Today for our message, we are going to play a short game called, “What is it?”
The drawing that is being passed out to you is a view of a part of an item here within our Sanctuary. This past week I came in here and spent many, many hours perfecting my drawing for you. I know what you are thinking, and I do agree with you, I AM INDEED A VERY TALENTED ARTIST. Please take a moment to identify the structure and indicate where this piece fits on that structure.
Okay, who thinks they know what it is?........ This is a drawing of_________.
Why do you suppose it was nearly impossible to identify exactly what my drawing was?
I want you to think about how this experience was like trying to figure out what God is doing in your life by examining a single action or event within your life.
From a distance, the wood panel for the most part is beautiful overall, but it’s not so attractive when you get up close and examine its individual parts. The closer you look at it the more flaws and imperfections you see.
Isn’t our lives much like that as well? We will stare closely at a problem or difficult situation and pass judgment on it. Our perspective is limited to our own experience. However, God sees our lives with His unlimited perspective. He sees how every hardship we face contributes to the soaring artwork that he is creating in our lives, and how this present problem is molding us into the glorious architecture of heaven. Let me show you what I mean. Please stand with me this morning as I read to you God’s Word that is found in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
How you view yourself, the world, those around you and yes even God makes you the person you are. Perception fuels what you believe, how you act and how you re-act to all situations in life. Perceptions even affect those that see us. Others have perceptions of each one of us and those perceptions can determine what others may do in life. This is so very true for others that view us as Christians.
I.How do non-believers perceive you?
A.In most situations, the way people perceive us is what they believe us to be. This is the reason that we as Christians must be so careful about how we live our lives.
Illustration: We have all heard about, and probably know, some people that do not go to church because of the way we behave as Christians. As a professing believer in Jesus, we are under a microscope, our lives are in a fish bowl for all to see and trust me when I tell you, people are watching every move we make. They notice how we act and re-act in all situations.
At our last church we had a new visitor that started coming and shortly thereafter became involved with our Wednesday evening youth groups. Each Wednesday we would have a meal, an adult Bible Study and two separate Youth Groups. One for the elementary age kids and one for the Teens.
This woman was reaching out and trying to get plugged into the life of the church. One evening after our activities were wrapping up she came to me and shared with me that she felt shunned by some of the other members and she felt unwelcomed. I of coarse apologized and brought it up at our next elder deacon meeting.
One of our deacons argued with me and said that we had a very friendly and welcoming congregation and that the lady was wrong in her thinking.
I will tell you what I told him during that meeting and I still believe it to be true.
“Whatever someone perceive is correct to them and it is not for us to debate or go against what someone else perceives about us. It is up to us to graciously correct what we can on our end to help change others perceptions about us. If someone perceives our church as being an unfriendly church that is unwelcoming, then guess what, we are and this is something we must pay close attention to and work on.”
1.We wonder why we as Christians can’t seem to change anything. Why we as Christians don’t seem to grow. Why our churches never grow? It’s because people want to see Christians that act the same way in public as they do at church. They want someone to actually be as concerned for them as the Jesus that they hear us preach about.
2.Christians, people are tired of playing games. If they wanted to “play” church, they would be doing it. The bottom line is this: It is time for us to start being the influence that God has told us to be.
Illustration: I was told in one church that some people around town perceived me as being stuck up because I didn’t always wave at people as I was driving. It wasn’t that I was blowing people off; it was that I was simply driving from point A to point B and waving to people really wasn’t a thought of mine.
I felt so horrible about this that people thought this about me. I made it a point to wave at everyone no matter if they waved back or not. I didn’t want people to think that about me.
I have to tell you if there is ever a time that you see me driving and I do not wave at you, it is not that I am blowing you off, it is that I am concentrated on my driving. And trust me when I tell you, you would rather me concentrate on my driving rather than concentrate on waving at you.
3.I think we would all agree that not all perceptions are true of us but once again we need to understand and be concerned to a certain degree of others perceptions. A negative perception of us can ruin any evangelism efforts we may have in reaching the lost.
Illustration: Think of it this way. You realize that you are out of milk and you need drive into town to get a gallon. The temperature outside is as it has been for the past week, HOT! You’re already a little frustrated because you didn’t eat your Fruity Pebbles because you didn’t have any milk.
So you get into the car and take off to get your milk. A few mile or so down the road you realize something is terribly wrong, not just because you ran out of milk but because your air condition just went out in your car.
Here you are driving to ten miles away in 100 degree weather to get some milk in a car that has no air conditioner. Your mood is not in the best state at this point. You finally get to the store, dripping in sweat to find out that the store you went to is out of milk. So, you get back into your sauna on wheels and travel another five miles or so to the next store. You get to the store and go on a wild goose chase trying to find your milk because this store has changed everything around and you can’t find anything.
