THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(4) - Clover

Bottom Line: WHEN YOU GIVE SOMETHING YOUR ATTENTION, YOU MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.

introduction: Have you ever been walking down the street, deep in thought, but oblivious to what was going on around you—that is until you snapped out of it and realized that you passed your destination two blocks ago? Your attention was elsewhere. Your mind wasn’t focused on where you were going, but on the random thoughts bouncing around in your head. The reality is this: what you give your attention to determines both your focus and direction. So if you’re not heading in the direction you want, what has got your attention?

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTIONROAD SIGNS(4): REST STOP

WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

WONDER.DISCOVERY.

PASSION.www.xP3STuDENTS.ORG

chief eXecutiVe officer Reggie Joiner

writer Andy Stanley

XP3 team Jared Herd Tim Walker Sarah Bragg Kristen IvySarah Anderson

contriButorsMike Hancock Laura Whelan Brian Withman

creatiVe directorScott Bragg

technicaL & weB suPPort Hadley Brandt

chief oPerating officer Karen Odom

Partner suPPort Kristie McCollisterDebbie Joiner

user agreementThe reThink Group, Inc. gladly grants permission to churches, schools and other licensees to tailor XP3TM materials to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences. However, if you wish to edit the content substantively, including teaching scripts, small group dialog and any other content in which biblical principles and concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we’ve expressed in our Statement of Faith (see page 2).

These resources are intended to be downloaded and printed for use by the subscribing entity only and may not be electronically transferred to or duplicated by other non-subscribing entities. Any unauthorized reproduction of this material or incorporation into a new work—including podcasts or video of this content—is a direct violation of U.S. copyright laws. The Andy Stanley Collection is a product of The reThink Group, Inc; © 2008 Andy Stanley. All rights reserved. XP3 and the XP3 logo are trademarks of The reThink Group, Inc.

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WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY.

PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER.

DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION

STATEmENT Of fAITHaBout god God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He’s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing or idea compares to God.

aBout the scriPtures God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable and authoritative.

aBout PeoPLe People are made in God’s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God’s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us.

aBout saLVation That’s why Jesus, God’s Son, came and lived on this earth, died and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior, the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God’s family and will live with Him forever in heaven.

Scripture marked “NIV” is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.







CREATING THE ENVIRONmENT: ROAD SIGNS We believe that the set, stage, music and everything in your room communicates a message—without you saying a word. That’s why we put together a list of production ideas to help you set the stage for the session and the series. From the music you play when students come into the room to the worship set your band plays, we want to make sure that your room conveys “Road Signs” in a multi-sensory way. There is a downloadable checklist available in your series downloads that will give you all the elements for this session (and the entire series).

Background PLayList for road signs series:“Move Along” by The All-American Rejects (from Move Along)“Life Is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts (from Cars: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)“Car Wash” by Rose Royce (from Pure Funk)“On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson (from The Essential Willie Nelson)“Everyday Is a Winding Road” by Sheryl Crow (from The Very Best of Sheryl Crow)“Company Car” by Switchfoot (from New Way To Be Human)“Low Rider” by War (from Why Can’t We Be Friends?)“Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins (from The Essential Kenny Loggins)“Route 66” by John Mayer (from Cars: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)“Over My Head (Cable Car)” by The Fray (from How To Save a Life)

worshiP PLayList for road signs session 4:“Hosanna (Praise is Rising)” by Brenton Brown (from 50 Worship Anthems) “Let God Arise” by Chris Tomlin (from See the Morning)“You Are The Light” by Fee (from We Shine) “You Are My Joy” by David Crowder (from A Collision)

the setDecorate your meeting room with road signs. Instead of stealing real ones from your community and creating chaos and crashes, make your own signs or purchase them online. (To find sites where you can buy road signs, just do a Google search.) Make sure that you display signs that have the titles of the four sessions of the Road Signs series: one way, caution, yield and rest stop. Also, find the front bumper and grill of a car (either at a junk yard or borrow one from a local mechanic) and display it on the stage. If you are really resourceful, you could even put a small car on the stage in your room. Include some orange construction cones and barricades around the room as well.

series artArt for PowerPoint backgrounds and for series promotional ads is available as a free download with every series. Visit the XP3 web site, log on to your account and download the images to use in your presentation, newsletters and web site. VideoThere are five videos available for the Road Signs series—four video communicator videos and one bumper video. The four video communicator videos can be used in each session of this four-week series in place of a live communicator. The bumper video was created to be used as an intro for all four sessions of the Road Signs series.

