greaterthan_failure

Today starts our new series, "Greater Than." The reason we called it that is because challenging things that come into our life have a tendency, from our view of things, to be HUGE; things like: Failure, Fear, Disappointment and Hurt.

And we want to say that regardless of how it feels at the time, the Truth is God is GREATER THAN my failure, my fear, my disappointment and my hurt. We want this to be a series that breathes HOPE into trying times. (opportunity to bring a friend to this series)

I think this is one of those great topics because EVERYONE has a failure story (ok, most of us have catalogued VOLUMES of failure stories.)

When we watched the video earlier that said, "I've been unworthy, unwise, unapproachable, undone, unfit---didn't we all see ourselves in it?

(Right now if you're saying "no I didn't", then perhaps you're "unaware" ;-)

Every time I put a talk together, in the back of mind I'm hoping it will be a success (you too?)---because if I stink up the placeI only have like 700-800 people to witness my failure.

People who've been let go at Delphi--their biggest fear is that they'll fail to get a good jobfail to provide. Or maybe they'll fail to feel good about themselves unless they have a certain kind or level of job.

(Budgets) We worry if we'll fail to meet all of our financial obligations this year. Maybe we worry if we'll fail to put enough money away to actually retire someday.

We worry whether we'll be successful parents--to fail in parenting is a tough legacy to watch. Or we worry about failing to protect our children from physical harm...

Women after giving birth to a beautiful baby---after a while, worry if they'll fail to get back the pre-baby body...

Or what if this marriage doesn't go as planned. What if my spouse doesn't feel as much like my "soul mate"---but starts to feel more like my "cell mate." And we wonder if we'll fail at this marriage too...

And it's not that we simply worry about failing. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned

Whatever it is they're talking about--he did it. He made a bad decision and now that relationship appears to be failing.

And in this room, there's no doubt that our collective past and present is riddled with people who have failed:

I can't really imagine how many wishes of having a "do-over" are in this room

(feel the heaviness) It feels heavy in here because we tend to perceive "failure" as something that is purely and completely negative and offers nothing of value.

We think of failure as something that disqualifies us or sets us apart

But let me suggest that that is a "fallen" view of failure. Perhaps in some cases it's an unhealthy and even unbiblical view of failure.

Let me offer you some quotes about failure from secular people to get us to start seeing this in a different light.

"A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience." -Elbert Hubbard

"It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes, it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own." -Jessamyn West

"Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks, learns quite as much from his failures as from his success." -John Dewey

"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison

"Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know." -William Saroyan

"Failure is the tuition you pay for success." -Walter Brunnell (one more

"My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents-- and I lay them both at His feet." -Mahatma Gandhi

"We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation." Romans 5:3-4 NLT

"Let's not look at failure and struggles like the world does. Let's learn to appreciate what God can do through them.

He doesn't always make them miraculously disappear; instead He often walks with us through a process---a process that teaches us to be strong in Him. Through His strength and through our relationship with Him, He builds up our character.

And in the end, we know better than we did before this whole mess started, that this invisible God is so very real ---and now we know with new conviction, that in Him is where we find our only true hope." -Morgalonians 5:3-4

Can I be really clear on something? The Bible is the history of a lot of well-intentioned people who failed with great regularity.

The Bible is not the story of squeaky-clean theological seminary graduates who nearly flawlessly unfolded the polite story of God's redemptive plan to a lost world.

The Bible is full of real peoplepeople like us. From Genesis to Revelation we can read the accounts of failures---and the accounts of God being Greater Than the failure, to be God in a world that desperately needs Him

God had seen them fail. God knows how you and I would fail and how we'll fail in the future---but a funny thing about God---he still sent His Son to pay for our sins & to provide grace He knew to the exact detail how you and I would blow it---and perhaps because He knew---He loved us so much that He had to send His Son.

My biggest failure was my first marriage that ended in a divorce...

I was young and I was arrogant. I was in my early twenties, and up to that point in my life everything I'd set my mind to do, I did. Life hadn't presented me with anything that I couldn't figure out if I wanted to.

At that time I wasn't living a life with God in control of anything but the occasional prayer. And the most that God was part of that marriage was that we were married in a church. And I would say that in that marriage we were both guilty of poor decisions and ultimately were both guilty of trying to be God and that just never works.

To find myself in a bitter divorce was the last place I thought I'd be. A divorce is so often the worst of all worlds: your emotional world gets turned upside down and at the same time your financial world gets turned upside down.

It's kind of like being one of those plastic figures in a snow globe that is continually shaking.

