I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve slacked on getting our Wed night info up on the site. So, for all of you that message me and say “what was that scripture/song/video again?”…this is for you. I’ll work on getting things up on a regular basis now.
“Like Me” Series Week 3 – The Man Behind The Video Feb 6 2013
Week 3- The man behind the video
Defining a Prodigy from Elevation Church on Vimeo.
Who is the prodigy in you?
Let’s pray.
Overview: People want to be accepted. For the most part people really do have a natural desire for this. The “Like” button on Facebook sums this up like nothing else. An entire button devoted to someone saying they accept something we have either said or done. We love it when people will actually click “like” on something we have done.
We’ve all seen hundreds if not thousands of youtube videos over the years. We’ve watched some and thought they were the dumbest thing we had ever seen. Others were pretty hilarious, (krispy kreme)so funny that we felt the need to share them with others. Then they shared them. Before you know if you are watching a viral video that is getting millions of views and creating a Internet celebrity. We feel like we know this person just from watching a 4 minute video about them but truth be told there is another person behind that. Someone who has a backstory, a life, hopes and dreams, and personal issues that we know nothing about. The same could be said of each and every one of us. Tonight we will talk about moving and looking past what everyone else sees and trying to uncover the real us and who our friends really are.
First we want to look at The Real me…Am I being honest with myself?
Acts 5:1-6
1-2 But a man named Ananias—his wife, Sapphira, conniving in this with him—sold a piece of land, secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it.
3-4Peter said, “Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn’t lie to men but to God.”
5-6Ananias, when he heard those words, fell down dead. That put the fear of God into everyone who heard of it. The younger men went right to work and wrapped him up, then carried him out and buried him.
We can be quite notorious about hiding things and trying to make sure no one knows the truth.
When we do this it’s like putting on different masks and before long even we don’t know who we are anymore. We become the lies. The best example going right now that illustrates “becoming the lies” would be these next videos.
Lance’s greatest hits. Seven time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong. Personally, thought this was a bit too long and should have cut it short. But hey, you can stop it when you want to now. 🙂
Lance Armstrong vehemetly denies doing anything wrong over the course of seven years. A montage of lies.
And finally, a Lance Armstrong confession of the truth. The mask is removed.
We have to ask “Who have I become”, when did I lose myself and who I was meant to be. and to do that we first have to be honest with ourselves.
Matthew 7:1-5 talks about being honest with ourselves first.
NIV1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I love the Message version of this scripture.
The MSG
1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
The lies and sin can cause us to look at ourselves, to not recognize who we are in the mirror. It leaves us saying “What happened to me?”.
2 Samuel 11 is a perfect example of this- it’s the story of David and Bathsheba
Let’s call this, David’s Sin and Sorrow
1When that time of year came around again, the anniversary of the Ammonite aggression, David dispatched Joab and his fighting men of Israel in full force to destroy the Ammonites for good. They laid siege to Rabbah, but David stayed in Jerusalem.
2-5 One late afternoon, David got up from taking his nap and was strolling on the roof of the palace. From his vantage point on the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was stunningly beautiful. David sent to ask about her, and was told, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David sent his agents to get her. After she arrived, he went to bed with her. Then she returned home. Before long she realized she was pregnant. Later she sent word to David: “I’m pregnant.”
6 David then got in touch with Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” Joab sent him.
7-8 When he arrived, David asked him for news from the front—how things were going with Joab and the troops and with the fighting. Then he said to Uriah, “Go home. Have a refreshing bath and a good night’s rest.”
9 After Uriah left the palace, an informant of the king was sent after him. But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance, along with the king’s servants.
10 David was told that Uriah had not gone home. He asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come off a hard trip? So why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah replied to David, “The Chest is out there with the fighting men of Israel and Judah—in tents. My master Joab and his servants are roughing it out in the fields. So, how can I go home and eat and drink and enjoy my wife? On your life, I’ll not do it!”
12-13 “All right,” said David, “have it your way. Stay for the day and I’ll send you back tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem the rest of the day. The next day David invited him to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. But in the evening Uriah again went out and slept with his master’s servants. He didn’t go home.
14-15 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he’s sure to be killed.”
16-17 So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters. When the city’s defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David’s soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.
18-21 Joab sent David a full report on the battle. He instructed the messenger, “After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle, if he flares in anger, say, ‘And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'”
22-24 Joab’s messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report. He said, “The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate. But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king’s soldiers died.”
25 When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: “Why did you get so close to the city? Didn’t you know you’d be attacked from the wall? Didn’t you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn’t it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!” “By the way,” said Joab’s messenger, “your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” Then David told the messenger, “Oh. I see. Tell Joab, ‘Don’t trouble yourself over this. War kills—sometimes one, sometimes another—you never know who’s next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.’ Encourage Joab.”
26-27 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son.
David, David, David.
We have to remember that sin can be a very powerful thing. If we are not careful it can consume us and cause us to do things that we would have never thought possible.
David was called a man after God’s own heart and even he had a moment where you could barely recognize him.
So how do we get into these spots? Usually we don’t just jump into something big. We let little things build up and before we know it those little things are changing and crushing us!
For the sake of time management, this next section was cut. Sharing it here for you.
Next, Are my friends real?
Are we seeing past someone’s deception? –Proverbs 20:19
19 Gossips can’t keep secrets, so never confide in blabbermouths.
Does that sound like a true friend. It’s saying to not trust those whose actions lead them to untrustworthyness. Some are people who act like your friend, but then turn on you or have other motives. These are the type of friends that will pull you away from God’s path for you. Please ignore the fact that this video stars a young, black Bryson. Great song.
Kodaline – All My Friends from Lewis Cater on Vimeo.
Some friends are struggling and just need us to help them. Some are not really friends though.
Some people are really just trying to take advantage of you and you have to be willing to see past a nice smile and ask if this person is really just trying to take advantage of you. Is there another motive for this?
Like this video. Do you think that those guys really cared for that kid? Was his friendship with them based on what they could get out of him? They controlled who he could hang out with, his actions…this was not an example of true friendship.
We picked back up here…
Our final point tonight. A cry for help…
We all have friends who act one way but sometimes that can be a cover to mask things that are going on in their lives.
They may act out and pretend to be one way but inside they are hurting and people don’t really know it.
Change the way you look at people and your attitude will change.
These are times where we need to get to know people beyond just a “hello, how’s it going”.
We need to reach out to these friends.
James 5:19-20
19-20My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.
This is the story of Erik Fitzgerald and Matthew Swatzell, a friendship forged in forgiveness. This is an example of true friendship. A friendship formed from an outpouring of God’s love, grace, and mercy. He has a plan. He always has a plan.
Application
– Be who God wants you to be. Stay on His path for your life.
– Be honest with yourself
– Get some people who can hold you accountable.
– Be a friend even when it’s messy.
– Reach out to our friends who are hurting/struggling.
– Ask yourself “Are my friends real?”
– Get to know people beyond just a “Hello, how’s it going”.
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