The Danger of the Sinner’s Prayer: Why Decisionism Fails

• The American Dream vs. God's Plan 00:01:17 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the cultural pursuit of personal ambition and the 'American dream' with the biblical call to seek God's kingdom above all else.
• Jealousy and Comparison 00:06:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies jealousy, envy, and comparison as the primary dangers that hinder spiritual life, exacerbated by social media.
• Jealousy as a Gateway Sin 00:09:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that jealousy is not a minor sin but a 'gateway sin' that leads to disorder and evil, citing James 3 and biblical examples like Cain and Saul.
• Jealousy Blinds to God's Goodness 00:14:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that the core lie of jealousy is the belief that others are blessed while one is not, which distorts one's perception of God's work.
• The danger of jealousy blinding us to God's goodness 00:14:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies jealousy as a danger that causes individuals to believe others are blessed while they are not, citing Saul's life as an example of someone who had much but focused on David's blessings.
• The litmus test of heart reaction to others' success 00:17:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to examine their gut reaction when others are celebrated, noting that jealousy often manifests as a desire to call out flaws or bring others down.
• Comparison and its spiritual danger 00:20:56 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that the area where one compares themselves to others is the specific area where they are susceptible to missing God's goodness in their own life.
• The concept of the 'eighth slice' 00:21:26 ▶️ 📄
  > An analogy used to describe how people focus on their one negative aspect (the eighth slice) while ignoring the seven positive aspects of their lives, leading to a negative mindset.
• Prayer as a defense against envy 00:25:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to pray 'God, show me how you've blessed me in this area' to shift focus from frustration to recognizing God's active blessings.
• Jealousy turning attention away from God's kingdom 00:28:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The second major danger of jealousy is identified as shifting focus from God's kingdom to personal envy, illustrated by Saul's continued fear and enmity toward David despite seeing God's hand on him.
• The Danger of Jealousy 00:28:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies jealousy as a danger that turns attention away from God's kingdom, using Saul's reaction to David's success as a primary example.
• Kingdom Truth vs. Self-Centeredness 00:32:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the lie that 'life is all about me' with the kingdom truth that 'life's bigger than me,' citing Jesus' call to deny oneself.
• Practical Application: Denying Self 00:34:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to actively deny jealous thoughts and declare God's blessing on others as a defense against envy.
• Prayer and Repentance 00:35:22 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a prayer to acknowledge God's goodness, confess jealousy, and turn envy into praise.
• Evangelism and Salvation 00:37:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses non-believers, explaining that sin (including jealousy) separates us from God and inviting them to receive Jesus as Savior.

• Sermon Illustration 00:03:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about his five-year-old son who was initially thrilled to receive $10, but became miserable and cried when he discovered a classmate had $300, illustrating how comparison ruins joy.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of King Saul becoming angry and jealous when women sang that David had killed ten thousands while Saul killed only thousands, comparing it to modern social media follower counts.
• Sermon Illustration 00:15:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the biblical example of King Saul, who was blessed with wealth, influence, physical stature, and military victories, yet became jealous of David because he focused on David's blessings rather than his own.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:47 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about a disagreement with his wife Alyssa, where he realized he was focusing on her 'eighth slice' (her flaws) instead of being thankful for what she was not doing, leading to a realization of her blessings.
• Sermon Illustration 00:21:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of the 'eighth slice' of a pie chart to explain how people focus on their one negative trait or hardship while ignoring the seven positive aspects of their lives.
• Sermon Illustration 00:27:38 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Saul setting a 'death sentence' mission for David, which backfired when David completed it and married Saul's daughter, causing Saul to become David's enemy out of fear and jealousy.
• Sermon Illustration 00:29:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes Saul's internal struggle, noting that while Saul occasionally had moments of realizing he was wrong, he ultimately doubled down on his fear and insecurity, allowing his desire to be the best warrior to become more important than God's kingdom work.

• Pastoral Charge 00:13:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to personally re-read the biblical passage (1 Samuel 18) during the week to study its nuances.
• Pastoral Charge 00:18:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Engage in personal self-reflection to identify areas of envy or comparison.
• Pastoral Charge 00:20:36 ▶️ 📄
  > Honestly identify specific areas of life where the individual engages in negative comparison.
• Pastoral Charge 00:26:08 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray specifically for God to reveal His goodness in areas of frustration or comparison.
• Pastoral Charge 00:31:24 ▶️ 📄
  > Identify a person you are jealous of and repent of that jealousy immediately.
