The Trap of Going It Alone - Peti Szabad

Sunday sermon recorded on June 14, 2026   

Part of the "Better Together" series.   

Slides used in the sermon: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16SOcURiuxaGpd9gVOVGKND9bkQzL_enl/view?usp=drive_link 

https://linktr.ee/northpointema

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So we're uh we're continuing our series uh entitled Better Together. And uh you know better together means that we are better together. We can go do a lot of things and try to do a lot of things on our own, but God designed us that we are better when we're together. Uh and uh uh you know we experienced that whatever we do, it is always better together. Yesterday we actually did a hike up to Mount Wachuset, and and you can ask Bob, he can tell you it was better to do it together. Anyways, that's our group uh uh of eight, and uh and Alejandro's two doggies, or Emmanuel's probably you know, they they were more hanging out with him, and uh we had such a great time, beautiful weather. It wasn't it wasn't stifling hot, there was a nice breeze on the top, and it was the clearest view you had. Oh wow! You could clearly see the Boston skyline from the top of Mount Watchou set. You see uh Mount Grey like the highest point of uh Massachusetts in the Berkshires. You could even see uh Mount Stratton, which is up in Vermont, that's 85 miles away. Uh that's how that's how clear the sky was. It was it was it was an experience. So so thank you everybody for coming, uh supporting me in one of my passions. And uh next week we're gonna go and do something together, supporting Ozzy in his passions, and there's a a man's place on the earth. So there will be a this is this is for guys. So apologize to all the all the ladies in the room, but then sometimes the the the you know the guys need to have an outing together. So uh next next Wednesday on June the 24th, not not this Wednesday, but next Wednesday, we're gonna go to uh uh Connie Island hot dogs. Uh and uh there's a meetup at the Ramos's uh and then uh we'll probably timeout?

unknown 2:06

Meeting at his house.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Uh at the at the Evans's. Okay. So I'll I'll change that. 5 30 at the Evanses, and uh and and then uh we'll you know I believe we carpool down to uh a Wooster where the the the hot dog place is and just have a good time and eat some yummy hot dogs. So uh but here's here's the fun things. We have uh we have about nine small groups in our congregation, and I gave the task to each of the small groups to come up with some kind of an activity this summer that we can do together. So good job.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

It took us two seconds to talk with that.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

We're also we're also going to do uh going to uh the a Woo-Socks game again as a congregation on July 9th on Fitchburg uh day, and uh and that's gonna be great. But I'm looking forward to hearing back from some of the other small groups. I already heard some rumors of uh a paint night and uh uh a bike ride and that kind of stuff, fun stuff. So so keep talking, keep organizing, we'll put it on a church calendar, let everybody know, and and we'll we'll you know, whoever can make it will join, and it's gonna be better together. So let's get on with this sermon.

unknown 3:21

All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

All right.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

So the title of today's sermon is The Trap of Going In Alone. And I've got two points the trap and the escape. All right and in that order. Because you don't you there's nothing to escape if there's not a trap. Does it make sense?

unknown 3:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

So, you know, traps, uh I personally hate traps. I need to use some for some of the mice problem in our house. Uh welcome to New England. And uh, you know, we we we live on the thank God we don't have any rats. Uh I know it could be kick it could be worse. Uh you guys remember the previous location we were worshiping. Uh but there, you know, we use traps because we want some unwanted presence to be gone. You know, Satan uses traps because he wants the unwanted godly presence of Christians to be gone. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 7, the Bible says about talking about describing what uh uh an elder, uh a respectable model of a man should be. Uh and as a as the brothers, we've been getting together once a month for our men's midweek services and studying God these qualities. Uh maybe not every one of us will be an elder, but we all want it, we all strive to be godly men. Uh and one of these is talking about uh Paul is writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 7, he says, he, meaning this person who is striving to be an elder, must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. So the Bible tells me that the devil has a trap. And even somebody like an elder is not immune to falling into a devil's trap. So this is these are some sketches of traps. Yeah, no, traps are not fun. You know, they're they're they're you know when you see them out like this, it's easy to avoid them. Who would want to, in their good mind, walk into a trap like that? Right? Oh, here's one, let me step in it. You know, honestly, some sometimes we do that, but oftentimes the issue with the traps is they're they're hidden. Jesus, uh teaching in Luke 21, uses this as an illustration in Luke 21, verse 34. He says, be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. You know what's the issue with the traps? Is this idea that you're completely oblivious to the trap being there until you trigger it and it closes. You know, this is this is just a this is just a box hanging out. It's safe and stable until you get under it, and that rope pulls out the thing that holds up, and then done. You're in the trap. Now, why would you go into a trap? Right?

