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Thanks for choosing this podcast by New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

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I hope you enjoy the podcast, enjoy the music, enjoy the sermon, and grow into New Heights

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in Jesus.

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God bless you today.

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There's something in my bag here.

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Oh Lord my God, you are good, my friend.

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Oh Lord my God, you are good, my friend.

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I'm speaking all with you, I find my peace.

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I'm speaking all with you, I live and move and breathe.

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I'm speaking all with you, I find my peace.

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Oh Lord my God, you are good, my everything.

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Oh Lord my God, you are good, my life.

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I'm speaking all with you, I find my peace.

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I'm speaking all with you, I live and move and breathe.

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I'm speaking all with you, I find my peace.

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Alright, alright, alright.

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Good morning, good morning, good morning.

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We are in just the right place this morning to reach New Heights in Jesus.

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Missing a couple of folks, and at the same time we're blessed to be together.

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Just a real quick couple of announcements, because we got a lot going on in the very

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near future, and it's all pretty exciting stuff.

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One of those things is tonight from 6 to 8, down the hall, a lot of fun.

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Alright, and so it has been promoted.

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So we will almost certainly have visitors, and I hope that you all will turn out, bring

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games, or run, or be prepared to volunteer if not, and we'll hook you up with a way

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to serve, and we're going to do games down the hall.

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I've claimed the God's Kids Gatecrasher Hallway for Midnight Snowball Fight, which

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is a repeat from last year, which we had a lot of fun with that.

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It's a, we call it Blacklight Snowball Fight with the kids, where they throw white snowballs

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at white guys, and pretty cool.

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And then Sherry and I sort of invented a new one last night, which we're now calling

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Midnight Drive, and so we're doing, if possible, we're going to use the hallway on the other

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side of the preschool, if somebody hadn't already claimed it to do.

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Midnight Drive, the kids will drive a small remote control car for an obstacle course,

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and how far they make it will determine how much candy they get, and it's a light up car,

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so it's going to be kind of cool.

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So hopefully you got some fun things you can bring and do, and I heard somebody was designing

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a dice game, and some cool stuff.

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We're going to do some fun stuff tonight with the kids, and let them earn candy, and you

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are going to see people, and my guess is you are going to see people you've never seen

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before, because as I said, we invited a lot of folks, and a lot of folks come.

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And those who are watching on Facebook right now are going to go and they're going to text

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their friends, and they're going to send out information about it, and they're going to

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tell everybody about it, and who knows what might happen, but it's going to be a fun time

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for the kids, which is the most important thing, and to glorify God, which I suppose

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is even more important than that it's a fun time for the kids, right?

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So that's going to go on tonight.

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And then coming very rapidly, next Sunday, Pastor Jerry East and his wife, Janie, I'm

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sorry, his wife Janie, my wife, she's B-Street, will be here with us.

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And so on Sunday morning he'll be bringing the message, super excited about that.

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And then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we will have church.

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We're going to come together as a body of believers and be the church, Monday, Tuesday,

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Wednesday, and out of this world praise band doing the music, Brother Jerry will be preaching.

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And then on Tuesday night specifically we'll be splitting up kids and men in here and ladies

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in the cafeteria, and so that's going to be kind of a neat thing that we've never done

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before, and so that's pretty exciting.

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And then Monday and Wednesday we'll be here and the kids will be dismissed just like Sunday

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morning worship.

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So Aaron, I need you to make arrangements for that if you haven't already done that.

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We'll make sure we have that all covered.

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All right?

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And so that's going to be a fun and exciting time also for us to also get the word out so

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we don't know who might come.

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Some people might not be able to come on Sunday because they're in their own church, but they

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might go, hey, I want to go here Pastor Jerry at Eastover at New Heights on Monday and Tuesday

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and Wednesday or Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, whatever.

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So you invite your friends, family, anybody, anybody, literally that you can think of,

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invite them to come.

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It's definitely a unique experience to be able to do that four days in a row.

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And I certainly don't get Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday evening.

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That's very cool.

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I'm super excited about that.

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All right?

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And so that's just the beginning because we've got the Grand Prix kickoff next Sunday.

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So we're going to race Matchbox cars down the track.

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And then after that, schedule some workshops and help kids.

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The kits for the Grand Prix cars do cost $6.

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So that's $6 per child that's going to be needed.

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And they make their own car from scratch.

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They set the weight to a very specific amount.

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And they can make it out to be anything.

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You can make it out to look like any car or vehicle that you want it to look like,

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or you can make it something crazy or whatever.

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It can be very artistic.

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And it will be contest for artistic as well as for racing cars.

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Okay?

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So there's going to be a lot going on there.

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And that's all coming.

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And then actually already, the Grand Prix itself will be the end of November,

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followed immediately by the parade in December,

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followed immediately by Christmas and Christmas activities.

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Don't forget the second Sunday in November.

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I skipped over, but don't you do that.

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We'll be here.

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We're going to have potluck at the church.

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You can bring your food to church with you and set it up in a crock pot.

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How are you going to do that?

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And then we'll bring it all together at the church.

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You need to gather with, we'll have some games at each table.

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Brother Ron's going to make sure there's going to be some little card games and things at each table.

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And then we'll have some starter questions for discussion or for biblical discussion.

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If you want to sit there and it gets quiet,

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you just pick up the paper and say, hey, what do you think about this?

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And get talking with somebody.

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And that's called fellowship.

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Okay?

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It's not one version of fellowship, but it is a very important one.

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Lots going on.

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Those events are all on our website.

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They're all in your bulletin.

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I just said them all.

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You probably knew about them all already.

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So you're up here going, well, why are you still talking about this?

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But the people that are listening out there didn't necessarily know about it.

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Okay?

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I have another one.

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Hey, we have another one.

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For those of you that donated candy,

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there is a popcorn tin down here that does not have your name on it,

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but it belongs to you.

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Everyone that donated candy.

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We have six families donating candy so far.

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It's not over until 6 p.m. tonight.

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So if you want to win that fancy basket of goodies or the jar of M&Ms,

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you can bring candy until 6 o'clock tonight.

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And what does each of those M&Ms in that jar represent, Alicia?

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One pound of, each 10 M&Ms represents one pound of candy.

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So we have 297 pounds of candy.

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297 pounds of candy.

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Okay.

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So cool.

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But don't forget, we can always use more.

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And then we need candy on,

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we have an open individually wrapped candy for the parade in December.

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So any extra candy will just cushion back.

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It will help us be ready for that.

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Okay?

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Because we throw candy at the parade.

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Okay?

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All right.

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We're going to pray together.

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We're going to not touch the phone.

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Okey-dokey.

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He's going to crawl right on by.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Good job, person.

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Okay.

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And we're going to pray together,

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and then we're going to jump back into worship.

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Let's pray.

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Father in heaven, thank you so much for just,

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for being our God, for being our provider,

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you are our creator God.

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You are our healer.

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You are our leader.

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You are our owner.

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You are our Father.

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And we have to praise you for all that you do and all that you are.

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Lord, we should do it all the time.

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We confess to you that a lot of times we get wrapped up

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with what's going on around us, our thoughts, our preferences, our aches,

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and we forget.

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Or we just don't even think about it.

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We praise you.

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You are an awesome God, a great giver of many blessings,

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and we should praise you always.

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We ask your forgiveness.

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For when we have not praised you,

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we let ourselves get worked up about things going on in our lives.

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We know that sometimes that's temptations and distractions.

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Those times it's tribulations.

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And we should cry out to you in pure joy,

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even in the worst of times.

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In our flesh it isn't easy.

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And so we ask you, Lord, to forgive us,

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so we know that through Jesus Christ, your Son,

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that's been paid for,

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that you know that we are about pleasure.

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And we do make mistakes.

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There's no guilt feelings, just conviction,

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just a desire to do better.

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We thank you, Lord, for giving us this place,

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for the events that are planned,

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for the efforts that go in,

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for those who come early today and prepare games,

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those who run games,

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and those who are out there right now,

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even now as we speak,

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doing promotions to let people know about the events that can come.

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We're so thankful, Lord, for a body of believers and also volunteers

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who want to participate in the Kingdom of Vance

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and in loving others and serving others

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and in reaching new heights in Jesus.

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We ask you, Lord, to watch over our services.

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We know that you're here already with us

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and show up faithfully every Sunday.

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And the truth is you're here even when we're not.

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You're present in us for those of us who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

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Maybe there's somebody in the room who hasn't,

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or somebody online who's watching who hasn't,

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or somebody who listens to this podcast who hasn't.

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And I pray, Lord, before we're through,

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that you would have your way with them,

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that you would call them unto yourself,

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and let their salvation be genuine and true.

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They would be born again, living for you from that moment,

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maybe this moment, forward always.

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And know that you came that we may have life and have it more abundantly,

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and then ultimately to spend eternity with you.

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To spend and pay for, we ask you, Lord, to help us know it every moment

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and every just as well.

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Let us praise you now, Lord.

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We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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All right. I'm going to ask you to stand up with us.

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This is a fun, energetic song, so you can dance to it.

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Dance?

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Here it is.

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I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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You alone are worthy of my praise

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I will serve you every day

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I will lead you right to your throne I will trust you

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I will give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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I will worship you in everything I do

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I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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I'll give you all my worship I'll give you all my praise

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You alone are worthy of my praise

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There is an endless song echoed in my soul

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I hear the music ring As all the joys may become

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I am calling on You, the young, I hear

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How can I keep from chanting Your name?

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I'm dying for the King And it breaks my heart once again

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I will lift my eyes in the morning light So I know my day will live

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When I'm awake with You I'll bring Your peace through

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And take my song again

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How can I keep from singing Your name?

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I'm dying for the King And it breaks my heart once again

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I'll bring Your peace through And take my song again

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I'll bring Your peace through I can sing in the twilight

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I can sing when I'm in I can sing when I leave myself

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And fall down again I can sing when You make me out

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I can sing when You're there I can sing when You bring me home

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When I call to You in prayer I can sing with the love breath

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00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:39,600
I can sing for love And I'll sing when You're there

247
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:45,600
And take my song again

248
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,600
How can I keep from chanting Your name?

