nothingwrong

We kicked off our fall season at The Brook with a brand new sermon series called nothingwrong. We've had several people ask, "What in the world is this about?" I wanted to give some insight into the purpose and meaning behind this series, share a little about what we've experienced so far, and see if it resonates with you. 

I'd like to tell you that every sermon series I preach is inspired by a weeklong journey out into the desert with nothing more than a Camelbak and my Bible. That would be a bit of a stretch. Sometimes I am fully inspired by very lengthy times alone in God's Word. This is especially evident when doing a series like Nehemiah or Numbers. But with this series, it all hit me in the gym with my headphones blaring in my ears. Truth be told, I owe this one to the Holy Spirit and Jimmy Eat World. The lyrics of their song, "Nothingwrong" hit me right in the gut: "We've done nothing wrong, but we've done nothing. We can't look away, but we're just looking. It's second nature to say, we've done nothing wrong!" As I'm lifting weights, this idea and conviction becomes pretty clear to me - this is our default nature. So many times we're so subconsciously hung up on doing nothing wrong that we don't do anything at all. And as a Christ-follower, I have this deep reaching conviction that at the end of my life I would rather be counting the risks I took and the sacrifices I made rather than being pridefully disillusioned by my (false) innocence. 

Jesus drilled this point home in the Parable of the Talents. The guy who stuck his head in the sand and buried the Master's money was rebuked and kicked out of the Kingdom. That's SERIOUS! And what he'd been given was taken away and given to the faithful servant - the one who risked and sacrificed. Which servant do you want to be?

So far in our series we've looked at Peter's willingness to step out of the boat (Matthew 14) and walk on water. Peter wasn't paralyzed by the possibility of sinking, but captivated by the idea of getting to Jesus no matter the risk. James and John nearly got punched out by the other disciples because of their audacity to ask Jesus for something ridiculous like "sitting at his right hand" in heaven. Sure, we know it was arrogant and misguided, but they didn't. At least they had the guts to ask! (James 4:2-3). Last week we looked at Thomas - you know, "Doubting Thomas" - and his honesty - and saw that while he struggled with doubt, he never stopped seeking Jesus. Our doubts don't disqualify our faith, they actually strengthen it! (And I need to interject here that I've been overwhelmed by the feedback from this sermon and the response this past Sunday as a result. It was awesome!)

If you'd like to listen to any of these messages, you can go to our website, download the Sermon.net App for your smartphone, or grab the podcasts off iTunes. They're ALL available right HERE!

In the following weeks we'll be looking at Anger & Confronting, Wisdom & Understanding, and the call of Reputation Risking. I'm wondering, what areas of life do you most wrestle with apathy or complacency? When and where do you find yourself paralyzed in fear rather than empowered with courage...ready to sacrifice for the sake of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? After all, if we get to the end of our life, look back and think, "I've really done nothingwrong", then most likely, we've just done nothing!