Series: Luke
Sermon Title: The Danger of Distractions
Passage: Luke 10:38-42 NIV

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Series: Luke
Sermon Title: The Danger of Distractions
Passage: Luke 10:38-42 NIV

1. We Are the Most Distracted People to Ever Live!
   Luke 10:38-42 NIV
   Luke 10:38-42 ESV
2. Distractions Cause Us to Miss What Is Most Important.
   Psalm 46:10
   John 5:17
   
3. We Must Declare War on Distractions.
   
   • We Must Ask the Right Questions
   • We Must Establish Rhythms to Help Us Focus

 

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• What are some common distractions in your daily life, and how do they impact your spiritual walk?
  Matthew 6:33 
• How does the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42 illustrate the dangers of being overly busy?
  Luke 10:41-42 
• In what ways do distractions rooted in boredom or the need to escape show up in your life?
  Psalm 119:37 
• How can busyness or boredom cause you to miss out on experiencing God’s presence?
  Psalm 46:10 
• Reflect on a time when you missed seeing God’s activity because you were distracted. How might you stay more attentive to His work in the future?
  John 5:17 
• How have distractions affected your relationships with others, and what steps can you take to prioritize those relationships?
  Hebrews 10:24-25 
• How can focusing on what truly matters restore joy in your work and tasks?
  Colossians 3:23-24 
• What practical steps can you take this week to “declare war on distractions” in your life?
  Ephesians 5:15-16

 

PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. How has distraction and busyness of life led to neglect in your caring for your: Health, Relationships, or Soul?
2. What is the deepest longing of your heart that you’ve been neglecting, and how might you create space to listen to that desire?
   • Reflect on the areas of your life where you feel a persistent ache or yearning. How have the distractions of daily life drowned out this inner voice, and what steps can you take to reconnect with it?
3. In what ways have you allowed the chaos of the world to overshadow the still, small voice of God in your life?
   • Consider how the noise and busyness around you have impacted your ability to hear from God. What practices can you incorporate into your life to quiet the external clamor and attune yourself to His guidance?
4. What is experiencing burnout like for you? What do you need to do to recover?
   • Reflect on areas of your life that your refuse to allow God’s rest to enter into.
5. How might you partner with God to restore your soul, moving from a place of striving to a place of rest?
   • Reflect on the areas where you’ve been striving or performing, rather than living from a place of true rest in God’s presence. What would it look like to surrender these areas and allow God to restore your soul deeply?

 

SCRIPTURES TO MEDITATE ON:

Hebrews 4:9-11
Mark 6:31-32 ESV
John 15:1-17

RESOURCES:

• ARTICLE | Better Than Busy: Recovering Rest in a Burnout Culture | Colin Noble
• ARTICLE | How to Fight Distraction in a World Full of Noise | JON BLOOM 
• PODCAST | Pursuing Soul Care Prt 1 | John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Podcast
• PODCAST | Pursuing Soul Care Prt 2 | John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart Podcast
• BOOK | The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry | JOHN MARK COMER
• BOOK | Upon Waking: 60 Daily Reflections to Discover Ourselves and the God We Were Made For | JACKIE HILL PERRY

MONTHLY SPIRITUAL PRACTICE TO TRY: False Self

Our false self is generally rooted and grows in areas of our lives that are not submitted to the Gospel. We all have these areas, and they all have various levels and depths of gospel exposure. However, a transformation of false self begins with humility. Humbleness applied is key to false self elimination.

Often times our false self rears its head when we are focused on ourselves or areas of our lives we feel insecure about. Our true self is connected to humility and is the opposite. Humility comes through a resounding confidence in our weaknesses, because Jesus can be made big (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). It is a security in true identity.  Humility stems from having someone else besides yourself, be the center of attention. Really this is what paul is sharing in Philippians 2:5-8 when he challenges us to develop the same mindset of Christ, setting aside our rights and privileges to serve others. Our false self stands in object opposition to this idea.

