WEBVTT

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White Honda. White Honda. Morning everyone. Morning.

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I got a call at Walford County to work on a toilet

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for two hours. We're up to two worship leaders.

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We're rocking the house. I hope she lets me pick

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first because I really want the top one. Yes,

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Arden with Molly Strayer. Arden is the shopper.

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Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning to you.

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Good morning, buddy. There they are. I have one

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for you in my purse if you want it. You're Spider

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-Man cats at my house. Spider -Man cats that

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come from my house. Where's the other one? Did

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you clean one? Did you clean one and see what

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it's like? No, they're going to. Is it late at

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night? I'm preparing myself for set. We'll be

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right back. Most of the time those guys talk

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trash. I know. There's so much fun. I can't do

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masks before singing. That doesn't work for me.

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No, you end up sucking the thing in your mouth

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when you're trying to get air. Well, and it's

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even more so before that. If I wear a mask, it

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makes me start wheezing. And then if I try to

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sing, I get issues. I feel you. I don't have

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asthma and stuff. But yeah, I'm doing a work

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order in an apartment. Some of these people keep

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their apartments at 78 degrees and you're sweating.

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I can't breathe. I've got to get out of there.

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I can't imagine having asthma or something. The

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only time the mask doesn't bother me at all is

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when I'm outside when it's cold. Yeah. I usually

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cover my mouth when it's really cold outside

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anyway because the cold air isn't good for the

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asthma either. But if I do it before singing,

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it's just enough of a wheeze that if I start

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trying to sing, it's... I'm choking on it. Even

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the cold, the problem I have is it holds all

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the moisture in here and my beard gets all wet.

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And I don't have that particular problem. Oh,

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Alicia must be here. I figured I could do Happy

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Day by myself if I needed to. Well, and the two

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of us could do it. I think Gary was asking. For

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me, when I get to the chorus, I have to drop

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the octave. It wouldn't be awful. It's in a good

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range. Yeah, actually. It sounds different because

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the verse is up high and then the chorus is up

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low. Yeah. But not super low. Well, but right

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now the verse is down low and the chorus is up

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high, so, you know, whatever. It would be different,

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but it wouldn't necessarily be bad. Yeah, it

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is kind of written at low voice range, but I'll

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take it on an octave when I sing it. Yeah, I...

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I'm not sure that I can sing those verses. They're

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a little bit dumb. And if it's just you, we might

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throw our congregation a little bit, but nobody

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else is going to know that you're changing stuff.

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People modify notes all the time. Especially

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if I'm singing down low. It's funny how somebody

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can call out a high note and it has an E vowel

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in it and they'll sing it as an A vowel. People

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hear it as an E vowel because of the context

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of it. That's why a lot of times you hear a song

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and you don't know the words. You may not understand

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it at first, but it eventually comes to you.

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Foreigners trying to sing. I can't imagine trying

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to sing in English when you're not good at speaking

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it. Speaking in English is one thing. Singing

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in English is so much more hard. Those that do

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it well. I've heard some Japanese singers. I

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had no idea any of the songs was in English.

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The entire song was in English. Once you hear

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it, though, then you get it. Thank you. and I

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mentioned it again today, a ministry that we've

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been partnering with, which is called Bless Every

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Home, and I have passed out to almost everybody,

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and if you didn't get one, I have one for you.

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That is, if you receive, it does work off of

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email, so you do need to have an email somehow

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or other, and if you don't have one, we can easily

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help you set one up. But basically, the form

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that I passed out is you can set any username

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you want. Please be respectful. You can set any

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password you want, eight characters, and the

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only persons that will have that password then

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will be you and me. So no changes will take place

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other than I'm going to add the church members

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for you to do it. And then after I've done that,

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you can change the password. I don't need to

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have access after that. It's just so I can set

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you up. And then it says, what days would you

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like email reminders? So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

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Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You can do

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up to seven days a week of email reminders to

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pray. And what it's going to do is it's going

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to give you the names and the addresses of the

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people around where you live. And then once I'm

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through with it, it will give you the names and

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the addresses of everybody in the church. And

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then you'll get a cycle. You'll get about five

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names a day, whatever days you say. So if you

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say, I want to get names Monday through Wednesday,

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then every day. Monday you'll get five names,

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Tuesday you'll get five names, Wednesday you'll

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get five names, like that. It'll send you an

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email with those five names and addresses. And

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then it will also give you a little devotional.

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So it's going to give you a Bible verse, or sometimes

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it's up to like three Bible verses. Talk about

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it briefly. Very, very briefly. Like I mean a

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sentence. It's very brief. This is not going

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to replace your daily quiet time or anything

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like that. It's very, very brief. And then that

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is designed to help you know like a sample prayer

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that you can pray for those people. So if you

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don't know, oh, and I pray for them. I don't

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know. I just pray for health every time, or I

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just pray for money every time. whatever, it'll

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give you a sample prayer coming out of Scripture,

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out of that verse, of what you can pray for them.

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And then you pray. You can ignore that completely

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and pray whatever God lays in your heart. Or

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you can pray that and pray more. Pray for half

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an hour for that. Or however you want to do it.

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But it's designed to instigate and remind you

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to pray. And then to give you a sample prayer

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so you can do that. If you only do one day a

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week, that's fine. So just one day a week, receiving

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an email to remember to pray for a small set

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of people. It's going to be roughly five people.

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If you do 40 around your house, and you do one

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day a week, it's going to take you eight weeks

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to pray once for everybody around your house.

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Once we add in 15, 20 more from the church, then

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it would take you like 12 weeks. If you do one

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day a week, five people, then it's going to take

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you like 12 weeks. By that time, if you look

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at every email, then you will have prayed for

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everybody in the church and everybody that's

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40 houses around your house. 10 or so, 10 to

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12 weeks, something like that. And at the bottom

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it does ask you for your email address. That's

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where you're going to get those reminders sent

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to you. They do not send out text reminders.

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They do not get your cell phone number. And then

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at the bottom it says, the very bottom it says,

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how many households would you like to pray for

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to start? Now I put 40, 60, or 80 there. You

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just circle the one you want. But if you want

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to do more, you can do more. You'll have to go

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on the website once you're signed up. You can

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set those numbers much higher. They go as high

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as like 200. But if you do 200 and you only do

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one day a week, you're not going to get through

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them all until almost a year. Especially after

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you add in the ones from New Heights and like

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that. So just be aware of that. But if you do

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five days a week and you do 40, then every couple

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of weeks you will have prayed for everybody on

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your list. On the website then, which is a very

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simple mechanic, you'll get an email and it'll

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say, go to the website or pray from this email.

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If you pray from the email and you click on done

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when you're done, it will record that you prayed

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for that. And it's just going to, how many times?

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And then later, if you want to, you can go into

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the website and it'll tell you how many times

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you've prayed for each of the names on your list.

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So you click on the little circle that looks

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like praying hands and it'll say, you've prayed

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for this house five times or you've prayed for

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this house 21 times or whatever based on what

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you told it. Then it also has on there, Care,

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which means you've met that person, you know

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that person, you've maybe bought them a gift,

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or you've said a kind word, or you've done some

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act of care toward them. And you can click that.

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That's optional, but you can click that every

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time you do an act of care toward them, and it'll

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track it. And then it has share, meaning you

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shared the gospel with them. You told them about

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Jesus. And you can click that every time you

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tell them about Jesus, or if you give them a

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track, or anything like that. And then the last

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one says disciple. And you click that if you

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know that they have become a Christian. Not necessarily

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led to become a Christian by you. If you have

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a neighborhood, if you're praying for your neighborhood,

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if you're a three -house adoptee, you know there's

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a guy who claims to be a Christian, he professes

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to be a Christian, and you can click that box.

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So once you're signed up, you give me this paperback,

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I can sign you up. You can go on and sign yourself

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up. You don't technically need me to do that.

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The only real advantage that you're going to

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get out of this is two -fold. One, I'm going

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to know that you're signed up, so then I can

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help. I can take the next step. And two, I'm

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going to enter the church family names for you.

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So I'm going to make sure you have on your list

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the people from the church. Otherwise, you would

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have to do that work yourself. And I've got some

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people who are going to help me do it. So we're

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willing to do that for you. So if you go ahead

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and get signed up, just fill this piece of paper

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out, just like it says. Get it back to me and

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I'll sign you up. You'll get your first email.

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Once you get your first email, you can click

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from the email saying you're done praying or

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you can click into the website and look around

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and see what's there. And it's all free. And

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again, they don't get, they're not going to send

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you. I've been doing this for almost two years.

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I tested it out because, you know, I don't trust

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sometimes getting my email address. I've been

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doing this for almost two years and I've never

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gotten a junk email from them. You know, I've

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never even gotten another email other than a

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reminder to pray. They've never even sent me

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something and said, hey, sign up for our other

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services, because they don't have any as far

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as I know. So you're not doing that. It's not

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that kind of thing. I've tested it for a long

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time. And then they don't have your cell phone

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number, so they're never going to call you like

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that. So this is a free service that's partnering

00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:59.039
with us. Okay, that was one. Second thing is,

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I have these books that I bought to give as a

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gift to every household. What these books are,

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it's called A Journey Through Luke's Gospel for

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the Whole Family. Okay? So now obviously if you're

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single, it's okay. You're not leaving anything

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out. You definitely want to do it still. It would

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be great learning it. But if you happen to have

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kids in your house or if you happen to have a

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desire to explore the scriptures from different

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angles and think on it like a kid might think

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or if you happen to have maybe a believer in

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your house that's a little less advanced, mature,

00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:35.599
like that, what it does is when you do the devotional,

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Each time, like the first devotional says, it's

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day one, leaving it all behind. It starts on

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day 11. So when you do it, and you go to page

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11, when you do it, there's just a simple devotional

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of like a page, and the main part of the devotional

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goes on for really two pages. But then it has

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questions built into it for different age groups.

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So if your family wants to do this devotional,

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As a couple with a child or whatever, it says,

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for example, there's two questions for all, so

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everybody can think about those questions. And

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then it says questions for threes and fours.

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So if you have a three - or four -year -old in

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your house, then you could ask that question,

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which is the question in this one is, what did

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Levi do when Jesus said, follow me? So that's

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the question for threes and fours, right? And,

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of course, you read the story, so they should

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be able to answer that question. The question

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provides the sevens. What did Levi take with

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him as he went to follow Jesus? And then question

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for over sevens, which is older kids, basically.

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Why would Levi or you leave everything to follow

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someone? And then question for teens. You make

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choices each day about who to follow, who to

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be with, who to listen to, who to imitate. How

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do you make those decisions? What is it about?

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Jesus that has attracted you to following him

00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:03.579
or what would Jesus need to be like for you or

00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:06.039
your friends to choose to follow him? So basically

00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:07.720
each question is a little bit more advanced.

00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:10.660
There are 34 devotionals and it works through

00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:13.299
the book of Luke. It does not cover the whole

00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:17.000
book of Luke. It's all focused around the meals

00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.019
that Jesus had and the time that he spent with

00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:23.099
his disciples and non -disciples over those meals.

00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:27.069
So it's a great thing to do at mealtime. Right?

00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:28.549
And it's easy to remember. Because in real time,

00:20:28.670 --> 00:20:31.109
I can spend three minutes in the Word. And I

00:20:31.109 --> 00:20:33.450
bought enough copies of these for every household

00:20:33.450 --> 00:20:36.130
to have one today. And so, Jason, do you want

00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:38.470
to help me pass it out? Okay. We're going to

00:20:38.470 --> 00:20:41.130
go around and give one to you. Make sure we get

00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:42.670
one for our household, if you will, so I don't

00:20:42.670 --> 00:20:51.529
overstep. And that concludes. There we go. Brand

00:20:51.529 --> 00:20:53.490
new, out of the plastic. You never had a book

00:20:53.490 --> 00:20:55.750
brand new out of the plastic? Now you do. I got

00:20:55.750 --> 00:21:04.079
it. I got it in there. While he's doing that,

00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:11.460
I have one last thing for you. It is a questionnaire.

00:21:11.859 --> 00:21:13.119
It's not something you're going to do right now,

00:21:13.259 --> 00:21:15.940
but it looks like this. It is a one -page questionnaire.

00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.460
I'm going to tell you right now, this questionnaire

00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:22.200
is an act of love so that other people can act

00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.140
in love. That is the goal. What we're doing is...

00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:28.019
We want you to go through this and fill out the

00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:29.940
questionnaire as completely as you are willing

00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:34.740
and able to do. And it's going to ask you questions

00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:37.019
like your name and address and your phone number.

00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:38.960
And then I'm not going to sell these, I promise,

00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:42.019
and your email address. It asks you, do you use

00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:45.279
social media, yes or no? So you don't have to

00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:47.299
put, yeah, my Twitter account is, or my Facebook

00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:57.420
account is, or whatever. I still have some because

00:21:57.420 --> 00:21:58.500
I know there are some people that aren't here.

00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.839
Okay? And then it asks you, what is your birthday?

00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:04.579
But then it's going to get into things about

00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:08.059
you specifically. What are your spiritual gifts

00:22:08.059 --> 00:22:10.920
if you know them? What is your favorite color?

00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.359
What is your favorite entree, meal entree, or

00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:16.099
favorite entree? If you want to list more, there's

00:22:16.099 --> 00:22:18.099
only so much space, but you can add more on the

00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:20.019
back and I can put a note about that. Favorite

00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:23.240
snacks, favorite shows. How do you like to fellowship

00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.420
with other believers? Things you like to do with

00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:27.220
other believers. And I put study, private, visit,

00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:30.819
workshop, worship, shop, movie, sport. You can

00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:32.720
mark all, any of those apply. And then there's

00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.119
an other at the end. You can write in more if

00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:37.180
you want. Do you like to read? What is your favorite

00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:40.599
genre? So the idea behind this is that when we

00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.640
want to love on each other, then this information

00:22:43.640 --> 00:22:46.019
is available. So when I want to buy you a gift,

00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:48.099
and let me tell you, I want to buy you a gift.

00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:50.200
That is my goal this year. I'm buying everybody

00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:54.380
gifts as often as I possibly can. The sermon

00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:56.380
that I preached at the end of last year and going

00:22:56.380 --> 00:22:58.839
into this year, I feel like God really convicted

00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:01.440
me that we blow it when it comes to worship as

00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.200
far as acts of love and gifts and things like

00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.700
that. We try to cram it all into Christmas and

00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:09.220
Christmas time, if you will. I'm not going to

00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:12.059
do that anymore. So, you fill this questionnaire

00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:13.960
out as completely as you're willing and able

00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:17.039
to do and then give it back to me. Then we will...

00:23:17.339 --> 00:23:20.539
When someone wants to do an act of giving towards

00:23:20.539 --> 00:23:22.839
you or a kind act or something like that, they

00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.180
can have this information to do that. It would

00:23:26.180 --> 00:23:28.940
limit to the church. So we're not going to have

00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:31.700
people outside the church filling out questionnaires,

00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:33.500
at least not initially. We're not going to ask

00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:35.599
anybody to do that. If somebody voluntarily wanted

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.339
to do it, fine. And then we're not going to distribute

00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:40.019
this. If there's somebody who's outside the church

00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:41.619
and they want this information, they can't have

00:23:41.619 --> 00:23:43.099
it. I'm not going to give it to them, and you're

00:23:43.099 --> 00:23:45.089
not going to give it to them. You won't have

00:23:45.089 --> 00:23:47.089
access to anybody unless you've loved on them.

00:23:47.130 --> 00:23:48.650
That's the only way you would have access. So

00:23:48.650 --> 00:23:49.990
basically it would go like this. Pastor Dan,

00:23:50.109 --> 00:23:53.369
I want to buy a gift for so -and -so. Can you

00:23:53.369 --> 00:23:56.569
give me some ideas from their sheet? And I might

00:23:56.569 --> 00:23:58.750
just take off the snippet that they're looking

00:23:58.750 --> 00:24:02.769
for and give it to them. And if somebody wants

00:24:02.769 --> 00:24:04.890
to authorize the whole sheet, go into everybody

00:24:04.890 --> 00:24:06.710
and make a book out of it and everybody can see

00:24:06.710 --> 00:24:08.569
everybody's sheets, I don't mind that, but I'm

00:24:08.569 --> 00:24:09.930
not doing that initially. We're going to get

00:24:09.930 --> 00:24:11.029
the information that's going to be available

00:24:11.029 --> 00:24:14.289
that they need to love on other people. Some

00:24:14.289 --> 00:24:16.910
of it should be public knowledge, your spiritual

00:24:16.910 --> 00:24:18.730
gifts. Everybody should know what your spiritual

00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:21.529
gifts are. If you aren't acting out enough and

00:24:21.529 --> 00:24:23.849
telling everybody, then that's got to be coming,

00:24:24.009 --> 00:24:28.970
okay? And things like that. This is an act of

00:24:28.970 --> 00:24:32.130
love so that other people can love on you. That

00:24:32.130 --> 00:24:35.329
is the point. If you refuse this, if you will

00:24:35.329 --> 00:24:38.329
not do this, then you are refusing to do an act

00:24:38.329 --> 00:24:40.210
of love toward other people who later want to

00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:42.069
come and love on you. Now, you say, well, they

00:24:42.069 --> 00:24:44.660
can come and ask me. It's extremely inefficient

00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:48.200
for seven or ten people to come and ask you what

00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:49.599
your favorite snacks are, what's your favorite

00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:51.119
meal entree, what's your favorite dessert. But

00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.680
if you just fill this paper out one time, that's

00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:54.559
five minutes, maybe ten minutes at most of your

00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:57.900
time. And then after that, the church, myself,

00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:01.460
and the administrative people in the church will

00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:03.680
circulate what information is necessary to make

00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:05.619
sure that people can do it. So that's kind of

00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:08.039
what it's about. And I felt very allowed and

00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:10.309
rewarded to do that. And there are sheets here.

