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Insecurity is a ruthless master.

When its insatiable appetite is fed, insecurity morphs into an even worse dictator: paranoia.

The mind of the deeply insecure, paranoid individual is full of all kinds o’ crazy.

Remember Herod?

He was the crazed king of the Roman provinces surrounding Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth.

When he heard a new “King of the Jews” was born, his insecurities started working overtime.

That’s right—this 60 year old King was threatened by a newborn baby.

Herod wasn’t just worried that baby Jesus would take his job from him…

He also feared that his brothers, wife and sons would steal his power—so he had them executed.

History shows that Herod was a madman who murdered anyone he felt threatened by.

What a sad way to live…

Conspiracy theories. Insecure. Paranoid. Always looking over the shoulder. Threatened. No peace. No rest.

Herod believed everyone was gunning for his slice of the pie.

Contrast Herod with some of other characters in the story—the “wise guys”.

They came to be part of something bigger than themselves.

They were secure, confident and full of simple faith.

They weren’t worried about their slice of the pie.

They came to give.

Here’s the point:

Don’t feed your insecurities—you’ll just end up with all kinds o’ crazy.

Instead, feed your faith. Celebrate the good. Be part of something bigger than yourself.

Bad news can paralyze you—cause you to stop, freeze up and put everything on hold.

Good News, on the other hand, gets ya going.

When angels came to announce the birth of Jesus, the shepherds froze.

They were terrified.

They expected bad news—but the angels came bringing Good News.

“Don’t be afraid! I bring you Good News that will bring great joy to all people.” (Luke 2.10 NLT)

This Good News energized, strengthened, encouraged and motivated the shepherds.

They said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2.15 NLT)

The Good News got them going in the right direction.

Good News does the same thing for us—it moves, motivates, strengthens and energizes us to get going…

“Don’t you realize that it is God’s kindness that leads you to him and changes the way you think and act?” (Romans 2.4 GWT)

Yup, Good News—it’s what gets ya going!

When there was a great military victory by the Roman army, a messenger came bringing the good news to the leaders and people of Rome.

The word describing this message of good news was “Euangelion.”

This same word (euangelion) is used to describe the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mark 1.1 states, “This is the Good News (euangelion) about Jesus the Messiah, the son of God…”

The Gospel is Good News.

The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) tell the story differently, but they all end the same way: Jesus risen from the dead.

The Gospel is Good News.

It is an announcement of great victory and defeat of the enemy.

The key theme of the Christian message is that God generously offers forgiveness and new life through Jesus.

If Jesus is central in our message—our message is always Good News.

By its very definition, it is impossible to have a bad news Gospel.

If our identity is in Jesus Christ—we are Good News people.

Our message is one of hope, new life, restoration, forgiveness, grace, mercy, peace, joy…

It’s a message of Good News!

Our culture has plenty of doom and gloom prophets, peddling their “goods” of fear and paranoia.

For some, just about anything serves as further evidence that civilization is on the brink of destruction.

“Bieber fever? Yet another sign of the coming apocalypse.”

There’s a long list of unfulfilled end-of-the-world prophecies and their false prophets.

Of course, doom and gloom freak-outs aren’t new.

When Jesus was born, angels came announcing this Good News.

The response?

Sheepish shepherds, started shakin in their sneakers. (say that 5 times quickly)

They were so scared, the shepherds almost peed their robes.

Here’s how it reads in the Message Bible:

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master.” (Luke 2.8-11)

Interesting, isn’t it?

The angel came to announce a “great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide.”

The shepherds acted like they expected the “Angel of Death” from Raiders of the Lost Ark to melt off their faces.

Except there was no face melting—just Good News.

Nearly every time Scripture records an angel showing up on the scene, they say the same thing:

“Do not be afraid.”

This all makes me wonder…

Do we sound more like the shepherds or the angels?

Are we terrified and ready to run for the hills or are we announcing the Good News?

The world doesn’t need more doom and gloom freak-outs.

Our world needs Good News.

Let’s announce it!

I have some terrible news to share with you.

It’s awful. Tragic. Horrendous. Unbelievable.

As Charles Barkley would say, “That’s turrible, just turrible.”
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHZnzFVZ3_o ]

OK—so, here’s the bad news: we are completely obsessed with bad news.

Bad news captures our attention.

Bad news owns the headlines.

Bad news gets airtime.

Bad news travels quickly.

We get drawn toward the negative.

Car accidents that aren’t blocking traffic still cause traffic jams because everyone slows down for a good look.

When someone says, “Did you hear…?” chances are, whatever they’re about to tell you is a bad report.

There’s never a shortage of bad news because we live in a bad news world.

However, we are called by God to be different.

We need to stand out—not blend in.

Jesus, speaking to his disciples, said, “Among you it will be different.” (Mark 10.43)

We aren’t bad news people!

We’re good news people in a bad news world.

Our story is different, our message is different—it’s full of good news.

As Christians, our gig isn’t reporting all the bad news—leave that to CNN (Continuous Negative News).

Our deal is announcing good news!

Here’s a quick refresher of our good news message:

God is for you. He’s on your side. He loves you and he’ll never stop loving you.

He is patient, kind and generous. He forgives.

He cares. He knows. He understands.

He’s the God of second chances.

And there is grace for you.

Yup… we’re good news people and we’ve got some announcing to do!

