Winning Dependence - Connection Point Church

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John 10:10 says, “I have come so that you might have life and have it more ... SOMEONE(s) – You always imagined that
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Winning Dependence

Home  Run  Life       1   Part  

Dr. Brandon Park | June 1, 2014

 

 

           John  10:10  says,  “I  have  come  so  that  you  might  have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly.”                Would  y ou  say  that  you  are  living  life  to  the  full?            Unfortunately,  research  shows  that  believers  live  no  better  and  no  differently  than  non-­‐believers.   For  example,  believers  don’t  seem  to  handle  money  any  better  than  non-­‐believers,  they  struggle  with   pornography  just  as  much  as  non-­‐believers,  and  (according  to  Barna)  the  divorce  rates  for  Christians   are  virtually  identical  to  non-­‐Christians  at  32  and  33  percent.    Many  Christians  are  missing  some   foundational  principles  and  practices  of  their  faith.    As  a  result,  they  are  not  living  the  life  of  their   dreams—the  abundant  life  God  wants  them  to  have.              Many  people  want  to  grow  from  the  ___________________  in,  but  God  wants  to  change  us  from   the  _____________________  out.  

What  makes  for  a  home  run  life?    

 

The  question  is  what  are  the  elements  that  make  up  for  a  great  life?    There  are  four  elements  to  it:   • SUCCESS    -­‐    When  we're  young  and  we  dream  about  our  lives,  we  dream  about  our  future   job  and  career  success.    When  we  are  y oung,  no  one  aspires  to  grow  up  and  accomplish   small  things.    But  success  is  too  small  to  make  up  the  whole  of  your  life  dream.   • SOMEONE(s)  –  You  always  imagined  that  there  would  be  others  in  this  dream  life   (coworkers,  teammates,  close  friends,  a  soul  mate).    Success  without  someone  is   __________________.    Success  all  alone  is  empty!  Success  without  the  "someones"  is   diminished  joy.     • SELF-­‐RESPECT  –  You  imagined  you  would  be  able  to  look  into  the  mirror  and  respect  the   person  you  see  without  dropping  your  eyes  in  disgrace.   • SIGNIFICANCE  –  You  dreamed  that  your  life  would  make  a  difference  and  that  it  would   count  for  what  matters.  

    What  can  we  learn  from  Joseph's  journey?              In  the  Bible,  Joseph  illustrates  the  pattern  for  winning  a  home  run  life  (See  Genesis  37-­‐50).    Joseph  