00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:13.650
If you don't already have one, I have one for

00:25:13.650 --> 00:25:17.150
everybody that's here. If you come around and

00:25:17.150 --> 00:25:18.509
you already have one, just let Jason know you

00:25:18.509 --> 00:25:20.430
already have one. Or I'll put one by yourself.

00:25:25.829 --> 00:25:31.109
Yes, and that is children as well. If they don't

00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:32.529
have an email address, they don't have a phone

00:25:32.529 --> 00:25:35.369
number, put your phone number, whatever. I would

00:25:35.369 --> 00:25:39.519
like it to be every church member. Some people

00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:42.039
are, like me, not administratively inclined.

00:25:42.619 --> 00:25:44.539
If I get down to, like, there's five or ten church

00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:46.079
members, I will probably come and hunt you down

00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.119
and say, can we fill this out real quick? It

00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:50.220
really is only five to ten minutes. I did it.

00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:53.180
It's not that hard. I wrote the whole thing in

00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:54.859
less time than that, and so I guarantee you it's

00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:57.059
not that hard to fill it out that fast. Okay?

00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:01.359
And then, again, once it's in place, anybody

00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:03.039
that's in place, we're going to come up with

00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:05.779
creative ways to use it and for people to love

00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:08.599
on each other. Okay? All right. I know that was

00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.559
a lot, but I've been feeling moved to do certain

00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:12.960
things that I think we've been kind of missing

00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:16.000
the boat on, and I gave it to you. I will make

00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:17.519
an announcement real quick. There is a team leader

00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:19.940
meeting today. So a little while after service

00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:22.420
in the cafeteria, after a few while we can't

00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:24.180
go to the bathroom, we'll meet for the team leader

00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:27.539
meeting. And there's some cool stuff. We're going

00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:28.599
to talk a little bit about this stuff. There's

00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:30.900
some cool stuff on that agenda. So even if you're

00:26:30.900 --> 00:26:32.680
not a team leader, if you're interested in what's

00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:34.079
going on, you want to sit in, you're welcome

00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:37.880
to do that and hear. and maybe even give input,

00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:40.759
okay? If the team leaders have to vote on something,

00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:43.240
then the only team leaders and coordinators and

00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:44.799
deacons and pastors in the room will vote. But

00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.660
other than that, everybody is welcome to participate

00:26:46.660 --> 00:26:49.539
in that meeting. Okay? All right. That was a

00:26:49.539 --> 00:26:51.440
lot, I know. And I thank you for your patience.

00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:53.660
And we're going to pray now, and then we're going

00:26:53.660 --> 00:26:55.980
to jump back into worship. Okay? Did I miss any

00:26:55.980 --> 00:27:00.220
announcements? Okay, awesome. Thank you for letting

00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:02.480
me monopolize some of that time and give you

00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.509
a gift or two. I hope spark us getting started

00:27:05.509 --> 00:27:08.809
loving one another in new ways. Now let's ask

00:27:08.809 --> 00:27:11.390
God that you did just that, okay? Father in heaven,

00:27:11.450 --> 00:27:14.049
you are an awesome God. You are a giving God.

00:27:14.410 --> 00:27:16.670
And we could list the many things that we've

00:27:16.670 --> 00:27:19.529
been given. You are an awesome God and you are

00:27:19.529 --> 00:27:21.990
a healing God. And we each could list the many

00:27:21.990 --> 00:27:24.990
times that we have been healed or affected in

00:27:24.990 --> 00:27:27.470
our bodies and our minds and brought out of difficult

00:27:27.470 --> 00:27:34.009
circumstances. Lord, you are a... providing God,

00:27:34.069 --> 00:27:36.549
and we could go through our finances and go,

00:27:36.670 --> 00:27:38.190
well, there's this and there's that, and this

00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:39.710
mistake happened, that mistake happened, but

00:27:39.710 --> 00:27:41.269
God took care of this and God took care of that,

00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:43.490
and I've had what I needed. And you can even

00:27:43.490 --> 00:27:44.910
look at the times in our life where we didn't

00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:46.849
have what we needed and realize that you were

00:27:46.849 --> 00:27:49.309
working to show us something, to grow us, to

00:27:49.309 --> 00:27:51.130
move us forward. There are people that don't

00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:53.599
have what they need right now. If there's somebody

00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:55.079
in this room who doesn't have what they need

00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.059
right now, Lord, I pray that they would speak

00:27:57.059 --> 00:27:59.019
up and let it be known and we would not leave

00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:02.039
this place without this body having what it needs

00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.140
because we generally do have what we need. You've

00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:07.900
taken care of us. Lord, we confess to you that

00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:10.799
we are, even in our love for one another, even

00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:15.299
in our brother and sisterhood and the little

00:28:15.299 --> 00:28:20.440
ones, Lord, that we are too close, too disconnected.

00:28:22.029 --> 00:28:25.430
Two outside each other's inner circle. And Lord,

00:28:25.450 --> 00:28:27.970
I'm asking you for a new love and a new intimacy

00:28:27.970 --> 00:28:31.990
that blossoms here and grows like crazy and then

00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:35.630
reaches out and becomes infectious. And then

00:28:35.630 --> 00:28:38.589
it fills other churches. And it fills the neighborhood.

00:28:38.950 --> 00:28:41.509
And it fills our neighborhoods. And I pray, Lord,

00:28:41.609 --> 00:28:44.329
that we will one and all be faithful to pray

00:28:44.329 --> 00:28:46.349
for people who live around us and for other church

00:28:46.349 --> 00:28:50.130
members. That we'll light up the map. with homes

00:28:50.130 --> 00:28:52.029
that we've prayed for, shared the gospel to,

00:28:52.230 --> 00:28:54.369
and that we know are believers. That we'll begin

00:28:54.369 --> 00:28:57.230
to sort out, not sort out like we're trying to

00:28:57.230 --> 00:29:00.390
cast anyone out, but sort out like we can focus

00:29:00.390 --> 00:29:02.470
on who to love on and who to reach to and who

00:29:02.470 --> 00:29:05.970
to testimony and witness to and who to evangelize

00:29:05.970 --> 00:29:10.390
and, Lord, just make it all possible. We're living

00:29:10.390 --> 00:29:13.329
in a crazy day with violence in certain places

00:29:13.329 --> 00:29:17.490
and lack and suffering and evil that... has spread

00:29:17.490 --> 00:29:19.730
and it's kind of insidious and it's creeping

00:29:19.730 --> 00:29:23.230
and then sometimes it blows up in the light and

00:29:23.230 --> 00:29:25.490
everybody can see it and it's terrified some

00:29:25.490 --> 00:29:27.670
people. And Lord, we know that we ought not to

00:29:27.670 --> 00:29:31.069
be terrified for you are on our side. And we

00:29:31.069 --> 00:29:34.029
just ask you to give us then the strength and

00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:37.150
the endurance and the faithfulness to worship

00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:39.910
you now as you ought to be worshipped. And that's

00:29:39.910 --> 00:29:43.410
a high bar for us. That's really something to

00:29:43.410 --> 00:29:45.789
reach for. Even though we are blessed with the

00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:47.589
instruments and blessed with the place and blessed

00:29:47.589 --> 00:29:49.390
with time and blessed with people and blessed

00:29:49.390 --> 00:29:51.990
with salvation and blessed with your Holy Spirit

00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:55.289
and the list just goes on. Blessed. It might

00:29:55.289 --> 00:29:57.369
be a challenge for some to truly give you the

00:29:57.369 --> 00:29:59.589
respect that you deserve. Probably a challenge

00:29:59.589 --> 00:30:01.170
for all of us because the respect you deserve

00:30:01.170 --> 00:30:03.730
is probably beyond what we understand. And so

00:30:03.730 --> 00:30:05.890
we're asking you now to inhabit the praise of

00:30:05.890 --> 00:30:08.690
your people and take over this time and lead

00:30:08.690 --> 00:30:11.769
us from here to the throne of grace. And we pray

00:30:11.769 --> 00:30:18.180
it in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, I need children

00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:22.039
up front and everybody else to stand up. Come

00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:29.539
on. Unless you can figure out how to make that

00:30:29.539 --> 00:34:55.840
work. You know these motions, I promise. Who's

00:34:55.840 --> 00:34:58.360
got what? What have you read this week? What

00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:14.780
have you seen? What do you got? Anybody seen

00:35:14.780 --> 00:35:17.659
anything in the scripture this week? Okay, let's

00:35:17.659 --> 00:35:18.900
take a second. What do you think about that for

00:35:18.900 --> 00:35:21.599
a second? If you notice on the screen, the January

00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:24.239
memory verse. So it is the number one, the first.

00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:28.280
memory verse for the year 2021 uh the latter

00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:30.639
half of last year we didn't do as well putting

00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.219
up memory verses every week but we've added a

00:35:33.219 --> 00:35:35.039
lot of new things to what we did and so some

00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:36.619
of that replaced that now we're back to this

00:35:36.619 --> 00:35:40.320
and so this is matthew 24 35 and it's a kind

00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:42.599
of a little bit slightly simplified version it

00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:46.219
says heaven and earth will pass away but my or

00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:49.860
just pass but my words will not pass away and

00:35:49.860 --> 00:35:52.460
so you may think um A lot of times we look around

00:35:52.460 --> 00:35:53.880
at things around us and we think, well, that's

00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:55.420
pretty much permanent. That's going to be in

00:35:55.420 --> 00:35:58.119
my life the whole time. It could be an illness.

00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.579
It could be the job you work at. It could be

00:36:01.579 --> 00:36:03.420
a vehicle that you intend to make last a real

00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:04.860
long time or a relationship. You got married.

00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:07.519
That should be for your whole life. But this

00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:10.179
verse reminds us that heaven and earth, all the

00:36:10.179 --> 00:36:13.280
heavens as they currently are, and all the earth

00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:17.130
as it currently is, will pass away. So you literally

00:36:17.130 --> 00:36:19.309
cannot become permanently attached to anything.

00:36:19.469 --> 00:36:21.789
God will create a new heaven and earth, a new

00:36:21.789 --> 00:36:23.570
earth, a new heaven and earth that will come

00:36:23.570 --> 00:36:26.309
at that latter day, and that's it. And you'll

00:36:26.309 --> 00:36:27.690
either be in the new heaven and the new earth,

00:36:27.730 --> 00:36:29.789
or you'll be not in the new heaven and the new

00:36:29.789 --> 00:36:31.929
earth. And people have asked me before, say,

00:36:31.989 --> 00:36:34.130
you know, can you travel between heaven and earth

00:36:34.130 --> 00:36:37.809
then? And I would say the answer is yes. In fact,

00:36:37.809 --> 00:36:39.469
I think we'll have that new resurrected body

00:36:39.469 --> 00:36:40.670
disappear in one place, disappear in another

00:36:40.670 --> 00:36:42.010
place. I think there won't even be any transport

00:36:42.010 --> 00:36:45.159
time. No more mailing time. No more flight time.

00:36:45.460 --> 00:36:46.820
Just disappear in one place, disappear in another

00:36:46.820 --> 00:36:48.760
place. That would be awesome if that's the way

00:36:48.760 --> 00:36:50.780
it would actually work, which is my best understanding.

00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.380
But heaven and earth will pass, will go away.

00:36:53.420 --> 00:36:55.260
It's all gone. It's all gone. No matter what

00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:57.179
you're saving now, no matter what you're storing

00:36:57.179 --> 00:36:59.380
up for yourself on earth now, even if the thief

00:36:59.380 --> 00:37:01.599
does not break in and steal, and even if the

00:37:01.599 --> 00:37:04.400
hawk does not break in and rust or destroy, even

00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:07.699
if it doesn't decay away on this earth, it will

00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:10.579
go away once and for all, permanently, when God

00:37:10.579 --> 00:37:12.760
creates the new heaven and the new earth. Heaven

00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:15.539
and earth will pass away. But my words, that

00:37:15.539 --> 00:37:18.340
is the word of God, every word that cometh out

00:37:18.340 --> 00:37:22.199
of the mouth of God, will not pass. Shall not

00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:25.099
pass. Will not pass. Okay. So that's our memory

00:37:25.099 --> 00:37:26.739
verse for the month of January. It isn't really

00:37:26.739 --> 00:37:30.820
even that hard. Is it? It's just two pieces.

00:37:31.099 --> 00:37:34.460
It is heaven and earth will pass, but my words

00:37:34.460 --> 00:37:36.699
will not pass. It has a little bit of a ring

00:37:36.699 --> 00:37:40.750
to it. Heaven and earth will pass. but my words

00:37:40.750 --> 00:37:43.530
will not pass away. Heaven and earth will pass,

00:37:43.710 --> 00:37:46.070
but my words will not pass away. John, can you

00:37:46.070 --> 00:37:50.530
take it off the screen? Okay, now who can say

00:37:50.530 --> 00:37:58.869
it from memory? Good enough. Yep, well, it's

00:37:58.869 --> 00:38:02.210
not passed. Jason? Heaven and earth will pass,

00:38:02.349 --> 00:38:05.210
but my words will not pass away. Perfect. Okay,

00:38:05.329 --> 00:38:08.519
anybody else? Heaven and earth will pass, but

00:38:08.519 --> 00:38:10.539
my words will not pass away. It's not that hard.

00:38:11.019 --> 00:38:15.420
Who can name the reference from memory? Matthew

00:38:15.420 --> 00:38:20.420
24 -35. 24 -35, yeah, just one verse, Matthew

00:38:20.420 --> 00:38:22.780
24 -35. Okay, so that was the very verse, and

00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:23.840
it gave you a little bit more time to think.

00:38:23.880 --> 00:38:26.579
If you don't have something, I confess I had

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:28.219
something. In fact, I've been dwelling on it

00:38:28.219 --> 00:38:30.300
for like the last day and a half. But it's a

00:38:30.300 --> 00:38:32.739
YouTube video, and I didn't bring it today because

00:38:32.739 --> 00:38:35.079
I thought, well, we'll have other things. And

00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:37.099
so I was kind of trusting y 'all saw something

00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.800
this week. But it's okay. We'll pray and thank

00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:42.320
God for speaking, and then we'll go back to worship.

00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:45.119
We've talked a lot already. Anybody got something?

00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:49.179
Going once? Going twice? Okay, I'm going to ask

00:38:49.179 --> 00:38:51.260
my son, Arden. Arden, if you pray for us, remember

00:38:51.260 --> 00:38:52.880
we're going to tithes and offerings and interlateral

00:38:52.880 --> 00:39:03.650
worship, and then we'll transition. Even in a

00:39:03.650 --> 00:39:08.230
time like this, we gather here every week to

00:39:08.230 --> 00:39:11.429
worship you, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

00:39:12.409 --> 00:39:16.409
Thank you for protection. And though the world

00:39:16.409 --> 00:39:18.849
may seem like it's falling apart at the moment,

00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:22.309
thank you that you still always feel like you're

00:39:22.309 --> 00:39:26.050
there. I pray that you would bless the tithes

00:39:26.050 --> 00:39:28.150
and offering that we'll take today, and that

00:39:28.150 --> 00:39:32.880
it would be of good use in your kingdom. Thank

00:39:32.880 --> 00:53:22.599
you. that more often than not, when, and I think

00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:24.539
it's largely our praise team, but I think when

00:53:24.539 --> 00:53:26.860
the Lord is leading in the worship and there's

00:53:26.860 --> 00:53:29.460
the spirit is moving, feels like I can feel God

00:53:29.460 --> 00:53:31.539
working on me. I mean, not emotionally or physically,

00:53:31.659 --> 00:53:34.260
but I just like something in my soul that I totally

00:53:34.260 --> 00:53:36.519
forget what I'm about to preach. And then I just

00:53:36.519 --> 00:53:38.500
was walking up here and I'm going like, I can't

00:53:38.500 --> 00:53:40.699
remember anything about the sermon. And then

00:53:40.699 --> 00:53:42.159
I opened the book and I'm like, oh yeah, that's

00:53:42.159 --> 00:53:44.400
right. So it all came flooding back. Praise the

00:53:44.400 --> 00:53:48.360
Lord. That's where we are. So today's sermon,

00:53:49.209 --> 00:53:52.710
is entitled, Outshouting God. Outshouting. I

00:53:52.710 --> 00:53:54.030
don't think that's a word. I made it up, I'm

00:53:54.030 --> 00:53:57.530
pretty sure. But I kind of like it. Outshouting.

00:53:58.289 --> 00:54:00.530
But I guess outshouting would be a different

00:54:00.530 --> 00:54:01.590
thing. That would be like if you're out in the

00:54:01.590 --> 00:54:03.190
field shouting, that would be outshouting. So

00:54:03.190 --> 00:54:05.070
this is outshouting. I don't know, maybe there

00:54:05.070 --> 00:54:07.329
should be a dash or something. But anyway, outshouting

00:54:07.329 --> 00:54:10.769
God. And we're going to see in the text that

00:54:10.769 --> 00:54:13.429
we're going to read today, one roar versus another

00:54:13.429 --> 00:54:18.940
roar. One roar versus another roar. Let me begin

00:54:18.940 --> 00:54:20.940
by giving you a little bit of an illustration.

00:54:22.739 --> 00:54:25.380
When I was younger, I guess I was probably about

00:54:25.380 --> 00:54:29.400
13, 14 years old. There used to be, it's not

00:54:29.400 --> 00:54:31.699
there anymore, praise God, because some men and

00:54:31.699 --> 00:54:33.920
myself got together and we sort of renovated

00:54:33.920 --> 00:54:35.980
that part of my house. Brother Tony led the way

00:54:35.980 --> 00:54:39.500
and we fixed it. It had some structural, it had

00:54:39.500 --> 00:54:42.539
some issues. Anyway, so you used to go through

00:54:42.539 --> 00:54:44.340
the front door where the window is next to the

00:54:44.340 --> 00:54:45.559
gas meter. There used to be a front door there.

00:54:45.639 --> 00:54:47.840
And you'd go straight down a long hallway utility

00:54:47.840 --> 00:54:51.139
room. And on the right half, you'd first pass

00:54:51.139 --> 00:54:54.539
the furnace and the water softener, which we

00:54:54.539 --> 00:54:55.800
have a water softener still, but it doesn't work.

