I want to talk about laziness. and fear as two
key drivers that prevent you and I from becoming
everything God created us to be. So let's buckle
up, see what the Bible has to say, close the
doors. Thank you. You'd be surprised how versatile
the Bible is to speak on topics that you might
think are, oh, really, the Bible talks about
that? Yeah. Because God wants us to maximize
our potential. And so today we're going to tackle
some things from a biblical standpoint that will
hopefully free us up to become everything God
wants us to be. Whether you're in your teens
or 20s or up to your 80s, it doesn't matter.
We can all still grow. Amen. We can all still
improve. This is not just a message for young
people. This is a message for all of us in whatever
stage of life we're in. Because part of the challenge
here is to not fix your mindset that it is what
it is and it always continue to be this way.
No, things can't change. With God all things
are possible. Amen. So let's pray that God would
speak to our hearts this morning. Heavenly Father
we thank you for this time together. Thank you
for our children. Thank you God for the beautiful
kids program we have here at Lighthouse. Thank
you for all the leaders and all the volunteers
and everyone that makes it happen. We pray for
them because we want them to grow. We want them
to expand their knowledge base. We want them
to maximize their potential. And so likewise
for us here this morning, God, I pray that you
would speak to our hearts. I pray that you would
speak deep into our hearts. You would help us,
God, to maybe pause for a few minutes and just
hear. Hear your counsel. Hear your wisdom. Hear
your advice. Hear your challenge so that we can
move on. with life not at the same pace but maybe
at a better pace. For some of us a change of
direction is needed. For some of us a change
of attitude is needed. For some of us a change
of mindset is needed. For some of us a change
in effort is required. So whatever it is, God
let us hear this morning and then help us to
do the things you're calling us to do. that we
may see your greatness and your goodness in every
area of our lives and for all the wonderful things
you want to do with and through us by faith in
advance we give you praise as we pray all of
this in the precious name of Jesus and everybody
say in Jesus name amen give God praise one more
time this morning so glad you're here this morning
amen you may be seated we've shared with you
a bit of our mission statement that as a church
we exist so that people that are far from God
can fulfill their potential everybody say potential
So we can fulfill our potential in Christ. It's
not just personal potential. It's not just a
professional potential It's a potential that
is done in partnership with Christ as we learn
more about God as we learn more about the Bible
as we go deeper and deeper in our relationship
with God as we mature in our relationship with
God all of that should drive us to maximize and
fulfill our potential in partnership with Christ
and so I want to just begin this morning by maybe
providing a bit of a challenge to all of us that
personal growth in all areas, spiritual, emotional,
financial, professional, you name it, personal
growth in every area should be a life goal for
each of us. If I ask you what your life goals
are, you might not have any. I would encourage
you to begin to think about what do I want to
accomplish for whatever days God has given me.
Now how many of you know that we're in line?
We're in line to check out. We're all in line.
You might think older people are closer to check
out, but sometimes younger people. You don't
know where in the line you are. Amen. And so
for as long as we're here, we ought to have a
mindset that says I wanna have some goals. When
you stop having goals, you stop living. When
you stop striving, you stop trying. So there's
something that's gotta be inside all of us as
human beings, as children of God. that every
day I aspire for something better, something
greater, whatever that is in our lives. How many
would want a better marriage? I'm sorry, that's
a rough question. You were too quick. Bring it
down, take it back. How many of you would want
your marriage to be even better? All right, sorry.
I just trick questioned. By the way, Careful
on those Coldplay concerts. Careful what you
hugging. Why should all of us have some sort
of personal growth goal? The reason why is because
it's not automatic. It will not just happen.
None of us will just wake up and be better because
of osmosis or passage of time or gravity. It
doesn't happen automatically. And so it takes
effort. It takes drive. It takes discipline.
It takes desire. And there's two big obstacles.
There's many, but I want to focus on two this
morning, two key obstacles, I would call them,
to personal growth. And as I said, those two
things are laziness. Everybody say laziness.
And the second one is fear. Everybody say fear.