• Pastoral Charge 00:34:27 ▶️ 📄
  > Practice denying oneself by refusing to feed jealous thoughts and instead declaring that one does not need what others have because God has blessed them.
• Pastoral Charge 00:38:43 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray a specific prayer of salvation, admitting sinfulness, believing in Christ's death and resurrection, and committing to follow Him.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Today we're kicking off a brand new series.
[00:00:02] It's called The American Scheme.
[00:00:06] And the idea is that, man, there's just something mesmerizing about the American dream, right?
[00:00:13] The American dream, right?
[00:00:15] Back in the day, the American dream meant living in a nice house on the corner lot with a white picket fence, being married with exactly 2.5 kids,
[00:00:29] and I'll tell you I used to question this number like 2.5 how do you even have 2.5 kids but after having my third kid I understand maybe 2.5 is the perfect number uh amen on that right maybe they got that right
[00:00:46] but the american dream it's this idea of being able to accomplish my dreams and goals whatever they may be to be able to chase those down put in the hard work to see those dreams come to life and and i just want to call out the man it is a blessing that we live in a country where we have the freedom to pursue our goals and dreams right that's a blessing right church yes it is we can celebrate that absolutely
[00:01:15] But here's the tension, right?
[00:01:17] The tension of this is that when you get serious about God's plan for your life, you begin to see, oh man, there is a disconnect between what culture says we should live for and pursue and chase down and what the Word of God says we should live for.
[00:01:36] Culture says that just live for you.
[00:01:41] Do what makes you happy.
[00:01:43] Chase your ambitions at all costs.
[00:01:46] No matter who that impacts, you gotta worry about you, and so that's what you live for.
[00:01:52] It's a very me-focused way of living.
[00:01:55] Jesus, however, had a different take.
[00:01:58] Jesus said this, Matthew 6.33, Jesus said, Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously.
[00:02:10] Right?
[00:02:10] And so here's the reality.
[00:02:11] We're all seeking something.
[00:02:13] We're all chasing something.
[00:02:15] We all have something that is really speaking into what we set as our goals and our dreams and our ambitions for this life.
[00:02:24] And Jesus said, hey, there is something that you should let be the loudest voice in that.
[00:02:30] And Jesus said, this should be the kingdom of God.
[00:02:34] When you decide what you're gonna chase, what you're gonna live for above all else, Jesus said chase God's kingdom.
[00:02:43] Live life kingdom-minded.
[00:02:45] And so throughout this series, we're gonna be looking at what are the cultural patterns and the ways of living that get in the way of us living for the kingdom of God.
[00:02:58] Right, that if we're not careful, we can take the American dream, which is in its nature a very good thing, and we can turn it into the American scheme.
[00:03:10] It can become the thing that actually gets in the way of us pursuing God and being near to God.
[00:03:16] And so I'm really excited about this series.
[00:03:19] And as I was thinking about today's topic, I was reminded of my five-year-old son.
[00:03:27] Now, Salisbury, you've heard a portion of this story at the very beginning, but there's a new layer on it today.
[00:03:34] And so the story is this.
[00:03:36] My wife recently, randomly, decides to give our five-year-old son $10, which I want you to remember what it was like being a little kid and having any amount of money.
[00:03:51] Remember how special that felt?
[00:03:52] Like, man, when you're a little kid and you have any amount of money, you just feel like, I can buy anything.
[00:03:59] You know, I can buy a car with this.
[00:04:01] You know, I can do anything with this money.
[00:04:04] And so he gets this $10 bill, and man, his life was made.
[00:04:08] He's running around the house.
[00:04:09] He actually went around, I'm rich, I'm rich, I tell you.
[00:04:14] He was so happy about it, all right?
[00:04:16] He was over the moon.
[00:04:18] Well, he was happy.
[00:04:19] That is until he heard about a classmate, right?
[00:04:23] This classmate of his also had some money, but this classmate of his had, get this, $300.
[00:04:32] Yeah, yeah, I said the same thing.
[00:04:34] Now, why in the world a kindergartner has $300?
[00:04:39] I think that's a good question for another day.
[00:04:41] You know, that kid probably got a 401 set up, right?
[00:04:44] You know, he is set, he's investing, you know, he's doing some things, right?
[00:04:49] That's another for another day right but here's the thing for my son the minute he found out that another kid that he knew had more money than he did all of a sudden he went from shouting woo about his ten dollars to boohooing about his measly ten dollars you know this wrecked him
[00:05:10] In fact, he was so miserable, true story, he went wailing through our house crying, I'll never have $300.
[00:05:19] I can't get a job.
[00:05:21] I'm not gonna be an adult for like 50 years.