249
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,600
How can I love when I sing in the twilight

250
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,600
When You're there I can sing when You're there

251
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:04,600
How can I keep from chanting Your name?

252
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:28,600
How can I love when I sing and it breaks my heart?

253
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:38,600
I can sing when I'm in I can sing when I leave myself

254
00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,600
Alright, you can have a seat. Thank you so much.

255
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:51,600
I'm all healthy and all good and whatever, but my allergies have been acting up the last few days.

256
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,600
My voice almost broke during that song, so I'm like, whoo!

257
00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:00,600
I must be singing now if your voice is almost breaking. You must be actually singing praises to the Lord.

258
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:08,600
There's one picture in that song that we passed by where it shows the statue of what is supposed to represent Jesus.

259
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,600
Okay, thank you very much.

260
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:17,600
It represents Jesus out in the middle of nowhere up on a cliff.

261
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:22,600
And somebody worked really hard, probably took Him up there in pieces, I imagine, to put Him up there.

262
00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:28,600
And He's standing out there like this on that cliff. It's one of the pictures in that song that we just went through.

263
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:34,600
And I thought, I've seen a few places on mountains.

264
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:39,600
In fact, one time we walked to the top of the mountain at Estate Park, Colorado, and Amalia walked to the top of the mountain,

265
00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,600
a two and a half mile walk, and she was only three years old.

266
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,600
And it was uphill the whole way. And my dad bribed her with Mentos to get her to the top.

267
00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,600
He said, if you walk another hundred yards, you can have another Mentos.

268
00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,600
And kept giving her Mentos all the way to the top of the hill.

269
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,600
And we got up there, and guess what was up there?

270
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,600
The very top of the mountain. There's no road that goes up there, whatever.

271
00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,600
There was three crosses at the top of the mountain.

272
00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,600
And we went, it was kind of like the top of the mountain was here, and the crosses were up here on a little cliff.

273
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,600
And Sherry and I and Alicia was with us, walked up there to see those three crosses.

274
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,600
And I thought, man, the effort, the work to put in to do that.

275
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,600
And why do you think people are doing that?

276
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:19,600
Why do you think people are going to the strangest places, the furthest away, the hardest to get to,

277
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,600
and they're putting a cross or a statue of Jesus?

278
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:29,600
I think they're doing it because to them, Jesus is the most important thing.

279
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,600
And when they got there, they saw the majesty of God. He's amazing.

280
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,600
The creation of God is amazing.

281
00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,600
And they thought, I'm going to put up a cross, I'm going to put up a statue of Jesus here.

282
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,600
So when people come and see this amazing creation of God, they'll see something about Jesus.

283
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,600
It's awesome.

284
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:51,600
But better still might be to represent Jesus every day.

285
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,600
So if people see something about Jesus in us, that would probably be better still, right?

286
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,600
All right. So maybe you've been reading your Bible and hearing something from the Lord.

287
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,600
You saw something this week and you came ready to share it.

288
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,600
What do you got?

289
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,600
Twenty-eight.

290
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:14,600
I'll see you in my video games.

291
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,600
In Monopoly, some of us are younger, some of us are older.

292
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,600
You can shout out later, let me know, or shout them out now.

293
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,600
What's your game piece for Monopoly?

294
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,600
Dog, always, always pick the dog.

295
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:25,600
Horse.

296
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:26,600
The horse.

297
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:27,600
Street fighter, who's your guy?

298
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,600
Right here, I'm going.

299
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,600
New kid, I'm going to turn you in.

300
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,600
It doesn't matter, I lose when I play them all, so it doesn't matter who it is.

301
00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:37,600
I'll go newer on the other kids here in a second.

302
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,600
Okay, fine, Fortnite.

303
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,600
I don't know the characters, just shout them out.

304
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,600
Another good place, Fortnite.

305
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:45,600
Okay, good enough.

306
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,600
Don't know Fortnite, but good job.

307
00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,600
So the idea is, let's think of this though.

308
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:54,600
You know, when we grab a character, you're like, this is what I'm good at, this is what I'm best at, this is what I do.

309
00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:00,600
But either someone older than you or more wiser than you, or God Himself is going to say,

310
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,600
Yeah, you're good at that character, but this is the character you need to be.

311
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,600
This is the character I think you need to be.

312
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,600
It's like, that'd be so hard for me for Monopoly not to have the dog, because I always have to have the dog.

313
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,600
When I do it, I'm serious, I'm like really like kitty-shabada, I'm like, brr brr brr.

314
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,600
I have so much fun with it.

315
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,600
I don't care, I'll still go to that, even at Fortnite, play with the dog.

316
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,600
So if I had the hat, my heart's broken.

317
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,600
I want my dog.

318
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:29,600
So I just felt like what God's saying though today to me is that you don't get to be the character you want.

319
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,600
You have to trust the character I'm making you.

320
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:36,600
The second thing is, I just kind of want to relate to a lot of people.

321
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,600
You know, I've said it before, I had a dad that wasn't really there for me.

322
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:40,600
He provided it for me.

323
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,600
I had a great dad, but not a godly dad.

324
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:48,600
I've dealt with so much false hope, false truth, false love, feelings I didn't understand,

325
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,600
people that weren't there, neglected, abandoned, all kind of stuff.

326
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:58,600
But regardless, all that, and you know, we see it even today, you know, I call it my Christian rant.

327
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,600
I get out of my Christian box and start talking about this, this, and that.

328
00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:03,600
But the world can't stop ranting.

329
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,600
The world can't stop achieving.

330
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,600
The world can't stop getting it all, like they're just constantly, they're all in the motion, they can't.

331
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,600
But us, and this is something I call this, I call this secondary.

332
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,600
Remember I said secondary means second.

333
00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,600
I didn't say throw it up.

334
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,600
There are people that have been hurt really bad.

335
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:20,600
They've been hurt by others.

336
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,600
People have died in wars.

337
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,600
I mean, they're suffering, there's like no other.

338
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,600
You can't fix people, you can't change people.

339
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:33,600
People are willing to walk on others, and you know, you just don't know why they walk on you.

340
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,600
I mean, there's just so much suffering.

341
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,600
I call that secondary.

342
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,600
Means that our primary, and I'll be real quick, is primary.

343
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,600
I don't know if anybody knows what primaries are, so I thought I'd explain myself real quick.

344
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,600
One is prime.

345
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,600
No two numbers multiplied can make one.

346
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:50,600
Three is prime.

347
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,600
One times three, yes, but that doesn't really count.

348
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,600
One times everything is like the same number.

349
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:55,600
Those are prime numbers.

350
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,600
Six, no, because two times three makes six.

351
00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,600
And then you take the primary colors.

352
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,600
If kids know this, does anybody know what blue makes?

353
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,600
Give it a shot.

354
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:05,600
What is it?

355
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:06,600
Speak it out quick.

356
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:07,600
All right, green and yellow.

357
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,600
All right, what is orange?

358
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:11,600
Red plus yellow.

359
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:12,600
There you go, good job.

360
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,600
So those are called secondary colors.

361
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,600
They're made of different colors.

362
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:18,600
You got it.

363
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,600
Very good.

364
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:20,600
Good job.

365
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:21,600
And so that's what I'm saying.

366
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:22,600
Nothing makes red.

367
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,600
Nothing makes yellow.

368
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,600
Nothing makes those colors.

369
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,600
I don't want to use any of the other stuff, but those colors are prime.

370
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:30,600
And so those are secondary.

371
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:31,600
Everything is secondary.

372
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,600
What we've been through, the mess, is all secondary.

373
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,600
But prime, it is something I thought about.

374
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:38,600
You help me.

375
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,600
You see, if you can bring it down to the prime.

376
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,600
But I really think about Jesus.

377
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,600
His primary focus, people say, is the cross.

378
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:46,600
I believe that.

379
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:51,600
But I believe that his primary focus was to be obedient and faithful to be our sacrifice.

380
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:57,600
We're going to say that God's primary is the rewards we have in heaven and the rewards we get today.

381
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,600
But no, I say what primary is the foundation that Jesus started.

382
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,600
He's the foundation.

383
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,600
Whatever He did, He never stopped being who He was.

384
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:07,600
And that foundation is laid.

385
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:15,600
And no matter what buildings or stores you build, even today, our forefathers, that's why they can't take away the Ten Commandments.

386
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,600
They can't take away the amendments.

387
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:18,600
They can't take it away.

388
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,600
But the foundation is set and it's never going to be taken away.

389
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:27,600
Our forefathers, people in war, people local spilled their blood for all that stuff.

390
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,600
It's founded in that.

391
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,600
And the other thing I'm going to say is I like to call it this.

392
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:34,600
You can call it tannery.

393
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:35,600
I like the tannery.

394
00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:38,600
And I can say primary righteousness.

395
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,600
But I want to say primary attitude.

396
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:41,600
It's our attitude.

397
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:51,600
Christ's attitude is that even though He was God, He chose to humble Himself to do what He had to do.

398
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,600
To be who He said He was.

399
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,600
And so what I'm saying is we all have secondary feelings.

400
00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,600
I'm talking to myself too.

401
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,600
But it doesn't change the primary.

402
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:09,600
And I really think if we would focus more on the primary or secondary, you know, God's work, God's working on us,

403
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,600
no one can figure this out.

404
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,600
Tonight we've got all the fun.

405
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:15,600
Everybody's going to have to help us.

406
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:16,600
What am I going to do?

407
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,600
Throw a thousand pieces of candy at people?

408
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:19,600
Here, take the candy.

409
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:20,600
Get out of here.

410
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:21,600
We can't handle it.

411
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:22,600
We need each other.

412
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:23,600
You know?

413
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:28,600
And so I'm saying today where's your primary and where's your secondary?

414
00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,600
And no matter what, your primary is always going to be better.

415
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,600
And here's a quick story I want to say.

416
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:33,600
We're talking generosity.

417
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:34,600
Let's share this Tuesday Bible stuff.

418
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,600
Please come if not, get encouraged from Tuesday Bible stuff.