was  in  the  line  of  God’s  great  promises.    His  father  Jacob,  was  highly  influential  and  very  affluent  and   Joseph  was  the  favored  son.    At  the  age  of  17,  his  father  gives  him  a  “coat  of  many  colors”  which   means  he  is  very  important.    He  also  gets  a  v ision  from  God  that  someday  his  brothers  would  be   bowing  before  him  and  he  makes  the  mistake  of  sharing  that  vision  with  his  brothers.                Joseph  assumed  that  his  next  step  in  life  would  be  success,  but  God’s  next  step  for  him  was  the  pit.   His  brothers  threw  him  into  a  pit,  took  his  coat  of  many  colors  and  made  it  look  like  an  animal  had   killed  him.    He  is  left  for  dead,  but  is  eventually  sold  into  slavery  and  is  sent  to  Egypt.              What  was  God  doing  in  Joseph  when  life  was  not  going  as  planned  and  things  did  not  make  sense?     He  was  taking  him  on  the  same  pattern  and  journey  as  He  desires  to  take  all  of  us.     • WIN  DEPENDENCE  –  When  we  wonder  why  God  is  allowing  things  to  happen  that  don’t  make   sense,  He  is  helping  us  win  dependence.    You  may  find  yourself  in  a  pit  today  that  you  didn’t   create  and  you  are  trying  to  figure  out  what  God  is  doing.    God  was  stripping  Joseph  of   everything  he  would  have  used  to  make  this  dream  possible  so  he  could  move  Joseph  from  self-­‐ reliance  to  G od-­‐reliance.  Joseph  was  __________________  of  everything  he  would  have   depended  upon  to  accomplish  the  dream.  He  was  stripped  of  his  c oat  which  made  him  feel   important.    He  was  stripped  of  his  name  and  security  of  his  Father’s  home.    All  that  was  familiar,   and  even  his  freedom,  was  taken  away  from  him.    The  way  we  grow  up  humanly  is  different  than   the  way  we  grow  up  spiritually.    Humanly  speaking,  we  grow  by  progressively  moving  from   dependence  to  independence.    Spiritual  growth  is  the  opposite.    You  grow  spiritually  by   progressively  moving  from  ______________________  to  _______________________  upon  God.   • WIN  WITHIN  –  Joseph’s  second  major  breakthrough  was  when  he  faced  a  major  temptation.    By   this  time  he  was  a  servant  in  Potiphar’s  house  and  Potiphar’s  wife  makes  a  sexual  advance   towards  him.  In  that  moment,  he  had  to  decide,  "What  kind  of  person  am  I  going  to  be?"  Joseph   couldn't  help  that  he  was  a  slave  on  the  outside,  but  he  didn't  have  to  be  a  slave  on  the  inside  to   his  passions,  his  appetites,  or  his  desires.  The  quality  of  our  relationships  and  the  life  that  we   live  will  never  consistently  rise  above  the  quality  of  ___________________  within  us.  God’s   dream  for  Joseph  involved  more  than  just  worldly  success  where  he  would  rule  over  others.     God’s  heart  was  to  develop  Joseph  to  be  a  person  who  could  rule  over  himself.    The  greatest   battles  that  we  face  are  not  _________________  us,  but  ______________________  us.   • WIN  WITH  OTHERS  –  Joseph  is  now  the  imprisoned  slave.    People  don’t  even  notice  him.    They   dismiss  him.    Joseph  used  to  think  that  he  was  a  real  “somebody”  in  his  Father’s  household.   Perhaps  God  had  him  in  this  place  to  teach  him  how  to  value  others.  There  are  few  things  more   redefining  than  when  God  puts  you  in  the  place  of  people  you  once  ____________________.     • WIN  RESULTS  –  While  Joseph  was  still  in  prison,  he  had  the  opportunity  to  interpret  a  dream  for   Pharoah.    Joseph  told  him  that  while  he  could  not,  the  God  whom  he  served  was  able.    God  gave   Joseph  the  interpretation  of  the  dream.    Then  more  than  give  the  problem,  he  delivered  the   solution  to  the  coming  famine  in  Egypt.    The  pinnacle  of  Joseph’s  life  is  when  he  moved  from   success  to  significance.  He  said  to  his  brothers:  "What  you  meant  for  bad,  God  meant  for  good,   for  the  saving  of  many  lives."    

What  is  the  pattern?    

               READ  ROMANS  12:1-­‐2     • HOME  PLATE  is  where  you  __________________  with  God  (Win  Dependence).    Just  how  in   baseball,  everything  begins  and  ends  with  the  home  plate,  in  this  life,  everything  begins  and  ends   with  God.  This  is  where  we  find  our  purpose  and  receive  God’s  power.     st • 1  BASE  is  where  you  develop  _____________________  (Win  W ithin).    We  think  the  point  of   the  Christian  life  is  to  get  God  to  change  everything  around  you,  when  the  first  thing  God   wants  to  do  is  change  everything  _______________  you.    God  is  more  interested  in  how   ____________  we  grow  our  ____________  than  how  big  we  grow  our  branches.   nd • 2  BASE  is  where  we  grow  in  ________________________  (Win  with  Others)  –  Matthew  22:36-­‐ 40.    Life  is  about  loving  God  with  our  whole  heart  and  loving  our  neighbor  as  yourself.     rd • 3  Base  is  ____________________________  (Win  Results)  –  A  player  does  not  score  when  he   rd gets  to  3  base  –  only  when  he  crosses  home  plate.  You  must  go  from  success  to  s ignificance.     God’s  definition  of  success  is…   K________________________  God  and  His  purpose  for  our  lives   G________________________  to  reach  our  maximum  potential   S_________________________seeds  that  benefit  others.   -­‐ That’s  the  kind  of  success  that  anyone  can  achieve.    

