1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000
I'll fly away, oh, go hurry, I'll fly away

2
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:18,000
When I die, I'll know you're by and by, I'll fly away

3
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:28,000
Some glad morning when my life is over, I'll fly away

4
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:37,000
To that home I've got to fly so sure, I'll fly away

5
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:45,000
I'll fly away, oh, go hurry, I'll fly away

6
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:54,000
When I die, I'll know you're by and by, I'll fly away

7
00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:02,000
Sweet home, sweet true home, come and find and carry me home

8
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:11,000
Sweet home, sweet true area, come and find and carry me home

9
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:22,000
I've looked over Jordan, what did I see? Come and find and carry me home

10
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:31,000
Come and find and carry me home

11
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:40,000
I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night

12
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:52,000
When I die, I'll know you're by and by, I'll fly away

13
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,000
I'll fly away, oh, go hurry, I'll fly away

14
00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:06,000
When I die, I'll know you're by and by, praise the Lord, I saw the light

15
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:13,000
Praise the Lord, I'll fly away

16
00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:43,000
I hope you've used every opportunity to serve God this week.

17
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:49,000
We're going to pray together at this time. I do want to make a quick announcement to remind you there is a team leader meeting today.

18
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:56,000
So after service, as quickly after service as we can, if we get transportation taken care of, we'll meet in the cafeteria for that.

19
00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:05,000
Everyone is welcome to attend the team leader meeting, but we do ask that team leaders, coordinators, deacons, and pastors are there so we can go over our agenda plan

20
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:12,000
and network our team together and give God all the glory. Alright, so let's pray together and we'll worship a little more.

21
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,000
Father in heaven, thank you so much for this day. We see it as a wonderful gift from you.

22
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:30,000
Lord, even in the midst of turmoil around us when things are crazy, schedules are changing, there's a volatile environment in our government, in our politics, in our city.

23
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:40,000
Lord, even in the midst of hurt and difficulty where healing is needed, where protection and peace are needed, we know that you alone are God.

24
00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:50,000
You alone have everything well in hand. You alone can make everything turn out for the good of the one who loves you and is called according to your purpose.

25
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000
And so we praise your Father for being that kind of God.

26
00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:00,000
We confess to you that it's easy enough in the midst of all that and we can say it a bunch more ways I suppose.

27
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:07,000
To get distracted, to become tempted, to be fearful, to sort of misplace our peace.

28
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:16,000
We confess our weakness to you and we ask you Lord to forgive us, strengthen us, to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

29
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,000
We thank you for that and for so much more.

30
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,000
Remind us Lord just exactly how good we have it. Just exactly how much we're blessed.

31
00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:32,000
Just exactly how much we're able. Whether we can ever put our finger on it exactly to know those things.

32
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:38,000
Each day we want to get out of bed knowing that you are God, you have it well in hand and we are able.

33
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:45,000
We are able now to praise you. We are able now to look to you. We are able now to reach new heights in Jesus.

34
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:50,000
Would you take over and guide us? We've got our agenda.

35
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:56,000
The sermon which I believe is from you and committed to you is prepared.

36
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000
The order of worship is laid out on the board.

37
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,000
Under your leadership we absolutely believe it.

38
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,000
Those of us who are here today we know we're here because it's where we're supposed to be.

39
00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,000
And so we ask your Father to work in us, work in our midst.

40
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:16,000
Exactly what you already want to do. Your will be done here as it is in heaven.

41
00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:42,000
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

42
00:05:46,000 --> 00:06:12,000
Oh Lord my God, you have turned my home.

43
00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:29,000
In you when you are by my strings.

44
00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:37,000
In you my little bad blue and green.

45
00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:42,000
That I can't say no, me bad bad bad bad bad news.

46
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000
Left off all the hands at sea.

47
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:54,000
Left the faces laid bare.

48
00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:02,000
Oh Lord my God, do I give my head.

49
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:10,000
Oh Lord my God, do I give my feet.

50
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:18,000
Oh Lord my God, do I give my everything.

51
00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:27,000
Oh Lord my God, do I give my life.

52
00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:43,000
In you when you are by my strings.

53
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:51,000
In you my little bad blue and green.

54
00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:58,000
That I can't say no, me bad bad bad bad news.

55
00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:09,000
Left the faces laid bare.

56
00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:29,000
Oh Lord my God, do I give my head.

57
00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:50,000
We can sail and sail by the race.

58
00:08:50,000 --> 00:09:00,000
We can fall and get back up.

59
00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:11,000
We trust, trust in the Savior.

60
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:21,000
And the promise He's given.

61
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:28,000
Do not fear, for I am with you.

62
00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:36,000
Do not be afraid.

63
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:43,000
We come down to the hill and we stay.

64
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:50,000
We are there to rest for you once.

65
00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:57,000
Jesus walked on the water.

66
00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:04,000
We trust, trust in the Savior.

67
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,000
Do not fear, for I am with you.

68
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:14,000
Do not be afraid.

69
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,000
I am your God, so do not be afraid.

70
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,000
Do not fear, for I am with you.

71
00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:26,000
Do not be afraid.

72
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:33,000
I am your God, so do not be afraid.

73
00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,000
Do not be afraid.

74
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000
Do not be afraid.

75
00:10:39,000 --> 00:11:07,000
Yeah.

76
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:24,000
Alright, we come to that moment in time where we talk about how the Lord has been working on our lives since last week, since last Sunday.

77
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,000
We don't usually do this on Tuesday night, but occasionally we'll have somebody give a testimony or something like that.

78
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:35,000
So you've had a whole walk in seven days to collect how has God been working, what has God been saying to you,

79
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,000
have you made some kind of a breakthrough or realized, man, God wants me to do that?

80
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,000
Or maybe you had a moment of crisis and you submitted that to God and He hauled you out.

81
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,000
He is able to rescue, He is able to save.

82
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:55,000
And His Word, He tells us every page how much you loved us and how much you intended to send Jesus.

83
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,000
And that entire book, the Bible, from beginning to end is about those things.

84
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,000
Perhaps you read something and He spoke to you.

85
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:07,000
I'm going to share this very briefly, we got the opportunity to go this week to Life Change Camp,

86
00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:13,000
which turned out to be in the middle of nowhere in the Mohican State Forest, which was really cool.

87
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:21,000
Now I will tell you that I was completely outside my bubble, outside my box to do what I did.

88
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:27,000
We took a dozen kids and all their stuff ranging in ages from 10 to 16.

89
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:34,000
And it was packed full, I thought on the way there, I thought, man, you couldn't get another person's luggage or another button to stand.

90
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,000
There's no way, it's 15 fast in your van.

91
00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,000
But I thought, you'd have to lay somebody up along the top or something to try to get anybody else in there.

92
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,000
We were packed full.

93
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:47,000
Then we got there and they made toolboxes out of wood from scratch and painted them.

94
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,000
And I thought, now we've got 12 toolboxes on top of 12 kids and all their stuff trying to get home.

95
00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,000
And when I went to pack the van to come home, it was like the feeding of the 5,000.

96
00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,000
There was plenty of room.

97
00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,000
There wasn't any room for extra boxes. There was room for extra stuff.

98
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,000
We could have put some more stuff in there on the way home.

99
00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,000
I didn't understand that.

100
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,000
It was packed completely differently on the way back and it didn't weigh that great of a lot.

101
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,000
On day one of camp, I got poison ivy.

102
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,000
You can see the remnants of it here and on my arms.

103
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,000
It didn't come from the camp.

104
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,000
I got it probably while cleaning out the van or getting out the camp equipment or something.

105
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,000
Didn't know what it was.

106
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,000
I figured out what it was late Wednesday morning that it was poison ivy.

107
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,000
First I realized that's what it was when it spread from my neck to my arm.

108
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,000
And that's one of the signs that it's poison ivy.

109
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:36,000
And then we tried looking for something to actually deal with the poison ivy and nope, there's nothing near there.

110
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,000
And she said, well, you probably have to have it shipped.

111
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,000
And I went to Amazon and said, have it to you by 11 o'clock tomorrow morning.

112
00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,000
And then when I put it in the address of the camp, they said, no, no, I'm sorry, 5 o'clock Friday afternoon.

113
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,000
And I said, well, that won't do it again.

114
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,000
It will be long, long by then.

115
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:54,000
So I nursed it with calamine lotion, came home, bought the stuff, put it on and right away it started going away.

116
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,000
But I got through three more days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

117
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,000
The Lord took care of it and praised God for that.

118
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,000
A number of great decisions.

119
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,000
I'm not putting anybody on the spot. I don't do that.

120
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,000
If somebody wants to share something that they heard.

121
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,000
Great speakers. Unbelievable.

122
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,000
Unbelievable testimonies of God's grace and his glory.

123
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,000
And it was in the middle of nowhere.

124
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:16,000
The food was excellent.

125
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,000
One of the cooks was an Amish woman and she cooked Amish homemade snickerdoodles.

126
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,000
If you've ever had that, that's like cookie, but it's a little bit like heaven too.

127
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,000
And so we had those and I ate too much and gained three pounds.

128
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,000
That's not really what I wanted to do, but I did gain three pounds in five days.

129
00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,000
So working on that now.

130
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,000
So it was great.

131
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:43,000
I might have lost three pounds of water during a two and a half hour marathon softball practice yesterday,

132
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,000
which we do have a double header tomorrow night.

133
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,000
So come out and root for us.

134
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,000
If you can't come out and root for us, we'll be crazy, but that's going to be something.

135
00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000
So it's been that kind of week for us.

136
00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,000
If a young person wants to share, you can, but I'm not putting anybody on the spot.

137
00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:00,000
Many of them are in this room over half of the young people that are in this room right now.

138
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,000
So what do you got? What's God been doing? Let's hear it.

139
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,000
I'm going to read some of the song lyrics.

140
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,000
Nice and loud.

141
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:15,000
Says our God is an awesome artist in perilous times.

142
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:27,000
We seek his grace as the world and times we face and times we face her fate in the face of the devil.

143
00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:36,000
Devil's mirages in the midst of the pain, disdain and the media's push of all this garbage.

144
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:42,000
I pray that you keep your faith as the whole world breaks and the real get disregarded.

145
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:47,000
It's about time we take it back.

146
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,000
The weight's too great for the camel's back.

147
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:58,000
Strong men made life an easy task, and now the weak men feminize every act.

148
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:08,000
In the church, in the workplace, every class, on television screens, in the state of wrath.

149
00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:14,000
All virtue's gone and it fades black.

150
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,000
We're in hell on earth and it's going to collapse.

151
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,000
Integrity's gone, or integrity's lost.

152
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:29,000
I don't know what that word is. Modernize?

153
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,000
Yeah, modernize.

154
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:39,000
God's on the way. The revolution will be televised.

155
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:48,000
We're not too far. Don't know if we can rectify all those gates. We will testify.

156
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:56,000
So the biggest one that I like that really sticks out to me is it says,

157
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:03,000
In perilous times, we seek his grace as the world.

158
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:13,000
So for me, what I think of is whenever a lot of people go through bad times,

159
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,000
we try to seek help in other people. We try to seek help on TV.

160
00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000
Or maybe we can follow somebody on social media and they'll lead us to the right direction.

161
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000
Or maybe I need to just quit my job and do something else.

162
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:34,000
We try to fix all this stuff by the world's view instead of what God says.

163
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:43,000
And that's why the next line I like, one of the other lines is,

164
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:51,000
At times we face turnfate in the face of the devil's mirages.

165
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:56,000
So we have to understand that there's a lot of things that the devil is going to let you see

166
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,000
and put in front of your face and throw in front of your face.

167
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:06,000
And when he did it to Jesus, he said, I will give you all this land if you just bow down and worship me.

168
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:10,000
And luckily Jesus, being who he is, said no.

169
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,000
But we as humans, we see that and we're like, yeah, I want that.

170
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:22,000
And we go for it and realize that by the time we realize that it's usually too late that we're stuck.

171
00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,000
And then we have to rely on God's grace to stop the grace of the world.

172
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:32,000
All right, anybody else?

173
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:41,000
You know, I've been going through some health issues and physical issues and I had a date planned.

174
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:47,000
And the last week I talked to guys, I can't do the same.

175
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,000
My body will not take standard on kind of really health.

