Do you care what people think about you? The answer is probably yes.. and you probably care a little too much.

The Bible warns us about pretending to be one thing when we are another. It warns us that we can exchange the TRUTH for a lie. Perhaps our generation is doing that more than any other..?

We are so image conscience. We place value on non-valuable things. We care more about the brand names we put on the outside of our body than the character we place within.

Money promises what only God can provide.
money, significance, security.. these are found in God
Are you wearing an expensive costume?  It is time to take off that costume and embrace the Truth.

Costumes 3 – Financial Fakers
Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt
Redemption Church Plano Tx
**Vid bumper

 

We are drawing nearer & nearer to October 31st.  The top costumes for kids according to EBAY is..

* Super Mario & Luigi
* Star Wars Characters.  (I here Salacious Crumb & Sly Snootles are big this year… not really)
* Batman
* Frozen
* Witch
* Minion
* Spider-Man
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
* Minnie and Mickey Mouse
* Power Rangers

Have you ever dressed up?

We have been begging you to share your childhood costume memories at 214 856 0550.

We also asked for you to share your favorite candy and it looks like M&Ms are the winner… So we are going to make it rain.

Certain anonymous members of Redemption Church like to dress up from time to time. One nameless person in particular is quite good at it… We have visual evidence of him dressing up like a strange cowboy for the Goal Youth Ikea Scavenger Hunt.   He wanted to remain anonymous so we blurred out his face…

Here is the Picture

Here is the Picture 2

 

We are in our 3rd week of the Costumes series.  What is a costume?

A costume is something you wear that hides your true identity

 

Proverbs 13:7 One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.(NIV)

One man pretends.. he disguises himself as being rich to hide the true identity that he is poor.

Another man does the opposite.. he wears the costume of a poor man to hide his wealth.

In both of these cases someone is trying to hide who they are and the state of their life with something that is not true. They are hiding behind a costume.

Today we are going to be talking about Financial Fakers

 

Have you ever been in a situation where you were ashamed and tried to hide the state of your life?

I remember in jr high school my mom, in an effort to save money, bought non-name-brand tennis shoes. I wanted a Nike Swoosh but instead had a knock off check mark attached to my footwear. I was horrified.  I thought how am I going to wear these to school?  I am going to be made fun of.. people are going to think differently than I want them to think about me.  I want to fit in. These shoes are jeopardizing my entire life…

Now the truth is that I showed up to school and they did make fun of me.. but that is not the point. BECAUSE everyone in jr high gets made fun of whether they wear Nike’s or not!

The point is that I thought my identity, my value & worth, whether people liked me, was based on the brand that I wore.

I was wearing $50 shoes to be who you liked.. To me the name brand on the outside held a lot more value than the character inside.

Now you & I could stand here and say “thank goodness we have learned our lesson. We aren’t that way anymore..”  But are we really?

There is this pressure to keep up appearances in our society. It does not just effect Jr High students.

Have you ever felt embarrassed by…

* The car you drive
* The clothes you wear
* Your house & neighborhood
* The way your children or spouse or friends appear

Have you ever felt empowered or proud of..

* The car you drive
* The clothes you wear
* Your house & neighborhood
* The way your children or spouse or friends appear