“Escaping the People-Pleaser Trap”

 “Escaping the People-Pleaser Trap,” Pastor Rick talked about how allowing the need for approval to dominate you will cause you to miss God’s gifts and purpose for your life. As you go through your week, use the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you’ve learned into practice.

If you missed last weekend’s message, click here to watch it online.

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1. Reflect on the key verse:

It is a dangerous trap to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.
Proverbs 29:25 (TEV)

2. Check the one or two truths that best help you to see the trap of being a people pleaser:

   ❏ It causes me to miss God’s purpose for me
   ❏ It keeps my faith from growing
   ❏ It leads to sin
   ❏ It causes hypocrisy
   ❏ It silences my witness

3. Check the one or two truths that best help you to escape the trap of being a people pleaser:

❏ Even God can’t please everyone
❏ I don’t need anyone’s approval to be happy


“I am the One who comforts you! So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?”Isaiah 51:12 (NLT)

❏ What seems so important is only temporary


The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God will live forever.
1 John 2:17 (TEV)

❏ I only have to please one person


Paul: “I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”
Galatians 1:10 (NLT)

❏ One day I will give an account of my life


Yes, each of us will [have to] give a personal account to God.
Romans 14:12 (NLT)

❏ Be who God shaped me to be


Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
Romans 12:2 (Ph)

4. What can I do to please God this week?

“How to Keep from Stressing Out,”

In “How to Keep from Stressing Out,” Pastor Rick looked at Paul’s anti-stress recipe in the book of Philippians, and taught five things you can do to personally experience God’s peace — regardless of your circumstances. As you go through your week, reflect on the thoughts in the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you’ve learned into practice.

If you missed last weekend’s message, click here to watch it online.

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Take five minutes and complete this spiritual workout to keep from stressing out:

1. REFUSE TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING!
Don’t worry about anything  . . . . Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Unload all your worries on [God] since he is looking after you. 1 Peter 5:7b (JB)
Minute 1: Tell God what worry you are unloading to him.

2. PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING!
Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in [your]prayers and requests  . . . . Philippians 4:6 (GW)
Minute 2: Talk to God about what is most important to you right now.        

3. THANK GOD IN ALL THINGS!        
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Philippians 4:6b (NLT)
Minute 3: Thank God for something or someone.

4. THINK ABOUT GOOD THINGS!
Fill your minds with those things that are true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and beautiful and respected. If anything is excellent or if anything is worthy of honor, think about those things.
Philippians 4:8 (NCV/NAS)
Minute 4: Think about just good things for the next 60 seconds.

5. BE CONTENT WITH ANYTHING!
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether I’m well-fed or hungry, when I have more than I need or when I don’t have enough. Philippians 4:11b-12 (NIV/NLT)
Minute 5: Remind yourself that, I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me. 
Philippians 4:13 (GNT)
Try doing this five-minute workout every day this week!

“Winning with the Hand You’re Dealt,”

In his message, “Winning with the Hand You’re Dealt,” Pastor Rick taught us five winning choices that will make the most of what we’ve been given and help us become who God wants us to be. As you go through your week, reflect on the thoughts in the Message Action Plan below to help put the things you’ve learned into practice.

If you missed last weekend’s message, click here to watch it online.

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1. How do these five factors that influence my identity help me to better understand my life?
• My Chemistry
• My Connections
• My Circumstances
• My Consciousness
• My Choices
2. Which of these five winning choices do you need to start on first? What will you do about it THIS WEEK?
   
   
   1. Choose to get healthier.
                             
      “You made my body, Lord; now give me sense to heed your laws.” 
      Psalm 119:73 (LB)
   2. Choose to deepen relationships.
                 
      “Let love be your highest goal!” 1 Corinthians 14:1a (NLT)            
   3. Choose to trust God regardless of my circumstances.
      
      “[God] knows us far better than we know ourselves . . . That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.”  Romans 8:27-29 (MSG)
   4. Choose what I think about.
      
      “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
      think.”  Romans 12:2a (NLT)
   5. Choose Jesus as my Savior.
      
      “When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new 
      person inside. He is not the same any more. A new life has begun!”
      2 Corinthians 5:17 (LB)