unknown 7:15

There's something awesome there.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

You know, the the idea that traps don't work until they are baited. So so there's gotta be a bait in the trap to detract you there, right?

unknown 7:31

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Peanut butter works really well with mice, just insane. It does. So what are some of the some of the baits that we uh that we see in uh uh in the Bible? And what are some of the baits that Satan uses to lure us into this trap today? Well, the Bible talks in 1 Timothy 6 9 about the bait being money. It says, people who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. So this you know, money this is probably an easy one, but we're so affected by this. All the advertisement we we we you know have to watch, and uh, you know, some of the streaming services, they have all these sales. You can get this streaming service for $199 a month with ads. Hulu, by the way. Uh for a whole year, just $199 a month. That sounds like nothing, but you know what they're buying? Your time, your attention, and your heart through the ads that you have to watch beat mean your show. I mean, come on, show continue, and you've got 240 seconds of ads. And there's at least there's a thing that comes down so you can mute it and then ignore the ads. But they did those things affect us. Uh but I want to talk, you know, and and today I'm I don't want to talk about money as much. Uh I want to talk about the trap of going it alone. Because it's Satan, you know, in probably in a society that's that's relatively wealthy, and even though we have problems and the gas prices are going up, and I know all of that, we are still really well off compared to about 90% of the world that lives a lot worse than we do. In a society that that that has a lot, maybe maybe money isn't necessarily the best way to get people. Although I'm sure, I'm sure we struggle with this. But it's kind of fairly obvious if you've been a Christian for a little while. But there's another there's another trap that Satan springs on us that we're not as aware of that I want to talk about today. In 1 Peter 5, verse 8 and 9, the Bible describes uh, and you know, I'm talking a little bit about the devil. I'm gonna get to the escape part and talk about God. But the but but we need to, if we want to avoid or escape this trap, we need to understand how it works and who sets it. In 1 Peter 5, verse 8 and 9, the Bible describes Satan as a lion who's roaring and prowling around. He says, be self-control and alert. There's your money thing. You know, just be self-controlled, don't impulse by, right? Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of same kind of sufferings. See, one of the even in this passage talking about how we resist the trap of Satan, is that we actually are not going it alone. We realize we're not alone in this. Right? That's one of the things. But how does a lion hunt? You know, a lion will not attack a herd of animals. Because the herd, when it's together, will just trample over the lion. You're you're not getting involved in that thing. You've got seen Lion King, you know how that works, right? Uh you know, that is actually the saddest, most heart-wrenching scene in movie history, as statistics show. When Mufasa dies and Lion King trying to save his son. But how does a lion hunt? They chase the her, starts chasing the herd to trying to get one animal isolated. One animal that might be a little slower, might be a little younger, might not be as fit, they might be a little sick, weak, to kind of get them isolated, and when they get them isolated, that's when the lion attacks. Isolation is the trap. You know, me, I am in the middle of that trap. The person I think I should be, the way I should be living, the the things that I, you know, it I am in the center of this, and when I try to make me the center of my universe, I just walked into the trap. Here's a few quotes about this idea. The society society and uh uh modern psychology calls this hyper individualism. So individualism has some positive traits, you know, valuing the uniqueness of every individual. Uh I think that's a positive thing. We're all created differently in God's image, and there's there's value in us being unique and respecting the rights of every individual. That's part of individualism. Hyper-individualism, you know, here's a good definition by this person, uh, Sarah Sultanpur. She says, hyper-individualism, on the other hand, emphasizes personal success and satisfaction at the expense of social connection and collective responsibility. It is a tendency for people in an individualist society to consider themselves as disparate entities rather than members of a collective or society. This mentality, often reinforced by modern digital culture, contributes to rising loneliness, declining civic participation, and a broader disengagement from societal issues. While individual freedom is important, the society cannot function without a sense of shared responsibility and connection. Right? This we we our society isn't just respective individuals, it is encouraging individuals to pursue their own happiness at the expense of connections. And that's and it's like shooting ourselves in the foot because the connections will make us happy. But we're we're looking for our happiness at the expense of connections. I I might have shared this uh this statistics that that's to me is is somewhat mind-blowing about restaurants. Uh off-premises dining, including takeout, drive-thru and delivery, now accounts for approximately 75% of all restaurant traffic. You know, eating out used to be a social uh you know experience. You went to the restaurant, you went to the diner, you you you had a you had a community, you shared a meal, you talked, you hung out, you you know, now 75% of restaurant uh dining is is off-premises dining. People just pick up the food and off they go. And and some of that might be communal or family, you get food, you bring it home to your family, but it's less and less. Here's another quote about this uh this idea uh by uh Ines Rosso. Um we live in an age where comfort has become extremely normalized. Our homes are climate controlled, our meals delivered, and our interactions filtered through screens. But comfort breeds complacency. When everything is easy, nothing feels meaningful. Laziness is being repackaged as self-awareness, and our culture rewards retreat over resilience. You know, taking some level of discomfort just for the sake of a community is completely unheard of. One of the articles I read in preparation for this sermon uh is is about this this question that this person posted on social media asking, would you go and pick up your friend at the airport? And what do you guys think were the answers? It depends! I like that, okay? Boston Logan, yeah. Like, who wants to go there? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