[00:05:24] Like, this is the worst day of my life.
[00:05:29] All right, parents with five-year-olds, you've seen this happen, right?
[00:05:33] It just wrecked him.
[00:05:34] He was so miserable.
[00:05:36] And I share this story with us today because it highlights one of the things that will keep you and I from living for the kingdom of God and that is this obsession with what other people have.
[00:05:52] Jealousy, Envy, Comparison, and these things will keep you from living for the kingdom of God.
[00:06:01] And so today we're talking about the dangers of jealousy.
[00:06:08] The dangers of jealousy.
[00:06:10] Jealousy is a dangerous thing.
[00:06:11] And man, we live in a world where it is easier than ever to compare.
[00:06:17] You know, thanks to social media and smartphones, we live more aware of what other people have in their lives than ever before.
[00:06:29] You know, we see what they have.
[00:06:31] We see where they go.
[00:06:32] We see how happy they look.
[00:06:36] You know, here's the thing that really hit me on this, is that for some of us, there are people that we haven't spoken an actual, like real word to in over a decade, but man, we know every detail of their life.
[00:06:52] We know they vacation in Panama.
[00:06:55] We know the name of their dog.
[00:06:57] In a couple weeks, we're going to see the matching pajamas they wore on Christmas Day.
[00:07:02] Like, man, we just see everything about everybody.
[00:07:06] It's in our face all the time.
[00:07:09] you don't even have to try to be in the know of what other people are doing and what they have it's just right here and so the natural consequence of this is it becomes a natural breeding ground for envy and jealousy to take root in our life it can happen
[00:07:26] And here's the thing that stood out for me this week as I was studying and preparing.
[00:07:32] The thing that grabbed me is how this is way more of a serious issue than most of us tend to make it out to be.
[00:07:42] Here's what I'm talking about.
[00:07:44] is that if we're honest, we would acknowledge that we tend to magnify certain sins and cast them as like the tippy top, worst thing ever.
[00:07:57] And these are awful things, right?
[00:07:59] Like murder or adultery or fill in the blank, whatever sin you see as the absolute worst sin, right?
[00:08:07] We have these things that we look at and go, oh man, that's like the unspeakable worst of the worst things.
[00:08:13] and then we also have those sins that we will minimize and those things that will go well you know they're not great and you shouldn't do them but it's not murder it ain't killing anybody all right it's not an affair it's not fill in the blank with whatever you think the worst sin is and so we we have these things we downplay
[00:08:33] things like lying or gossip you know we just downplay and one of the ones we tend to downplay as well is this topic of jealousy and comparison and envy we have this voice that says like is it really that big of a deal we minimize right here's the thing though scripture doesn't minimize this in fact i want you to look at what james chapter 3 says
[00:08:56] James 3 15 and 16 says for jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom such things are earthly unspiritual and demonic for wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition look at this there you will find disorder and evil of every kind
[00:09:22] And so James is saying we need to take this seriously because Scripture says every kind of evil will flow out of envy and jealousy.
[00:09:37] That's because here's what I think Scripture wants us to know.
[00:09:40] Jealousy is a gateway sin.
[00:09:44] Jealousy, it's a gateway sin.
[00:09:48] There's something about having an envious heart that opens the door for sin and evil to run rampant in our life.
[00:09:58] You don't have to just take my word on this because you see it played out all throughout scripture.
[00:10:06] You know, in fact, what you see when you look into the Word of God is that envy and jealousy are at the center of so many failures that we see take place in the Scriptures.
[00:10:18] Let's talk about some of them.
[00:10:21] Like Cain and Abel.
[00:10:23] Cain was envious when Abel's offering was accepted and not his.
[00:10:30] And so it was jealousy that played a part in the very first murder.
[00:10:34] What started as jealousy led to murder.
[00:10:39] Look at Joseph's brothers.
[00:10:40] They had envy for the relationship that Joseph had with their dad.
[00:10:47] And so where did that envy lead?
[00:10:49] Well, it led to them selling him into slavery and then telling everyone he's dead.
[00:10:55] Right?
[00:10:56] Again and again, here's what Scripture points us to, is that what starts as just a little envious thought, a jealous thought, what seems like not that big of a deal, everyone does it, has the potential to get out of hand very quickly, and if left unchecked, leads to greater sin and greater evil in our life.
[00:11:18] And we actually get to see this on full display in our passage today.
[00:11:22] And so if you have your Bible, we're going to be in 1 Samuel 18 for the bulk of the rest of this message.
[00:11:30] I want to set the scene for so before we jump into that.