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mIDDLE SCHOOL ADAPTATION: ROAD SIGNS The teaching outline and the middle school small group dialog questions are important ways you can adapt the content of this series to communicate to middle school students. Also, the following activities and illustrations are designed to help middle schoolers connect with the subject matter in ways that engage them physically, mentally, socially and sometimes emotionally.

game: miLk maid(Play this game as an icebreaker to session 4.) For this game, you’ll need to buy some milk and a few thick latex kitchen gloves. Fill each glove with milk and tie them shut like a water balloon. Poke a small hole in the fingertip of both the index and middle finger. If done correctly, no milk should come out until you squeeze the fingers like a cow’s udder. You may want to test a few beforehand to make sure you get the same results each time. Select a few students to come to the front and divide into teams of two to participate. You may want to put down some protective plastic or play outside. Have the friend hold up the glove while the student you chose tries to squeeze out the milk through the small holes and fill up a small, clear cup. The first team to fill their cup with the milk is the winner.

iLLustration: cLueLess Start the series off with a great video clip from the movie Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone. This is best shown after point D in the INTRODUCTION section of the teaching script. In the movie, Cher (Alicia) really wants to get her driver’s license. She has a lot of desire and good intentions to pass her driver’s test, but like many people, she gets a little distracted and doesn’t pay attention to what she is doing. Before she realizes what’s happened, she causes a lot of damage and fails her driver’s test. Start the clip at 1:11:03 when Cher is looking through her clothes for her favorite shirt and end at 1:13:41 when Cher and the test facilitator switch seats.







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TEACHING SCRIPT The teaching script is divided into five sections.

introduction: This introduction is intended to connect you, the communicator, to the audience usually through a personal story or observation. We’ve included our stories, but you may want to substitute your own story in this section.

tension: The tension moves the message from the “me” mentality of the introduction to a “we” mentality. For example, a transition statement might be, “At some point in our lives, we have all been jealous of someone over something.”

truth: Once the tension builds, the next logical step is to uncover the truth of what the Bible says about the topic.

aPPLication: At this point, the message moves to a “you” mentality in order to teach the application. The “you” is the student. Take God’s truth and unpack how it relates to each student so that he or she can apply it to everyday life. Landing: Here it is important to land the message on what each student needs to know and do with what they’ve heard. Just as the message began with a personal story or observation, the message also ends with a “me” mentality. For example, one possible landing statement might be, “I have a greater sense of purpose knowing that God created me in His image.” Leave the students with a clear sense of what all of you should do with what you’ve heard.







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TEACHING OuTLINEintro:Sometimes we take a detour off the path.The reason is because something or someone got our attention.

Attention influences direction.

tension:There’s a big difference between what grabs our attention and what we give attention to. Grabbing our attention is all about emotion. Giving attention to something is all about intentionality.

truth:“If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers” (Deuteronomy 7:12 NIV).

“Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:35-37 NIV).

“Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV).

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22 NIV).

aPPLication:Attention impacts your path, and your path impacts your destination.“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1 NIV).

What has captured your attention, or who has captured your affection?Good or bad, you need to begin to look at your answers because they will influence the direction of your life.

What do you need to begin giving more attention to?We can decide what we give our attention to.

Landing:The things you decide to give attention to now will determine your direction. And every direction has a destination.

Bottom Line: WHEN YOU GIVE SOMETHING YOUR ATTENTION, YOU MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.

ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoP







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ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPT By andy stanLey

introduction

A. In this series we have said that direction determines destination, that the path you choose will ultimately decide where you end up. So why is it that when we are headed one direction, traveling toward the destination we desire, we suddenly flip on the blinker and take a left?

B. I think this is the real reason we all make the choice to put on the blinker and detour: Somehow, something or someone gets our attention.

C. All of us have things in our past that grabbed our attention. Maybe it was a person or a thing or an opportunity, and we may wish we had just passed it by. We wish we would have just glanced over and thought “never mind” and kept going. There are people you wish you had never met, right? There are relationships you wish you had never gotten into. There are phone numbers you wished you had never called. There are e-mails you wished you had never sent.

D. Here is what happens—on every path that leads to destruction, on every path that leads to disaster, the reason we choose those paths is because there is always something very powerful and very emotionally engaging on those paths. That’s why we use the terminology, “It grabbed my attention.” I was driving along with my hands on the wheel at 10 and 2, looking forward and then something just grabbed my attention and I took a left. Correct? And so often those are the things that lead to our greatest regrets. Attention influences direction, and every direction has a predetermined, predefined destination.

tension

A. There’s a big difference between the things we deliberately pay attention to and the things that grab our attention. Grabbing our emotion is all about emotion. Giving attention to something is all about intentionality; it’s a decision we make.

