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THE ENEMY CALLED “NOSTALGIA”
A warning to the church about looking back!
1. Define: Nostalgia
a. A wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in life
b. A desire to return to home or homeland, or to one’s family or friends
c.
A sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.
2. Have you had strong feelings of nostalgia?
a. It might be a smell, taste, photograph.
b. It might be a song you hear.
c.
Reflecting deeply on the past is a coping mechanism
3. Nostalgia can be dangerous!
a. The “good old days” we not a good as we remember.
b. We look through rose colored classes.
c. Thinking about the past, leads to dissatisfaction with the present.
d. It can lead to a defeatist attitude toward life.
e. Don’t forget the past.
f.
But we can’t live there.
4. Nostalgia has hurt God’s people in the past.
a. Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom.
b. Israel looked back at Egypt after leaving captivity
c. After crossing the Red Sea Num. 14:4
d. After 70 years in Babylon captivity Ezra 3:12-13
e.
Haggai – Hag. 2:3
5. Nostalgia still hurts the church.
a. Remember when we were growing?
b. Remember when we had 70-80 on Sunday?
c. We talk about the “glory days” of the past.
d. No preacher will live up to the lessons of the past.
e. Members begin to idolize the past; they paralyze the present.
f. The church cannot be like Israel, always looking back.
6. Ecc. 7:10
a. Solomon was right.
b. Let’s learn from the past. Celebrate the past.
c. But let’s stop trying to live in the past.
d. Let’s be God’s church today!
Conclusion: We can’t live in the past. We must seize the present and serve God NOW!
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