I'll pay for the Uber?

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Yeah, I pay for the Uber uh well, you can pay for the Uber, right? Some people were like, what an unrealistic expectation, even from your friend, to ask you.

unknown 17:04

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

You know, how dare they? There was a lot of that.

unknown 17:09

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Because you know, why do why do they even want you to contemplate something so uncomfortable? Especially if it's a late night fight or an early, you know, drop you off at five in the morning, you know, at the airport. Like who would who would do that? It's we're going away from take from enduring any level of discomfort for sake of others. That's our society. Uh here's a study by that's that was done by Harvard, a different one that I shared last week about the happiness study. Uh the study was actually about the the leading causes of loneliness in America. And and uh these are the these are the the answers by the people that they surveyed. It was a large group of people. Uh what did what do they think is the leading cause of uh of loneliness in America? Most people said that technology, 73% surveyed selected technology is contributing to loneliness in the country. And and technology has some great blessings. You know, I'm glad I can share some of these things on the slide and a TV with you guys, and and I'm gonna say hi to the people watching online that couldn't make it uh to the service. April and Josie, for example, uh you know, love them and glad they get to get to do so. There's a there's some great ways technology is used, but it is contributing for us to be more individualistic. And you texting or or you know, or or doing social media is not the same as connection. And I'm gonna that's all I'm gonna talk about that. Insufficient time with family. 66% chose this issue as a reason for loneliness in America. Uh you know, you see how families have been destroyed and hurt by people looking at for number one instead of really being willing to sacrifice for a family. People are overworked or too busy or tired. Uh that's 62%. That's the money that we're chasing. Another trap. Mental health challenges that harm relationships with others is a big important issue. 60% of people said that. You know, when you're when you're struggling with your mental health, you need help. And part of that help is actually a loving community. But the way mental health works is oftentimes it causes you to retreat from the community and it gets worse. Often. Often. Uh I'm I'm not a you know, I'm not a trained psychologist, so uh go see one if if that's that if if if you need that that kind of help. Uh but that's that's the impression I get when I read about this stuff. 58% uh says living in a society that is too individualistic. The society influences us, it it affects how we spend our time. And the last one, 50% of the people said no religious or spiritual life, too much focus on one's own feelings and the changing nature of work with more remote and hybrid schedules or perceived causes of loneliness. Uh so we do need uh a religious or spiritual life as well to not be lonely. So, you guys see the trap?

