1 The Panic Room 1 Corinthians 13:4 8 It used to be fairly common. Many homes today have one. Especially those homes in high priced neighborhoods. And in neighborhoods where the possibility of kidnapping is fairly high. They call them panic rooms or sometimes safe rooms. They are, in fact, rooms that provide safety for residents that fear they may need protection from intruders. A safe room or panic room is a fortified room that is installed in a private residence or business to provide a safe shelter, or hiding place, for the inhabitants in the event of a break in, home invasion, tornado, terror attack, or other threat. Safe rooms usually contain communications equipment, so that law enforcement authorities can be contacted.
2 There was a movie made about one of these rooms in the early 2000 s. The movie starred Jodie Foster and featured one of these rooms. Here is a trailer from that movie that explains how one of these rooms can provide safety in case of a home invasion. ***************************SHOW CLIP***************************** Here we see the character Foster plays and her daughter using such a room to protect them from some pretty mean folks bent on using them to acquire a stash of money in the house. The owners of the home indeed find protection and safety in the specially built home. But what can you do in case of emergency if you do not live in such a home with a room such as the one depicted in the movie? Maybe not protection from someone bent on capturing you or even worse, but what about the time you fnd yourself in need of protection from the ills of this world?
3 What about those times when life itself is out to get you? What about those times when the circumstances of your life seem to be out to get you? Perhaps you feel that God Himself is out to get you or even punishing you. What do you do then? How can you find safety in your world of current events? Well, there is a way. There is a way that when life seems like it is out to get you. There is a way you can find protection from these evils in the world that we all have. It, quite simply, is the realization that God is not out to get you. It is understanding that we have a loving God. And not a vengeful God. It is the realization that God is not the God that we sometimes see portrayed in the Old Testament. We do not have to live by the laws of Moses that are so vividly explained in the Old Testament. In the book of Leviticus, for example, there are over 630 laws that the people of the Old Testament thought that they must live by.
4 The laws of Moses were given to him some 130 years after the were given to Abraham. The laws of moses include the ten Commandments along with over 600 more laws that govern the behavior of the early Jews. But, we have seen what God wanted us to see when He sent His only Son to us. You see, we have the first real look at who God wants us to see. As we have read many times in John; For God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son. And those that believe in him shall have life everlasting. God so loved the world.now, does that mean he loved the mountains and rivers and oceans so much that he sent His only Son? No, I don t think so. It means that he loves us so much that he sent his only son. God wanted us to know that he knew it is impossible for us to live as righteous as he is. In other words, he knows it is impossible for us to live according to all the laws he himself laid out for us to live by.
5 He knows that if we are to live according to his laws we need someone to save us from his very laws. Someone that will be guilty for all of our sins against a loving God. So, you may be asking.. What does this have to do with the final installment in our sermon series on stewardship? And how does all of this relate to the movie Inside Out? You may recall that we used the movie Inside out because it does a great job of identifying our emotions. And giving is such an emotional state as it pulls on our very instincts of keeping what we have. All throughout the series we have talked about how living a generous life and giving back to God what is His gives us a very happy and joyful life. You see, we do not need a panic room or safe room when it comes to living under the love of a loving God. God, in fact, is our safe room. Living under a loving God is our protection from the ills of this world. From the evil that is so intent on catching us and making us fear a loving God.
6 We do not have a clip from the movie Inside Out. We do not have a clip from that movie because there is no portrayal of love in the movie. In the past several weeks we have been looking at the various emotions that the producers of the movie have shown us. The first week we looked at anger and how we sometimes relate to giving to our church with anger. What we have left of that week is nothing but broken pieces of our piggy bank that was shattered when we broke it on the floor out of a fit of anger. The following week we talked about the emotion of fear and how that enters into our generous giving life style. Fear was represented by the bank that is wrapped up and protected by these chains. The next week Mike talked about how our piggy bank is full of sadness when what we give just flies right through our bank. That we are to give when we feel it is a sacrifice. To give just from our excesses does not mean that we are giving until it hurts. What good is it to give only from excesses?
7 And then last week we took a look at joy and how giving should bring us joy. That living a generous life can bring an enormous amount of joy into our lives. And today, well today we are talking about giving out of love. Because God first loved us. But what about true love? It's something each of us wants, but many never find: genuine love. All around us we can see an endless pursuit of love. We look for it everywhere: in our homes and families, friendships, dating relationships, marriage and religion. But what is love, and where can we go to find lasting love for our lives? What is Love? Love is often described in terms of feelings. But true love what the New Testament writers called agape love is not based on feelings at all. Agape (Ag a pe) love can change your life and set you free. And it all begins with a decision you are called to make.