So let's take them one at a time. Laziness is
something we need to overcome. I've read some
really interesting studies the last couple of
weeks. And the conclusion that I saw from many
of these studies looking at human behavior is
that humans, all of us, are generally inclined
towards laziness. Our natural preference is rather
to rest than to work. Now that doesn't sound
crazy, right? Like if we're all honest with ourselves,
come on. If you have to work really hard or just
sit back on the couch, most of us would take
the couch. So humans, humans, all the humans
say amen. We're generally naturally inclined
towards laziness. So if that's something that
way it's kind of like sin, we're all sort of
inclined towards sin We're born with a sinful
nature doing the wrong thing. Oftentimes is easier
than doing the right thing Equally being lazy
is more default than working hard And so this
is something we have to choose something we have
to decide now some of you Already kind of have
a head start in that you're just active All of
you who are just naturally active, raise your
hand. You're naturally active. Look how quick
they raise their hand. See that? They're quick.
They're naturally active. The rest of us need
a little prodding. The rest of us need a little
push in order to get things done. I want you
to understand. So that's human nature. Now, if
you look in the Bible, consistently, overwhelmingly,
Old Testament, New Testament throughout, God's
Word instructs us to work hard and to always
try to put our best effort forward, regardless
of what you're doing. Not only in the important
things, even in the little things. That's the
concept from the Word of God. And so if you read
the Bible, if you study the Bible, you will find
in the Bible, again, this is not psychology,
this is not Pastor Sam, this is the Bible. If
you study the Bible, You will find in the Bible
that there's a very clear cause and effect relationship
between hard work and rewards as well as laziness
and ruin. That correlation is throughout scripture.
And so, I would finish this piece by saying if
you read the Bible, if you really read the Bible
in its entirety, you would be able to conclude
that laziness should have no place in the life
and character of a follower of Jesus. You don't
believe me, do you? All right, let me give you
four verses. Just four all from Proverbs. I'm
just gonna stick to Proverbs. There's plenty
I mean you can Google this laziness comma Bible
verses and you'll get a plethora long list. So
let me give you a few To support the fact that
laziness should have no place in the life and
character of us as believers Proverbs 10 4 says
this lazy hands bring poverty But hard -working
hands lead to wealth That's just one verse You
know what? The words get progressively stronger
The slacker all the slacker say amen Just my
check to see me that you're not asleep the slacker
craves Yet has nothing But the soul of the diligent
is fully satisfied. I mean, that's a good verse
When you don't feel like getting up in the morning
go to work remember Proverbs 13 for And I love
I love the The concept that introduces the slacker
craves it's not the slacker doesn't crave It's
like the slacker doesn't want it's not like the
slacker doesn't desire Actually, the slacker
craves, wants things, desires things, but yet
they have nothing because of their laziness.
But the soul of the diligent, mind you that.
So notice the first verse is very financially
driven. Look at the second verse. The soul of
the diligent. This is way bigger than just money.
This is way bigger than just financial stuff.
The soul, who you are, your identity at your
core. The soul, your deepest place, the soul
of the diligent is fully satisfied. We exist
so that people far from God can fulfill their
potential in Christ. The soul of the diligent
will be fully satisfied. So pause here and ask
yourself, is my soul fully satisfied? On the
inside, am I content? with where I'm at in life?
Am I happy with what I've reached, achieved,
or accomplished? Or is there something in me
that's not yet satisfied? If it's not yet satisfied,
then be diligent to go after it. Amen? Proverbs
24. The lazy man will not plow because of winter.
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
The lazy man will not plow because of winter.
In other words, sometimes hard work comes at
a difficult time. During winter, it's cold. During
winter, it's raining or snowing. But there's
certain things you have to do in winter time.
so that in springtime, you can actually harvest
something. How many of you already figured this
out? If you don't plant anything, you can't reap
anything. And sometimes the planting happens
in winter. Sometimes the season of your life
where you have to work hard are difficult seasons.
I think life is backwards. I think once you finish
high school, you should be able to retire for
30 years. And once you've done all the fun stuff,
then you can work when you're old. Wouldn't that
be nice? How many would like to retire at 18?
