The Andy Stanley Collection Road Signs(1): One Way

WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY

Bottom Line: Your DIRECTION, not your intention, determines your destination. introduction: You can’t get to the south beach by driving north, and you can’t get to the top of the mountain if you are walking down it. Why? It’s because our direction always determines our destination. While we all know this basic rule for navigating the roads we drive, we sometimes forget how the same rule is true in our lives. You can’t lose weight by shoving down quarter pounders and watching five hours of TV. You can’t have deep relationships by ignoring the living, breathing people around you. You can’t grow closer to God by shutting Him out of your everyday wonder. life or failing to make the effort to know more about Him. So what is the destination you desire for your life? Are you discovery. even on the right path to get there? passion. www.xp3students.org Chief EXECUTIVE Officer Reggie Joiner writer Andy Stanley XP3 Team Jared Herd Tim Walker Sarah Bragg Kristen Ivy Sarah Anderson Contributors Mike Hancock Laura Whelan Brian Withman CREATIVE DIRECTOR Scott Bragg Technical & Web Support Hadley Brandt USER AGREEMENT Chief Operating The reThink Group, Inc. gladly grants permission to churches, schools and other licensees to tailor XP3TM materials Officer to fit their unique leadership requirements, locale and format preferences. However, if you wish to edit the content Karen Odom substantively, including teaching scripts, small group dialog and any other content in which biblical principles and Partner Support concepts are presented, you are obligated to do so within the doctrinal guidelines we’ve expressed in our Statement Kristie McCollister of Faith (see page 2). Debbie Joiner

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www.xp3students.org A product of The reThink Group, Inc. © 2008 Andy Stanley. All Rights Reserved. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION. WONDER. DISCOVERY. PASSION.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION Statement of Faith ABOUT GOD God is the one and only true God, yet He exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator, so everything belongs to Him and is under His control. God is holy, so He is righteous, majestic and loving. God is all knowing and purposeful, so He’s at work to bring about His will. No person, thing or idea compares to God. ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES God reveals Himself to us through the Bible, and it is 100% accurate, reliable and authoritative. ABOUT PEOPLE People are made in God’s image and for His pleasure. But everybody falls short of God’s intention, or ideal, for people. In other words, everyone has sinned. As a result, we are all separated from Him, even though He wants an intimate relationship with each of us. ABOUT SALVATION That’s why Jesus, God’s Son, came and lived on this earth, died and rose again. God offers His free gift of salvation to all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as Savior, the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. Anyone who accepts this gift is adopted as a son or daughter into God’s family and will live with Him forever in heaven.

Scripture marked “NIV” is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION Creating the ENVIRONMENT: ROAD SIGNS We believe that the set, stage, music and everything in your room communicates a message—without you saying a word. That’s why we put together a list of production ideas to help you set the stage for the session and the series. From the music you play when students come into the room to the worship set your band plays, we want to make sure that your room conveys “Road Signs” in a multi-sensory way. There is a downloadable checklist available in your series downloads that will give you all the elements for this session (and the entire series). Background Playlist for Road Signs Series: “Move Along” by The All-American Rejects (from Move Along) “Life Is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts (from Cars: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) “Car Wash” by Rose Royce (from Pure Funk) “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson (from The Essential Willie Nelson) “Everyday Is a Winding Road” by Sheryl Crow (from The Very Best of Sheryl Crow) “Company Car” by Switchfoot (from New Way To Be Human) “Low Rider” by War (from Why Can’t We Be Friends?) “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins (from The Essential Kenny Loggins) “Route 66” by John Mayer (from Cars: Soundtrack from the Motion Picture) “Over My Head (Cable Car)” by The Fray (from How To Save a Life) Worship playlist for Road Signs session 1: “Awesome Is The Lord Most High” by Chris Tomlin (from See the Morning) “Look To You” by Hillsong United (from The 1 Heart Revolution) “Lead Me To The Cross” by Hillsong United (from All of the Above) “Dare You To Move” by Switchfoot (from The Beautiful Letdown) The set Decorate your meeting room with road signs. Instead of stealing real ones from your community and creating chaos and crashes, make your own signs or purchase them online. (To find sites where you can buy road signs, just do a Google search.) Make sure that you display signs that have the titles of the four sessions of the Road Signs series: one way, caution, yield and rest stop. Also, find the front bumper and grill of a car (either at a junk yard or borrow one from a local mechanic) and display it on the stage. If you are really resourceful, you could even put a small car on the stage in your room. Include some orange construction cones and barricades around the room as well.

