Bridezilla

Godzilla was a prehistoric monster that was disturbed by an American Hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific Ocean. After being awakened, the monster attacked Tokyo, destroyed much of the city, and killed tens of thousands.

Combining the word bride with the fictional rampaging beast "Godzilla" to indicate a difficult bride.

The church is referred to as the Bride of Christ. Preparing herself for the Bridegroom. She's losing weight to get into that dress, she's working out all the details to make the day perfect, she's making changes to her structure, her home life, her career, her mind, attitude, and spirit.

The show portrays a bride to be many times as a mess. Throwing fits, having tantrums, throwing things, throwing attitudes and all sorts of other things.

We aren’t fooling anyone if we play the part of a bride on Sunday morning, and then live as spiritual bridezillas every other day of the week.

What can happen to a woman somewhere between, "Will you marry me?" And, I do?"

What can happen to the church somewhere between, "Jesus Christ died to rescue all of mankind do you believe that" to, "I can't stand that, I didn't want that, I don't believe that, I refuse that!"

Ephesians 5:25-32 NLT [25] For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her [26] to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. [27] He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. [28] In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. [29] No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. [30] And we are members of his body. [31] As the Scriptures say, "A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." [32] This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one."

Now first of all I want you to understand I would never use this topic to feminize the church as I hate such a thing. But to help us connect with our authoritative, missional, yet submissive role in the body of Christ.

Proverbs 5:21-23 NLT "[21] For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. [22] An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. [23] He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness."

2 Timothy 2:24-26 NLT "[24] A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. [25] Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth. [26] Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."

Submission to God is a desire that comes out of choice.

•             Submission to the the Devil comes out of entrapment, sin, divisiveness, destruction, lies, and confusion.

•    I subject myself to a particular process, particular treatment, and particular conditions that better me in every area of my life.

1.Lets talk about wedding stress.

1.Many people have a fear of "commitment."

1.Commitment, is I believe a main reason why many people refuse Christ.

2.They refuse to make commitment in such an honoring, sacrificial way as He did to us.

1.Trying desperately to create a prenuptial agreement that will shorten their service to others, dilute their commitments to everyone, lengthen their respect levels without increasing their personal involvement.

2.Next, rationalizing and compartmentalizing their selfishness they utilize every possible thing to excel their goodness, reduce their faults, bury their shortcomings, and quickly receive vengeance when done wrong.

3.Then adding insult to injury they want to  compromise all but lose nothing, they expect faithfulness but refuse to adhere to any standard, and desire all the benefits without performing any of the hard work.

4.Finally to minimize their giving while the blessings of God continue to overtake their life, allowing evangelism to continue to make a global impact as long as they don't have to go, pray, change, give, or speak, instead of declaring their vow.

Jeremiah 2:1-8 NLT "[1] The Lord gave me another message. He said, [2] "Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says: "I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness. [3] In those days Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of his children. All who harmed his people were declared guilty, and disaster fell on them. I, the Lord, have spoken!" [4] Listen to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob-all you families of Israel! [5] This is what the Lord says: "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves. [6] They did not ask, 'Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness- a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?' [7] "And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you. [8] The priests did not ask, 'Where is the Lord?' Those who taught my word ignored me, the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, wasting their time on worthless idols."

Vs 1&2 I remember when TK and I were first married and how we eagerly began to experience everything we could as fast as we could.

•             We did everything to complement, encourage each other, instill trust, show respect, model passionate love toward one another and after 19 years, we still do.

•             We decided that as long as we had each other we could make it through anything.

•    Not around it, not over it, not under it, but through it.

•             Communication will make or break a marriage.

•    How you communicate and how effectively you communicate it. How often you communicate.

•             Commitment will make or break a marriage.

•    How committed you are no matter the difficulty, no matter the circumstance, no matter the challenge your commitment will be tested daily.

•              Devotion is showing my love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity or cause.

•    We have to be extremely cautious that we never lose our energy and passionate intensity for God as we gain knowledge of Him.

Proverbs 1:24, 25 NLT "[24] I called you so often, but you wouldn't come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. [25] You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered."

•             On a general scale we bring the events of sudden  disaster, distress, and destruction on ourselves by departing from the Lord.

•    We are supposed to turn away from our sin, that our correction may not be our destruction.

•             Mankind is often under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the brute Godzilla.