419
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,600
So let's tell each other what we've been learning.

420
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,600
But we're talking generosity.

421
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,600
About what could we do?

422
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:44,600
What talents do we have?

423
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:45,600
And I love this.

424
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,600
This cry came from the 1900s just the way we've spoken.

425
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,600
I don't know who was talking, but I heard this from a Kentucky pastor.

426
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,600
I was looking for some radio stations.

427
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,600
And something that would speak the gospel.

428
00:26:58,600 --> 00:26:59,600
And this is just what it was.

429
00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,600
My journey, I heard this pastor preach this message about generosity.

430
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:04,600
And he said this.

431
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,600
There was a guy that was through revival.

432
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:11,600
He was going down the country asking people, hey, do you want to go to revival?

433
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,600
And he went to a farmer and he said, hey, you want to go to revival?

434
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:14,600
I'm a farmer.

435
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:15,600
What am I supposed to do?

436
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:16,600
Leave my fields?

437
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:18,600
And he says, listen, and I know it won't happen today.

438
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:20,600
It could, but it's probably 1900s.

439
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,600
Because it's like, sir, I'll do a good job.

440
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:23,600
Trust me.

441
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,600
I'll do a good job for a couple hours when you go to revival.

442
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:27,600
So the farmer went.

443
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,600
The farmer comes back with a smile on his face.

444
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:31,600
He's like, I just got saved.

445
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,600
I gave my life to Jesus.

446
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,600
He's like, thank you so much for tending my crops.

447
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,600
And so that to me is what generosity is.

448
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:48,600
To me, whatever your gift, your talent, if you could do something for God to do it, just do it.

449
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,600
You don't have to figure it all out.

450
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:51,600
You don't have to get it all picked out.

451
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,600
But do it for God.

452
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,600
You're not doing it because somehow you'll get a favor.

453
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,600
You'll get a hand five.

454
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,600
You're like, no, because God is generous.

455
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:01,600
God gave.

456
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:02,600
God loves us.

457
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:03,600
Let's go out and do it for Him.

458
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:05,600
I don't expect nothing from you at all.

459
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,600
Honestly, nothing anymore.

460
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,600
I have everything I need in Christ Jesus.

461
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:10,600
And so do you.

462
00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:11,600
Amen.

463
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:12,600
Good work.

464
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:13,600
Anybody else?

465
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:19,600
So I was going to try to share the video, but I can't find a version that's edited out.

466
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:20,600
It's the cuss words.

467
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:21,600
OK.

468
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,600
But there's a video I found.

469
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,600
It's from Will Smith, the one who did it.

470
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,600
And I talked about this a little bit in the Bible study of the youth group.

471
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:37,600
But it's about fault and responsibility.

472
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:44,600
And essentially he says that it might not be your fault if you grow up with an abusive father.

473
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:49,600
But it's your responsibility to deal with it.

474
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,600
It's your responsibility to grow up and to deal with it.

475
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,600
And however you deal with it, it's your responsibility.

476
00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,600
It might not be your fault, but it's your responsibility.

477
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:05,600
And when I was thinking about that, I was like, you know, it's our responsibility to take care of ourselves,

478
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:10,600
to take care of our family, and to do the things we have to do.

479
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,600
And it might not be our fault if stuff happens.

480
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,600
Like if bad things happen to you, it's not necessarily your fault.

481
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,600
However, it is your responsibility to deal with it.

482
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,600
And even if it is your fault and you do something and it turns out bad and it's not what you wanted,

483
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,600
it's still your responsibility to deal with it.

484
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:36,600
So just because bad things happen and just because stuff comes up

485
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:42,600
doesn't mean that it's not your responsibility to figure out how to overcome it.

486
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:43,600
That's a good word.

487
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:48,600
In fact, I've thought a number of times over the years, I might not use those exact words,

488
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,600
but I think he did a good job and you did a good job of explaining it.

489
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:56,600
Responsibility for what happens to us when somebody else does it or we do it doesn't matter

490
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,600
because it feels a little bit like death.

491
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,600
For example, somebody cheats you on your job and you lie up getting fired from the job, right?

492
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,600
And it feels a little bit like dying.

493
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,600
And I think responsibility is always supposed to be a reminder

494
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,600
that ultimately we have a responsibility before God.

495
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,600
And so the earth always will contain that.

496
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,600
You are not a victim.

497
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:26,600
The truth is even what's been done to you has not truly been done to you, right?

498
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:27,600
You are owned by God.

499
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,600
So persecutions and tribulations toward us are really toward God.

500
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,600
People will treat each other and hurt each other if they do

501
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,600
because they don't respect God for who He is.

502
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,600
And so we have to realize that if you can transfer some of that,

503
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,600
the pain if you will or the suffering that goes along with it,

504
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,600
transfer that a little bit to God, which we talked about that a few weeks ago,

505
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,600
giving it to God for any morning if necessary, morning, noon, and night,

506
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,600
and saying, God, I'm giving you this and giving you this and doing what you want with it.

507
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,600
In the meantime, take responsibility as God's representative to deal with it.

508
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,600
It feels a little bit less like death.

509
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:02,600
And we are alive.

510
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,600
And if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you are alive and you can do it.

511
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,600
Amazing standard we can do to deal with whatever happens.

512
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:11,600
All right, who else?

513
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,600
Any others?

514
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,600
Brother Tony, where's the fire?

515
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:16,600
Yeah, come on.

516
00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,600
Brother, this entire room belongs to you.

517
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,600
Okay.

518
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:31,600
In Ephesians, it says, maybe some of it's prophets, some of it's evangelists,

519
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:36,600
some of it's apostles, and I'm in that order because I just remembered orders.

520
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,600
Some of it's pastors and teachers for the equipment of the saints,

521
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,600
for the work of the service.

522
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,600
Let me explain where I'm going with this.

523
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:52,600
In somebody's infinite wisdom, it designated October as Pastor Appreciation Month.

524
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:58,600
And also, in somebody's infinite wisdom, they appointed me to present this.

525
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,600
So you get what you get.

526
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:07,600
Anyway, there's a saying, and I've used it, and the saying is,

527
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:11,600
the only opinion that matters is God's.

528
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:19,600
Now, a pastor, think about a pastor, a pastor teacher, which we have in Dan Stevenson,

529
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:26,600
his calling, his job is to instruct us through sound doctrine, through God's Word,

530
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:33,600
what God's opinion is, which is God's Word, in our lives that matters to us.

531
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,600
Our life matters.

532
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:36,600
His life matters.

533
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:42,600
So that's part of his job, calling.

534
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:49,600
I've known Dan for not 30 years, but close to it.

535
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,600
I don't know the exact number of years.

536
00:32:52,600 --> 00:33:00,600
But in them years, I've known Dan in a new members class that didn't say a whole lot,

537
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:13,600
but I've watched him grow, not only physically, which isn't up, it's just been old,

538
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:18,600
but seeing him grow in the Lord.

539
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:24,600
And what he was way back then was somebody I just got to know, became a friend,

540
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:30,600
in those close to 30 years, has also become my pastor.

541
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,600
We don't agree on everything.

542
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,600
I don't see things through his eyes, thank goodness,

543
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,600
and he doesn't see things through my eyes, thank goodness.

544
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:41,600
But God's put us together for a reason.

545
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,600
We don't know fully what that is.

546
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:49,600
But it is Pastor's Appreciation Month.

547
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:54,600
It is Pastor Appreciation Day because it's the last day of the month.

548
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,600
And by his infinite wisdom, they decided to wait until the last day.

549
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:11,600
But anyway, you can at any time show, say how you appreciate your pastor.

550
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,600
I appreciate Dan, is just what I explained.

551
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:21,600
Seeing him grow, knowing him for years, and seeing his growth,

552
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:28,600
seeing how he disciplined himself, and his commitment to the Lord is growing and growing and growing.

553
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:32,600
That's what I can appreciate.

554
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:40,600
So, I'm going to say this, I'm going to say this, because it's kind of funny,

555
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:46,600
because when I was asked by text message, if I could do this,

556
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:51,600
and I said my famous words, it's sure.

557
00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:58,600
Because they wanted somebody to present you with something,

558
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:05,600
and didn't want it to be, shouldn't be a member of a family.

559
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:15,600
I want anybody who is related to Dan Stevens, by blood or marriage, I want you to stand.

560
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:19,600
Blood, marriage.

561
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,600
There's some who don't want to stand, but they're standing.

562
00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:24,600
I want you to look.

563
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:29,600
Now, yeah, Stevenson Klan is a big part of our church.

564
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:31,600
You can sit down.

565
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:35,600
But this man who has dedicated, has disciplined himself,

566
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:43,600
has dedicated his life to commit himself to the Lord, has also brought up this family.

567
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:48,600
And he didn't bring it up, brought them up in the church,

568
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:53,600
but what I'm saying is, there weren't this many of them when New Heights started.

569
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:57,600
There wasn't this many of them when I first met Dan.

570
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,600
In fact, there's only three.

571
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:06,600
So I want you to appreciate that, that he's brought his family along with him.

572
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:13,600
And they're a part of this church, and they do many things in the church.

573
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,600
And that's to be appreciated too.

574
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:21,600
So, present the...

575
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,600
On behalf of New Heights Fellowship Church,

576
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:31,600
in honor of Dan Stevens' during Pastor Appreciation Month on the last day,

577
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,600
we present this to you.

578
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,600
And thank you for your commitment and dedication.

579
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,600
Thank you for your service.

580
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:45,600
Applause

581
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:46,600
Praise God.

582
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:47,600
Thank you very much.

583
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:49,600
Pastor Appreciation Day is now Halloween,

584
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,600
which I'm sure the kids will be very disappointed with,

585
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:53,600
but I kinda like it.

586
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,600
We're gonna pray in a moment and go to the Tithes Conference.

587
00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:58,600
Do you have something?

588
00:36:58,600 --> 00:36:59,600
Yeah, I have something.

589
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,600
I have a song that I felt like I should share.

590
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:09,600
It's a pop worship song feel, and it kind of was like,

591
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,600
came on in the car yesterday, and you know,

592
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:14,600
anything you could think of.

