How do we connect with parents? How do we help make parents the heroes in the home? How do we practically partner with parents? How do we help communicate with the family in today's busy culture?
Current Series: Facebook OfficialTitle: “Happily Ever After”
Main Thought: When we become obsessed with relationships, we lose sight of who we are.
The Word: Judges 13-16, Proverbs 4:23
Message Explanation: Obsessed. You create the best online profile that people will find attractive. That one person notices you. You are so excited that they noticed you! Just to help us understand this more, let’s watch a clip on this idea of living. “happily ever after!”
We lose sight of ourselves when our worth is tied to how many relationships we have – especially of the opposite sex. God has given us our own unique identity – many times we look at other people to define ourselves. Sometimes we are looking for someone to “complete” us. Jesus is the only person who can make us whole.
Tonight, we are going to dive into a love story that is an obsession story. We are going to take a look at the strongest man who ever lived. He had incredible physical strength! He was the top dog! The story is found in the book of Judges. During this time of history, the Israelites were grouped together and were led by “Judges,” who helped take care of the people (Judges 13:2-5, Judges 13:24-25).
There were three conditions a Nazirite had to observe:
1) He could not touch a dead body of any kind.
2) He was not allowed to drink wine or strong drink, or even to have any contact with the fruit of the vine.
3) He was to let his hair grow long.
Samson was called by God to DELIVER the Israelite people from the Philistines. He was a beast!
What was Samson’s weakness?
Judges 14:1-3:One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”
3 His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”
But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” But Samson has a problem—he just can’t stay away from the ladies, and not just any ladies, but women who were not right for him, that were keeping him from what God had in store for him.
Samson’s Strength was OUTWARD
a. He killed a lion with his bare hands.
b. He single-handedly killed thirty Philistines.
c. He killed one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey.
Judges 16:4-5: Some time later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 piecesof silver.
Judges 16:15-16: “Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” 16 She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it.
Samson was WEAK on the inside.
a. He was WEAK on the inside
b. Delilah’s name is literally: “weakness”
Delilah wanted to know the source of his strength. Samson basically led her on and wouldn’t tell her the truth. Samson’s strength was in his hair, in the fact that he never cut it—which was part of the Nazirite vow, the vow the angel of the Lord had said would set Samson apart. He became infatuated with a woman named Delilah, who betrayed the secret of his strength to the Philistines (Judges 16:4-20).
Three things were wrong about this relationship:
1) He cared nothing for this girl as a person. He simply saw her and wanted her.
2) God had commanded that they were not to intermarry with unbelievers. But Samson did not care! He saw the girl and he wanted her.
3) He disobeyed his parents.
How do you date and who you date affects your future:
1. Guard your heart
Proverbs 4:23: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Obsession leads to an absence of wisdom
Do they love Jesus with all their heart?
Do he/she honor me or use me?
Does this relationship bring glory to God?
The person you marry is the second largest decision of life!
2. Give your heart to serve Christ
The Landing: Always keep your relationship with God above every other relationship. We are all like Samson. We have power of God in our lives as Christ followers. But, when we become focused upon ourselves, we lose sight of our identity in Him.
Element of Fun: We showed a video called, “Princess Vlog." It depicts the epitome of obsession.
Music: You Deserve, Praise Him, One Thing Remains, Faithful One (closing).
Favorite Moment: Leading a student to Jesus that another student invited and asked for us to all sit and talk. It is a blessing to see students ministering to students.
What’s Next: We will finish the new series, “Facebook Official” as we talk about God's plan for sex.
What do you get when 500 students and leaders join together to serve God together?
Life change.
We finished a great weekend serving the community with over 500+ students from churches in the area! I love partnering with other groups and serving together. Our purpose at Abandon weekend was simply to be the hands and feet of Christ.
I'm grateful for other student leaders who didn't just plan another "get-together" but instead led students out on mission for Christ. If we only tell students how to serve God and never put it into action, I believe we stunt their spiritual growth.
Students learned to serve with all of their heart. Students responded to Christ.
What an amazing weekend!
We were excited to see that the Ocala Star Banner covered the story and shared it with the community.
How do we connect with parents? How do we help make parents the heroes in the home? How do we practically partner with parents? How do we help communicate with the family in today's busy culture?
Current Series: Facebook OfficialTitle: “Happily Ever After”
Main Thought: When we become obsessed with relationships, we lose sight of who we are.
The Word: Judges 13-16, Proverbs 4:23
What do you get when 500 students and leaders join together to serve God together?