176
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:58,000
So I'll come back and face the coming eight, go to the end of the month.

177
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:04,000
So as of August 2nd, I don't know how long it will take for me to be able to do anything.

178
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,000
I'm going to give up and join the old players club.

179
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,000
Well, we'll let you in as an honorary member.

180
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Well, yeah, I mean, he just told me, Chris, you can't do it, you know.

181
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,000
You got to do it without something.

182
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:25,000
There's plenty of work for you to do at the King that doesn't require to stand eight to 10 hours on concrete every day.

183
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:29,000
Yeah, I mean, that's what I'm going to have to do.

184
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,000
I'll have it all under control.

185
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,000
I'll start making a list.

186
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000
I have to wait for August 2nd.

187
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,000
I think it's big enough.

188
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,000
Okay, you're taking a three day weekend before you start.

189
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:45,000
Okay.

190
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,000
All right.

191
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:47,000
What else?

192
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,000
I've had a recent reconnection with my dad.

193
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,000
We went a long time without talking and then hesitantly talking.

194
00:19:54,000 --> 00:20:01,000
And there was something that happened and it pushed us together and we called it things like he accepted what he did.

195
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,000
I accepted what I did.

196
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,000
We're clean slate now.

197
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:11,000
And I had dinner yesterday with two of my high school friends who were with me when a lot of the disconnect happened.

198
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:18,000
And I couldn't understand how I could just forgive him so easily and I'm like, oh, God says, you know, we're not to forgive just seven times, but 77 times.

199
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:27,000
And I didn't realize how much even not talking to him, like just it not being a part of my life, affected my life.

200
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,000
It's having him back in my life.

201
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000
I am significantly happier.

202
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:40,000
And it was just something that I was holding onto that I needed to, that I was kind of forcing myself not to forgive him what I should have.

203
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,000
But I had and we are doing great and I'm not here for it.

204
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:49,000
And I just want to like that forgiveness was a good fix that for me.

205
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,000
And it's been a blessing.

206
00:20:51,000 --> 00:21:04,000
Yeah, I've been around that bend a couple of times and I would always say that you can really hurt somebody by not forgiving them, but you'll never hurt anybody else as much as you hurt yourself by not forgiving somebody.

207
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:11,000
It hurts and it will it really will stop your growth.

208
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,000
So it's part of who we are, what we do.

209
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:20,000
And that doesn't mean you have to allow yourself to be tricked again or be abused again or like that.

210
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,000
But you've got to let it go.

211
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,000
You've got to put it in God's hands.

212
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,000
The only way to do that.

213
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:27,000
It's good work.

214
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:28,000
Very good.

215
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,000
OK, well, we're going to.

216
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,000
Oh, I'm sorry.

217
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,000
I'm going to thank God for forgiveness.

218
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:39,000
I need prayer for me and my family.

219
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,000
I have anger issues.

220
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,000
If I say I can't do something, I will.

221
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:44,000
I'm not lying.

222
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000
I can't do it.

223
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,000
Even if it means you've given me directions, I don't know where I'm at.

224
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,000
I'm not going to lie.

225
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000
I've been that way since I was a child.

226
00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:00,000
I was a real fan of argument because I didn't think it was going to work.

227
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,000
So I was lost.

228
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,000
My phone wasn't working.

229
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:11,000
But we talked to each other and I went out for the weekend and it worked out OK.

230
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:19,000
I was around non-Christian people that see something in me that they don't understand.

231
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,000
They want me coming with them.

232
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:27,000
So I'm going back to family and family too.

233
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,000
And it's like, no, I lost my sister.

234
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,000
We just had a little thing.

235
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,000
That's the way life is.

236
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,000
And I love my family.

237
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,000
I love all of them.

238
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000
But I'm helping my sister.

239
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,000
We know we forgive each other.

240
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000
We just have an issue.

241
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,000
We need prayer for this.

242
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,000
OK.

243
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:50,000
What's your sister's first name?

244
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,000
Dover.

245
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,000
What's your sister's first name?

246
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Connie.

247
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,000
Oh, and she also needs prayer, please, for being catfished.

248
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:05,000
She lost her husband a couple years ago before I came to be with her.

249
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:10,000
Her and my granddaughter told me she's been dead for two years.

250
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000
It's got her bad and she will not talk to me.

251
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,000
She argues with me about that.

252
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,000
Awesome.

253
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000
And thanks for the ride.

254
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000
I pray about it.

255
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,000
I know God is bigger than we are.

256
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,000
All right.

257
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000
So we're going to remember Connie and Kerry.

258
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,000
This is Kerry.

259
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,000
Connie is Kerry's sister.

260
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:33,000
And just pray for her for wisdom and strength and healing, I think, would be sufficient.

261
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000
And then for their relationship.

262
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,000
Pray to God.

263
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,000
OK.

264
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,000
So we're going to pray together at this time.

265
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,000
We'll talk a little bit more.

266
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,000
Deacon Tony, would you lead us in this prayer?

267
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000
And we'll pray along with you.

268
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:51,000
It's Connie and Kerry and the five conference and our harbor board.

269
00:23:51,000 --> 00:24:02,000
Dear Father, we're thankful for another day of doing this thing for this day that we can come together as your sons and daughters and worship you.

270
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:12,000
We ask you to give our service with a passion that you carry the message.

271
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000
We ask you to be the carry of kindness, strength and wisdom.

272
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,000
Lord, that's something we all need.

273
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,000
We all need the strength that you give.

274
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,000
We all need the wisdom that you give.

275
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,000
Lord, we know where to find it.

276
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,000
Sometimes we just have to open your word.

277
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,000
Sometimes that's just an inconvenience, I guess, for us.

278
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,000
And I know I fail many times.

279
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,000
So I want to repent of that.

280
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000
And I know what to do, too.

281
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:47,000
Lord, help us to get into your word and focus on you more.

282
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,000
You pray and knowing God that you're going to answer.

283
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:56,000
Trust you to see us through things that we need to do.

284
00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000
And we'll do that so more people will be able to operate and pick it up.

285
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,000
Thank you that we can give.

286
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,000
It was a portion of the fact that you've given so much to us.

287
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,000
Thank you, Lord, that we can give.

288
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:29,000
Thank you.

289
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:45,000
Thank you.

290
00:25:45,000 --> 00:26:00,000
Thank you very much.

291
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:15,000
Thank you.

292
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:30,000
Thank you.

293
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:45,000
Thank you.

294
00:26:45,000 --> 00:27:00,000
Thank you.

295
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:15,000
Thank you.

296
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:30,000
Thank you.

297
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:45,000
Thank you.

298
00:27:45,000 --> 00:28:00,000
Thank you.

299
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:15,000
Thank you.

300
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:30,000
Thank you.

301
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:43,000
Thank you.

302
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:58,000
Thank you.

303
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:13,000
Thank you.

304
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:28,000
Thank you.

305
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:41,000
Thank you.

306
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:56,000
Thank you.

307
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:11,000
Thank you.

308
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:26,000
Thank you.

309
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:41,000
Thank you.

310
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:56,000
Thank you.

311
00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,000
We have actually been working through a sermon series and today brings it to a close.

312
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:09,000
So you may have missed last week or you may have missed the week before or you may be joining us for the first time right now in this sermon series.

313
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:14,000
So we're going to talk about what we have been and what has been going on and where we are at now.

314
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:15,000
So here we go.

315
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:23,000
So two weeks ago today we looked at Second Chronicles 14 and we looked at King Asa.

316
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:32,000
King Asa is in the descendant line of David and he was a chosen king in the descendant line of David.

317
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:42,000
In his early life he discovered this truth that if you seek God, God will give you peace and rest and good things will happen.

318
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:45,000
And the sermon that Sunday was called the Pre-Flight Checks.

319
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:55,000
He lived his life by an equation that said his relationship and his relationship to the king of the Lord was if you seek the Lord you will be blessed.

320
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,000
And that's not a bad thing.

321
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,000
And it happens to a lot of people all over the world now.

322
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:08,000
We even had some examples of that over this last week at camp and so on.

323
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,000
We saw some folks who have seeked the Lord and been blessed.

324
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:18,000
And it's easy enough to begin to think that that's as far as a relationship with God actually goes.

325
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,000
So Asa searched out God and he was blessed.

326
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,000
But this amounts to basically Pre-Flight Checks.

327
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:27,000
You're just getting started.

328
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,000
You're just getting ready to fly with the Lord.

329
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,000
This is not actually the equation that the chronicler was pointing at.

330
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:40,000
The person who wrote the books, First and Second Chronicles, gave us another equation.

331
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:45,000
The equation being that if you seek the Lord, he will reveal himself to you.

332
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,000
And that is a measure of grace.

333
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,000
It's probably the best understanding of grace that they had.

334
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:58,000
So the great danger that was exposed in that first week is that man may, because the blessings are unfolding,

335
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:05,000
because good things are happening, man may remain in the Pre-Flight Checks for his entire lifetime.

336
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:12,000
Whole families, whole societies, whole quote unquote churches may remain in the Pre-Flight Checks

337
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,000
and never really start flying with God.

338
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,000
And we warned ourselves in that sermon that that is not what we desire.

339
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:24,000
In the second week, which was last week, we looked at takeoff and flight.

340
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:30,000
We saw our hero of the story, Asa, finally kind of figure it out.

341
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:36,000
He began following the principle that if he sought the Lord, the Lord would reveal himself.

342
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:41,000
And we saw Asa, and really all of God's people do that.

343
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:46,000
They drew a line in the sand beyond which they said after this point, beyond this point,

344
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,000
it is either me and God or me not at all.

345
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,000
So God's not going away. God will always exist.

346
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,000
And you want a relationship with God. In fact, you were created for a relationship with God.

347
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:59,000
So you can't say it's either me and God or God not at all, even if you're an atheist.

348
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,000
That doesn't actually work because God's not going anywhere.

349
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,000
He's always going to exist.

350
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:10,000
And you can try to run from him if you want, but everywhere you go, he's going to see you right there and even be right there.

351
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,000
So he did follow the principle that if you seek the Lord, he will reveal himself.

352
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:19,000
And the text told us that indeed God did reveal himself to Asa and his people.

353
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,000
And that was awesome.

354
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:28,000
After they drew that line in the sand and said essentially beyond this point, it is us and God or us not at all.

355
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,000
They threw themselves on the mercy of the Lord.

356
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,000
They determined to depend on God alone.

357
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000
And in so doing, they received the blessings of the free flight checks,

358
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:44,000
but also the God in line for whatever God ordained for their people, even if what God ordained was beyond their understanding.

359
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,000
They began their flight with the Lord.

360
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:53,000
And the word says that in Chapter 15 that God revealed himself to them, which means it actually was happening.

361
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,000
God was amongst his people as God promised he would be.

362
00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:05,000
But we were left with the question, as everything was going really well, how long does the flight last?

363
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:11,000
What happened to the relationship between God and man when unexpected events unfold?

364
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,000
We saw Asa overcome some early turbulence in his flight.

365
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:22,000
There was a relationship between him and the Queen Mother and it threatened everything that they had done, everything that they had said.

366
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,000
They said beyond this line, it's us and God or us not at all.

367
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:30,000
And then the Queen Mother, who was the one who basically put him on the throne as far as humans are concerned,

368
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:42,000
because she put everybody on the throne for a few generations, she began to worship false gods in his house, in his court, in the palace.

369
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:50,000
And he had to very publicly go and remove the idols of her false god and even remove her from her position of authority.

370
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:56,000
For many years, it says, Asa remains faithful to the Lord. And that's how Chapter 15 ends.

371
00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:08,000
But just as years of war and prison might change someone, so too years of peace and prosperity may lead someone to treasure these blessings to an unfortunate degree.

372
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,000
And that brings us to 2 Chronicles Chapter 16.

373
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,000
Amen.

374
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,000
Thank you, sir. Are you ready?

375
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,000
Amen.

376
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:23,000
We are now going to read from the Word of God, 2 Chronicles Chapter 16. Here we go.

377
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:28,000
In the 36th year of Asa's reign, so he's been doing this for a while now and he's had many years.

378
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:34,000
If you go back just a little bit before that, it says, and there was no more war until the 35th year of Asa's reign.