unknown 20:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Isn't it easy to walk right into it? Yeah, just think about how what am I gonna do, how am I gonna make it, you know? But there is an escape.

unknown 20:46

All right, really.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

All right. Thank God for the escape. The Bible describes that we can escape the trap of the devil. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 24 to 26. Paul is actually instructing uh a younger church leader on how to treat people that are not ready to follow the gospel of Jesus. He tells Timothy, says, and the Lord's servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone. You know, yes, that means everyone. Right? Everyone. Able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will. See, there is an escape. There is a way out. Uh God can help get us out of the trap. Don't have to close on us and get us there forever. And even if it does, you have been taken captive, there's a way out. And that's the good news of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul is writing to Christians. Some of them have gotten trapped into some of these ways that we're talking about today. And he's telling them in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13, after recounting a number of stories from the Old Testament and seeing that God, showing God as a faithful God, he says, No temptation has seized you except what is common to men. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. So there is a way out from every trap. Isn't that good news? Wouldn't you want to know? Well, what we want is this. The easy way out. But there is no easy way out. The easy way out, actually, is is a challenging way. It's a complicated way. It's a counterintuitive way. I don't know if you guys like these puzzle thingies. You know, who likes these things? Okay, about a quarter about a quarter of the people. Who who hates these things because they're frustrating? Yeah, that's more. Some some people sure, you know, raise their hands both times because you like it and then you don't like it. You know, oftentimes if somebody shows you the solution, you go like, I can't believe how easy that was. But you know what it takes? It takes a different way of thinking. It takes a very countuitive approach. Something that doesn't come naturally. You're you're trying, you know, you try and pull one of these locks apart, and you're just pulling and pulling, and and and the way is actually you get you gotta go the other way. Instead of trying to get them apart, you gotta get and push them together, and then all of a sudden they come apart. Right? You know what? But who would think that that's the way for a solution? You know, following Jesus is just as counterintuitive as some some some of these puzzles are sore. In Matthew 16, uh Mark 8 and Luke 9, in each of these synoptic gospels, we have the same sentence. It's a little different rephrased in Mark, but it's the same idea. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. If you're trying to go after you know you, that's the trap. You're gonna lose. You're gonna get trapped into the devil's trap. But whoever loses his life for me, that's that doesn't sound appealing. That sounds scary. You know, losing my life for Jesus, you will find it. That is the counterintuitive message of the gospel. Don't try to look out for yourself, try to surrender all that and follow Jesus in loving other people and investing your lives in other people. What a recipe for success. But that's what Jesus called us to do. It feels like losing. It feels losing again and again, but at the end, it is the life that we'll find. Here's a practical passage, and this is going to lead us into communion in Philippians chapter 2, verse 1 through 4. It says, if you have any encouragement, that this is written to Christians, from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. And here comes one of the most challenging verses in the entire Bible, in my opinion. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. But in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others. You know, when you are willing to surrender your own interest and put others' interests before you, that is the way of Jesus. That's what the Bible calls us to. But it's so easy to get in the trap of going after our own selfish ambitions, of our own self uh, you know, self-uh actualization. And you know, you've gotta you've got to spend time with yourself. I'm not saying that that that you you know you just need to always be in the company of other people. There's there's a time for being alone in God and contemplating and knowing who you are and figuring out even some of your needs. But you can you can share those needs with others, even even that. I had a a situation uh a couple days ago that was fairly convicting to me. Uh my friend Rich uh lent his uh his van to uh one of our friends, Lee, who hit a deer in the middle of Pennsylvania. And uh Lee has has went on uh to his hometown in Ohio, and the