00:54:55.880 --> 00:54:58.239
But anyway, the furnace. And then you'd pass

00:54:58.239 --> 00:55:01.139
the laundry. And then there was a bathroom that

00:55:01.139 --> 00:55:03.639
I had built, which we affectionately called the

00:55:03.639 --> 00:55:06.440
throne. Not because people call toilets thrones,

00:55:06.440 --> 00:55:08.260
but because I built this bathroom, and when I

00:55:08.260 --> 00:55:09.880
built it, I couldn't break up the concrete floor

00:55:09.880 --> 00:55:11.800
to put it in. I didn't know how to do that. So

00:55:11.800 --> 00:55:13.880
I built it up on a pedestal that was like two

00:55:13.880 --> 00:55:16.000
foot tall. So to go to the bathroom, you had

00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:18.760
to step up a foot and then walk up a slight slope,

00:55:18.880 --> 00:55:20.400
and then you could sit down to go to the bathroom.

00:55:20.500 --> 00:55:22.019
And it had a shower curtain around it. It didn't

00:55:22.019 --> 00:55:25.460
have walls. And so it was moderately comical.

00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:29.739
And then you'd go a little further, and I'd take

00:55:29.739 --> 00:55:31.400
it back. The laundry was actually after that.

00:55:31.460 --> 00:55:33.039
And then there was the door, which is now...

00:55:33.309 --> 00:55:35.409
the door to our bathroom. And so then that back

00:55:35.409 --> 00:55:37.650
room was back there, which is now partly our

00:55:37.650 --> 00:55:39.110
bedroom, partly our honest bedroom, and we added

00:55:39.110 --> 00:55:42.150
some onto it when we got rid of the garage. So

00:55:42.150 --> 00:55:44.309
anyway, you'd walk this long, straight hallway,

00:55:44.530 --> 00:55:46.949
and there were two lights. There was one light

00:55:46.949 --> 00:55:49.090
in the front, still there now, and there was

00:55:49.090 --> 00:55:51.329
one light in the back by the laundry room. The

00:55:51.329 --> 00:55:52.889
light in the back by the laundry room was one

00:55:52.889 --> 00:55:54.949
of those two -way switches. You know, if you've

00:55:54.949 --> 00:55:56.789
turned this one on, then you can turn this one

00:55:56.789 --> 00:55:58.230
off, but when you come back, you've got to turn

00:55:58.230 --> 00:55:59.550
the one that you turned off, you've got to turn

00:55:59.550 --> 00:56:01.760
that one on, and then go to the other end and

00:56:01.760 --> 00:56:03.659
turn off. It was ideal so you could walk through

00:56:03.659 --> 00:56:06.039
the long space, flip the light switch on, walk

00:56:06.039 --> 00:56:07.360
through the long space, flip the light switch

00:56:07.360 --> 00:56:08.800
off. Then you're coming back, you turn the light

00:56:08.800 --> 00:56:10.719
switch on, walk through the long space, flip

00:56:10.719 --> 00:56:12.199
the light. But if you do it the other way, it

00:56:12.199 --> 00:56:16.599
doesn't work. So if you go through without the

00:56:16.599 --> 00:56:18.579
light, then when you come back, you have to go

00:56:18.579 --> 00:56:20.519
through without the light and vice versa. So

00:56:20.519 --> 00:56:22.440
I don't know how he had it wired or whatever,

00:56:22.500 --> 00:56:23.960
but that's the way it worked. And I think the

00:56:23.960 --> 00:56:26.659
one on our stairway is the same way. So on the

00:56:26.659 --> 00:56:30.070
one going upstairs. So more often than not, I

00:56:30.070 --> 00:56:32.510
would be walking that long stretch of hall in

00:56:32.510 --> 00:56:36.170
the dark. On the left side was a set of shelves

00:56:36.170 --> 00:56:38.190
that my dad had built. And basically it was just

00:56:38.190 --> 00:56:42.630
really just one by sixes. Didn't even have a

00:56:42.630 --> 00:56:44.130
lip on or anything, but we were all the way along.

00:56:44.230 --> 00:56:46.250
They were like 18 feet long and just canned goods

00:56:46.250 --> 00:56:50.329
on there. And that was their pantry. And so walking

00:56:50.329 --> 00:56:52.030
along, canned goods on the right, the throne

00:56:52.030 --> 00:56:54.750
on the left, the throne on the right, followed

00:56:54.750 --> 00:56:56.889
by the laundry. And I'm walking through there.

00:56:57.440 --> 00:57:03.599
And my brother decides to get crazy. And it just

00:57:03.599 --> 00:57:07.340
occurred to me that the throne was not actually

00:57:07.340 --> 00:57:09.219
there when this event happened. I'm blending

00:57:09.219 --> 00:57:10.820
tooth and time. But anyway, the point is, I'm

00:57:10.820 --> 00:57:13.599
walking down that dark hallway, and my brother

00:57:13.599 --> 00:57:16.500
decided to get up in my face. And so he steps

00:57:16.500 --> 00:57:19.119
out of the darkness, and he yells at me. And

00:57:19.119 --> 00:57:21.860
he just says, ah! Like that, right? Like boo,

00:57:21.980 --> 00:57:24.119
basically, but a kid version. And so he goes,

00:57:24.179 --> 00:57:27.289
ah! And then we're in the dark. And it scared

00:57:27.289 --> 00:57:29.750
me, so I yelled back. I go, ah! And he yelled,

00:57:29.869 --> 00:57:32.190
and that scared him because he didn't expect

00:57:32.190 --> 00:57:34.650
me to yell so loud. And he goes, ah! And then

00:57:34.650 --> 00:57:37.130
I yelled, ah! And pretty soon we stopped, and

00:57:37.130 --> 00:57:38.849
we all looked at each other, and we both looked

00:57:38.849 --> 00:57:39.989
at each other and kind of laughed and chuckled

00:57:39.989 --> 00:57:43.389
and whatever. But the point is, I guess I ask

00:57:43.389 --> 00:57:45.389
myself, why is it that when you're startled,

00:57:45.489 --> 00:57:48.090
you yell? Some people go to punching. It depends

00:57:48.090 --> 00:57:50.829
on kind of how you're conditioned. I did that

00:57:50.829 --> 00:57:53.730
a lot once I got older, probably because I had

00:57:53.730 --> 00:57:57.989
a lot of those situations in my life. And then

00:57:57.989 --> 00:58:00.269
if you jump out and you yell at somebody, why

00:58:00.269 --> 00:58:02.309
would you expect them to be surprised and at

00:58:02.309 --> 00:58:04.329
least make a loud noise or maybe punch you or

00:58:04.329 --> 00:58:06.170
something? If you're going to startle them, why

00:58:06.170 --> 00:58:08.670
would you expect them to be startled back? I

00:58:08.670 --> 00:58:10.670
want you to bear that situation in mind then

00:58:10.670 --> 00:58:13.030
as we look at the scripture today. And if you

00:58:13.030 --> 00:58:15.309
are excited about the word of God and what God

00:58:15.309 --> 00:58:17.670
can do in your life, what God can do in the lives

00:58:17.670 --> 00:58:21.250
of this country and yet in the world through...

00:58:21.559 --> 00:58:24.699
his teachings, which will not pass away, though

00:58:24.699 --> 00:58:26.960
all heaven and earth do, his teachings will not

00:58:26.960 --> 00:58:29.460
pass away, then maybe give me a little bit of

00:58:29.460 --> 00:58:31.739
a hoot, a holler, amen, or maybe yell like you

00:58:31.739 --> 00:58:34.500
were startled, or yell like you want to startle

00:58:34.500 --> 00:58:38.599
somebody, as we go to Psalm chapter 46. Okay,

00:58:38.800 --> 00:58:40.659
now I said chapter, but technically it's not

00:58:40.659 --> 00:58:42.159
a chapter. I understand that. You all understand

00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:45.480
that, right? It's section 46. It is Psalm 46.

00:58:45.500 --> 00:58:49.820
It is the song or prayer that is in number 46,

00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:54.539
the book Psalms. God, the refuge of his people.

00:58:55.099 --> 00:58:57.940
For the choir director, a psalm of the sons of

00:58:57.940 --> 00:59:01.699
Korah set to Alamoth a song. That's interesting,

00:59:01.739 --> 00:59:03.000
bro. Tim, I don't know if you know this or not.

00:59:03.059 --> 00:59:04.480
You might be interested in it. Alicia, Molly,

00:59:04.539 --> 00:59:09.059
any musical singer type peoples. That the best

00:59:09.059 --> 00:59:10.880
estimation of that term where it says set to

00:59:10.880 --> 00:59:12.820
Alamoth probably meant that it was meant for

00:59:12.820 --> 00:59:16.480
sopranos. That the music was set to higher, I

00:59:16.480 --> 00:59:18.159
don't know how that works, a higher pitch set

00:59:18.159 --> 00:59:20.619
for sopranos. But we don't actually know the

00:59:20.619 --> 00:59:22.969
terms. They're ancient. and they are not inspired

00:59:22.969 --> 00:59:25.070
of God, and they were not protected like the

00:59:25.070 --> 00:59:27.610
words were of the text. So we're not positive,

00:59:27.730 --> 00:59:29.969
but 70 -80 % of the people think that that means

00:59:29.969 --> 00:59:32.090
that this psalm that we're about to read was

00:59:32.090 --> 00:59:34.710
written for sopranos, which may be kind of symbolic

00:59:34.710 --> 00:59:37.030
when you think about it. Alright, here we go.

00:59:37.070 --> 00:59:38.789
This is the beginning of verse 1. Interestingly

00:59:38.789 --> 00:59:41.469
enough, I was 90 % done with my sermon, and I

00:59:41.469 --> 00:59:43.250
got a little pop -up on my note that yesterday

00:59:43.250 --> 00:59:47.210
or today, whichever one it was, memory verse

00:59:47.210 --> 00:59:51.389
of the day for new version for the Bible app.

00:59:51.739 --> 00:59:54.860
was this first verse, Psalm 46 .1. And it says,

00:59:55.139 --> 00:59:59.400
God is our refuge and strength, a very present

00:59:59.400 --> 01:00:04.019
help in trouble. And so God is right here pictured,

01:00:04.119 --> 01:00:06.760
it sounds like three ways, but I submit to you

01:00:06.760 --> 01:00:09.820
it's really just kind of like two ways. He's

01:00:09.820 --> 01:00:11.780
our refuge, meaning he's our protector, our shelter.

01:00:12.079 --> 01:00:16.650
I read a story about a man and a boy. that they

01:00:16.650 --> 01:00:18.929
would always go over their Christmas break when

01:00:18.929 --> 01:00:20.250
they were at his grandparents' and they would

01:00:20.250 --> 01:00:24.250
go down to the river or pond or whatever was

01:00:24.250 --> 01:00:27.710
there and they would fish. And they had a particularly

01:00:27.710 --> 01:00:30.550
bad winter going on and the boy thought they

01:00:30.550 --> 01:00:32.449
probably wouldn't go. And he went to his dad

01:00:32.449 --> 01:00:34.929
and he said, are we still going to go down there?

01:00:35.070 --> 01:00:36.570
Because they usually cut a hole in the ice or

01:00:36.570 --> 01:00:38.829
whatever or if it wasn't frozen over they would

01:00:38.829 --> 01:00:42.190
fish there. And his dad said, yeah, I think we're

01:00:42.190 --> 01:00:44.780
still going to go. And so then the next morning,

01:00:44.840 --> 01:00:46.239
they got up early and they got all their stuff

01:00:46.239 --> 01:00:47.940
together and they walked down through the snow

01:00:47.940 --> 01:00:49.760
and the wind and it was terrible. I mean, like

01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:51.179
halfway there, you thought, I'm going to freeze

01:00:51.179 --> 01:00:52.760
to death before I ever get to the water, right?

01:00:53.400 --> 01:00:56.820
And finally they get there, the boy and his dad,

01:00:56.960 --> 01:00:59.960
and right next to the stream or the pond, as

01:00:59.960 --> 01:01:03.699
his dad well knew, there was a huge rock. And

01:01:03.699 --> 01:01:06.980
so they built a fire up next to this rock. His

01:01:06.980 --> 01:01:10.280
dad gathered wood and whatever. brought the stuff,

01:01:10.320 --> 01:01:11.800
I assume, to make a fire, and he built a fire

01:01:11.800 --> 01:01:13.500
up next to a rock, and the rock protected them

01:01:13.500 --> 01:01:16.000
from the wind, and they fished just like they

01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:18.730
would otherwise. That is the perfect picture

01:01:18.730 --> 01:01:21.329
of what it is talking about. God is your refuge.

01:01:21.510 --> 01:01:24.510
Notice that it does not say that God takes you

01:01:24.510 --> 01:01:27.349
out of struggle or trouble or that God puts you

01:01:27.349 --> 01:01:29.590
a place that's warm when everybody else is cold.

01:01:29.789 --> 01:01:31.989
It does not say that. It says that he is your

01:01:31.989 --> 01:01:34.570
refuge. It doesn't say that here, anyway, that

01:01:34.570 --> 01:01:36.969
he is like our castle or our house or our temple

01:01:36.969 --> 01:01:39.449
or our building or walls built around us. It

01:01:39.449 --> 01:01:41.469
doesn't say you have a roof. A refuge is a place

01:01:41.469 --> 01:01:43.469
that you go in the midst of trouble and you get

01:01:43.469 --> 01:01:46.050
some protection. You get the ability to survive.

01:01:47.029 --> 01:01:50.449
So if you're ever in a very cold environment,

01:01:50.530 --> 01:01:52.170
like an icy environment, a snowy environment,

01:01:52.289 --> 01:01:53.530
whatever, and you're stranded out in the cold

01:01:53.530 --> 01:01:55.789
weather, they tell you to bury yourself in the

01:01:55.789 --> 01:01:58.110
snow. Now that seems counterintuitive, because

01:01:58.110 --> 01:01:59.929
it's stinking cold. Snow is cold. I don't want

01:01:59.929 --> 01:02:02.510
to touch snow when I'm cold. But actually, snow

01:02:02.510 --> 01:02:04.469
traps the heat in, and you can actually make

01:02:04.469 --> 01:02:06.150
yourself a little den and get down in the snow,

01:02:06.269 --> 01:02:07.889
and you can't start a fire in there, but you

01:02:07.889 --> 01:02:09.829
can stay warm from the wind. The wind chill factor

01:02:09.829 --> 01:02:12.269
is the worst part, and so on. And that is a refuge.

01:02:12.989 --> 01:02:15.989
You've heard of an igloo. An igloo is largely

01:02:15.989 --> 01:02:19.389
a refuge. But actually, those who build igloos,

01:02:19.489 --> 01:02:21.449
which we don't hear all that much about them

01:02:21.449 --> 01:02:23.409
anymore, but those who build igloos are so good

01:02:23.409 --> 01:02:25.289
at building them that they build them to be more

01:02:25.289 --> 01:02:27.469
than refuges. They build them up to be safe places

01:02:27.469 --> 01:02:29.250
where they can actually have a fire, where they

01:02:29.250 --> 01:02:31.510
can actually cook, they can actually do their

01:02:31.510 --> 01:02:36.150
work. But a refuge is a shelter in the midst

01:02:36.150 --> 01:02:38.369
of difficulty. That's what a refuge really is.

01:02:38.510 --> 01:02:41.340
And he is our strength. And this word here means

01:02:41.340 --> 01:02:44.239
that God is the strength that flows through us.

01:02:44.300 --> 01:02:45.920
He is the one that gives us the ability to do

01:02:45.920 --> 01:02:48.619
the things that we do. Jesus would later say,

01:02:48.659 --> 01:02:50.039
you can't do anything without me, basically,

01:02:50.179 --> 01:02:53.179
and I'm paraphrasing that, obviously. God is

01:02:53.179 --> 01:02:55.159
our refuge and strength. And then he says, a

01:02:55.159 --> 01:02:58.099
very present help in trouble. And it sounds like

01:02:58.099 --> 01:03:00.800
that's a third thing. Like, okay, if I'm in difficulty,

01:03:01.019 --> 01:03:04.920
and then I might find a refuge, because God is

01:03:04.920 --> 01:03:08.280
my refuge, but also God might... Do something

01:03:08.280 --> 01:03:10.199
to help me out of that situation, like transplant

01:03:10.199 --> 01:03:12.820
me to somewhere warmer, or help me find somebody

01:03:12.820 --> 01:03:16.380
to take me home, that kind of thing. But I submit

01:03:16.380 --> 01:03:18.340
to you that in the greatest times of trouble,

01:03:18.460 --> 01:03:23.340
you need two things. You need refuge. You need

01:03:23.340 --> 01:03:25.019
the ability to persist. Something to keep you

01:03:25.019 --> 01:03:27.800
going. Something to keep you protected. To persevere.

01:03:28.059 --> 01:03:30.300
And you need strength to do what you've got to

01:03:30.300 --> 01:03:32.119
do. The truth is, if you have enough strength,

01:03:32.360 --> 01:03:35.480
you don't need all that much refuge. But when

01:03:35.480 --> 01:03:37.699
you're overcome, By something that is greater

01:03:37.699 --> 01:03:40.340
than whatever strength you already possess, you

01:03:40.340 --> 01:03:43.079
need refuge. And out of that refuge, sometimes

01:03:43.079 --> 01:03:44.639
you gather the strength to do what you have.

01:03:44.719 --> 01:03:46.239
You can build yourself a shelter and then the

01:03:46.239 --> 01:03:48.699
next day get up and walk to where you need to

01:03:48.699 --> 01:03:51.500
be, for example. God is our refuge and our strength.