593
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,600
I was, you know, struggling with,

594
00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,600
exhausted, you know, we're really,

595
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,600
the world didn't really matter,

596
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,600
and it just kind of reminded me that when things like that happen,

597
00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,600
you just have to keep the world as far from you as you can,

598
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,600
and keep God as close as you can.

599
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,600
I know.

600
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:43,600
How do you feel?

601
00:37:43,600 --> 00:38:11,600
I know they say that the space between

602
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:16,600
can make it stronger than we've ever seen.

603
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:21,600
They might be right, but I disagree,

604
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:27,600
cause I've never felt stronger than when you're with me.

605
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:33,600
Sometimes I wonder why you even care,

606
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:39,600
cause even when I leave you're always there with me.

607
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:44,600
And like a candle makes a brighter place,

608
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:51,600
this mark you made on me can't be erased.

609
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:56,600
I wanna be so far gone in you,

610
00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:02,600
so far nothing else will ever do.

611
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:24,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

612
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:29,600
I stood alone and I fell down,

613
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:34,600
your hands were there to pick me off the ground.

614
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:40,600
Sometimes I cry cause I can't believe,

615
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:45,600
your love is big enough to cover me.

616
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:51,600
Sometimes I've wondered if you even care,

617
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:57,600
but when I feel far away you meet me there.

618
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:02,600
And like a candle makes a brighter place,

619
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:09,600
this mark you made on me can't be erased.

620
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:14,600
I wanna be so far gone in you,

621
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:20,600
so far nothing else will ever do.

622
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:31,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

623
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:37,600
I wanna be so far gone in you,

624
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:42,600
so far nothing else will ever do.

625
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:49,600
I wanna be so far gone in you,

626
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:55,600
I wanna be lost, I wanna be lost in you.

627
00:40:55,600 --> 00:41:01,600
By your shipping night, I wanna be lost in you.

628
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:06,600
Underneath your sky, I wanna be lost in you.

629
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:14,600
By your shipping night, I wanna be so far gone in the light.

630
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:21,600
Today, I wanna be so far gone in you,

631
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:27,600
so far nothing else will ever do.

632
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:45,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

633
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:03,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

634
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:33,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

635
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:03,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

636
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:33,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

637
00:43:57,600 --> 00:44:03,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

638
00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:33,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

639
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:03,600
I wanna be so far gone in you, in you.

640
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:39,600
Your loving, like radiant diamond, bursting inside of me.

641
00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:49,600
He cannot contain, the love that I feel.

642
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:58,600
Bursting inside of me, he cannot contain.

643
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:14,600
Your love will surely come find us, like blazing wildfires, singing your name.

644
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:22,600
God of love, see the light.

645
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:31,600
I have surrendered to your design.

646
00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:39,600
May this suffering stretch across the sky.

647
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:48,600
These hallelujahs be multiplied.

648
00:46:48,600 --> 00:47:00,600
Your loving, like radiant diamond, bursting inside of me.

649
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:21,600
He cannot contain, your love will surely come find us, like blazing wildfires, singing your name.

650
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:30,600
God of love, see the light.

651
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:38,600
I have surrendered to your design.

652
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:46,600
May this suffering stretch across the sky.

653
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:56,600
These hallelujahs be multiplied.

654
00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:22,600
Your loving, like radiant diamond, bursting inside of me.

655
00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:35,600
God of mercy, see the love of mine.

656
00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:44,600
I have surrendered to your design.

657
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:52,600
May this suffering stretch across the sky.

658
00:48:52,600 --> 00:49:00,600
These hallelujahs be multiplied.

659
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:28,600
These hallelujahs be multiplied.

660
00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:32,600
What is the origin of the light?

661
00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:36,600
It comes and nested on the floor.

662
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:44,600
But it stands without the street, and now it's safe to have one more.

663
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:52,600
I didn't judge the dead and the saved, but it's time to turn the page.

664
00:49:52,600 --> 00:50:04,600
To understand the fondest right way, and so I'm now just singing, what if this people prayed?

665
00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:17,600
The sun was raised, the ground was seeked and sated, and took itself away.

666
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:25,600
And what would happen if we prayed for those beloved to leave the way?

667
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:33,600
If we became the fallen prey and unfortunately lied and prayed.

668
00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:37,600
What is the life that he pursued?

669
00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:45,600
He came from a heart of fallen truth, wanting to kill the man who dreams us.

670
00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:48,600
What if he overlapped too?

671
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:53,600
What if this people prayed?

672
00:50:53,600 --> 00:51:01,600
And those who bare his head went on to take their place.

673
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:08,600
And those who bare their own face said that they weren't here.

674
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:20,600
If I was dead when he left the fallen sin, if I was to leave the tree.

675
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:36,600
If my people know by my name, I can tell those who themselves have prayed.

676
00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:49,600
If my people know by my name, I can tell those who themselves have prayed.

677
00:51:49,600 --> 00:52:02,600
If this people prayed, and those who bare their head went on to take their place.

678
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:10,600
And those who bare their own face said that they weren't here.

679
00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:22,600
If I was dead when he left the fallen sin, if only we once prayed.

680
00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:36,600
What if this people prayed?

681
00:52:36,600 --> 00:52:43,600
Even though I walk on the valley of the shadow of death,

682
00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:52,600
And your perfect blood is casting out the air.

683
00:52:52,600 --> 00:52:56,600
You give a kind heart in the middle of this strongest night.

684
00:52:56,600 --> 00:53:01,600
I know one time back I'll know you are near.

685
00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:18,600
You should know me, for I have this blessing.

686
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:26,600
Who then shall I fear?

687
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:50,600
Oh no, you'll never let go, you'll never let go, never let go of me.

688
00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:56,600
And if you pray that I may pull the plug that will come,

689
00:53:56,600 --> 00:54:02,600
Of glory and light in the outlaw's long hair.

690
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:08,600
And there will be a man to be troubled, but until that day comes,

691
00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:20,600
If you know you're clear on the earth, and I will fear no evil.

692
00:54:20,600 --> 00:54:32,600
For I have this blessing, and if my God is with me,

693
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:39,600
Who then shall I fear?

694
00:54:39,600 --> 00:55:03,600
Oh no, you'll never let go, you'll never let go, never let go of me.

695
00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:09,600
And if you pray that I may pull the plug that will come,

696
00:55:09,600 --> 00:55:16,600
Of glory and light in the outlaw's long hair.

697
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:23,600
And there will be a man to be troubled, but until that day comes,

698
00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:27,600
If you know you're clear on the earth, and I will fear no evil.

699
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:50,600
Oh no, you'll never let go, you'll never let go, never let go of me.

700
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:57,600
Oh no, you'll never let go, through the fall and through the storm.

701
00:55:57,600 --> 00:56:03,600
Oh no, you'll never let go, in every high and every low.

702
00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:23,600
You'll never let go, you'll never let go of me.

703
00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:52,600
There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies.

704
00:56:52,600 --> 00:57:05,600
There's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide.

705
00:57:05,600 --> 00:57:22,600
Where all the love I've ever had never found, is like a flood and slowing down.

706
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:36,600
At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life, I leave all of you, I leave all of you.

707
00:57:36,600 --> 00:57:56,600
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you Jesus.

708
00:57:56,600 --> 00:58:09,600
There's a place where sin and shame are part of this truth.

709
00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:22,600
They are washed as peace with God rivers.

710
00:58:22,600 --> 00:58:35,600
Where all the love I've ever had never found, is like a flood and slowing down.

711
00:58:35,600 --> 00:58:48,600
At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life, I leave all of you, I leave all of you.

712
00:58:48,600 --> 00:59:01,600
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you.

713
00:59:01,600 --> 00:59:26,600
Here I am, here I am, here I am.

714
00:59:26,600 --> 00:59:39,600
At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life, I leave all of you, I leave all of you.

715
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:52,600
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you.

716
00:59:52,600 --> 01:00:05,600
At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life, I leave all of you, I leave all of you.

717
01:00:05,600 --> 01:00:23,600
Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you.

718
01:00:23,600 --> 01:00:37,600
I owe all of you.

719
01:00:53,600 --> 01:01:19,600
It occurs in my Christian walk that fairly often I am hurting.

720
01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:25,600
I think you've probably been there, right? I mean you've experienced something that you hadn't anticipated.

721
01:01:25,600 --> 01:01:35,600
Maybe you lost a loved one, you lost a job, you had a relationship break up, you had somebody who turned out to be a betrayer rather than somebody you thought you could trust.

722
01:01:35,600 --> 01:01:40,600
I mean the list just goes on and I'm hurting.

723
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:52,600
Just being transparent, it usually takes me a little while, sometimes it's minutes, sometimes it's hours, and sometimes it's days before I go to Scripture with my hurt.

724
01:01:52,600 --> 01:01:57,600
I hope it would be shorter but sometimes it is longer than it should be and I go to Scripture with my hurt.

725
01:01:57,600 --> 01:02:05,600
And then it occurs fairly often that when I go to Scripture, Scripture hurts me.

726
01:02:05,600 --> 01:02:11,600
You think, well you go to Scripture and it's healing, people are like, oh the sweet words of Scripture, everything I read in the Bible is so healing.

727
01:02:11,600 --> 01:02:19,600
If that is your experience with the Bible, well good for you. That has not been my experience with the Bible.

728
01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:30,600
Now it does occasionally, I will find solace there in comforting words about peace and about how God is taking care of me even though I'm in the midst of trials and difficulties and like that.

729
01:02:30,600 --> 01:02:45,600
Occasionally I am comforted but often I find that the Lord corrects me or even will chastise me through what I read and I realize that I am sort of like causing my problem, if that makes any sense.

730
01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:54,600
So today I'm warning you in advance, maybe brace yourself, this Scripture hurts.

731
01:02:54,600 --> 01:03:00,600
It hurt me when I studied it and I had a vision in my head toward the end of what I was studying.

732
01:03:00,600 --> 01:03:08,600
I began to write the actual sermon that when I was in seventh grade there was a young man who was in seventh grade with me and we had a disagreement.