[00:11:34] So in the chapter prior, what we get is David and Goliath.
[00:11:40] David beats Goliath, a shepherd boy who's an untrained warrior, manages to defeat a nine-foot-tall giant.
[00:11:50] And so the king of Israel sees this, King Saul, and he sees and says pretty quickly, man, if that guy can beat a giant with just a slingshot, that guy should probably be leading our army.
[00:12:06] Pretty good call there by Saul, I think we'd all agree.
[00:12:10] And so that's what happens.
[00:12:11] David pretty quickly ends up leading the Israelite army.
[00:12:15] And this is where we pick things up in 1 Samuel 18, verse 6.
[00:12:20] Scripture says this.
[00:12:22] It says, When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, that's Goliath, by the way,
[00:12:32] It says, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul and they sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals.
[00:12:43] This was their song.
[00:12:45] Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands.
[00:12:52] Well, this made Saul very angry.
[00:12:55] What's this he said?
[00:12:57] They credit David with 10,000 and me only with thousands?
[00:13:05] For those who aren't aware, apparently this right here is the Old Testament version of comparing TikTok followers.
[00:13:14] you know hey how many of you conquered in battle thousand that's cute i got ten thousand you know this is like a a humble brag in the old testament times and so they're singing about it and saul didn't like it he says they give david this credit look at this he says next they'll be making him their king and so from that time on saul kept a jealous eye on david
[00:13:43] It's in the story of Saul that we see the dangers of jealousy on full display.
[00:13:51] Now, man, we could really spend all the time.
[00:13:53] There's so much nuance in this passage, so I wanna encourage you, go back this week, reread this passage.
[00:13:59] There's so much things to pick apart here that we won't have time to dig into.
[00:14:03] There's a lot of good things in here.
[00:14:04] However, we're gonna cover two things we see, two dangers of jealousy.
[00:14:10] The first one is this.
[00:14:12] is that jealousy blinds us to God's goodness.
[00:14:18] One of the reasons jealousy is so dangerous is that it will blind you to the goodness of God in your life.
[00:14:27] Understand that the core lie of every envious, jealous thought is this thought that says, they are blessed and I am not.
[00:14:41] right that's that's the core lie behind every jealous thought that's why jealousy has a way of stinging so bad in the moment is because it's this lie that says man they're blessed god's doing stuff for them they're they're they're favored in ways and they're just god's working in their life in ways and he's not working in mine they have and i don't have right that's what's going on there and it's a straight up lie all right we we know this because you see this in saul's life
[00:15:09] That when you do more digging into the life of Saul, you will quickly see Saul had a lot going for him.
[00:15:18] God had blessed Saul in so many ways.
[00:15:22] God chose Saul to be the very first king of Israel.
[00:15:26] That's a one-of-one position.
[00:15:30] That alone speaks to God's blessing in Saul's life, but it doesn't end there.
[00:15:37] Scripture tells us Saul was blessed in other ways.
[00:15:41] Go back to 1 Samuel 9.
[00:15:44] It says there was a wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin.
[00:15:52] His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel, head and shoulders taller than anyone else.
[00:16:01] And so here we see Saul's got a lot going for him.
[00:16:04] Right?
[00:16:04] Apparently, he's the original tall, dark, and handsome.
[00:16:10] He's the Old Testament version of Denzel.
[00:16:13] That's who Saul is.
[00:16:14] Or George Clooney.
[00:16:17] Or insert the celebrity hunk of your choice.
[00:16:21] You just fill in the blank there.
[00:16:22] Whoever you're thinking about.
[00:16:23] That's Saul.
[00:16:24] Saul was that first.
[00:16:26] Now not only that, Saul came from a wealthy family.
[00:16:30] A family with influence.
[00:16:33] Also, not just that, but when you look through 1 Samuel, you see that God helped Saul win battles against other nations.
[00:16:43] And Saul saw it.
[00:16:44] He said that's God's doing.
[00:16:47] And so anyway you slice it, Saul's a blessed man.
[00:16:51] And so he has no business being, you know, caring about what David has going on.
[00:16:58] but yet he does.
[00:17:00] Saul seems to forget about all of God's blessings because he's so bothered by people celebrating David.
[00:17:11] A good litmus test for the state of your heart is this.
[00:17:17] It's how do you do when other people are celebrated?
[00:17:22] Like your coworkers, your siblings,
[00:17:26] Your friends, even your spouse.
[00:17:29] What's your heart's gut reaction when someone around you gets kudos?
[00:17:35] Can your heart genuinely celebrate them with joy and with excitement?
[00:17:43] Or for some of us, if we're being honest, that's not what goes on.
