Expectations: Are You Swimming Or Sinking?

Expectations: Are You Swimming or Sinking?

Jonah1:1 – 4:7

OPENER:

Get a roll of toilet paper (individual is better) that is pre-wrapped. Carefully undo the wrapping and tape a $10 bill inside the roll and close the packaging.

Tell teens that inside the paper bag is:

Something that is very useful to a person

Many people find it difficult to live without it

We throw it away daily

As teen opens bag and is surprised or disappointed, wait to see what they do with the roll then say:

If you forget anything said tonight, remember this:

Your expectations shape your view of what is real around you

Often we do not look deeper to see the real expectation that God has for us

Illustration --------- YOU CALL THIS A GAS STATION!

One day a lady pulled into a self serve gas station to fill up her car.

She got out of her car, hurried over to the pump, lifted the nozzle to her gas tank, and tried to pump the gas.

Nothing happened.

Belatedly she realized that this was one of those gas stations where you had to prepay.

Frustrated and in a hurry, she ran inside, paid the cashier, and returned to her car to resume pumping her gas.

She squeezed the handle, but still nothing happened. “What kind of lousy gas station is this?” she mumbled angrily to herself.

After trying again with no better results, she ran back in to the cashier and started giving him a piece of her mind.

With a concerned look on his face, the cashier talked right over the top of the lady’s scolding.

“Ma’am, please stay right here. Don’t go back to your car. I just called 911.

When you were leaving the building after paying me, I saw a man get into the back seat of your car.

It looked to me like he didn’t belong there. The only way I could get you to come back inside was to turn off your gas pump.”

Just then the police pulled up and took into custody the man who was hiding in the woman’s car.

The woman learned later that he was trying to get initiated into a very dangerous gang.

Armed with a knife, he had planned to kill her and steal her car once they left the gas station.

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Consider This…

Sometimes we feel resentful and frustrated about a disappointment, a failure, a loss, or a serious setback of some kind—like the woman at the gas station.

We don’t like it when life doesn’t go as smoothly as we’d like.

At those moments consider that God may be trying to get our attention, to slow us down so that we can hear his voice.

Sometimes our EXPECTATION of something is due to our frantic pace, we don’t notice sin creeping into the back seat of our lives, putting us at great risk.

Thank God that he’s always on the lookout for us, and that at times he uses setbacks to rescue us from danger.

HIGH EXPECTIONS: They bring growth and learning.

Whether you win or lose, succeed or fail, you’ll lea a lot from big challenges.

LOW EXPECTIONS: We won’t see growth or learn much more.

No risk equals no growth. We want to ride the safe rides—not the roller coasters…

DVD Segment Option: Parenthood

The Buckmans have all the trappings of a large family, including estranged relatives, overachievers, black sheep, divorced and single parents, eccentrics, and rebellious teenagers. Gil (Steve Martin) is at the center of it all: the conservative son, brother, and father; trying to please everyone at once and turn conflict into peace while searching for his own identity and purpose in life.

"I love you. " START> 1:49:45 (“I love you”)

STOP>1:56:40 (Gil hugs his wife)

When Grandma (Helen Shaw) talks no one listens, because most of the family assumes she’s senile.

She actually has a lot to say, and in this scene, she describes the difference between two attractions at an amusement park: the merry go round and the roller coaster.

She explains that a lot of people choose the ease of the merry go round since there isn’t any challenge involved in riding it.

She, on the other hand, would choose the roller coaster because the ups and downs are much more exciting than just going around.

Gil misses the point, hearing the words but not the wisdom that most people choose the safe, easy route, but the few risk takers who welcome the ups and downs of life get the most out of living.

Which ride best resembles your life, the merry go round or the roller coaster?

HIGH EXPECTIONS: They help us find our destinies.

The student must first open his book, to discover he can learn.

The new Christian must first try trusting in God to discover His abounding love.