8 Agape (ag a pe) love is a decision to consider the needs of others ahead of your own needs... to live sacrificially... to give without demanding a return... to overlook an offense. Most of all, agape love is a decision to receive and respond to God's love. For all our efforts to love others will not bear fruit unless we are responding to His love. As the Bible says, "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Thus, our understanding of love begins with perhaps the most frequently quoted verse in the Bible, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." This is what the Bible calls being "born again" or born from above." In this new birth experience, God reveals His incredible love to you. This miracle will produce in you a new nature that will allow you to love others like never before regardless of their response to your love. New birth is just the start. To grow in love we must continue receiving God's love and forgiveness (see Luke 7:47). Listen to the apostle Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus: "that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth
9 and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to al the fullness of God: ( Eph. 3:17B 19). Not only do we need to be "rooted and grounded" in God's love for us, we also need an ever increasing comprehension of His love toward us. As we experience God's love and respond in love, we will be transformed into His image. We will also be fulfilling His greatest command: to love God and our neighbors (Mark 12:29 31). This love must inevitable overflow into actions (1 John 3:13). Ultimately, the verifiable witness of our love for each other will prove to the world that we are truly disciples of Jesus (see John 13:34). While agape love is not based on feelings, the feelings of love will often follow true expressions of love. As our lives begin to demonstrate the "fruit of the Spirit: (love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control). our emotional state will undoubtedly change for the better. But we must not seek after the emotions. Instead, seek first His kingdom and "all these things: will be give to us (Matt. 6:33).
10 Agape love is the highest form of love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God. Here we see God s love not as an emotion, but rather a positioning of putting ourselves ahead of His needs. God came to us in the flesh so that we would know Him as a loving God and not a vengeful one. All that he asks of us is to do the same for him. Even with an understanding of love, we often find it difficult to overcome barriers to love. These barriers often arise from our experiences in the past: the hurts, wounds, rejections and disappointments that left us unable to give or receive true love. The key to overcoming the barriers of the past can be summed up in one word: forgiveness. By asking the forgiveness of those we have offended beginning with God and then forgiving those who have offended us, we move beyond the cycle of bitterness and enter into the realm of God's agape love.
11 Our own self centered desires pride, envy, jealousy and conceit often separate us from God's true love. This barrier of self can be overcome only through repentance, by turning away from sin and asking God's forgiveness for selfish desires and actions. As we humble ourselves before the Lord and receive His forgiveness, we will find freedom to look beyond our own needs and reach out to those around us. Giving is a spiritual issue and in fact, a relational issue with God. In order to truly yield to God s ownership of our possessions, we must evaluate carefully what may be the most telling evidence of our stewardship the part we give.
12 Just as we decide on what we spend on an appliance or how much we will put in a savings or retirement account, we must also have to decide how much money we will give. Even to give nothing is a decision. Stewards are accountable in each decision to please the owner. Many see the responsibility of giving as a burden. How sad that is in light of Paul s reminder that God loves a cheerful giver. Giving is actually a relational decision. There is the stroy of two men that were stranded on an island...two men were marooned on a tiny island. One man paced back and forth worried and dreadfully frightened, while the other man sat back, whistling and sunning himself. The first man said, "Aren t you afraid we re going to die here?" "Nope," said the second man. How can you be so sure? the first man asked. Well,
13 you said the second man, I make $100,000 a month and I tithe faithfully to my church My Pastor will find me." In the process of making giving decisions we really establish our agreement with God about stewardship. As we continually decide to give, we constantly affirm how much we value our relationship to God as His children. And as God s stewards, giving decisions are simply a matter of thinking through how He wants us to allocate His money. An amazing benefit of giving as stewards is that it releases us from the real burden of our own financial needs. As we learn to trust God through giving, we can live confidently on what is left because we know that God is taking care of that.
14 Giving is a freeing experience as it connects us more closely to God relationally. The ultimate outcome is that those who give as stewards experience a sense of intimacy with God that all followers of Christ long for. Giving becomes worship. Giving becomes a way of saying thanks to God for His grace and promised provision. Giving becomes a deep part of our personal connection to God. Well, today we are asking you to turn in your pledge sheets for 2016. Hopefully you have had a chance to pray about what portion of your income you will give back to God. If you have not had the chance to pray about it, please take a few moments and do so right after the service. We will celebrate your commitments to God with cake that Jennifer has made just for this occasion.
15 Remember; Giving to God is Spiritual and an indication of your relationship with Him. Amen.