B. If you look back over the last few years, you probably wish you had paid more attention to a few things. You may wish now you had given or paid more attention to your grades. You may wish you had paid more attention to the sport you play. You may wish you had given or paid more attention to the way you spent your money because now you wish you had money to buy a car. Maybe you wish you would have paid less attention to that former boyfriend or girlfriend, and more attention to your friends and family. Maybe you wish you had given or paid more attention to what was going on in your spiritual life or your faith.

C. What happened? Something grabbed our attention and consequently we didn’t give attention to the basic things. How many of you listen to country music? Think about all those songs about people who suddenly come to the realization that they haven’t been paying attention to the things that matter. How many of you hear those songs and you think, “Man, that’s never going to be me. I’m going to pay attention to the things that matter”? That’s because something in you knows that this principle is true. You know that what you give your attention to will determine your direction and that will ultimately lead to your destination.







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ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTtension (cont’d)

D. Right now you have chosen to pay attention to some things. For some of you, there are some things that have your attention now, but the first time you glanced in that direction you thought, “No, thanks.” There are some of you whose lives have never been better because you have finally come to the place where you’re beginning to pay attention to or give your attention to some things that will ultimately benefit you. Right now whatever has captured your attention or you’re giving your attention to is impacting the direction of your entire life. It could be relationships, spiritual matters, academics, friendships, morals—whatever.

truth

A. Today we are going to wrap up this series by looking at a number of passages from Scripture that illustrate how our attention affects our direction. God reminds us over and over in the Bible that the things we pay attention to direct our lives. The things we give our attention to and the things that capture our attention have the potential to change the direction of our lives.

B. The first verse I want to look at comes from the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is basically the record of Moses and the Israelites in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. The Israelites are God’s select people and God loves them in a way He’s never loved anyone else before. God interacts with them in a very interesting way, and He gives them His Law.

C. In chapter five, Moses presents the people with what we know today as the Ten Commandments. In chapter six, the Israelites are warned again not to stray from following the God who brought them out of Egypt. God basically says, “Now look, you are going to be tempted to get distracted by what’s happening in the surrounding nations. You are going to be tempted to look at the way they do government, and you’ll want to try to do things that way. You are going to be tempted to look at the way they do economy and the way they do relationships, and you’ll want to try to live that way.” So God gives the Israelites a different standard and some different laws to help direct them down a different path. Then listen to what God says through Moses: “If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers” (Deuteronomy 7:12 NIV). Thousands of years ago, God spoke to a group of people He loved and had set apart for His purposes, and He said, “Pay attention.” This is so amazing because part of God’s arrangement with Israel was that they had to pay attention. God wanted the Israelites to intentionally choose to set their attention on God’s Law because God knew that if He could capture their attention, then their direction and ultimately their destination would be taken care of. It sounds like God is all about reward and punishment, but think about this for a minute. All God is saying is that if they pay attention to His Law and obey Him, then they will be walking in the path He has set before them. On that path are blessings beyond their wildest dreams. And as they walk down that path, the rest of the world will look at them and the direction of their lives and be amazed. But if they turn their attention to other things and depart from His Law, then their direction will change and they will no longer be on the path He has set before them. His blessings are not on that path. In fact, that path will lead to some pain and regret. God says, “So trust Me. Stay focused.”







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ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTtruth (cont’d)

D. One of the great things about reading the Bible is that you are reading about people like you and me. The Israelites behave just like we do. After God said these things, they got really focused and they were obedient—for a while. They received blessing after blessing as they continued down the path God had for them, but then they would grow complacent and they would get distracted. They would forget to stay focused, and pretty soon they would find themselves headed down the wrong path, realizing that God’s blessings were nowhere to be found.

E. One time the Israelites found themselves so far off the path that they ended up sacrificing their temple, and foreign nations actually drove them out of the land God had intended for them. Eventually they got really focused again and turned back toward God, but it took them 70 years to turn around and get back on the right path. When they did, God brought them back into the land. So way back in the days of Moses, God was trying to show us the importance of this principle. He says, “Listen, I am your heavenly Father. I want good things for you, but in order for that to happen I need you to follow Me and I need you to pay attention.” Why? Because where your attention goes, you go. When something captures your attention, it captures your life and it influences your future.