01:03:51.679 --> 01:03:54.440
He is a very present help in trouble. Notice

01:03:54.440 --> 01:03:57.000
that phrase, very present. God is our refuge

01:03:57.000 --> 01:04:00.079
and strength and He is right ready. He is right

01:04:00.079 --> 01:04:03.440
now ready. He is already ready. He is with you

01:04:03.440 --> 01:04:07.579
ready. in the face of difficulty. He is our refuge

01:04:07.579 --> 01:04:11.199
and our strength. Verse 2 says, Therefore we

01:04:11.199 --> 01:04:14.599
will not fear. So if God, the God of the universe,

01:04:14.699 --> 01:04:16.440
the creator God, the one who saved your soul,

01:04:16.539 --> 01:04:18.159
and if you do know that he saved your soul, then

01:04:18.159 --> 01:04:20.099
you know the power that he possesses to cleanse

01:04:20.099 --> 01:04:22.219
a soul, and that alone is something significant,

01:04:22.460 --> 01:04:24.480
and you know that he has that kind of power,

01:04:24.599 --> 01:04:27.000
and he is with you, then what the heck are you

01:04:27.000 --> 01:04:32.389
afraid of? But what do we see in the world? We

01:04:32.389 --> 01:04:34.750
see lots and lots of people, including professing

01:04:34.750 --> 01:04:36.909
Christians, afraid of this, afraid of that. I'm

01:04:36.909 --> 01:04:38.210
afraid of what they'll think. I'm afraid of what

01:04:38.210 --> 01:04:40.010
I'll say. I'm afraid of what I'll do. I'm afraid

01:04:40.010 --> 01:04:43.969
I might slip. I'm afraid she won't like me. I'm

01:04:43.969 --> 01:04:46.869
afraid he won't give me money. I'm afraid the

01:04:46.869 --> 01:04:49.389
deal won't go through. I'm afraid it'll break.

01:04:49.750 --> 01:04:53.050
I mean, it's constantly, all day long, most people

01:04:53.050 --> 01:04:56.389
are more motivated by fearing a possible negative

01:04:56.389 --> 01:05:00.369
outcome and therefore working for their happiness

01:05:01.079 --> 01:05:02.559
to try to stop that possible negative outcome,

01:05:02.840 --> 01:05:07.239
then they are building something. It's like,

01:05:07.300 --> 01:05:09.039
I'm trying to save up the money so I can buy

01:05:09.039 --> 01:05:13.079
a house somebody else built. And then Stuart,

01:05:13.280 --> 01:05:15.159
for example, Sherry's grandfather, his lifelong

01:05:15.159 --> 01:05:16.739
dream, which he never fulfilled his lifelong

01:05:16.739 --> 01:05:19.440
dream in this aspect, was to buy a cabin kit

01:05:19.440 --> 01:05:23.139
and build his own house. But if he had started

01:05:23.139 --> 01:05:25.320
building his own house when he first had the

01:05:25.320 --> 01:05:27.320
dream, he would have eventually built that house.

01:05:28.099 --> 01:05:30.360
But he did buy a very nice house and he did build

01:05:30.360 --> 01:05:32.539
a very nice garage and he renovated a nice car

01:05:32.539 --> 01:05:34.260
and he did other things that he wanted to do.

01:05:34.300 --> 01:05:35.739
I'm not saying he made a mistake. What I'm saying

01:05:35.739 --> 01:05:38.420
is, if you want to build something, then you

01:05:38.420 --> 01:05:40.940
build it. And if something opposes you building

01:05:40.940 --> 01:05:45.599
it, what do you do? Build it. So what? I'm not

01:05:45.599 --> 01:05:47.840
trying to be snotty or nasty or mean to anybody.

01:05:47.940 --> 01:05:49.599
If somebody doesn't like what you're doing for

01:05:49.599 --> 01:05:52.739
God, do it anyway. It doesn't matter. That could

01:05:52.739 --> 01:05:54.219
be the person that loves you the most, but they're

01:05:54.219 --> 01:05:56.320
stepping up because the enemy wants to try to

01:05:56.320 --> 01:05:57.500
stop you from doing what you're supposed to be

01:05:57.500 --> 01:06:00.360
doing. Do what you're supposed to be doing, and

01:06:00.360 --> 01:06:02.199
it'll build something. It'll turn into something.

01:06:02.659 --> 01:06:05.880
We must not fear because God is right there.

01:06:07.079 --> 01:06:11.119
God is ever -present help in trouble, a refuge,

01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:14.000
a shelter for if things go wrong, strength to

01:06:14.000 --> 01:06:17.119
persist and continue on. Therefore, we will not

01:06:17.119 --> 01:06:20.849
fear, though... The earth should change. Now,

01:06:20.849 --> 01:06:23.309
there's a really interesting word here that kind

01:06:23.309 --> 01:06:26.530
of comes out in the Hebrew, and it basically

01:06:26.530 --> 01:06:30.030
means chaos. Are you familiar with the idea of

01:06:30.030 --> 01:06:32.610
chaos? Chaos goes every which direction all the

01:06:32.610 --> 01:06:35.980
time. It doesn't stabilize. It doesn't simplify.

01:06:36.260 --> 01:06:39.079
It doesn't have a solid base. Chaos is when people

01:06:39.079 --> 01:06:40.860
are going all over the place all the time. If

01:06:40.860 --> 01:06:42.440
you've ever been in your house and you've had

01:06:42.440 --> 01:06:44.099
four or five children all in the living room

01:06:44.099 --> 01:06:45.460
at the same time or you visited somebody else's

01:06:45.460 --> 01:06:46.599
house and four or five children all at the same

01:06:46.599 --> 01:06:48.780
time, if you sit back for a second and try to

01:06:48.780 --> 01:06:50.400
be calm and just watch what's going on, what

01:06:50.400 --> 01:06:53.320
you will see gets close to but is not chaos.

01:06:54.639 --> 01:06:57.159
It was a joke when I was back at Pizza Hut. We

01:06:57.159 --> 01:07:00.079
would start our shift. By about dinner time,

01:07:00.300 --> 01:07:02.059
things would be completely out of control. You

01:07:02.059 --> 01:07:03.099
didn't know how many times the phone was going

01:07:03.099 --> 01:07:04.460
to ring. You didn't know how thick the stack

01:07:04.460 --> 01:07:06.039
of tickets on the floor was going to get. You

01:07:06.039 --> 01:07:07.880
didn't know how long the drive times were going

01:07:07.880 --> 01:07:10.420
to become or how long it was going to be. We

01:07:10.420 --> 01:07:11.739
had to tell people an hour and a half, two hours.

01:07:11.820 --> 01:07:13.480
We'd tell people two hours for pizza and they'd

01:07:13.480 --> 01:07:15.880
still order. Wouldn't bat an eye. And sometimes

01:07:15.880 --> 01:07:17.539
we'd get it to them a lot faster than that. And

01:07:17.539 --> 01:07:18.559
then sometimes we'd get it to them a lot faster

01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:19.760
than that and they wouldn't be home. So you had

01:07:19.760 --> 01:07:21.320
no idea what was going to happen in the meantime.

01:07:22.199 --> 01:07:24.860
But at the end, it always came down to locking

01:07:24.860 --> 01:07:28.380
the door, cleaning the restaurant. writing the

01:07:28.380 --> 01:07:32.059
deposit, cleaning out the safe, polishing everything,

01:07:32.340 --> 01:07:34.039
stocking everything, putting everything away.

01:07:34.139 --> 01:07:36.119
It always came down to the same thing. And so

01:07:36.119 --> 01:07:38.440
we called it controlled chaos because you knew

01:07:38.440 --> 01:07:41.199
where you began and you know where you end. Are

01:07:41.199 --> 01:07:42.800
you a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Then

01:07:42.800 --> 01:07:45.639
you know where you began. Do you know where you're

01:07:45.639 --> 01:07:47.699
going when you die? Then you know where you end.

01:07:47.820 --> 01:07:50.440
In the middle is controlled chaos. So when we

01:07:50.440 --> 01:07:52.219
look at the world, sometimes this is what we

01:07:52.219 --> 01:07:55.699
see. The earth develops into chaos. That's what

01:07:55.699 --> 01:07:58.139
the phrase... probably could be easily translated

01:07:58.139 --> 01:08:01.059
there as, even though the earth develops into

01:08:01.059 --> 01:08:06.219
chaos, we will not fear. And it says, and though

01:08:06.219 --> 01:08:08.079
the mountains slip into the heart of the sea,

01:08:08.260 --> 01:08:11.280
which is a perfect image of what chaos is, the

01:08:11.280 --> 01:08:14.699
big strong things that are in life, that everybody

01:08:14.699 --> 01:08:16.399
says, well that'll be fine, that'll always be

01:08:16.399 --> 01:08:18.180
there, nothing's going to happen to that. Even

01:08:18.180 --> 01:08:20.340
if those things would slip into the heart of

01:08:20.340 --> 01:08:23.020
the sea, pardon me, if they would go away out

01:08:23.020 --> 01:08:26.159
of our sight. The things that we were depending

01:08:26.159 --> 01:08:28.579
on, that we thought would always be stable, if

01:08:28.579 --> 01:08:33.319
they would go away, we will not fear. Verse 3.

01:08:33.479 --> 01:08:37.140
Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains

01:08:37.140 --> 01:08:39.460
quake at its swelling pride. And that's talking

01:08:39.460 --> 01:08:41.880
about the sea, of course. And so the sea, I don't

01:08:41.880 --> 01:08:43.819
know if you ever thought about this, but in this

01:08:43.819 --> 01:08:47.560
earth, the sea is one of the things that pretty

01:08:47.560 --> 01:08:49.659
easily can overcome a man. If you're dropped

01:08:49.659 --> 01:08:52.819
about two miles offshore, you'll die. Bottom

01:08:52.819 --> 01:08:54.590
line. Unless somebody picks you up or you find

01:08:54.590 --> 01:08:56.630
a way out, most people cannot swim two miles

01:08:56.630 --> 01:08:58.810
in waves. And believe it or not, even though

01:08:58.810 --> 01:09:00.970
the ocean might be fairly warm to touch, you

01:09:00.970 --> 01:09:04.250
will develop hypothermia. You'll have a hard

01:09:04.250 --> 01:09:07.029
time. People have tried to swim relatively long

01:09:07.029 --> 01:09:10.069
lengths, and they literally do lasting permanent

01:09:10.069 --> 01:09:12.130
damage to their bodies to try to do so. It's

01:09:12.130 --> 01:09:14.130
20 miles, I think it is, across the English Channel,

01:09:14.210 --> 01:09:16.590
and a couple of people have managed to swim that,

01:09:16.649 --> 01:09:19.130
I think, now. But thousands or tens of thousands

01:09:19.130 --> 01:09:21.949
have failed in trying. People died in the English

01:09:21.949 --> 01:09:25.869
Channel. because 10 miles from solid land where

01:09:25.869 --> 01:09:27.250
they would have been fine forever because their

01:09:27.250 --> 01:09:28.970
ship sank or because there was a military battle

01:09:28.970 --> 01:09:30.310
and they were thrown overboard or because it

01:09:30.310 --> 01:09:32.390
was a storm and they fell off or whatever. People

01:09:32.390 --> 01:09:35.729
died just a little ways out to sea. And now we

01:09:35.729 --> 01:09:38.909
have the sea, and this picture is the sea coming

01:09:38.909 --> 01:09:43.170
after the land, right? Roar and foam. And again,

01:09:43.229 --> 01:09:45.970
that image of foam there is chaos. Do you ever

01:09:45.970 --> 01:09:48.470
watch white water when a river races down? It

01:09:48.470 --> 01:09:51.020
goes over the rocks. Why does the water turn

01:09:51.020 --> 01:09:52.800
white when it goes over the rocks? Does anybody

01:09:52.800 --> 01:09:56.000
know? Scientists in the room? Do you know why?

01:09:57.159 --> 01:10:00.680
Yep, air bubbles is one main reason. There's

01:10:00.680 --> 01:10:04.619
only one other reason. Water flows, and when

01:10:04.619 --> 01:10:07.579
all the water is flowing the same direction,

01:10:07.779 --> 01:10:11.239
light passes through it. In fact, if it stabilizes

01:10:11.239 --> 01:10:13.439
in its flight, it could be passing you at 50

01:10:13.439 --> 01:10:16.819
miles an hour. But if it's stable in its passage,

01:10:17.020 --> 01:10:19.789
it'll be clear as glass. Unless there's impurities

01:10:19.789 --> 01:10:21.609
in it. You can look right through. If you watch

01:10:21.609 --> 01:10:24.489
a water pipe that's clear, they used to have

01:10:24.489 --> 01:10:27.270
them down at Kosai, a clear water pipe that's

01:10:27.270 --> 01:10:29.470
full of water. And the water could be traveling

01:10:29.470 --> 01:10:32.130
through that pipe at 10, 20, 30 miles an hour

01:10:32.130 --> 01:10:35.270
and it's clear. Completely clear. If you aerate

01:10:35.270 --> 01:10:38.229
it, the bubbles will appear. But it won't really

01:10:38.229 --> 01:10:40.649
become white because of that. When it becomes

01:10:40.649 --> 01:10:42.810
white is when it's going in all different directions

01:10:42.810 --> 01:10:45.310
and clashing with itself. So the light that's

01:10:45.310 --> 01:10:48.520
coming from the sun bounces off. hundreds or

01:10:48.520 --> 01:10:51.079
thousands of different surfaces instead of just

01:10:51.079 --> 01:10:53.300
one smooth surface or instead of being able to

01:10:53.300 --> 01:10:55.619
pass through. And it becomes opaque and water

01:10:55.619 --> 01:10:58.960
begins to look like foam. The psalmist is pointing

01:10:58.960 --> 01:11:02.079
out to us that things will happen in the world

01:11:02.079 --> 01:11:05.699
that look crazy, chaotic, and they'll show up,

01:11:05.739 --> 01:11:08.739
right? They'll become opaque. You can't see past

01:11:08.739 --> 01:11:11.020
them. You have a hard time accepting them. They

01:11:11.020 --> 01:11:16.439
will shake you like the sea coming for you. It's

01:11:16.439 --> 01:11:21.390
waters. Roar? That's loud. We went down to Puerto

01:11:21.390 --> 01:11:23.630
Rico way back in the day for Sherry's work. And

01:11:23.630 --> 01:11:25.729
while we were there, we visited a castle. And

01:11:25.729 --> 01:11:27.569
on the end, the castle was built on the end of

01:11:27.569 --> 01:11:29.510
the island where it comes to a point. And the

01:11:29.510 --> 01:11:31.770
water would come. And every time the water waves

01:11:31.770 --> 01:11:33.890
would come, they would shoot 60 feet in the air.

01:11:33.930 --> 01:11:35.329
Now, you look out at the ocean. It looked relatively

01:11:35.329 --> 01:11:39.750
smooth. The waves were 5, 10 feet. And then they

01:11:39.750 --> 01:11:41.470
would come and they would hit that. And the force

01:11:41.470 --> 01:11:43.109
of it would shoot up in the air like 60 feet.

01:11:43.210 --> 01:11:46.699
And it would go, Roar! Really loud, like so loud,

01:11:46.720 --> 01:11:49.180
no one could talk. Like here comes a wave. Wait

01:11:49.180 --> 01:11:50.699
a second. Okay, now here's what I was saying.

01:11:50.819 --> 01:11:53.579
Because the roar was so immense. And what he's

01:11:53.579 --> 01:11:56.560
saying is that this happens, that things in the

01:11:56.560 --> 01:12:00.659
world happen, that the roar and the foam become

01:12:00.659 --> 01:12:03.399
about all you can see or do or deal with. And

01:12:03.399 --> 01:12:04.920
I submit to you that in those moments in time,

01:12:05.039 --> 01:12:08.819
you need a refuge. And you need strength. And

01:12:08.819 --> 01:12:11.260
God is there for you in ever -present help. And

01:12:11.260 --> 01:12:13.880
therefore, we will not fear under those circumstances.

01:12:15.300 --> 01:12:18.060
It says, though the mountains quake at the swelling

01:12:18.060 --> 01:12:20.699
pride. In other words, if the ocean comes, the

01:12:20.699 --> 01:12:22.800
solidest things, the biggest, strongest things

01:12:22.800 --> 01:12:24.180
that no one would think that would ever go away,

01:12:24.319 --> 01:12:28.119
though they shake when the ocean does what it's

01:12:28.119 --> 01:12:29.720
doing or the sea does what it's doing, they shake

01:12:29.720 --> 01:12:33.859
like they might literally just crumble. Still,

01:12:33.920 --> 01:12:37.819
we will not fear. For there is a river whose

01:12:37.819 --> 01:12:40.979
streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling

01:12:40.979 --> 01:12:44.270
places of the Most High. Now, the psalmist may

01:12:44.270 --> 01:12:46.270
have been foreshadowing, talking about the river

01:12:46.270 --> 01:12:49.670
that runs through heaven. There was no river

01:12:49.670 --> 01:12:53.729
in Jerusalem. And so to talk about Zion or Jerusalem

01:12:53.729 --> 01:12:56.109
that way, it obviously was not talking about

01:12:56.109 --> 01:12:57.949
that. There was no river. In fact, they would

01:12:57.949 --> 01:12:59.710
have loved to have had a river. They would have

01:12:59.710 --> 01:13:02.489
saved tens of thousands of lives during wartime

01:13:02.489 --> 01:13:06.090
if they had a river. They didn't. But there is

01:13:06.090 --> 01:13:08.590
a river whose streams make glad the city of God.

01:13:08.710 --> 01:13:12.119
It's a river of supply and provision. That make

01:13:12.119 --> 01:13:14.520
glad the city of God. The holy dwelling places

01:13:14.520 --> 01:13:20.479
of the Most High. God present, all is well. Verse

01:13:20.479 --> 01:13:23.880
5. God is in the midst of her. She will not be

01:13:23.880 --> 01:13:28.539
moved. You realize how stupid anyone would have

01:13:28.539 --> 01:13:32.979
to be if God Himself were standing with you in

01:13:32.979 --> 01:13:36.779
the midst of trouble and God stands and you run.

