BREAKING BAD HABITS

Many of our online viewers heard about the sermon I preached last Friday that was not streamed or even posted on demand. Because of the interest I decided to post my sermon outline on this blog. “Breaking Bad Habits”. Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION:

It’s estimated that out of every 11,000 signals we receive from our senses, our brain only consciously processes 40. Therefore, we have to purposely target our bad habits, then WORK toward BREAKING them.

• Habits first begin as a single-thought, then they become a multitude of thoughts, which evolve into actions, then habits; Our habits make up our character, and our character dictates our life.

• Your ability to stop that initial negative thought from becoming a multitude of negative thoughts will determine your success this year.

• If you know how to change your habits, then even a small effort can create big changes.

TEXT: MATTHEW 21:6-11

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

• This day in the bible, the singing and praising reached such hype in Jerusalem that the city was ‘shaken.’ The KJV translation says, the city was ‘moved.’  The NIV uses the word “stirred”.

• But never forget. For Jesus, shaking, stirring, and moving are not enough (it is only the beginning for many).

• The same people that were “stirred up” were the same people “slaying him”.

• This past week we have had a “stirring event.” The party, The Storey (Tim) The messages, and meetings, stirred our hearts, but the question is, “Will we changed?” Will we break bad habits in 2011?

THREE AREAS ONLY JESUS CAN CHANGE:

1. HEAD

• The head is the control center of each one of us and represents our ‘mind’.

2. HABITS

• Habits are the great killers of a passionate spiritual life.
• Habits in a life are generally what controls life.
• We ask, do “bad habits mean I am not saved?” if you are “stirred but not changed,” going back to those habits will be easy because you’ll have no Holy Spirit to assist.

3. HEART

• The heart is a dead giveaway. We will never rise above what is locked away in our heart.
• Make no mistake, people know what is in your heart, it is the most transparencies of your personality.

“Out of the heart the mouth speaks”

“Out of the overflow of the heart flows the issues of life”

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he

• Honestly,  you and I have no power to change our heart, it takes a professional. – Jesus Christ

• A bad heart is bad news.

• Pastor Julius knows (heart attack). When a heart goes bad, the person KNOWS something has to be done because it is impossible to live without a working heart.

• In the same way, to be stirred and not changed is to have a heart that is bad, diseased, and deceitful.

It’s not enough to be stirred, or shaken, it is required that our hearts be changed

• Once the heart is turned the feet will follow!

CLOSE:

• The nation of Israel, under king Ahaz, had developed many bad habits,  his son, Hezekiah set out to remove these habits from the people.

• The priniciple he performed to removing the bad hapbits were..

I. BEGIN IMMEDIATELY

2 Chron. 29:3 “In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them”.

• The best time to deal with a bad habit is NOW!

 

• To delay only allows the habit to get engrained deeper in our lives.

• Hezekiah is the son of Ahaz – one of Israel’s worst kings. Hezekiah had 16 years of bad habits to correct.

Hezekiah correction:

1. Hezekiah got things right with God – repairing the temple (the place God had chosen as his home)

a He opened the doors – Access to God

b He repaired the doors – Priority of God

Six Steps to Breaking Bad Habits:

1.    Change your environment. Certain environments are breeding grounds for certain behaviors.  You must consciously change your environment.

• • If you’re addicted to food, you may need to get all of the junk food out of your house and create a plan to never purchase it again.  If you’re in a bad relationship, you may want to create an environment that doesn’t include the other person.

2.    Extinguish the initial negative thought. As soon as a negative thought comes to you, you should say,       “Cancel, Cancel, insufficient, insufficient” and proceed to think of something positive.  Never think about the negative habit again.

3.    Surround yourself with church friends who are already what you want to become. Limit your time with people who aren’t what you want to become (e.g. If you want to quit smoking, you can’t hang around smokers all day. Today I was witnessing to someone on how to stop smoking drugs).

• • Some habits may require you to change what movies, television shows you watch what music you hear.

4.    Schedule a today to jumpstart your new YOU. Start this day by spending a few moments at this altar and at the offering baskets seeing yourself free from the habit.

• • Make a loyal commitment to God stating your new intentions;
  • During this time you must make the decision to change.

5.    Create a positive habit to replace the negative habit.

6.    Remember to come back to this preaching and begin again. You’ll have to jumpstart yourself again with a time of re-listening and affirmation to help reset your programming.