4 SYMPTOMS OF A DERAILED DESTINY
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A pastor was on his way to his church, running late, and was traveling well over the speed limit. He ended up being pulled over by a state trooper.
2. The officer was not impressed by his explanation or his collar and asked, “Do you want me to give you a little sermon about your driving, Pastor?”
3. “Oh, skip the sermon,” said the embarrassed pastor, “and just take up the collection.”
B. TEXT
“God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things He had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10, ERV.
C. SHORT-CIRCUITING YOUR FUTURE
1. You should never sum up your life with an instant snap shot of the moment. Your life is a like a book, with many pages and chapters. With hope and God, the next page or chapter may be the best time of your life.
2. Destiny is in OUR hands as much as it is in the hands of God. We can have a Disastrous Destiny if we choose to live our lives without God and His priorities.
3. Or we can have a Delightful Destiny which is the consequence of choosing to live to please God and fulfill His plan for our lives. Destiny is not our final destination – not all about getting to Heaven – DESTINY IS ABOUT WHAT WE DO ON THE WAY.
4. This message is entitled, “Four Symptoms of a Derailed Destiny.”
I. THE SYMPTOMS OF A DERAILED DESTINY
A. 1ST SYMPTOM: YOU’RE SPIRITUALLY STAGNANT
You’re spiritually stagnant if your Christian walk hasn’t changed much. You haven’t grown lately. You don’t sense the moving of the Spirit, or your prayers don’t seem to reach heaven.
2. STAY OUT OF THE STAGNANT WATER
a. Palmer Chinchen, in his book, True Religion, talks about traveling to Zimbabwe with his brothers to raft the Zambezi River, starting at the base of the Victoria Falls. The falls are the largest in the world, more than a mile wide and three hundred feet high, and the water from the falls rushes down the gorge below, creating the world's largest rapids.
b. In the United States, the highest-class rapid you are allowed to raft is a Class 5. The Zambezi's whitewater rapids can top 7 and 8...
c. Chinchen says as he and his brothers sat on the edge of an eight-person raft below those towering falls, their guide told them, WHEN the raft flips..." There was no "IF the raft flips" or "On the off chance we get flipped."
d. The guide said, "WHEN the raft flips stay in the rough water. You will be tempted to swim toward the stagnant water at the edge of the banks. Don't do it. Because it is in the stagnant water that the crocs wait for you. They are large and hungry. So WHEN the raft flips, stay in the rough water." (Palmer Chinchen, PhD, True Religion, David C. Cook, 2010, pp. 55-57)
3. That's a good lesson for the church. Stagnancy will kill the church, so we must resist stagnancy. Christ, our Guide, needs us to stay in the rough waters, where it's just a little bit uncertain and unsafe, pouring our lives into people. [In C. Philip Green, In the Fire!]
B. 2ND SYMPTOM: YOUR COMFORT ZONE IS TOO SMALL
1. Are you living a life that’s less than the life God created you to live? You haven’t released or enjoyed the gifts, skills, talents, and abilities God has put in you? Can you sense there’s more than you’re experiencing right now? As long as you stay in your comfort zone, you’ll never know the reason God saved you!
2. ILLUS. “Two Reasons Why People Change.”
a. Some people only change when they are forced to do so. They're like the guy who was always in trouble with the law. He went to confession and told the priest, "I'm changing my ways, father."
b. The priest said, "Have you finally seen the light?" He answered, "No father; I’ve felt the heat!"
c. There are 2 reasons why people change--they either feel the heat or see the light. Feeling the heat forces us to change. Seeing the light inspires us to change. [Kent Crockett]
3. The term “comfort zone” refers to the situations where we feel comfortable, safe, and NOT challenged. It’s natural to like one’s comfort zone, but most of us would admit that we shouldn’t remain there indefinitely. People don’t become mature avoiding all adversity.
4. Consequences for Refusing to Change? Until 1967, the Swiss were the leading watchmakers in the world. In 1967 digital technology was patented. The Swiss rejected it in favor of the traditional gears & springs. Seiko, a Japanese company, picked up the digital patent and became the leading watchmaker almost overnight. 75% of Swiss watchmakers went out of business because they refused to embrace something new. [ACTS Daily Encounter]
5. JESUS DIDN’T DIE ON THE CROSS SO YOU COULD SIT ON A PEW ONCE A WEEK! He died so you could fulfill your destiny. God didn’t save you just to go to heaven; He saved you and invested talents and abilities in you because He has a job for YOU to do.
6. When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water, he stepped from ‘the boat of stagnation’ to walk on the ‘waters of divine opportunity.’ God’s calling us to step out of our boats and see what He’ll do.
C. 3RD SYMPTOM: YOU’RE SPIRITUALLY BARREN, UNPRODUCTIVE
1. You’re in that condition if you haven’t seen anyone saved through your personal ministry recently. Studies indicate that 95% of all Christians are barren.
2. Are you ready to break that curse & be fruitful? It CAN be changed! Part of the reason Christians don’t witness is because they rarely around unbelievers. They attend mostly Christian activities and all their friends are Christians.
