Handling Rejection Series

INTRODUCTION

• PC VIDEO

• SLIDE #1

• One of the most difficult dark emotions we can deal with can be the issue of rejection.

• I bet every one of us has felt the sting of rejection at some point in our life. I would imagine there may be many here today who are dealing with the aftershocks of feeling the sting of rejection.

• I think we can all relate to the deep hurt that comes with rejection, the loss of confidence and sometimes even the desire to no longer live life.

• One of my friends in High school took his own life when his girlfriend broke up with him over the phone, he then went and got his 4/10 and killed himself while on the phone with her.

• Fred was a very nice looking young man who never really felt the sting of rejection.

• Not all go obviously go to that extreme, but many still suffer from the pain of rejection even many years after it happened.

• Today we are going to examine Luke 9:1-6 along with a couple of other passages to see that the hurtful issue of rejection be dealt with.

• Being rejected by someone does not have to mean the end of the world for us.

• Let’s turn to Luke 9:1-6

• In this passage, Jesus us getting ready to send out the 12 Apostles to ministry. He is giving them instructions as to how to carry out the mission.

• SLIDE #2

• Luke 9:1–3 (ESV) 9 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.

• Let us begin by see that…

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

We can better handle rejection if we…

I. Understand what is truly important.

• This message is a bit difficult for me to deliver because I do not want anyone to think I am downplaying the hurt that comes with rejection or the emotional scars that can left behind.

• I faced a lot of rejection as a youth; I was not one of the rich kids, although we were not poor by any stretch.

• I was not in the “in” crowds, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.

• This was one of the reasons I loved sports, especially football. On the field I was at the very least their equal, plus I got the put the wood to folks on the football field!

• One of the things that can help us deal with rejection is by knowing what is really important.

• Jesus is getting ready to send the Apostles out on an important mission. The work was going to be difficult, not everyone was going to be receptive.

• If the Apostles were not aware of what was important, what do you think would have happened when they come across their first rejection?

• They may have given up or they may have gotten so fixated on the one who rejected their work they may have stopped until they could figure out why they were rejected.

• The mission was important, rejection was going to be part of the mission, later we will look at how Jesus taught the Apostles to deal with rejection.

• When we think about it, when someone rejects us, in the big scheme of things, there are more important things.

• For my friend Fred, was got dumped by a very pretty girl when he was 15 that he had dated for a few months.

• Sure the rejection hurt, but for Fred, he had a great future ahead of him, there would be plenty of other pretty girls, but he could not see that.

• If we allow ourselves to get blinded by the sting we feel from rejection, we can miss what is really important in life.

• SLIDE #4

• Romans 8:31 (ESV) What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

• As I matured I realized that all those folks who would not include me in their group were really not that important.

• What is important is pleasing my God and my WIFE! They are what matter.

• I have had a few rejections in my ministry, they do hurt, but ultimately if I can look in the mirror and know I did what God called me to do, I cannot be hurt be the rejection.

• Jesus reminds us of this in Luke 10:16