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Victory Sermon Series: Reality Check

Reality Check

the big idea: 
Do you find it difficult to identify the areas in your spiritual life that require attention and change? Sometimes it’s easier to pick out personal flaws as we see them lived out in the lives of others. Throughout July and August we’ll use the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah as a reality check for our own personal spiritual journeys. We may be surprised at what we learn about ourselves. But we’ll be even more surprised by what we learn about the love and grace of God.

July 13—Jeroboam: The Pivotal Pull of Power
Scriptures: 1 Kings 12:25—13:5; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 19:6-16 
Sermon Text: 1 Kings 12:25—13:5
Are control issues and power struggles limited to those in positions of authority? 

Reality Check: Take a look at the people you work with. Watch your kids at the playground. These are real issues we all deal with. Yet, why are we grasping for power and control when God’s already got everything in hand?

July 20—Ahab: Making Life All About Me
Scriptures: 1 Kings 21:1-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 10:17-27 
Sermon Text: 1 Kings 21:1-29
How we detest people who are all into themselves. And yet, we often fail to detect the many ways selfishness manifests itself in our own lives. 

Reality Check: As long as we live we’re going to battle the part of us that’s stuck on ourselves. The answer is found in the self-sacrificing love of God in Christ.

July 27—Jehu: Purging Only Part of Our Idols
Scriptures: 2 Kings 10:18-33; Romans 1:18-32; John 12:1-8 
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 10:18-33
Are our hearts divided? When it comes to our love for God, we’d say, “Absolutely not!” Wouldn’t we? 

Reality Check: Yet, is it possible that, while we are zealous for God, we are still holding on to our own personal idols? Thank God for a Savior who loved and served the Lord alone!

August 3—Joash: Failing to Maintain the Mission
Scriptures: 2 Kings 12:1-15; 1 Corinthians 3:1-15; Luke 6:1-11
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 12:1-15
Keeping focused on the most important stuff of life. It’s the topic untold books and seminars. It’s also Jesus’ point when he says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” 

Reality Check: And yet, how often we find ourselves majoring in the minors. Lord, forgive our failures and keep us focused on the mission you’ve laid before us.

August 10—Hoshea: Ignoring God’s Word of Warning 
Scriptures: 2 Kings 17:1-14; Hebrews 3:7-19; Matthew 19:1-9 
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 17:1-14
Medical professionals talk about warning signs. Heeding them could save our lives. So why wouldn’t we? 

Reality Check: And yet, it happens all the time. What’s worse is that we often fail to heed the spiritual warnings God shares with us in his Word. May God’s Spirit give us humble hearts—hearts heed his loving rebukes. 

August 17—Hezekiah: Putting our Problems in the Lord’s Hands
Scriptures: 2 Kings 19:9-21a, 32b-37; Romans 8:28-37; Luke 12:22-32 
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 19:9-21a, 32b-37 
Let go and let God. It should be simple enough. God is in charge. He’ll work everything out for good. Just give all your problems to him. 

Reality Check: Doesn’t happen, does it? We worry…and question. This week God’s Word shows us what can happen if we just lay our problems before the Lord.

August 24—Manasseh: Reconstructing Our Own “Religion”
Scriptures: 2 Kings 21:1-16; Galatians 1:6-10; Luke 11:42-54 
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 21:1-16 
When the true LORD, the God of mercy and grace, is removed from the picture, there’s a spiritual vacuum that forms. And it’s amazing—no, it’s frightening—to see what people will fill this vacuum with. 

Reality Check: What is the Baal worship of today? The “sacrificing of our sons in the fire”? Have we somehow reconstructed the true religion into a religion of our own devising?

August 31—Josiah: Doing What’s Right Even Though It Won’t Change a Thing
Scriptures: 2 Kings 23:1-27; 2 Corinthians 11:24-30; John 6:60-69 
Sermon Text: 2 Kings 23:1-27
Do you ever get frustrated when you do the right thing and in the end it doesn’t change a thing? 

Reality Check: Do you ever get angry with God? Have you ever felt that it’s just not fair that you do everything by the Book and still struggle, while people who completely disregard the Word and will of God prosper? Check out this young man who did everything right and still couldn’t save his nation.