[00:17:46] For some of us, that other people getting celebrated feels like an indictment on me.
[00:17:53] For some of us, when other people get celebrated, we feel this urge to want to call out one of their flaws or just bring them down a peck or two.
[00:18:00] We struggle with other people being celebrated.
[00:18:06] If that's true in your life, I just want to encourage you.
[00:18:08] That's a good pointing sign that there's something going on in your heart.
[00:18:15] Scripture tells us this is what is true for Saul.
[00:18:19] Saul was not interested in celebrating David.
[00:18:23] Instead, from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.
[00:18:30] And you know, it's really easy for us to condemn Saul here, but the reality is, man, if we're being honest, we'd say we struggle with this too.
[00:18:42] And so I just wanna ask you today, who do you have a jealous eye on?
[00:18:49] Would you wrestle with this for a second?
[00:18:52] Where in your life do you find yourself looking at someone else and thinking, I wish I had what they had, if only?
[00:19:03] Where is this happening in your life?
[00:19:06] We do this in so many ways.
[00:19:09] For some of us, this is material things.
[00:19:12] Right, that you encounter people and they got a nicer house, they drive a nicer car, or they always seem to have the brand name items and you struggle with that.
[00:19:24] You find yourself thinking, man, is that ever gonna be me?
[00:19:28] When am I gonna get some good stuff?
[00:19:31] Or maybe this happens in your workplace, right, with work, that you see other people and you just think, man, they're so blessed, they got a better job than me.
[00:19:41] They make more than me.
[00:19:44] Their schedule is better than my schedule.
[00:19:48] Or for others of us, this is showing up in a different way because this is showing up with that unique hardship that's in our life.
[00:19:59] Can I talk to you for a second?
[00:20:01] right because you you find yourself looking at everyone else who doesn't deal with this hardship and your internal dialogue says man it must be nice no it must be real nice to not have to deal with with these health issues that i have
[00:20:18] It must be real nice to not have to deal with this hard relationship dynamic that I got going on.
[00:20:24] No one else deals with that.
[00:20:26] It must be really nice to not be dealing with this financial struggle that just hit me out of nowhere.
[00:20:34] It must be nice.
[00:20:36] Be honest today.
[00:20:39] Where in your life are you prone to be a comparer?
[00:20:43] To look at someone else and compare it with your situation.
[00:20:47] And to feel bad, to feel upset, to feel some type of negative thing around it.
[00:20:50] Where is this happening in your life?
[00:20:53] Because I just want to be so clear with us today.
[00:20:56] This is the area, the area where you're comparing, is the area where you are susceptible to miss and to overlook God's goodness in your life.
[00:21:08] It'll happen.
[00:21:09] When all you see and think and talk about is what you don't have, you will miss completely what God is doing, what he's actively blessing you in.
[00:21:18] It'll happen.
[00:21:20] You know, it reminds me of the concept of the eighth slice.
[00:21:26] Anyone heard about this?
[00:21:29] The concept of the eighth slice.
[00:21:31] It's this idea that if you were to break up your life into a pie chart, right, and there's eight slices, seven out of eight of them would be filled with really good things.
[00:21:43] you know the the positive um things about you and the roles you hold like being a spouse or a parent or a or a loyal friend or whatever it may be seven out of eight of them are filled with really good things but then there's that eighth slice and the eighth slice is the part of us that are not that's not pretty
[00:22:08] It's our sin and our stubbornness and the unhealthy toxic habits that we have, right?
[00:22:15] The eighth slice is the things that make us hard to deal with as people.
[00:22:22] And the reality is we all have an eighth slice.
[00:22:26] Right?
[00:22:26] Your pastor does.
[00:22:27] Your boss does.
[00:22:29] Your parents do.
[00:22:32] Believe it or not, you do too.
[00:22:35] Right?
[00:22:35] We all have an eighth slice.
[00:22:39] And I share this because it reminds me of the time my wife Alyssa and I, we were in the middle of a disagreement.
[00:22:47] and I honestly do not even remember what we were disagreeing on what I do remember is that at the end of that argument that was getting more and more heated I remember her eighth slice came out in a really big way and I remember in that moment I was so frustrated
[00:23:09] I remember talking to God after the fact, and I was just praying and saying things like, God, this isn't fair.
[00:23:19] You know, why does this continue to happen?
[00:23:21] You know, I don't do that to her.
[00:23:23] I don't treat her like that.
[00:23:25] Well, why does this seem to be something that pops up in our marriage every so often?
[00:23:29] And it was just this negative mindset where I'm just talking to God.