01:13:37.199 --> 01:13:41.199
How dumb is that? When they captured the Ark

01:13:41.199 --> 01:13:42.479
of the Covenant, when the Philistines captured

01:13:42.479 --> 01:13:44.460
the Ark of the Covenant, the Israelites were

01:13:44.460 --> 01:13:46.579
in full retreat. They took the Ark of the Covenant

01:13:46.579 --> 01:13:49.600
out there because, of course, if God is with

01:13:49.600 --> 01:13:51.560
us, if the footstool of God is on the battlefield,

01:13:51.819 --> 01:13:54.600
we cannot possibly lose. That was their thought.

01:13:54.699 --> 01:13:56.880
But the problem is they had already run away

01:13:56.880 --> 01:13:59.560
from God. They were already not living for God.

01:13:59.720 --> 01:14:02.739
They were already not faithful. They were evil,

01:14:02.859 --> 01:14:05.680
essentially. And so then they were being routed

01:14:05.680 --> 01:14:08.310
in battle. And they ran away and the Philistines

01:14:08.310 --> 01:14:11.189
captured the Ark of the Covenant. And then starts

01:14:11.189 --> 01:14:13.670
this huge episode before the Ark of the Covenant

01:14:13.670 --> 01:14:16.409
finally returns home of all the people that suffer

01:14:16.409 --> 01:14:19.069
under the tender ministrations of God's presence.

01:14:19.130 --> 01:14:22.590
The enemies of God who fell, died, were diseased,

01:14:22.590 --> 01:14:24.949
were in horrible shape. The cities of the Philistines,

01:14:25.029 --> 01:14:27.029
I think there were five of them or ten of them.

01:14:27.069 --> 01:14:29.210
Ten, I think. And they were all wracked with

01:14:29.210 --> 01:14:31.270
horrible disease and everything else because

01:14:31.270 --> 01:14:33.140
the Ark of the Covenant was there. So what did

01:14:33.140 --> 01:14:35.300
they do? They sent it back and they inquired

01:14:35.300 --> 01:14:36.600
of the wise men how to send it back and they

01:14:36.600 --> 01:14:39.039
sent it back with golden tumors and golden rats

01:14:39.039 --> 01:14:41.739
in it to represent the disease and the rats that

01:14:41.739 --> 01:14:44.600
had struck them while God's people didn't have

01:14:44.600 --> 01:14:46.220
the Ark of the Covenant and the Philistines had

01:14:46.220 --> 01:14:49.260
it instead. And they sent it back on two cows,

01:14:49.380 --> 01:14:53.119
pulled by two cows, whose babies, fresh born

01:14:53.119 --> 01:14:56.659
babies, were left at home to prove that the cows

01:14:56.659 --> 01:14:59.600
would do God's will and take it to where it belonged.

01:15:01.350 --> 01:15:03.029
Because it's the Ark of the Covenant and it's

01:15:03.029 --> 01:15:05.069
the presence of God. If you have the presence

01:15:05.069 --> 01:15:08.270
of God in you, you can't retreat. You can't fall

01:15:08.270 --> 01:15:11.189
back off of what God is doing. You can't be fearful.

01:15:12.989 --> 01:15:17.109
God is God. If whatever is in you, whoever is

01:15:17.109 --> 01:15:20.050
in you, leads you to a place of fear and doubt

01:15:20.050 --> 01:15:21.909
and not wanting to do what God wants you to do,

01:15:21.970 --> 01:15:23.430
then whatever is in you, whoever is in you, is

01:15:23.430 --> 01:15:27.149
not God. Because God is your refuge and strength

01:15:27.149 --> 01:15:30.619
and ever -present help in time of trouble. God

01:15:30.619 --> 01:15:33.199
is in the midst of her. She will not be moved.

01:15:33.279 --> 01:15:36.680
And that moved is like shaken, broken down, settling

01:15:36.680 --> 01:15:40.539
to lower base, searching for somewhere solid.

01:15:40.760 --> 01:15:43.819
Will not be moved. God will help her when morning

01:15:43.819 --> 01:15:46.760
dawns. And this is a trouble for translators.

01:15:46.779 --> 01:15:48.560
This phrase here, when morning dawns, is difficult

01:15:48.560 --> 01:15:51.659
to translate because it's a Hebrew colloquialism.

01:15:52.079 --> 01:15:54.100
If you know what a colloquialism is, it's a phrase

01:15:54.100 --> 01:15:58.800
like we might say, early to bed, early to rise.

01:15:59.560 --> 01:16:02.800
And most people know that the next part is makes

01:16:02.800 --> 01:16:05.479
a man healthy, wealthy, and wise, right? Because

01:16:05.479 --> 01:16:07.279
that goes all the way back to Ben Franklin in

01:16:07.279 --> 01:16:11.579
his letters or in Poor Rich's Almanac, whichever

01:16:11.579 --> 01:16:14.159
one it was. So we kind of pick those things up.

01:16:14.239 --> 01:16:16.100
But if you went to somewhere else in the world,

01:16:16.140 --> 01:16:17.659
they wouldn't have a clue. You said early to

01:16:17.659 --> 01:16:19.600
bed, they wouldn't know the next thing is early

01:16:19.600 --> 01:16:21.689
to rise, right? They'd say early to bed makes

01:16:21.689 --> 01:16:23.409
a man get more sleep or something. They wouldn't

01:16:23.409 --> 01:16:25.489
recognize it. So we're having trouble recognizing

01:16:25.489 --> 01:16:27.989
the quokialism. But what it literally basically

01:16:27.989 --> 01:16:34.270
means is this. God will help her. And then that

01:16:34.270 --> 01:16:38.970
last phrase basically means in good time or right

01:16:38.970 --> 01:16:42.869
now. Right at the right time. Right away. Not

01:16:42.869 --> 01:16:46.289
later. Not like you've got to pray and ask God

01:16:46.289 --> 01:16:49.170
for a while. or wait for God to act, but God

01:16:49.170 --> 01:16:54.369
will help right now. Okay? And so when morning

01:16:54.369 --> 01:16:56.189
dawns, that means like at the first part of the

01:16:56.189 --> 01:16:58.430
day, right? Right at the beginning. Right as

01:16:58.430 --> 01:16:59.710
you start thinking about, okay, now I've got

01:16:59.710 --> 01:17:00.970
these problems left over from yesterday. How

01:17:00.970 --> 01:17:02.250
am I going to solve them? God is right there

01:17:02.250 --> 01:17:06.229
to help. Just like that. Good translation, probably

01:17:06.229 --> 01:17:08.989
difficult understanding from the original language.

01:17:09.010 --> 01:17:12.189
Just a few verses more. The nations made an uproar.

01:17:12.250 --> 01:17:15.340
The kingdoms tottered. He raised His voice, the

01:17:15.340 --> 01:17:18.300
earth melted. So the people are making an uproar,

01:17:18.399 --> 01:17:22.819
they're getting loud, and that causes others

01:17:22.819 --> 01:17:24.359
maybe to get distracted or whatever, but the

01:17:24.359 --> 01:17:27.159
people are getting loud. God raises His voice,

01:17:27.220 --> 01:17:29.640
and the earth melted. And it's a picture of what

01:17:29.640 --> 01:17:33.100
happens in people's hearts when God acts. And

01:17:33.100 --> 01:17:36.739
so it's like, okay God, whatever you want God,

01:17:37.199 --> 01:17:40.500
I'm yours God. And that's how we feel when God

01:17:40.500 --> 01:17:43.279
acts. especially if we're not already going in

01:17:43.279 --> 01:17:46.359
the right way. Verse 7. The Lord of hosts is

01:17:46.359 --> 01:17:49.220
with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

01:17:49.760 --> 01:17:51.739
So you see that the God of Jacob is talking about

01:17:51.739 --> 01:17:53.840
the God of Israel. Jacob was renamed Israel,

01:17:53.960 --> 01:17:55.920
you may remember. The Lord of hosts is with us.

01:17:55.979 --> 01:17:59.100
He is the God of armies. He is the God of all

01:17:59.100 --> 01:18:01.520
the great forces. He is the God of an army that

01:18:01.520 --> 01:18:04.140
could crush any army that has ever existed. There's

01:18:04.140 --> 01:18:06.039
one for Reddit. How about an army of angels versus

01:18:06.039 --> 01:18:10.180
every army that ever existed? Right? The God

01:18:10.180 --> 01:18:13.420
of Jacob is our stronghold. And we always make

01:18:13.420 --> 01:18:14.979
a mistake when we think stronghold. We think

01:18:14.979 --> 01:18:17.659
castles. That's a mistake. If it meant castle,

01:18:17.720 --> 01:18:21.420
it would say castle. It says stronghold. Do you

01:18:21.420 --> 01:18:23.220
know what a stronghold is? We're going to talk

01:18:23.220 --> 01:18:25.340
about it briefly before we're through. Verse

01:18:25.340 --> 01:18:29.119
8. Come behold the works of the Lord. Come behold

01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:31.199
the works of the Lord. Look at what God has done.

01:18:32.279 --> 01:18:34.840
And it is the Lord who has wrought desolations

01:18:34.840 --> 01:18:37.239
in the earth. There are several nations that

01:18:37.239 --> 01:18:39.779
you can go back and look at that God utterly

01:18:39.779 --> 01:18:44.359
destroyed Himself without help. There are a couple

01:18:44.359 --> 01:18:46.180
that have completely disappeared off the face

01:18:46.180 --> 01:18:48.640
of the planet. Edom was one of those. God said,

01:18:48.800 --> 01:18:51.039
because Edom is prideful and doesn't follow my

01:18:51.039 --> 01:18:53.439
ways, basically, I'm going to destroy the entire

01:18:53.439 --> 01:18:56.239
nation. Now the caves exist. They're these huge

01:18:56.239 --> 01:18:58.460
castle caves in the sides of mountains that people

01:18:58.460 --> 01:19:01.060
lived in. And they're there, but nobody even

01:19:01.060 --> 01:19:03.460
knows what happened to all the people. They just

01:19:03.460 --> 01:19:05.869
ceased to exist. The nation went away. They no

01:19:05.869 --> 01:19:08.710
longer exist. Wiped from history. Their destruction

01:19:08.710 --> 01:19:11.010
doesn't even exist in history. No one knows what

01:19:11.010 --> 01:19:13.210
happened to them. And there are other cases of

01:19:13.210 --> 01:19:15.430
that. Look at what God did to Egypt to get the

01:19:15.430 --> 01:19:18.130
Israelites out, essentially. But really? Because

01:19:18.130 --> 01:19:21.189
God could have just teleported them. And before

01:19:21.189 --> 01:19:22.510
you say, I don't know about that, He did it with

01:19:22.510 --> 01:19:23.750
Philip. If He can do it with one, He can do it

01:19:23.750 --> 01:19:25.649
with a whole nation. God could have just done

01:19:25.649 --> 01:19:28.520
it like this. But notice that those ten plagues

01:19:28.520 --> 01:19:31.899
attack every god that they had. Systematically.

01:19:32.100 --> 01:19:34.619
Proving that there is no other god except for

01:19:34.619 --> 01:19:38.119
God. That is a lesson for all mankind. God has

01:19:38.119 --> 01:19:41.060
wrought desolations in the earth. Verse 9. He

01:19:41.060 --> 01:19:43.340
makes wars to cease to the end of the earth.

01:19:43.819 --> 01:19:46.039
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two.

01:19:46.140 --> 01:19:48.180
He burns the chariots. Or your translation may

01:19:48.180 --> 01:19:50.380
say the shields. Because the word there again

01:19:50.380 --> 01:19:53.739
in the Hebrew is hard to translate. And it's

01:19:53.739 --> 01:19:56.840
kind of hard to picture burning. shields, because

01:19:56.840 --> 01:19:58.659
people think of them as metal, but a lot of shields

01:19:58.659 --> 01:20:01.979
were actually wooden. And so it may be shields

01:20:01.979 --> 01:20:04.460
that were burnt there. Chariots can work. You

01:20:04.460 --> 01:20:05.899
burn a chariot, you wind up with the metal parts

01:20:05.899 --> 01:20:07.739
left and the wood is gone. The floor was usually

01:20:07.739 --> 01:20:11.100
wood. Anyway, he burns the implements of war.

01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:14.739
And he does it with fire. And fire is always

01:20:14.739 --> 01:20:17.359
a picture in Scripture of judgment, 99 % of the

01:20:17.359 --> 01:20:21.720
time. And so God does it in God's judgment. In

01:20:21.720 --> 01:20:26.819
verse 10, cease striving or be still and know

01:20:26.819 --> 01:20:29.319
that I am God. I like both translations for two

01:20:29.319 --> 01:20:31.760
different reasons. Cease striving or be still,

01:20:31.979 --> 01:20:35.819
know that I am God. I will be exalted. God will

01:20:35.819 --> 01:20:39.239
be lifted up among the nations. I will be exalted

01:20:39.239 --> 01:20:41.819
in the earth. All people will know, and you might

01:20:41.819 --> 01:20:43.579
be hearkening to the New Testament, right? Every

01:20:43.579 --> 01:20:46.699
knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Not

01:20:46.699 --> 01:20:48.970
just some. Not just people who are in for it.

01:20:48.989 --> 01:20:50.970
Not just people who signed up for it. Not just

01:20:50.970 --> 01:20:52.529
people who praised him during life or called

01:20:52.529 --> 01:20:54.789
out to him and were saved. But all people's knees

01:20:54.789 --> 01:20:59.069
will bow and every tongue confess. I will be

01:20:59.069 --> 01:21:01.510
exalted among the nations. I will be exalted

01:21:01.510 --> 01:21:04.949
in the earth. Verse 11. The Lord of hosts is

01:21:04.949 --> 01:21:09.430
with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

01:21:09.550 --> 01:21:11.800
And there is that word again. The Lord of hosts,

01:21:11.920 --> 01:21:14.020
that means the master of all armies, the great

01:21:14.020 --> 01:21:17.279
leader of the greatest army, is with us. And

01:21:17.279 --> 01:21:20.180
the God of Jacob, that's our God, Yahweh, Creator

01:21:20.180 --> 01:21:24.529
God, Jehovah Jireh, our God. The God of Jacob

01:21:24.529 --> 01:21:27.649
is our stronghold. And again, that word stronghold.

01:21:27.710 --> 01:21:29.470
Okay, so we've worked our way through the text.

01:21:29.550 --> 01:21:30.930
There's a few things I want you to see in here.

01:21:31.050 --> 01:21:32.989
A couple of them are pretty basic, but I think

01:21:32.989 --> 01:21:35.449
they're hugely important for our day. The first

01:21:35.449 --> 01:21:37.989
one is that according to the psalmist, clearly

01:21:37.989 --> 01:21:41.050
and evidently, obviously, the psalmist is saying

01:21:41.050 --> 01:21:44.930
that God is ready. But not only that he is ready,

01:21:45.069 --> 01:21:47.189
and this is the part that people tend to miss,

01:21:47.390 --> 01:21:51.520
he is accessible. You can have a relationship

01:21:51.520 --> 01:21:54.739
with God. You can talk to God any time of the

01:21:54.739 --> 01:21:58.039
day, all day long. You can sing praise songs

01:21:58.039 --> 01:22:02.279
literally every moment that you are awake. And

01:22:02.279 --> 01:22:03.960
I would submit to you, especially for those who

01:22:03.960 --> 01:22:05.739
have practiced praise songs a lot, you can probably

01:22:05.739 --> 01:22:07.779
dream them too. I've dreamed them a couple times

01:22:07.779 --> 01:22:09.439
and I'm not even very good at singing praise

01:22:09.439 --> 01:22:12.659
songs or haven't done that much of it. So you

01:22:12.659 --> 01:22:16.880
can literally... Sing to God. Work for God. Talk

01:22:16.880 --> 01:22:20.500
for God. Walk for God. Be with God. Have God

01:22:20.500 --> 01:22:22.439
in your presence all day long. And that's the

01:22:22.439 --> 01:22:25.039
last part of it then. It says, He is present

01:22:25.039 --> 01:22:29.159
with us. This is the problem that I have. This

01:22:29.159 --> 01:22:33.300
is where difficulty sets in. And it is this.

01:22:33.979 --> 01:22:37.800
Aaron, God is present in this room. Are you fully

01:22:37.800 --> 01:22:44.609
present in this room? Are we fully present? God

01:22:44.609 --> 01:22:47.890
is present. Are we fully present? Are you thirsting

01:22:47.890 --> 01:22:50.069
for the next drop of living water that comes

01:22:50.069 --> 01:22:52.130
from the Lord? It's a rushing river. You don't

01:22:52.130 --> 01:22:55.470
have to ration it. But God wants to give it.

01:22:55.529 --> 01:22:57.590
God's trying to give it. What's your response?

01:22:58.409 --> 01:23:01.149
He is present. If you are saved, the Holy Spirit

01:23:01.149 --> 01:23:05.949
of God has come and lived in you. But are you

01:23:05.949 --> 01:23:12.579
living around Him? What is your response? I had

01:23:12.579 --> 01:23:16.460
a young lady once who was in a bind. Her family

01:23:16.460 --> 01:23:20.920
situation had basically gone in bad ways. Situations

01:23:20.920 --> 01:23:22.579
developed that were bad. And she called and she

01:23:22.579 --> 01:23:25.899
said, I need a place to stay. And I'm like, well,

01:23:25.920 --> 01:23:27.899
now I have the authority to say that you can

01:23:27.899 --> 01:23:30.079
come and stay with us, but I'm going to talk

01:23:30.079 --> 01:23:32.439
to my wife first because I'm no fool, right?

01:23:32.539 --> 01:23:34.699
This is a young female. And I said, so I'll go

01:23:34.699 --> 01:23:37.100
to my wife. And I said, okay. What do you think

01:23:37.100 --> 01:23:38.800
about this? And she said, well, we have to make

01:23:38.800 --> 01:23:40.520
some adjustments. You have to work this all out

01:23:40.520 --> 01:23:42.840
and whatever. And guess what? Then she, this

01:23:42.840 --> 01:23:45.199
young lady, came and stayed with us for a while.