You bump into your neighbor and she says hello but you are so tunnel visioned and upset you simply nod with a sweaty scowl on your face as you continue searching for your milk.
You finally get your milk, that is overpriced by the way, and you head home praying the milk doesn’t sour in the Kansas heat before you make it home.
4.Here’s my question for you: “In this situation, would you feel comfortable and would your neighbor feel comfortable if you were to knock on her door and invite her to our lovely friendly happy church the following Sunday?”
5.It’s true, none of us are perfect, all of us will fail, and none of us can have a great day every day. But as Christians we are to realize the importance we hold within all we say and do. We are ambassadors for Christ and the way we are perceived can make or break another person’s faith.
6.If we are out doing non- Christian things and others see us that are searching and seeking Jesus, we will convey the wrong answer to them and they will think it is okay to do the wrong rather than the right as they look to us as examples of what a Christian ought to be.
B.This is true of us all no matter our age. Within our K.I.C.K.S. Youth Group we have a few leaders that other look to as an example. Even some of you adults have noticed one or two of our Teen’s and have been inspired by their walk with Jesus.
1 Timothy 4: 12-16 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1.Paul really challenges Timothy to teach and live the truth of the gospel, no matter what obstacles there might be in front of him.
2.Perhaps one of the greatest challenges for Timothy was his age. He was likely much younger than the majority of the congregation that was in Ephesus.
3.Paul doesn’t let Timothy use that as an excuse though. Instead, he tells Timothy to “be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” In other words, Paul was telling Timothy to live in such a way that his life would silence any of his critics while setting a pattern for other believers to follow.
4.Paul understood that Timothy wouldn’t be perfect. It’s why he told him in vs. 15 to: “Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may he evident to all.” We are not perfect and will not ever be this side of heaven at least. However, we should be perfectible and we should be making progress. People should be able to look at our lives and notice that we are growing in godliness. Can people look at your life and tell that you are more faithful; more obedient; more like Jesus today than you were last week, last month, or last year?
5.Paul’s instructions may have been to a young person but even if you are not a young person, there is application for you here as well. The life that Paul is challenging Timothy to live is one that we should ALL be living! Timothy was simply to serve as an example for the believers. That means that Paul expected others to follow the example Timothy set with his life.
6.Are you living a life others could look to and follow as an example of godliness? If not, what needs to be removed from or added to your life? Won’t you take whatever steps necessary to make that a reality today?
It is important how others may perceive us but…...
II.How do you perceive you?
A.Sometimes we are our own worst enemies on how we see ourselves so what we do is trying to bury and hide all the bad and negatives rather than give it all the Jesus and allow Him to change us.
My face in the mirror
Isn’t wrinkled or drawn.
My house isn’t dirty,
The cobwebs are gone.
My garden looks lovely
And so does my lawn.
I think I might never
Put my glasses back on.
1.We try and fool ourselves that all is well and we simply become blind to the bad in our lives and we refuse to See It, Admit It, and we simply refuse to Change. We place our own perceptions of ourselves over God’s perception of us.
2.We justify our disobedience to His Word and lie to ourselves making it all better. We need to give it Jesus; we need to give it all to Jesus.
Illustration: I heard a story about a perfect family: A perfect family with the perfect life, living in the perfect house. The Mother had perfect clothes as the rest of her perfect family. Dad had the perfect job that allowed them to live in the perfect home.
If you were to visit the perfect family in their perfect home you would see that their lawn was perfect in every way. As you would enter their perfect home you would see how everything in the home was just perfect.
BUT, if you were to go in their basement you would see a frightening sight. All the junk, garbage and things that this perfect family did not want others to see was thrown down deep into their basement. The perfect family never would allow anyone access to theor basement.
You see, some of us pretend that we don’t have certain things in our lives. We trick ourselves in perceiving a false reality of who we are.
The truth is: We really are ashamed of whom and of what we have become and we think it is easier to hiding instead of giving it over to Jesus. We are so ashamed that we have bought into the lie that God’s perception of us is totally negative.
III.How does God perceive you?
A.VIDEO: “Blinded”
1.How do you perceive yourself? You do not have to live in darkness and the sins that are in your life can and will be forgiven. God’s perception of us is that we are worthy of His never ending Love.
2.God’s perception of us outweighs our own perception because in the end all that truly matters is how God perceives us. His perception of us is that He loves us even though at times we don’t love ourselves and even though we really don’t deserve His Love, He still Loves us.
John 3: 16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
3.God is for us, not against us. Don’t you think it is about time we bask in the glory of His Love and forgiveness?
Conclusion: We are sons and daughters of the one and only God almighty. There is nothing more precious to Him than His children. His love for us surpasses all things and will last for eternity.
Ephesians 2: 4-7 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
- L.O.V.E. LOVE IS GOD’S PERCEPTION OF US!