Things are swirling: relationships, emotions, God, money, kids, custody, attorneys and court rooms---and you're stuck in that snow globe---once a divorce gets going it ain't gonna be over til it's overyou're just stuck in it

Finally after more than a year on the roller coaster of divorce, it was over. But I remember feeling like all of me didn't make it out of the snow globe. Like if a healthy person is a big sponge full of water---I felt like the experience had rung me out completelydry.

I remember one night in my cheesy dumpy divorcee-special apartment in the old Silk Stocking neighborhood, lying there in bed. Restless.

My head full of stufffull of so many thoughts, dialogues and unsettled emotions---replaying and wondering. And I remember thinking that this has got to stop. That somewhere in this I needed to find some real peace.

That night was one of those strange times when I just felt a clear urging to do something. Specifically I strongly felt that I was supposed to go to the 24 hour drug store and by a notebook.

Sounds weirdI really didn't write at that point in my life. I didn't journal at that time. Getting a notebook was something I hadn't done since high school.

I remember driving to the drug store in the middle of the night thinking, "I am really weirdI am following bizarre urges that seem to make no sense."

I finally pull into a parking space and realize, "Great--left my wallet at home!"

Look in the little coin thing, grab what's there and think that maybe I'll have enough money to buy this notebook that "God knows why" I need it.

I go in, look down and see this notebook. Turns out that I have just enough money to pay for it.

This silly little book and seemingly benign trip to a drug store at 2:13 am was in many ways, the first step of a wild spiritual ride that parallels Romans 5:3-4.

God didn't make my failure miraculously disappear; instead He walked with me through a process---a LONG process that He used to teach me to be strong in Him. A process where He showed up in this cheesy green book and numerous other notebooks.

A process that took me from brokenness and spiritual immaturity to healing, understanding and spiritual maturity.

Along the way I stopped for counselingto see if I even knew what love is and how it's supposed to work.

Along the way, Sandra came into my life and I learned what a healthy relationship is supposed to be like.

Along the way Oakbrook came into my life simply because my friend Jeremy needed a drummer for an outreach concert. Who knew it was reaching out to me

Along the way I realized how amazing grace truly is---because grace isn't really amazing--- until you've really failed at somethingthat's when it becomes amazing

Through God's strength and through my relationship with Him, He built up my character---He developed character that didn't think the world of ME, but re-built my world on HIM.

And today---I know better than I did before that whole mess started, that this invisible God is so very real ---and now I know with unbelievable conviction, that in Him is where I find my only true hope.

And now you can't stop me from doing whatever I can to advance God's fame, to annoy the gates of hell and to infect as many people as I can with the Jesus virus /////////

The evil one is trying to keep so many people at Oakbrook from getting involved in building the Kingdom because of past mistakes. And maybe even some churches in your past have given you the impression that certain failures have made you unfit for ministry.

That's a lie. God offers grace and restoration and then makes miracles out of our garbage. You are not your failure.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6

Romans 5:3-4 is all about getting back up and growing closer to God through this failure. We develop endurance, which in turn develops strong character which in turn develops confidence & faith in God like we never had before.

Gandhi said, "My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents--- and I lay them both at His feet."

"As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Prov. 26:11 (that's one of my favorite verses!)

LEARN from it. What led to the failure? What do you need to learn or realize about YOU and your personality, decision-making, tendencies, temperament, maturity-level

I learned SO MUCH about marriage through the pain of divorce. I learned the danger of NOT resolving issues and just letting them pile up in the closet.

I learned that the emotion of love is the result of loving actions, not the other way around(learned commitment)

(gently: if you keep having the same failure, but keep pointing to reason other than yourself---get help)