733
01:03:08,600 --> 01:03:15,600
It was pretty bad. In fact he had cracked on me in front of the class, in front of the math class which was the only class in which I felt comfortable.

734
01:03:15,600 --> 01:03:22,600
I was really, because I was pretty good at math and he cracked on me in front of the class and then I said something to him and then he shoved me into a wall and it got physical.

735
01:03:22,600 --> 01:03:37,600
And then he walked away before it was resolved. So we went to the library and I went back into the back of the library and I met him in the stacks where they had the books standing up and the teacher couldn't see and other students were around and we were in hushed tones having it out.

736
01:03:37,600 --> 01:03:48,600
And ultimately it came to blows and I punched him in the face and I split his lip and his lip was bleeding really bad and when I punched him I split my hand on his teeth.

737
01:03:48,600 --> 01:03:57,600
And so my hand was split open between the first knock on the second and it hurt really bad and I'm going, okay now my hand is bleeding, I'm surely going to get in trouble.

738
01:03:57,600 --> 01:04:05,600
And he went to the bathroom and he cleaned himself up and I went to the bathroom and I cleaned myself up and we basically that was it.

739
01:04:05,600 --> 01:04:08,600
We put it behind us. Neither one of us got in trouble for the fight.

740
01:04:08,600 --> 01:04:18,600
But when I hit him I thought I was going to hurt him and actually I was hurt. And then it was all over.

741
01:04:18,600 --> 01:04:28,600
About 10-15 years ago, he grew up, he became a police officer and about 10-15 years ago he took his own life after having seen some very tragic things on the job.

742
01:04:28,600 --> 01:04:43,600
And on that day I submit to you my hand hurt. You know what I'm saying? Because I realized that we really had never made real peace between us and who knows if I, obviously as a Christian I should have done that.

743
01:04:43,600 --> 01:04:49,600
So that's what this text was like. I went to the text, I'm going, let's just look at this, it'll be fun, it's going to be interesting, right?

744
01:04:49,600 --> 01:04:56,600
And then it cut me to the quick. I trust it will do you by the time we are through and I hope you will go with me to the end.

745
01:04:56,600 --> 01:05:05,600
If you've got to go to the bathroom, go now. Because the most dangerous thing that we could do in this scripture is to only get 60% of the way through.

746
01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:11,600
In fact I was thinking about that since morning. I thought, oh no, we Facebook this and we podcast this and whatever.

747
01:05:11,600 --> 01:05:18,600
And someone may only go part way through this message and they may get the cut without the healing and it could be very, very dangerous.

748
01:05:18,600 --> 01:05:23,600
This is a dangerous passage of scripture if you only get part of the story.

749
01:05:23,600 --> 01:05:28,600
Now, initially you're not going to think that as we start to read it. It's going to be, hey this is kind of cool.

750
01:05:28,600 --> 01:05:35,600
Last week we read the Beatitudes, you remember? In here we read the Beatitudes and we talked about them in light of the kind of church we go.

751
01:05:35,600 --> 01:05:43,600
And we talked about how they are the values of the culture of the kingdom. Kingdom culture laid out in the Beatitudes.

752
01:05:43,600 --> 01:05:49,600
Well the Beatitudes are elsewhere in your Bible as well. You can find them in Luke chapter 6.

753
01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:54,600
And we're going to go there. So grab your Bibles if you would and go with me to Luke chapter 6.

754
01:05:54,600 --> 01:06:00,600
Amen. This is God's word. We now turn it over to him to make sense of it.

755
01:06:00,600 --> 01:06:05,600
I guarantee you, you will see at least two things in this passage of scripture that you have never noticed before.

756
01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:10,600
One of them comes from here and one of them comes from another. And that just blew my mind.

757
01:06:10,600 --> 01:06:15,600
Like, whoa, wait a minute, that's very interesting. And it was part of being cut to the quick.

758
01:06:15,600 --> 01:06:20,600
Verse 20. 6.20. Book of Luke.

759
01:06:20,600 --> 01:06:26,600
Big gathering of people. And Jesus is about to speak and it says,

760
01:06:26,600 --> 01:06:30,600
And turning his, that's Jesus, gaze on his disciples he began to say.

761
01:06:30,600 --> 01:06:34,600
So we had a similar thing last week in the Beatitudes, you remember?

762
01:06:34,600 --> 01:06:38,600
Jesus had the disciples around him and then he had a big crowd of people.

763
01:06:38,600 --> 01:06:44,600
So as he was teaching, he was teaching through the disciples. There's symbolism there, but it's an actual literal geographical situation.

764
01:06:44,600 --> 01:06:48,600
He was teaching through the disciples to a huge crowd of people.

765
01:06:48,600 --> 01:06:55,600
And he began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

766
01:06:55,600 --> 01:06:58,600
Now you remember we talked about being poor in spirit.

767
01:06:58,600 --> 01:07:04,600
And this word poor here is very similar to the one we looked at last week in Matthew 5.

768
01:07:04,600 --> 01:07:08,600
And it's talking about not being able to help yourself. Lacking.

769
01:07:08,600 --> 01:07:13,600
Lacking in strength to do what needs to be done. Or lacking in finance. Or lacking in food. Or whatever.

770
01:07:13,600 --> 01:07:17,600
So he says, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

771
01:07:17,600 --> 01:07:20,600
And someone might say, well it seems like he could be saying the same thing.

772
01:07:20,600 --> 01:07:23,600
If you're poor, the other one said poor in spirit, you'll remember?

773
01:07:23,600 --> 01:07:25,600
Those of you who were in here last week.

774
01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:30,600
Blessed are the poor versus blessed are the poor in spirit is two totally different things.

775
01:07:30,600 --> 01:07:36,600
Obviously the poor in spirit are poor, but they're unable to help themselves in their spirit and they know they need God.

776
01:07:36,600 --> 01:07:40,600
This said blessed are the poor. And someone might want to make that out to be about that.

777
01:07:40,600 --> 01:07:43,600
But you're going to see later in the text that that's not the case.

778
01:07:43,600 --> 01:07:47,600
He's literally talking about being poor. Not having enough.

779
01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:52,600
Not being able to help yourself get out of a difficult situation because you don't have enough.

780
01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:56,600
Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

781
01:07:56,600 --> 01:08:00,600
The kingdom of God is that person, place, or thing in which God reigns.

782
01:08:00,600 --> 01:08:04,600
And so God is going to reign in the poor according to this verse.

783
01:08:04,600 --> 01:08:08,600
Simple. Read more into it if you want to, but be careful.

784
01:08:08,600 --> 01:08:11,600
Because he's going to explain a little bit in a little bit.

785
01:08:11,600 --> 01:08:16,600
Verse 21. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

786
01:08:16,600 --> 01:08:21,600
Remember last week we had the phrase hunger and thirst for righteousness.

787
01:08:21,600 --> 01:08:28,600
And someone would try to make this beatitude about hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

788
01:08:28,600 --> 01:08:34,600
And saying well that hungering could be talking about the same as the other, but I submit to you it's not.

789
01:08:34,600 --> 01:08:36,600
And we'll see why in a minute. How we know that.

790
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:40,600
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

791
01:08:40,600 --> 01:08:47,600
So if you hunger, if you lack, God is going to ensure, God is going to make it so that you are satisfied.

792
01:08:47,600 --> 01:08:52,600
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

793
01:08:52,600 --> 01:08:58,600
So again, if you're sad, broken, hurting over something that has happened, you shall laugh.

794
01:08:58,600 --> 01:09:02,600
God is going to make it so. He's going to make sure that it's so.

795
01:09:02,600 --> 01:09:08,600
And again, you could make it about mourning like they talked about before and again spiritualize it and whatever.

796
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:10,600
But I submit to you, he's literally talking about weeping.

797
01:09:10,600 --> 01:09:11,600
He's talking about being sad.

798
01:09:11,600 --> 01:09:16,600
He's talking about encountering adversity and difficulty and struggling under it.

799
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:22,600
Verse 22. Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you.

800
01:09:22,600 --> 01:09:23,600
We understand being hated.

801
01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:26,600
Ostracizing means kicking you out or not including you.

802
01:09:26,600 --> 01:09:32,600
And cast insults at you and spurn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man.

803
01:09:32,600 --> 01:09:38,600
So when they do those things to us because we are standing up for Jesus or for Jesus' sake,

804
01:09:38,600 --> 01:09:44,600
because they are actually against Jesus themselves and we are Jesus' representative or any human could serve in that capacity,

805
01:09:44,600 --> 01:09:46,600
they would be evil. They would insult.

806
01:09:46,600 --> 01:09:51,600
They would ostracize people just because they want to hurt God and we are available.

807
01:09:51,600 --> 01:09:55,600
And if you experience that, he says, blessed are you.

808
01:09:55,600 --> 01:10:01,600
Verse 23, he says, so much blessed are you that you should be glad in that day and leap for joy.

809
01:10:01,600 --> 01:10:04,600
Remember that commercial, Toyota, where they leap up in the air and click their heels together?

810
01:10:04,600 --> 01:10:07,600
We should leap for joy.

811
01:10:07,600 --> 01:10:11,600
For behold, your reward is great in heaven.

812
01:10:11,600 --> 01:10:19,600
So God is saying, if you are the subject of insults, if you are ostracized, if men hate you for the sake of Jesus.

813
01:10:19,600 --> 01:10:24,600
So if they are doing it because they want to strike against God or they are doing that because you are representing God

814
01:10:24,600 --> 01:10:31,600
or whatever, if they do that, then you will have great reward in heaven.

815
01:10:31,600 --> 01:10:33,600
Pretty straightforward.

816
01:10:33,600 --> 01:10:36,600
For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

817
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:37,600
You understand?

818
01:10:37,600 --> 01:10:38,600
Okay, 24.

819
01:10:38,600 --> 01:10:39,600
Now we are going to get the other one.

820
01:10:39,600 --> 01:10:46,600
This is how we know that those things are about those things.

821
01:10:46,600 --> 01:10:49,600
Since now we are not over-spiritualizing, he is going to explain it to us.

