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.
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Submission
to the the Devil comes out of entrapment, sin, divisiveness, destruction, lies,
and confusion.
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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.
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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.
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We decided
that as long as we had each other we could make it through anything.
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Not around
it, not over it, not under it, but through it.
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Communication
will make or break a marriage.
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How you
communicate and how effectively you communicate it. How often you communicate.
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Commitment
will make or break a marriage.
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How
committed you are no matter the difficulty, no matter the circumstance, no
matter the challenge your commitment will be tested daily.
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Devotion is showing my love, loyalty, or
enthusiasm for a person, activity or cause.
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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."
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On a
general scale we bring the events of sudden disaster, distress, and destruction on ourselves by
departing from the Lord.
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We are
supposed to turn away from our sin, that our correction may not be our
destruction.
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Mankind is
often under the power of their unbridled desires and their sinful lusts, as the
brute Godzilla.
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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."
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The
Bridegroom/Jesus assures the church of His unfailing love, His pleading for it
under all wandering trails, trials and difficulties.
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God
desires the church to be the pride of the earth! Not the ridicule and judgment.
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We get mad
at it, frustrated at it, condemn it instead of giving ourselves for it.
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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.
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The bride
of Christ acts crazy when we should be grateful, passionate, loving, kind,
hopeful, committed.
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We get all
dressed up and then step into the church with our best faces on.
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We sing
songs to God, hold our hands high and take meticulous notes on the sermon.
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But what
were we doing just hours or days before walking into God's house?
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Did we
honor and respect our spiritual groom, or did we deny Him with our words and
actions?
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Maybe we
failed to share the Gospel with a co-worker when given the chance because we
were afraid of what they might think.
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Or we gossiped
about other Christians to make ourselves look better, all the while tearing
down Christ's Bride.
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I don't
know about you but I dare you to talk down to my bride, talk against my bride,
or mistreat my bride.
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Christ
feels the same about His church.
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Or maybe
we spent our money selfishly instead of giving of it generously.
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God will
make a way, just not through me.
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Every day
of every week we give our hearts to other lovers, the countless idols that have
our true devotion.
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We become
bridezilla Christians who fail to love, honor, and be faithful to our heavenly
groom.
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Then while
we live this life of marital infidelity to Christ, we put on a facade of purity
and holiness.
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I am
certainly guilty of this.
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As we walk
through the doors of our church it’s as if we
magically transform into “Perfect Christians.”
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Knowing
exactly what to say and how to act.
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I praise
God loudly and amen during the sermon.
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But many
times the image I project is about as authentic as a Bridezilla masquerading as
a sweet and innocent wife-to-be.
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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.
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Your
spending your parents into the poorhouse.
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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!
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Spend
wisely our time, talent and treasure.
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My life,
my day, my call, my spend, well spend wisely.
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You're
angry.
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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.
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It's you,
not them.
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Angry,
unhappy people do everything they can to make others just like them, stop!
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Not
everything is someone else's fault.
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The
wedding party de-friends you.
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You used
to be the best of friends but now they're avoiding your calls.
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Maybe it's
because you've demanded bi-weekly meetings, sending out daily update texts
though the big day is 6 months out.
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Listen if
you need that much attention, get a wedding planner, or a therapist.
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Your
friends are happy for you, but that have lives that revolve around more than
you.
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No bride
is beautiful when they're angry.
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The
pictures must be perfect.
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We hire
professionals to capture every moment of our wedding day where many of the
moments are our made up smiles and joys.
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Be the
real deal, share Christ out of love and not duty.
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Guess what
everything will not go as you plan, purpose, or demand; roll with the punches.
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You don't
have time for anyone or anything else.
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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.
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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.
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You have a
vision and you're sticking to it.
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Everything
is not about you.
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"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!"
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Christ is
the Head of the church, we are the body and we'll follow along.
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It's about
Christ and His power to alter people's eternity.
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Nobody is
taking your calls.
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When was
the last time you were there for someone else?
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When was
the last time the conversation wasn't about you, your problems, your
situations, your financial struggles, your horrendous attitudes, you, you, you?
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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?
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We are
Christ's greatest example to the world, the church, lets live that out.
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You're
issuing clothing color edicts.
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No one
else better wear white on my special day!
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Wow, judgment,
rules, dogmatic undertones, leading with rules instead of grace.
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I find it
so much more important that they are present not that they have it all
together.
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Leading as
a mercenary instead of leading with mercy.
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You're
registry totals more than most college educations.
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Be
sensible to others and their commitments, refuse to judge their gift, their
service, or their talent.
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Lead with
inspiration not condemnation.
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Worried
about stuff that didn't matter, focus on the moment.
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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.
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You're
guest list only has 10 people on it.
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Oh I hope
you know where I'm headed with this...
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Many
people would never make it to heaven if you held the heavenly sharpie and the
Book of Life.
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No one
good enough, smart enough, rich enough or fun enough, none to make you list.
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Notice
it's the Book of Life and not death.
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Notice
it's life and not condemnation, notice it's life and not discouragement?
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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."
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Open
invitation sent, RSVP inside to all mankind, come partake freely of the
promises and privileges of the gospel.
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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."