379
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:43,000
In the 36th year of Asa's reign, Baasha, king of Israel, now remember that God's people are separate at this time.

380
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:50,000
The kingdom has been divided. The vast majority of the tribes went with the northern kingdom, became part of a kingdom called Israel.

381
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:56,000
But the Davidic throne that was given through David, which would be the throne of Jesus eventually, was the southern kingdom.

382
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:02,000
And it was really just Judah and Benjamin. It was the largest tribe, Judah, and included Jerusalem.

383
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,000
But in total area, it was smaller because it was only the two tribes.

384
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:12,000
Benjamin was a very small tribe, kind of surrounded by Judah. They were there by default.

385
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,000
And the other ten tribes were to the north.

386
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:26,000
And so what begins to happen now is Baasha, king of Israel, those ten tribes to the north, came up against Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming to Asa, king of Judah.

387
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:37,000
So he blocks the way. He takes the key city in the area where most all transports going through and he fortifies that city against people going up into Judah.

388
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:47,000
Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the king's house and sent them to Ben Haddad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus.

389
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:56,000
Saying, so make sure you understand what he just did. He just took gold and silver, stuff that was worth a lot of stuff.

390
00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:05,000
And he took them from the house of the Lord, so from the temple, and from his own house, the palace, put them together to make a great big treasury.

391
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:11,000
And he ships them off to a guy who's not even involved. It's the king of Aram.

392
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:19,000
And this is what he says, let there be a treaty between you and me as between my father and you. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold.

393
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:24,000
Go break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me.

394
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:30,000
So basically he just wants him to tell that there's not going to be peace between Aram and Israel anymore.

395
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:36,000
So then Israel is going to go, oh, wait a minute. Now we have a problem. We're going to have a two front war. And so they'll back off.

396
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:44,000
So Ben Haddad listened to King Asa. He took all that gold and silver from the temple and all that gold and silver from Asa's palace.

397
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,000
And he sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel.

398
00:38:47,000 --> 00:39:02,000
And they conquered Ishan, Dan, Abelmim, and all the store cities, which is where they kept a lot of like grain and military supplies and stuff like that of Naphtali.

399
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:10,000
And it came about when Baasha heard of it, that he ceased fortifying Ramah and stopped his work.

400
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:18,000
Then King Asa brought all Judah and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building.

401
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:26,000
And with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah. So he took all those big blocks and wood and everything that they were building that city up with.

402
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:30,000
And they pulled it back from Ramah and they took it and they fortified two other cities.

403
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:36,000
So that's the spoils of war. Not really their war. They didn't fight. They just went and took it after Israel withdrew.

404
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:44,000
And then they used it to bless these other cities and to make them fortified. To bring peace if you will. To bring strength into the kingdom.

405
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,000
Verse 7. At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him,

406
00:39:50,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Because you have relied on the king of Aram and had not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand.

407
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:08,000
So this is what he's saying to make it clear. You went to the king of Aram and you said,

408
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:15,000
Break peace with Israel. Take all this money. Break peace with Israel. And you let them and they became strong.

409
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:22,000
He gave them a lot of gold and silver. More weapons, more men, mercenaries, siege engines, all that to fight Israel.

410
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:30,000
And he said, the seer, speaking on behalf of God, is saying, because you gave them all of that to stop this problem you were having with Israel,

411
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:36,000
Now they're so strong, you're not going to be able to touch them.

412
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:45,000
That army of the king of Aram has escaped out of your hand. Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen,

413
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:51,000
In other words, wasn't there this great big army before? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.

414
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:56,000
That was true. We read about that back in chapter 14. That's a huge battle. Huge army, way bigger than them.

415
00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:01,000
And God fought on their side and they had an incredible victory. That's kind of how everything got started.

416
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:07,000
They sought the Lord. God gave them that great victory. But then the prophet came and said, that's not quite enough.

417
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:13,000
When you seek the Lord, God has to reveal himself to you. And then they made the covenant with God and God did reveal himself.

418
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:20,000
Now they've got this army and the prophet is saying, look back at that huge army. You could have defeated these guys.

419
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:25,000
You could have ruled this whole area like you were supposed to. Verse 9 says,

420
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:34,000
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth, that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.

421
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:42,000
Well, you could have that. I could have that as my life verse. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro, that means looking everywhere throughout the earth,

422
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,000
That he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.

423
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:54,000
You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars. No more peace.

424
00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:02,000
So notice, what did he lose? The peace. Now he had the peace when? Before he ever started to fly with God, right?

425
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:08,000
So way back over here, he just sought God and peace came. And he never found God. God didn't reveal himself yet.

426
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:13,000
But there was peace. Tons of peace. It was going good. But the prophet said, but that's not good enough.

427
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:20,000
You're going to give your life to the Lord. You're going to surrender to God. You're going to have, and then God in his grace is going to reveal himself to you.

428
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:24,000
You're going to be with God. You're going to have a relationship with God. You're going to fly with God.

429
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:31,000
And he said, yes, that's what we want. And they all did that. But then after a while of doing that, here comes an army, right?

430
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:36,000
And it wasn't the army of Iran that they were really worried about, although they had had conflicts with them.

431
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:40,000
But they were looking at the army of Israel that was cutting off trade with them.

432
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:46,000
And to defeat them, they empowered this other army. Think about it, the history of the United States of America.

433
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:55,000
How often has America empowered one force out there to defeat another force out there only to realize, okay, now we can't deal with this first force, right?

434
00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:02,000
It happens. And that's what they did. They made it, he made a political move to deal with what he saw was a major problem.

435
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:09,000
And the prophet is now telling him, when you did that, you so strengthened your enemies that now you're going to have, you're not going to have peace anymore.

436
00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:15,000
You're going to have great wars. Almost done with the text. Then Asa was angry with the seer.

437
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:20,000
Our hero is now angry with the guy speaking on behalf of God. I've been there.

438
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:26,000
I've been angry with somebody who was bringing the message of God to me. And I've been the messenger and people have been angry with me.

439
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:33,000
Thankfully, more of the latter than the former. But it's happened both ways. And he put him in prison.

440
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:42,000
For he was enraged at him for this. And then there's a little, this kind of sub-note, it's interesting, it says, and Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.

441
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:48,000
You catch that? Remember, it was all the people who said, we will go with God or us not at all.

442
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:54,000
Everybody did it. All the men did it. And the women in the households. And they were all on fire for God and walking with the Lord.

443
00:43:54,000 --> 00:44:01,000
And so if Asa is going to begin to oppress the man of God, he's also got to oppress anyone else who wants to stick with God.

444
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,000
Right? And that's what he's begun to do. Verse 11.

445
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:10,000
And now the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

446
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:18,000
And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe.

447
00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:23,000
Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

448
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:28,000
So in other words, he didn't pray to God. He didn't ask to be healed in his feet. He didn't turn his heart back over to the Lord.

449
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,000
He's lost his peace. And now, if you will, he's losing his life.

450
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:37,000
So Asa slept with his fathers, having died in the forty-first year of his reign.

451
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:42,000
And they buried him in his own tomb, which he had cut out for himself in the city of David.

452
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:49,000
And they laid him in the resting place, which he had filled with spices of various kinds, blended by the perfumers' art.

453
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:53,000
And they made a very great fire for him.

454
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:57,000
So today we're looking at the final installment.

455
00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:01,000
Asa had taken flight. In chapter fifteen, it said that God had revealed himself.

456
00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:05,000
You may be here today, and I heard this at camp a couple of times.

457
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:11,000
Once you've had that experience with God, once you've had a first-hand encounter with the Lord, there's no forgetting that.

458
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:19,000
That started something in you. You can't turn away from that without risking a serious crash.

459
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:26,000
And that message plays itself out loudly in the life of Asa.

460
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:32,000
The first thing I want you to see in the text here is what I call worldly machinations to solve problems.

461
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:36,000
So what is a machination? It's just a plan and effort, steps that you take.

462
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:42,000
But notice that Asa, while he's flying with the Lord, while he's walking with the Lord, and God has revealed himself,

463
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:49,000
begins to, out of his peace, out of his love for his blessings, out of his fear of an army, whatever,

464
00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:54,000
he begins to use worldly methods to be successful as king.

465
00:45:54,000 --> 00:46:02,000
He first sent large amounts of tribute to Aram to get them to fight on Israel and to free Ramah.

466
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:07,000
He could have gone down and freed Ramah. He could have sent armies down and freed Ramah. He could have done whatever.

467
00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:13,000
There were lots of possibilities that might have been the way. But the one thing he for sure didn't do is he didn't ask God what to do.

468
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,000
He was flying with the Lord, and he didn't ask God what to do.

469
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:23,000
This is what we might sometimes do that leads to a crash, is as we are flying with the Lord,

470
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:29,000
we discover something that seems to work. We find results that we appreciate.

471
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:33,000
It brings a form of peace, absence of war or violence.

472
00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:40,000
It might bring comfort or wealth or what we consider to be success, promotions, financial success, whatever.

473
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:44,000
Victory even over enemies, healing, whatever.

474
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:49,000
And we begin to embrace those things. And where did those things come from?

475
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:58,000
Well, they came from God. God created every medicine, every herb, every drink, everything that is on the planet

476
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:02,000
that could ever help you if you have an ailment was created by God.

477
00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:10,000
Literally everything is created by God. Everybody that ever gets addicted to oxy, Percocet, whatever,

478
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:14,000
those things were created from stuff that was created by God.

479
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:19,000
They are just then being used in a way that is not God would have it, and then the person is addicted.

480
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:24,000
It's alcohol, it's cigarettes. Tobacco was created by God.

481
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:29,000
It has purposes other than smoking it in a cigarette that almost nobody ever uses it for anymore.

482
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:34,000
Because we have all begun to use it, and by the way people say, well, nicotine calms me down.

483
00:47:34,000 --> 00:47:39,000
Nicotine this and nicotine that. We have taken the things that God has made,

484
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:44,000
and we are supposed to be flying with the Lord, and we are supposed to be using them what God would have us to use them.

485
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:51,000
And instead we use those very same machinations, those systems, to provide our own idea of peace,

486
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:59,000
our own idea of overcoming violence, our own idea of comfort, our own idea of wealth, success, victory, or healing.

487
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:12,000
Many years ago I was about 10 years old or so, and my parents and I went out to the Apple Butter Festival in Grand Rapids, Ohio.

488
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:19,000
We were out on the river. I almost can't go there now because it's so busy every year, but we went several years in a row.

489
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:26,000
And we would go out there, usually in the spring, this is back in the day before we had a cell phone or internet to look up the dates and everything,

490
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:31,000
we'd go out to the park out there on the river and they would have signs posted for when the festival was going to be.

491
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:35,000
And then that's how we would find out when it was going to be. We'd go out to the festival, we'd go to the flea market,

492
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:41,000
my dad would buy some apple butter because he used to love apple butter and peanut butter sandwiches, no jelly, just the two of those together.

493
00:48:41,000 --> 00:48:49,000
And like that, right? So one spring we went out there and it was customary for, if we were leaving to go out,

494
00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:54,000
and my brother or I would be allowed to invite a friend to go somewhere.

495
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:58,000
If we wanted to go somewhere, we could go to the flea market and we'd say, you know, one of our friends could go with us.

496
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:04,000
And we usually had a vehicle that sat three people in the back seat. And so it was usually one friend.

497
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:10,000
Well, I checked with all of my friends that day, the day we were going out to the park to find out when the apple butter festival would be,

498
00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:17,000
and none of my friends were available. And then my brother checked with most of his friends and most of his friends were not available.

499
00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:23,000
And there was a man, a young man, a teenager who was a little bit older than my brother, I think one year older or whatever,

500
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:31,000
who lived on our block. And he happened to be outside. And my brother just happened to ask him if he wanted to go along.

501
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:40,000
And so sure enough, he went along with us. Now, this young man was quite large. He was a linebacker. He was 6'5", about 300 pounds.

502
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:45,000
And he didn't fit real good in the back seat with my brother and I. And I wasn't too content about that.

503
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:51,000
So because I got squeezed up against the door, my brother was bigger so he could kind of force him over in the middle a little bit.

504
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:57,000
And he kind of overlapped into my side. I got about this much space to sit in on the way there. And it's not a short drive out to Grand Rapids.