"But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." 1 John 1:9 NLT

"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." Luke 17:3-4

1. You are NOT your mistake (you are an adopted son or daughter to the Most High)



	< back Greater Than...my Failure 1.7.06 morgan young Today starts our new series, "Greater Than." The reason we called it that is because challenging things that come into our life have a tendency, from our view of things, to be HUGE; things like: Failure, Fear, Disappointment and Hurt. And we want to say that regardless of how it feels at the time, the Truth is God is GREATER THAN my failure, my fear, my disappointment and my hurt. We want this to be a series that breathes HOPE into trying times. (opportunity to bring a friend to this series) Today we're talking about MY FAILURE (uplifting & cheery, eh? ;-) I think this is one of those great topics because EVERYONE has a failure story (ok, most of us have catalogued VOLUMES of failure stories.) When we watched the video earlier that said, "I've been unworthy, unwise, unapproachable, undone, unfit---didn't we all see ourselves in it? (Right now if you're saying "no I didn't", then perhaps you're "unaware" ;-) This week I've been wondering if failing isn't our biggest fear Every time I put a talk together, in the back of mind I'm hoping it will be a success (you too?)---because if I stink up the placeI only have like 700-800 people to witness my failure. People who've been let go at Delphi--their biggest fear is that they'll fail to get a good jobfail to provide. Or maybe they'll fail to feel good about themselves unless they have a certain kind or level of job. (Budgets) We worry if we'll fail to meet all of our financial obligations this year. Maybe we worry if we'll fail to put enough money away to actually retire someday. We worry whether we'll be successful parents--to fail in parenting is a tough legacy to watch. Or we worry about failing to protect our children from physical harm... Women after giving birth to a beautiful baby---after a while, worry if they'll fail to get back the pre-baby body... Or what if this marriage doesn't go as planned. What if my spouse doesn't feel as much like my "soul mate"---but starts to feel more like my "cell mate." And we wonder if we'll fail at this marriage too... And it's not that we simply worry about failing. Sometimes we fail. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned ///////////// setup drama ////////////////////////////////// She said, "Can you tell me that nothing happened?" He said, "No...I can't tell you that" Whatever it is they're talking about--he did it. He made a bad decision and now that relationship appears to be failing. And in this room, there's no doubt that our collective past and present is riddled with people who have failed: Failed in ministry Failed in school Failed to get or keep a job or get a good job Failed at finances Failed at parenting Failed with managing our personal health Failed in marriages Failed in relationships Failed morally Failed friends, failed God, and failed themselves I can't really imagine how many wishes of having a "do-over" are in this room (feel the heaviness) It feels heavy in here because we tend to perceive "failure" as something that is purely and completely negative and offers nothing of value. We think of failure as mark on our permanent record We think of failure as something that disqualifies us or sets us apart We think of failure as making us "less than" other people We think of failure as defining who we are---we are our failure But let me suggest that that is a "fallen" view of failure. Perhaps in some cases it's an unhealthy and even unbiblical view of failure. Let me offer you some quotes about failure from secular people to get us to start seeing this in a different light. "A failure is a man who has blundered but is not capable of cashing in on the experience." -Elbert Hubbard "It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes, it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own." -Jessamyn West "Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks, learns quite as much from his failures as from his success." -John Dewey "I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -Thomas Edison "Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know." -William Saroyan "Failure is the tuition you pay for success." -Walter Brunnell (one more "My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents-- and I lay them both at His feet." -Mahatma Gandhi And from Romans 5:3-4 here's what Paul said: "We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation." Romans 5:3-4 NLT Let me paraphrase this for us----something like: "Let's not look at failure and struggles like the world does. Let's learn to appreciate what God can do through them. He doesn't always make them miraculously disappear; instead He often walks with us through a process---a process that teaches us to be strong in Him. Through His strength and through our relationship with Him, He builds up our character. And in the end, we know better than we did before this whole mess started, that this invisible God is so very real ---and now we know with new conviction, that in Him is where we find our only true hope." -Morgalonians 5:3-4 Can I be really clear on something? The Bible is the history of a lot of well-intentioned people who failed with great regularity. The Bible is not the story of squeaky-clean theological seminary graduates who nearly flawlessly unfolded the polite story of God's redemptive plan to a lost world. The Bible is full of real peoplepeople like us. From Genesis to Revelation we can read the accounts of failures---and the accounts of God being Greater Than the failure, to be God in a world that desperately needs Him God had seen them fail. God knows how you and I would fail and how we'll fail in the future---but a funny thing about God---he still sent His Son to pay for our sins & to provide grace He knew to the exact detail how you and I would blow it---and perhaps because He knew---He loved us so much that He had to send His Son. My biggest failure was my first marriage that ended in a divorce... I was young and I was arrogant. I was in my early twenties, and up to that point in my life everything I'd set my mind to do, I did. Life hadn't presented me with anything that I couldn't figure out if I wanted to. At that time I wasn't living a life with God in control of anything but the occasional prayer. And the most that God was part of that marriage was that we were married in a church. And I would say that in that marriage we were both guilty of poor decisions and ultimately were both guilty of trying to be God and that just never works. To find myself in a bitter divorce was the last place I thought I'd be. A divorce is so often the worst of all worlds: your emotional world gets turned upside down and at the same time your financial