SERIES ART Art for PowerPoint backgrounds and for series promotional ads is available as a free download with every series. Visit the XP3 web site, log on to your account and download the images to use in your presentation, newsletters and web site.

VIDEO There are five videos available for the Road Signs series—four video communicator videos and one bumper video. The four video communicator videos can be used in each session of this four-week series in place of a live communicator. The bumper video was created to be used as an intro for all four sessions of the Road Signs series.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION

Middle School Adaptation: ROAD SIGNS The teaching outline and the middle school small group dialog questions are important ways you can adapt the content of this series to communicate to middle school students. Also, the following activities and illustrations are designed to help middle schoolers connect with the subject matter in ways that engage them physically, mentally, socially and sometimes emotionally.

GAME: TANK WARS (This game is designed to be used as an icebreaker to session 1.) Find or purchase a few large boxes. You will need boxes that are large enough to cover a student if he or she is standing. Most U-Haul® stores carry large wardrobe boxes, which would work great. Tape one end of your box closed but leave the other end open. Divide your entire group into four equal teams, then divide the teams in half and line up each half of the team on opposite ends of the room. This will be a relay race. Students will race, with the large box over their heads, from their teams on one end to their teams on the other, but not necessarily in straight lines. You want them to cross paths with the other teams.

The first person on each team will start with the box completely over his or her head and body. Their feet should be sticking out and they should be able to walk but not see. When the game begins, the “box people” will try to find their way to the other half of their team. The other side will need to yell to direct them where to go. When the students reach the other side, they must sit down and the box will be put on the next student in line who will then work his or her way back across. With all the teams going at once, there will likely be a few bumps in the middle. You may want to station some of your adult volunteers along the side to help guide students away from potential danger. The first team to have every member of its team complete the journey will be the winner. This game is just a fun way to illustrate how important it is that we head in the right direction.

ILLUSTRATION: WHICH WAY? (This illustration is to be used as students are arriving prior to the start of session one.) The Road Signs XP gives three different options of experiences to illustrate the truth that your path, your direction, not your intention, determines your destination. One of the options is an activity called “Which Way?” This experience is to create two different paths for your students to choose. One will lead to the right destination and the other will lead to a dead end. You will give students the opportunity to choose which path they want. Use the XP as a guide to create this adventure. Discuss this illustration during the introduction section of session one.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION

Teaching Script The teaching script is divided into five sections.

Introduction: This introduction is intended to connect you, the communicator, to the audience usually through a personal story or observation. We’ve included our stories, but you may want to substitute your own story in this section.

Tension: The tension moves the message from the “me” mentality of the introduction to a “we” mentality. For example, a transition statement might be, “At some point in our lives, we have all been jealous of someone over something.”

Truth: Once the tension builds, the next logical step is to uncover the truth of what the Bible says about the topic.

Application: At this point, the message moves to a “you” mentality in order to teach the application. The “you” is the student. Take God’s truth and unpack how it relates to each student so that he or she can apply it to everyday life.

Landing: Here it is important to land the message on what each student needs to know and do with what they’ve heard. Just as the message began with a personal story or observation, the message also ends with a “me” mentality. For example, one possible landing statement might be, “I have a greater sense of purpose knowing that God created me in His image.” Leave the students with a clear sense of what all of you should do with what you’ve heard.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION

Road Signs(1): ONE WAY Bottom Line: Your direction, not your intention, determines your destination. TEACHING OUTLINE INTRO: Whatever road you are on determines where you end up. Your direction determines your destination. TENSION: Your intentions DO NOT determine your destination. It is always your direction—not your intentions, not your hopes, not your dreams, not your prayers, not your beliefs—that ultimately determine your destination. TRUTH: “At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment” (Proverbs 7:6-7 NIV).