•    Christ warns us not to weary ourselves in pursuits which only bring distress and misery.

Isaiah 62:1-7 NLT

[1] Because I love Zion, I will not keep still. Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch. [2] The nations will see your righteousness. World leaders will be blinded by your glory. And you will be given a new name by the Lord's own mouth. [3] The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see- a splendid crown in the hand of God. [4] Never again will you be called "The Forsaken City" or "The Desolate Land." Your new name will be "The City of God's Delight" and "The Bride of God," for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as His bride. [5] Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem, just as a young man commits himself to his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. [6] O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord. [7] Give the Lord no rest until he completes His work, until He makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth."

•             The Bridegroom/Jesus assures the church of His unfailing love, His pleading for it under all wandering trails, trials and difficulties.

•    God desires the church to be the pride of the earth! Not the ridicule and judgment.

•    We get mad at it, frustrated at it, condemn it instead of giving ourselves for it.

•             We don't have a mission because we are the church we have a church because we have a mission. Body of believers in this cause.

•             The bride of Christ acts crazy when we should be grateful, passionate, loving, kind, hopeful, committed.

•             We get all dressed up and then step into the church with our best faces on.

•             We sing songs to God, hold our hands high and take meticulous notes on the sermon.

•    But what were we doing just hours or days before walking into God's house?

•    Did we honor and respect our spiritual groom, or did we deny Him with our words and actions?

•             Maybe we failed to share the Gospel with a co-worker when given the chance because we were afraid of what they might think.

•             Or we gossiped about other Christians to make ourselves look better, all the while tearing down Christ's Bride.

•    I don't know about you but I dare you to talk down to my bride, talk against my bride, or mistreat my bride.

•    Christ feels the same about His church.

•             Or maybe we spent our money selfishly instead of giving of it generously.

•    God will make a way, just not through me.

•             Every day of every week we give our hearts to other lovers, the countless idols that have our true devotion.

•    We become bridezilla Christians who fail to love, honor, and be faithful to our heavenly groom.

•    Then while we live this life of marital infidelity to Christ, we put on a facade of purity and holiness.

•    I am certainly guilty of this.

•    As we walk through the doors of our church it’s as if we magically transform into “Perfect Christians.”

•             Knowing exactly what to say and how to act.

•             I praise God loudly and amen during the sermon.

•             But many times the image I project is about as authentic as a Bridezilla masquerading as a sweet and innocent wife-to-be.

•    Our supposed “change” is a complete farce.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4 NLT "[2] For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband-Christ. [3] But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. [4] You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed."

Promised-a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified.

1.We sell ourselves so short when it comes to the things of God.

1.We make crazy deals with people, insane deals with culture, and deranged deals with our enemy seeking the approval of others.

2.The bride should be faithful to one, not unfaithful, unfruitful, uncommitted to their vows.

Vow: a solemn promise or assertion; specifically: one by which a person is bound to an act, service, or condition: The bride and groom exchanged vows.

1.I refuse to fake my vows.

1.I meant every word I said and say every word I mean.

1.What do I possibly gain in faking my relationship to my wife or to God?

2.My wife deserves the very best and it's my privilege to work to provide that.

3.I will not lie to her, fake her out, throw my affections elsewhere as if I didn't even exchange vows with her.

1.Many times people "fall out of love" what has truly happened is that they have been prostituting their every affection to every thing else but their spouses.

1.Gratifying themselves first with the thought, then the compromise, then the small acts of infidelity, finally into a full blown frenzy of an adulterous affair.

2.I refuse to ever purposefully mistreat my wife, I make mistakes but never intentionally.

1.Just as in my relationship to God, I have exchanged vows with Him.

2.I refuse to allow my wife to do all the work when it comes to our home responsibilities, leaving it all to her or our finances, relegating ourselves to struggle because I refuse to be the financial security in our home.

1.Therefore I refuse to allow Christ to do all the financial solving, I will be a part of the solution.

3.I refuse to allow my wife to do all the rearing of our children.

1.I will have a very active role in teaching, discipling, disciplining, loving, and encouraging.

2.I refuse to take a back seat in their life, in their present while I chase my dreams, or in their future as they chase theirs, they will continually need me and I will continually be there.

1.It's an unwritten vow I have made to them.

2.I will sacrifice anything for their advancement.

