Loving Outside Our Comfort Zone Avoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch

1. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch �Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches Had none upon thars. Those stars weren�t so big. They were really so small You might think such a thing wouldn�t matter at all.� Starting Questions: STAND IF YOU � Have attended CCCN less than five years Have attended CCCN more than fifteen years Were born outside of the state of Ohio Grew up in a Christian home Have children Have grandchildren Attended or are attending college Can speak a language other than English fluently Would consider yourself an extrovert Have a pet at home Star-Belly Sneetch Thought they were the best Had nothing to do with the Plain-Belly Sneetch Wouldn�t talk with them Children wouldn�t let them play games with them Couldn�t come to their frankfurther roasts or picnics or parties or marshmellow toasts That�s how they treated them year after yearStarting Questions: STAND IF YOU � Have attended CCCN less than five years Have attended CCCN more than fifteen years Were born outside of the state of Ohio Grew up in a Christian home Have children Have grandchildren Attended or are attending college Can speak a language other than English fluently Would consider yourself an extrovert Have a pet at home Star-Belly Sneetch Thought they were the best Had nothing to do with the Plain-Belly Sneetch Wouldn�t talk with them Children wouldn�t let them play games with them Couldn�t come to their frankfurther roasts or picnics or parties or marshmellow toasts That�s how they treated them year after year

2. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch This morning I would first like to look at three reasons WHY we need to move out of our Comfort Zones.This morning I would first like to look at three reasons WHY we need to move out of our Comfort Zones.

3. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Why is Loving Outside Our Comfort Zone Important? The Command = All ILLUSTRATIONS: Procedure and Policy Writing � Avoid the words ALL, EVERYONE, etc. Have to be careful about 100% of the time like phrases. There are no loop holes are exceptions here. Often when we see a word like this we try to find the work around harder, then if we would just do it. Stroller on the Escalator � Sign says to don�t do it, but you think that is only for people that �Don�t know how to do it� It doesn�t say here �Go to the part of the world that looks just like me, acts just like me, thinks just like me, is just like me and preach the good news to only that part of creation.� Live at Peace with Everyone � I don�t believe this means isolate myself from everyone so that we can have peace. Build walls around myself so that I can have peace. I believe what we are talking about is real peace. Active peace. Peace like this requires work.ILLUSTRATIONS: Procedure and Policy Writing � Avoid the words ALL, EVERYONE, etc. Have to be careful about 100% of the time like phrases. There are no loop holes are exceptions here. Often when we see a word like this we try to find the work around harder, then if we would just do it. Stroller on the Escalator � Sign says to don�t do it, but you think that is only for people that �Don�t know how to do it� It doesn�t say here �Go to the part of the world that looks just like me, acts just like me, thinks just like me, is just like me and preach the good news to only that part of creation.� Live at Peace with Everyone � I don�t believe this means isolate myself from everyone so that we can have peace. Build walls around myself so that I can have peace. I believe what we are talking about is real peace. Active peace. Peace like this requires work.

4. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Why is Loving Outside Our Comfort Zone Important? The Command = All Favoritism = Sin

5. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch James 2:1-9 (Cont.) 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

6. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch James 2:1-9 (Cont.) 7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. This scripture specifically talks about differences in terms of wealth, but it applies to all of our areas of differences. Several other scriptures say �God does not show favoritism� It is my desire to become more like my father in heaven, so therefore I too should not show favoritism. Favoritism would be missing the mark = SIN.This scripture specifically talks about differences in terms of wealth, but it applies to all of our areas of differences. Several other scriptures say �God does not show favoritism� It is my desire to become more like my father in heaven, so therefore I too should not show favoritism. Favoritism would be missing the mark = SIN.

7. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Why is Loving Outside Our Comfort Zone Important? The Command = All Favoritism = Sin Relationships = Knowing God I am made in the image of God, You are made in the image of God, each one of us in this room is made in the image of God. As I spend more time getting to know others around me, I am in essence getting a fuller picture of who God is. This is very challenging. This can be uncomfortable. This can stretch me. I would argue that God brings people into our lives (specifically children) for this very purpose � to stretch us. In their book for men, The Silence of Adam � Dr. Larry Crabb, Don Hudson and Al Andrews present the premise that when faced with situations like this (ones that appear to be filled with chaos and unknowns) we have two choices to retreat back into a place where we are comfortable and can manage the situation OR to move forward with courage and faith. They remind us that God is a Creator � who looked into the chaos and created order. Who did not back down into his comfort zone. Quote from the book � �When men move forward in faith, they more deeply realize their need for God, and therefore more earnestly seek him. And when we seek him with all of our hearts, we find him. That�s the promise.� When I live in my comfort zone, I am in a place that I believe I can manage things on my own. I am in a place where I begin to rely less on God and more on myself. And this is where trouble begins.I am made in the image of God, You are made in the image of God, each one of us in this room is made in the image of God. As I spend more time getting to know others around me, I am in essence getting a fuller picture of who God is. This is very challenging. This can be uncomfortable. This can stretch me. I would argue that God brings people into our lives (specifically children) for this very purpose � to stretch us. In their book for men, The Silence of Adam � Dr. Larry Crabb, Don Hudson and Al Andrews present the premise that when faced with situations like this (ones that appear to be filled with chaos and unknowns) we have two choices to retreat back into a place where we are comfortable and can manage the situation OR to move forward with courage and faith. They remind us that God is a Creator � who looked into the chaos and created order. Who did not back down into his comfort zone. Quote from the book � �When men move forward in faith, they more deeply realize their need for God, and therefore more earnestly seek him. And when we seek him with all of our hearts, we find him. That�s the promise.� When I live in my comfort zone, I am in a place that I believe I can manage things on my own. I am in a place where I begin to rely less on God and more on myself. And this is where trouble begins.

8. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Shel Silverstein Poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends NO DIFFERENCESmall as a peanut, Big as a giant, We�re all the same size When we turn off the light. Rich as a sultan, Poor as a mite. We�re all worth the same When we turn out the light. Red, black or orange, Yellow or white. We all look the same When we turn off the light. So maybe the way To make everything right Is for God to just reach out And turn off the light!Shel Silverstein Poem from Where the Sidewalk Ends NO DIFFERENCESmall as a peanut, Big as a giant, We�re all the same size When we turn off the light. Rich as a sultan, Poor as a mite. We�re all worth the same When we turn out the light. Red, black or orange, Yellow or white. We all look the same When we turn off the light. So maybe the way To make everything right Is for God to just reach out And turn off the light!

9. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch How Do We Love Outside Our Comfort Zone? Be sincere Three ways that we can love outside of our comfort zonesThree ways that we can love outside of our comfort zones

10. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Sincerity means ... Investing time in relationship. Taking the initiative to share my own life. Being open and honest. A willingness to be vulnerable. Withholding judgment long enough to understand. Being willing to trust. Note: this means sometimes we are going to get hurt. But we have to believe that God will take care of us. What he has called us to is most important rather than our temporary pain. Example (if time allows) � Movie the End of the Spear Overcoming irreconcilable differences Daddy if they are about to spear you, will you use your gun? No son. They are not ready for heaven, but we are. We serve the Master Healer. We can take this pain to him. By his stripes we are healed.Note: this means sometimes we are going to get hurt. But we have to believe that God will take care of us. What he has called us to is most important rather than our temporary pain. Example (if time allows) � Movie the End of the Spear Overcoming irreconcilable differences

11. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch How Do We Love Outside Our Comfort Zone? Be sincere Seek Understanding We need to learn to ask others to �Help us to understand.� Don�t just say � that was the past, get over it, let�s move on. Examples: Trudy�s Story � Can you get a spoon? No. Deborah�s Story � Why are you friends with her? She�s white. Books on Marriage � Men are like Waffles, Women are like Spaghetti (Small Group experience) His Needs, Her Needs. Socio-linguistic Research (Deborah Tannen � Article from O magazine, Book - You Just don�t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation) Videotaped adults and children as young as 3 talking pairs At every age, boys and men sat at angles and looked around the room But women and girls faced each other directly and anchored their eyes on each other�s facesWe need to learn to ask others to �Help us to understand.� Don�t just say � that was the past, get over it, let�s move on. Examples: Trudy�s Story � Can you get a spoon? No. Deborah�s Story � Why are you friends with her? She�s white. Books on Marriage � Men are like Waffles, Women are like Spaghetti (Small Group experience) His Needs, Her Needs. Socio-linguistic Research (Deborah Tannen � Article from O magazine, Book - You Just don�t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation) Videotaped adults and children as young as 3 talking pairs At every age, boys and men sat at angles and looked around the room But women and girls faced each other directly and anchored their eyes on each other�s faces

12. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch How Do We Love Outside Our Comfort Zone? Be sincere Seek Understanding Practice Hospitality

13. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Note the connection between Love and Hospitality. You learn a lot about a person when you are invited into their home. Even when you see the place where they work. What pictures do they have on their walls? What is important to them? What do you know about their history? Where did they grow up? What was their family like? Have you ever laughed and cried with them? Note: the third passage is written from John to a MAN named Gaius. Hospitality is not just a woman�s gift. Men, we can help. Struggle � If I cannot do something BIG, I probably shouldn�t do anything at all. This is a LIE.Note the connection between Love and Hospitality. You learn a lot about a person when you are invited into their home. Even when you see the place where they work. What pictures do they have on their walls? What is important to them? What do you know about their history? Where did they grow up? What was their family like? Have you ever laughed and cried with them? Note: the third passage is written from John to a MAN named Gaius. Hospitality is not just a woman�s gift. Men, we can help. Struggle � If I cannot do something BIG, I probably shouldn�t do anything at all. This is a LIE.

14. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch

15. Loving Outside Our Comfort ZoneAvoiding Becoming a Star-Belly Sneetch Application Read a book or view a documentary about others outside of my comfort zone Form a relationship with someone outside of my comfort zone Invite others into my home and share my life with them Travel abroad to better understand what life is like outside of the United States