“He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in” (Proverbs 7:8-9 NIV).

“Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: ‘I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!’ (Proverbs 7:10-15 NIV).

“So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!” (Proverbs 7:15 NIV).

“I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love!” (Proverbs 7:16-18 NIV).

“My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon. With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life” (Proverbs 7:19-23 NIV).

“Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths” (Proverbs 7:24-25 NIV).

“Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng” (Proverbs 7:26 NIV). APPLICATION: Culture says: As long as your intentions are good, it doesn’t matter what path you take. The path you take always trumps your intentions. LANDING: When you think about your relational path or your spiritual path, is the path you are on going to take you where you ultimately want to be? What path are you on and where is it taking you?

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT BY andy stanley

Introduction

A. How many of you are really bad with directions? I’m terrible—no exaggeration. Whenever I leave the house and I’m going somewhere I’ve never been before, my wife gives me a map and directions. Then she knows that within 10 minutes after I leave the house, I am going to call. Even if I’m not lost yet, I’m insecure about the fact that I don’t know where I’m going. I call home and ask, “Was it on the left or the right? Can you tell me again?” I freak out.

B. Some of you are like me, and others of you are thinking to yourself, “I wish I could drive because I always know where I’m going. It’s my dad who gets lost.” Well, there are three basic things that are true about directions— whether you are bad with directions or you’re just at the mercy of someone else who is bad with directions. The first is that we do not get lost on purpose. You don’t leave the house thinking, “Hmm, I think I’ll pick up a slushy at the gas station, get lost for about 30-45 minutes, and then head over to Sara’s house.” Getting lost is never a part of the plan.

C. The second thing you need to know about being lost is we don’t know when we are getting lost; we just know when we are lost. I mean, we never know exactly when it happens. It probably happened way before we realized it, but we just kept driving with confidence, completely oblivious to the fact that we were getting more and more lost every minute. Then suddenly we saw a road sign or just had this feeling, and then we knew—we’re lost.

D. And then there is just one last thing to know: Whatever road you are on ultimately determines where you end up. Your path determines your destination. As obvious as that is when you are trying to drive somewhere, this same principle applies to the rest of life—whether it’s our dating lives, our friends, our education, or whatever. I call it “the path principle.” The path principle says that your direction determines your destination. In the world of driving we get that. But in life, we tend to think that we can somehow get around the path principle. We like to think our intentions matter more than our direction.

Tension

A. If you were to load up all your shorts and sunscreen and get on a highway headed north (note: you may want to choose a local highway that your students would know), you will never get to Key West, Florida. You just won’t. No matter how much you packed, planned, intended, took pictures, told your friends and posted a message on Facebook, that path won’t get you to Key West. You might even say a little prayer before you pull out of the driveway: “God, we pray for traveling mercies as we go to Key West.” It doesn’t matter what you believe. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been to church or if you’re a Christian. If you get on a highway headed north, you won’t get to Key West, regardless of what your intentions are. We say we understand that principle, but do we really get it? We know it to be true in the world of hiking or bike riding, or skateboarding or driving. But when it comes to the other arenas of life, there is a total disconnect.

B. The principle of the path applies to every path, whether it’s your dating life, your friends or your future. It is always your direction—not your intentions, not your hopes, not your dreams, not your prayers, not your beliefs—that ultimately determines your destination.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT TENSION (CONt’d)

C. We are going to talk about this over the next four weeks because my biggest concern is that I continue to see such a huge disconnect between where people want to end up and the path that they’ve chosen. I know students who have grown up in this ministry who graduate with big plans and end up running into me years later with stories that just break my heart. Maybe you’ve seen this happen in the life of someone you know—maybe a friend or a parent. They tell the story of what has happened in their lives, and they are so brokenhearted over where they’ve ended up. But when you listen to them talk about the path they went down, you think, “Well, what did you expect?”

