Special Talk

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Special Talk

• Finding Gods True Love in a Loveless World
• February 11, 2004

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Our search for love

• We search, on our journeys, for a self to be,
  for other selves to love, and for work to do
  Fredrick Buechner, Sacred Journey
• When She Loved Me Toy Story 2
• When somebody loved meEverything was beautiful
  Every hour spent togetherLives within my heart

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Something we long for

• Longing for something is evidence
• Hunger exists because there is food
• Thirst exists because there is water
• We long for love,
• but is there love in this world?
• and where can we find it?

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I. THIS LOVELESS WORLD

• Big indicator Loneliness
• Loneliness is now a national epidemic according
  to many sociologists and psychologists
  Jane Brady, NY Times
• Loneliness is the 1 problem for young people in
  this country Associated Press
• In a large crowd in your room
• At best of times worst of times

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From a recent national survey

• so many people admit to lacking relational
  connections The common solution is to keep
  busy and to stimulate ourselves with a variety of
  new experiences - that way we are not so likely
  to feel the pain of those fundamental holes in
  our life. People have discovered that if
  they fill the gaps with commitments and
  excitement, then they're less prone to feel the
  emptiness of loneliness

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(it continues)

• Of course, that just prolongs the inner despair
  that eventually cannot be suppressed any
  longer..." George
  Barna, 8/1/00

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Songs of the heart

• Listen to what we are saying

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II. HOW DID IT GET THIS BAD?

• As a child, thought everyone loved you
• But slowly realized that there is limited amount
  of love
• ? You must fight for it
• Kindergarten teacher telling you, You are all
  special is just phony !
• ? You need to be even more special

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Resulting consequences

• We are fearful of those who are in the same
  specialty
• We quickly size each other up
• We live fake lives to maintain our special-ness
  via

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All of us put on masks

• Its a terrible thing to be alonebut dont
  lower your mask until you have another mask
  prepared beneath Katherine
  Mansfield, British author
• The many masks we put on
• The good son
• The cool stud
• The caring listener
• The funny dormmate
• ? But putting on these masks leads to

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Imposter Phenomena

• We knowthe truth about ourselves the image we
  project dont match
• So, we live in fear
• that one day the truth will come out
• ? We want people to know us, but we dont want
  people to really know us

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Doubly Disconnected

• We are disconnected with others
• AND with ourselves.
• ? Intense longing to trust someone, to feel
  safe secure with someone..

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Lyrics of the heart

• Evanescence, Bring Me to Life
• Save me from the nothing Ive become
• Breathe into me and make me real
• Linkin Park, Somewhere I belong
• I get lost in the nothingness inside of me
• Just stuck, hollow, and alone
• I will never be anything till I break away from
  me
• ? Whats the solution?

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III. TRUE SOURCE OF LOVE

• God is the source of True Love
• But even though it is unlimited in supply, when
  severed from God, it runs out
• e.g., Tree severed at root
• All other sources of love are distorted
• e.g., Shattered mirrors reflection

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What does the Bible tell us?

• God created us as relational beings
• First bad thing was being alone
• The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man
  to be alone" Genesis 218
• We were created to love to be loved
• ? And as Gods creation,

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God knows you personally

• Psalm 139 says,You have searched me and you
  know meYou perceive my thoughts from afarYou
  created my inmost being
• God sees through my mask knows all about me
  (even the darkest secrets sins)
• And yet, God still loves me!

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So different than human love

• We love conditionally
• Based on performance appearance? resulting in
  insecurities
• And each person has his/her own needs
• e.g. Two bankrupt companies
• ? our needs continue to be unmet
• Mars vs. Venus

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Gods love is so different

• Not based on appearance performance
• Romans 57-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a
  righteous man, though for a good man someone
  might possibly dare to die. But God
  demonstrates his own love for us in this While
  we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• But based on fact that we are His

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The hearing test

• Story of a little girl
• When we feel like nobody wants me,
• When we feel like how could anybody love me,
• God whispers, I wish you were my little
  girl/boy

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Conclusion

• Only a relationship with God provides
• Security that you are seeking for
• The proper connection with others
• Able to see others as non-competitors
• Can be free to take off your masks