4.Jesus as our Bridegroom has showed us His love, showed us His passion, His life demonstrating His vow of absolute fidelity to every person who was ever born or ever will be.

1.His vow is relentless, His vow is captivating, His vow is His standard, His vow is His love.

1.Why would I ever try to disengage that, why would I ever try to dismantle His great plan, purpose or design?

2.That's disastrous, destructive, idiotic, and disheartening.    

5.We are to do the same for the church!

Signs your turning into a bridezilla.

•             Your spending your parents into the poorhouse.

•    We can spend, spend, spend but if it's not taking the gospel into the culture and into the lives of people and catapulting hope into the future, then lets stop doing it!

•             Spend wisely our time, talent and treasure.

•    My life, my day, my call, my spend, well spend wisely.

•             You're angry.

•    Your friends, family, and everyone else around all seem to have spontaneously transformed into insensitive jerks since you made a commitment to Christ but we've got a bit of lovingly bad news.

•             It's you, not them.

•             Angry, unhappy people do everything they can to make others just like them, stop!

•             Not everything is someone else's fault.

•    The wedding party de-friends you.

•             You used to be the best of friends but now they're avoiding your calls.

•             Maybe it's because you've demanded bi-weekly meetings, sending out daily update texts though the big day is 6 months out.

•             Listen if you need that much attention, get a wedding planner, or a therapist.

•             Your friends are happy for you, but that have lives that revolve around more than you.

•    No bride is beautiful when they're angry.

•             The pictures must be perfect.

•    We hire professionals to capture every moment of our wedding day where many of the moments are our made up smiles and joys.

•             Be the real deal, share Christ out of love and not duty.

•             Guess what everything will not go as you plan, purpose, or demand; roll with the punches.

•             You don't have time for anyone or anything else.

•    You're so terribly busy that friends, family, service to the church, and service to the world take a back seat to your personal agenda.

•             We serve Christ so we serve each other, they go hand in hand never to be a separation, compelling the world to be a better place.

•             You have a vision and you're sticking to it.

•    Everything is not about you.

•             "I want this, I want that, and I won't budge until I get it, as a matter of fact I want excuse me, I deserve it ALL!"

•             Christ is the Head of the church, we are the body and we'll follow along.

•    It's about Christ and His power to alter people's eternity.

•             Nobody is taking your calls.

•    When was the last time you were there for someone else?

•    When was the last time the conversation wasn't about you, your problems, your situations, your financial struggles, your horrendous attitudes, you, you, you?

•             When was the last time you cared for them, cared for their situation, cared to hear their heart, cared to see their advancement and cared to attend to the need of any other? 

•    We are Christ's greatest example to the world, the church, lets live that out.

•             You're issuing clothing color edicts.

•    No one else better wear white on my special day!

•             Wow, judgment, rules, dogmatic undertones, leading with rules instead of grace.

•    I find it so much more important that they are present not that they have it all together.

•             Leading as a mercenary instead of leading with mercy.

•             You're registry totals more than most college educations.

•    Be sensible to others and their commitments, refuse to judge their gift, their service, or their talent.

•    Lead with inspiration not condemnation.

•             Worried about stuff that didn't matter, focus on the moment.

•             No one cares about all the details: Whether you've got everyone dressed and matching, the runner came down crooked, the DJ played the wrong songs, kids crying in the background, bridesmaids tripping, blah blah blah; they only care about the commitments being made.

•             You're guest list only has 10 people on it.

•    Oh I hope you know where I'm headed with this...

•             Many people would never make it to heaven if you held the heavenly sharpie and the Book of Life.

•    No one good enough, smart enough, rich enough or fun enough, none to make you list.

•    Notice it's the Book of Life and not death.

•    Notice it's life and not condemnation, notice it's life and not discouragement?

•    Notice it's not about many of the details we sweat and get ulcers over, but it's about people getting to heaven.

Revelation 22:17 NLT "[17] The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let anyone who hears this say, "Come." Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life."

•             Open invitation sent, RSVP inside to all mankind, come partake freely of the promises and privileges of the gospel.

•    Come to Christ for salvation; come to the Spirit for power, come share our happiness, come share our freedom don't hesitate let whosoever will come and engage eternal life.

Father may we always find forgiveness and never frustration, may we always find favor and be empty of fear, may we always engage our faith in you and refuse the framework of this culture.

Hebrews 12:2 NLT "[2] We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne."