SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: NOT CONDEMNED
INTRO: New Year’s Eve is over, our family had a great time including an extra day of recovery with a snow day (yeah us teachers get all the weather breaks). But something was interesting to me when I was shopping on December 31st…did anyone else know that stores are a mess?
Besides the store being a mess, I took some time to observe some behaviors, and to me three of them stuck out. 1) I saw a young twenty something all-American girl walking and shopping and I thought to myself that’s a neat girl. Then I saw her at the check out and watched her buy a big bottle of Jack Daniels and a 4 pack of Hard Lemonade. 2) I saw a professional woman with top of the line fashion shopping as she walked thru the aisles pointing to things to buy, then her husband just picked up a bottle of this and a bottle of that until the cart was full for the party. 3) I saw a Hispanic daddy with a cart full of Ramen noodles and other inexpensive things bent over kissing his little baby sitting upright in the cart—kind of rubbing noses.
Now, I am not stating any person is right or wrong or good or bad, but in my own way I saw three different aspects of life, the party girl, the party parents & the loving dad. Now that we have a new year, it’s time to focus on what is important, are we going to serve the party OR are we going to serve our family?
BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of heaven.
GOAL: One of the first things we got to do is learn to understand what it means to live “NOT CONDEMNED.”
POINT #1: WE ARE GUILTY
A) On the Run: Nelson & Janet Hannifan have been on the run from the law for 12 years. Unlike the A-Team, they are wanted for committing a crime they DID commit. In this case, they committed mail and bank fraud while bilking investors out of at least $1.7 Million. They were busted because of an episode of “America’s Most Wanted.” They ran a Ponzi scheme based on lies & theft. While on the run and living under alias’s, the lived large including yachts, luxury vehicles, designer clothes & jewelry.
B) Great Lifestyle: Imagine how much fun they had changing states, altering names, buying ships, and who knows how many other crimes they committed in this process. This is like a real life version of Ocean’s 11 with criminal minds—not that any of you know what Ocean’s 11 means (do any of you)?
C) We Live a Great Lifestyle: Hey American, think about your great lifestyle. You have 3 meals a day, actually a 4th if you count Taco Bell. You have luxury clothes. How many purses do you have? How many shoes do you have? How many T-shirts do you have (that one is for me, I have too many)? You know, in many ways, we compared to all the other people in the history of the world, live lavish luxurious lifestyles.
D) Theft & Lies: How many of us actually stole something (raise your hands)? How many of us ever lied (raise our hands)? So in a spiritual sense, just like the Hannifans, WE ARE GUILTY.
POINT #2: WE ARE TO NOT GOING TO BE CONDEMNED
BIBLE VERSE: Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
A) Condemnation Defined: to express strong disapproval, to pronounce sentence, unfit for use.
B) Unfit for Use: Think about that for a second, we are absolutely unnecessary to the kingdom of God, because quite honestly we are absolutely worthless. We are in a very real sense, unfit for use.
C) Top Ten Useless Things in America: This is according to a website that also has lists such as “10 Worst People in the World,” “10 Reasons Why Leonard Nimoy is More Interesting than You thought,” “10 Best Films of 1998,” (even though the website was made in 2011) & “9 Ways to Make Airline Travels Suck Less.”
10) Blockbuster Video Stores
9) Segways
8) Best Buy Employees
7) Roundabouts
6) Handerpants (no joke, its underwear on your hands)
5) Prescription Drug Commercials
4) Wristbands (do people really support your cause because of your bright wristband?)
3) Energy Drinks
2) Pennies
1) Me, Tom Papez (OK I added that, the original Khloe Kadashian), but quite honestly, in the eyes of God, I really am UNFIT FOR USE
BUT, GOD USES ME ANYWAY! GOD USES ME ANYWAY! GOD USES ME ANYWAY! GOD USES ME ANYWAY! GOD USES ME ANYWAY! GOD USES ME ANYWAY!
POINT #3: WE RECEIVE BLESSINGS
Youth Leader, this is where you take over. Talk to your group about personal blessing you have received. Share with them some of the blessing you have received. I will add a list of verses about blessings as follows, please use them accordingly or as necessary. Please remember to keep the Not-Condemned theme going.
VERSES ABOUT BLESSINGS
James 1:25
But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.
1 John 3:21-23
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
Luke 11:28
But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it."
1 Peter 3:9
not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
Psalm 1:1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Psalm 24:5
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalm 3:8
Salvation belongs to the LORD; Thy blessing be upon Thy people! Selah
Matthew 5:2-12
And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
James 1:12
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him
Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
PRAYER WORKS:
PRAYER WORKS
George Muller was born in Prussia on September 27, 1805. His father was a collector of taxes and George seemed to inherit his father’s ability with figures.
When Muller was converted to Christ he was impressed by the many recurring statements of Jesus for us "to ask." At this point in Muller’s life he and his wife launched into a daring experiment. First, they gave away all of their household goods. The next step was even more daring, he refused all regular salary from the small mission he had been serving. He then set out to establish an orphan home to care for the homeless children of England.
The first home was dedicated in a rented building on April 21, 1836. Within a matter of days, 43 orphans were being cared for. Muller and his co-workers decided their experiment would be set up with the following guidelines:
1- No funds would ever be solicited.
2- No debts were ever to be incurred.
3- No money contributed for a specific purpose would ever be used for any other purpose.
4- All accounts would be audited annually.
5- No ego-pandering by the publication of donor’s names.
6- No "names" of prominent people would be sought for the board or to advertise the institution.
7- The success of the orphanage would be measured not by the numbers served or by the amount of money taken in, but by God’s blessing on the work, which Muller expected to be in direct proportion to the time spent in prayer.
When the first building was constructed, Muller and his friends remained true to their convictions. The public was amazed when a second building was opened six months after the first. They kept concentrating on prayer and eventually there were five new buildings, 110 workers, and 2,050 orphans being cared for.
George Muller not only counted on God to provide, but he believed that God would provide abundantly. For over 60 years Muller recorded every specific prayer request and the results. Muller was responsible for the care of 9,500 orphans during his life. These children never went without a meal. Muller never asked for help from anyone but God. $7,500,000 came to him over the course of his life and he vows it was all in answer to believing prayer.
Sources:
Buzzfeed Communities. 49 Things We Learned in School That Are Now Completely Worthless, September 10, 2012.
IL Couple Pleads Guilty After 12 Years on the Run. Associated Press, October 31, 2012.
Steve Shepherd. Citation: Boyce Mouton, Carl Junction Christian Church Newsletter, January 30, 1980.
Top 10 Useless Things in America. ManJr.
Wiley, Josh. 10 Comforting Bible Verses About Blessings. Yahoo Contributor Network, December 1, 2009.
*FYI: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR MORE WORTHLESS THINGS (UNFIT FOR USE), HERE ARE SOME USELESS THINGS WE LEARNED IN SCHOOL…
Cursive Writing
How to Climb a Rope
How to Play Hot Cross Buns on a Recorder
How to Build and Erupting Volcano
How to do Long Division
Memorizing the Periodic Table of Elements
How to Forage a River on the Oregon Trail
How to Make Paper Snowflakes
How to Make a Paper Mache Anything
How to Line Up By Height
How to Navigate the Encyclopedia
The Dewey Decimal System
How to Differentiate Between Different Types of Dinosaurs
MLA
And How to Say “I Don’t Know” if We Were Ever Accused of Something we Did