505
00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:03,000
We get out there, we go to the park. And in the park they had teeter totters. Anybody remember what a teeter totter is?

506
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:12,000
Anybody under 18 here who's actually seen a teeter totter? Okay, so they do still exist. Well, back then that was the premier toy at this playground,

507
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:18,000
was a teeter totter. There was no big huge monkey bars. They didn't have a bunch of slides. They had one metal slide, right?

508
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:25,000
And they had like 12 teeter totters. And they were these big metal teeter totters, bars with this huge beam that was like this thick.

509
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:29,000
And there were a bunch of kids playing in the park. And they were playing on the teeter totter.

510
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:35,000
So this guy from my neighborhood, who's 300 pounds, goes over and he sits down on the one side of the teeter totter.

511
00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:40,000
He needed to say it's on the ground. He's sitting on the teeter totter and the teeter totter is sitting on the ground.

512
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:46,000
So my brother jumps up and he grabs onto the teeter totter and he swings his leg up over and he gets up there.

513
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:51,000
And he's sitting on the teeter totter eight foot up in the air. And he says, Danny, Danny, come over here.

514
00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:56,000
Come over here. We're going to see if we can lift this. So I go over and I swing up on the teeter totter

515
00:50:56,000 --> 00:51:01,000
and I sit up in front of the bar, that T bar that hold it. And I'm sitting up there and it's not moving.

516
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:05,000
He's sitting on the ground and we're eight feet up in the air. And there were some other kids playing in the park.

517
00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:08,000
And I said, oh, we'll help. We'll help. And this little girl comes over. She weighs like a 25 pounds.

518
00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:12,000
She's going to make a huge dent. And she comes up and she gets in the middle where it's at the ground.

519
00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:19,000
And she walks up the teeter totter and sits down in front of me. We got seven people, seven kids sitting on the teeter totter.

520
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:24,000
And he's still on the ground. We're all bouncing up and down on the teeter totter.

521
00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:29,000
It's like we could maybe move him up an eighth of an inch. Right. And then so then he thinks he's going to be funny.

522
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:34,000
So he pushes up on his side. We all go down really hard and like five people fall off and the three people that remain get shot up in the air.

523
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:39,000
And that's the bad part of teeter totters. Here's what I'm trying to explain to you.

524
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:47,000
In life, there are heavy, big, immovable things. And there are small things.

525
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:51,000
And the small things will never mount up to be the big things.

526
00:51:51,000 --> 00:52:01,000
The small things are the machinations of man. Your choices, your decisions, your strategies, your idea of how you might use something to better yourself.

527
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:06,000
You can come up with a thousand plans and live your whole life by those plans.

528
00:52:06,000 --> 00:52:13,000
And you so every time I get in pain, I take ibuprofen. Every time I get tired, I drink coffee every time.

529
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:17,000
And the list just goes on and on. You're going to have plans and plans and plans on plans and plans.

530
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:24,000
And if I drink, if I take ibuprofen and drink coffee and that doesn't work, then I'll take Sudafed because it's a kind of wakes me up.

531
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:29,000
And if that doesn't work, then I'll, you know, and you just got to plan and plan and plans on top of plans.

532
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:36,000
And you might have a thousand plans and they're not as good as God's very first single one plan.

533
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:43,000
You understand? This is what happened to Asa. He got airborne with God.

534
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:51,000
He had a personal encounter with the God of the universe. It says God revealed himself in chapter 15.

535
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:57,000
And he said from this point on to get God to reveal himself that way, he said, I will live with God.

536
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:05,000
And it's not me with God, but not me at all. Do you think that the day that he heard that Israel was fortifying Rama

537
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:15,000
and the merchants were being stopped from coming up to Judah, that he was still living by the idea that it was going to be him and God or not him at all?

538
00:53:15,000 --> 00:53:25,000
No, no, he wasn't. He had so much peace and so much prosperity and so much flying with God, if you will,

539
00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:34,000
that he now said instead I will use the machinations of man, my own plans. I will manipulate politics or government or money.

540
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:43,000
He even took gold and silver out of God's house to pay the tribute.

541
00:53:43,000 --> 00:54:02,000
It's a dangerous thing to realize that you could literally be walking with God and make a decision or a plan that is contrary to God's plan for you and thereby destined yourself for a crash.

542
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:09,000
When things seem to work, when we ask ourselves what will be the results if I do this?

543
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:14,000
And we begin to think, yeah, that should work. I'll just tell them this and then they'll do that.

544
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:21,000
Or, yeah, if I lose my temper again today, everyone will leave me alone and I can have some peace.

545
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:27,000
If I break it, everyone will know I'm upset and everyone will come running to me and ask me why am I upset.

546
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:35,000
If I save all my money all the time and never give and never tithe and never show mercy to people who need it,

547
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:43,000
I'll have plenty of money and I'll be able to do everything I need and take my ease for the rest of my life.

548
00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:53,000
That plan is nothing compared to just one inkling of doing what it is that God would have you to do.

549
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:56,000
The question is do you have faith?

550
00:54:56,000 --> 00:55:03,000
They opened that channel of faith when they said from this day forward it's me and God or not me at all and they all did it.

551
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:09,000
The whole society did it. And then through that channel of faith, God by His grace showed them.

552
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:16,000
And it's almost like they said, yeah, well, now we've got God. Now we can do it our way.

553
00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:20,000
And that's not how it works.

554
00:55:20,000 --> 00:55:26,000
We must live our lives by Holy Spirit led choices.

555
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:34,000
God must become the big guy on the teeter totter in your life.

556
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:42,000
Second thing to notice in here is behold, adversity as headwinds to take us higher, not to bring us down.

557
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:45,000
We've been talking about flight the whole time, right?

558
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:53,000
Did you know that little single engine airplane that I flew back in high school, it needed to go, I'm trying to remember exactly,

559
00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:58,000
I think it was like 48 mile an hour to get off the ground. Your car can go way faster than that, right?

560
00:55:58,000 --> 00:56:03,000
But because of the ratio of weight to the wings and so on, it really only needed to go like 48 mile an hour.

561
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:07,000
Have you ever seen 48 mile an hour winds?

562
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:13,000
You might have, right? We get tornadoes, we get hurricanes, we get bad storms that go that fast, right?

563
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:18,000
And so if that plane is sitting on the ground, the engines completely turned off,

564
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:23,000
and a 48 mile an hour wind hits it in the direction of the propeller, it's gone.

565
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:29,000
It'll fly. It doesn't need an engine. It doesn't need a pilot. It'll just go. It's gone.

566
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:36,000
That's why they tie them down, right? Because a gust of wind will make a plane fly if it's a headwind.

567
00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:43,000
Adversity as headwinds are designed to take us higher, not to bring us down.

568
00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:48,000
The chief adversity that humans face is what?

569
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,000
What is the chief, the number one adversity that we face?

570
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:56,000
I think I know what you want to say, and I think you know what the real answer is.

571
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:58,000
Do you want to take a stab at it?

572
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:03,000
What is the chief adversity that humans face? The number one, say it again?

573
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:09,000
Okay, so temptation or sin. That's big, right? But is it really the number one? It's really up there.

574
00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:15,000
What is the wages of sin? Death. Death is the chief adversity, right?

575
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:19,000
Sin results, and so they're very close together. They're very tied together.

576
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:24,000
And I think most people think that temptation or sin is the chief adversity in life.

577
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:29,000
So you've got people, Muslims, right? They've got their rules and laws that they have to follow.

578
00:57:29,000 --> 00:57:34,000
And when they break them, they say what? I have sinned against Allah, right?

579
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:37,000
And this is how it works. If you sin less against Allah,

580
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:40,000
then you do good in your lifetime, then on the day in question,

581
00:57:40,000 --> 00:57:46,000
it will be the flip of a coin as to whether Allah is merciful and you'll either go or go, right?

582
00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:50,000
That's how their program works. At best, you can earn the flip of a coin.

583
00:57:50,000 --> 00:57:54,000
If you follow all the rules more than you break all the rules.

584
00:57:54,000 --> 00:57:57,000
So we understand the concept of sin. Every religion talks about sin.

585
00:57:57,000 --> 00:58:00,000
Don't sin against whatever. Don't sin this way. Don't sin that way.

586
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:05,000
Here's the tenfold laws of Buddhism and whatever. We've got all these rules, right?

587
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:10,000
And so everybody thinks the chief problem is sin. But it isn't.

588
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:15,000
The chief problem is really death because you will die. And after death comes what?

589
00:58:15,000 --> 00:58:20,000
The judgment, right? So after death, we will answer for how we've lived this life.

590
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:24,000
So the real adversity that no one can avoid, no matter your effort,

591
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:29,000
even with God's help, your physical body will die.

592
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:33,000
And then the judgment for how you have spent this life.

593
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:39,000
And you will be judged chiefly over all creation in how you handled the Son of God.

594
00:58:39,000 --> 00:58:46,000
Jesus said, I did not come to condemn. Rather, they are condemned already by what they have done with the Son of God.

595
00:58:46,000 --> 00:58:53,000
So the chief adversity then is death. But resilience is inherent to God flight.

596
00:58:53,000 --> 00:59:00,000
So that when death overcomes you, what happens next? You fly, right?

597
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:04,000
That's how it works. We start our flight with God. We talk about abundant life.

598
00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:09,000
Jesus said, I can't. They didn't have life and have it more abundant. That's a flight with God, right?

599
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:13,000
And then you're flying with God. And then someone kills you or you die or whatever.

600
00:59:13,000 --> 00:59:19,000
And then right after that, you do what? You fly. So we fly, we hit death, and we fly.

601
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:23,000
It's barely a road bump. It's like a tiny stumble.

602
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:28,000
And it really isn't even that if you're flying with the Lord as you proceed through it.

603
00:59:28,000 --> 00:59:35,000
I have seen people in their death beds who knew the Lord, and they were praising God for what was coming next.

604
00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:38,000
Even though their heart was about to stop and their brain was going to be not waving,

605
00:59:38,000 --> 00:59:42,000
and they were never ever going to get anything but horizontal ever again in their life.

606
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:46,000
They were going to lay there until they were dead. Their family already called in.

607
00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:51,000
And they're praising God because it's little more than a road bump.

608
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:55,000
The greatest adversity that men face is death. So here's what happens.

609
00:59:55,000 --> 01:00:01,000
A lot of these other adversities feel like death. Have you ever lost a job?

610
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:05,000
Did you ever think you were madly in love with somebody and they broke your heart?

611
01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:12,000
Did you ever say something to somebody and then they said something back to you and it crushed you?

612
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:18,000
Like you were ripped internally and it just, what does it feel like? It feels like death.

613
01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:24,000
When flying with the Lord, those adversities are just headwinds.

614
01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:27,000
They're just meant to make you fly higher.

615
01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:33,000
That's what Romans 8 means when it says God can work all things together for your good

616
01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:35,000
if you love the Lord and are called according to your purpose.

617
01:00:35,000 --> 01:00:38,000
I'm going to leave that last part off. Go for it. Asa did.

618
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:41,000
You'd be making a huge mistake because he left it off.

619
01:00:41,000 --> 01:00:47,000
He said God can work everything for my good and then he left off the if you love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.

620
01:00:47,000 --> 01:00:51,000
And so he took the money out of the temple and the money out of the palace and he sent it off

621
01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:57,000
and he thought he was doing the right thing. He used the machinations of man, the political, governmental effort to end the problem.

622
01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:01,000
And he did for that moment.

623
01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:06,000
But because he didn't do it God's way, because he did not love the Lord and was called according to his purpose

624
01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:13,000
after he had begun his flight with him, he instead would spend the rest of his life dealing with war.

625
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:18,000
No more peace. That's what the prophet said.

626
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:21,000
And so then what did he do? He persecuted the prophet.

627
01:01:21,000 --> 01:01:24,000
Then there were people in the kingdom who still wanted to follow God. What did they do?

628
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:28,000
He persecuted them too.

629
01:01:28,000 --> 01:01:34,000
You'll be the one shouting I love Jesus. I'm following Jesus. I want to do what Jesus wants me to do.

630
01:01:34,000 --> 01:01:42,000
And a headwind comes and it's just designed to make you fly higher, better.

631
01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:46,000
But you're so wrapped up in how to solve this problem that you're facing

632
01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:49,000
that you start looking, well how does the world normally do it?

633
01:01:49,000 --> 01:01:53,000
Well right away, I've got to do something. I've got to go to a doctor right away.

634
01:01:53,000 --> 01:01:58,000
Or I need a counselor. Or I need to make more money.

635
01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:02,000
Or I need to ask somebody for help right away.

636
01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:07,000
And there's no consideration that the God of the universe is looking all through the world

637
01:02:07,000 --> 01:02:13,000
and everybody all the time seeking how he may help.

638
01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:16,000
So say it with text.

639
01:02:16,000 --> 01:02:20,000
God must be the big guy on the teeter totter.

640
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:24,000
Because you compile your plans and your efforts and your drugs and your counseling

641
01:02:24,000 --> 01:02:26,000
and all of those other things on the other side of that.

642
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:31,000
And if God does not say okay, if God does not authorize it, there will be no healing.

643
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:33,000
There will be no help. There will be no overcoming adversity.

644
01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:36,000
You will not fly. You will not fly for the rest of your life.

645
01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:40,000
And when you reach death, it will be a horrific experience on the other side of which

646
01:02:40,000 --> 01:02:47,000
you will be forgiven in Christ assuming you did truly believe.

647
01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:54,000
Adversity as headwinds is designed to take us higher, not to bring us down.

648
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,000
The chief of these is death.

649
01:02:56,000 --> 01:02:59,000
And many of the things that we encounter in life feel like death.

650
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:03,000
But resilience is inherent in God's flight.

651
01:03:03,000 --> 01:03:07,000
Does anybody know anything about eagles?

652
01:03:07,000 --> 01:03:10,000
See anything about bald eagles, American bird, you didn't know that.

653
01:03:10,000 --> 01:03:12,000
It's pretty cool. Eagles are awesome.

654
01:03:12,000 --> 01:03:15,000
Eagles will fly for four to six hours at a time.

655
01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:18,000
Hang on. They don't have a propeller.

656
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,000
And they don't flap their wings.

657
01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:22,000
Now you tell me how that's possible.

658
01:03:22,000 --> 01:03:25,000
How do eagles fly for four to six hours at a time

659
01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:28,000
without flapping their wings or having a propeller?

660
01:03:28,000 --> 01:03:34,000
They gain speed diving. That's true.

661
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:37,000
But if that was all they did, they would eventually land.

662
01:03:37,000 --> 01:03:38,000
Say it again.

663
01:03:38,000 --> 01:03:41,000
Yes, called thermals.

664
01:03:41,000 --> 01:03:45,000
So everywhere in the world, the air is changing places.

665
01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:50,000
Warm air going up, cold air going down.

666
01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:53,000
As it goes up, it expands and thins out and becomes cold air.

667
01:03:53,000 --> 01:03:55,000
So the air is always changing.

668
01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:57,000
So there's a warm thermal coming up.

669
01:03:57,000 --> 01:04:00,000
The eagle, and God is an amazing creator,

670
01:04:00,000 --> 01:04:04,000
the eagle flies where the warm air is and it pushes him up.

671
01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:07,000
It pushes him up just like that.

672
01:04:07,000 --> 01:04:10,000
That's adversity normally.

673
01:04:10,000 --> 01:04:14,000
So you're flying into adversity so that the air can push you up

674
01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:17,000
and they fly up and they don't flap their wings.

675
01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:20,000
They just hit it and it pushes them up.

676
01:04:20,000 --> 01:04:24,000
This is the kind of life that God has designed for you.

677
01:04:24,000 --> 01:04:28,000
This is the kind of life that God has designed for Jesus,

678
01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:30,000
for Jesus' people.

679
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:33,000
We're to seek out those things in life.

680
01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:36,000
That means you have to seek out adversity.

681
01:04:36,000 --> 01:04:38,000
Not outside God's will.

682
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:41,000
He still has to remain the big guy on the teeter totter.

683
01:04:41,000 --> 01:04:44,000
So you're not going to go, well, I'm going to go see if I can pick a fight with somebody

684
01:04:44,000 --> 01:04:46,000
and then that will push me higher.

685
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:49,000
Or I'm going to go cuss somebody out because they didn't do something right

686
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:51,000
and they're going to be mean to me back and then I'll forgive them

687
01:04:51,000 --> 01:04:53,000
and then that will push me higher.

688
01:04:53,000 --> 01:04:54,000
No, it doesn't work like that.

689
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:56,000
You walk in the Lord and you seek out adversity.

690
01:04:56,000 --> 01:05:00,000
So you give more, you serve more, you do more, you push harder

691
01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:02,000
to do the things that the Kingdom of God.

692
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:06,000
You keep your promises when keeping your promises stinks, when it hurts,

693
01:05:06,000 --> 01:05:09,000
when you barely have the gumption to get out of bed,

694
01:05:09,000 --> 01:05:11,000
you still do it and you keep your word.

695
01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:12,000
You do what you said you would do.

696
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:16,000
Or you say right up front, look, I don't think I'm going to be able to do that.

697
01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:17,000
I'll try. Maybe I can.

698
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:20,000
But I'm not making any commitments because right now I'm so burnt.

699
01:05:20,000 --> 01:05:21,000
I don't know that I can do it.

700
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:23,000
And you tell it right up front like it is.

701
01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:26,000
You don't say I'm going to go do it and then don't do it

702
01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:28,000
because that's breaking your promises.

703
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:32,000
God hears you speak and His eyes are roaming throughout the earth

704
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:37,000
looking for whom He may assist to do exactly that which they have said they will do.

705
01:05:37,000 --> 01:05:40,000
Are you familiar with the bird the albatross?

706
01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:42,000
A really big bird.

707
01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:43,000
Albatross.

708
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:45,000
Albatross has lived to be over 50 years old.

709
01:05:45,000 --> 01:05:48,000
They also use thermals to fly.

710
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:51,000
They find those updrafts and they land on them

711
01:05:51,000 --> 01:05:53,000
and they glide for really long distances.

712
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:57,000
An albatross can land in the water and will sometimes

713
01:05:57,000 --> 01:06:00,000
but doesn't do a lot of that because they mostly fly over the ocean

714
01:06:00,000 --> 01:06:01,000
and the ocean can be pretty rough.

715
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:07,000
And so they will fly literally for days at a time and never land.

716
01:06:07,000 --> 01:06:13,000
You can watch an albatross fly all day for 12 hours and never flap his wings.

717
01:06:13,000 --> 01:06:14,000
All day.

718
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:16,000
Now why did God make it like that?

719
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:20,000
Well, I think He's trying to teach us something.

720
01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:27,000
An albatross will usually not see land until it's at least six years old.

721
01:06:27,000 --> 01:06:29,000
Is that not nuts?

722
01:06:29,000 --> 01:06:32,000
You want to fly with Jesus like that.

723
01:06:32,000 --> 01:06:34,000
You want to get going.

724
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:35,000
You want to encounter Him.

725
01:06:35,000 --> 01:06:37,000
Means you need to like Asa figured it out.

726
01:06:37,000 --> 01:06:39,000
We've got to trust in the Lord to do what the Lord has promised.

727
01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:42,000
Therefore I say beyond this line it's me and Jesus or not me at all.

728
01:06:42,000 --> 01:06:43,000
And now I'm trusting the Lord.

729
01:06:43,000 --> 01:06:44,000
Then God shows up.

730
01:06:44,000 --> 01:06:45,000
I've had that encounter with Jesus.

731
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:46,000
The Holy Spirit's in me.

732
01:06:46,000 --> 01:06:48,000
Now I'm flying with Him.

733
01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:53,000
Now even if I experience peace or success or victory in the way the world experiences it,

734
01:06:53,000 --> 01:06:55,000
God is still the big man in the teeter totter.

735
01:06:55,000 --> 01:06:56,000
God is still in charge.

736
01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:58,000
God still says it or I don't do it.

737
01:06:58,000 --> 01:07:02,000
God still authors it and when He does I carry it out.

738
01:07:02,000 --> 01:07:03,000
Believe.

739
01:07:03,000 --> 01:07:08,000
Faith is in believing in the next victory, not the last or the past.

740
01:07:08,000 --> 01:07:09,000
Oh man, there's so many.

741
01:07:09,000 --> 01:07:10,000
And this happened at camp.

742
01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:12,000
The girls will testify.

743
01:07:12,000 --> 01:07:15,000
How many people stood up there and told the testimony?

744
01:07:15,000 --> 01:07:17,000
I'm just going to very briefly.

745
01:07:17,000 --> 01:07:21,000
Let me give you very briefly a synopsis of the testimony of several of the speakers, right?

746
01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:22,000
I was a dirt bag.

747
01:07:22,000 --> 01:07:24,000
I was empty inside.

748
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:28,000
I contemplated suicide, using drugs, victimizing everybody in my life.

749
01:07:28,000 --> 01:07:30,000
I was a complete waste case.

750
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:32,000
I was worthless to the world.

751
01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:34,000
Probably would have died young.

752
01:07:34,000 --> 01:07:35,000
And then somebody prayed for me.

753
01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:36,000
Somebody shared Jesus with me.

754
01:07:36,000 --> 01:07:37,000
I got to church.

755
01:07:37,000 --> 01:07:38,000
I found out about Jesus.

756
01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:39,000
I committed my life to the Lord.

757
01:07:39,000 --> 01:07:41,000
Had an encounter with the Lord.

758
01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:42,000
And now everything has changed.

759
01:07:42,000 --> 01:07:44,000
Now I'm walking with the Lord.

760
01:07:44,000 --> 01:07:46,000
And now God can use me and I'm flying with the Lord.

761
01:07:46,000 --> 01:07:48,000
That's the testimony.

762
01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:49,000
Now the exact details might be different.

763
01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:50,000
For one, it's a different drug.

764
01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:52,000
For one, it's a different violent episode.

765
01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:53,000
For one, it's a different crime.

766
01:07:53,000 --> 01:07:54,000
Whatever.

767
01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:59,000
But all of us were dirty, nasty dirt bags before we ran into Jesus.

768
01:07:59,000 --> 01:08:00,000
You could say, well, I really wasn't that bad.

769
01:08:00,000 --> 01:08:01,000
I never hardly lied.

770
01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:02,000
I was pretty dependable.

771
01:08:02,000 --> 01:08:03,000
Whatever.

772
01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:07,000
If you can't figure out what you were doing wrong before you met Jesus, you probably haven't met Jesus.

773
01:08:07,000 --> 01:08:10,000
Because Jesus radically rebirths people.

774
01:08:10,000 --> 01:08:11,000
That's what he does.

775
01:08:11,000 --> 01:08:18,000
But if all you can do is look back at what Jesus did back then, if that's the only story you got,

776
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:23,000
the only story you got is when Jesus saved you or maybe for a few years after that some incredible things happened.

777
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:26,000
Or about five or ten years ago God did another miracle.

778
01:08:26,000 --> 01:08:29,000
If that's what you've got, you ain't got God.

779
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:34,000
The word says we know the will of God like we talked about last week.

780
01:08:34,000 --> 01:08:36,000
We are looking at the future.

781
01:08:36,000 --> 01:08:38,000
We're looking at where we're going.

782
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:39,000
We're talking about what it's going to be.

783
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:42,000
I understand you can't paint an exact picture of what heaven is like.

784
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:45,000
I understand you don't know exactly what God is going to do tomorrow.

785
01:08:45,000 --> 01:08:48,000
But you can know what it is that God expects from you.

786
01:08:48,000 --> 01:08:54,000
And if God expects you to do it, then you can know to some degree the outcome.

787
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:57,000
At least the first steps will be taken.

788
01:08:57,000 --> 01:09:01,000
Faith is believing in the next victory, not the last victory or the past victory.

789
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:04,000
Those things have already happened.

790
01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:07,000
Faith is the essence of things not yet seen.

791
01:09:07,000 --> 01:09:09,000
The things that we're headed into.

792
01:09:09,000 --> 01:09:11,000
Let me tell you what's going to happen.

793
01:09:11,000 --> 01:09:13,000
We're going to continue to share the gospel.

794
01:09:13,000 --> 01:09:16,000
Some of the people in this room are not going to stay the flight with Jesus,

795
01:09:16,000 --> 01:09:18,000
which means they're going to walk away from the Lord.