I'm talking fully funded pension. Wouldn't that
be awesome? But that's not how life works. The
way life works is you have to plant during difficult
seasons. You have to hustle when it's cold. You
have to work hard when it's not convenient. You
have to get out of bed when it's cold. The lazy
person will not plow. Notice plow in the old
words when they used to dig the trenches where
the seed goes. That's work. That's effort. But
how many of you know on a cold day if you're
digging ditches the cold goes away fast? Lazy
men will not plow. Because it's winter. I will
say it differently or expand to that. The lazy
person will always have a convenient excuse why
they're not doing what they're supposed to do.
They'll always have an excuse. There will always
be a reason. There will always be some justification
as to why or Proverbs 6, 6. Take a lesson from
the ants, you lazy bones. I love the Bible. learn
from their ways and become wise. If you keep
reading verse seven, eight, nine, 10, it says,
look, the ants, they have no boss, they have
no supervisor, right? They don't have a whole
corporate structure. But guess what? The ants
in summer, they look for food, they gather and
they store it because they know in winter they
can't go out and get it. So if you don't work
in the summer to get the food into your little
colony, Then in winter time, there'll be nothing
to eat and you can't go out because you'll die
in the cold. So an ant, how big is the brain
of an ant? Yet that ant knows, this is my season
to work. This is my time to gather. This is when,
and I can't eat it all, I gotta save some. Ooh,
come on, all you who struggle with saving. The
ant knows, if I eat it all, During winter when
I can't go out I'll die So I gotta eat some and
save some eat some save some and save enough
because winter's long So for those three four
months of cold where the ants can't come out
and do their thing They have to store enough
during summer so that in winter they can have
something to eat so the Bible says Take a lesson
from the ant I have 34 scriptures on laziness.
These are just four. There's a whole bunch of
them. But you get the point. Amen? So I wanted
to point out here, this. Laziness is a choice.
We all choose that. And I'm not talking about
lazy moments here and there. How many of you
enjoy a little lazy morning? A little more lazy
morning on a Saturday or a lazy afternoon like
when your work is done. I love that. I love that.
I enjoy that. But you know what? You appreciate
it more when you have less of them. And so listen.
So I like these sermons. to not be forgotten
when you leave. So as you go home over the next
week, I'm sure as you walk around the house or
your backyard or as you're walking to Walmart
somewhere or Vons, you might see a little ant
walking by. When you see that ant, remember this.
That's how we keep the message going all week.
I don't want you to be infested with ants, but
when you see one, remember. So laziness is a
choice. Guess what else is a choice? Hard work
is a choice choose between Now from the beginning
of time literally from the beginning of time
when God created us notice in Genesis chapter
2 What the Bible says? The Lord God took the
man put him in the Garden of Eden to what? To
work it and take care of it So from the beginning
the very first human Adam God says I'm gonna
put you in a good place But when you get up in
the morning, I expect you to work it. I Expect
you to take care of it. I Expect you to not let
it get overrun by weeds. I expect you to keep
it clean I expect you to keep it tight. I expect
you to work. I'm not just putting you here in
a hammock I'm putting you in a garden, but I'm
expecting you to work. That's the very first
human. And you can go on through the scriptures
and find countless examples of the choice of
hard work. Now, I won't ask you to raise your
hand, but some of us here might not like your
job. Or some of you don't like your boss. Or
some of you don't like your job and you're the
boss. Maybe a different careers in order So It's
easy to say you know what when I get the perfect
job in the perfect company working for the perfect
boss with the perfect co -workers Then I'm gonna
give it my all That utopia rarely happens Between
now and then here's the advice from the Word
of God whatever you do Whether you like it or
not whether it's complicated or easy, whether
you enjoy it, whatever you do, whatever your
job is, work at it, how? I'm gonna encourage
all of us here, when you go back to work tomorrow,
you give me a favor, work harder than normal.