We’re wrapping up the 15 Revolution series this weekend. In the spirit of wrapping things up, I’d like to quote from the last few pages of Paul Scanlon’s 15 Revolution book:

Goodness and kindness are bridges over which anything can travel.

It is a fact of life that we all default to keeping company with those we find it easiest to be with. We all prefer the comfort and familiarity of those who know and love us over those who don’t.

Sometimes God is saying, “I want to use you, but you’ve got stuck in Comfortville!”

Jesus told his team, “Don’t say four months more and then the harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4.35)

Clearly harvest often depends on where you’re looking.
?So many of us are stuck in a comfortable but tiny circle of love, and to widen that circle to strangers feels particularly awkward because we think that involves evangelism.

But our connection to new people shouldn’t be trying to convert them; it should, first and foremost, be to befriend them.

The language of love, grace, kindness and inclusion is universal and will pave the way for the gospel and all the connections our sovereign God knows lie ahead in the life of the people concerned.

So, get out of your comfort zone and join the revolution!

We often define who we are by establishing boundary lines of who we aren’t.

“We’re Calvinists—not Arminianists.”

“We’re pre-trib—not post-trib.”

“We’re charismatic—not cessationists.”

“We’re Christians—we don’t smoke, drink or dance.”

The problem is, when we make our identity about who we aren’t, we get mean and nasty.

John Calvin had Michael Servetus (another theologian) burned at the stake because of theology differences.

Yikes!

When we’re defined by our boundaries or parameters, our default position is to be against those outside our group.

It’s us -vs- them.

Bummer.

I wonder what Jesus thinks about this?

Remember when He was on the cross? Two criminals were being crucified near Him…

One man mocked Jesus.

The other man rebuked him, “We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23.39-43 NLT)

Notice what Jesus didn’t ask…

He didn’t ask, “Are you a Calvinist or Arminianist?”

He did’t ask, “Do you smoke?”

He didn’t ask anything!

The man, in faith moved toward Jesus—and Jesus welcomed him, included him, assured him.

This makes me think…

Maybe we shouldn’t be building boundaries and parameters that keep things all “us -vs- them”.

Maybe we should be helping people move toward Jesus—welcoming them, including them, assuring them.

It’s not all for you and it’s not all about you.

You weren’t created merely to consume, but also to contribute.

God’s plan for you is good, yes. However, the good was never meant to be exhausted on you alone.

The good must be passed on, shared, given to others—especially those who are less fortunate.

Consider this Old Testament law:

“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19.9, 10 NLT)

In other words, leave some grapes and leave some grain.

People depend on your generosity.

Plan to provide for others.

Don’t consume it all.

Of course, most of us aren’t wheat farmers or vineyard owners… but the principle still applies.

God’s plan for us includes sharing what we’ve received.

“Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10.8)

Your blessing isn’t just for you.

Your money isn’t just for you.

Your food isn’t just for you.

Your time isn’t just for you.

Your church isn’t just for you.

Your God isn’t just for you.

Leave some grapes and leave some grain.

Pass on the good you have received.

We are stamped by mercy.

Mercy leaves a mark—it makes an impression.

It removes our hard edges and judgmental attitudes.

Mercy changes and shapes how we think.

And that’s how it should be.

In fact, we’re in serious trouble if mercy touches our lives but doesn’t make an impression.

Jesus told a story about a man who begged the king to release him from a million-dollar debt…

The king was merciful and forgave the debt entirely.

That same man, now debt-free, went after a co-worker who owed him a few thousand dollars.

This co-worker begged for mercy, but the man who had been forgiven the million-dollar debt gave no mercy.

He had his co-worker thrown into prison until the debt could be paid in full.

When the king was told what happened, he was furious.

He confronted the unmerciful man and held him responsible for the original million-dollar debt (Matthew 18.23-33).

Jesus’ parable serves as a reminder and warning to us…

Just as we have received mercy, so we must pass it on.

We have been stamped by mercy.

The goodness we have received from God and other people, we must pass on to others in equal measures of generosity, mercy and grace.

The basic biblical qualification for helping others is not theology, experience, training or expertise.

The most basic qualification for helping others is that you have been helped.

If you have been helped, then you are over-qualified to help others.

Has mercy touched your life?

Let it shape you, mark you, change you…

When we’ve been stamped by mercy, we are merciful—we give mercy.

There once was a large, mature, impressive fig tree.

It was leafy and green.

A nearby stream supplied it with plenty of water; the soil around the tree was fertile and rich.

It was disease-free. The fig tree was healthy and strong.

It soaked up the warmth of the afternoon sun each day.

The tree was on a beautiful hillside between the town of Bethany and the city of Jerusalem.

It could be seen from a distance.

Jesus, while traveling to Jerusalem, noticed this great tree on the hill.

He was hungry.

When He arrived at the tree, He searched for figs—but there were only leaves.

Yup—a fig tree minus the figs… a figless tree.

Leafy green nothingness.

It was beautiful, majestic, large and impressive… but it was just a show.

Jesus cursed it. The fig tree withered and died (Matthew 21.18-20).

This story demonstrates God’s expectation for all living, growing things.

The fig tree was in violation of its creation mandate.

It was taking but not giving; receiving without passing on.

We too, share the same creation mandate—to pass on the life we have received to others.

We have received, therefore we must give.

We accepted grace.

We must give it.

We’ve been loved unconditionally.

We must love.

We are blessed.

We must bless.

We were created to be more than figless fig trees; called to be more than leafy green nothingness.

And we must pass on the life we’ve received to others!