Up and Perseverance

On Sunday, we kicked off our Blockbuster sermon series and used the movie Up to illustrate Galatians 6:7-10. We used the trailer to introduce the characters.

Then we discussed what perseverance looked like using the clip where Russell knocks on Carl's door. Looking at the Galatians passage, we asked three questions:

• Why persevere or what compels us to persevere?
• Why don't we persevere?
• How do we persevere?

The main reason we can persevere is the nature of who God is and the reward, both in this life and in heaven, that He promises.

To look at the question, "Why don't we persevere?" we checked out the video of Russell and Carl as they pulled Carl's house through the jungle. The truth is many of come up with excuses to not persevere in our faith so that we can do what we WANT to do. The NLT translates the first part of verse 7 as "Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God."

Sometimes we are looking to get God to bless our plans instead looking to follow God in His plans for us. Mark Batterson calls that 'inverted Christianity.'

How do we persevere? By surrendering each moment to the Holy Spirit, we look for opportunities to serve others. In other words, when we look outward (to others interests instead of our own), we can see the God's big picture and gain eternal perspective during the good and bad times.

Selfishness has a way of making us give up. Surrender goes a long to helping us persevere.

-- Peace, Jamie