Pastor Mike Biolsi
pastor@ncfchurch.org
www.ncfchurch.org
North Country Fellowship Church
Attitude Adjustment #1
GET OVER YOURSELF
ILLUS: I was thinking, as I prepared this morning’s message… you guys are really blessed to be at this church. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized, that you guys are TRULY blessed to have me as your pastor. Honestly! There are a lot of pastors out there that are corrupt - taking people’s money, sleeping with people’s wives. I am a man of integrity, honesty and HUMILTY – and I doubt you would find a better pastor for this church anywhere.
I know what you are thinking… you are thinking that I am thinking about myself too much. Well, I thought you would think that, so I thought about why I could say what I just said…
I mean, how many pastors do YOU know who can play guitar, sing, prepare inspiring messages (like this one), run the sound system, fix things on the building, type the bulletins, print calendars, visit people in prison, design the church web site, produce CDs, counsel people, cast vision and be there for his wife and kids, too? Man, I’m good!
You might even say that I am the reason people come to church, and without me there would BE no church… [can I get an “Amen”?- no? – good!] :)
Ever met someone who felt they were “God’s gift to the world?”.
I know a guy who said to me, once, “The woman who is lucky enough to marry me…” I told him he better find a nice car to fall in love with because he will never find a woman who will put up with that! :)
Basically, what I want to say to people like that pastor, or that guy is, “Get Over Yourself!” Wouldn’t it feel great to be able to say that to some people?
The problem I run into is that if I said that to other people, it will probably come back on me sooner or later. Actually, I think all of us probably need to “get over ourselves” in some way or another.
Philippians 2:3 - Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. (NLT)
“Attitude is everything” [agree/disagree?]
We will come back to that thought in a little bit, but first, let’s read a passage about attitude…
Philippians 2:5-11 - Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NLT)
[“made himself nothing” in the NASB reads, “emptied himself”]
ASK: What IS a Christian?
A Christian is a person who believes in, follows and imitates Jesus Christ.
So, as we near Easter, the time we remember the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for you and me – which has become so much more vivid in our minds thanks to “The Passion”, I think we should find out what it means to really live the way Jesus would.
Now, I HIGHLY doubt that ANYONE in this room will be beaten, scourged, mocked, spit upon and killed like Jesus was. SO, we will bypass scourging lessons today :).
So how can we be more like Jesus? One way is to get an attitude adjustment… adjust our thinking to be in line with what Jesus would think.
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to look at this passage and fins ways that we can adjust out attitude to line them up with the attitude Jesus had. After all, he is the greatest person who ever lived, the greatest hero, greatest role model – he is God. Could you ask for a better pattern to follow?
ASK: How many of you wish that your spouse, friends, children, acted more like Jesus? Well, they probably think the same of you! :) So let’s adjust our attitudes together.
The first life principle that we can lift from this passage is that we need to get over ourselves.
“A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package”
So how do you “empty” yourself? How do you get over yourself?
Look at life through a telescope, not a microscope…
When you look at life through a microscope, everything else is smaller than you. YOU are the biggest object, and YOU have the illusion that you are in control.
When you look at life through a telescope, you are looking at something MUCH BIGGER than you are, and you realize that you are small, that you are NOT in control.
IF I am not truly in control of my life {and I am not} then I must be willing to submit myself to a greater power that IS in control. That power is not a non-descript energy source, or some cosmic light source, it is the God who made all of creation, including you and me.
Isaiah 45:9-12 - You have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn’t ask, “Why did you make me this way?”… Children don’t have the right to demand of their parents, “What have you done to make us what we are?” I am the Lord, the Creator, the holy God of Israel. Do you dare question me about …what I have done? I created the world and covered it with people; I stretched out the sky and filled it with stars. (CEV)
I need to recognize and resign that GOD is in control – he has the ability to reward us for things done for Him, and the power to discipline us for the wrong things that we do. He has the power to give life and to take life away.
We can’t even control the prices of gasoline, what makes us think that we can control our lives?
We can’t control whether it will snow or be sunny, so why do we think we can control our future?
To empty ourselves is to rid ourselves of the notion that we are in control, that we do not need God. It is a very small universe of which you are the center. God knows our past, our present and our future and He is in control.
Not only is this humbling, but it is empowering! We have THE God of the universe on our side. The God who keeps all things going, who is infinitely larger than we are, is the God who wants to be our leader, guide, father and friend in this life…
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. - Corrie Ten Boom
James 4:13-16 - You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. (CEV)
Part of being empty of self it to give up my bragging rights. I am only good, I am only valuable because of my relationship with God, - and that is because of HIS love, not anything I have done to earn it…
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who paid $5 for a 19th-century painting he bought at a garage sale has sold it to a museum for $1 million, an art publication reported.
The unidentified 29-year-old actor found Joseph Decker’s (search) "Ripening Pears" wrapped in a blanket at a Los Angeles garage sale three years ago, the report in ARTnewsletter said.
The woman who sold him the painting said it had been sitting in her garage for more than 60 years, the publication said. Decker painted it around 1884 or 1885.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., bought the painting in February for $1 million, said Meredith E. Ward, who served as the man’s broker. The painting hung on the man’s kitchen wall for two years before he decided to do an Internet search on Decker, according to ARTnewsletter. Once he realized Decker’s fame, the man e-mailed a digital photo of the picture to the Manhattan-based Richard York Gallery, which specializes in 19th- and 20th-century American art.
"I looked at the e-mail, and I said, ’It’s too good to be true,’" said Ward, executive vice president of the gallery.
The painting was not valuable because of where it was located (it was in a garage). It was not valuable because of who owned it (a 29-year-old actor). It was valuable because of it’s creator. That is true with you and me. It is NOT who we are, nor where we live, nor who our parents are, our job or education that make us valuable – it is our Creator, and his work in our lives.
"True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit; it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us."
— Tryon Edwards
And when we give over control of our lives to God, He sees us as very valuable. Valuable enough to sacrifice his Son, Jesus for – to die for. He loves us that much. THAT is where your value comes from.
* You might be here today and you might not feel very loved (for whatever reason). God loves you. You are valuable.
* You might not feel like your life is worth a lot – it is worth more than you can imagine (it cost Jesus his life to give you yours).
1 Peter 5:6 - Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, (AMP)
As you and I do this, as we become people of true humility and “Get Over Ourselves”, we can expect the following:
1) God will hear our prayers
2 Chronicles 33:12-13 - In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God. (NIV)
2) God will give us honor
James 4:10 - When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. (NLT)
3) God will make us prosper
Proverbs 22:4 - True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. (NLT)
Attitude IS everything – so what attitude do YOU have. Get over yourself, get into God – so that you can start living a life that is bigger than you are, and experience the blessing of God. SO that you can find your REAL value in the eyes of the God who created you.
PRAYER.
