#278 Ugly Christmas Sweater Series# 2, Relationships

#278 Ugly Christmas Sweater Series# 2, Relationships
By: Pastor Karl Thomas

Who gave you that ugly sweater!

Genesis 4:8  “Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”
One generation from the fall and murder has entered the human experience.

Numbers 12:1  “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.”

Genesis 37:28  “Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.”

1 Kings 1:6 (NLT)  “Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time, even by asking, ‘Why are you doing that?’”  David was a man after God’s own heart but he was a miserable father.

Luke 2:8-11  “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields,… Then the angel said to them, ‘…I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.  For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”   These outcasts were first to hear god news. 

Brothers girlfriend sent him home with a 15’ long Boa Constrictor … It was a Poodle 

Time I had a couple of drinks at Fitzgerald household … snuck in a few more … Dad went to door

Whole Family at my Uncle Ian’s and Grampa didn’t wake up in the morning.  Different day. 

Time my Mom decided to show my brother … PICTURE OF JET!!!

Dr Dean Ornish —  Ornish Lifestyle Medicine
“Love and intimacy — our ability to connect with ourselves and others, is at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing. If a new drug had the same impact, virtually every doctor in the country would be recommending it for his or her patients. It would be malpractice not to prescribe it — yet, with few exceptions, we doctors do not learn much about the healing power of love, intimacy, and transformation in our medical training. There is a deep spiritual hunger in this country. The real epidemic in our culture is not only physical heart disease, but also what I call emotional and spiritual heart disease. The profound sense of loneliness, isolation, alienation, and depression that are so prevalent in our culture with the breakdown of the social structures that used to provide us with a sense of connection and community. It is, to me, a root of the illness, cynicism, and violence in our society. Heathy relationships are more important than physical exercise, diet and even your genes. People who feel lonely and isolated have a 300-500 percent greater risk of premature death due to physical illness.”

Dr. Les Parrot   “If you try to build intimacy with another person before you have done the work of getting whole on your own, all your relationships become an attempt to complete yourself.”
Your relationships are only as strong as you are.

1 John 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

1 Peter 1:22  “…love one another fervently with a pure heart,”

Ephesians 3:14-4:3
14-19 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
20-21 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

3 Relationship Essentials:

1. Profound Significance
This can only be found in God.
“… extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love…”
“If you then I will…” conditional love
God’s love never ever fails.
Philippians 4:19 “And my God shall supply all your need…”

2. Unswerving Authenticity
“…road God called you to travel…”
You are unique. There is no one like you. Be your self.
Psalm 139:14 “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”

“Transformation is my favorite game and in my experience, anger and frustration are the result of you not being authentic somewhere in your life or with someone in your life. Being fake about anything creates a block inside of you. Life can’t work for you if you don’t show up as you.” Jason Mraz (Recording Artist)

3. Self-giving Love
“…steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love,…”
You walk into a room and everyone else is of great value to you.
Philippians 2:3 “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.”

1 John 4:11  “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

1 Peter 1:22  “…love one another fervently with a pure heart,”

278 Ugly Christmas Sweater Series# 2, Relationships, PowerPoint Slides

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