F. Many years after Moses, Israel is established in the Holy Land and they have a king. In fact, they were on their second king—David. You may have heard of David. Here is what he had to say about the importance of this path principle. “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:35-37 NIV). David begins this part of the conversation with God by saying, “God, direct me in the path of Your commands.” In other words, “I know that Your commands exist to point me down a path, and I want to be headed in the right direction. So I want You to be a personal God who directs me down the right path because that’s where I will find light.” Then David starts with this whole turning thing. “Turn my heart,” he says. “Turn my eyes.” That might sound funny to us, but throughout Scripture this is just a way of talking about attention. When a person turns his or her heart or turns his or her eyes, they are really refocusing their attention. Think about the power of David’s statement. “God, please turn my eyes away from worthless things.” Why? Because David knows, just like you and I know, that focusing on worthless things will draw us into the direction of worthless things.

G. Again, every one of us can relate to David here whether you’re a Christian or you’re still trying to figure this whole God thing out. Every one of us can tell a story in our lives about a time when our attention was fixed on something that we knew wasn’t good, and at the end of the day the result was worthless. We just got fixated on something, and it turned out to be a waste of our time at best. So David says, “Please, I want my eyes to be fixed on things that matter. Don’t let me get fixated on things that are worthless.” Why? Because attention influences direction, and every direction has a destination.







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ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTtruth (cont’d)

H. So more time goes by in the nation of Israel. David dies and his son Solomon becomes king. Solomon picks up on this same theme. “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV). Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze. This verse is all about intentionality, isn’t it? Don’t let something capture your gaze. Fix your gaze directly before you. Do not swerve to the right or the left. Keep your foot from evil. And what is Solomon referring to? Last week, we talked about how Solomon was the wisest man in the world. Here he is reminding us that from time to time we are going to be tempted to allow our gaze to go places it shouldn’t go, and as our gaze goes, we go. As our attention goes, we go. If something or someone grabs our attention, it grabs our lives. It grabs our future. So Solomon says, “Look directly ahead! Fix your gaze straight in front of you. Make the decision to pay attention to those things you need to give your attention to. Be intentional about where you look.”

I. Then, almost 1,000 years later, Jesus shows up. You’ll never believe it, but Jesus picks up on the very same principle. Here is what Jesus says: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22 NIV). Let’s start with just the first part of the verse: “The eye is the lamp of the body.” When Jesus said this, there was no such thing as electricity. So when a person walked down the street at night, he carried an oil lamp to light the road in front of him. It’s important for us to try to get this picture in our minds because it’s so unlike anything we use today. This wasn’t like a Mag-light that shines way out in front of you. This is like going camping with a Coleman lantern. The lamp only lit the area directly around it. People would walk with these lanterns way out in front of them, sometimes holding them on a pole because the farther out the light was, the farther they could see. They moved in whatever direction the lamp went. They followed this light around, and wherever the light went, their entire body went. So here’s what Jesus is saying: “Guys, girls, your eyes determine the things you see and the things you pay attention to. Your eyes are like the lantern of your entire life. Where your eyes go, you will go. What you pay attention to will direct your entire life.” Is this starting to sound familiar?

J. Now, let’s listen to the second part of the verse: “If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.” The little Greek word for good here actually means “wholesome” or “pure.” If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. The little things your eyes focus on will impact all of you. They will impact your entire life. Jesus goes on to say that if your eyes are bad, your body will be full of darkness. What is He saying? He is saying the things that you choose to pay attention to direct your life. When you choose to give your attention to something, or when something grabs your attention, you will eventually move in that direction.







ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTaPPLication

A. I remember when I took driver’s ed way back when I was 16, my teacher kept saying, “Don’t look at the cars that are passing you, and don’t look at the cars you are passing.” And I would ask, “Why?” He said, “Because if you look that way, your tendency will be to steer in that direction.”

B. It’s the same thing if you’ve ever been snow skiing. When you are doing moguls or when you are in trees, you should never look at the individual mogul or the trees. You look past all of that. Because what you stare at, you tend to ski into.

C. Some of you can tell stories about this principle, right? You may know firsthand what it’s like to find out too late that whatever you turned your attention to, you went in that direction. The writer of Hebrews says: “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1 NIV). What you pay attention to impacts the direction of your life. And if you think you are slick enough or smart enough or careful enough to be able to avoid this, then go ahead. Stare at the wrong thing. But in time you will see that your life begins to steer in that direction. There is an order that is true for all of us: attention, direction, destination. Now here’s the tough thing about this principle—it is so easy to see in the lives of other people. In fact, you’re probably sitting here thinking, “Oh, I wish Jennifer was here. Oh, I wish Mark was here. I wish my friend from physics class was here.” We can all think of people who need to hear this. Because when we listen to other people talk or we watch their lives unfold, we just see it coming, right? But it’s always harder to take a look at our own lives.