[00:23:33] I go, what do I do?
[00:23:34] What's going on with this?
[00:23:36] And pretty quickly, God spoke to me on this.
[00:23:42] Not out loud, but in my spirit, I got an answer from the Lord.
[00:23:48] And God said, Tim, instead of dwelling on what Alyssa's eighth slice is, you should be thankful for what it's not.
[00:24:02] Instead of obsessing over, well, this thing that she always does and it's not right, it's very clear, it's black and white, it's not a right thing to do.
[00:24:12] Instead of focusing on that, be thankful for all the things that she's not doing.
[00:24:20] Can I just tell you, I mean, this rocked me.
[00:24:24] This hit me so hard because all of a sudden my mind was flooded with all the ways my wife is a blessing as a spouse.
[00:24:33] Right?
[00:24:33] Not just in the ways, I think the way we commonly hear this talked about is, you know, all the things that they're doing and all the great things, the great parts about them.
[00:24:40] And that's true.
[00:24:41] There's validity to that.
[00:24:43] right but it was more about man my mind was flooded with all the challenges that could be a part of my marriage but they're not because that's not who Alyssa is right it was this understanding in a grander way oh my goodness she's a gift oh my goodness she's a blessing and so here's what I want to encourage us in today
[00:25:09] is that when you feel yourself going into complain mode or compare mode would you pray this prayer here's the prayer god show me how you've blessed me in this area right hey where in your life
[00:25:29] For some of you, you're here today and there's an area of life that you've been frustrated with.
[00:25:34] You've been complaining about it.
[00:25:35] You've been talking to other people about it.
[00:25:37] Maybe you've even been talking to God about how this isn't right.
[00:25:40] It's not fair.
[00:25:41] What's going on here?
[00:25:43] What is that area of life for you?
[00:25:46] Because this is the area where you need to pray, God, show me your goodness.
[00:25:51] God, you're blessing.
[00:25:52] Would you have the faith to believe God has been good to you in that area that's frustrating you?
[00:25:58] Is it possible that God is working in ways that you don't see because you're just so frustrated and angry and feel so vindicated on this part isn't right?
[00:26:08] Where do you need to pray this prayer?
[00:26:09] Is it in your marriage?
[00:26:11] Is it in your relationships?
[00:26:13] Is it at work?
[00:26:15] Is it in that season of life that isn't your favorite right now?
[00:26:18] But it's the season, it's where you're at.
[00:26:21] Where do you need to choose to pray?
[00:26:24] God, show me your goodness.
[00:26:27] Because if you want to fight back on the pull of envy and jealousy, then man, that means you've got to be a person who hunts down the goodness of God.
[00:26:38] I want to challenge you to become a person, if you're not actively living this out, to become a person who hunts for God's goodness in your life.
[00:26:46] And you can take this a step further.
[00:26:48] Call it out when you see it.
[00:26:49] God will show you things throughout the day, even little mundane things.
[00:26:54] Get in the habit of calling out, God, thank you for that.
[00:26:56] God, that's your goodness.
[00:26:57] God, thank you for coming through.
[00:26:59] Thank you for answering that prayer.
[00:27:01] When we're in a habit of hunting for and calling out the goodness of God, man, it does something good to your heart.
[00:27:07] It protects and prevents against the dangers of jealousy.
[00:27:12] This is what Saul had every opportunity to do.
[00:27:15] But instead he does the opposite.
[00:27:19] Saul becomes obsessed with David.
[00:27:22] He tries to kill him multiple times.
[00:27:24] One of Saul's schemes here was he tries to send David on a war mission, which is supposed to be a death sentence, but he tells David, hey, if you complete this mission, you can have my daughter's hand in marriage.
[00:27:38] And so Saul's thinking that's going to be the end of David, but it's not.
[00:27:42] It backfires.
[00:27:44] And so David completes the mission.
[00:27:46] He marries Saul's daughter.
[00:27:48] And look at verse 28.
[00:27:49] It says this.
[00:27:51] It says, When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and how much his daughter, Michal, loved him, Saul became even more afraid of him, and he remained David's enemy for the rest of his life.
[00:28:07] It's here that we see another danger of jealousy, and that is that jealousy turns our attention away from God's kingdom.
[00:28:19] This is what jealousy does.
[00:28:21] This is something that goes under the radar about jealousy, but jealousy has a way of turning our attention away from the kingdom of God.
[00:28:30] All right, let's talk about it.
[00:28:30] Notice in the scripture, it says that Saul saw that the Lord was with David, right?
[00:28:38] Meaning Saul's not confused about what's going on here, right?