They start off saying, “I always planned on . . . ” or “I always thought I would . . . , but I’ve chosen a path that led me this other way. And you know what, I ended up exactly where that path took me!” That is the path principle. Now they’re so brokenhearted and they’re so angry with God because they’re not where they hoped they would be. You want to say, “Well, why did you walk down that path?” It’s because we think intentions, hopes and dreams somehow trump the decisions we make on a daily basis. But the truth is the path principle trumps our hopes and dreams and intentions every single time. The direction you choose always determines your destination.

TRUTH

A. Now to make this a little bit clearer, I want to go to a passage of Scripture that tells an interesting story about a specific path. Turn with me to Proverbs 7. The book of Proverbs was written by the wisest man in the world, Solomon, and the way he wrote these particular verses is interesting. He is telling a story, but we don’t know if it’s a true story or a sort of parable that represents something that happened in his past. Basically, he is standing at a window looking down into the street and he sees a guy walking along. He realizes that he knows the outcome of this guy’s journey—but this guy doesn’t.

B. It’s probably not too hard for you to think of someone in your life who made a decision, and you watched him or her make it from a distance knowing exactly where that decision would lead. Maybe you’ve seen this happen with a friend who started dating someone who everyone knew was trouble. You knew the outcome long before he or she could see it coming. Every once in a while we get a snapshot of someone’s destiny. That’s exactly what is happening to Solomon as he’s watching this guy, knowing exactly what’s in store. So he narrates this young guy’s journey, and while he narrates, he illustrates the principle of the path—that every path has a destination, and the direction a person takes or the path he or she chooses determines that person’s destination.

C. So let me read this to you, and we’ll see this truth as we go along. “At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment” (Proverbs 7:6-7 NIV).

Now there is a lesson here, and we won’t spend a lot of time on this, but all young people lack judgment. Now before you walk out of here, let me explain. It’s not that there is anything wrong with being young. It’s just that judgment requires time and experience, and younger people just have less time and less experience than older people. How many of you in this room have a younger brother or sister? Okay, now hasn’t there been a time in your life when you have watched your brother or sister do something and just thought to yourself, “Wow, she is going to get hurt,” or “That will never work.”

Here’s the thing, you didn’t have those thoughts because you’re a better person, or because you always make good decisions yourself, but because you had already tried it or seen someone else try it. You had time and experience, and time and experience often give us clearer judgment.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT TRUTH (Cont’D)

D. So Solomon looks at this guy, who has little experience and consequently little judgment, as the guy is walking down the street.

“He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in” (Proverbs 7:8-9 NIV).

Now you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to anticipate where this story is going, do you? You don’t even have to have read this story before. Here is this kid walking down the street, the sun is going down, and he’s headed toward this woman’s house. And in the back of his mind there is a soundtrack playing—“Party Like a Rock Star.” In his mind this is going to be the greatest thing.

Meanwhile, up at the window, Solomon is watching this whole thing unfold, and there is a soundtrack playing in his mind as well. It’s the theme from a horror movie. There is a huge contrast between what this kid is experiencing, or what he thinks he’s experiencing, and how this older, wiser man sees his experience. The reason there is such a contrast is because the older, wiser guy knows the principle of the path. The young guy thinks this is about to be an exciting event. The older, wiser man says no, it’s not an event. It’s a path. And every path has a destination, and this is a path with a very predictable destination.

E. The story continues. “Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: ‘I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!’ (Proverbs 7:10-15 NIV).

Basically what she is saying is, “I’m not a prostitute. I have plenty of money. I’m not after your money.” Then she says this very odd thing: “Today I fulfilled my vows.”