world gets turned upside down. It's kind of like being one of those plastic figures in a snow globe that is continually shaking. Things are swirling: relationships, emotions, God, money, kids, custody, attorneys and court rooms---and you're stuck in that snow globe---once a divorce gets going it ain't gonna be over til it's overyou're just stuck in it Finally after more than a year on the roller coaster of divorce, it was over. But I remember feeling like all of me didn't make it out of the snow globe. Like if a healthy person is a big sponge full of water---I felt like the experience had rung me out completelydry. I remember one night in my cheesy dumpy divorcee-special apartment in the old Silk Stocking neighborhood, lying there in bed. Restless. My head full of stufffull of so many thoughts, dialogues and unsettled emotions---replaying and wondering. And I remember thinking that this has got to stop. That somewhere in this I needed to find some real peace. That night was one of those strange times when I just felt a clear urging to do something. Specifically I strongly felt that I was supposed to go to the 24 hour drug store and by a notebook. Sounds weirdI really didn't write at that point in my life. I didn't journal at that time. Getting a notebook was something I hadn't done since high school. I remember driving to the drug store in the middle of the night thinking, "I am really weirdI am following bizarre urges that seem to make no sense." I finally pull into a parking space and realize, "Great--left my wallet at home!" Look in the little coin thing, grab what's there and think that maybe I'll have enough money to buy this notebook that "God knows why" I need it. I go in, look down and see this notebook. Turns out that I have just enough money to pay for it. //////////// read except from 1st entry ////////////// This silly little book and seemingly benign trip to a drug store at 2:13 am was in many ways, the first step of a wild spiritual ride that parallels Romans 5:3-4. God didn't make my failure miraculously disappear; instead He walked with me through a process---a LONG process that He used to teach me to be strong in Him. A process where He showed up in this cheesy green book and numerous other notebooks. A process that took me from brokenness and spiritual immaturity to healing, understanding and spiritual maturity. Along the way I stopped for counselingto see if I even knew what love is and how it's supposed to work. Along the way, Sandra came into my life and I learned what a healthy relationship is supposed to be like. Along the way Oakbrook came into my life simply because my friend Jeremy needed a drummer for an outreach concert. Who knew it was reaching out to me Along the way I realized how amazing grace truly is---because grace isn't really amazing--- until you've really failed at somethingthat's when it becomes amazing Through God's strength and through my relationship with Him, He built up my character---He developed character that didn't think the world of ME, but re-built my world on HIM. And today---I know better than I did before that whole mess started, that this invisible God is so very real ---and now I know with unbelievable conviction, that in Him is where I find my only true hope. And now you can't stop me from doing whatever I can to advance God's fame, to annoy the gates of hell and to infect as many people as I can with the Jesus virus ///////// Let's go over a few things about failure: 1. You are NOT your mistake! You are God's workmanship Eph 2:10 You are redeemed and forgiven Col. 1:14 You are fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14 Failure may be what we DO, it is NOT who we ARE. The evil one is trying to keep so many people at Oakbrook from getting involved in building the Kingdom because of past mistakes. And maybe even some churches in your past have given you the impression that certain failures have made you unfit for ministry. That's a lie. God offers grace and restoration and then makes miracles out of our garbage. You are not your failure. 2. Get back up! (on your feetwe tend to feel knocked down) "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil 1:6 Romans 5:3-4 is all about getting back up and growing closer to God through this failure. We develop endurance, which in turn develops strong character which in turn develops confidence & faith in God like we never had before. Gandhi said, "My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents--- and I lay them both at His feet." 3. Avoid re-runs! "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Prov. 26:11 (that's one of my favorite verses!) LEARN from it. What led to the failure? What do you need to learn or realize about YOU and your personality, decision-making, tendencies, temperament, maturity-level I learned SO MUCH about marriage through the pain of divorce. I learned the danger of NOT resolving issues and just letting them pile up in the closet. I learned that the emotion of love is the result of loving actions, not the other way around(learned commitment) "Failure is the tuition you pay for success." -Walter Brunnell. (gently: if you keep having the same failure, but keep pointing to reason other than yourself---get help) 4. Be ready to apologize (to God, to others) "But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." 1 John 1:9 NLT "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." Luke 17:3-4 recap: 1. You are NOT your mistake (you are an adopted son or daughter to the Most High) 2. Get back up (He who began a good work in you) 3. Avoid re-runs (dog vomit) 4. Be ready to apologize (ask for gracefrom God & people) /////////// read pg 151-153 Unstoppable Force ////////////////// elaborate setup the song... Only Grace by Matthew West From the album "History" There is no guilt here There is no shame No pointing fingers There is no blame What happened yesterdayhas disappeared The dirt has washed away And now it's clear There's only grace There's only love There's only mercy and believing it's enough Your sins are gone Without a trace And there's nothing left now There's only grace You're starting over now Under the sun You're stepping forward now A new life has begun Your new life has begun An' there's only grace There's only love There's only mercy and believingit's enough Your sins are gone Without a trace And there's nothing left now There's only grace And if you should fall again Get back up, get back up Reach out and take my hand Get back up, get back up Get back up again Ohhgetbackupagain There's only grace There's only love There's only mercy and believing it's enoughit's enough Your sins are gone Without a trace And there's nothing left now There's onlythere's onlygrace There's only mercy and believing it's enoughit's enough Your sins are gone Without a trace And there's nothing left now There's onlygrace So get back upget back up again Get back up again. top o' page