenge you to be that light.
Under each chair in this room— you will find a light under it.
But stop— don’t grab it.
I promise you that there is a light under every chair.
The worship team is going to come up here and play.
At any point durning the song you feel like taking this challenge to be a light seriously- I want you to grab the light under your chair, turn it on and stand up.
Don’t do it right now— but if you want to be a light to the world— which we are all called to do— if you want to take that seriously— during the song— grab that light— turn it on and hold it for the world to see.
worship team, you can make your way up-
Pray
I am so excited for those who stood up tonight.
Thank you for your boldness.
I want you to begin to think of someone who you need to share the gospel with.
When you get to your breakout room, I want you to share with your group who you are going to share the gospel with.
Leaders write those names down and follow up with them next week.
Those who did not grab the light.
I get it.
I am not here to condemn you or to judge you.
It can be scary being a light.
For some it could be because you don’t know what it means to follow Jesus because you have never said yes to him.
If that is the case, your leaders or myself would love to have a conversation with you about what it means to follow Jesus— just grab any of us.
For others it could be out of fear of what others may think.
It could be for some other reason—
I want you to know that you are loved great by God.
I pray that you find the courage and strength to be a light to those around you, because that is what Jesus is calling you to be.
I believe that we have one more song.
So go ahead team and take it away.