Boulder Creek Community Church

Be good and mad

Luke 6:40 – 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.We become like the people we are around the most! Luke 10 – 38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her. NLT

** So… Question: When you get mad. What are you defending? When you understand what it is you’re defending, you have the answer to what it is your heart holds most dear. Which leads us to why it is that our anger… the things that make us angry bring about so much pain, heartache and destruction in our relationships…Our basic problem is NOT anger, but that our anger is disordered. Disordered anger is a result of disordered love. Here’s what I mean by that… Disordered love comes as a result of us making a good thing the ultimate thing.When our love is disordered our anger will be disordered! .** Example – Your child gets caught stealing. You’re mad! But why? Because you see the destructive and painful path your child is headed down, and your love compels you to be angry, or because your reputation as a parent is at stake. What will the neighbors say? Peel back like an onion… - Level 1 – Everyday things that we face. Johnny spills his milk, my boss yells at me, my wife doesn’t respond the way I’d like…

"Be angry"!Anger is love in motion… it’s a response to defend someone or something that is threatened! When your child is threatened by someone trying to hurt them or violate them, a normal healthy response is to be angry! Anger is commanded! Ephesians 4:26-27 – 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.”John Chrysostom (pastor in the 300’s)“He that is angry without cause, sins. But he that is not angry, sins also…Summary… No anger (repressed)… blow anger (expressed)… slow anger (calculated; intense; intentional). Slow anger is the mark of a mature and wise person! ** So… Question: When you get mad. What are you defending?

There are different ways of dealing with anger... 1. Some people think they have NO anger... but they are in denial. 2. Some people have BLOW anger and they erupt when triggered3. But the emotionally intelligent way to deal with anger is to be SLOW to anger.What's the opposite of anger...? It's not NO Anger... (to have a short fuse). But patience. (to have a long fuse).Do you have a short fuse or a long fuse...?- Proverbs 14:29 - Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. - Proverbs 15:18 - A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. - Proverbs 22:25 – Do make friends with a hot-tempered person or associate with one easily angered.

Stephen Mealing

III. Pray your tears!The psalms are raw... real... But what’s important to see here that David runs to his connection to God! Friends are vital! Living in community is critical!! But… we must go to God to! Take your tears to your heavenly Father!a. Pray in light of God’s love. The beauty of the Psalms… God’s love remains… Even when you are not theologically correct… Psalm 39:12 "Lord, hear my prayer. Listen to my cry for help. Pay attention to my sobbing. I'm like a guest in your home. I'm only a visitor, like all of my family who lived before me. 13 Leave me alone. Let me be full of joy again before I die."He knows how we speak when we are desperate! And he is not afraid of it or bothered by it.“The great thing to remember is that though our feelings come and go God’s love for us does not.” ― C.S. Lewisb. Pray in light of the cross. Matthew 26:38 – 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” There is no other book or God like thi

Psalm 126 – 5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.** Don’t waste your sorrows… See your tears as an opportunity for growth. You can’t stuff them… you get no fruit! You can’t just walk outside and dump a pile of seeds! No fruit! Look beneath the surface! What’s going on…? What’s underneath…? What’s under the hood…? What causes our tears?Psalm 42:5 – 5 My spirit, why are you so sad? Why are you so upset deep down inside me?** Musicians get it! Eels… Songs like, “Novocain for the soul” and “Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor” & “Be Hurt”… probably most known for his songs on the Shrek movie… Mark Oliver Everett went on what he calls a project of self-improvement, during which he got married, got divorced and, at the age of 54, had a son. He also spent time reckoning with the losses he'd experienced earlier in life, including his sister's suicide, his mother's death from cancer an

Luke 13:1-9Jesus dispels two wrong ways to respond to tragedy... Blame ourselves... or blame God. The paradox of the Christian life is that we are more sinful than we can bear, and more loved than we can comprehend. The cross helps us hold these two realities in our hearts at the same time, and they keep us from becoming proud... and they keep us from being crushed and losing heart when tragedy strikes in life.

Expect tears in life...Xians have a little mythical belief... If I am a good boy/girl then God will protect me from pain in this life!Book of Job!! Job 16 – 20 My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God.Not all pain is because you have done something wrong!! Jesus a man of sorrows! And he walked in lived perfectly with the father!Interesting metaphor for salvation… Ezekiel 36:26 – 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.Which means that we may actually experience more sorrow living in Jesus. Your heart becomes more of a heart!1 Thess. 4 – 13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ** If we don’t learn to expect pain in this life we will not only have tears when we do experience pain, we will have tears over having tears!

The inner life is often ignored... and we often don't know how to manage our emotions in an intelligent and productive way. Some stuff them... others express them irresponsibly. But there's a 3rd way... a better way... pray them!

Daniel 3:14-3013 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? 15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”1

In a funk...?

Philippians 4:11-13 - I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ,[d] who gives me strength.

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:12‬ ‭NIV“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:6-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Christians relationship to the government - Part 4

The Christians relationship with the government - Part 3

Christians relationship to the government.