Forty-fifth Street Baptist Church Weekly Sermons

9/8/2019

9/1/2019

8/25/2019

8182019

Aug 11, 2019

"THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER. Battling Jealousy"...7/14/19SERMON SERIES:“The Struggle is Real”Speaker: Pastor SparksText: 1 Samuel 18:6-9-Just because we can’t see the end result of what we’re doing doesn’t mean what we’re doing doesn’t matter-Faith helps you get thru hardships, not avoid them-What happens when one is jealous?Jealousy has two parts: 1) I’m resentful of other people’s blessings & 2) I’m ungrateful for my own blessings-Saul was easily a “fool”. How? Because anyone who is blessed by God, kept by God, cared for by God, & graced by God, yet turns his back on God, can’t be anything but that!-Instead of Saul being grateful that the country’s biggest enemy had just been defeated—on HIS watch—he focused on ONE line in this spontaneous song, and let that line jack him up all the way up!———> Saul has been the recipient of solo glory for 20+ years, and once someone else gets one line of glory, he completely lost his mind!———> Being jealous of and keeping your eye on others makes you miserable! (Proverbs 14:30)-When you’ve got a jealous spirit, it warps how you feel about normal situations: The women singing were simply saying how much of a killer combination Saul & David were, But all Saul could hear is that “David is better”-Saul was hell-bent on taking out David, WHO HAD BEEN ANOINTED BY GOD, which meant that David—come he’ll or high water—was going to be king REGARDLESS!———> Be careful who you mess with, because you have no idea if they’ve been chosen by God—and if so—you ain’t fighting them, you’re fighting God!!!!!!!!!!-If you’re jealous, you’re not being controlled by the Holy Spirit, but by the enemy himself. And the enemy pays attention to your cues, so when you show him what bothers you, she amplifies it and puts directly in front of your face!-Jealousy isn’t a “summer cold”, it’s a full-blown disease!* If I don’t get rid of jealousy, jealousy will get rid of me. So do I get rid of it? 1. Admit you struggle with it 2. Deal with your own insecurities (every time I get jealous of someone else, I’m revealing something about myself) 3. Be more grateful (jealousy at its root is a lack of trust in God) 4. Refocus on what God has for you to do (if you get wrapped up in your calling, you won’t have time to worry about anybody else’s!) * David didn’t fill out an application to be king, God simply said “you will be”; God is saying the same thing to you (“you will be”), the question is, is that good enough for you?”Sermon Notes provided by Deacon Anthony Sparks

recorded 7/21/2019

recorded 6/19/2019