Go back to work tomorrow and work harder than
normal. Watch what happens. Just work harder
than normal. Whatever you do work at it with
all your heart as though you were working for
who? How many of us would work a little bit harder
if Jesus Christ was your boss? Like he was your
direct supervisor How many would show up on time
stay a little later? Maybe less multitasking
Less wasting a time. I mean if Jesus was your
boss, you know picture Jesus in a suit Jesus
is your boss. I don't know about you, but I pay
attention to that. Here comes the boss, like
literally here comes the boss. So Jesus says,
you know what? If it helps you, pretend Jesus
is your boss. Whatever you do. I don't care what
industry, what company, what rank. It doesn't
matter. Whatever it is, whatever it is you do,
Work at it with all your heart as though you
were working for the Lord and not for people.
That's an attitude shift. That's a mindset shift.
That's a rearranging of our heart. Because all
of us can have really good excuses why I don't
work, I don't like the man. He's the man. Jesus
Christ, let's work for him. Whatever you do,
give it your all. Now this becomes important
because time goes. I always find it interesting
when David said, I once was young and now I'm
old. He says it in one sentence. And it really
feels like it happens that way, don't it? Young
people, trust me, before you know it, you'll
be old. And for some of you, let me just tell
you. You're old. Your strength diminishes. Your
stamina diminishes. Your ability, your body begins
to not do what it used to do. I'm feeling it.
So here's the advice from Ecclesiastes chapter
9. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with
all your might. For in the realm of the dead
Where you are going There is neither working
nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom Said differently
this is when? This is when right now I Got news
for all of you here this morning. You will never
be younger than you are right now That's it rear
-view mirror ahead of you knee pain, back aches,
arthritis. Those are words you don't know when
you're 20, but you'll become familiar. You know
all those commercials they show on TV for old
people? I used to get mad at them. Once in a
while I'm like, huh, what is that again? So folks,
these three verses combined paint a story. God
expects us to work hard. Whatever you're doing,
give it your best. And by the way, your strength
only diminishes with time. So give it the best
you can right now. Amen. Turn to the person next
to you and tell them, stop being lazy. Aren't
you glad you came to church today? All right,
let me switch gears really quick. Again, folks,
I love you. I want us to maximize our potential.
So, laziness, key obstacle that keeps us from
becoming who God created us to be. Just laziness,
lack of drive, lack of energy, lack of umph.
In sports, They often say, you can't teach hustle.
You can't teach hustle, right? That's something
you gotta self -generate. In addition to our
tendency for laziness and taking it easy, another
key obstacle for our personal growth is fear.
I wanna talk briefly about fear. Now, healthy
fear, healthy fear is a natural response. to
perceive threats, helping to protect us from
danger, right? God put fear as an emotion, an
awareness, because for example, if you're walking
down a path, all the hiking folks, if you're
hiking and you see a rattlesnake coiled in front
of you, how many of you would be scared a little
bit, a little fear? Why, that's only four of
us? The rest of you like handle snakes? What
kind of Pentecostals are you? That's healthy
fear. You see a snake? You back off. That's healthy
fear. You should. There's a real threat in front
of you. So healthy fear is good. It keeps us
from getting in trouble. It keeps us from getting
hurt. It keeps us from injuring ourselves. It
keeps us from getting into things that we know
are gonna be dangerous for us. So healthy fear
is good. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm
talking about unhealthy fear, which is a disproportionate
or persistent fear that leads to avoiding or
having anxiety even though there isn't a clear
threat. It's just being afraid of things that
are not real, things that are not as present
as you think they are. It's unreasonable. It
is disproportionate. You ever see that? Can you
imagine a NFL linebacker, six, three, 250 pounds
walking down the street and he sees a little
spider and he starts jumping on top of a car?
Be like, dude. I don't advocate that, but you
get my point. Your fear is disproportionate to
the threat. And a lot of us do not strive for
greater things. A lot of us settle for less than
God's best because there's something we're afraid
of. And so this sort of unhealthy fear, is that
exactly the type of fear we have to overcome
in order to grow and reach our gut -giving potential.