01:23:45.300 --> 01:23:47.079
And when she came and stayed with us for a while,

01:23:47.180 --> 01:23:51.880
we adjusted our lives. We took steps so that,

01:23:51.920 --> 01:23:55.079
for example, I was never alone with her. I was

01:23:55.079 --> 01:23:57.460
never in a room alone with her. She and I did

01:23:57.460 --> 01:23:59.140
not sit and watch TV together when no one else

01:23:59.140 --> 01:24:01.399
was around. That literally never happened. I

01:24:01.399 --> 01:24:03.079
was not in the same part of the house with her

01:24:03.079 --> 01:24:05.659
unless my wife was there, my kids were there,

01:24:05.779 --> 01:24:07.100
whatever, somebody that was old enough to know

01:24:07.100 --> 01:24:09.220
what was going on. She sat at our dinner table

01:24:09.220 --> 01:24:13.180
with us and our family. We adjusted our lives

01:24:13.180 --> 01:24:17.260
because she came and lived with us. Are you adjusting

01:24:17.260 --> 01:24:19.359
your life because the Holy Spirit of God has

01:24:19.359 --> 01:24:21.899
come and lived with you? If so, then your mind

01:24:21.899 --> 01:24:24.399
needs to be on God. At least during the preaching,

01:24:24.439 --> 01:24:26.439
but is it during the preaching? At least during

01:24:26.439 --> 01:24:28.300
the singing, but is it during the singing? Listen,

01:24:28.340 --> 01:24:29.979
if you're working for God, if you set out to

01:24:29.979 --> 01:24:32.180
work for God, then shouldn't your mind be on

01:24:32.180 --> 01:24:33.920
God? At least some portion. I know you need some

01:24:33.920 --> 01:24:35.859
portion of your conscious faculty to be involved

01:24:35.859 --> 01:24:37.619
in what you're actually doing, but shouldn't

01:24:37.619 --> 01:24:42.199
your presence be with God? Listen to me. If you're

01:24:42.199 --> 01:24:44.119
not going to do it with God, don't ever turn

01:24:44.119 --> 01:24:45.989
a wrench again. If you're not going to do it

01:24:45.989 --> 01:24:47.670
with God, don't ever pick up your Bible again.

01:24:47.789 --> 01:24:50.189
If you're not going to do it with God, don't

01:24:50.189 --> 01:24:51.890
ever sit down to dinner with your family again.

01:24:52.449 --> 01:24:55.069
Stop right here and don't waste the rest of your

01:24:55.069 --> 01:24:58.210
breath on anything. If you're a follower of the

01:24:58.210 --> 01:24:59.970
Lord Jesus Christ by your profession, you'd be

01:24:59.970 --> 01:25:01.850
better off to literally blink out of existence

01:25:01.850 --> 01:25:04.850
and live another second not recognizing the presence

01:25:04.850 --> 01:25:07.850
of God in you. God is present. Oh, we want Him

01:25:07.850 --> 01:25:09.750
as a refuge. We want Him as strength. We want

01:25:09.750 --> 01:25:11.789
Him as an ever -present help in time of danger.

01:25:12.130 --> 01:25:16.020
But we just don't want Him ever -present. You

01:25:16.020 --> 01:25:18.239
can't put your God in a shed. You can't put Him

01:25:18.239 --> 01:25:20.260
in the garage. You can't put Him in a tool chest.

01:25:20.460 --> 01:25:26.319
You can't trap Him in a Bible. This is God. He

01:25:26.319 --> 01:25:30.720
ain't small. Given His preference, He will occupy

01:25:30.720 --> 01:25:33.979
every single, and I'm speaking in literal terms

01:25:33.979 --> 01:25:39.239
here, inch of your being. Skin to skin. Hair

01:25:39.239 --> 01:25:43.760
to bunions. He's got you all. And the problem

01:25:43.760 --> 01:25:50.520
is, We act like we're not interested. When God

01:25:50.520 --> 01:25:52.560
is working, He is ready, and He is accessible,

01:25:52.880 --> 01:25:55.460
that's great. I want God ready to help me when

01:25:55.460 --> 01:25:59.000
I need help. I want God ready to answer my prayers.

01:25:59.239 --> 01:26:01.579
I want Him accessible. I don't want to say, okay,

01:26:01.619 --> 01:26:03.760
God, I need some help here. And He says, you

01:26:03.760 --> 01:26:08.520
know, you have reached the God prayer line. Please

01:26:08.520 --> 01:26:13.800
press 2 if your needs are immediate. 2. I'm sorry.

01:26:13.920 --> 01:26:16.100
No one is available to help you at this time.

01:26:16.300 --> 01:26:19.880
No. God is ready and accessible. And we love

01:26:19.880 --> 01:26:23.039
that. The problem is, God is present. He is ever

01:26:23.039 --> 01:26:26.279
present with us. He's ready and accessible partly

01:26:26.279 --> 01:26:32.779
because He's present. But are we present? Or

01:26:32.779 --> 01:26:35.539
are we busy on our phones? Or are we busy playing

01:26:35.539 --> 01:26:40.720
a game? Or are we busy listening to some other

01:26:40.720 --> 01:26:45.069
kind of music? Are we busy trying to manipulate

01:26:45.069 --> 01:26:49.829
our family and friends? He's ready, He's accessible,

01:26:50.029 --> 01:26:54.109
and He is present with us. To be like Him, we

01:26:54.109 --> 01:26:57.750
ought to be present. That's why it says, do all

01:26:57.750 --> 01:27:00.989
things as if you do them unto the Lord. To be

01:27:00.989 --> 01:27:03.569
safe in Him, we have to call on Him. And the

01:27:03.569 --> 01:27:05.430
nice thing about calling on God is you already

01:27:05.430 --> 01:27:08.659
know that God will answer. Whosoever calleth

01:27:08.659 --> 01:27:10.920
upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So call

01:27:10.920 --> 01:27:13.420
on God. Then put away all your distractions,

01:27:13.699 --> 01:27:16.100
put away all your temptations, put away all the

01:27:16.100 --> 01:27:17.939
things in your life that keep you from being

01:27:17.939 --> 01:27:27.020
present with God. To demonstrate that God was

01:27:27.020 --> 01:27:30.260
with us, He sent His only Son. If you are not

01:27:30.260 --> 01:27:32.880
willing to be with God, then you must not recognize

01:27:32.880 --> 01:27:37.020
that God sent Jesus to die for you. And you say,

01:27:37.039 --> 01:27:39.899
no, no, I did that. I said words. I went through

01:27:39.899 --> 01:27:42.239
a process. I have served when I didn't want to.

01:27:42.840 --> 01:27:45.079
I have sweat and bled when I didn't want to.

01:27:45.119 --> 01:27:47.319
So clearly I'm saved, right? That is not the

01:27:47.319 --> 01:27:51.479
way it works. God is ever present. And if you

01:27:51.479 --> 01:27:57.880
won't also be present with Him. In our young

01:27:57.880 --> 01:28:00.779
marriage between my wife and I, We went back

01:28:00.779 --> 01:28:03.720
and forth over intimacy and over spending time

01:28:03.720 --> 01:28:05.699
together. And she felt like, and it was even

01:28:05.699 --> 01:28:07.079
before we ever got married because we weren't

01:28:07.079 --> 01:28:08.560
Christians at the time, and she felt like I didn't

01:28:08.560 --> 01:28:10.779
spend enough time with her and so on. And this

01:28:10.779 --> 01:28:13.500
is essentially what our relationship was like.

01:28:13.579 --> 01:28:15.779
She loved me and wanted to spend time with me.

01:28:16.920 --> 01:28:20.319
I said I loved her, but the truth is I had another

01:28:20.319 --> 01:28:23.640
agenda. I wanted to do other things. I didn't

01:28:23.640 --> 01:28:25.600
want to spend time with her. To the point that...

01:28:25.819 --> 01:28:27.500
I would spend time with her on certain times.

01:28:27.520 --> 01:28:29.260
I planned out certain times to do that, but I

01:28:29.260 --> 01:28:30.520
wouldn't spend time with her the rest of the

01:28:30.520 --> 01:28:33.720
time. When we were together, I would be doing

01:28:33.720 --> 01:28:35.239
something different. She would sit with me. I'd

01:28:35.239 --> 01:28:37.680
play on the computer while she's sitting with

01:28:37.680 --> 01:28:43.039
me. And I had such a guilt and a feeling of realizing

01:28:43.039 --> 01:28:45.600
that I was not reciprocating her love. I was

01:28:45.600 --> 01:28:49.319
not giving back what she was giving to me. And

01:28:49.319 --> 01:28:52.899
I began to despise her. You cannot serve two

01:28:52.899 --> 01:28:57.550
masters. Are you present with God or not? Can

01:28:57.550 --> 01:29:01.449
you put it away? Can you focus on just one thing?

01:29:02.869 --> 01:29:05.189
I understand we have psychological and physical

01:29:05.189 --> 01:29:08.250
needs. I understand some of us are very important

01:29:08.250 --> 01:29:10.729
at our jobs, we're very important in our families,

01:29:10.850 --> 01:29:13.170
we're very important in our own minds, that something

01:29:13.170 --> 01:29:16.270
must interfere with whether or not God... He's

01:29:16.270 --> 01:29:18.189
getting first place right now. God's saying,

01:29:18.270 --> 01:29:20.329
hey, Dan. Hey, Dan. Hey, over here, Dan. Dan.

01:29:20.710 --> 01:29:22.750
And I'm like, oh, but there's the waitress. I've

01:29:22.750 --> 01:29:24.750
got to make sure I get my drink, right? No. If

01:29:24.750 --> 01:29:29.569
you're present with God, then God is the number

01:29:29.569 --> 01:29:35.989
one thing. He's ready, and He's accessible, and

01:29:35.989 --> 01:29:38.850
for those who have called upon Him, He is present

01:29:38.850 --> 01:29:44.170
with them. The question is, are you present with

01:29:44.170 --> 01:29:48.270
Him? The second thing to see in here is that

01:29:48.270 --> 01:29:50.989
God is clearly great above all. And the psalmist

01:29:50.989 --> 01:29:53.350
gets pretty particular about this. He basically

01:29:53.350 --> 01:29:56.649
leads us in verse 9 to see that it says, He makes

01:29:56.649 --> 01:29:59.529
wars to cease, meaning God is above all wars.

01:30:00.390 --> 01:30:02.890
It doesn't matter if some guy decides to go buy

01:30:02.890 --> 01:30:06.310
an AK -47 or an AR -15 and then go shoot up a

01:30:06.310 --> 01:30:08.989
school. God is present above that. God is more

01:30:08.989 --> 01:30:11.510
powerful than that. If people would do what's

01:30:11.510 --> 01:30:13.250
right and lead people to Jesus, if people would

01:30:13.250 --> 01:30:15.770
do what's right and love and serve and create,

01:30:16.320 --> 01:30:17.960
Something that would be God honoring. We'd have

01:30:17.960 --> 01:30:20.500
less of that going on, but God is above all wars.

01:30:21.000 --> 01:30:23.420
God is above all hearts. When he speaks, the

01:30:23.420 --> 01:30:27.619
hearts melt. The people melt. God is above hearts.

01:30:28.039 --> 01:30:30.359
I've been talking, I noticed this phenomenon

01:30:30.359 --> 01:30:32.819
years and years ago. So I talked to a lady on

01:30:32.819 --> 01:30:34.239
the phone this week. It just happened once this

01:30:34.239 --> 01:30:37.100
week. I was having trouble getting someone to

01:30:37.100 --> 01:30:40.119
act. And so this is not a believer, not a fellow

01:30:40.119 --> 01:30:42.000
Christian, not a member of our church or anything.

01:30:42.239 --> 01:30:45.039
And so they answered the phone and I said, this

01:30:45.039 --> 01:30:47.479
is Pastor Dan. From New Heights Fellowship Baptist

01:30:47.479 --> 01:30:51.359
Church. And they said, okay, how can I help you?

01:30:51.539 --> 01:30:55.039
And they actually helped me. Now the person's

01:30:55.039 --> 01:30:56.520
not a professing Christian, because I talked

01:30:56.520 --> 01:30:57.560
to them a little bit after that. They're not

01:30:57.560 --> 01:30:59.539
a professing Christian. They don't recognize

01:30:59.539 --> 01:31:02.859
Jesus. But when I said I'm Pastor Dan, New Heights

01:31:02.859 --> 01:31:05.979
Fellowship Baptist Church, they either caved

01:31:05.979 --> 01:31:07.159
and did what they were supposed to do because

01:31:07.159 --> 01:31:09.640
they're afraid of you, or they caved and did

01:31:09.640 --> 01:31:10.779
what they're supposed to do because they're afraid

01:31:10.779 --> 01:31:13.960
of God. And I'll tell you that I've seen it a

01:31:13.960 --> 01:31:16.800
hundred times over the last 15 years that it's

01:31:16.800 --> 01:31:19.119
people are afraid of God. People who don't know

01:31:19.119 --> 01:31:21.119
God. People who don't call on the name of God.

01:31:21.340 --> 01:31:24.600
When I was not a believer, I had a Bible that

01:31:24.600 --> 01:31:26.859
had been given to me by my parents when I was

01:31:26.859 --> 01:31:28.319
like six years old. It was in my room on the

01:31:28.319 --> 01:31:30.560
shelf. A couple of times it wound up on the floor.

01:31:31.140 --> 01:31:34.479
I never picked up my floor. Ever. I had a horizontal

01:31:34.479 --> 01:31:36.479
filing system. You know what I mean? I could

01:31:36.479 --> 01:31:38.260
find everything because nothing was on top of

01:31:38.260 --> 01:31:40.239
anything else. Literally, there was not seven

01:31:40.239 --> 01:31:42.699
inches on my floor. Not even big. When my room,

01:31:42.800 --> 01:31:45.100
when foot size got to be about eight inches long,

01:31:45.279 --> 01:31:47.199
then you say, there was not eight inches on my

01:31:47.199 --> 01:31:50.119
floor. Because I literally would step in between

01:31:50.119 --> 01:31:51.680
stuff. I had a horizontal filing system over

01:31:51.680 --> 01:31:53.680
my whole floor. But when that Bible wound up

01:31:53.680 --> 01:31:56.479
on the floor, I would cross the room and pick

01:31:56.479 --> 01:31:58.899
it up and put it on the shelf. And I didn't know

01:31:58.899 --> 01:32:04.520
God. The atheists roar and rage because they

01:32:04.520 --> 01:32:06.460
don't know God and because they don't want to

01:32:06.460 --> 01:32:08.720
know God. The arguments against God are about

01:32:08.720 --> 01:32:11.479
not succumbing, not giving in, not submitting

01:32:11.479 --> 01:32:14.060
to the one that everyone knows, every single

01:32:14.060 --> 01:32:17.520
person on the face of the planet knows we will

01:32:17.520 --> 01:32:21.600
submit to. You deal with an atheist and you start

01:32:21.600 --> 01:32:23.960
to push holes in their theories. You start to

01:32:23.960 --> 01:32:25.659
say, hey, think about this. What about this?

01:32:25.699 --> 01:32:29.000
How can you know? I mean, atheism is not even,

01:32:29.119 --> 01:32:30.880
it's an untenable position because you can't

01:32:30.880 --> 01:32:34.279
know. Then say, okay, well, then I'm an agnostic.

01:32:34.420 --> 01:32:37.899
I don't know. So I won't say I'm an atheist,

01:32:37.939 --> 01:32:39.279
I know there isn't a God, but I'll say I'm an

01:32:39.279 --> 01:32:41.579
agnostic. Because that's a tenable position,

01:32:41.659 --> 01:32:44.500
because people don't know. Even Christians don't

01:32:44.500 --> 01:32:48.239
know the full thing about God, right? People

01:32:48.239 --> 01:32:52.060
recognize that there is a God, there has to be,

01:32:52.159 --> 01:32:55.119
it's just logical, and they will be affected

01:32:55.119 --> 01:32:59.420
by that. God is great above war, God is great

01:32:59.420 --> 01:33:02.220
above hearts, and God is great above trials.

01:33:03.390 --> 01:33:05.210
I have been in some very difficult situations

01:33:05.210 --> 01:33:07.670
over my life. I won't say that they're as difficult

01:33:07.670 --> 01:33:09.050
as some of the ones that you've been in. Each

01:33:09.050 --> 01:33:11.710
person's life is different. I've never been to

01:33:11.710 --> 01:33:14.989
war, and we have veterans in the room. I've never

01:33:14.989 --> 01:33:17.390
been through basic training, and we have people

01:33:17.390 --> 01:33:19.829
who have been through that in the room. I've

01:33:19.829 --> 01:33:21.850
never left the military and tried to recover

01:33:21.850 --> 01:33:23.430
a life after having, I've never been through

01:33:23.430 --> 01:33:25.609
that, right? But I've been through some difficult

01:33:25.609 --> 01:33:29.399
times, and this is what I know. Every time. Even

01:33:29.399 --> 01:33:31.920
when I was stupid about it. Even when I wasn't

01:33:31.920 --> 01:33:34.779
asking God for help. I can look back and see

01:33:34.779 --> 01:33:37.739
that God was present. And He was in charge of

01:33:37.739 --> 01:33:39.859
those circumstances. And He used them in the

01:33:39.859 --> 01:33:42.659
worst of times to grow me into the person that

01:33:42.659 --> 01:33:47.779
He was making me to become. God is above all

01:33:47.779 --> 01:33:52.100
trials. And then... And I mentioned this one

01:33:52.100 --> 01:33:54.960
before. God is above all chaos. Now it's funny

01:33:54.960 --> 01:33:56.979
how this works because we start to see chaos

01:33:56.979 --> 01:33:59.399
and we start to think nobody's in charge. Remember

01:33:59.399 --> 01:34:01.100
the illustration that I gave about a room full

01:34:01.100 --> 01:34:03.760
of kids? You sit back, you watch the room full

01:34:03.760 --> 01:34:05.659
of kids and they are approaching chaos, right?