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Winning Dependence

Home  Run  Life       1   Part  

Dr. Brandon Park | June 1, 2014

 

someone(s) Community

Win with Others

self-respect

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success

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Š Competence

cheat

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Win Results

Character Win Within

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significance

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           John  10:10  says,  “I  have  come  so  that  you  might  have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly.”                Would  y ou  say  that  you  are  living  life  to  the  full?            Unfortunately,  research  shows  that  believers  live  no  better  and  no  differently  than  non-­‐believers.   For  example,  believers  don’t  seem  to  handle  money  any  better  than  non-­‐believers,  they  struggle  with   pornography  just  as  much  as  non-­‐believers,  and  (according  to  Barna)  the  divorce  rates  for  Christians   are  virtually  identical  to  non-­‐Christians  at  32  and  33  percent.    Many  Christians  are  missing  some   foundational  principles  and  practices  of  their  faith.    As  a  result,  they  are  not  living  the  life  of  their   dreams—the  abundant  life  God  wants  them  to  have.   outside            Many  people  want  to  grow  from  the  ___________________   in,  but  God  wants  to  change  us  from   inside the  _____________________   out.  

Connect (with God)

Win Dependence

What  makes  for  a  home  run  life?    

 

The  question  is  what  are  the  elements  that  make  up  for  a  great  life?    There  are  four  elements  to  it:   • SUCCESS    -­‐    When  we're  young  and  we  dream  about  our  lives,  we  dream  about  our  future   job  and  career  success.    When  we  are  y oung,  no  one  aspires  to  grow  up  and  accomplish   small  things.    But  success  is  too  small  to  make  up  the  whole  of  your  life  dream.   • SOMEONE(s)  –  You  always  imagined  that  there  would  be  others  in  this  dream  life   (coworkers,  teammates,  close  friends,  a  soul  mate).    Success  without  someone  is   hollow __________________.    Success  all  alone  is  empty!  Success  without  the  "someones"  is   diminished  joy.     • SELF-­‐RESPECT  –  You  imagined  you  would  be  able  to  look  into  the  mirror  and  respect  the   person  you  see  without  dropping  your  eyes  in  disgrace.   • SIGNIFICANCE  –  You  dreamed  that  your  life  would  make  a  difference  and  that  it  would   count  for  what  matters.  

    What  can  we  learn  from  Joseph's  journey?              In  the  Bible,  Joseph  illustrates  the  pattern  for  winning  a  home  run  life  (See  Genesis  37-­‐50).    Joseph  

