Hope Community Church of Santa Maria, California

March 29th 2009 “Confidence Without Conceit”
“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1st Samuel 17:45
You were made to make a difference in your world!
David came to grips with himself—he knew that he and God could make a difference with the Philistines!

We are all different—we all have different Passions.
What is it that you would do for free—no pay? That is your Passion!
Confidence and Passion go hand-in-hand!

I’m Confident and passionate about being a pastor—I pastor this church—Hope Community Church! This is what I do. I pastor this church because I love to pastor this church. I was wired to pastor this church. I’m not going anywhere. I love this church. I’d do it for free. I’m good for nothing.
If you’ve been in a job you don’t have a heart for, it’s boring you to tears, and you’re going, “I’ve got to get out of here!” It’s a real drag.

Paul, in the Bible, was Confident and passionate about sharing the good news with everybody in the world. Hebrews 10:35 “Cast not away your confidence.”
Martin Luther was Confident and passionate about reforming the church in Europe, and the Reformation and the Enlightenment all came as a result of one man having a passion.

Confidence Stoppers:(What keeps you from being Confident?) 1st Confident Stopper: Disappointments!
A. Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred [that means a dream, an ambition, a desire deferred] makes the heart sick.”B. When you’ve been hurt, you tend to pull back into a shell and say, “I’m never going to let anybody else hurt me.”
You give up on your dreams. You give up on your ambitions. You give up on your interests, on your passions. You pull back into a protective mode that says, “Don’t get hurt is the number one goal of life.”
If at first you don’t succeed… welcome to the human race.
You’re normal. Almost nobody succeeds on the first try. But we often give up.
When we allow disappointment to come into our lives, it kills our Confidence.

Confidence Stoppers:
1st Confident Stopper: Disappointments!
2nd Confident Stopper: Fear!

A. Fear is the second Confidence stopper. It keeps you from being what God wants you to be.
Jesus told a story about the parable of the talents.
Jesus tells the story of this wealthy man who gives to three servants – one servant gets five talents and one gets three and one gets one talent.
One guy comes back. He’s doubled his investment, and the master says, “Good job.”
The second guy comes back, and he’s doubled his investment, and the master says, Good job.”
The third guy comes back and says, “I didn’t do anything with it.” What?? “I just buried it in the ground.” You buried your talent in the ground? Why? He said, “I was afraid.”
It is fear that causes you to bury your talents.
It is fear that keeps you from living your dream.
It is fear that keeps you from attempting that goal.
It’s fear that corrals your passion and limits your vision and shrinks your heart.

Fear is a Confidence stopper.
Confidence Stoppers:
1st Confident Stopper: Disappointments!
2nd Confident Stopper: Fear!
3rd Confident Stopper: Guilt!

A. Guilt is a big one. You cannot be guilty and go after your dream with confidence. Why?
Guilt is like carrying a big sack of garbage on your back all the time.
You cannot be confident and guilty at the same time. That’s why people lose their confidence.
They lose their confidence because they think, “What if somebody else finds out? Who did I tell ‘that’ to, and who did I tell ‘that’ to? I’ve always got to be protecting myself.” They lose their confidence because they’re guilty.

Hebrews 10:35 “35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
B. God never intended for you to walk around with a bunch of guilt and regrets. 1. That’s what Jesus Christ came to do, to forgive it all.
He was hung up for your hang-ups.

2. He died for all your sins so you can be completely forgiven.
He’s paid for them so you don’t have to pay for them.
Everything you’ve ever done wrong has already been paid for by Jesus Christ. That’s called the gospel.
Gospel means good news. It’s the best news in the world.

Everything you’ve ever done wrong has already been forgiven, you just have to accept that forgiveness from Jesus Christ. Put your trust in Him. That’s called the good news.

Disappointment, fear, guilt. These are Confidence stoppers.

Confidence Stoppers:
1st Confident Stopper: Disappointments!
2nd Confident Stopper: Fear!
3rd Confident Stopper: Guilt!
4th Confident Stopper: Bitterness!

Hebrews 12:15 “Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God’s best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.”
Bitterness will eat you alive. It’s worse that cancer. It is the worst heart disease you can have.
Bitterness becomes resentment!
Bitterness always makes you think about how to retaliate and get revenge!

Illustration: II Samuel 15:30-31 30David walked up the road that led to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the mountain. 31When someone told David that his adviser Ahithophel was now backing Absalom, David prayed, “O LORD, let Ah-itho-phel give Absalom foolish advice!”

Why did David’s personal friend and advisor join forces against David?
Ah-itho-phel—was David’s advisor for many years but he also had anger and bitterness against David because he was Bethsheba’s grandfather and truly hated David for what he had done to his granddaughter Bethsheba! Bitterness seed that will take root and produce all kinds of sin!
Bethsheba’s Grandfather, Ah-itho-phel shows his BITTERNESS AND RAGE in II Samuel 16:20,21, "Then said Absalom to Ah-itho-phel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong."

Ah-itho-phel’s un-forgiveness caused him to destroy his life and the life of Absalom— II Samuel 17:23, "And when Ah-itho-phel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father."
How tragic are the consequences of not forgiving!! How hard un-forgiven sins make the heart stop loving and forgiving!!

“Let Go Of The Past” You can’t get on with the present or the future because you’re so hung up about that person who hurt you. Let it go!
1. Remember: “When you hold on to hurt from the past, it’s like driving a car looking in the rear view mirror.”
You’re going to crack up.
You’re always looking in the past.
Your past is past.
There were people who hurt you in your past. I’m sorry. As your friend and as your pastor, I’m sorry. I really am. I’m sorry you’ve been hurt. God is sorry, too, about your hurt.

Fact is, your past is past .
The people in your past can’t hurt you any more unless you allow them to. The way you allow them to is by rehearsing it in your mind. Let it go.
Let God heal it. Let God heal your heart.
God specializes in heart transplants, and He says, “That heart that’s been guilty, I’ll give you a new heart that’s forgiven.
That heart that’s been resentful, I’ll give you a heart that’s full of peace.
That heart that’s anxious, I’ll give you heart that’s confident.
That heart that’s lonely, I’ll give you a heart full of love.
That heart that has been bitter and angry? I’ll give you a heart that is forgiving and loving and generous and kind.

God says: “Let Me do a little heart transplant in you. I will set you free.”
Jesus said: Matthew 11:28 “28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Which of these heart stoppers has been stopping you from following your heart? Disappointment? Fear or guilt? Resentment, hurt? Ridicule?

Jesus Christ said in: John 10:10, He said, “The thief comes but to steal and kill, but I came to give you real life, life in all its fullness. A life better than you ever dreamed of.”
Letting Go is to Hang On!

The Giant of Confidence is destroyed when we let go of:
1st Disappointments!
2nd Fear!
3rd Guilt!
4th Bitterness!