Big Stuff (youth ministry worship night message) Morgan Young 7.7.02
A lot of us got back from Big Stuf in Panama City FL a week ago yesterday. And the reason they call it "Big Stuf" is because they believe God is really big stuff!
And for those that haven't been, after a day or so there, you really do get the sense that God IS hugeyou get this undeniable feeling that God is not some "idea" or "concept" but that He IS REAL, and that He is HUGE
Something goes on in the main sessions in the worship and in the teaching that you just feel the presence of God in a very real BIG way----and I don't know how to explain it much better than that. I mean, I know that there can be days when I walk around my house and I don't "feel" the presence of God so much
But when you get in the main session room, it's like, "Something is upsomething is for realand it is something 'God.'"
(Ask for volunteers from BS: How would you describe BS? or What was your experience like?---ZACK start!)
(wrap) And I would say all of us who went were probably on the same page when we rolled into Kokomo at 3:15am a week ago----we all were feeling like God was (motion) HUGE in our livesthat He was the most important thing in our lives
But then Monday came my day started with a staff mtg, which led right into a mtg with some people, and after that I had a one-on-one mtg with a staff person
And it's as if in the course of that day--- if my life were a beach ball, and God was the air IN the beach ball, it's like that first mtg opened the valve and the rest of the day and the rest of the week was trying to slowly squeezed the "God-air" out of my life.
Have you had days like that?? Have you been to Firewire on Sun. night and felt so full of God and great intentions and then Monday came---and you and your parents were into it right away
Then you got to school and your friends and your teachers just started forcing all the God-air out of your beach ball?? Anybody?
If you think about it, it's like everything in our life is a beach ball. And whatever is the "big stuff" or the "big deal" in your life is full of air and the less important things are smaller and have less air.
All of us have "big stuff" going on all the time---something in our life that's more important than everything else
For some of you guys, getting your driver's license is the big stuff right now--- there's nothing you think about more and there's nothing more important than FINALLY driving ANYWHERE by yourself!
For some of you guys, the opposite sex is big stuff right now--- that certain stud or that certain groovy chick is ALL you think about you talk on the phone about ANYTHING just to BE on the phone together you email each other, you IM each other after your parents kick you off the phone this guy or this girl is THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON THE PLANET--- this guy or girl is big-time big stuff in your life right now!
Micah & his family have been here since Dec. last year and having been living in the house at Oakbrook Valley waiting for their house in Nashville to sell. They got their first offer on it TWO days ago! I'll bet selling their house is big stuff to Micah & Heather.
In the Spring, Mark Matthews resigned from the church--- and our already under-manned staff got even smaller. And we're having discussions about how we're going to cover all the ministry bases we need to, until we can hire more staff. My friend & mentor, Mark Malin is wearing way too many hats right nowWhat we as a staff are going through is very big stuff to me right now.
Something is big stuff in your life today---something is very important to you. What?
Parents
step parents
going to a new school this fall
getting a car
fitting in with the people you want to fit in with
Maybe it's getting all the clothes YOU want for school next month
Is it your boyfriend or girlfriend?
Maybe it's that you wish you had a boyfriend or girlfriend?
Maybe you're working on your spiritual merit badge and you're trying to keep close to God after being at Big Stuf Camp---maybe God is big stuff to you right now.
It could be something really simple like just lusting over the newest video game for your play-station of X-box
(go to audience: "What's the big stuff in your life this week?")
Having big stuff on our minds all the time is 1 thing we all have in common. But we all have something else in common, and that is:
If we're a Christ follower then God always wants to be the BIG STUFF in our lifeHe wants to be the biggest thing in our life. (ppt)
Exodus 20:5 says, ppt "I am God, your God, and I am a most jealous God." The Message
What does that mean? Does that mean God have insecurity issues??? NO! That means that as a jealous person wants all our attention, a jealous God wants ALL of our worshiphe wants all our attention. A jealous God wants to be the Biggest Stuff in our lives
And that plays out like this: If your big stuff today is your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend, God wants to be ahead of thatin your life, He wants to be bigger than that relationship
Don't get me wrongGod cares about that relationship and wants to help you in it, but He wants us to have the right perspective---which is God first, everything else second.
This is one of the most simple but most life-changing lessons we can hear! Let me explain how this plays out & see if you relate to this:
Let's take the boyfriend/girlfriend example--- let's say that in your mind and heart, that person is the most important thing in your life right now---(PLAY W/IT!phone over b-fast etc), you think about them more than anything, talk to them more than anyone, share with them more than anyone, on and on
What happens if tomorrow that person tells you the 6 most frightening words in the life of a teenage couple? Anyone know what they are???
"I JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS"!!!!
If they ARE the Biggest Stuff in your life, then now your life is a mess!
Now you feel like crap,
you're in a major emotional funk,
you feel like you're alone in the world,
your identity is screwed up---you weren't just Seth, you were "Seth AND Rachel"
You're a mess---'cause the person that was the biggest deal in your life, bailed on you!
