Hello & welcome!

This is Redemption Church. We are a mighty church of Jesus Christ in

Plano Tx. My name is Chris Fluitt and I am excited to be sharing the

Word of God with you today.

Chasing

Carrots

Today we are

starting a brand new sermon series entitled CHASING CARROTS – AND

ENDLESS PURSUIT FOR MORE. I believe that it is going to be an

important series for us and I encourage you to be here for every week

of the series.

If you had a donkey

or a horse that didn’t want to move you would put a carrot on a

string on it and hold it in front of them, and then you could control

where they would go because they would chase the carrot. Life &

the culture of this word have a way of leading us around like a

carrot on a stick.

If you could just

get this you would be happy… and that thing dangles in front of you

like a carrot… but this thing always seems just out of reach. I

can’t really be happy until I have this, but it always eludes.

If you could just

get that… so you put all your energy & time into getting that…

only to find that it is not enough. You actually catch the carrot

only to find it does not deliver and you are still unhappy.

Today and the next 4

weeks we are going to be talking about carrots like money and things,

the idea of perfection, the approval of others, and comfort.

Today we are going

to start with the carrot called fame.

Fame

Most people, in

fact, most of you in this room would probably say you are not chasing

fame. But think again…

* Do you want

notable success & achievement?

* Do you want to

be loved & accepted?

* Do you want to

develop a skill & talent that is great enough to be admired?

* Do you want to

be known for something…?

This is the

definition of fame… “the state of being known or talked about by

many people, especially on account of notable achievements.”

Perhaps you are on some level seeking fame.

And most people in

here are on social media… Facebook, Instagram, snapchat, twitter,

youtube… and you often find yourself thinking “This would make a

great post.”

Let me snap a selfie

real quick…

* …so you can

get credit for an accomplishment.

* …so everyone

can know I am a good person.

* …so that

others can like me and my photo.

There have been

times in my life where I have felt the draw of “this would make a

great post.”

I am out with my

good looking wife and instead of just enjoying her company… I am

drawn to post on social because for some reason what others think is

soo important that it is actually drawing me out of the moment with

my soul mate.

I am doing a good

charitable work. Maybe I helped someone with a flat tire, gave

someone some food, or ministered to Alzheimer care patients… I am

drawn to post so that everyone will know what a good person I am…

they won’t know otherwise…

I have put way too

much effort in getting a selfie just right or a caption just clever

enough.. why? Could it be the pursuit of fame?

Am I the only one

who has felt this draw?

And maybe you