01:34:05.920 --> 01:34:09.220
Now you watch. You watch them for about five

01:34:09.220 --> 01:34:12.300
minutes and pretty soon you'll be able to figure

01:34:12.300 --> 01:34:14.640
out who's in charge. Now their method of leadership

01:34:14.640 --> 01:34:18.220
is not controlling or manipulating. But you'll

01:34:18.220 --> 01:34:20.279
figure out who's in charge. Back in the day,

01:34:20.359 --> 01:34:22.659
we were East Little Baptist Church and the youth

01:34:22.659 --> 01:34:25.729
group was... growing and things were starting

01:34:25.729 --> 01:34:28.310
to happen and there were people who had been

01:34:28.310 --> 01:34:30.250
there they had been part of the youth group since

01:34:30.250 --> 01:34:32.229
before they were youth right they had come up

01:34:32.229 --> 01:34:34.449
through the ranks mike was one of those for example

01:34:34.449 --> 01:34:37.529
and mike was a domineering personality he was

01:34:37.529 --> 01:34:39.489
a strong personality in the youth group and he

01:34:39.489 --> 01:34:41.770
affected the people all around him during that

01:34:41.770 --> 01:34:44.170
time and people were interested to know what

01:34:44.170 --> 01:34:45.850
he had to say and when you speak up and most

01:34:45.850 --> 01:34:47.710
of the time you speak up it was biblical and

01:34:48.199 --> 01:34:49.539
Sometimes he would speak up, it was just plain

01:34:49.539 --> 01:34:52.319
loud. But there were things that were said, and

01:34:52.319 --> 01:34:54.819
people would listen, right? And the point is,

01:34:54.979 --> 01:34:58.539
you could tell, then when we started growing,

01:34:58.619 --> 01:35:01.100
and we had like 25 people instead of 6 people,

01:35:01.199 --> 01:35:03.460
now people were trying to figure out who was

01:35:03.460 --> 01:35:05.119
the person, who was the leader. And you could

01:35:05.119 --> 01:35:07.979
sit back and you could see little leaders developing

01:35:07.979 --> 01:35:12.319
and affecting everyone around them. But God is

01:35:12.319 --> 01:35:15.720
above all of that, right? He's in charge above

01:35:15.720 --> 01:35:22.210
all of the chaos. and all that goes on. In Ephesians

01:35:22.210 --> 01:35:26.550
chapter 3, verse 20, it says this, beginning

01:35:26.550 --> 01:35:28.869
in verse 20, Ephesians 3, 20, it says, Now to

01:35:28.869 --> 01:35:31.149
him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly

01:35:31.149 --> 01:35:34.010
beyond all that we ask or think, according to

01:35:34.010 --> 01:35:36.550
the power that works within us, to him be the

01:35:36.550 --> 01:35:38.430
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all

01:35:38.430 --> 01:35:40.470
generations forever and ever. Amen. And then

01:35:40.470 --> 01:35:42.350
it goes on to chapter 4, by the way, that is

01:35:42.350 --> 01:35:45.100
not him closing out the letter. He might be closing

01:35:45.100 --> 01:35:47.760
out the thought, and he's closing it out this

01:35:47.760 --> 01:35:51.399
way. He says that God, who is able to do exceedingly

01:35:51.399 --> 01:35:54.439
abundantly beyond all that we ask, wait for it,

01:35:54.520 --> 01:36:00.539
or think, it's your best, most alert and discerning

01:36:00.539 --> 01:36:02.920
moment, which you're at the top of your game,

01:36:03.060 --> 01:36:08.119
hyped up on monsters or vitamin B or coffee or

01:36:08.119 --> 01:36:10.619
apples or whatever your pep up of choice is,

01:36:10.720 --> 01:36:14.439
at your best, most alert moment, when you're

01:36:14.439 --> 01:36:15.979
activating your brain and you're remembering

01:36:15.979 --> 01:36:17.579
all the training that you received and you've

01:36:17.579 --> 01:36:21.579
got it all figured out, God is able to do exceedingly

01:36:21.579 --> 01:36:28.319
above all that you can think. We're dreamers.

01:36:28.399 --> 01:36:31.960
We imagine. But God can not only dream and imagine,

01:36:32.159 --> 01:36:36.760
He can do. He is able to do more than that. He

01:36:36.760 --> 01:36:40.039
is above all the chaos. The chaos results. Watch

01:36:40.039 --> 01:36:42.180
the kids. They're a perfect example. The chaos

01:36:42.180 --> 01:36:44.279
results because this person has his wants and

01:36:44.279 --> 01:36:46.000
desires. This person has his wants and desires.

01:36:46.760 --> 01:36:48.899
What's the number one fight that happens between

01:36:48.899 --> 01:36:53.439
children? He took my toy. I was playing with

01:36:53.439 --> 01:36:55.760
that. I sat it down just for one second and now

01:36:55.760 --> 01:36:59.539
he has it. He took that out of my hand. It's

01:36:59.539 --> 01:37:01.399
the number one thing. They fight over something

01:37:01.399 --> 01:37:06.239
they want. Or he won't play with me all the time.

01:37:06.500 --> 01:37:10.359
Adults play the same games. We're doing the same

01:37:10.359 --> 01:37:12.060
thing. We're putting different titles on it.

01:37:12.140 --> 01:37:14.420
We're coming up with different ways to look at

01:37:14.420 --> 01:37:16.840
it. But the bottom line is, it's your wants and

01:37:16.840 --> 01:37:19.619
desires not fulfilled. And then there's this

01:37:19.619 --> 01:37:21.039
one over here not fulfilled, this one over here

01:37:21.039 --> 01:37:22.340
not fulfilled, and this one over here not fulfilled.

01:37:22.380 --> 01:37:23.619
And you start to go, ah, I'm getting depressed.

01:37:24.579 --> 01:37:26.500
Because three of my top three things that I want

01:37:26.500 --> 01:37:28.399
right now are not happening, right? The other

01:37:28.399 --> 01:37:30.199
day, this broke, and then that broke, and then

01:37:30.199 --> 01:37:31.779
that broke, and then that broke. Four things

01:37:31.779 --> 01:37:33.020
in like three hours. I'm like, what is going

01:37:33.020 --> 01:37:37.239
on? That's what we call chaos. When it looks

01:37:37.239 --> 01:37:39.260
like nobody's in charge and things are going

01:37:39.260 --> 01:37:40.939
every which direction. It looks like the white

01:37:40.939 --> 01:37:42.920
water foam because everything's going which way

01:37:42.920 --> 01:37:44.739
and you don't know what's going to happen. But

01:37:44.739 --> 01:37:48.640
trust me, believe in God. He knows what's going

01:37:48.640 --> 01:37:51.739
on. In the greatest of chaos, He is so far above.

01:37:52.039 --> 01:37:54.739
You've heard that there's such a thing as predestination,

01:37:54.840 --> 01:37:57.520
right? Where it's like God knows what we're going

01:37:57.520 --> 01:38:00.289
to do before we do it. If God knows what we're

01:38:00.289 --> 01:38:01.770
going to do before we do it, then do we really

01:38:01.770 --> 01:38:03.430
have free will? That's what some people ask.

01:38:03.489 --> 01:38:05.250
Do we really have free will because God knows

01:38:05.250 --> 01:38:06.489
what we're going to do before we do it? Yes.

01:38:06.649 --> 01:38:09.989
You know how? Because God knows all the possible

01:38:09.989 --> 01:38:12.810
eventualities no matter what you choose. If there

01:38:12.810 --> 01:38:15.229
are 75 different possibilities that you could

01:38:15.229 --> 01:38:16.890
choose right now in this moment, you could choose

01:38:16.890 --> 01:38:18.149
to go to the bathroom, you could choose to sit

01:38:18.149 --> 01:38:19.789
in your chair, you could choose to put your feet

01:38:19.789 --> 01:38:21.010
up or don't put your feet up, you could choose

01:38:21.010 --> 01:38:22.369
to look at your phone, you could choose to play

01:38:22.369 --> 01:38:23.770
a game, you could choose to watch a video, you

01:38:23.770 --> 01:38:24.909
could put your mask up, you could put your mask

01:38:24.909 --> 01:38:27.470
down. If there are all these possibilities, God

01:38:27.470 --> 01:38:30.340
knows the outcome of All of those possibilities.

01:38:31.079 --> 01:38:34.739
That's how he knows what will happen. Because

01:38:34.739 --> 01:38:37.659
he knows it all. Not because he knows that you

01:38:37.659 --> 01:38:40.439
will specifically choose red over green. But

01:38:40.439 --> 01:38:41.760
he knows what will happen if you choose red,

01:38:41.840 --> 01:38:43.319
and he knows what will happen if you choose green.

01:38:43.659 --> 01:38:46.739
Like a master chess player, before any piece

01:38:46.739 --> 01:38:50.220
on the board is moved, can think of all the possible

01:38:50.220 --> 01:38:52.479
eventualities until checkmate. No matter what

01:38:52.479 --> 01:38:56.199
piece you move, God is like that. He is above

01:38:56.199 --> 01:39:01.979
all chaos. Able to do exceedingly more than you

01:39:01.979 --> 01:39:09.880
can in your best moment think. Third thing to

01:39:09.880 --> 01:39:12.600
see in there is that God will be our helper,

01:39:12.720 --> 01:39:19.720
our shelter, our stronghold. God will be our

01:39:19.720 --> 01:39:22.960
helper, our shelter, our stronghold. He is an

01:39:22.960 --> 01:39:26.800
ever -present help in time of danger. It's time

01:39:26.800 --> 01:39:29.060
we talk about that word stronghold because people

01:39:29.060 --> 01:39:32.520
often misunderstand it. A stronghold is not a

01:39:32.520 --> 01:39:36.800
castle. Most strongholds, if you look over history,

01:39:37.039 --> 01:39:41.899
were a walled -off area. Let me ask you this.

01:39:42.020 --> 01:39:44.060
Perfect example. You know the stories of Robin

01:39:44.060 --> 01:39:46.439
Hood, right? Remember the stories of Robin Hood?

01:39:46.600 --> 01:39:49.079
They're probably just legends, but stories of

01:39:49.079 --> 01:39:52.340
Robin Hood. What was Robin Hood's stronghold?

01:39:55.610 --> 01:40:00.149
Sherwood Forest. Why didn't the sheriff snuff

01:40:00.149 --> 01:40:04.390
him out, finish him once and for all? Because

01:40:04.390 --> 01:40:06.250
every time the sheriff would close in on him,

01:40:06.289 --> 01:40:11.369
he would escape to Sherwood Forest. And they

01:40:11.369 --> 01:40:14.470
knew the ways of Sherwood Forest. They knew the

01:40:14.470 --> 01:40:16.329
paths and the trails and the bushes and where

01:40:16.329 --> 01:40:18.289
to hide and where to be not seen and where to

01:40:18.289 --> 01:40:21.430
ambush from. And the sheriff and his men did

01:40:21.430 --> 01:40:24.140
not. Now you understand what a stronghold is.

01:40:24.260 --> 01:40:27.100
A stronghold is not a castle. It is not something

01:40:27.100 --> 01:40:28.760
that sits around you and protects you. You've

01:40:28.760 --> 01:40:30.500
heard the rumors now, whether it winds up being

01:40:30.500 --> 01:40:32.279
true for sure or not, that they're going to build

01:40:32.279 --> 01:40:36.760
walls around the Capitol buildings in D .C. We

01:40:36.760 --> 01:40:38.680
have a wall that has stretched the majority of

01:40:38.680 --> 01:40:40.460
our southern border because we had invaders.

01:40:40.560 --> 01:40:42.199
We had issues that we're dealing with, and that

01:40:42.199 --> 01:40:44.000
was the choice of how government decided to deal

01:40:44.000 --> 01:40:47.300
with it. And they put a wall around the Capitol

01:40:47.300 --> 01:40:49.600
buildings so that people can't approach. close

01:40:49.600 --> 01:40:52.100
enough to cause danger or damage to the building,

01:40:52.239 --> 01:40:57.779
right? That's a castle, not a stronghold. A stronghold

01:40:57.779 --> 01:41:01.220
is a place that you retreat to when you are under

01:41:01.220 --> 01:41:07.260
threat to rally, resupply, retrain, rebuild,

01:41:07.600 --> 01:41:15.579
and ultimately what? Attack. To attack. And your

01:41:15.579 --> 01:41:20.420
stronghold supplies your attack. We watched the

01:41:20.420 --> 01:41:22.659
movie The Princess Bride at my house a couple

01:41:22.659 --> 01:41:24.600
nights ago. I've seen that movie now about probably

01:41:24.600 --> 01:41:26.920
25 times. I can quote a lot of the lines. I really

01:41:26.920 --> 01:41:28.300
enjoy it. If you've never seen it, I recommend

01:41:28.300 --> 01:41:31.439
it. It's just for fun. It's nothing too crazy.

01:41:31.500 --> 01:41:33.619
It is a little crazy, but it's just for fun.

01:41:35.180 --> 01:41:39.359
They come out of the fire swamp. And they're

01:41:39.359 --> 01:41:44.500
accosted by the prince and his guards. And he

01:41:44.500 --> 01:41:47.619
says, but how will you take us? We now know the

01:41:47.619 --> 01:41:49.840
secrets of the fire swamp. We can retreat back

01:41:49.840 --> 01:41:53.920
into the fire swamp and you'll never get us out.

01:41:54.039 --> 01:41:57.039
We can stay there for as long as we need. So

01:41:57.039 --> 01:42:00.199
what was the fire swamp? A stronghold. That's

01:42:00.199 --> 01:42:02.319
what he's talking about. We now have a stronghold

01:42:02.319 --> 01:42:04.560
that you cannot take from us except what happened.

01:42:05.739 --> 01:42:09.000
They surrounded them and cut them off from going

01:42:09.000 --> 01:42:11.739
back into the fire swamp. They took away their

01:42:11.739 --> 01:42:15.159
stronghold. And this is what Christians are doing.

01:42:15.560 --> 01:42:18.680
We're taking away our own stronghold. We listen

01:42:18.680 --> 01:42:21.140
to the world. We listen to the arguments of the

01:42:21.140 --> 01:42:24.899
world. We let them make us afraid. We let them

01:42:24.899 --> 01:42:26.939
make us think that we cannot retreat into God.

01:42:27.079 --> 01:42:29.359
We let them make us think that God will not protect

01:42:29.359 --> 01:42:31.899
us and provide for us and empower us and give

01:42:31.899 --> 01:42:34.220
us purpose. And He will do all of those things.

01:42:34.380 --> 01:42:37.319
God is our stronghold and ever -present help

01:42:37.319 --> 01:42:39.720
in time of danger. And when you face the biggest

01:42:39.720 --> 01:42:41.810
enemy, which is probably going to be spiritual,

01:42:42.010 --> 01:42:44.010
but the biggest enemy that you have ever faced,

01:42:44.229 --> 01:42:46.689
God is right there with you if you're a follower

01:42:46.689 --> 01:42:48.289
of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have accepted

01:42:48.289 --> 01:42:50.170
Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you're living

01:42:50.170 --> 01:42:52.250
with Him, then He is living with you. Are you

01:42:52.250 --> 01:42:57.869
present? Some years ago, I went to a sporting

01:42:57.869 --> 01:42:59.789
event. There's a guy who lived down the street.

01:42:59.829 --> 01:43:01.829
We had off and on frictions with him. While I

01:43:01.829 --> 01:43:04.069
was at the sporting event, he was with us. The

01:43:04.069 --> 01:43:06.560
sporting event was out at UT. As we went to UT,

01:43:06.680 --> 01:43:08.239
we had to park in a place we didn't recognize

01:43:08.239 --> 01:43:10.420
and walk down a winding path that we didn't recognize

01:43:10.420 --> 01:43:12.380
up through a dark area that we didn't know about

01:43:12.380 --> 01:43:15.680
and there was no lights. I wasn't armed and I

01:43:15.680 --> 01:43:17.819
was little. I've never been all that good at

01:43:17.819 --> 01:43:19.279
fighting. I've just been good at getting beat

01:43:19.279 --> 01:43:21.739
up pretty much. I'm just really good at getting

01:43:21.739 --> 01:43:24.399
beat up. I persist to the point that they hurt

01:43:24.399 --> 01:43:27.500
themselves trying to beat me up. I don't want

01:43:27.500 --> 01:43:28.720
to do that now because I'll probably break, but

01:43:28.720 --> 01:43:30.939
that's the way I did it back then. I'm walking

01:43:30.939 --> 01:43:33.159
through this dark area and guess what? I wasn't

01:43:33.159 --> 01:43:35.720
afraid. You know why I wasn't afraid? Because

01:43:35.720 --> 01:43:39.359
the guy that was with me was 6 '5", 6 '6", and

01:43:39.359 --> 01:43:43.340
4 '25". And had won the division championships

01:43:43.340 --> 01:43:47.039
playing football with a broken arm. I wasn't

01:43:47.039 --> 01:43:49.039
afraid in the dark. I wasn't afraid in a path

01:43:49.039 --> 01:43:51.279
I didn't know. I wasn't afraid in a place I didn't

01:43:51.279 --> 01:43:52.899
think I was going to have to go. Because the

01:43:52.899 --> 01:43:56.300
guy that was with me made me feel like I could

01:43:56.300 --> 01:44:01.449
be okay. That's who God is. If you have not felt

01:44:01.449 --> 01:44:04.029
that sensation of going, okay, I'm facing something

01:44:04.029 --> 01:44:05.689
that I may not be able to overcome. This may

01:44:05.689 --> 01:44:07.510
not go the way I want. Everything could be melting,

01:44:07.569 --> 01:44:09.930
falling apart. It could all die right here. And

01:44:09.930 --> 01:44:13.649
God inside you said, that's okay. I got this.

01:44:13.750 --> 01:44:15.710
Then you probably don't know the God of heaven.