796
01:09:18,000 --> 01:09:19,000
They're not going to truly stand up.

797
01:09:19,000 --> 01:09:22,000
They're not going to truly do what it is that God would have them to do.

798
01:09:22,000 --> 01:09:24,000
But some of them are going to stay the course.

799
01:09:24,000 --> 01:09:26,000
And more and more people are going to get saved.

800
01:09:26,000 --> 01:09:29,000
We've got young people in this room who will be preaching the gospel.

801
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:34,000
And we've got teachers in this room who in ten years will not be because they will have gotten,

802
01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:38,000
they will have endorsed ways of men or got addicted to peace or whatever,

803
01:09:38,000 --> 01:09:41,000
and they don't want to take the risk anymore.

804
01:09:41,000 --> 01:09:43,000
When I was at East Soledad Baptist Church as a youth director,

805
01:09:43,000 --> 01:09:47,000
we had the hardest time finding youth leaders to teach to teenagers.

806
01:09:47,000 --> 01:09:51,000
There were so many mature Christians gifted, spiritually gifted to teach,

807
01:09:51,000 --> 01:09:53,000
and none of them would do it.

808
01:09:53,000 --> 01:09:55,000
So for a while it was just me and Jerry.

809
01:09:55,000 --> 01:09:56,000
That was it.

810
01:09:56,000 --> 01:09:58,000
And then some others came and joined us.

811
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:02,000
And then some people came to Christ, and they came and joined us.

812
01:10:02,000 --> 01:10:04,000
Pretty soon we had ten or twelve leaders.

813
01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:12,000
Meanwhile, the hundred teachers that were potentially able to teach went down to sixty, fifty, forty.

814
01:10:12,000 --> 01:10:16,000
And it all waned and it all fell apart because they didn't do what it was.

815
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:19,000
Are you flying with Jesus or not?

816
01:10:19,000 --> 01:10:22,000
And if you are, stop being worried about what happened back then.

817
01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:23,000
It's good to know that.

818
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:25,000
It's good to know that God did a good thing.

819
01:10:25,000 --> 01:10:29,000
But believe for what God is bringing about as the next victory.

820
01:10:29,000 --> 01:10:32,000
When the gospel is delivered, people will get saved.

821
01:10:32,000 --> 01:10:36,000
If you don't believe people will get saved, you probably won't deliver the gospel.

822
01:10:36,000 --> 01:10:38,000
But it is true.

823
01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:46,000
You say, I know what I have seen when in actuality you should be saying, I believe in what I will see.

824
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:48,000
That is what God called us to.

825
01:10:48,000 --> 01:10:51,000
Asa said, I know what I have seen.

826
01:10:51,000 --> 01:10:52,000
God is with me.

827
01:10:52,000 --> 01:10:56,000
Let's take the stuff out of the temple and the palace and pay for an army to stop this problem.

828
01:10:56,000 --> 01:10:59,000
Instead of saying, I know what I will see.

829
01:10:59,000 --> 01:11:01,000
I will walk with the Lord.

830
01:11:01,000 --> 01:11:02,000
God will be with me.

831
01:11:02,000 --> 01:11:03,000
God will give us the victory.

832
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:05,000
Trust him to deal with the armies of Aram.

833
01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:08,000
Instead of paying the gold and silver out of the temple and the palace,

834
01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:10,000
after they conquered the armies of Aram,

835
01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:15,000
they would have gotten richer and richer and more and more peace as they had done before.

836
01:11:15,000 --> 01:11:20,000
Are you fighting the battles or not?

837
01:11:20,000 --> 01:11:22,000
Quick recap so we know where we're at.

838
01:11:22,000 --> 01:11:26,000
Beware worldly machinations to solve problems.

839
01:11:26,000 --> 01:11:31,000
Behold, adversity as headwinds to take us up higher not to bring us down.

840
01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:32,000
Believe.

841
01:11:32,000 --> 01:11:36,000
Faith is believing in the next victory, not the last or the past victory.

842
01:11:36,000 --> 01:11:39,000
And that brings us to our conclusion.

843
01:11:39,000 --> 01:11:41,000
There were two speakers at camp that went back to back.

844
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:44,000
One of them was the pastor for the week.

845
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:46,000
His name was Drew.

846
01:11:46,000 --> 01:11:48,000
And he spoke to us a number of times.

847
01:11:48,000 --> 01:11:51,000
I thought everything he said was biblical.

848
01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:53,000
Like he really talked out of the word.

849
01:11:53,000 --> 01:11:55,000
I wasn't super excited about him using the New Living translation

850
01:11:55,000 --> 01:11:58,000
because I'm not a huge fan of that translation.

851
01:11:58,000 --> 01:12:04,000
Because it's a little flowery and it doesn't always stick to exactly what the text is supposed to say.

852
01:12:04,000 --> 01:12:09,000
But he did a good job with it and he preached straight up what the Bible says.

853
01:12:09,000 --> 01:12:14,000
There was a young man who came and he goes to Faith's Life Church and he spoke.

854
01:12:14,000 --> 01:12:15,000
And this is what he said.

855
01:12:15,000 --> 01:12:17,000
Hang on to your hats.

856
01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:21,000
He said, God wants you to have good things. Remember that?

857
01:12:21,000 --> 01:12:24,000
He said, God wants you to have good things.

858
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:28,000
So if you just follow God, you'll have good things.

859
01:12:28,000 --> 01:12:31,000
You can have the $165,000 sports car.

860
01:12:31,000 --> 01:12:33,000
You can have the mansion on a hill.

861
01:12:33,000 --> 01:12:39,000
You can have all these good things if you'll just follow God.

862
01:12:39,000 --> 01:12:43,000
Not sure that message is entirely biblical.

863
01:12:43,000 --> 01:12:46,000
And then Drew got up right afterwards and he said,

864
01:12:46,000 --> 01:12:52,000
The greatest thing that God could ever give you is what?

865
01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:53,000
Jesus.

866
01:12:53,000 --> 01:12:55,000
And I was like, it wasn't even there.

867
01:12:55,000 --> 01:12:56,000
That's it.

868
01:12:56,000 --> 01:12:57,000
Right?

869
01:12:57,000 --> 01:13:06,000
And by the way, the $165,000 sports car doesn't begin to touch the first sip of wine in heaven.

870
01:13:06,000 --> 01:13:09,000
Or the first vision of his glory.

871
01:13:09,000 --> 01:13:11,000
Or the first song of praise.

872
01:13:11,000 --> 01:13:15,000
You cannot find peace amongst the machinations of men.

873
01:13:15,000 --> 01:13:21,000
That's why Jesus said, My peace I leave with you, I give you not as the world gives peace.

874
01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:25,000
Because the peace that Jesus gives you is not just a lack of war.

875
01:13:25,000 --> 01:13:26,000
In fact, you may go to war.

876
01:13:26,000 --> 01:13:32,000
He would have gone to war to have victory over the armies of Ram if he'd have stuck with God.

877
01:13:32,000 --> 01:13:36,000
The peace that Jesus gives you is peace in the face of trials and tribulations.

878
01:13:36,000 --> 01:13:39,000
It is peace that transcends everything that you are experiencing.

879
01:13:39,000 --> 01:13:43,000
And we could go through every one of the fruits of the Spirit and it would be the same thing.

880
01:13:43,000 --> 01:13:44,000
It's okay to have dreams.

881
01:13:44,000 --> 01:13:51,000
In fact, sometimes God will set a dream in your heart and in your mind about being a great professional in some field.

882
01:13:51,000 --> 01:13:54,000
Or a great caregiver in some way.

883
01:13:54,000 --> 01:13:56,000
Or a great financier.

884
01:13:56,000 --> 01:13:58,000
Or a great day trader.

885
01:13:58,000 --> 01:14:00,000
Or whatever.

886
01:14:00,000 --> 01:14:02,000
And he puts that in your heart so you pursue that.

887
01:14:02,000 --> 01:14:04,000
And all along the way you do what God would have you to do.

888
01:14:04,000 --> 01:14:07,000
And maybe the dream comes true and maybe it doesn't.

889
01:14:07,000 --> 01:14:09,000
But you're still serving God.

890
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:13,000
Because God's the big man on the teeter totter and you know it.

891
01:14:13,000 --> 01:14:18,000
The Bible says God's mercies are new every day.

892
01:14:18,000 --> 01:14:23,000
This is what it says in Lamentations 3.22 through 26.

893
01:14:23,000 --> 01:14:26,000
It says, The Lord's loving kindness indeed never cease.

894
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:28,000
For His compassion never fail.

895
01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:30,000
They are new every morning.

896
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:32,000
Great is your faithfulness.

897
01:14:32,000 --> 01:14:34,000
The Lord is my portion, says my soul.

898
01:14:34,000 --> 01:14:36,000
Therefore I have hope in Him.

899
01:14:36,000 --> 01:14:39,000
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him.

900
01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:41,000
To the person who seeks Him.

901
01:14:41,000 --> 01:14:45,000
It is good that He waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.

902
01:14:45,000 --> 01:14:49,000
God is the big man on the teeter totter.

903
01:14:49,000 --> 01:14:54,000
You've got to consult Him first before you make any effort whatsoever.

904
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:58,000
Otherwise you will pile on plan after plan after plan.

905
01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:03,000
Resources even stolen from God Himself.

906
01:15:03,000 --> 01:15:05,000
You will pile on.

907
01:15:05,000 --> 01:15:08,000
And when you pile on those resources stolen from God Himself.

908
01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:11,000
Fear not, God is not mocked.

909
01:15:11,000 --> 01:15:13,000
You will reap what you sow.

910
01:15:13,000 --> 01:15:15,000
You may go the rest of your life without peace.

911
01:15:15,000 --> 01:15:19,000
You may live the rest of your life with a break between you and God.

912
01:15:19,000 --> 01:15:20,000
Even though you're saved.

913
01:15:20,000 --> 01:15:22,000
Even though you'll go to heaven when you die.

914
01:15:22,000 --> 01:15:25,000
You could live with death as your constant companion.

915
01:15:25,000 --> 01:15:31,000
If you're working in the machinations of the world rather than advancing the kingdom of God.

916
01:15:31,000 --> 01:15:34,000
Paul wrote to Timothy in the book of sect Timothy.

917
01:15:34,000 --> 01:15:37,000
He said, But you be sober in all things.

918
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:38,000
Do your hardship.

919
01:15:38,000 --> 01:15:39,000
Do the work of an evangelist.

920
01:15:39,000 --> 01:15:41,000
Fulfill your ministry.

921
01:15:41,000 --> 01:15:46,000
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come.

922
01:15:46,000 --> 01:15:48,000
I have fought the good fight.

923
01:15:48,000 --> 01:15:49,000
I have finished the course.

924
01:15:49,000 --> 01:15:51,000
I have kept the faith.

925
01:15:51,000 --> 01:15:55,000
In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.

926
01:15:55,000 --> 01:15:59,000
Which the Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day.

927
01:15:59,000 --> 01:16:00,000
And not only to me.

928
01:16:00,000 --> 01:16:05,000
But also to all who have loved His appearing.

929
01:16:05,000 --> 01:16:07,000
We're not wrapped up in the things of the past.

930
01:16:07,000 --> 01:16:10,000
We're wrapped up in the thing of the future that God is doing.

931
01:16:10,000 --> 01:16:12,000
Stay the course.

932
01:16:12,000 --> 01:16:14,000
Keep the faith.

933
01:16:14,000 --> 01:16:15,000
Fly with the Lord.

934
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:18,000
Consult Him in every case.

935
01:16:18,000 --> 01:16:19,000
You're hurt.

936
01:16:19,000 --> 01:16:20,000
You got a problem.

937
01:16:20,000 --> 01:16:24,000
Don't pick up the phone to call the doctor before praying to Jesus first.

938
01:16:24,000 --> 01:16:28,000
Don't go solve the...don't take the car or the mechanic before praying first.

939
01:16:28,000 --> 01:16:30,000
Don't spend the money before praying first.

940
01:16:30,000 --> 01:16:33,000
Don't give a word of encouragement before praying first.

941
01:16:33,000 --> 01:16:36,000
Don't give a word of discouragement before praying first.

