091014: James' 4x4 #2 -- Don't You Know That Friendship With the World Is Hatred Toward God?

Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?

I.                    Introduction

a.       This year we want to help you get more rooted in Christ and grow closer together.  One way we are doing that is through these messages, as we look at a question from the Bible. 

II.                 Body

a.       Read James 4:4-5 – “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?”

                                                             a.      “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?”

                                                                                i.      What is the world?

a.       The world means the moral system of the world, it isn’t the people but the sin or what things are viewed as good or acceptable.

                                                                              ii.      What does friendship mean?

a.       The word used here is Philia (where we get Philadelphia from) meaning Love (but in this sense platonic (no romantic) love)

(So if we put it together love toward the world’s system of right and wrong is hate toward God)

                                                             a.      Why is this so extreme?

1.      Can’t you be friends with two people that don’t like each other?  Why not God and world system?

2.      The next verse says, “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely.”  It could also be translated, “God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to live in us.”  Meaning that this is a fight over you and your soul.  

3.      This is a fight over eternity, not a matter of being a buddy, this is a fight in which both sides are completely opposed in every way, and there is no middle ground or hope of reconciliation.

b.      God wants your spirit (soul)

c.       God wants your undivided Spirit, he wants all, not a portion, not the leftovers.

                                                            b.      Illus: Car Ownership

                                                                                i.      Let’s say you purchased a car.  But that car randomly allows others to drive it.  Would this get frustrating quickly?  Who defines who gets it, when they get it, how long they get it, how they will treat it when they drive it?  You would want that car, you paid for it, you own it, yet it is being used by many in ways you might have never intended it to be used and maybe even getting hurt by those other drivers.

                                                                              ii.      God bought you, by dying on the cross for your sins, he wants to be in charge of you, and he doesn’t want to share you with others who may bring about harm and use you in ways you were never intended to be used.

b.      So how can we be friends of God instead of the world?

                                                             a.      Read James 4:6-8 – “But he gives us more grace.  That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

                                                            b.      Humble ourselves by submitting to God

                                                                                i.      Establish His position and yours in relation to Him

                                                                              ii.      He is in charge you are not, so you will do what he asks

                                                             c.      Resist the devil

                                                                                i.      The word means “Stand Up Against” like a giant wind is blowing into you, but you remain standing firm in your spot, not falling into temptation.

                                                                              ii.      The promise is that when we resist he will flee, not that he won’t return but that victory in a battle can happen, if we resist.

                                                            d.      Draw near to God and allow God to draw near to us

                                                                                i.      Pursue God with abandon, make him the central focus of your life, and do what is necessary to draw near to him

                                                                              ii.      When we do he comes near to us…but we also must allow him to draw near to us, let him into every area of your life, let him bring healing to your wounds, be open with Him.

                                                             e.      Get cleaned

                                                                                i.      Allow God to point out where you are dirty, then allow God to clean it (you can’t do it, but he can) “He gives us more grace.” This isn’t about you becoming amazing, it is about allowing God to give us more of his grace. 

III.               Conclusion

a.       How many of you would say you have been a friend of the world?  How many of you want to instead be a friend of God?

b.      This starts at salvation, a rejection of the ways of the world and instead accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Is there anyone here tonight that would like to take the first step and make Jesus their Lord and Savior?

c.       This continues as we allow God to change us, can I pray for you that God would help you to be his friend?

090314: James' 4x4 #1 -- What Causes Fights and Quarrels Among You?

What Causes Fights and Quarrels Among You? 

I.                    Introduction

a.       This year we want to help you get more rooted in Christ and grow closer together.  One way we are doing that is through these messages, as we look at a question from the Bible. 

b.      Illus: I am a pretty peaceful person…most of the time. I don’t get into a lot of fights, when I was in school I avoided drama as much as possible.  But I have had fights and quarrels before.

                                                             a.      Not too long ago I got into a fight without words.  It all started when the church board decided that the church should get a cigarette butt container (an outdoor ashtray) so that when we have funerals or weddings or people that smoke at service they would have a place to get rid of their butts.  A certain area was designated for it and it was put into place.

                                                            b.      VBS started and I noticed that someone had planted geraniums in it, and it soon became apparent that it wasn’t an accident.  So I pulled them out and placed them in the garbage, which I regret doing.

                                                             c.      The next day there was another geranium in it, so I pulled this one out and put it in a bowl next to the ash tray.  This went on throughout the week.  I finally ended up winning because the second geranium died and they went on vacation and stopped putting them in the ash tray.

                                                            d.      Behind the scenes Pastor Kevin was getting questioned about this, who was destroying the geraniums, who was moving them?  I didn’t tell anyone, in fact until that December I hadn’t told anyone but Lacey.  That was one of my better fights.

                                                             e.      I’ve been in other fights though that weren’t quite as fun, ending in yelling and screaming, once or twice it ended with me getting punched in the face from my brother.

                                                             f.      The worst fight I ever got in was with my brother.  We were playing Risk and had made a rule that we were not going to make treaties or gang up.  He and another guy did half way through and we ended up yelling at each other for 10 minutes before I left the table and went to my room.  The resolve was that we wouldn’t play Risk with each other ever again, and I haven’t played it at all since then.

II.                 Body

a.       Many of you are going back to school tomorrow or already started back into school.  Over the years as a youth pastor I have seen or heard of so much drama and fights happening in school.  You have a bunch of hormoned-up teenagers who don’t necessarily like each other in small hallways, forced to be around each other after getting very little sleep…and fights and drama happen.  We don’t want them to, and maybe a good starting point to seeing them end is by discovering what causes fights.

                                                             a.      What causes fights?

b.      Read James 4:1-3 – “What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

c.       What Causes fights?

                                                             a.      Humans have been fighting ever since Adam and Eve first sinned.  Why do we do it though?  What causes us to fight?

                                                            b.      James tells us that fights happen because of desires.  We want something, don’t’ get it so we get mad and fight and quarrel.

                                                             c.      What kinds of things do people desire?  Material possessions, respect, love, peace, popularity, healing, forgiveness, hope…

                                                            d.      What kinds of things do people often receive?  Rudeness, mockery, disrespect, chaos, being made fun of, harm, hopelessness, anger

d.      How Do We End Fights?

                                                             a.      Give others their good desires: Show respect, show love, leave them alone if they want left alone, show them hope, bring about healing, forgive them

                                                                                i.      AKA the golden rule: Matthew 7:12 – So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

                                                            b.      Check your own desires to make sure they are what God desires

                                                                                i.      God desires us to live holy and blameless lives, so if that desire stands in the way of that, it isn’t a good desire.

                                                             c.      Check your motives to make sure you desire things for good reasons

                                                                                i.      It could be a good desire (I desire love) but for the wrong reason (so I can feel good about the bad thing I am doing)

                                                            d.      Ask God for those desires, rather than turning to other people for them

                                                             e.      When all else fails, keep your mouth shut and walk away