Encounter Core 2.0

Hanging out at Andy's place off White Ave

Carl Leitz preaching

You will make it through the valley

/White people staying in their zone./

Disney swirl, overnight changes

Not how the world works, there are dark days.

Religiosity does not mean we will not have valleys

Psalm 23 "the Lord is my shepherd..."

1. Stay Active

-keep moving, 

Proverbs 11:25 "The generous will prosper, those who refresh others will they themselves be refreshed."

Story of the mother of 5 with terminal cancer, still serving, 

2. Stay Connected

-relationships will make or break you

Ecclesiastes 4:9

"Two people are better than one....of one falls, the other can reach out and help. If one person falls alone... a person standing alone can be easily attacked, but two can stand back to back and overcome. A three braided cord is not easily broken."

Lean on me, when you're not strong

Sometimes there are doorways only you can go through.

Phil 4:13 "You can do all things through..."

If I wanna mess up my life I need to lie to a million people

Is it too easy to sin? Make it hard on yourself.

3. Stay Focused

-keep your eyes on the promises of God

Hebrews 12:1-3

"Do you see what this means-all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we better get on with this strip down, keep running. Never Quit!... when you find yourself flagging in your faith, go through that story again, item by item, and it will shoot adrenaline through your soul."

Why am I here? Most googled question

If you don't know, and are unfocused?...

In a moment God can change a season.

Chaplin of ____in Florida Lindsey Sterling - Majesty

Are you the same guy who has fallen 40 times but is still going after god?

Aren't you the same girl_____ dicorces, with those kids.

Aren't you the same church that nobody knew about last year but...

Focus on the cross

Churches are going to fail you, preachers are going to fail you, but Jesus will never change.

That's all for now.

Encounter Core

Kickoff night for Encounter Core 

Andy Stanley's "What makes you happy?"

No|thing|

Do we know?

We have forgotten what makes us happy, 

Advertisements promise and under deliver

Happiness is more about who than what 

Parents who create the environment, but 

Happiness is always associate with a who or two 

Happy what always leads to happy what else

I'd an aging what deflates your happiness you aren't happy to begin with. Just being marketed to.

globalX Syndrome:

"How can they be so happy, they don't have anything."

Impossible for Parents to eclipse the happiness than their most unhappy child

Same with husbands and wives

A couple struggling with infertility: what you own, what you drive, what you wear

Hard to maintain happiness when you're trying to bring a child into the world.

Our fulfillment will be tied to some who's, not some what's

In the end you will have relational, not possessional, regrets

"I don't need anyone in order to be happy"

Two types: people with relational options, inundated with love & such

People who cannot fix their relational problems: I am an island - super dangerous

When we can't get what we want, we tell ourselves we don't really want it

Happy people are at peace with...

-Themselves

-Others

-God

Anything that undermines your peace ultimately undermines your happiness.

Jesus followers => Christians

Peace with God paves the way to peace with ourselves and equips us to make peace with others

A lawyer asks Jesus What is Gods favourite law?

-Matthew 22:36

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

-Jesus

The most important commandment is about peace with God.

The second is like it: love others as yourself.

God provides the way to happiness

One other idea:

SIN

Whatever you think others or yourself shouldn't do, but do anyway

Sin is falling short of our standards

Sin separates

-You from others

-You from God

-Yiu from yourself

'If I ever_______, I wouldn't be able to live with myself!'

Sin makes a happy promise sin can't keep.

Sin is not your  friend.

James brother of Jesus

James 1:15

After desire, -> sin, -> death.

 To summarize:

Since happy is about who, not what

happy people are at peace with themselves, others, and possibly God, and 

since sin undermines peace by substituting and substituting

Since Jesus valued and prioritized peace both God, ourselves, and others

And since you want to be happy

You should consider becoming a follower of Jesus.

That's all for now.