A Wise man said one time “When I get to where I’m going…by the time I’m there That’s where I will be”…
The Value of Nothing….
Nothing…
1 a: something that does not exist b: the absence of all magnitude or quantity; also:
zero 1a c: nothingness, nonexistence
2: someone or something of no or slight value or size
Genesis 1
The History of Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
From the beginning of time to the words I am speaking into your ears and mind right now…
God has a Track Record of finding Value in nothing….
We know some of these Names from the Word of God…
Jacob (Son of Isaac)…who had to lie his way into life selfishly stealing his brothers blessing…
Joseph (Son of Jacob)… had 4 step-mothers, 10 Step-brothers who hated his guts…
David …a scrawny stinky shepherd boy out watching the sheep by himself who got so bored he would sing to them and to God…
Esther…a little slave Girl who became a Top Model contestant to win the affection of filthy king….
God has a track record of finding Value in Nothings…
Some characteristics of Nothing People…
People who feel like their Nothing do things they wouldn’t normally do…
People who feel like their Nothing go places they wouldn’t normally go…
People who feel like their nothing believe they have to perform to feel…
They give up things they wouldn’t have given up…
They possess things they shouldn’t possess…
They are looking for feelings of self worth…and they go wherever they can find them…
They will hang out with whoever they can to feel that they might be worth something…
Gangs are notorious for becoming Family…that is one of the offerings to those who feel like their worth nothing…
The Church is a place where people come to find out if they are worth something…
Everybody wants to be Worth Something to somebody…
Nobody wants to be a Nothing.. Nobody wants to feel like their worth Nothing..
The Devil has whispered into some of your ears that you’ll never do anything for God because you’re nothing…
Some of you have felt like you have nothing to offer…nothing to give…
Therefore you’re not as committed as you should be…
You have not been as faithful as you could have been….
You have not listened to your Pastor or Youth Pastor…
You won’t heed the warning signs saying stop…
Because you have been convinced you aren’t worth ANYTHING to yourself and to God…
Nothing… I’m Nobody…Nobody Likes Me… God doesn’t even like me…
I fail when I try to Stand…I fall when I try to make it… I mess things up…
I’m a failure when it comes to the things of God…I’m feeling like a Big Zero…
But I want to be a Hero…
Some of you have heard this little voice in your ear… Some of you have given up things precious in your life to try to find out if you’re worth something only to be let down again to nothing…
This is who you THINK you are (NOTICE I SAID “THINK”)
Because if the Devil can convince Your brain that your nothing…He will win… and God will Lose, and SO WILL YOU!!!
But Listen to me very Carefully…. Everybody paying attention… I don’t want to hear the sound of a PEN drop… I just want to hear you breathing as you Listen……
I got a Secret to Tell you…
THE DEVIL, He IS A LIAR!!
The Bible states He is the Father of Lies…
God has a greater track record of finding great value in Nothings…
Then the Devil has of ruining people’s lives….
We read in GEN 1 that God hovered over the face of the waters…
How the earth is like our lives, a big fat void... dark at times…and deep…
And yet there was God hovering over the Earth looking at her and saying...
I am going to take this Nothing and make her something...
I am going make mountains and valleys, lakes and oceans, and green trees and fruits, and I’m going to make wet places and dry places and high places and low places and animals of all kinds and then I’m going to place two little people who in time will populate the earth and then people will know that I’m God and I care about them and everything will be pie in the sky and everybody will have a vacation everyday….and I’ll just tell them everything will be alright if they just won’t eat of this one tree I planted in the Garden…
And Satan came into the Garden…and LIED to Eve. “Do you want to be A Somebody?
worth something of Value more than the Nothing you are?
Eve’s problem was she didn’t recognize the Value of what she already possessed…
She was convinced she was a nobody who could become a somebody with a greater value than she was already. All she had to do, was to do something she wasn’t supposed to do, to receive something she wasn’t supposed to have, to be somebody she never became, all because she thought (THOUGHT) in her Brain it would make her more valuable…
Like Eve in the Garden YOU are sitting here on another Wednesday Night listening to a Person speak…
Many here have been filled with Holy Ghost and come to service after service and sing the songs and shout when it’s time to shout and say amen when it’s time to say amen and go thru all the motions that seem right…
And yet some still feel like they are still a nobody with nothing to offer and nothing to give and they have listened to the that voice that never seems to give up until they become uncommitted and uninvolved and like Eve they don’t see the Value of what they have because their vision is so clouded by what they think about themselves…
And all the while God is hovering in this service speaking to you and telling you that you are worth everything to Him... He put His Spirit in you so you could find Value in Yourself…He Put Spirit in You so you Could OVERCOME the World.. He Put His Spirit in you to give GIVE YOU LIFE and Bring You SELF WORTH!!
Two Little People in the Garden of Eden mess everything Up and yet God moves the foundations of Heaven and the Earth to make a Way for You Be SOMEBODY on this Earth… …
He hung on the Cross for mess ups’ Like Me and You….
He understood that one Day I would need to know that I’m worth something to Him…
That I more Valuable than anything this world can afford… That I can be better than what I thought I ever could ever be…
Because the day I gave Him everything I found out what True Value really is..…
Listen…If you are going to be anything for God you’ve got to be willing to give Him everything…
This world will tell you how valuable you are only to spit you out when it’s done with you and you’ll find yourself as the prodigal son did feeding pigs, … and you’ll look back at this service and remember my words….God will find True Value in Nothings…and make them Somebody….
Chad, was a friend who I went to Bible School with and he was on fire for God, a good preacher and evangelist. He had a passion for souls and a beautiful prayer life But somewhere along the way he listened to other voices who told him he would be more valuable if he would leave the church and go another direction…he told me as we talked a few years later he was serving drinks at a local bar and getting drunk and high and living the so called good life until his entire world came crashing down and he was destitute without hope and he remembered where he found his True value…and he came back to God and God was forgiving and today This man pastors a thriving church all because he recognized he had no Value in this World without God...because God sees the Value of Nothings….
You may feel tonight that you have let yourself down…that You have let your Youth Pastor down and most of all You have let God down…which May all be True…but Tonight is your Night. It’s your chance to allow God to place that Value back in your life…
It’s your opportunity to tell the Devil it’s time to step off…
It’s your time to recommitment your life to God…and to this youth Group and to this Church…..
It’s your time to receive forgiveness and be empowered by the Holy Ghost to overcome the World…
It’s your time to recognize what True Value really is and how much you’re worth to God…
I’m NOT GOING TO BE A NOBODY>>>> Because with GOD I’m SOMEBODY!!!
With God you’ll go from ZERO to HERO!!
From Nothing to Everything…
From a Nobody to a Somebody…
Jacob from a Liar and Thief to Israel…
Joseph went from a Slave to a Prince…
David from a Sheep Herder to a King...
Esther from a Slave to Queen…
The Prodigal Son went from the Pig Pen to Daddy’s House again…
Don’t tell me you’re not worth anything… Don’t tell me God doesn’t Love you…
You’re only worth as much as you will let God have… and if you’ll give Him Everything
He’ll give you everything…
Because He sees the Value in YOU…
And YOU are Valuable To God…