SERMON SUMMARY
Sunday, March 25,
2007
What About Me?
Sermon given by Associate Pastor, Brian Olmstead
Greek Mythology -
Narcissus saw his reflection and fell in love with it.
Narcissism: a personality disorder (It’s all about me).
1.) Great sense of self importance, Exaggerates achievements.
2.) Preoccupied with fantasies of success and power.
3.) Requires excessive admiration.
4.) Sense of entitlement.
5.) Takes advantage of others to achieve own ends.
6.) Lacks empathy.
2 Timothy 3:1-2 - “But realize this, that in the last days
difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, boastful, arrogant, rebellious,...”
The only cure psychologists say for Narcissism is to hit rock bottom.
Some start to grow out of it as they grow older.
Society tells you “You deserve a break today.” You deserve this thing or
that even enough to put yourself into heavy debt to get it.
We were formed from the dust of the ground. Every element in man has been
found somewhere in the Earth’s crust.
...Just think about how small we are in relation to the Universe.
In 1994, a cluster of galaxies were found that exist over 650 million
light years away. [Light travels at 186,282 miles per second]
- Is it any wonder that David said in Psalms 8:3-4 “When I consider
the Heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the sun which You have
ordained. What is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that
You care for him.”
Philippians 2:1-8 - “Therefore if there is any encouragement in
Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of
the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, [2] make my joy complete by
being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit,
intent on one purpose. [3] Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than
yourselves; [4] do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others. [5] Have this attitude in yourselves
which was also in Christ Jesus,[6] who, although He existed in the form of
God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [7] but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men. [8] Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the
cross.”
Jesus’ focus was not on Himself. He lived a life totally without such a
focus.
The Apostle Paul said, He “did not come with superiority of speech.” He
also said, “I count all things as lost in view of the surpassing value of
knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of
everything.”
Pastor Dan spoke a couple weeks ago about the battle being the Lord’s. And
Dale Brown said that we need to lift up Jesus.
- For these things to happen, ME needs to get out of the way.
When we cry for the power of God to be displayed, we need to be prepared
for ME to leave.
Things that need to leave:
1.) In our worship, there is still a lot of ME. We get bored with certain
songs and have a hard time expressing ourselves and keeping focused.
2.) In our giving, we want to hold on as much as we can. We need to be
aware of places God is wanting us to give.
3.) In our prayers, - How often do we pray for something and it was just
an exercise?
Is there something of ME that you would like to lay down at the altar
today?
A tape recording
of today’s message is available from the church. To get your cassette tape
recording of this message, just send $5 (to cover costs of tape and
postage) to:
Attn.: Tape
Ministry
Abundant Life Fellowship
P.O. Box 22
Boonville, NY 13309-0022
Please note that all
sermons are property of Abundant Life Fellowship and should not be
reproduced for the purpose of profit or to be edited. Please understand
that these are here for the purpose of you bettering your own personal
understanding of what scriptures may mean, and we encourage you to read
the Bible for yourself as well and to pray for the Holy Spirit to give you
discernment of their meaning. All of the above sermons are available on
audio cassette and VHS video tapes by request. Call (315) 942-3093.
