Jesus never said, “If anyone wants to become my disciple, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and lead a balanced life.”

Proverbs 4:20-23
Augustine said that a well-ordered heart is to love:
● The right thing
● To the right degree
● In the right way
● With the right kind of love

The Big Idea: Life Transformation is an inside job and flows from a whole heart.

We need “VIM” -Dallas Willard:
● Vision
● Intention
● Means
Finding a strategy by asking questions like:
● How and when will I pray?
● How will I handle money in a way that draws me closer to God?
● How can I approach work in a way that will help Christ be formed in me?
● How can I participate in my relationships in a way that demonstrates Christ?
● How will I be involved in Christian community?
● How can I fill my daily tasks with a sense of the Presence of God?

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Classic test cases from our lives:
● Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
● Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
● Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
● Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
● Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

V23-25 is a recap of the commanding principle:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

Whatever you do in WORD or DEED in Jesus’ Name.

RESPONSE:
● For the next 24 hours - do everything you do in Jesus’ Name.
● After the 24 hours, do an honest reflection and evaluation.
● Set a reminder each morning to live that day in Jesus’ Name.
● Create and use a mnemonic device.

Psalm 91
What is the bulletproof life? (v.1-2)

How protection actually works: (v.3-13)

Conquering Confusion: when bad things happen to good people.
(v.14-15)

/Chat: “Tell us what your biggest food addiction is!”/

Matthew 6:1-4

The Big Idea: Real transformation will always include the death of an addiction to approval.

Approval Addiction Symptoms:
● Getting hurt by what others say about us.
● Habitually comparing ourselves to others.
● A nagging sense that we are not important enough or special enough.
● Envy of others’ success.
● Trying to impress important people.

/Chat: Which ‘approval addiction’ symptom do you most suffer from?/

“At issue here is the question: ‘To whom do I belong? To God or to the world?' Many of my daily preoccupations suggest that I belong more to the world than to God. A little criticism makes me angry, and a little rejection makes me depressed. A little praise raises my spirits, and a little success excites me… Often I am like a small boat on the ocean, completely at the mercy of its waves.” Henri Nouwen

The alternative: A life of FREEDOM.

“One of the fine arts of gracious living is the art of living freely with our critics. When we have the grace to be free in the presence of those who judge our lives and evaluate our actions, we have Christian freedom.” Lewis Smedes

1 Corinthians 4:2-5

The Problem: We confuse our performance with our personal worth.
The Result: We seek a kind of approval from other people that can satisfy only when it comes from God.

Galatians 1:10
John 12:42-43

My Response Game Plan:
1. I will take my APPROVAL ADDICT THOUGHTS CAPTIVE.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5

2. I will quit MANAGING IMPRESSIONS.
3. I will seek the SUPERNATURAL REWARDS OF SECRECY.

Psalm 81
V1-5 - We sing to our God!!
V6-7 - I delivered you and included testing.
V8-10 - This is what I ask (no other gods) - Trust me and my deliverance.
V11-12 - A refusal to listen leads to a giving over to your own stubborn heart.
V13-16 - The rewards of absolute trust and submission to God.

Psalm 82
V1 - God renders judgement of the gods.
V2-3 Why do you get this so backwards and focus so poorly?
V4-5 Be aggressive for the disadvantaged.
V6 - The gods of this world know nothing and God shakes the earth!

Mark 12:28-34

God’s Simple Strategy for Humans:
Trust - Light burden and easy yoke
Submission - I was bought at a price
Co-mission - Love like Jesus loves

The Big Idea: To have a shot at transformation, I must shatter my delusional sense of
self.

Luke 18:9-14

This is a universal human struggle: a DELUSIONAL SENSE OF SELF.

Symptoms of a Problem:
● Vanity
● Defensiveness
● Exclusiveness
● Pride

Self-absorbed = How to be NOXIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.
“…to some who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on
everybody else.” (v.9)

PRIDE keeps us from recognizing that we are the BIGGEST SINNER in the room.

The antidote is HUMILITY.

Luke 14:11

The fallen self is occupied with two things: COMPARING and BOASTING.

“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the
next person. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but
they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If
everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to
be proud about.” C. S. Lewis

Luke 18:17
“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will
never enter it.””

Philippians 2:5-8
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who,

Four Ideas to Get Started:
1. SERVE someone who cannot repay you and TELL NO ONE about it.
2. BE AVAILABLE to be INTERRUPTED and when you are, tell no one about it.
3. CLOSE YOUR MOUTH and don’t talk about you.
4. Pursue the LEAST IMPRESSIVE PERSON in the room and LEARN
SOMETHING.

Exodus 6:1-9

TONIGHT’S OBJECTIVES:
● A greater grasp on the SIZE OF OUR GOD.
● Clean out our ears so that we might LISTEN BETTER.

“God Almighty” - El Shaddai - The Self-Sufficient and Almighty One

The Lord = “I AM who I AM”

Exodus 3:14

● THEREFORE - because of who I AM:
○ I will bring you out from under the YOKE OF SLAVERY.
○ I will REDEEM YOU with mighty acts of judgement.
○ I will take you as MY OWN PEOPLE.
○ I will be YOUR GOD.
○ Then you will KNOW
○ I will bring you to the PROMISED LAND as your possession.

● I AM THE LORD.

“Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of
their discouragement and harsh labor.”

Silence our discouragement.
Pause from our harsh labor.
Let’s stare at the LORD - the Sovereign and Almighty One.

● He will bring you out from under.
● He will redeem you.
● He will take you as His own.
● He will be your God.
● You will KNOW Him and His goodness.
● He will bring you to the promised place of provision

Mark 2:1-12
Mark 10:45

The significance of a name.
The power of friends
What does your faith look like?
Faith must be seen.
What is your faith doing?
Sin diminishes, torments, destroys, and kills.
The real human issue: sin.
The key idea: That you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.
How will you respond to truth?

/Chat: What team were you hoping to make it to the Superbowl this year?/

The Big Idea: : It’s time to identify our giant, run to the battle line, and
engage in our victory.

1 Samuel 17:20-24

David HEARD the giant’s defiance and it caused him to rise to COURAGE.
The Israelite army were AFRAID and FLED in FEAR.
No one believed that David was EQUIPPED to fight the giant.
There will be voices (sometimes your own) telling you, “YOU CANT.”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

REFLECT on the VICTORIES God has given you.

THREE WAYS DAVID FACED HIS GIANT:
1. In the NAME of the Lord. V45
2. With the weapons/tools He was SKILLED in using.
3. He faced his giant with CONFIDENCE.

All will know that the LORD SAVES.
YOUR GIANT comes to the BATTLE LINE.
It’s time for some of us to IDENTIFY our GIANT.

“Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered
among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy...He
who is alone with his sins is utterly alone.” - Dietrich Bonhoefer

The Big Idea: Confession is the antidote to shame.
James 5:13-20

The healthy soul is the source of powerful prayer.
Shame is the universal sense of self for humans and it is the birthplace of all of
our fears.

We all want desperately to hide and yet we also desperately want to be fully
known and loved.
When we practice confession, two things happen:
1. We are liberated from guilt.
2. We are more empowered for victory over sin.
The Four Steps of Confession:
1. Self-examination
● Perception - see our sin through the eyes of the one we sinned against.
Why did I do what I did?
What happened as a result of my sin?

2. Governing our Sorrow
James 4:8-10
2 Corinthians 7:9-11
3. A New Promise
4. Receive Healing Grace