I did some research and found some really good
stuff, some studies from psychology today and
other sources, good sources. Because my question
was, if fear is a reason why a lot of us don't
reach our potential, And I'm not talking about
us reaching something that's unreasonable. I'm
talking about reaching our potential Right. I'm
not comparing you with anybody else. This is
not a race This this is really a race with you
to maximize your potential. That's it. That's
the only competition that really matters Can
you maximize your potential? So this is not about
comparing contrasting. I'm talking about you
So when you think about what my thought was,
okay, what are the things what are the types
of fears? that most commonly prevent you and
me from reaching our own potential. What are
those? And so as I researched that, there was
a long list, let me give you just eight, that
kept coming up in different sources. Most common
types of fears that stop us from even trying
to reach our full potential. And let me stop
you for a second and say this. I've learned this
over time and God confirmed this in my heart
many, many times. For a lot of us, in certain
seasons of our life, we feel frustrated with
where we're at, or where we're not, or where
we should be. We're just frustrated. And often
times when we feel frustrated, our immediate
reaction is to blame the devil. and pray God
take away this frustration, God take away this
frustration, God help me with this frustration
and often times it's not the devil many times
I have found in my own life it is God's very
own Holy Spirit trying to wrestle you out of
your complacency trying to move you out of your
status quo trying to shake you out of your stuckness
And God's own Holy Spirit trying to create through
frustration the impetus to go higher. To try
that. Many of you here today, in your jobs for
example, are a level or two below where you know
you could be. Why is that? That happened in my
own career early on until I began to see people
less qualified Raise their hand when I didn't
and also now I'm working for somebody that I
knew didn't have it and that frustration Was
not to be mad at the company or mad at them.
I learned I gotta be mad at me I should have
said something I could have but because of fear
because of your own insecurities, because of
your own reasons and excuses. We don't do that.
And then you end up stuck under somebody that
should be under you. And if you're not careful,
that's gonna happen over and over and over again
in your life. And so what are these things? Let
me give you a list of the top eight I saw. Most
common types of fears. That stopped us from even
trying to reach our full potential This is obvious
right fear of failure What if I? Apply for the
promotion, and I don't get it Well you don't
get it But you know what happens to someone that
does this When someone raises their hand from
our promotion or for a new role, and we don't
give it to them You know what I say I'm glad
to know he wants this I'm glad to know she's
aspiring for leadership. It's good to know. It
wasn't your time yet. Or maybe somebody was more
qualified in this moment than you were. But the
fact that you raised your hand lets me know you
want something later on. So I'm gonna keep my
eye on you. Even when you don't get it, you still
win. So don't let fear of failure preclude you
from even trying. We'll be here till tomorrow
if I got the space. Let me go faster. Guess what
else is a thing? Fear of success. Oh my God,
if I get it, oh my God, that would be so hard.
No, you got this. If God is before me, who can
be against me? Right? Sometimes we're afraid
of our own success. Oh my God, I like that girl,
she's so cute. What if I ask her out and she
says yes? Oh my God. You'll never know until
you ask. And if she says yes, that's what you
wanted fool. Fear of rejection. We all felt that
at times. For anyone that rejects you, there's
always somebody else that will gladly take you.
Right? Fear of a challenge. Take it easy. Oh
no, I'm gonna have to work harder. Yeah. Kind
of what comes with, you know, they say higher
levels bring new devils. Yeah. As you climb higher,
it gets harder. Yeah, but you got it. You got
a whole trajectory, a whole history of experiences
to equip you for the next thing. Don't be afraid
of that. Fear of others' opinions, oh boy. Especially
in today's social media obsessed world. Oh my
God, what are they gonna think? I don't care
what they think. You do you. Fear of responsibility.
