Episode Details

Reclaiming hearts & minds
Not with Physical swords but THE SPIRITUAL SWORD
Hebrews 4

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Not just DEFENSIVE but OFFENSIVE
Matthew 16

18 …and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Series:

RECLAIMING ABUNDANT LIFE
John 10:10

10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
Key question:

What is Abundant Life?
Abundant life is NOT:

Wealth/Health/Fame

• Make life easier but not more abundant

Cynthia Heimel, “Tongue in Chic” column in The Village Voice, January 2, 1990.

Atheist/feminist writer in the 90s/2000s

“I pity celebrities, no I really do – [celebrities] were once perfectly pleasant human beings. But now their wrath is awful. I think when God wants to play a really rotten practical joke on you he grants you your deepest wish and then laughs merrily when you realize you want to kill yourself. You see [these people] wanted fame. They worked, they pushed and the morning after each of them became famous they wanted to take an overdose. Because that giant thing they were striving for, that fame thing that was going to make everything OK, that was going to make their lives bearable, that was going to provide them with personal fulfillment and happiness had happened and they were still them. The disillusionment turned them howling and insufferable.”

Power/Authority

• Just hungry for more power
• No one ever said, “This is enough power”

Pleasure/Satisfaction

• Become numb… Always need more

Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine

“Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence”

“The paradox is that hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure for it’s own sake, leads to anhedonia. Which is the inability to enjoy pleasure of any kind.”

An Arrival point

• Life changes. Things happen

A lack of struggle

• Many have found deep joy in the struggle

Note:

These things are TOOLS, but they are NOT where abundant life is FOUND
The enemy wants us to trade GOD for GIFTS

Context of Jesus’ statement:

John 10

1 “Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn’t enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

7 Jesus said again, “Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus is:

• The Gate – The Only Way in (Protection)
• The Shepherd – The Only Way Out (Authority)

Key Question:

What is ABUNDANT LIFE?
What is the “THEIF”

• False abundant life

What is the Abundant Life of Jesus?

• True abundant life

Galatians 5

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:

sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity,…

20 idolatry, sorcery,…

hatreds