822
01:10:49,600 --> 01:10:52,600
He said, but woe to you who are rich.

823
01:10:52,600 --> 01:10:54,600
For you are receiving your comfort in full.

824
01:10:54,600 --> 01:10:56,600
So that is the opposite of the first one.

825
01:10:56,600 --> 01:11:00,600
He said, blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

826
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:03,600
We said, well if you are poor, then you are going to receive the kingdom of God.

827
01:11:03,600 --> 01:11:04,600
So says God.

828
01:11:04,600 --> 01:11:05,600
But woe to you who are rich.

829
01:11:05,600 --> 01:11:08,600
This is the alternative of blessing.

830
01:11:08,600 --> 01:11:11,600
It literally means like bad stuff to you.

831
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,600
It would probably be the easiest way to say it.

832
01:11:13,600 --> 01:11:15,600
Bad stuff to you who are rich.

833
01:11:15,600 --> 01:11:18,600
For you are receiving your comfort in full.

834
01:11:18,600 --> 01:11:20,600
Now right there, let me just step aside for a second.

835
01:11:20,600 --> 01:11:24,600
Go with me to a parable that isn't a parable.

836
01:11:24,600 --> 01:11:28,600
A story that Jesus told about Lazarus and the rich man.

837
01:11:28,600 --> 01:11:31,600
Lazarus was sick, diseased.

838
01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:34,600
He was sat at the gates of the rich man's property.

839
01:11:34,600 --> 01:11:38,600
And every day the rich man would walk by him and see Lazarus sitting there suffering.

840
01:11:38,600 --> 01:11:41,600
And the rich man didn't take care of Lazarus.

841
01:11:41,600 --> 01:11:42,600
And he didn't reward Lazarus.

842
01:11:42,600 --> 01:11:43,600
He didn't bless Lazarus.

843
01:11:43,600 --> 01:11:44,600
He wasn't generous toward Lazarus.

844
01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:46,600
Then they both die.

845
01:11:46,600 --> 01:11:48,600
Lazarus and the rich man.

846
01:11:48,600 --> 01:11:49,600
And they go.

847
01:11:49,600 --> 01:11:52,600
Lazarus goes to heaven.

848
01:11:52,600 --> 01:11:54,600
Beyond what we'd call the pearly gates.

849
01:11:54,600 --> 01:11:56,600
He's in heaven.

850
01:11:56,600 --> 01:11:59,600
The rich man goes to hell.

851
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:01,600
He's burning in torment.

852
01:12:01,600 --> 01:12:04,600
And he says to the angel who guards the gates,

853
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,600
or anyway without getting into great detail there,

854
01:12:07,600 --> 01:12:09,600
he says, please let Lazarus come there.

855
01:12:09,600 --> 01:12:11,600
Just dip his hand in the cool water.

856
01:12:11,600 --> 01:12:13,600
Stick his finger in my mouth and cool my tongue for just a second.

857
01:12:13,600 --> 01:12:14,600
It's very intimate.

858
01:12:14,600 --> 01:12:18,600
He's going to get down on his knees in front of a diseased man

859
01:12:18,600 --> 01:12:22,600
who dips his finger in the cool water and puts it on his tongue just for a second

860
01:12:22,600 --> 01:12:25,600
to have just that little bit of relief.

861
01:12:25,600 --> 01:12:26,600
And of course, he's not.

862
01:12:26,600 --> 01:12:27,600
He can't do it.

863
01:12:27,600 --> 01:12:30,600
There's a huge rift between here and there.

864
01:12:30,600 --> 01:12:31,600
Those that are there cannot come over here.

865
01:12:31,600 --> 01:12:34,600
Those that are in heaven cannot come over here to hell.

866
01:12:34,600 --> 01:12:36,600
And those over here cannot go over there to heaven.

867
01:12:36,600 --> 01:12:37,600
It's done. It's sealed permanently.

868
01:12:37,600 --> 01:12:38,600
A huge rift between us.

869
01:12:38,600 --> 01:12:39,600
He can't do it.

870
01:12:39,600 --> 01:12:43,600
I say, okay, then send him back to talk to my brother so they won't come to this place.

871
01:12:43,600 --> 01:12:44,600
Right?

872
01:12:44,600 --> 01:12:50,600
And the angel says, even if one rose from the dead,

873
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:53,600
if they won't listen to Moses and the scriptures,

874
01:12:53,600 --> 01:12:56,600
they won't listen to one even if he should raise from the dead.

875
01:12:56,600 --> 01:12:57,600
Talking about Jesus.

876
01:12:57,600 --> 01:12:59,600
Remember that parable that's not a parable?

877
01:12:59,600 --> 01:13:00,600
How do we know it's not a parable?

878
01:13:00,600 --> 01:13:02,600
Because all the parables don't have names in them.

879
01:13:02,600 --> 01:13:04,600
The only ones, the stories have names.

880
01:13:04,600 --> 01:13:05,600
The parables don't.

881
01:13:05,600 --> 01:13:06,600
There was a farmer.

882
01:13:06,600 --> 01:13:07,600
There was a rich man.

883
01:13:07,600 --> 01:13:08,600
Right?

884
01:13:08,600 --> 01:13:10,600
But Lazarus is named.

885
01:13:10,600 --> 01:13:11,600
So the poor guy is named.

886
01:13:11,600 --> 01:13:12,600
It's not a parable. It's a story.

887
01:13:12,600 --> 01:13:13,600
These are actual guys.

888
01:13:13,600 --> 01:13:15,600
A rich guy had a diseased man named Lazarus.

889
01:13:15,600 --> 01:13:18,600
And Lazarus is in heaven right now.

890
01:13:18,600 --> 01:13:20,600
And we'll go there one day if you're a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

891
01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:21,600
And you'll meet Lazarus.

892
01:13:21,600 --> 01:13:24,600
But you'll never meet that rich guy who wasn't generous,

893
01:13:24,600 --> 01:13:28,600
who didn't take care of Lazarus, and who received his reward when?

894
01:13:28,600 --> 01:13:30,600
On earth.

895
01:13:30,600 --> 01:13:35,600
Woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

896
01:13:35,600 --> 01:13:38,600
When the rich guy speaks up, that's what he's told.

897
01:13:38,600 --> 01:13:40,600
He said, Lazarus is receiving his comfort now.

898
01:13:40,600 --> 01:13:43,600
You received your comfort while you were on earth.

899
01:13:43,600 --> 01:13:48,600
So very practically, very simply said, if you are wealthy,

900
01:13:48,600 --> 01:13:51,600
whether you believe you are wealthy or you are okay financially,

901
01:13:51,600 --> 01:13:57,600
you are wealthy, you have plenty of money, Jesus said, woe to you.

902
01:13:57,600 --> 01:13:58,600
That hurts.

903
01:13:58,600 --> 01:14:01,600
Because I'm going to be pretty transparent as I look around this room.

904
01:14:01,600 --> 01:14:05,600
I think we're all doing, on this scale, we're all doing okay.

905
01:14:05,600 --> 01:14:08,600
Like, well, I don't always have enough money to pay my bills.

906
01:14:08,600 --> 01:14:12,600
But if you've got a cell phone and a vehicle for transportation

907
01:14:12,600 --> 01:14:15,600
and a roof over your head, you are wealthy by this standard.

908
01:14:15,600 --> 01:14:20,600
You are certainly not poor by this standard, right?

909
01:14:20,600 --> 01:14:23,600
Which is poor, lacking, not able to help yourself.

910
01:14:23,600 --> 01:14:25,600
But you are able to help yourself.

911
01:14:25,600 --> 01:14:27,600
So you are not poor by this standard.

912
01:14:27,600 --> 01:14:29,600
You are rich.

913
01:14:29,600 --> 01:14:33,600
And Jesus himself said, but woe to you who are rich,

914
01:14:33,600 --> 01:14:36,600
for you are receiving your comfort in full.

915
01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:43,600
25. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry.

916
01:14:43,600 --> 01:14:48,600
See, he's talking about literal poverty, literal hunger.

917
01:14:48,600 --> 01:14:49,600
Right?

918
01:14:49,600 --> 01:14:55,600
And he says, if you are hungry, now you shall be satisfied then.

919
01:14:55,600 --> 01:15:02,600
Then now he says, woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry.

920
01:15:02,600 --> 01:15:07,600
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

921
01:15:07,600 --> 01:15:11,600
And just an aside real quick from that, I submit to you,

922
01:15:11,600 --> 01:15:16,600
you better take the things of Jesus very seriously.

923
01:15:16,600 --> 01:15:20,600
You don't have and cannot hold your eternal soul in your hands.

924
01:15:20,600 --> 01:15:22,600
But God can.

925
01:15:22,600 --> 01:15:25,600
You need to take the things of Jesus very seriously.

926
01:15:25,600 --> 01:15:29,600
He says, woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

927
01:15:29,600 --> 01:15:33,600
You say, well, we laugh, we laugh about jokes, we laugh about things we see on the internet,

928
01:15:33,600 --> 01:15:35,600
we laugh at parties, whatever like that.

929
01:15:35,600 --> 01:15:37,600
But this is very significant.

930
01:15:37,600 --> 01:15:44,600
He says, woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

931
01:15:44,600 --> 01:15:46,600
God will make it so.

932
01:15:46,600 --> 01:15:51,600
26. Woe to you when all men speak well of you,

933
01:15:51,600 --> 01:15:56,600
for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.

934
01:15:56,600 --> 01:15:59,600
Be careful if people talk good about you,

935
01:15:59,600 --> 01:16:04,600
because when people talk good about you, what they say better be true.

936
01:16:04,600 --> 01:16:09,600
You better be good in Jesus Christ or otherwise it's a problem.

937
01:16:09,600 --> 01:16:12,600
Remember Herod sitting on his throne and they're all like,

938
01:16:12,600 --> 01:16:15,600
the wisdom of Herod, oh my goodness, what he just said,

939
01:16:15,600 --> 01:16:18,600
those are the very words of God coming out of him.