D. So as we wrap up this series, I want to leave you with two questions. The first question: What has captured your attention, or who has captured your affection? Affection and attention are basically synonymous here. It could be that your attention and your affection have been captured by something that started out really innocent.

E. I know students every year who try out for sports teams, and they are so excited about the opportunity to play. Then over time, they feel pressure from the coach to start practicing on the side, and they start taking some extra lessons. They start going to the gym on their own to try to keep up with the rest of the team. And after awhile, that sport and that team consume them. They stop hanging out with their friends. They stop coming to church. They basically drop out of everything else because they have allowed their attention and their affection to become consumed by this team. The problem is that they just got distracted by a good thing. The next thing they knew, the direction of their lives and their priorities had shifted. Sometimes it’s not a something but a someone who captures your attention and affection. Maybe you just decided one Friday night to go to this girl’s party because you wanted to meet new people or you just had some curiosity you needed to satisfy. So you went to the party, met a few new people and started to hang out with them more and more. Now, they might do a few things that you didn’t do before, but they’ve captured your attention, and now you’re making different decisions. You find yourself on a different path.

F. We all need to begin to ask ourselves this question: What has captured my attention? Who has captured my affection? Good or bad, you need to begin to look at your answers because they will influence the direction of your life. This is just a principle; it’s something you can’t avoid and you can’t change. If you try to break it, you will ultimately end up breaking yourself against it.







ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTaPPLication (cont’d)

G. The second question is a more positive question. The second question is this: What do you need to begin giving more attention to? You see it’s not just a matter of being yanked around by our emotions. It’s not about feeling guilty and being content with “I should” or “I will,” but actually moving forward in a different direction. We can decide what we give our attention to. For some of you it’s your spiritual life and your faith. Maybe you just became a Christian and all this faith stuff is new to you; or maybe you’ve been a Christian since before you can remember, but somehow God always gets put off to the side. The way you can begin to turn your eyes and your attention to God is through spending time alone with Him and with the Bible. Because the more time we spend with God, the better we get to know Him. When we know Him, we are able to trust Him and obey Him and worship Him—and the direction of our lives changes. For some of you it’s your health. Maybe you have been focusing your attention on the size of your waist or the bulk of your muscles, and you’ve been mistreating your body to try to make it become something it was never intended to be. Maybe for some of you it’s your education. Maybe your attention has turned somewhere else and you are just finding out that you are on a very dangerous path with your grades. Maybe God is beginning to move in your heart to do something different.

Landing

A. What is it that you need to begin giving or paying more attention to now? The things you decide to give attention to now will determine your direction. And every direction has a destination. It is simple, and you know what? It has been like this from the beginning. It has been like this for thousands of years. The reason your heavenly Father made it so clear in so many places is because He loves you and He is personally interested in your destination. He is interested in the direction of your life. And He would love for all of us to avoid and escape the pain and frustration that comes when we wake up to find that we are lost in a place we never intended to be.

B. It’s easy to hear a message like this and immediately think about some things you want to change. But as soon as I say “amen” at the end of the prayer, everything in your world will be exactly as you left it. That’s why it’s so important that you take these principles, lay them out before your heavenly Father and say, “God, what do You want me to do? I see warnings. I see the road signs that show danger ahead on this path I’m on. God, there are things I’m beginning to pay attention to that I never thought I would pay attention to, and it is already beginning to influence the direction of my life. It’s already beginning to create tension in some of my most valued relationships. Help me turn around and get back on the right path.”







ROAD SIGNS(4): rest stoPTEACHING SCRIPTLanding (cont’d)

C. It’s a hard prayer to pray. And it’s even harder to do. But when you ask God to help you, He is willing and able. It all starts with recognizing where you are and what things have captured your attention and affection. Then as you submit to God, you will be able to change your focus and your direction will follow. And one day soon, you will find yourself headed down a road that is filled with blessing.

D. Let’s pray: “Father, You know our hearts. You know where we feel tension over this. You know friends who have warned us and warned us. We’ve put them off and made excuses, and here we are again, with another warning. Father, even though the world outside these walls will be the same when we walk outside, I pray that we would be different. Help us to respond differently and prioritize in a different way. Help us not to ignore this principle, but to embrace it. Thank You for warning us. Thank You for teaching us. Thank You for documenting this for us. Please give us the courage to walk out of here and respond appropriately. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

transition into smaLL grouPs

Documents

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(4) - Clover