That probably doesn’t mean anything to you. We don’t really have any context for that today, but in Solomon’s time period she was saying, “I’ve been to the temple, and I got everything squared away with God. I took my big bucket of sin and dumped it out on the altar, and God has forgiven me for all of my sins in the past. So now I have an empty bucket and I am ready to fill it up again with you.” Oh! Now we get it!

But you know what? That’s such an insult to God. You know this, and I know it. Because basically what we are saying is, “God, You are so stupid. I’ve got this system figured out. As long as I ask for forgiveness, it doesn’t matter what I do.” We’ve all played that game from time to time. The woman in the passage was playing that game when she said to this young man, “You know what, I am squared away with God, and I am ready to fill up my bucket one more time with you.”

F. Here’s what happens: “So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!” (Proverbs 7:15 NIV).

She says something three times here. She’s saying: “So I came out to meet, not just anybody, I came out to meet you. I looked for you and I have found you.” He’s thinking, “Dude, she came out here looking for me! I am so special. I am the man of her dreams. This is unique. This is like the stuff stories are made of and songs are written about, and I can’t wait to tell my friends. This is unbelievable. I came walking down here wondering if I’d see her, but she came out looking for me.” The volume on the soundtrack goes way up.

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT TRUTH (cont’D)

G. “I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love!” (Proverbs 7:16-18 NIV).

He’s thinking, “Am I dreaming? This is unreal. It’s perfect.”

H. “My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon. With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life” (Proverbs 7:19-23 NIV).

Wow. That’s some strong language. This guy is following this woman thinking, “I am like a celebrity. I am like a rock star. Women are throwing themselves at me. This is a dream come true.” But the wiser, older man says, “I watched him like an ox going to the slaughter.”

Solomon goes on. “In case you didn’t get the ox to the slaughter example,” he says, “this is like a deer stepping into a noose until an arrow pierces its liver.” I’m not sure he could be more graphic. Basically he says, “You know what this is like? This guy is like a deer that sees this wonderful place to settle down. So the deer steps in through a noose and suddenly the trap is around its foot. And it yanks and yanks and yanks and realizes, ‘Uh-oh, I’m in trouble.’ And it yanks and yanks and yanks and can’t get away, and the noose tightens, tightens, tightens, and then suddenly from the periphery, the hunters appear with their bow and arrows. They fill the deer full of arrows until it breathes its last breath.”

I. Oh, is that not clear enough? How about a third example? He’s “like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing that it will cost him his life.” And you’re thinking, just like this guy, “Wait, wait, wait. You are like my dad up there in the window. You are like my mom. You are raining on my parade. You’ve got this all wrong. This is just a date.”

But the wise man says, “No, it’s a path.”

This is just an event!

“No, it’s not—it’s a path,” says the wise man. “See, you are all focused on what you are doing, and I am focused on where you are heading. You are focused on the immediate, and I am focused on the ultimate. You are focused on the here and now, and I’m focused on tomorrow.” These are two contrasting perspectives on the very same event.

J. And in verse 24, Solomon pulls out of that narrative and begins to address you and me. “Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths” (Proverbs 7:24-25 NIV).

And the guy’s thinking, “Paths? This is just an event. I just went to her house.”

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT TRUTH (CONt’D)

K. And you’re thinking, “This is just prom.” Or “This is just spring break.” Or this is just “one Friday night.” But Solomon’s saying it’s not. It’s a direction. It’s a path.

“Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng” (Proverbs 7:26 NIV).

This guy is thinking to himself, “This is unique. It’s her and me and she knows all kinds of people. This is special. This is my soul mate. This is a one-of-a-kind thing.” But Solomon is saying, “No, you fool! This is so common. This is a path. This is so predictable that it’s laughable, and you are deceived into thinking that it is some kind of unique experience designed just for you.” He says, “Many are those she has brought down.” Listen to this. He repeats the idea: “Her slain are a mighty throng.” In other words, “Buddy, you’re part of a crowd. Lots of people have done this. Maybe not necessarily with her, but this scenario that you are creating here with this married woman whose husband is gone, this is so commonplace.”

