Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control, 6/21/15

Sermon 6-21-15  Fruit of the Spirit - Self-Control-Joy  1 Cor 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The series – fruit of the spirit

Self control and joy are cousins.  Self control leads to joy.

The right thing to do is the right thing to do…..
We all want the joy, but it is rarely found without some self control
Good decisions are often difficult at the time, but lead to long term joy.

For many of us the first thing that we think about is how we eat or don’t eat
Exercising.  Eating right.
Aaron israelite – its all mathematics

Pumpkin pie when I was 9 years old
Trip to donut shop when I was 14.
Bought them all.
Donuts are spiritual
Used to be on a donut a day to lose 10 lbs……
Self-control can have much deeper, more spiritual purposes than just being able to say “no” to donuts

During his term as President of the U.S., Lyndon Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion: "You can't run the country if you can't run yourself." Respecting Mrs. Johnson's wise observation, the President lost 23 pounds.

Self control is so much more than what we eat or drink……..
Sometimes we are our own worst enemies………

We live within a culture that pretty much encourages the lack of self-control
We are taught that joy is found by taking

For example –
"Betcha can't eat __just ___one____"
Its never enough
We are told to want more and more and more and more. And new and new and new
How about the sneaches?

God is not the cosmic killjoy
It’s got to be more than God not wanting us to have bad habits
Selfishness and unrelenting self indulgence is bad for you
Bleeds over into the church – we begin to think that we are consumers…..s

When I think about self control, one of the things that I think about is……..
Bringing every thought into captivity
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:4-5

Frequently, when I think about self-control & how having more of it helps me grow closer to Jesus that I think about things like:
·        Protecting my mind from lust
·        Guarding my heart against resenting or hating my brother or sister
·        Throw the catalogues away if you don’t need anything……..

Some years ago I quit a bad habit [smoking]
I didn’t feel more spiritual, but I felt joy that that thing no longer had control of me

Joy in difficulty
Weeping lasts for a night but joy comes in the morning.  Psalm 30
          The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight
What hurts today will likely feel differently tomorrow
Email- really pastor? Just see the good
Toopta lost her fortune – sulked the rest of her life                    PICTURE
          YES YOU LOST YOUR MONEY
          YES THEY FIRED YOU
          YES YOU GOT DIVORCED
          YES YOU LOST YOUR HAIR
          AND YES YOU CAN STILL HAVE JOY
Yes, joy can come to us if we choose it.

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,  but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Prov 17:22

Joy is a choice

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years.  At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."

Phil middleton/mike greenlee in princeton

The staff at st johns in Houston

Learning to let the joy go
A conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren't free to say "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord." All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Let your balloon go.

Just as we train for a sporting event, we can train for spiritual life
Loving god does not come naturally to most people.  It must be cultivated.
We naturally love our selves

We don’t think we need it until a problem arises
New Sunday school class…….
“Train yourselves in prayer and reading the Scriptures

Visited w a young man who told me that he had not been practicing religion………
Not going to church
I thought that he might not just run out and start because we were talking
I wanted to give him an easy place to start……
Go outside, look up……look around.  Say thank you…..
That is practicing religion

There is lots of joy in life, if we just look to see it.

Transition to fathers day

Paul is saying The Game is BIGGER than us as individuals.
Parents,  aunts and uncles, yes even grandparents need to instill self control……
Put also deliver a little joy……..

I told you that we would start w self discipline and end w joy
Here is

Father’s day
cloudy with a chance of meatballs……..2009
earl the deputy - Cal’s birth day clip


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