942
01:16:36,000 --> 01:16:38,000
God is first in all things.

943
01:16:38,000 --> 01:16:41,000
If you have encountered the Lord, you already know this.

944
01:16:41,000 --> 01:16:43,000
Because you open your heart to God.

945
01:16:43,000 --> 01:16:44,000
You believe in what He might do.

946
01:16:44,000 --> 01:16:46,000
And He reveals Himself to you.

947
01:16:46,000 --> 01:16:50,000
It's not like you were playing hide and seek and snuck off on God in a bush.

948
01:16:50,000 --> 01:16:52,000
You said, okay God, I'm ready.

949
01:16:52,000 --> 01:16:57,000
And God said, I'm here.

950
01:16:57,000 --> 01:17:00,000
Or did it happen for some other way for you?

951
01:17:00,000 --> 01:17:03,000
Because according to the Bible, that's the way it happens.

952
01:17:03,000 --> 01:17:04,000
God does it.

953
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:08,000
And if God saved you, then He's big enough to handle your next problem too.

954
01:17:08,000 --> 01:17:10,000
And your next one.

955
01:17:10,000 --> 01:17:11,000
And your next one.

956
01:17:11,000 --> 01:17:15,000
And all of them until He translates you from this life into the next one.

957
01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:19,000
And don't you want to be like Paul and be able to write, I have fought the good fight.

958
01:17:19,000 --> 01:17:21,000
I have finished the course.

959
01:17:21,000 --> 01:17:22,000
I have kept the faith.

960
01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:25,000
In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.

961
01:17:25,000 --> 01:17:30,000
And God is our treasure, every single one.

962
01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:33,000
Could He give you more money?

963
01:17:33,000 --> 01:17:34,000
Absolutely.

964
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:35,000
Can He give you more time?

965
01:17:35,000 --> 01:17:36,000
Absolutely.

966
01:17:36,000 --> 01:17:40,000
Did you know that there are only three kings in the Old Testament that are described as

967
01:17:40,000 --> 01:17:42,000
dying of illness?

968
01:17:42,000 --> 01:17:43,000
Three.

969
01:17:43,000 --> 01:17:45,000
Of all the kings.

970
01:17:45,000 --> 01:17:52,000
And Asa, who flew with the Lord, who had been revealed, God.

971
01:17:52,000 --> 01:17:55,000
God revealed Himself.

972
01:17:55,000 --> 01:17:58,000
Dies of foot disease.

973
01:17:58,000 --> 01:18:02,000
What a way to go.

974
01:18:02,000 --> 01:18:05,000
Man, He just should have kept flying.

975
01:18:05,000 --> 01:18:11,000
Ecclesiastes 7-14 says, In the day of prosperity be happy.

976
01:18:11,000 --> 01:18:18,000
In the day of adversity consider, God has made the one as well as the other so that

977
01:18:18,000 --> 01:18:23,000
man will not discover anything that will be after Him.

978
01:18:23,000 --> 01:18:29,000
I'm asking you, do you know to whom you belong?

979
01:18:29,000 --> 01:18:36,000
When you fret and worry, you're dismissing God.

980
01:18:36,000 --> 01:18:43,000
When you face adversity and you're frantically trying to solve the problem,

981
01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:47,000
if I just move this piece here, if I just do that, if I just twist this,

982
01:18:47,000 --> 01:18:53,000
if we try a little harder, do the same things we've been doing, but do a little better at it this time,

983
01:18:53,000 --> 01:18:56,000
you're just dismissing God.

984
01:18:56,000 --> 01:19:03,000
But if you just say, Lord, your will not my will be done, like Jesus did,

985
01:19:03,000 --> 01:19:05,000
the flight continues.

986
01:19:05,000 --> 01:19:08,000
The adversity will just push you higher.

987
01:19:08,000 --> 01:19:16,000
There is no reason at all that you cannot fly with God from the moment you receive Christ

988
01:19:16,000 --> 01:19:19,000
forever into heaven.

989
01:19:19,000 --> 01:19:27,000
Now, please understand, Asa did not have God's Holy Spirit like you or I might.

990
01:19:27,000 --> 01:19:31,000
Once you're saved and God's Holy Spirit is in you, He is in you.

991
01:19:31,000 --> 01:19:33,000
He moves in.

992
01:19:33,000 --> 01:19:37,000
And once He moves in, no one else moves in.

993
01:19:37,000 --> 01:19:40,000
Are you following Jesus?

994
01:19:40,000 --> 01:19:43,000
Have you met the Son of God?

995
01:19:43,000 --> 01:19:51,000
Having done so, your flight has begun and now every single thing that happens is under His control.

996
01:19:51,000 --> 01:19:54,000
If you have not done so and you continue to dismiss God,

997
01:19:54,000 --> 01:19:58,000
then I would suggest that you at least take the plan A method of Asa,

998
01:19:58,000 --> 01:20:01,000
which is seek after the Lord and be blessed.

999
01:20:01,000 --> 01:20:03,000
Why do you want to be hurting? Why do you want to be broke?

1000
01:20:03,000 --> 01:20:05,000
Why do you want to not know peace? Why do you want to suffer all the time?

1001
01:20:05,000 --> 01:20:07,000
At least seek after God.

1002
01:20:07,000 --> 01:20:10,000
And at some point in time, you'll be able to actually say to God,

1003
01:20:10,000 --> 01:20:14,000
I'm for you, I submit myself to you, you do whatever you want to do,

1004
01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:17,000
and God will do exactly what He wants to do, which is He'll save you.

1005
01:20:17,000 --> 01:20:21,000
He'll come and begin you anew.

1006
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:23,000
You'll be born again.

1007
01:20:23,000 --> 01:20:25,000
And then having been born again, you'll fly with Him.

1008
01:20:25,000 --> 01:20:30,000
And when a problem comes up and God says, fix it, do it differently, do something else,

1009
01:20:30,000 --> 01:20:32,000
here's what I want you to do, you just do what He says.

1010
01:20:32,000 --> 01:20:36,000
You know what Jesus said? Jesus summed up His personal ministry this way.

1011
01:20:36,000 --> 01:20:41,000
I can do nothing without God the Father. I do only what I see Him doing.

1012
01:20:41,000 --> 01:20:45,000
And then elsewhere, John writes in 1 John, he says,

1013
01:20:45,000 --> 01:20:49,000
if we truly are believers in the Christ, then we ought to walk as He walks.

1014
01:20:49,000 --> 01:20:53,000
So how did He walk? He did nothing unless He saw God the Father doing it.

1015
01:20:53,000 --> 01:20:56,000
That's how we walk.

1016
01:20:56,000 --> 01:21:01,000
Decide today whether you want to continue to use the machinations of man.

1017
01:21:01,000 --> 01:21:07,000
It might be worry or regret. It might be money. It might be being belligerent.

1018
01:21:07,000 --> 01:21:10,000
It might be being sneaky.

1019
01:21:10,000 --> 01:21:15,000
Your own plans for God's plans. What's it going to be?

1020
01:21:15,000 --> 01:21:18,000
Starting today, God had better be the big man on the teeter totter,

1021
01:21:18,000 --> 01:21:22,000
because all the rest of it does not amount to a hill of beans.

1022
01:21:22,000 --> 01:21:27,000
If by some means you manage to collect every piece of gold under the sun,

1023
01:21:27,000 --> 01:21:34,000
and you owned it all, like Scrooge McDuck sitting on top of a continent sized pile of gold,

1024
01:21:34,000 --> 01:21:39,000
the gold would be worthless.

1025
01:21:39,000 --> 01:21:42,000
What are we fighting over?

1026
01:21:42,000 --> 01:21:44,000
Just need to follow the Lord.

1027
01:21:44,000 --> 01:21:48,000
And once you start flying, don't let the good things and the bad things

1028
01:21:48,000 --> 01:21:52,000
that come into your life interfere with you following God.

1029
01:21:52,000 --> 01:21:56,000
Stick with Him, no matter what. Go to Him first in everything.

1030
01:21:56,000 --> 01:22:00,000
That's where Asa failed, and it destroyed his life.

1031
01:22:00,000 --> 01:22:06,000
And it pretty much ultimately destroys the kingdom for the Israelites.

1032
01:22:06,000 --> 01:22:09,000
And it was done.

1033
01:22:09,000 --> 01:22:13,000
I don't know, maybe you'd rather check out from a diseased foot.

1034
01:22:13,000 --> 01:22:19,000
Maybe you'd rather suffer under God's wrath after having known His love

1035
01:22:19,000 --> 01:22:24,000
and His peace and His grace and His joy and all the hope that is in Him.

1036
01:22:24,000 --> 01:22:29,000
No, I think we can all say we'd rather dismiss the machinations of the world

1037
01:22:29,000 --> 01:22:32,000
and follow the Lord in all things.

1038
01:22:32,000 --> 01:22:35,000
That's what I'm asking you for, nothing less.

1039
01:22:35,000 --> 01:22:39,000
And I believe that some of us will do exactly that. I hope I will.

1040
01:22:39,000 --> 01:22:43,000
I ask the praise team to come forward at this time and lead our closing hymn.

1041
01:22:43,000 --> 01:22:47,000
As we're singing this song, I want you to think about the process of Asa.

1042
01:22:47,000 --> 01:22:50,000
We're not seeking the Lord, we're seeking peace. Yeah, that sounds great.

1043
01:22:50,000 --> 01:22:55,000
What? Seek the Lord and peace and good things, but unless God reveals Himself,

1044
01:22:55,000 --> 01:22:57,000
you're not really saved, you're not really with Him.

1045
01:22:57,000 --> 01:23:02,000
Oh, okay. Well, I want to seek the Lord then, and that's all I want.

1046
01:23:02,000 --> 01:23:06,000
And if not past this point, if it's not me and God, then I'm out.

1047
01:23:06,000 --> 01:23:09,000
And I can just end right here.

1048
01:23:09,000 --> 01:23:12,000
Maybe Asa figured out that there is an eternity after this life.

1049
01:23:12,000 --> 01:23:15,000
He wanted that. He got it.

1050
01:23:15,000 --> 01:23:21,000
And then, we live decades more settled for the machinations of men

1051
01:23:21,000 --> 01:23:24,000
rather than loyalty to the Lord.

1052
01:23:24,000 --> 01:23:27,000
Take your stand today.

1053
01:23:27,000 --> 01:23:29,000
Would you stand with me as we sing this song?

1054
01:23:29,000 --> 01:23:31,000
The Lord has laid on your heart to make some kind of decision today.

1055
01:23:31,000 --> 01:23:34,000
Commitment or repentance or sin.

1056
01:23:34,000 --> 01:23:37,000
You're saying, I'm done messing around, I'm living for the Lord and the Lord only.

1057
01:23:37,000 --> 01:23:39,000
Whatever might be.

1058
01:23:39,000 --> 01:23:42,000
And if you make known your decision today, are you sleeping?

1059
01:23:42,000 --> 01:23:45,000
Are you standing right where you are or come forward?

1060
01:23:45,000 --> 01:23:47,000
Whatever's on your heart.

1061
01:23:47,000 --> 01:23:50,000
Let's listen to this song again.

1062
01:23:50,000 --> 01:23:53,000
Yeah.

1063
01:23:53,000 --> 01:24:01,000
Just as I am without one feet,

1064
01:24:01,000 --> 01:24:10,000
The path of God was shed for me,

1065
01:24:10,000 --> 01:24:24,000
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come.

1066
01:24:24,000 --> 01:24:26,000
That means He's calling you.

1067
01:24:26,000 --> 01:24:30,000
That He bid you to come to Him.

1068
01:24:30,000 --> 01:24:43,000
Just as I am and waiting Thou to win my soul,

1069
01:24:43,000 --> 01:25:05,000
Of my dark spot to Thee, who's black and brandish, O Lamb of God, I come.

1070
01:25:05,000 --> 01:25:10,000
We pray today for everyone who's in this room.

1071
01:25:10,000 --> 01:25:14,000
As we sing, as we're meditating on these words,

1072
01:25:14,000 --> 01:25:20,000
we realize there is no way to get from here to heaven without the blood of Jesus,

1073
01:25:20,000 --> 01:25:23,000
without a Savior who paid the price for our sins,

1074
01:25:23,000 --> 01:25:26,000
without a Lord who tells us what to do every day.