van has been considered total by the insurance company in the middle of Pennsylvania. So Rich is here in Massachusetts, Lee's in Ohio, and the van is in Pennsylvania. Yeah, and it something needs to happen with it uh because it it it it's worth it's a it's it's fixable, it's it's it's worth doing something with it. So Rich decided he's gonna send out an email to some of the some of our churches in the in Pennsylvania and see if anybody could help. And you know, I'm like, okay, Rich, go for it. I I actually uh helped him connect connect with the the church in Pittsburgh, and he already had the the phone number for the church leader in Philly. But honestly, I thought this is such a long shot. Why bother? Why didn't why don't you and I drive down and get a trailer and bring it back up or something? See the individualistic thinking? And and I but I did when Rich sent out an email, I said a prayer that something will happen with the email. Before the end of the day, the brother who leads the church in Pittsburgh replied with the contact of a brother who lives in the same town as the van is. So Rich contacted the brother, the brother said, Hey, I've got triple A, I'll go over, I got triple A to tow it, just like you know, go find a spot to fix it up. I'm like, whoa, thank you, God. You know, and I was convicted by Rich asking for help from complete strangers, appealing that they might be brothers and sisters in Christ, they might be able to help. And and I'm like, I am that was very that was very convicting interest, you know, because I would have just figured out a solution to fix this problem on my own and not ask for help. But you know, but living in a way that that that is that that is willing to give and willing to even share your needs with others, that's so much not the American way of life. But that's the countercultural way of Jesus. And uh if uh to be fair, yeah it was Jen's idea. Okay, we do need to lift up Jen. Well done. Thank you for the glory, but it's all I didn't know any of that, but uh I was nevertheless convicted and encouraged that when we put things out there, God might just provide in ways that we don't we don't we don't uh consider. You know, if you I don't have this on the slide, but if you keep reading in your Bibles this passage in Philippians chapter 4, it continues in verse 5 with the with the with the words, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. We should be imitating Jesus. And then the Bible here describes uh most likely a poem uh in verse 6 through 11 or a song that the the early Christians either either you know shared about Jesus or sang about Jesus. Uh in you know it's it's actually uh different in different formatting in most of our Bibles because of that. Here's what the Bible says about Jesus, who, being in very nature God, this is verse 6 of Philippians 2, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place, and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. How did Jesus became Lord and gain this victory? By humbling himself, making himself a servant, lowering himself below all of us. Because he died for us. That's how he did. He did not consider what he had as something to hold on, to grasp. I've got God, I'm a God. I'm God, I'm gonna I'm gonna hold on to this power, this glory, all of this. He actually gave it all up to become a human to serve us and die in our stead and for our sins. That's why that's why we follow him. Because we know how much he loved us, and we're called to follow him. So do not fall into the trap of going it alone. Lower yourself and realize you we're better together in community. I have a I have a few questions and then uh let me let's just pray for communion and I'll I'll share the questions before we have our discussion groups. Dear God, our Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing us to follow Jesus. Thank you for his example of being uh willing to become a man, uh humbling himself and even going on the cross as he followed uh uh the leading of the Holy Spirit and your will. Uh and he he loved us. God, please help us to realize the trap that Satan is trying to spring on us. Uh obviously, you know, most of us probably know that wanting to become rich is a trap and and chasing money is a trap, and help us to say no to that and and be content with what we have and and live uh a simple uh life simpler lives, but also help us to see the trap of hyper-individualism, the trap of just going in alone and and trying to just take care of myself and and my interests and my things and the things that that I want uh and me. Help us to realize that when we put when we die to ourselves and live for Jesus, uh following in his footsteps, serving others, loving others, giving to others, then we are really living the life that you created us to be. And that it gives meaning, uh, that gives joy and a lasting happiness to our lives that we cannot find in any other way. Thank you for the bread and the fruit of the wine that represent Jesus' body and his blood. And in his name we pray. Amen.