940
01:16:18,600 --> 01:16:21,600
They all praised him, the very words of God coming out of him.

941
01:16:21,600 --> 01:16:22,600
And what did he say?

942
01:16:22,600 --> 01:16:23,600
Nothing.

943
01:16:23,600 --> 01:16:24,600
He didn't correct them.

944
01:16:24,600 --> 01:16:25,600
He didn't rebuke them.

945
01:16:25,600 --> 01:16:26,600
He let them say it.

946
01:16:26,600 --> 01:16:27,600
And what happened to him?

947
01:16:27,600 --> 01:16:30,600
Within a few months worms ate him from the inside out.

948
01:16:30,600 --> 01:16:35,600
Be very careful, Jesus, of woe to you when men speak well of you,

949
01:16:35,600 --> 01:16:39,600
for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.

950
01:16:39,600 --> 01:16:45,600
27. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies,

951
01:16:45,600 --> 01:16:51,600
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,

952
01:16:51,600 --> 01:16:55,600
pray for those who mistreat you, and we'll stop there.

953
01:16:55,600 --> 01:16:57,600
That's our text for the day.

954
01:16:57,600 --> 01:17:02,600
First thing I need you to see out of this text that jumped right out at me

955
01:17:02,600 --> 01:17:09,600
is that you better get some empty baskets.

956
01:17:09,600 --> 01:17:13,600
You better get some suffering.

957
01:17:13,600 --> 01:17:17,600
You better get some missing pieces or some hurting,

958
01:17:17,600 --> 01:17:21,600
or you're going to miss the ultimate filling of God.

959
01:17:21,600 --> 01:17:23,600
What was promised?

960
01:17:23,600 --> 01:17:30,600
Nothing less, be poor, or he says, if you're poor, yours is the kingdom of God.

961
01:17:30,600 --> 01:17:35,600
And then he says, woe to you rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

962
01:17:35,600 --> 01:17:39,600
You're getting most of your comfort now, but you're going to go to heaven and live as a pauper.

963
01:17:39,600 --> 01:17:43,600
But if you're rich, you're getting your comfort in full.

964
01:17:43,600 --> 01:17:50,600
And Lazarus was rich and spent his time in hell for an eternity because he was rich.

965
01:17:50,600 --> 01:17:53,600
So you could say it simply, you want the kingdom of God?

966
01:17:53,600 --> 01:17:54,600
Get poor.

967
01:17:54,600 --> 01:18:00,600
But that's a problem because God is actually the one in charge.

968
01:18:00,600 --> 01:18:04,600
And so we talk about getting empty baskets or getting lack

969
01:18:04,600 --> 01:18:10,600
so that we can receive these blessings that God has promised here.

970
01:18:10,600 --> 01:18:15,600
And if we don't get them, then a lot of times there's a promise in the Bible,

971
01:18:15,600 --> 01:18:18,600
and if you do what you're supposed to do, you get the promise, right?

972
01:18:18,600 --> 01:18:22,600
Or there's a promise God will do a certain thing, and there's no negative side to it.

973
01:18:22,600 --> 01:18:25,600
So you say, well, if you don't do it, for example, Romans 8, right?

974
01:18:25,600 --> 01:18:31,600
God will work together all things for the good for him who loves the Lord and is called according to his purpose.

975
01:18:31,600 --> 01:18:33,600
So if you love the Lord and are called according to his purpose,

976
01:18:33,600 --> 01:18:37,600
it's a promise that God will work all things together for your good.

977
01:18:37,600 --> 01:18:44,600
And if you don't love the Lord and aren't called according to his purpose, you lose the promise.

978
01:18:44,600 --> 01:18:45,600
Follow?

979
01:18:45,600 --> 01:18:47,600
But this is not that.

980
01:18:47,600 --> 01:18:52,600
If you are not poor, you lose the promise of the kingdom of God.

981
01:18:52,600 --> 01:18:58,600
But more so, you then get the woe that Jesus promised as an alternative.

982
01:18:58,600 --> 01:18:59,600
You follow?

983
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:03,600
He says, woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

984
01:19:03,600 --> 01:19:06,600
This is not a situation where you can go, well, I'm not poor,

985
01:19:06,600 --> 01:19:07,600
I have the promise, but I'll be okay.

986
01:19:07,600 --> 01:19:09,600
I've got other promises.

987
01:19:09,600 --> 01:19:10,600
It's not like that.

988
01:19:10,600 --> 01:19:21,600
This is a promise negative, a promise bad, a promise of bad to you if you are rich in this lifetime.

989
01:19:21,600 --> 01:19:28,600
Except we cannot orchestrate the baskets in question because who set up the parameters of our living?

990
01:19:28,600 --> 01:19:29,600
Who determined how much?

991
01:19:29,600 --> 01:19:32,600
If you would try and say, well, I want to be poor, I'm going to be poor,

992
01:19:32,600 --> 01:19:40,600
you tried to give everything you had away, first of all, you'd have to make 100% sure that you do it in a way that God wants you to do it,

993
01:19:40,600 --> 01:19:41,600
which is hard to do.

994
01:19:41,600 --> 01:19:47,600
Secondly, you would have to make 100% sure that you were prepared for all the blessings God's going to pour out in you

995
01:19:47,600 --> 01:19:55,600
so that you could then use those things to bless others and make sure that you continue to be impoverished or poor without hope and without sustenance.

996
01:19:55,600 --> 01:20:00,600
In order to really get there, you're almost going to have to wound yourself.

997
01:20:00,600 --> 01:20:08,600
You're almost going to have to lack in health because you always have the ability to go out, make money or invest or do something to bless other people.

998
01:20:08,600 --> 01:20:09,600
You always have that ability.

999
01:20:09,600 --> 01:20:19,600
So as long as you have the physical ability to do things on behalf of others, you're rich compared to this poorness that he's talking about, a poor lacking in ability to do.

1000
01:20:19,600 --> 01:20:21,600
So we've got a problem, don't we?

1001
01:20:21,600 --> 01:20:28,600
The Bible says, be poor, inherit the kingdom of God, be rich, getting all of your blessing in this lifetime.

1002
01:20:28,600 --> 01:20:30,600
That's the problem.

1003
01:20:30,600 --> 01:20:38,600
Well, here is the biblical method, standard blessing that Jesus is actually teaching about.

1004
01:20:38,600 --> 01:20:42,600
Let me say to you, number one, you've always got baskets.

1005
01:20:42,600 --> 01:20:43,600
Everybody's got baskets.

1006
01:20:43,600 --> 01:20:45,600
You've always got baskets.

1007
01:20:45,600 --> 01:20:46,600
Now, here's the cool thing.

1008
01:20:46,600 --> 01:20:47,600
This is something I never noticed before.

1009
01:20:47,600 --> 01:20:51,600
I hope it's something you never noticed before, but if not, you can just kind of go, yeah, I knew that.

1010
01:20:51,600 --> 01:20:52,600
It'll be OK.

1011
01:20:52,600 --> 01:20:57,600
You're familiar with Jesus feeding the 4,000 and Jesus feeding the 5,000.

1012
01:20:57,600 --> 01:20:59,600
If you're not, I'm going to briefly tell you the story.

1013
01:20:59,600 --> 01:21:02,600
Jesus gets together 4,000 people there, the men plus women and children, right?

1014
01:21:02,600 --> 01:21:04,600
Another time he gets together is 5,000.

1015
01:21:04,600 --> 01:21:05,600
There are two different incidents.

1016
01:21:05,600 --> 01:21:07,600
Don't let anybody ever tell you it's the same.

1017
01:21:07,600 --> 01:21:09,600
They just have the number change, whatever.

1018
01:21:09,600 --> 01:21:12,600
The parables are told, or the stories, no, not parables, the stories are told back to back.

1019
01:21:12,600 --> 01:21:19,600
One incident 4,000, one incident 5,000, in the same gospel, the same disciple recorded the incident of the 4,000 and the incident of the 5,000.

1020
01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:21,600
Here's what I thought was possible.

1021
01:21:21,600 --> 01:21:27,600
It's possible that Matthew records a teaching to the 5,000 and Luke reports a teaching to the 4,000 or vice versa.

1022
01:21:27,600 --> 01:21:28,600
And that's what we're doing, right?

1023
01:21:28,600 --> 01:21:30,600
Matthew 5 was maybe the 5,000.

1024
01:21:30,600 --> 01:21:31,600
That was a sermon on the Mount.

1025
01:21:31,600 --> 01:21:34,600
It's supposed to be the biggest ever speech he ever gave, whatever.

1026
01:21:34,600 --> 01:21:36,600
5,000 men plus women and children.

1027
01:21:36,600 --> 01:21:38,600
And then there's another time this says he's on a low plane.

1028
01:21:38,600 --> 01:21:39,600
Maybe he's at a low plane.

1029
01:21:39,600 --> 01:21:41,600
He's teaching the 4,000 plus their women and children.

1030
01:21:41,600 --> 01:21:42,600
Maybe that's what that's like.

1031
01:21:42,600 --> 01:21:44,600
But we don't actually know that for a fact.

1032
01:21:44,600 --> 01:21:46,600
But the bottom line is two different incidents.

1033
01:21:46,600 --> 01:21:50,600
Once he feeds 4,000 men with their women and children, so who knows how many people.

1034
01:21:50,600 --> 01:21:56,600
And once he feeds 5,000 men with their women and children, so who knows exactly the total number of people.

1035
01:21:56,600 --> 01:21:59,600
But the interesting part of the story is they start with next to nothing.

1036
01:21:59,600 --> 01:22:02,600
Everybody there is hungry.

1037
01:22:02,600 --> 01:22:03,600
Right?

1038
01:22:03,600 --> 01:22:05,600
Well, let's read what that says.

1039
01:22:05,600 --> 01:22:08,600
Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.

1040
01:22:08,600 --> 01:22:11,600
Blessed are you who hunger now for you shall be satisfied.

1041
01:22:11,600 --> 01:22:12,600
Okay?

1042
01:22:12,600 --> 01:22:14,600
So that could be.

