Last Sunday, December 2, 2012, Pastor Carl finished his series "The Mask Must Go" and coined a new term: #YOLFO (You Only Live For Others). Talk about a challenging message but I love how this is the heart of our church. Robert Madu also stopped by for the first two services. You can find those notes here.
SPEAKER: Pastor Carl Lentz
TITLE: The Mask Must Go, Pt. 3
You have the right to peel off the facade. Your face gets to feel His presence.
What happens in private is often shown in public.
It's not a once-off decision to take the mask off; it's a daily decision.
-Sanctification is the process of being made whole.
Be careful you don't go back to that mask life.
Beware of Mask Temptations:
-Risk of losing respect
-Risk of losing relationships
-Risk of losing reputation
-Risk of being rejected
Putting the mask on feels good for a second but leads to a life of pain.
-Jesus didn't set you free only for a day. He wants you free for life.
John 8:36 NKJV
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
The Truth Unmasked: Taking your mask off is only half the battle. Responding well when others take theirs off is how we win the authenticity war.
Mark 1:40-42 NIV
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
-The fact that Jesus was even in the area blew people's mind. No one even wanted to be near them let alone touch them.
--It was easier for Jesus to heal someone than it was for that person to get into some churches (even today)
-Why do we get mad at people who are sick or are shocked that they are sick?
-The next time you're tempted to react a certain way to how someone looks or what they're going through, remember where you came from.
--Your reaction to other people's humanity should reflect what Jesus has done for your humanity--give GRACE
--Some Christians' reactions are not indicative of their redemption.
-Our reaction should be: "God loves you more that you think he does. There's so much more for you, etc."
Drop the mask of selfish solo for the freedom of selfless #YOLFO (You Only Live For Others). Before Jesus, life was all about the take. After Jesus, it should be all about the give.
Mark 1:43-45 NIV
Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.
-Why did Jesus tell him not to tell everyone? He didn't want the message to get lost in the miracle.
--Jesus still did it by the law, telling him to show himself clean to the priests.
-God is all about others.
-Solo thinking: Why not keep it? It's mine.
-YOLFO thinking: Why not give it? It's His.
James 4:14-17 MSG
You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."
As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don't do it, that, for you, is evil."
-We get this life one time.
--#YOLO (You Only Live Once) and #YOLFO are the opposite of reckless living. It should make you use wisdom and God's strategy because we only get this once.
Is there a high sense of uncomfortability in your life?
-For example, "Yeah church is great but I know there's room for more."
-It doesn't mean we don't count the wins. We just count them on the climb up.
What do you have that can be given away?
-If you have a collection of anything, you better have a really good reason for it.
--If you can't take it to heaven, then why are you treating it as if you can?
-The world's thinking is get as much as you can get to be seen.
-Everything in your hand is to lift the heads of others.
-Collect the names of people you may never meet or know that will get to heaven because of your generosity.
The Mask of Selfishness is painful to peel off but the result is too good to pass up.
-Pastor Carl showed a video where he told his 3-year-old son, Roman, to pick out some toys to give to kids in the Rockaways who were affected by Superstorm Sandy. Roman was crying and didn't want to give the stuff up. He said he didn't want to have none. But his dad explained that he's giving to people who don't have any now and that he'll get more when he gives.
-What if there was a heavenly pat-down like a TSA checkpoint that checked if you still had gifts and things in you that you should've left on earth?
--In heaven, you can't use your money, can't be generous, can't lift anymore heads, can't use your creativity, etc.
-Let's go to heaven with nothing left in us.
-What if the missing piece to someone else's salvation is in your pocket?
-Pastor Carl showed a screenshot of a text from Anita, the woman from our Hurricane Sandy Update who lost everything and was huddled by the stove with all of her kids and grandkids. She said that she would like to help out with whatever we're doing.
-There's more people to love. You have more in your hand to be given.
