Good morning!
If you will remain standing for the reading
Before we get started, let’s pray for
- Romans 3:24-26
24. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
25. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
26. for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
Let’s pray
- Today we’re going to be talking about Truth and FACTS
“What is the truth?” and “why does the truth matter in my life?”
Today’s Title is
“Facts and Feelings”
Can you tell the difference?
It takes a very deep level of maturity
To be able to tell the difference between these 2
And even STILL we can let Feelings deceive us
If we FEEL strongly enough about something
We will automatically label it as “Truth”
Even if it’s not
We can
Read something online
Watch something on the News
Hear something from a friend
And if it “feeds” what we want to
Hear
The way we want to see it
Or how we FEEL
We will label it as Truth
Now some of you are saying
“Amen”
“That’s right!”
And you can’t even see that you do it too
This Sermon today isn’t going to make me friends
But that’s ok,
If at some point you don’t get upset with me
Or get challenged, or eve offended
I’m not doing my job
But before you get Upset
Stay with me, I think today will do you some good
No matter who you
Voted for
Democrat or Republican
News outlet you watch
Listen closely… it’s good you’re sitting down
We have the capacity to be WRONG
There’s no way 100% of your sources are RIGHT!
This is Statistically Impossible!
I know stating these Facts might get you all up in your Feelings
Now that we got that out of the way
Jesus tells us that you are blessed when you hunger for righteousness - Matthew 5:6
Or In other words
when you have a deep desire to be right with God.
NOT Man… But God
He promises that when you have this sort of hunger or thirst - you will be filled!
In order to embrace today’s passages,
It is first critical to understand an important concept
The concept of “truth.”
What is “Truth”
A truth is something that is a reality whether anyone knows about it or not.
There have been many truths throughout history that were “discovered.”
Gravity and the other laws of physics have only been discovered in the past couple hundred years,
In spite of the fact that they have always existed.
Truths exist outside of knowledge.
They are not dependent on human understanding or belief.
A truth has always been true and will always be true.
However, in the second half of the 20th century, people started to disrupt this understanding of the idea of truth.
Truth became “relative” as people began to believe more often that their beliefs have an effect on truth.
We see this daily in the
Social media platforms
News (no matter which one you listen to)
In the last few years - people have started to think that their feelings are their truth.
This is the exact opposite
Facts and Truth do not change based on Feelings
BUT just because Facts don’t change according to Feelings
Doesn’t mean that Feelings aren't real.
They are
Beliefs exist.
But that does not mean they are the truth.
A person can believe they can fly (SING: I believe I can Fly)
Or feel like they don’t need to breathe anymore in order to survive -
But that does not have any effect on reality.
Humans cannot fly without mechanical intervention,
You can jump out of a plane and for a moment FEEL
Like you’re flying,
Truth: YOU’RE FALLING!!!
Certain Humans can hold their breath as long as
24 minutes and 3 seconds.
But simply put, Humans cannot defy the truth that they must breath to survive.
If you take this understanding of truth and apply it to your understanding of the promises in the Bible, you will realize that the scriptures you read are making truth statements.
You are
Justified.
Redeemed
You have peace.
You stand in grace.
You have hope.
These truth statements don’t come with question marks or conditions other than WHAT? - - - - FAITH!!!
If you have faith - they are yours.
So your FAITH can literally change Fiction in to FACT!
And there are many more truths in the bible about your identity. - - You are loved.
You are beautifully and wonderfully made.
You are an image-bearer of God.
These statements do not take your feelings into account.
They do not change if you aren’t feeling them on a certain day or if you have doubts
They are true of you ALL THE TIME!
- Whether you’re having a good day or a bad day,
Whether you’ve sinned recently, or someone has hurt you.
They are true of you if you ask for forgiveness or if you don’t. And if you stand in these truths, you have a new identity.
An identity built on a Truth/Fact
That does not change when you don’t Feel it
This is not an easy thing to remember -
Most people do not live as if these statements are true very often.
In the psychology world this is called
Imposter Syndrome
This means: you don’t feel like you’ve earned what you have
It can feel like you’re “playing a role”
Instead of fulfilling your Purpose
Can I be transparent with you today?
Sometimes I feel this way
All the blessing God has given me and
I feel like
I’ve somehow cheated the system
Because I most times can only see what I’ve done wrong (PAST)
And not what God has done in/through me
I feel like an imposter
Like a thief living in someone else’s blessing
So what can we do?
Ask God to help you to live more and more in HIS TRUTH
There is an alignment process that begins to shape our entire lives,
including the hurts we have experienced..
But when we accept these truths and start living in Facts, not manipulated by our feelings
We have a new identity - and
A newfound strength to live at peace with others and to rest in this Truth, allowing us to see ourselves differently
Today’s Challenge:
I’m giving you homework
Write down how you feel about yourself
Now write down facts that God says about you
Let’s take it a step further (Others)
Write down how you feel about someone (conflict)
Now write down FACTS God says about your enemy
1. Ephesians 6:12
12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
You will not starting seeing victory until you can properly see your TRUE enemy
No matter how you FEEL about them
The FACT remains, when you allow your
Feelings/Emotions Control you,
You give a foothold to the ENEMY to manipulate you
Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
You say you’re undeserving
You are right!
But you can also declare over yourself that you have been
MADE RIGHT
Because of your WHAT??!! YOUR FAITH
No matter how you Feel
You can have peace in the Facts
You are redeemed
You are cherished
You are loved
And You have a PURPOSE!!!
And there is NO Feelings in there world
That can change these Facts
It is, what it is
With ever head bowed…
