Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "Pain Killer" with part 2, "The Pain of Rejection" in this Sunday service.
Pain Killer: The Pain of Rejection
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, November 21, 2010
www.mylifegatechurch.com
Sermon Notes:
Pain Killer: The Pain of Rejection
THE NATURE OF REJECTION:
* A sense of being unwanted, unacceptable, less than enough, not measuring up. Results in frustration leading to dysfunction.
* Sense of betrayal, shame, humiliation
* A hurt our brain sometimes wants to block, forget or deny due to the pain:
Proverbs 15:13 A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 18:14 The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?
Dysfunction is produced by frustration which is produced by bitterness.
The symptoms of dysfunction are twigs on the branch of frustration which is sustained by the roots of rejections and bitterness. Hebrews 12:14-16
Deal with the root and the symptoms are easy: God’s work is with the root: Matthew 3:10
THE EFFECTS OF REJECTION:
3 Responses: All produce the same result in different ways: Insecurity-Insulation-Isolation
- Passive: Give in and give up. Defines who you are—you are unwanted. Downward spiral of loneliness, self-pity, misery, depression, hopelessness, suicide or a longing for death
- Passive-Aggressive: Fights back through denial and overcompensation. Build up walls of defense. A façade of happiness—seeks to dull pain through superficial interaction. Prone to sudden mood swings and seems to be 2 different people at times. Overcompensation = Exaggerated Response = Trying to hide something (not from others but from their own recognition)
- Aggressive: Fights back through increasing dysfunction. Resentment becomes hatred, hatred becomes rebellion, rebellion = witchcraft: seeking false spiritual experiences
* A cursed lifestyle—Malachi 4:5-6
* A victim mindset
* Blind spots in relationships due to a failure to take responsibility
THE REMEDY FOR REJECTION:
Matthew 9:36 – compassion: a reaction so strong it demands a response
Isaiah 54:4-6 – rejection, shame, betrayal, humiliation
Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 53:3; Isaiah 61:7; Hebrews 2:9-10
THE GREAT EXCHANGE: THE CROSS - THE ULTIMATE REJECTION
Matthew 27:45-51
* Abandoned by man
* Rejected by God
* Jesus cries out in Aramaic—the language he spoke as a child—indicating the severity of the pain
* Result: Ephesians 1:3-6 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. (NKJV: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.)
APPLYING THE REMEDY:
1. Recognize rejection.
2. Follow the pattern of Jesus: Forgive (Luke 23:34)
3. Nurture good fruit, not bad. Perscripture is the Prescription. Don’t make a place for resentment, bitterness. (Philippians 4:8-think on these things)
4. Receive and believe what God has done. (1 John 4:19—I can love because He 1st loved me)
5. Accept yourself. (Ephesians 2:10—God’s masterpiece)
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