Fear of being an imposter or being found out
Impostor syndrome is a big thing at the highest
circles Fear of commitment. Oh my god, if I get
a promotion, I'm gonna have to show up on time
every day. Yeah Yeah My prayer is that you and
I don't get to our deathbed at some point in
the future. Look back at our lives and realize,
man, I coulda, shoulda, woulda. Don't, that's
like my biggest fear. That's one of the things
that drives me is that. I wanna die an old man,
tired. That I, I wanna get to heaven, anybody
else wanna get to heaven? I wanna get to heaven
and I want God to say, Sam, you did more than
I thought you could. Like I didn't give you that
many I only gave you a couple little gifts and
you did all right That's what I want to hear
I supposed to I gave you all this And you were
happy just doing that Can you imagine? standing
in front of God and Him showing you the picture
the movie of what your life could have been had
you overcome your fears and trusted him more
But because of fear because the laziness we didn't
do that. Oh, no No, no, no, not me and I pray
not any of us Amen Amen Amen So, how do we overcome
our fears who talk fast listen fast Psalms 27
one the Lord is my light and my salvation Whom
shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my
life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Beautiful verse,
but you got to live it. You got to feel it. You
got to believe it. You got to experience it.
Psalm 56, I'm saying again, I'm not saying don't
ever be afraid. No, no, we all get scared of
things. I just stepped into a new role at work.
It's a big role. Yeah, it's a little scary. I
call it skited. I'm a little scared, a little
excited. And skited fuels me. Because you got
to balance it. Yeah, it's scary. But it's also
exciting. It's also... Psalm 56. When I am afraid,
I'm going to put my trust in you. I praise God
for what he has promised. What has God promised
you? What promises has God given us? You know,
so when I get afraid, I remember those promises.
I begin to praise God for those promises. I trust
in God. So why should I be afraid? What can mere
mortals do to me? I love that. That's a great
line. I say at 41, don't be afraid for I am with
you. Don't be discouraged. For I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold
you up with my victorious right hand. Folks,
either you believe it or you don't. And if you
believe it, get after it. If you believe it,
step over your fears with that promise. It's
not that the fear will go away. It's not that
the fear won't be there. No, no. I've learned
in my life, in my 56 year of life, the best things
I've done, I've done, I'm afraid. If there's
no fear involved, it's probably not big enough.
Big things are gonna be scary things. Amen? Big
things are scary things. Don't you think there
was fear in a 29 year old Sam? to start Lighthouse
Church? I was afraid at 29. I didn't know this.
I had never been a pastor before. I hadn't been
responsible for people. I never preached that
much, taught that much, organized that much.
I had never done this. I was 29 when this journey
started. I was scared. I was afraid. But my faith
was greater than my fear. And let me tell you,
my fear was high. So therefore my faith had to
be higher. This church wouldn't be here. At least
in its current form and shape. If we would have
let fear, Pastor Ruben, keep us. We're sitting
at my kitchen table trying to come up. What do
we call this thing, remember that? Yeah, big
things are scary. But the bigger the fear, the
stronger the faith. That's the choice before
us. So finish with this. Just reflecting on all
this. Our drive for personal growth must be greater
than our affinity for comfort and what's easy.
Comes down to that. If you read the Bible, laziness
is cured with hard work. The medicine for laziness
is work hard. Begin to see the reward and the
benefit of hard work and the laziness goes away.
On the fear side, fear is conquered by faith.
That is the weapon. Let me tell you this one
thing. Fear And faith occupy the same place in
your heart. They fight for the same space. The
more fear you have, the less faith you'll have.
The more faith you have, the less room for fear
there'll be. They occupy, they fight for the
same space. Does that make sense to you? So I
want you to think about the proportion in that
space in your life. What is the proportion? Is
it 50 -50? Is it 70 % fear, 30 % faith? Is it
95 % fear, 5 % faith? Is it 80 % faith, 20 %
fear? What is that? You need to know that. You
need to look inside into your dashboard, into
your gauge. Find out where it's at. I'll finish
and say the journey. And I'm still on the journey
with you. The journey to maximize our potential
won't be easy. If it was easy, everybody would
do it. Won't be easy, but it will definitely
be worth it. So this morning, as we all stand
to our feet, if God has spoken to you in a very
clear way in some area of your life based on
everything we've heard, and if you're ready to,
if you're ready to take some steps in a better
direction, I want you to come to this altar.
We want to pray with you. Come on. If this message
was a blessing to your life, I encourage you
to share it with others. I invite you to visit
us online at gotolighthouse .org to stay connected
and see how you can continue supporting today's
message. God bless you and we'll see you next
week.