Sermon Central
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Get Uncomfortable Series
Contributed by Jerry Mckee on Feb 5, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: This series is based on the book, "Do Hard Things" by Brett and Alex Harris. It is a 7 week series that challenges teenagers to step up from the low expectations that our culture has placed on them.
The Rebelution
Get Uncomfortable
How to do Hard things that take you out of your comfort zone
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. – 2 Timothy 1:7
Illustration –
I. Life is full of scary things
A. Can you remember something in your own life that at the time seemed entirely beyond you?
1. There is always a “before” and “after” when it comes to hard things
2. Before – we are fearful; After – we are successful
3. We would rather be comfortable than to stretch oursevles
B. When we choose comfort, we build an invisible fence around us.
II. Comfort Zone Breakers
A. God works through our weaknesses to accomplish His big plans.
1. Everyone likes to feel strong and smart
2. We don’t want to do things that don’t come easily or naturally. When we do this, we are also saying that God isn’t good and powerful enough to help us do what we can’t comfortably do on your own
3. Why do we do nothing?
a. We’re not as good at something as someone else we know
b. We don’t have all the resources we think we need
c. We figure that the chances of failing and looking like losers are too high
4. The misconceptions
a. God only uses the best and brightest
b. He only uses us when every last thing is in place
c. He only brings glory to Himself when we…bring glory to ourselves too.
B. Courage is not the absence of fear
1. Fear is the fence that keeps us stuck in our comfort zones.
2. We are waiting to stop feeling afraid before we attempt anything. If we wait until the fear and feelings of inadequacy go away, we’ll never venture outside our comfort zone
Illustration - Faith, taking medicine
3. We’re afraid to try anything because of painful past experiences
4. Letting fear control your actions is a statement of distrust in the goodness of God
5. The good news is that all it takes to overcome many of our fears is to face them – with God’s help – by taking the first step
C. You Can’t get to success without risking failure
1. We all like to win
2. A very promising competitive streak can also breed a very limiting dread of failure. We tell ourselves, disaster will follow and everyone will know I’m a loser
3. We aren’t called to be successful all of the time. We’re called to be faithful
4. All effort – even failed effort – produces growth
5. So many of us allow little failures to keep us from gaining important skills, from maintaining vital relationships, or even from accomplishing great things in our lives.
D. Taking a step into the unknown
1. What could your life look like if your trust in God overcame your fears?
2. How could your life be different if you chose to do hard things by stepping outside your comfort zone?
Final Thought: God is ready to work through us, even with our limitations, and bless our failures.