L. And here’s the shocker: This was written over 3,000 years ago! Nothing has changed much has it? He says, “Look, this is so predictable. You are on a path, and every path has a destination and your destination is so predictable. I could say with confidence, even before everything happens, you are like an ox going to the slaughter. You are like a deer that is going to be shot full of arrows. You are like a bird in a snare. This is just predictable. It’s a path with a destination.”

M. When we started reading this story, you kind of knew where it was going, didn’t you? How did you know? Because somehow it’s easy to see it in somebody else’s life, isn’t it? Have you ever talked to your small group leader about an event, and you get half of your story out and they stop you and say, “I bet when that happened, you felt . . .” And you went, “Yes, yes I did!” You wondered how they were able to predict the outcome. It’s because this is so predictable. It’s not unique. It’s a crowded highway that you’ve chosen. And the end is predictable because your destination is always determined by your direction—every single time. APPLICATION

A. Here is all I want to say this first week as we start this series: We can’t live with the disconnect. Our culture so often hands us this disconnect that says, “As long as your intentions are good, and as long as you mean well, and as long as you find friends to justify your plan to end up somewhere good, it doesn’t matter what path you take.” But at the end of the day, the path you take trumps your good intentions. This kid in Proverbs 7 had all the right ideas. But it was his path, not his intentions, that determined his destination.

B. I made a list of some scenarios just to get you thinking. Here is what the disconnect looks like in many of our lives:

“I want to end up with a great Christian guy who’s really got his act together. That’s my dream. That’s my intention. So in the meantime, I’m going to go out with whoever asks me—as long as he’s cute. You see I have this vision, this picture, of what I want my relationship ultimately to be. But I’m pretty sure if I go out with anybody who asks me—as long as they’re cute—it will somehow lead me to that destination.” No! You don’t understand. The path trumps the intention.

C. Or “I want to know God. I have met people who know the Bible, and they just seem so close to God, and my intention is to be that kind of person. So I am going to get up every morning and read my MySpace page.”

THE ANDY STANLEY COLLECTION ROAD SIGNS(1): ONE WAY TEACHING SCRIPT APPLICATION (CONt’D)

D. Some of us are picking paths, and we have no clue where we are heading. But other people around us, people who are wiser or have a different perspective, may be able to see exactly where we are heading. Hopefully you have somebody around you who taps you on the shoulder or sends you that e-mail or makes that really awkward phone call and says, “You know what, I’ve seen your behavior and your decisions, and I feel like you are moving in a very, very dangerous direction.” They are the people looking at your life like the guy from the window saying, “Wait!”

E. The question is, when we hear that voice calling out, will we listen? Or will we think that somehow we are going to break the principle of the path? That somehow we will be able to move in a direction and never experience the destination? That’s what we want. We want to be the exception to the rule, but it’s not going to happen. We need to learn to look at the road signs around us and listen. If the signs say “danger ahead” and we just keep going, guess where we will end up? You are going to end up where the road takes you. Every path has a predetermined destination. Where is yours taking you? LANDING

A. So here is the question: When you think about your relational path or your spiritual path, is the path you are on going to take you where you ultimately want to be? Has someone recently tried to warn you and you ignored him or her? Has someone tried to point out a warning sign, but you thought you were smarter than that, or cooler than that, or slicker than that? That somehow you would find a way to work it out, or that somehow what happens to everybody else on that path isn’t going to happen to you? That you are going to avoid the fact that everybody else ends up at that same destination? You can’t. It’s the principle. Your path determines your destination. Direction, not intention, determines your destination. So the question is: what path are you on and where is it taking you?

B. If it’s true that your path determines destination, what direction are you going morally? In your relationships? In your future? What are the paths you’ve chosen? Is it possible that maybe this is the time when you need to begin making some course corrections? Because ultimately direction determines destination.

C. I know this impacts many of you differently. Ask God to give you insight to see where you are and where you are not. Then pray for Him to give you the courage to do something about it.

TRANSITION INTO SMALL GROUPS