Flip the Script: From Evil to Good
Genesis 37:12-28
As Joseph is carted off to a foreign land….what could he be thinking?
What’s true in this moment?• The people who should have loved Joseph, didn’t.• For whatever “crimes” Joseph may have committed in their eyes, the punishment didn’t fit.• Everything about his future is uncertain at the very best, deeply dark at worst. At the flipping point, he’s lost everything except his life.
What situations have you been in that looked just like that?
Genesis 50: 15-21
Notice that both the brothers and God had intentions through Joseph’s story. The brothers MEANT evil & God MEANT good.
The question of ‘WHY?’
-David asked that question “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”‭‭Psalms‬ ‭22:1-2‬
-Jesus himself, on the cross, asked that question “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ).”‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭27:46
The bottom line: Hope grows not because we understand the WHY, but because we trust the WHO.
The WHY is about clarity.The WHO is about trust.
Romans 8:28
“For those who love Him”…In a loving relationship there is trust being built.
A prayer to guide us: “Even though….yet I will trust you, Lord.”
Psalms 56:3-4
-“Even though my financial need is great and I don’t see how we will make, yet I will trust you, Lord” -“Even though the future seems uncertain and I don’t know what tomorrow holds, yet I will trust you, Lord” -“Even though I don’t like it, even though I don’t understand it, yet I will trust you, Lord.”

http://bible.com/events/4588403
“Flip the Script: When God Redeems Your Story”
From Defeat to Victory
 ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61:1-3‬ ‭NIV‬‬
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:18-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:1-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬
‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:34-37‬ ‭NIV‬‬
1 Samuel 17:4-14

1 Samuel 17:32-33, 38-44 
This is the FLIPPING POINT in the story.

FLIPPING POINT
• What would you be thinking right now if you didn’t know the story?
• What were the men of Israel thinking?
• Why does the Scripture provide so much detail about how imposing – about how impossible – Goliath was?
•What does He want you to see at this moment in the story?
• It wasn’t just that a little shepherd boy with no armor and a few rocks had little chance of defeating this giant, he had NO chance.

What’s true in this moment?
• Goliath looked absolutely unbeatable.
• The men of Israel were paralyzed with fear.
• Futile human attempts were made to cope – in the form of David stumbling around in Saul’s armor.

1 Samuel 17:45-50

Allow the Lord to “Flip the Script” in your life….

1. Beyond my perspective….

There was more to the story of David and Goliath than we can see.

At the core of redemption is a belief that there is something more happening beneath the surface that I cannot see.  

God is working in places that we cannot yet see.
This is not just the mystery of God, it’s the power of God.

There is no such thing as “risk-free” faith.

2. Beyond my battle….

1 Samuel 17:45
David fights not in his own power, but in the power of the living God.    

We often see our job to armor up to fight the giants in our lives, but the truth of Scripture is the power of the living God is fighting for us.

Exodus 14:14
Galatians 2:20 
3. Beyond my victory…

1 Samuel 17:46-47 
In our battles we face the great temptation:
-to elevate “the giant”…
-we see it every day
-its the focus of our thoughts
-sometimes it’s all we see, all we think about
-it’s overwhelming and debilitating
-to elevate self…
-all we see is me
-all we see is my pain
-all we see is my struggle  

David was committed, no matter what, to elevate the Living God.

There is victory possible when we focus, first and foremost, on giving God glory no matter what happens.  
That is when the power of God begins to “Flip the Script” in our lives.  
Bottom Line:
Surrender transforms my present defeat into my future victory.

http://bible.com/events/2989286
“Moved with Compassion”

Matthew 9:35-38‬
To be moved with compassion – root word in the Greek is “splagcha” meaning “inward parts” or “bowels”
In the Gospels, this word is only used to describe Jesus. Jesus was moved to the deepest part of his core.

1. Compassion leads to action 

Multiple Biblical texts where  it specifically points to Jesus’ compassion leading to action:
Mark 1
Mark 6
Mark 8
Matthew 14
Matthew 20

The compassion of Jesus always leads to action:  healing, feeding, forgiving, redeeming.

2. Compassion begins with one

Even in the midst of the crowds, Jesus never loses site of the one.  

In Mark 5, Jesus stops in the midst of a crowd to identify the one woman who needed hope.

Bottom Line: 
Compassion moves us to action, and it always begins with one!

Full Bio for Yuri Lopez
Yuri’s parents abandoned her and her twin sister when they were just babies.  At the age of two, she was separated from her sister and other siblings when she arrived at a Honduran orphanage and stayed there until she was 16. The directors of the orphanage did their best to provide emotional and spiritual nurturing for the children, but it was impossible to devote individual attention to so many children at the same time. Many times they did not have electricity or running water. When she turned 13, Yuri started cooking in the orphanage kitchen for 120 children and also helped take care of the babies. Living conditions in the orphanage were challenging and she felt hopeless and discouraged.

