Freedom Community Church

God is for you (in this series, we have learned)

For the last few weeks, we’ve been in a series called “The Greatest.” We use that word for all kinds of things: music, fashion, Doritos, the list goes on. Maybe you’ve even heard people use the term GOAT, which doesn’t refer to a furry farm animal but actually stands for the “Greatest Of All Time.”

But you know what’s crazy? How quickly something can go from the GREATEST to the WORST in our minds. Think about it . . .

Maybe there was a song that was popular six months ago. You loved it! Then it got SO overplayed that now every time you hear it, you think, “Ughhh! I hate that song. It’s the WORST!”
A few years ago everybody loved fidget spinners (Tim). Now nobody wants one! Talk about a fad that faded!
Or remember when everybody wore silly bands? Or used Vine (my kids)? Things like this went from the GREATEST to, well, the worst...or gone!

What I’m really talking about is value. The value of something—how much it’s worth to us—can change really quickly.

We’re just as quick to do the same thing with ourselves. For most of us, there are times when we feel like we’re doing pretty well in life. Things are going great. Maybe we even feel like we’re great! Our value goes way up.

Maybe for you it has nothing to do with your appearance. It’s all about something you do. Maybe you feel great when you . . .

Our "wrong" formula:

You do something well, you appear a certain way + people notice = you’re great.

But maybe you’ve seen that the opposite can happen, too. Even quicker than a song or a trend, we can go from being the best to the worst. Maybe you feel like your value
drops when . . .

You don’t do something well + people don’t like or don’t notice you = you’re not that great.

The point is, for a lot of us, our great-ness is fragile. Whether you place yourself in “the greatest” column or “the worst” column, it can change quickly. And it’s usually associated with what other people think of you. Your value goes up or down based on every move you make.

And even though we know that’s probably not a great thing, for most of us it’s still true—maybe even more true than we want to admit. And it creates this constant sense of trying to not mess up. we all experience anxiety about what we do, how we do it, and who’s watching. We find ourselves asking "what if" questions. . .

And those “what if’s” feel like a bigger deal because we’re not just talking about a bad performance or no performance. our "performance" becomes who you are or aren’t. -our identity

And so we spend most of our days stressed out and worn out. We live with a sense of being “on edge” because at any moment, we can go from high-value to low value. Most of us don’t talk about it. But that’s reality.

Biblical Truth:

Today I want to talk about a time Jesus was talking to the Pharisees.

We know this conversation happened because a doctor named Luke decided to investigate everything Jesus did and document it. In fact, the first four books of the New Testament section of the Bible are all similar accounts of Jesus’ life, recorded by four different people. Luke was one of those and he includes this:

Before we go further, let’s pay attention to who’s there. The Pharisees were the law experts. They weren’t exactly fans of Jesus. And they’re kind of annoyed because of who

Being a tax collector back at this time was way worse than working for the IRS today. Tax collectors and “sinners” weren’t just your average people who made a few bad decisions.

I think one of the reasons Luke documented this moment is because of how crazy this scene was. The good guys and bad guys

So Jesus brings up a subject they could all understand: sheep!

Jesus did this a lot. He would tell a story to help people understand what God was like. Back then, everybody knew how shepherds looked out for sheep. That’s a shepherd’s job.

They wander off.
They get in trouble.
They mess up.

Jesus is basically saying, “If a sheep gets in trouble, a good shepherd goes after it.”

So when Jesus suggested this, it definitely caught the attention of the crowd. Why? shepherds & sheep were a part of normal life! Jesus continued:

In other words, this isn’t really a story about sheep. It’s about God and people. It’s about Pharisees and the sinners. No one would have been confused about who Jesus was talking about in this story.

The Pharisees were the “good sheep.” The sinners and tax collectors were the sheep who ran off.

And while Jesus was in front of both groups, He told a story about a “Shepherd” who cared about both groups. The Good Shepherd wasn’t satisfied with staying beside the good sheep and letting the not-so-smart ones wander off and get what they deserved for leaving. No, He went after that wandering sheep. Why? Because the value of the sheep had nothing to do with whether it stayed close or wandered off. That sheep mattered because they belonged to the Shepherd.

In other words . . .

A sheep’s value doesn’t come from what it does. A sheep’s value comes simply from being a sheep.

The meaning of this story was clear for the Pharisees and the tax collectors. Your performance, what you do, how you behave, how other people see you . . . all the stuff that you think gives you high or low value—it doesn’t.

*Your value doesn’t change, because your value doesn’t come from what you do.

That doesn’t mean the things we do don’t matter. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t study, work hard, try hard, or play hard. All of those will make your life better. But don’t miss this: They won’t make you better.

*Your value won’t change, because your value never came from those things in the first place.

But the opposite is true, too. When you know you are valuable and understand that your performance doesn’t change that value, that’s when you stop feeling worthless. When you know that the Shepherd thinks you’re worth it, it frees you up to stop "managing" your own value and start loving your neighbor as yourself.

That’s when you can . . .

Treat other people like they matter more.
Say good things about people.
Encourage your siblings.
Give someone a break when they hurt you.
Try to make someone else look good.

When you feel good enough about you to start looking out for other people, your life gets better, and you begin to love your life more. You worry and stress less. You have better relationships and less drama. You stop trying so hard to impress people, and start living life the way it was meant to be lived. Let me say it this way:

Take Away: Loving your life comes from knowing your worth

I get that for most of us in the room, this feels like a stretch. For a lot of us, we swing from feeling okay to worthless and back again all the time. And that’s how life has been for so long that it just feels normal. But I want you to know that you don’t have to feel like your value rises and falls all day long. You don’t have to wonder about your worth. You can KNOW that you are valuable!

That’s why it’s so important to spend time getting to know God. Read His word and search for things He says about you. Write them down. Memorize them. Remind yourself and each other that those things are true no matter how you perform or what you do.

The better you know Him, the more you’ll be able to see yourself the way He sees you. And that will make all the difference!!

Video: Silence Trailer

A movie about a true story about jesuit christian missionaries from the 1600's in Japan. Japanese rule at that time was a combination of government and forced buddhism. Christians were under persecution for their faith!

-They knew their value

-Their value meant the most to God (first place) cared more about what God thought of them & standing for Him

Take Away: Loving your life comes from knowing your worth