was  in  the  line  of  God’s  great  promises.    His  father  Jacob,  was  highly  influential  and  very  affluent  and   Joseph  was  the  favored  son.    At  the  age  of  17,  his  father  gives  him  a  “coat  of  many  colors”  which   means  he  is  very  important.    He  also  gets  a  v ision  from  God  that  someday  his  brothers  would  be   bowing  before  him  and  he  makes  the  mistake  of  sharing  that  vision  with  his  brothers.                Joseph  assumed  that  his  next  step  in  life  would  be  success,  but  God’s  next  step  for  him  was  the  pit.   His  brothers  threw  him  into  a  pit,  took  his  coat  of  many  colors  and  made  it  look  like  an  animal  had   killed  him.    He  is  left  for  dead,  but  is  eventually  sold  into  slavery  and  is  sent  to  Egypt.              What  was  God  doing  in  Joseph  when  life  was  not  going  as  planned  and  things  did  not  make  sense?     He  was  taking  him  on  the  same  pattern  and  journey  as  He  desires  to  take  all  of  us.     • WIN  DEPENDENCE  –  When  we  wonder  why  God  is  allowing  things  to  happen  that  don’t  make   sense,  He  is  helping  us  win  dependence.    You  may  find  yourself  in  a  pit  today  that  you  didn’t   create  and  you  are  trying  to  figure  out  what  God  is  doing.    God  was  stripping  Joseph  of   everything  he  would  have  used  to  make  this  dream  possible  so  he  could  move  Joseph  from  self-­‐ stripped reliance  to  G od-­‐reliance.  Joseph  was  __________________   of  everything  he  would  have   depended  upon  to  accomplish  the  dream.  He  was  stripped  of  his  c oat  which  made  him  feel   important.    He  was  stripped  of  his  name  and  security  of  his  Father’s  home.    All  that  was  familiar,   and  even  his  freedom,  was  taken  away  from  him.    The  way  we  grow  up  humanly  is  different  than   the  way  we  grow  up  spiritually.    Humanly  speaking,  we  grow  by  progressively  moving  from   dependence  to  independence.    Spiritual  growth  is  the  opposite.    You  grow  spiritually  by   independence dependence progressively  moving  from  ______________________   to  _______________________   upon  God.   • WIN  WITHIN  –  Joseph’s  second  major  breakthrough  was  when  he  faced  a  major  temptation.    By   this  time  he  was  a  servant  in  Potiphar’s  house  and  Potiphar’s  wife  makes  a  sexual  advance   towards  him.  In  that  moment,  he  had  to  decide,  "What  kind  of  person  am  I  going  to  be?"  Joseph   couldn't  help  that  he  was  a  slave  on  the  outside,  but  he  didn't  have  to  be  a  slave  on  the  inside  to   his  passions,  his  appetites,  or  his  desires.  The  quality  of  our  relationships  and  the  life  that  we   live  will  never  consistently  rise  above  the  quality  of  ___________________   within  us.  God’s   character dream  for  Joseph  involved  more  than  just  worldly  success  where  he  would  rule  over  others.     God’s  heart  was  to  develop  Joseph  to  be  a  person  who  could  rule  over  himself.    The  greatest   around within battles  that  we  face  are  not  _________________   us,  but  ______________________   us.   • WIN  WITH  OTHERS  –  Joseph  is  now  the  imprisoned  slave.    People  don’t  even  notice  him.    They   dismiss  him.    Joseph  used  to  think  that  he  was  a  real  “somebody”  in  his  Father’s  household.   Perhaps  God  had  him  in  this  place  to  teach  him  how  to  value  others.  There  are  few  things  more   dismissed redefining  than  when  God  puts  you  in  the  place  of  people  you  once  ____________________.     • WIN  RESULTS  –  While  Joseph  was  still  in  prison,  he  had  the  opportunity  to  interpret  a  dream  for   Pharoah.    Joseph  told  him  that  while  he  could  not,  the  God  whom  he  served  was  able.    God  gave   Joseph  the  interpretation  of  the  dream.    Then  more  than  give  the  problem,  he  delivered  the   solution  to  the  coming  famine  in  Egypt.    The  pinnacle  of  Joseph’s  life  is  when  he  moved  from   success  to  significance.  He  said  to  his  brothers:  "What  you  meant  for  bad,  God  meant  for  good,   for  the  saving  of  many  lives."    

What  is  the  pattern?    

               READ  ROMANS  12:1-­‐2     connect • HOME  PLATE  is  where  you  __________________   with  God  (Win  Dependence).    Just  how  in   baseball,  everything  begins  and  ends  with  the  home  plate,  in  this  life,  everything  begins  and  ends   with  God.  This  is  where  we  find  our  purpose  and  receive  God’s  power.     st character • 1  BASE  is  where  you  develop  _____________________   (Win  W ithin).    We  think  the  point  of   the  Christian  life  is  to  get  God  to  change  everything  around  you,  when  the  first  thing  God   within wants  to  do  is  change  everything  _______________   you.    God  is  more  interested  in  how   deep we  grow  our  ____________   roots than  how  big  we  grow  our  branches.   ____________   nd community • 2  BASE  is  where  we  grow  in  ________________________   (Win  with  Others)  –  Matthew  22:36-­‐ 40.    Life  is  about  loving  God  with  our  whole  heart  and  loving  our  neighbor  as  yourself.     rd competence • 3  Base  is  ____________________________   (Win  Results)  –  A  player  does  not  score  when  he   rd gets  to  3  base  –  only  when  he  crosses  home  plate.  You  must  go  from  success  to  s ignificance.     God’s  definition  of  success  is…   K________________________   God  and  His  purpose  for  our  lives   nowing G________________________   to  reach  our  maximum  potential   rowing S_________________________seeds   that  benefit  others.   owing -­‐ That’s  the  kind  of  success  that  anyone  can  achieve.