[00:28:41] He can clearly see, oh man, like God is doing this in David's life.
[00:28:47] And so you would think that would make Saul reconsider his actions and his attitude on this, right?
[00:28:53] That this is a man who started out serving God,
[00:28:58] who was leading God's people who was all about God's mission you'd think that would help him to say oh man I've been wrong here in fact when you go and you you read the scriptures you'll see there are moments where Saul appears to do that David challenges him on what's going on and saw oh my he kind of has a a moment of oh man I need to turn away from this but he comes right back to it he continues to there's time something happens and all of a sudden he's after David again
[00:29:26] Right?
[00:29:27] You would think that this would help Saul to see that, man, I'm the problem.
[00:29:32] The problem is me.
[00:29:33] If David has God's blessing in his life, maybe I'm the problem.
[00:29:38] And man, this is a really good reminder for you and me as well.
[00:29:43] Right?
[00:29:43] Because we too encounter people that make us ask, why is God blessing that person?
[00:29:51] you ever have a thought like this or question something like this like like god what in the world are you doing blessing that person over there like god don't you understand their flaws don't you don't you see how they talk to their kids don't you know the political party that they're for don't you didn't you see the way they wronged me god you know about that right
[00:30:17] And so, why in the world would you bless them?
[00:30:20] Why would you use them?
[00:30:23] That doesn't make sense to me, God.
[00:30:26] Right?
[00:30:26] And yet, in spite of all that, you can see God's blessing that person.
[00:30:32] God's using that person.
[00:30:35] You know, the story of Saul, it's a really good reminder that when we find ourself asking God, why are you working in that person's life?
[00:30:44] That's a tip off that we need a heart check.
[00:30:48] Because even when the things that we can list off are true, man, that person, they did this, this, and this, why would God be blessing them?
[00:30:55] That can be true.
[00:30:57] But if we're hung up on that, if we have a negative attitude towards that person, man, our heart's in a bad place too.
[00:31:05] Our heart needs a check.
[00:31:08] And so, just be honest, is there anyone in your life right now, you're not okay with what God's doing in their life?
[00:31:15] You struggle with it.
[00:31:17] God, why would you do that?
[00:31:18] Why would you bless them in that way?
[00:31:22] Can I challenge you?
[00:31:24] If someone's coming to mind for you right now, can I challenge you to repent of that right now?
[00:31:31] Don't let your heart continue to be hard in this area of life.
[00:31:34] Repent of that in this second.
[00:31:36] Acknowledge, God, that's wrong of me.
[00:31:38] I gotta do my part.
[00:31:41] This is what the Lord once foresaw.
[00:31:44] Just repent.
[00:31:46] Saul doesn't repent though instead he doubles down he becomes more fearful of David sets David as enemy number one and what really is going on here is that Saul has allowed his insecurity his need to be the best warrior his desire to keep David away from the throne the position he holds he's let all that become more important than God's kingdom work
[00:32:12] which man this is this is why jealousy is so dangerous right because it's just that whisper in our head that just feeds this lie that says life is all about me right it pulls our eyes off God's kingdom and what God's doing and God's mission and it convinces us that our story our life is the only one that matters right that's why I need that's why I want right but here's the kingdom truth
[00:32:41] The truth of the kingdom of God is that life's not just about me, but the truth of the kingdom is life's bigger than me.
[00:32:51] That if you're a follower of Jesus, if you're a Christian, understand we live for something bigger than ourselves.
[00:32:59] We live for someone greater than ourselves.
[00:33:02] Jesus said it like this.
[00:33:04] Jesus said, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves.
[00:33:10] Take up their cross and follow me.
[00:33:15] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
[00:33:23] And so, man, I just want to speak to the person that, man, you currently find yourself in a season of striving and you're clutching at something in your life, a spot
[00:33:35] A position, it's praise.
[00:33:36] I don't know what it is, but man, you're just striving hard to maintain or to gain something in your life.
[00:33:43] And the idea is, man, if I have that or if I keep it, that's going to make my life.
[00:33:49] That's going to satisfy my life.
[00:33:53] Today, Jesus wants to call out that lie in your life.
[00:33:57] Because the truth is, Jesus says, the way to real life is not by gaining things.
[00:34:05] but the way to find true life is to deny yourself and so man this week I want to encourage us right to live this out right that when those jealous thoughts roll in it's going to happen it'll happen today it'll happen this next week when those jealous thoughts roll in would you practice denying yourself
[00:34:27] Would you not give in and feed the envy and let that thought spiral?
[00:34:32] But would you just reflect it with truth?