01:44:16.109 --> 01:44:17.970
You probably have not had a relationship with

01:44:17.970 --> 01:44:19.710
God. Either that or you've had a very sheltered

01:44:19.710 --> 01:44:21.989
existence. And God does shelter us daily so that

01:44:21.989 --> 01:44:24.359
we don't even recognize those things. I've had

01:44:24.359 --> 01:44:25.600
a number of times in my life where somebody was

01:44:25.600 --> 01:44:27.520
coming at me hot and heavy, and I would normally

01:44:27.520 --> 01:44:29.859
be terrified. I would want to run. And then I

01:44:29.859 --> 01:44:31.380
get to the end of it, and I'm like, that was

01:44:31.380 --> 01:44:33.619
really weird. I wasn't afraid. Why wasn't I afraid?

01:44:34.060 --> 01:44:36.720
It wasn't that I didn't sweat or I didn't get

01:44:36.720 --> 01:44:39.199
worked up, but I wasn't terrified to the point

01:44:39.199 --> 01:44:41.460
of inaction. And that's who I used to be before

01:44:41.460 --> 01:44:44.420
I got saved. Like my boss from Pizza Hut, the

01:44:44.420 --> 01:44:45.619
one that ultimately fired me, said, you know

01:44:45.619 --> 01:44:47.680
what your problem is? You're not afraid of me.

01:44:49.840 --> 01:44:52.550
And I was like... It took me aback because I'm

01:44:52.550 --> 01:44:55.149
like, wait a minute, I'm not. That's so weird

01:44:55.149 --> 01:44:56.390
because I've been like afraid of everybody all

01:44:56.390 --> 01:44:57.829
my life. And now I'm a Christian and I've been

01:44:57.829 --> 01:45:02.270
a Christian only for a little while. And I'm

01:45:02.270 --> 01:45:06.930
not afraid finally. God will be our helper. He

01:45:06.930 --> 01:45:08.449
will be our shelter and he will be our stronghold.

01:45:08.470 --> 01:45:11.039
But a stronghold is a very specific thing. It

01:45:11.039 --> 01:45:13.840
is that which protects you and empowers you and

01:45:13.840 --> 01:45:16.699
gives you a place to be safe so that you can

01:45:16.699 --> 01:45:19.180
strike out and take territory for the one who

01:45:19.180 --> 01:45:21.920
built the stronghold, which is God. In this case,

01:45:21.939 --> 01:45:24.920
God is the stronghold. So you can retreat into

01:45:24.920 --> 01:45:26.939
God when things get really dark and you go, Oh,

01:45:26.939 --> 01:45:32.140
God, help me! And God will help you. But after

01:45:32.140 --> 01:45:34.180
you get done going, Oh, God, help me! You don't

01:45:34.180 --> 01:45:36.399
get to one hour later or one day later kind of

01:45:36.399 --> 01:45:38.220
forget about God, not be present and spend more

01:45:38.220 --> 01:45:40.739
time on electronics than with God. You don't

01:45:40.739 --> 01:45:43.140
get to do that. Because if you're not present,

01:45:43.260 --> 01:45:49.659
maybe He's not present. And if He's not present,

01:45:49.720 --> 01:45:52.520
then when you go, Oh God, help me! Where is He?

01:45:53.300 --> 01:45:55.520
Now He may just come calling. Especially if you

01:45:55.520 --> 01:45:57.119
call in the name of Jesus. He might come right

01:45:57.119 --> 01:45:59.640
then. But He also might say, Yeah, you know,

01:45:59.699 --> 01:46:02.060
I was with you. You've heard of the footprints

01:46:02.060 --> 01:46:06.260
poem? Spoil the ending for you if you haven't

01:46:06.260 --> 01:46:08.359
ever heard of it. Those times when there's only

01:46:08.359 --> 01:46:09.920
one set of footsteps in the sand, that's not

01:46:09.920 --> 01:46:14.659
me leaving you, that's me carrying you. I submit

01:46:14.659 --> 01:46:17.359
to you that that was a pretty good illustration

01:46:17.359 --> 01:46:21.260
of the Christian walk. But in my experience,

01:46:21.479 --> 01:46:26.319
there's another time. It's a time when there's

01:46:26.319 --> 01:46:28.100
only one set of footprints in the sand because

01:46:28.100 --> 01:46:36.199
that's me leaving God. And we've got to stop.

01:46:36.829 --> 01:46:39.949
Leaving God. When you retreat into God's stronghold

01:46:39.949 --> 01:46:42.409
and you know you need God's help, when you come

01:46:42.409 --> 01:46:44.529
out of there, you have to come out more ready

01:46:44.529 --> 01:46:47.189
to serve, more ready to fight, more ready to

01:46:47.189 --> 01:46:52.630
voice God's truths to anyone who will listen.

01:46:55.369 --> 01:46:56.729
So there were three things I wanted you to see

01:46:56.729 --> 01:46:59.369
in the text and we've seen them now. Number one,

01:46:59.390 --> 01:47:01.649
God is ready, accessible, and present with us

01:47:01.649 --> 01:47:03.210
and therefore we ought to be present with Him.

01:47:03.310 --> 01:47:07.039
Number two, God is great above all. War, hurts,

01:47:07.199 --> 01:47:13.619
trials, even chaos. Number three, God will be

01:47:13.619 --> 01:47:17.800
our helper, our shelter, and our stronghold,

01:47:17.899 --> 01:47:19.760
which is that place that we go for protection

01:47:19.760 --> 01:47:22.979
and safety and building and then launch our attacks

01:47:22.979 --> 01:47:25.899
back from to do God's will and advance the kingdom

01:47:25.899 --> 01:47:34.039
of God. That's what a stronghold is. So then

01:47:34.039 --> 01:47:36.229
we come to the conclusion. And the psalmist says

01:47:36.229 --> 01:47:39.329
it this way. He says, cease striving and know

01:47:39.329 --> 01:47:44.250
that I am God. Cease striving. Well, the problem

01:47:44.250 --> 01:47:46.590
with striving is we think that means cease working,

01:47:46.810 --> 01:47:48.369
but it doesn't mean that, right? Striving is

01:47:48.369 --> 01:47:51.890
not working. Striving is working that's really

01:47:51.890 --> 01:47:54.229
hard, pushing. It's more difficult than work,

01:47:54.289 --> 01:47:55.869
more difficult than what we were created for.

01:47:56.029 --> 01:47:57.590
I tell Ariana, she gets in the car and she says,

01:47:57.609 --> 01:47:59.170
I can't buckle my seatbelt. I can't do it. I

01:47:59.170 --> 01:48:03.710
can't do it. So hard. And I said, listen, there's

01:48:03.710 --> 01:48:05.819
something you need to learn. If it's that hard,

01:48:05.920 --> 01:48:07.819
you're probably not doing it right. And she said,

01:48:07.859 --> 01:48:10.279
what am I not doing right? And I look back there

01:48:10.279 --> 01:48:13.000
and she's like, the buckle's not even facing

01:48:13.000 --> 01:48:14.779
the right direction. I'm like, it's not facing

01:48:14.779 --> 01:48:15.779
the right direction. Turn around. She turned

01:48:15.779 --> 01:48:18.340
around, click, and it goes. That's striving.

01:48:18.960 --> 01:48:21.180
You're striving to do what you think is right.

01:48:21.260 --> 01:48:23.220
You're striving to do what you should do. You're

01:48:23.220 --> 01:48:25.039
striving to make the world. What you want it

01:48:25.039 --> 01:48:27.539
to be. Striving to figure out this problem. Striving

01:48:27.539 --> 01:48:29.479
to overcome this difficulty. Striving to add

01:48:29.479 --> 01:48:31.300
something to the kingdom. Striving to add something

01:48:31.300 --> 01:48:33.119
to God. Striving to add something to yourself.

01:48:33.319 --> 01:48:35.220
Striving to become a better person. Striving,

01:48:35.220 --> 01:48:38.079
striving, striving. All striving in ways that

01:48:38.079 --> 01:48:41.880
are too hard because they are not the ways that

01:48:41.880 --> 01:48:46.199
God has ordained. Cease striving. Cut it out.

01:48:46.479 --> 01:48:51.359
Knock it off. Really, He's with you. God is with

01:48:51.359 --> 01:48:57.100
you. Stop the striving. We also think of striving

01:48:57.100 --> 01:49:00.659
as fighting. Wrestling. Physical fighting. Fighting

01:49:00.659 --> 01:49:06.560
with somebody. It's not that. Because being still

01:49:06.560 --> 01:49:08.859
doesn't stop a fight. Somebody comes after you,

01:49:08.859 --> 01:49:10.119
that's not going to stop a fight. You still got

01:49:10.119 --> 01:49:11.319
to fight. If you got to fight, you got to fight

01:49:11.319 --> 01:49:13.380
to protect your family. You might have to fight

01:49:13.380 --> 01:49:14.739
to survive. Somebody might come after you with

01:49:14.739 --> 01:49:15.979
a knife or a gun. You might have to defend yourself.

01:49:16.460 --> 01:49:18.340
You have to do so in a godly way, but it's not

01:49:18.340 --> 01:49:20.939
about stopping fighting. It's about stopping

01:49:20.939 --> 01:49:27.680
trying to make something that is not out of God,

01:49:27.779 --> 01:49:32.800
out of something that is completely God. Stop

01:49:32.800 --> 01:49:35.800
trying to fix it. Trust God's plan. Fear not.

01:49:36.869 --> 01:49:38.949
I want you to think for a moment about the return

01:49:38.949 --> 01:49:40.590
of the prodigal son. I'm not going to go there

01:49:40.590 --> 01:49:42.069
and read it in the interest of time. It's in

01:49:42.069 --> 01:49:44.670
Luke 15, 11 -32. You can read it later for yourself

01:49:44.670 --> 01:49:47.029
if you want. But the prodigal son, basically,

01:49:47.029 --> 01:49:48.970
he's the guy who goes off and squanders all of

01:49:48.970 --> 01:49:50.670
his inheritance and winds up feeding the pigs.

01:49:50.729 --> 01:49:52.210
And he says, Ma, the servants in my father's

01:49:52.210 --> 01:49:53.310
household are doing better than I am. You know

01:49:53.310 --> 01:49:55.409
what happened there, by the way? God was present

01:49:55.409 --> 01:49:58.199
with him. And then he chose not to be present

01:49:58.199 --> 01:49:59.720
with God. And he went off and he said, give me

01:49:59.720 --> 01:50:01.460
my inheritance now. And he lived and squandered

01:50:01.460 --> 01:50:02.979
his inheritance. He wound up with nothing, feeding

01:50:02.979 --> 01:50:04.720
the pigs. And he said, the servants in my father's

01:50:04.720 --> 01:50:06.060
house do better than I do. I'm going to go back

01:50:06.060 --> 01:50:08.000
and ask him to at least make me a servant. Then

01:50:08.000 --> 01:50:09.539
as he comes back, the father sees him coming

01:50:09.539 --> 01:50:10.939
because he was waiting on the porch. God was

01:50:10.939 --> 01:50:12.659
waiting for him to come back. God was still present,

01:50:12.699 --> 01:50:15.300
but he left him. He left him there. He sees him

01:50:15.300 --> 01:50:17.159
coming and he runs out and he grabs him. He falls

01:50:17.159 --> 01:50:19.199
on him, kisses his neck. And then he puts a robe

01:50:19.199 --> 01:50:20.880
on him, a ring on him, and sandals on his feet

01:50:20.880 --> 01:50:25.300
and kills a fatted calf. And those four things

01:50:25.300 --> 01:50:27.119
represent what God does to anybody. If you'll

01:50:27.119 --> 01:50:30.319
come back to God, he'll give you power, he'll

01:50:30.319 --> 01:50:32.439
give you purpose, he'll give you protection,

01:50:32.819 --> 01:50:36.000
and he'll give you provision. It's four Ps, fairly

01:50:36.000 --> 01:50:37.859
easy to remember. Power, purpose, protection,

01:50:38.039 --> 01:50:39.460
and provision. That's what God does when the

01:50:39.460 --> 01:50:42.239
prodigal son returns home. Now you could be not

01:50:42.239 --> 01:50:44.539
saved and come into God for the first time. It's

01:50:44.539 --> 01:50:45.939
going to be power, protection, purpose, and provision.

01:50:46.439 --> 01:50:48.579
You could be saved and you left God, you've not

01:50:48.579 --> 01:50:50.180
been present with God, you come back to him,

01:50:50.239 --> 01:50:51.640
it's going to be power, purpose, protection,

01:50:51.800 --> 01:50:54.640
and provision. If you want to do them in a different

01:50:54.640 --> 01:50:58.779
order, go for it. God is our refuge and strength,

01:50:58.800 --> 01:51:02.699
a very present help in trouble. And he says,

01:51:02.739 --> 01:51:06.880
cease your striving and know that I am God. But

01:51:06.880 --> 01:51:08.840
it's interesting because according to this text,

01:51:08.920 --> 01:51:10.960
there are some people who are striving very specifically

01:51:10.960 --> 01:51:13.619
to overcome or get away from God. It says the

01:51:13.619 --> 01:51:16.420
nations roar. Remember that? The nations made

01:51:16.420 --> 01:51:20.000
an uproar. And we talked about how that shakes

01:51:20.000 --> 01:51:21.579
people and it makes people not want to look at

01:51:21.579 --> 01:51:24.520
God. Because the nations are louder than God.

01:51:25.640 --> 01:51:28.439
There's chaos. There's struggle. There's difficulty.

01:51:28.739 --> 01:51:30.239
But they're not actually louder than God, are

01:51:30.239 --> 01:51:33.939
they? Because when God roars, all the world melts.

01:51:35.800 --> 01:51:39.000
Even those who are roaring in God's face. They

01:51:39.000 --> 01:51:44.220
roar, God roars back, and they melt. For all

01:51:44.220 --> 01:51:46.899
your striving, you can make God no holier than

01:51:46.899 --> 01:51:48.720
he is. You can make him no more just than he

01:51:48.720 --> 01:51:50.279
is. You can make him no more powerful than he

01:51:50.279 --> 01:51:52.239
is. You can make him no more wonderful than he

01:51:52.239 --> 01:51:53.979
is. You can make him no more God than he is.

01:51:54.020 --> 01:51:55.640
And you cannot make the kingdom of God any more

01:51:55.640 --> 01:51:58.140
the kingdom of God than it already is. You cannot

01:51:58.140 --> 01:52:05.000
do it. Cease your striving. Rather, trust in

01:52:05.000 --> 01:52:07.500
the Lord who is ready and accessible and present

01:52:07.500 --> 01:52:12.140
with us. And fear not. God is great above all

01:52:12.140 --> 01:52:16.979
war. Hurts, trials, and even chaos. And God will

01:52:16.979 --> 01:52:19.600
be our helper and our shelter and our stronghold.

01:52:19.899 --> 01:52:22.720
And from that stronghold, we will launch out

01:52:22.720 --> 01:52:25.779
and win souls. We will launch out and serve God.

01:52:25.899 --> 01:52:31.640
We will win. The nations roar. They roar because

01:52:31.640 --> 01:52:36.619
they want to be like God. They roar because they

01:52:36.619 --> 01:52:39.479
want to intimidate those who do follow God. They

01:52:39.479 --> 01:52:41.439
roar because out of the interest of that, maybe

01:52:41.439 --> 01:52:44.500
you'll leave God and not be present with Him.

01:52:46.140 --> 01:52:50.939
But they cannot out -shout God, no matter how

01:52:50.939 --> 01:52:54.319
hard they try. And they may shout at the top

01:52:54.319 --> 01:52:55.859
of their lungs, and they may shout in unison.

01:52:56.439 --> 01:53:00.880
But if God should just whisper, their souls will

01:53:00.880 --> 01:53:03.960
leap at the possibility of His presence, just

01:53:03.960 --> 01:53:13.420
as mine does. He will not. Be outdone. As the

01:53:13.420 --> 01:53:16.319
times unfold, we may see more and more chaos.

01:53:16.779 --> 01:53:19.739
Don't focus on it. In fact, you really don't

01:53:19.739 --> 01:53:23.079
even have to do anything about it. We have a

01:53:23.079 --> 01:53:25.340
job to do. Share Jesus with anybody who will

01:53:25.340 --> 01:53:28.359
listen. Come out of the stronghold. Give more,

01:53:28.460 --> 01:53:32.560
serve more, work more, live more. What happens,

01:53:32.720 --> 01:53:36.020
and it's the greatest tragedy of all things to

01:53:36.020 --> 01:53:40.680
some people, is they join the roar. They join

01:53:40.680 --> 01:53:44.260
the shouting. Even as Christians, they join the

01:53:44.260 --> 01:53:47.260
shouting, the striving. And that is not where

01:53:47.260 --> 01:53:52.220
we belong. We have peace because we know our

01:53:52.220 --> 01:53:56.140
God is readily accessible and present. He is

01:53:56.140 --> 01:53:59.439
great above all. And He will be our helper and

01:53:59.439 --> 01:54:01.840
our stronghold. So no matter how bad it gets,

01:54:01.880 --> 01:54:04.039
if you need to retreat into the Lord, realize

01:54:04.039 --> 01:54:07.319
that it is for a time of refreshing. It is for

01:54:07.319 --> 01:54:09.079
a time of building strength and adding skill.

01:54:09.899 --> 01:54:12.239
It is for a time of learning more about who He

01:54:12.239 --> 01:54:14.479
is and how He's above you in this situation.

01:54:16.319 --> 01:54:19.520
You cannot out -shout God. The world cannot out

01:54:19.520 --> 01:54:24.979
-shout God. God loves you. God loves us. And

01:54:24.979 --> 01:54:27.720
He is our ever -present help in times of trouble

01:54:27.720 --> 01:54:32.180
and our stronghold from which to fight. We pray

01:54:32.180 --> 01:54:34.359
for you briefly and then we'll have a closing

01:54:34.359 --> 01:54:34.899
hymn of invitation.