You can play that same scenario with anything you can imagine: your best friend, sports, clubs at school, hobbies, music, ---whatever you're into can trip you up if you make it bigger than God in your life. WHY???
Because there's no guarantees on friends, sports or activities.
Friends will let you down
If you're an athlete, your body can become injured and change all your plans in one play
God is the ONE THING, the ONE Person, who promises he'll be with you forever---for eternity.
The truth is no person, no activity, no experience --- nothing compares to God!
But we're tempted every day to believe lies like:
"If I date this person, I'll feel normal."
"If I make cheerleader, I'll really be accepted."
"If I make varsity, I'll be somebody."
"If my parents would buy me this car, life would be so much better for me."
When we start thinking thoughts like this, then something other than God is getting too big in our life. These kinds of thoughts are idolizing people and things. And God wants to be the only Person we idolizeour jealous God wants to be the biggest thing in our life.
Isaiah 46:5 says, (ppt) "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?" God is saying in that Scripture:
"I am unequalled!"
"Dude, nothing compares to me!"
"I am so big you can't imagine itI'm bigger than the air your breathe!"
"Don't put other people or things in my place!"
The truth is the perspective of things in our life makes all the differenceGOD FIRST, makes ALL the difference!(ppt) (repeat)
No matter what you're worrying about, concerned about, going through, whatever----if you put God first, it will help you deal with the worry, help you deal with your concerns and whatever life is dishing out to you right now.
Most of us have seen this play out in the past months. All of us watched and shared with Kelly Johnson & her family. They had this huge beach ball roll into their livesand written on that beach ball were the words "fatal disease"
And we had the privilege of watching Kelly and her family choose what the most important thing in their life was going to be This big terminal beach ball came into their lives and all three of them Kelly and her parent's said, "Huh-uh, you move asideGod is the biggest thing in our lives." They said, "God first!"
And because they put God first, God took Kelly's life and turned into an amazing witness to us and all her friends. A teenage funeral is one of life's toughest things---but because Kelly had talked about being in heavenand showed the excitement in her eyes of going there because she lived the last months of her life with a "God first" attitude we got to see hope in an otherwise hopeless situation and several people accepted Christ at her funeral!
And even though it was hard for us to watch her go somehow, miraculously, we were all encouraged by her and her family's faith in the midst of it.
And I think they helped us to believe that even in the worst imaginable situationHe is bigger than anything. They showed us that "God first" really works.
A worship song we'll sing later goes: (band up) (ppt)"God is bigger than the air I breathe, this world we'll leave. And God will save the day and all will say my Glorious"
Through Kelly's life, I saw this verse with new eyes---- that God IS bigger than the air we breathe---because we only need air as long as we're on earth
He's bigger than the world we'll leave, because we're not in this world forever And God saved Kelly's day and took her to a place where she can dance her face off forever
And because He keeps His promises and took Kelly to a better placeto a better life and because we will get to see her againhow can I not say, "God You ARE glorious!!"?
The ordeal that Kelly and her family went through reminded all of us of what was really important. When we saw what they dealt with, we looked at the Big Stuff in our life---our girlfriend problemsour need for our own car.or whatever and it all fell into the right perspective We saw how important God first is---we saw how small the big stuff in our life really is.
But you know what? Monday this week still happened for me---things in my life still tried to squeeze the God-air out of my beach ball other things in my life tried to take the place in my life reserved for my jealous God
So how do you and I keep God in His rightful place in our lives?? How do we keep God first? How do we make him the biggest stuff in our life?ppt (pause)
We worship Him. ppt(repeat)
As a group at Big Stuf camp, Micah talked about all of us taking off our "cool pants" to worship. That was our way of saying that you can't try to be cool and worship at the same time
Because when we're trying to be cool, then there's a big ol' beach ball in your life that's got "cool" written on it and that beach ball is all about us and it overshadows the God beach ball
We put God first, by taking off our cool pants and being a little undignified as we sing to a God who tragically lost a Son
God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to step down into our worldto die an unspeakable deathto pay for our sinto pay our price into heaven
When we stop and realize that God loved us so much that He would have His Son nailed to a cross----Stop and soak that in for a minutewe'll never know what that must have been like---but imagine someone could love you SO much they would have their Son nailed to a tree so you could have eternal life
That image, that truth--- puts God first in our life that image makes us say, "If you could send your Son to die naked on a crossI guess I can take off my cool pants I guess I can bow down before You, God
And say in front of my friends that You ARE MY GOD
That You are lovely, God
That You are worthy of praise
That You are wonderful to me
That you are a glorious God who will save the day for all of us when it's time for us to go
When we worshipwhen we share communion when we realize the price our savior paid for us We we do these things, we put God first and make Him His true size---bigger than the air we breathe
Keep the thought of the price Christ paid for you in your mind as the band leads us in worship and communion.
"Here I am to Worship" 1 x thru --- when Micah "lingers":
Communion:
Luke 22:19 says: "Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had thanked God for it, he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, 'This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'" (eat bread)
It continues in Luke 22:20: "After supper he took another cup of wine and said, 'This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you--an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.'" (drink cup)
Worship set
