* Familiarity breeds contempt.
* Christ’s hometown.
* The result - they lost out on the presence and power of God!
* But does familiarity really lead to contempt?
* Definitions of familiarity:
* “close acquaintance with or knowledge of something.”
* “the quality of being well known; recognizability based on long or close association.”
* “relaxed friendliness or intimacy between people.”
* Shouldn’t we want familiarity in our relationships? YES! But…
* Familiarity breeds contempt when COMFORT is experienced apart from CONQUEST.
* Contempt - “the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.”
* Comfort - “a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.”
* Conquest - “the act or process of conquering.”
* Comfort, apart from Conquest, leads to Contempt.
* We should approach our relationships like we’re climbing Mount Everest.
* But we never reach the top - we simply grow comfortable with the process.
* If we reach the top, then we’ll start looking for other peaks to summit.
* Imagine if Christ’s hometown would’ve asked Him questions and then studied Scripture in search for knew knowledge concerning Him?
* BACKSTORY - David penned this Psalm in his old age.
* Look what he says:
* Vs 17a - “O God, You have taught me from my youth…”
* Vs 17b - “…And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.”
* Hebrew for “I still” is “ad-hennah.” But this word is “ve-ad-hennah.”
* The “ve” is added emphasis - like, “YO! LISTEN! I STILL…!!!!”
* David was still in awe of God after all these years. Why?
* Because God’s deeds don’t stop! They’re never ending.
* He was on a conquest to know God more.
* EX: My wife and I went to Rome and were in awe of the Colosseum.
* But the natives just brushed passed by it (probably agitated at the traffic).
* Why? Because they’re so familiar.
* Comfort, apart from Conquest, leads to Contempt.
* Imagine if, however, a native was on a quest to find all the people who’ve written their names and schools on the columns inside?
* They’d never stop going!
* This is what David is getting at.
* As an old man, after all this time, after all the things God has done in the past, it’s so easy to just get used to it. 
* But David wants his readers to be tourists - those in constant discovery!
* To be overwhelmed by the whole experience of God and men. 
* To stand in wonder and praise His benevolence. 
* How do you fight off familiarity in your relationships with God and others?
* Think in terms of Conquest!
* You will never fully conquer, but you are always conquering!
* This is why reading the Bible is so important - it’s keeps you moving up the peak!