At six years of age, Yuri experienced hope for the very first time. When she was in her second grade classroom, and they were suddenly interrupted by the sounds of a helicopter that landed at the soccer field at their orphanage. Minutes later, they were led to the church building next door and saw stacks of colorfully wrapped shoeboxes waiting for them. Yuri’s favorite items in the shoebox gift were the picture of the American girl who packed the shoebox and her note which read, “Jesus loves you, and I love you too.” Seven years later, Yuri hit a very low point in her life which caused her to run away to themountains. After hours of crying and blaming God for the life she was living, she pulled out the picture of the American little girl who packed the shoebox for her, along with her note – “Jesus loves you, and I love you too.” Three months later Yuri gave her life to Christ.

Yuri’s love and talent for school and soccer eventually opened doors for her to come to the United States, where she now works with FCA. She also has a loving and supportive Christian family. Her vision and mission for the future are to help people know that God can change people’s hearts and lives. She hopes to work as a teacher and coach with inner-city children as well as open soccer camps for impoverished youth in Honduras. When she packs shoeboxes, she tells children that Jesus loves them and that God will change their lives and that they have a future, just like God showed her.
Statistics about Operation Christmas Child
-Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 168 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 160 countries and territories.
-In 2019, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children in countries like Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda and Ukraine. More than 10.6 million shoebox gifts were collected worldwide in 2018, with more than 8.8 million collected in the U.S.
-Shoebox gifts are collected in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Spain, New Zealand and Japan.
-Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Samaritan’s Purse currently works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine

More information is available at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/

http://bible.com/events/705427
“Crossing the Divide”

Ephesians 2:11-12 
The Gentiles had no hope of a Messiah 
Jewish people, even in their darkest moments, were promised a Messiah
For the Jews, history was always going somewhere
But for the Gentiles history was going nowhere

Ephesians 2:13-15

There was an insurmountable barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles and there was no hope of unity.

Christ destroyed the barrier and made peace with God possible.

Ephesians 2:15 (cont) – 16
There are two words for “NEW” in Greek 
1. Neos….new in “quantity” meaning it is new, but has existed before
2. Kainos….new in its quality, meaning something that did not exist before

Jesus destroyed the barrier, creating something new that had not existed before.  

Ephesians 2:17-18
Just as we are called to be ONE BODY (verse 16), we have been given ONE SPIRIT (verse 18).

Ephesians 2:19 
There are no “outsiders” in the kingdom of God, but rather there is a seat at the table for each and every person.

Ephesians 2:20-22‭‭
Our unity, within the body, does not come from rituals, status, preference….It comes from Christ

2 Power Implications for us: 

1. Jesus crossed the divide 

Because of sin we were separated from God, without any hope on our own.  
Jesus bore our sin on the cross and made a way for us to be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

2. We must do the same 

2 Corinthians 5:18

God has entrusted us with His mission to cross the divide.  
To bring hope to hopeless people.  
To love the unloveable.
To welcome the outcast.  

Jesus crossed the divide. 
We must do the same.  

http://bible.com/events/701320

Jesus & My Mask
 ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:6-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The moment that sin enters into the world shame is present.
Guilt says “I did something bad”
Shame says “I am bad”

We cope with shame by building a wall (a barrier)
We do this for two reasons:
1. We feel like we won’t be accepted as is
2. To protect ourselves from getting hurt again

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

God’s power is at its BEST when my power is at its WORST 

In response to shame we must choose vulnerability.   

Vulnerability: The courage to let go of who you think you should be in order to be who you are and in that to understand deeply that you are loved and accepted by God.

We have seen God meet people in their moments of their greatest vulnerability
Jacob: Genesis 32:31 Jacob wrestles with God and walks away with a limp
Moses: Exodus 4:10 Moses is asked to lead God’s people even thought he stutters
David: Psalm 51 David mourns in the midst of great sin and disobedience
Peter: Luke 22:60-61 Peter denies Jesus

2 Corinthians 6:11-13  Perhaps the best definition of Godly vulnerability is a heart that’s open wide.

1. Vulnerable with God
-Our response to shame is the same as Adam and Even in the garden: we hide.
-When we can’t be vulnerable with God:
-we place limitations on the depth of our relationship with Him
-we limit the work He can do in our lives

 2. Vulnerable with others
-Shame prevents us from experiencing love, belonging, joy, trust, and intimacy in our relationships.  
-Research of hundreds of people dealing with shame led to one powerful conclusion: it’s not that vulnerability was always comfortable, but it was always necessary.

Christ’s Mind Versus the Human Mind as it Relates to Vulnerability

The Mind of Christ/The “Merely Human” Mind
The truth will set you free./The better you look, the better you are.
We are precious to God as we are. (Matthew 13:45-46)/God’s acceptance is something we must earn.
We are loved. (Romans 5:8)/We aren’t worthy of God’s love. Not really.
We must be open and honest about who we are./We can’t be open and honest about who we are.
Risk/Pretend
Love/Protect
Step out in faith/Hide