Sermon: In Formation
Scriptures: Mark 7:21-23 / Romans 12:2 / Philippians 4:8 / Colossians 3:1-2
ICE BREAKER: Would you rather win $50 a day, every day, for the rest of your life OR win $300,000 all at once?
REVIEW:
This week we talked about how the INFORMATION we allow in to our minds puts our life IN FORMATION. Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Anger, Despair, Confusion, and so many other problems are being exacerbated by the onslaught of negative media we face everyday!
Jesus said:
Mark 7
21 "For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders,
22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
Dr. Christine Gonzales - Wong helped us understand how the negative information we allow into our minds actually creates new pathways in our brains. These neural connections are strengthened every time we go back to fear-based media. These patterns become harder and harder to break and lead us to lower and lower levels of mental health.
How did your media consumption change during the Pandemic?
How does the negative media affect your life?
What have you noticed about the people around you when it comes to information consumption?
APPLY:
In order to fight against the fear that we are constantly being sold, we talked about three steps to controlling the information that puts you In FORMATION!
DELETE WHAT DEFEATS
It is not a bad thing to be informed. There are some channels, pages, and profiles that you just need to limit. However, there are also people, places, and platforms that have little, if ANY, redeeming value! These sources of negative, life-sucking information need to be DELETED! This is a hard step but, if you are serious about your mental health, you need to rid your life of things that only bring you down!
CURATE YOUR CONTENT
You are in charge of what you allow in your mind. Battle your biases by making sure you take in information from people with a difference of opinions. Take in 3 positive things for every 1 negative news story. "Unfollow" the friends who only want to fight. Find people to follow and to surround yourself with that bring light into this dark world!
LIMIT YOUR LISTENING
There is a LOT more to life than News and Current Events! Limit Your Listening by Living Your Life! Join a gym, take a walk, learn an instrument, date your spouse, play with your kids, ride your bike, read a novel - these are all LIFE-GIVING things! It's not enough to just STOP allowing so much negative information in - replace it with people, places, and things that bring joy!
You have a unique purpose as an ambassador of God on the earth! God desires that we are as healthy as possible so we can live out our purpose and reach our potential.
HERE IS YOUR APPLICATION QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:
PRAY:
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the ways you are allowing toxic information into your life. Thank God that he has made our minds so adaptable and that we can create new patterns by choosing new habits. Pray that your Life Team will take meaningful steps this week to allow better Information to put you In Formation.