[00:34:36] Here's what you can declare.
[00:34:38] I don't need what they have because my God has blessed me.
[00:34:44] Would you make this your protection, your defense against envy in your life?
[00:34:50] Hey, I don't need what they have.
[00:34:52] Good for them, God's blessing them.
[00:34:55] Amen for that God's blessed me too and so I don't need that you know this is kingdom living right it's it's about acknowledging life's not really about getting more but it's about fully giving yourself to the one who gave everything for you and so this week let's be people who are willing to deny ourself let's walk in that I am blessed this week let's walk in that this week
[00:35:22] Would you go to God with me in prayer right now?
[00:35:25] Can we pray?
[00:35:25] Let's pray.
[00:35:27] Father, Lord, thank you so much for your goodness.
[00:35:32] In fact, let's start there.
[00:35:33] Would you just have a moment, a genuine moment with the Lord where you would just acknowledge, God, you've been good to me.
[00:35:41] And we sing that song at the top of the service.
[00:35:44] Would you just let that ring true in your life?
[00:35:48] God, you've been so good.
[00:35:49] Would you call out moments of God's goodness?
[00:35:53] Would you make your prayer, God, show me your goodness in greater ways.
[00:35:56] God, help me to have eyes to see the ways you're blessing me in ways I haven't even fathomed.
[00:36:02] I didn't even recognize it.
[00:36:04] But your goodness is there.
[00:36:05] Show me the ways I've been blind to your goodness.
[00:36:09] Would you also be willing to just own up and acknowledge, yeah, God, there's some jealousy in my life.
[00:36:15] There's envy in my heart.
[00:36:16] Even if it's small.
[00:36:17] Even if it's present.
[00:36:19] It's present for all of us.
[00:36:21] and so would you pray this prayer God help me to take this seriously and help me to really just be on guard about envy in my life and that I would turn envy into praise right that when I see someone when I envy starts to creep up would I deflect that God thank you for how you worked in their life thank you for how you're blessing them God you're blessing me too would you would you let this week be about just walking in I am blessed God has blessed me
[00:36:51] I think of the words of David, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
[00:36:56] God's been good, so we don't live in want.
[00:36:58] Father, thank you for that.
[00:36:59] I want to pray for the person also who you're here today, who you're at Salisbury, you're watching online, and your next step in really walking with God on this is you need to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
[00:37:16] You know, we've talked so much about the dangers of jealousy, and the reality is when you read through Scripture, what you see is that sin is dangerous.
[00:37:25] Jealousy is sinful.
[00:37:26] All sin is dangerous, and the biggest danger of it is it cuts us off from our Heavenly Father, our God who loves us, our God who wants good things for us, our God who wants to be close to us.
[00:37:37] Jealousy distances us from Him.
[00:37:39] That's what sin does.
[00:37:42] You're here today so you would know God loves you.
[00:37:45] He loves you so much He sent Jesus to this earth where He lived a perfect life.
[00:37:51] He died a brutal death on a cross and He died that death to pay the penalty for our sin.
[00:37:59] Not just jealousy, but lust and just all our sin.
[00:38:04] We all have sin.
[00:38:06] It separates us from God the Father.
[00:38:09] But because of what Christ has done, He died on the cross, He rose again three days later.
[00:38:14] Because of that, we no longer are separated from the Lord, that through Christ we can come near to God.
[00:38:22] And so today, God is inviting you to draw near to Him.
[00:38:25] Maybe for the very first time, would you draw near to the Lord by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and letting Him reign in your life?
[00:38:34] And so if that's you, you know you need to receive Jesus right here in Mooresville or at Salisbury or online.
[00:38:41] I want to invite you to pray this prayer.
[00:38:43] It's a simple one.
[00:38:44] God, thank you for loving me.
[00:38:47] God, I admit that I'm a sinner in need of a Savior.
[00:38:51] Man, are you at that point yet?
[00:38:54] I think the hardest part of coming to Christ is fully acknowledging, I can't save myself.
[00:39:02] I need a Savior.
[00:39:03] Would you acknowledge that today?
[00:39:06] Jesus is that Savior.
[00:39:08] And so God, I see that Christ is the Savior.
[00:39:10] I believe you died on the cross for me.
[00:39:12] You rose from the dead.
[00:39:14] And from this day forward, I commit to follow you all the days of my life.
[00:39:20] Hey, you pray that prayer with all your heart, and you mean it, Jesus will come into your heart, He will save you and change you.
[00:39:28] Thank you, Father.
[00:39:30] In Jesus' name.
[00:39:32] Amen.