1075
01:25:26,000 --> 01:25:30,000
Father, send your Holy Spirit to fill us.

1076
01:25:30,000 --> 01:25:32,000
Let Jesus be our Lord.

1077
01:25:32,000 --> 01:25:35,000
Forgive us of our foolishness.

1078
01:25:35,000 --> 01:25:39,000
And then even after having encountered you, Lord, maybe we've begun to take the machinations of men

1079
01:25:39,000 --> 01:25:42,000
the ways that people do things to solve problems.

1080
01:25:42,000 --> 01:25:44,000
Hey, it makes sense to me.

1081
01:25:44,000 --> 01:25:45,000
That book makes sense.

1082
01:25:45,000 --> 01:25:47,000
That meme makes sense.

1083
01:25:47,000 --> 01:25:49,000
The writing on that medicine makes sense.

1084
01:25:49,000 --> 01:25:51,000
But here's what makes sense, God.

1085
01:25:51,000 --> 01:25:57,000
You alone are God, and we need you today, today and every day.

1086
01:25:57,000 --> 01:26:00,000
We are looking back at the great things that you've done.

1087
01:26:00,000 --> 01:26:02,000
And we want to use those as our propulsion, perhaps.

1088
01:26:02,000 --> 01:26:06,000
We want to use those to generate excitement about what you might do in the future.

1089
01:26:06,000 --> 01:26:10,000
But more importantly, Lord, we are looking for what you are doing.

1090
01:26:10,000 --> 01:26:13,000
This is your effort to take us home with you.

1091
01:26:13,000 --> 01:26:17,000
This is your effort to live in us and to abundantly live.

1092
01:26:17,000 --> 01:26:18,000
Lord, help us.

1093
01:26:18,000 --> 01:26:20,000
Fill us with your gifts.

1094
01:26:20,000 --> 01:26:22,000
Teach us your disciplines.

1095
01:26:22,000 --> 01:26:24,000
And let us walk in your ways.

1096
01:26:24,000 --> 01:26:27,000
We pray these things in Jesus' name.

1097
01:26:27,000 --> 01:26:36,000
Lord, speaking to your heart today, because if we finish this chorus, let me know it.

1098
01:26:36,000 --> 01:27:00,000
The fact that God was shed for me, and that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come.

1099
01:27:00,000 --> 01:27:05,000
I come.

1100
01:27:05,000 --> 01:27:07,000
We're ending our service at this time.

1101
01:27:07,000 --> 01:27:11,000
If the Lord has spoken to you in some way and you have not made public your decision,

1102
01:27:11,000 --> 01:27:14,000
then let me remind you to do that in the very near future.

1103
01:27:14,000 --> 01:27:18,000
Let others in your life, let others in your church, wherever you go.

1104
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:23,000
In fact, if you made a decision to follow Jesus Christ and you encountered Him personally,

1105
01:27:23,000 --> 01:27:28,000
whether it be today or a year ago or ten years ago, that is a story you never want to stop telling.

1106
01:27:28,000 --> 01:27:30,000
That's what 1st John 1.3 is all about.

1107
01:27:30,000 --> 01:27:32,000
We proclaim what we have seen and heard.

1108
01:27:32,000 --> 01:27:36,000
And you have met Jesus, you should be proclaiming that wherever you go.

1109
01:27:36,000 --> 01:27:39,000
Then doing so, you will see others who will have a similar experience.

1110
01:27:39,000 --> 01:27:44,000
All you really have to do, I know this sounds funny, but all you really have to do is tempt them.

1111
01:27:44,000 --> 01:27:45,000
Just tempt them.

1112
01:27:45,000 --> 01:27:48,000
Just say, listen, I get that you're having trouble believing.

1113
01:27:48,000 --> 01:27:53,000
Just say to God, God, if you're real, please come into me.

1114
01:27:53,000 --> 01:27:54,000
Please affect me.

1115
01:27:54,000 --> 01:27:57,000
Please make me know that you're real.

1116
01:27:57,000 --> 01:27:58,000
Just tempt them.

1117
01:27:58,000 --> 01:28:01,000
And if they ask the Lord to come into their life,

1118
01:28:01,000 --> 01:28:04,000
if they believe enough, just believe enough that it's possible,

1119
01:28:04,000 --> 01:28:06,000
God's going to do all the work anyway.

1120
01:28:06,000 --> 01:28:07,000
That's not our job.

1121
01:28:07,000 --> 01:28:08,000
Yes, ma'am.

1122
01:28:08,000 --> 01:28:09,000
Yes, ma'am.

1123
01:28:09,000 --> 01:28:14,000
That is phenomenal.

1124
01:28:14,000 --> 01:28:15,000
What a great blessing that is.

1125
01:28:15,000 --> 01:28:16,000
That's incredible.

1126
01:28:16,000 --> 01:28:19,000
They said if they took Him off the life support, He would not live.

1127
01:28:19,000 --> 01:28:21,000
We prayed He would live.

1128
01:28:21,000 --> 01:28:23,000
They took Him off and they had to put Him back on.

1129
01:28:23,000 --> 01:28:26,000
And now He's breathing on His own and moving to rehab.

1130
01:28:26,000 --> 01:28:27,000
That is amazing.

1131
01:28:27,000 --> 01:28:28,000
Yes, sir.

1132
01:28:28,000 --> 01:28:32,000
On the way here this morning, I was listening to a preacher,

1133
01:28:32,000 --> 01:28:40,000
a sermon about really focusing on the fact that Jesus is not just our Savior,

1134
01:28:40,000 --> 01:28:45,000
He's also our way through life.

1135
01:28:45,000 --> 01:28:46,000
Amen.

1136
01:28:46,000 --> 01:28:51,000
So a lot of people get stuck on the Savior part.

1137
01:28:51,000 --> 01:28:54,000
They don't realize that it's a two-way street.

1138
01:28:54,000 --> 01:28:57,000
A relationship is giving from both sides.

1139
01:28:57,000 --> 01:29:02,000
So not only did He give us eternity through salvation,

1140
01:29:02,000 --> 01:29:05,000
we also have to give Him our life.

1141
01:29:05,000 --> 01:29:09,000
Let Him come in and just change every aspect of our life,

1142
01:29:09,000 --> 01:29:12,000
not just when we're gone.

1143
01:29:12,000 --> 01:29:13,000
Amen.

1144
01:29:13,000 --> 01:29:15,000
Now, I guess to be born again means He'll teach you how to walk again.

1145
01:29:15,000 --> 01:29:17,000
He'll teach you how to talk again.

1146
01:29:17,000 --> 01:29:18,000
He'll teach you how to eat again.

1147
01:29:18,000 --> 01:29:19,000
Just like when you were a baby,

1148
01:29:19,000 --> 01:29:22,000
you had to learn everything you had to learn the first time around.

1149
01:29:22,000 --> 01:29:25,000
You learned it again, anew, afresh, with new eyes, right?

1150
01:29:25,000 --> 01:29:29,000
Opened eyes again after being born again.

1151
01:29:29,000 --> 01:29:30,000
Praise the Lord.

1152
01:29:30,000 --> 01:29:32,000
And thank you for that miraculous healing report.

1153
01:29:32,000 --> 01:29:33,000
Let's pray one last time,

1154
01:29:33,000 --> 01:29:35,000
and then we will maybe give somebody the right hand,

1155
01:29:35,000 --> 01:29:37,000
Christian Fellowship or Hague or whatever,

1156
01:29:37,000 --> 01:29:40,000
and then the team leader meeting will be as soon as we can make those arrangements.

1157
01:29:40,000 --> 01:29:43,000
Father in heaven, I do thank you so much for this word.

1158
01:29:43,000 --> 01:29:47,000
Thank you, Lord, that you spoke through the life of Asa.

1159
01:29:47,000 --> 01:29:49,000
You've done this for a long time.

1160
01:29:49,000 --> 01:29:52,000
I'm sure ever since His story was written down,

1161
01:29:52,000 --> 01:29:55,000
that you've been touching lives through those words and through His choices,

1162
01:29:55,000 --> 01:30:02,000
and that the latter-day choices were, I guess they were way worse than the early choices.

1163
01:30:02,000 --> 01:30:05,000
They've been better, in a sense, for His life anyway, for the story of His life,

1164
01:30:05,000 --> 01:30:07,000
if He stayed in the pre-flight checks.

1165
01:30:07,000 --> 01:30:12,000
But then we also know that because He met you, He surely is with you now.

1166
01:30:12,000 --> 01:30:16,000
And so we pray, Lord, that we would learn from the choices of His life,

1167
01:30:16,000 --> 01:30:21,000
that we would fly with you, that you would be the pilot, that you would be the crew,

1168
01:30:21,000 --> 01:30:26,000
that you would be the propulsion, that you would be the lift, that you would be all of it,

1169
01:30:26,000 --> 01:30:30,000
and we could just trust in you for every day and walk as you would have us to walk.

1170
01:30:30,000 --> 01:30:36,000
And then without the wisdom that you give us, that would be virtually impossible.

1171
01:30:36,000 --> 01:30:38,000
Without your presence, it would be impossible.

1172
01:30:38,000 --> 01:30:40,000
Without the forgiveness, it would be impossible.

1173
01:30:40,000 --> 01:30:41,000
We're so grateful.

1174
01:30:41,000 --> 01:30:46,000
We're grateful for this kind of miraculous story of healing and perseverance and overcoming,

1175
01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:49,000
and we know there is more ground to be done there.

1176
01:30:49,000 --> 01:30:54,000
We pray that maybe while He's in rehab, He will recognize that you have done something incredible,

1177
01:30:54,000 --> 01:30:58,000
and maybe He can get free from the influences that were affecting Him before,

1178
01:30:58,000 --> 01:31:01,000
even the machinations of men that were keeping Him trapped.

1179
01:31:01,000 --> 01:31:04,000
And although we get Him to start pre-flight checks, that'd be good,

1180
01:31:04,000 --> 01:31:08,000
but really ultimately we want everybody that we know to be in flight with you.

1181
01:31:08,000 --> 01:31:09,000
Help us, Lord.

1182
01:31:09,000 --> 01:31:14,000
For those who are not with us today, we pray special healing, we pray special help for the circumstances they're in,

1183
01:31:14,000 --> 01:31:20,000
or overcoming a temptation or distractions, or Lord, adversity, whatever it might be.

1184
01:31:20,000 --> 01:31:24,000
We pray that you'll just, you'll weigh in as we know you want to.

1185
01:31:24,000 --> 01:31:30,000
Lord, it is great comfort to me to know that even while I was at camp and dealing with poison ivy

1186
01:31:30,000 --> 01:31:36,000
and governing, if you will, children every day, all day, that you were watching.

1187
01:31:36,000 --> 01:31:38,000
You were taking care of it.

1188
01:31:38,000 --> 01:31:46,000
You were teaching me, protecting me, weighing in on my side, affecting my life.

1189
01:31:46,000 --> 01:31:48,000
You're doing that all the time.

1190
01:31:48,000 --> 01:31:52,000
And that means that when we face something we don't really want to go through,

1191
01:31:52,000 --> 01:31:59,000
even if we have to go through it, we can know without any doubt that you are with us through it.

1192
01:31:59,000 --> 01:32:07,000
And even if it should kill us, God forbid, we know where we'll be a moment later, flying with you.

1193
01:32:07,000 --> 01:32:09,000
Lord, we'll fly away.

1194
01:32:09,000 --> 01:32:10,000
We're looking for the day.

1195
01:32:10,000 --> 01:32:13,000
But in the meantime, we're flying with you now.

1196
01:32:13,000 --> 01:32:16,000
So help us lead others around us.

1197
01:32:16,000 --> 01:32:19,000
Help us lead our lives in a way that you would have us to.

1198
01:32:19,000 --> 01:32:22,000
Remember that you are the way and the truth and the life.

1199
01:32:22,000 --> 01:32:26,000
Lord, we come to the Father through Jesus the Son.

1200
01:32:26,000 --> 01:32:29,000
And we want to walk with you every moment of every day going forward.

1201
01:32:29,000 --> 01:32:31,000
Help us do just that.

1202
01:32:31,000 --> 01:32:37,000
We pray it all in Jesus' name. Amen.