Fake News: I Don’t/Can’t Matter
LISTEN:
Fake News: I Don’t/Can’t Matter
September 22nd, 2024
2 Kings 5:1-18, 2 Corinthians 5, Acts 3, Colossians 4
What makes lies so believable?
Lies comes from loud “positional” voices, your voice included.
Lies are fed to you and play on your emotions.
Lies can feel true.
The Truths About Truth & Lies
The origin of lies is Satan.
The intent of a lie is to control and destroy.
The power of lie is in what we do with it.
The origin of truth is in the reality of Jesus.
The intent of truth is freedom and life.
The power of truth is found in following Him.
The enemy uses lies against us with intent to harm, dissuade, dishearten and to discourage you. God leverages these fights to mature, strengthen and equip you.
We matter to God and God created us to matter to others.
Our Real Purpose is for our presence to matter.
There are real differences in making and mattering.
Making is performance based (doing something for someone).
Mattering is presence based (being someone for someone).
Making is dependent on my skills and resources. Mattering is dependent on my personhood and presence.
Making and mattering aren’t mutually exclusive but mattering has a deeper impact and longer shelf life. Why? Because mattering is tied to us as a person not to an act.
To matter (to live out your real purpose) you have to first believe that you matter.
John 1:14 (AMP) 14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).
John 3:16,17 (AMP) 16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.
God’s response to our sin was loving and proactive - sending His Son.
Jesus’ coming was up close and personal – “in the flesh” makes God tangible, relatable and follow-able.
Love, Grace and Truth are how God operates with everyone, always.
You have to believe you do matter before you can believe you can matter. Acting on this truth propels and empowers you to matter!
Mattering is grounded in who we are in Christ – not in who we are in ourselves.
Mattering trusts God for strategic placement, wisdom and power – God doesn’t do random.
2 Kings 5:1-3, 9-15 (NIV) Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. 2 Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.” 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So, he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.
“There is a prophet in Israel” … establishes that our mattering is not based on where we are or what we have but to whom we are pointing!
A key to mattering is to maintain a mattering presence no matter what. Don’t buy the lie that your mattering is positional or personally dependent!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV) 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Satan isn’t just after you with these “mattering lies”, he is after everyone in your sphere of influence. You matter where you are regardless of where you are and how you got there.
Acts 1:8 (NIV) 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Act 3:1-16 (NIV) One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
God places you in mattering situations with mattering power! Don’t buy the lie you don’t/can’t matter, live the truth and be amazed at what God does through you!
Colossians 4:3-6 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
God give me…
Partners. Mattering isn’t a solo endeavor, build a prayer team.
Open Doors. An open door is an opportunity God creates. Mattering isn’t a cold call it’s answering the door when opportunity knocks!
Clarity. Trust the simplicity of the Gospel and be bold in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wisdom. The enemy wants to start fights not relationships and conversations. Be slow to speak, quick to listen and slow to become angry (defensive).
Tender Heart. Treat every opportunity as precious – not wanting to waste a minute of opportunity.
Effectiveness. 4 parts grace, 1 part truth. How we are opens the door for what we say. The way to a person’s head is through their heart.
To say you don’t matter is to cheapens the cross. To say you can’t matter short sells your purpose and God’s power.
Colossians 1:26,27 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Your circumstances don’t matter to your mattering.
Your resources don’t matter to your mattering.
Your talent doesn’t matter to your mattering.
Your past doesn’t matter to your mattering.
Your person and your presence matters to your mattering.
You matter to God and God created you to matter.