Each of us has a beautiful true self that is deep within us. It is a gift from God. A false self develops from the attachment both recognized and unrecognized to idols that vie for our heart’s attention battles against that true self identity. Adele Calhoun says, “The false self strives to cobble together an identity from secondary things: reputation, success, status, family, jobs, health. However, an identity based on these things is rooted in idols. And idols can be lost! Things that can be here today and gone tomorrow provide a precarious mooring for the soul. Our truest identity can never be something we accomplish, earn, or prove on our own. It is a gift we receive from Jesus.”  We all must go through a journey in which we, identify, detach from our false self, and rest in our truest identity in Jesus.

The journey God desires us all to go on as it pertains to false self living is a journey of “I Centered”  living to “Him Centered”. This is the transformational journey of False Self to True Self. The journey looks like these three statements, being deconstructed and then constructed in our life.
1. “It’s my life…”
2. “It’s God’s and my life…”
3. “It’s God’s life…”

False self exercises: As you do this remember, God loves you and sees you through the lens of absolute love.

• Write an honest resume’ (not a list of expertise) of your character. You can invite a trusted friend or spouse to share any blind spots you may have. “Ask questions like, What do I do that hurts you? How could I better love you? What is it like to be with me? Do I show interest in others or talk mostly about myself ?” (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook Adele Calhoun)

• What areas are you insecure or prideful in?

• Begin to notice your strong emotions. When do you feel yourself getting hot, defensive, angry, or withdrawn? What is motivating your emotion? What behavior stems from your emotion?

• How can you develop a pathway to surrender and humility in those areas?

• How is God calling you to think about these undeveloped areas of your life?

As you walk out this false self journey let me leave you with just a few statements of your true identity:
You are…
… chosen (John 15:16)
… a beloved child of God (1 John 3:1)
… a friend of Jesus (John 15:15)
… the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16)
… God’s work of art (Ephesians 2:10)
… fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

ROB HANS | SPIRITUAL FORMATION PASTOR

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

In today’s age, there is no shortage of things vying for our time. Work, hobbies, kids, sports schedules, date nights, church…fill in the blank. But what about distractions? Are the things that fill our schedule the same thing as distractions? I would arguably say, no. For example, I can be at my kids baseball game but distracted talking to another parent or on my phone the whole time. I can be there physically, without being present mentally and emotionally. We can be in a work meeting but thinking about a fight with our spouse that morning, or on a date night and thinking about that deadline….the list is endless. 

One of Jesus most important traits was that he was always unbothered by disruptions, and always present with the person in front of him. We see an example of this in Luke 8 when Jairus is leading him through the crowd to heal his daughter yet he is touched by the woman with the issue of blood and he stops to heal her. From our perspective, the dying young girl is much more important than the woman who has been sick for 12 years, but Jesus takes the time with her. He is not distracted by the urgent. 

Social media is one of the worst distractions in this age. The average person opens their phone 352 times a day, and according to a recent study, the average teen received over 237 social media notifications. We constantly have things that are pulling us in other directions and demanding our attention. It is so important that we remember to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ as Hebrews 12:2 commands. Proverbs 16:9 says “a man’s heart plans His ways, but the Lord directs his steps”. When you go about your day and week, making plans to go here and there, are you allowing the Lord to direct your path? Or are you distracted by your own plans and ways of doing things that you are not allowing the Lord to guide and interrupt you? 

There is no doubt that our responsibilities matter to Jesus. He sees all we have on our plates, and He wants to help us. However, He still wants to be the main object of our hearts affection, to be remembered in every circumstance, and for us not to be burdened and distracted by all the directions that the world is pulling us. We must prioritize Him and His work in us, His plans for us, and find comfort and joy that ‘His mercies are new every morning’ (Lamentations 2:22). A fresh dose of power every morning to do what He has called us to do.  –  Emma Menesini, Women’s Ministry Director