3. How do you minister to unbelievers? They may not be ready for church. Do something fun with them. Ladies, invite your unbelieving friends to go shopping. Men, take your lost friends to a Cajun restaurant, gun show, fishing, or a ballgame. Ministry begins by being yourself and having fun.
4. Ladies, get up next Saturday morning and tell your husbands, “Honey, I’m going to the mall all day today – it’s my Ministry!” People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It’s time to break out of our insulation and be fruitful for God!
D. 4TH SYMPTOM: IF YOU’RE MORE A RECEIVER, THAN A GIVER
1. Too many church members have accepted a position of only receiving ministry. Mark 16:17 doesn’t say, “And these signs shall accompany…the Pastor or the board or the Evangelist.” No! Jesus said, “And these signs shall accompany those who believe!”
2. God has miracles for everyone who believes. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then God has ordained miracles for you and through you! It is your destiny to meet needs, experience miracles, and destroy the works of the devil every day – through divine appointments of God. God matches a person in need with a person walking in the Spirit. If you have God in you, then you’re a person with God’s power!
II. ARE YOU READY TO REBOOT YOUR DESTINY?
A. RECOGNIZING DIVINE APPOINTMENTS
1. Do you want a fresh anointing from God? All you have to do is learn to commune & cooperate with the Lord. He desires to initiate miracles through you!
2. A miracle happens when a need meets its solution. A miracle is a divine appointment – when a person with pain meets a person with power! YOU ARE A MIRACLE WAITING TO HAPPEN because you have God inside you, and He’s longing to meet someone’s needs through you!
B. YOU CAN BE A MISSIONARY WITHOUT LEAVING TOWN!
1. The Great Commission doesn’t require us to go to the inner city, nor to make a trip to Africa. The Great Commission is fulfilled every time you come into contact with an unbeliever. Unbelievers are not just unbelievers – they are miracles disguised as needs.
2. THREE KEYS TO MEETING NEEDS: Ministry must be personal, meet needs, and be relational.
C. SEE THE LOST WITH JESUS’ EYES:
1. People are discouraged with their life. Everyone has problems with their boss, or their spouse, and or their kids. They may disguise it, but everyone has problems.
2. People have no spiritual direction. Most people wander through life without direction. Our display of concern for them breaks down the idea that ‘no one cares.’ And our caring shows that God cares!
3. People are lonely, hurt and wounded. Many people have been betrayed, rejected, criticized, put down, and made to feel worthless. They question their own value and desperately need our acceptance. Divorce, broken homes & relationships create the need for love and attention. We can be God’s hands & heart to touch and love them!
4. People feel condemned. The enemy reminds people of their problems, sins, and mistakes. He tries to drive us away from God. But God doesn’t see failure when He looks at you; He sees your possibilities, what you CAN BE. God loved you and want the best for you!
5. People are spiritually hungry. They’re hungry for peace; for God; for what you have. You may think you need help, but if you have Jesus Christ in your life, you have a lot more than they do!
6. WE NEED TO GET IN THE MIRACLE ZONE! Step out and speak for God, to help the needy, and God will take over from there!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Word to the Taxi Driver
1. I remember the story of a man who caught a taxi and as a Christian got in, he said, "How are you?" The taxi driver said, "I don't want to beep jinx you. I'm beep awful. I've had a beep beep day." The Christian said, "You can't jinx me." "Why not?" the taxi man asked.
2. "Because I'm a Christian. So what's happened, that you think your life is jinxed?" He described his father's death, his younger brother's relationship problems and subsequent suicide, the 5 times he'd had to have his bumper fixed in the last two weeks.
3. The Christian thought it really did sound like his life was cursed. He prayed, "Lord, show me how to reach this guy." The only thing that came to mind was “How would you like to break this curse over your life?” The taxi man said, "How can I do that?"
4. He said, "What’s your biggest problem?" He said, "This jinx on my life." He said, "No, your biggest problem is between you and God." "How'd you mean?"
5. "Would you agree with me that you've probably broken all of God's laws?" "Yeah, many times over." "That puts a barrier between you and God." So he explained the Good News about Jesus. The Taxi man said, "So how can I fix this?"
6. “If you surrender your life to Jesus, He’ll take your curse and give you His blessings. That’s why He died on the cross. Would you like to do that?” “Yes!”
7. “Then pull over and let’s pray.” He pulled the taxi over and they prayed. The taxi man asked Jesus to save him from sin and to take his jinx away.
8. When he dropped Christian off at his destination, Taxi’s face was beaming. “I don’t feel the curse hanging over me anymore!” [The Christian said, "It was the best taxi ride I ever had."]
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you want to receive Jesus like the Taxi Man? (Raise your hands). Let’s ask Jesus to change our destiny, to break the curse of sin off our lives. PRAYER.
2. We have placed 9 Prayer Banners around the sanctuary. We’re going to take the last 20 minutes of this service to move to each, as you feel led, and pray for 2-3 minutes at each, until you have prayed at all nine.
3. This is our effort to get closer to God this January during “Go-To-The-Altar Month.” Let’s go pray!
[I preached this 7 years ago and have no idea of its originality. Let me know if some of this is your work and I'd be glad to give you credit.]