1043
01:22:14,600 --> 01:22:15,600
Go right along with this message.

1044
01:22:15,600 --> 01:22:17,600
So now I'm going to give you an object lesson, he says.

1045
01:22:17,600 --> 01:22:20,600
I'm going to show you what I'm actually talking about.

1046
01:22:20,600 --> 01:22:24,600
Now that's where he teaches like the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed grows up, becomes a great big plant, gives shelter to many.

1047
01:22:24,600 --> 01:22:26,600
Like the smallest of seeds grows up.

1048
01:22:26,600 --> 01:22:33,600
He talks about the kingdom of God and how it expands, how it multiplies, how it magnifies, how it does incredible amazing things all over the scripture.

1049
01:22:33,600 --> 01:22:38,600
But now he's going to show it and he feeds 4,000 people with a couple of fish and a couple, you know, a little bit of loaves or whatever.

1050
01:22:38,600 --> 01:22:40,600
Or 5,000 people here with a little bit of food.

1051
01:22:40,600 --> 01:22:42,600
And he multiplies it.

1052
01:22:42,600 --> 01:22:46,600
And he gives it, breaks it, prays over it, gives it to disciples.

1053
01:22:46,600 --> 01:22:48,600
They pass it out to everybody.

1054
01:22:48,600 --> 01:22:49,600
Here we go.

1055
01:22:49,600 --> 01:22:50,600
Hang on.

1056
01:22:50,600 --> 01:22:51,600
What can we learn from that?

1057
01:22:51,600 --> 01:22:54,600
Well, Jesus is an amazing provider.

1058
01:22:54,600 --> 01:22:56,600
The poor will receive the kingdom of God.

1059
01:22:56,600 --> 01:22:58,600
We can learn these things from that.

1060
01:22:58,600 --> 01:22:59,600
But there's more.

1061
01:22:59,600 --> 01:23:03,600
Because after they're done and they feed everybody, what do they do?

1062
01:23:03,600 --> 01:23:07,600
In the case of the 4,000, what's the very next thing they do after they feed everybody?

1063
01:23:07,600 --> 01:23:08,600
No, not rhetorical.

1064
01:23:08,600 --> 01:23:09,600
Let's do it together.

1065
01:23:09,600 --> 01:23:11,600
What's the next thing they do?

1066
01:23:11,600 --> 01:23:15,600
After they feed the 4,000, pick up the leftovers.

1067
01:23:15,600 --> 01:23:18,600
Does anybody remember how many leftovers?

1068
01:23:18,600 --> 01:23:21,600
Seven huge baskets full of leftovers.

1069
01:23:21,600 --> 01:23:23,600
Hang on.

1070
01:23:23,600 --> 01:23:27,600
Where did the baskets come from?

1071
01:23:27,600 --> 01:23:31,600
4,000 people there, men, women, children.

1072
01:23:31,600 --> 01:23:33,600
They're all there.

1073
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:38,600
All of a sudden, Jesus is feeding everybody.

1074
01:23:38,600 --> 01:23:49,600
They have on hand seven empty baskets to pick up seven full basketfuls of leftovers after Jesus feeds them.

1075
01:23:49,600 --> 01:23:56,600
I submit to you while it looks like on the surface that parable is about how Jesus provides, how miraculous Jesus is,

1076
01:23:56,600 --> 01:24:00,600
how awesome He is as the King of Heaven and He was there in creation.

1077
01:24:00,600 --> 01:24:01,600
He can do all these things.

1078
01:24:01,600 --> 01:24:02,600
The miracles speak of Him.

1079
01:24:02,600 --> 01:24:07,600
He's talking about how He's Lord and He'll be Savior and He's the Messiah and He'll be sacrificed.

1080
01:24:07,600 --> 01:24:17,600
And all of that may be in there, but actually it was meant to teach them you must have some empty baskets.

1081
01:24:17,600 --> 01:24:22,600
And the truth is you do have some empty baskets and we'll get to that in a moment.

1082
01:24:22,600 --> 01:24:26,600
You have to have some empty baskets.

1083
01:24:26,600 --> 01:24:29,600
Parable, or not parable, the story of the feeding of the 5,000, right?

1084
01:24:29,600 --> 01:24:31,600
They feed the 5,000, skip to the end of the story.

1085
01:24:31,600 --> 01:24:32,600
They pick up the leftovers.

1086
01:24:32,600 --> 01:24:36,600
Anybody remember how many?

1087
01:24:36,600 --> 01:24:40,600
12 overflowing baskets full.

1088
01:24:40,600 --> 01:24:42,600
Where are the baskets coming from?

1089
01:24:42,600 --> 01:24:43,600
They had empty baskets.

1090
01:24:43,600 --> 01:24:45,600
They're out in the wilderness listening to the teaching of Jesus.

1091
01:24:45,600 --> 01:24:47,600
These are not the kind of baskets you can turn over and sit on.

1092
01:24:47,600 --> 01:24:49,600
So they weren't using them for seats.

1093
01:24:49,600 --> 01:24:54,600
And they probably brought stuff in the baskets initially to eat on the journey coming up there, right?

1094
01:24:54,600 --> 01:24:56,600
And then they stayed and were taught for a long time.

1095
01:24:56,600 --> 01:24:57,600
And now the baskets are empty.

1096
01:24:57,600 --> 01:25:00,600
And somebody just put this, I don't want to do this basket right now.

1097
01:25:00,600 --> 01:25:01,600
Just put it over there, right?

1098
01:25:01,600 --> 01:25:08,600
And the next thing you know, your empty basket is being filled with all these leftovers after everybody has eaten from Jesus.

1099
01:25:08,600 --> 01:25:11,600
You have to have empty baskets.

1100
01:25:11,600 --> 01:25:13,600
You have to.

1101
01:25:13,600 --> 01:25:17,600
The beauty of it is life produces empty baskets.

1102
01:25:17,600 --> 01:25:27,600
Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, since man walked away from God, since God turned away from the way that God would have him to live,

1103
01:25:27,600 --> 01:25:30,600
man has always been producing empty baskets.

1104
01:25:30,600 --> 01:25:34,600
Were there baskets in the Garden of Eden before the fall?

1105
01:25:34,600 --> 01:25:37,600
I'm going to say probably not.

1106
01:25:37,600 --> 01:25:38,600
No, most likely not.

1107
01:25:38,600 --> 01:25:39,600
You know why?

1108
01:25:39,600 --> 01:25:41,600
They tended the trees.

1109
01:25:41,600 --> 01:25:42,600
That's all they did.

1110
01:25:42,600 --> 01:25:44,600
They didn't tend the trees like, oh, we're going to take a basket.

1111
01:25:44,600 --> 01:25:45,600
What do we need a basket for?

1112
01:25:45,600 --> 01:25:46,600
Just eat right off the tree, right?

1113
01:25:46,600 --> 01:25:47,600
It's fresh.

1114
01:25:47,600 --> 01:25:48,600
It's the basket.

1115
01:25:48,600 --> 01:25:49,600
Why would you have baskets?

1116
01:25:49,600 --> 01:25:50,600
They didn't use them as seats.

1117
01:25:50,600 --> 01:25:52,600
By the way, sitting on a basket when you got a bare butt would be terrible.

1118
01:25:52,600 --> 01:25:53,600
That would be horrible, right?

1119
01:25:53,600 --> 01:25:54,600
You wouldn't want to do that.

1120
01:25:54,600 --> 01:25:56,600
They sat on the soft grass in the garden or whatever.

1121
01:25:56,600 --> 01:25:58,600
They didn't have to do that.

1122
01:25:58,600 --> 01:25:59,600
They didn't need baskets.

1123
01:25:59,600 --> 01:26:00,600
They were harvesting.

1124
01:26:00,600 --> 01:26:04,600
But now they go out into creation and God says, now the ground is going to yield up

1125
01:26:04,600 --> 01:26:05,600
thorns.

1126
01:26:05,600 --> 01:26:06,600
You're going to have to work hard.

1127
01:26:06,600 --> 01:26:07,600
You're going to have to hoe it.

1128
01:26:07,600 --> 01:26:08,600
You're going to have to do all this kind of stuff.

1129
01:26:08,600 --> 01:26:12,600
And you're going to need baskets because when the plants yield, you have to put the plants

1130
01:26:12,600 --> 01:26:17,600
in the baskets and the fruit in the baskets, whether it be vegetable or whatever, take

1131
01:26:17,600 --> 01:26:19,600
it back, store it in a lot.

1132
01:26:19,600 --> 01:26:20,600
Then it's going to get winter.

1133
01:26:20,600 --> 01:26:21,600
It's going to get nasty.

1134
01:26:21,600 --> 01:26:24,600
Rainy season over there, snowy season in other parts of the world.

1135
01:26:24,600 --> 01:26:25,600
You've got to save your harvest.

1136
01:26:25,600 --> 01:26:29,600
And then next spring you take the seeds from your previous harvest and you replant.

1137
01:26:29,600 --> 01:26:32,600
It's not like the Garden of Eden where it takes care of all that for you.

1138
01:26:32,600 --> 01:26:35,600
You're going to have to do all of that.

1139
01:26:35,600 --> 01:26:39,600
Every since the fall, man has been creating empty baskets.

1140
01:26:39,600 --> 01:26:43,600
Now they're not only empty baskets in the way of food, but they're also empty baskets

1141
01:26:43,600 --> 01:26:51,600
in the way of money, in the way of comfort, pain, suffering, endurance and fatigue, in

1142
01:26:51,600 --> 01:26:58,600
the way of broken relationships, in the way of self-esteem issues, health problems.

1143
01:26:58,600 --> 01:26:59,600
People have diseases and are dying.

1144
01:26:59,600 --> 01:27:01,600
That happened after the fall.

1145
01:27:01,600 --> 01:27:03,600
Nobody had diseases and dying before the fall.

1146
01:27:03,600 --> 01:27:07,600
All of these empty baskets are being created constantly by life.

1147
01:27:07,600 --> 01:27:12,600
So you have empty baskets that you didn't necessarily have to go, I'm going to buy an

1148
01:27:12,600 --> 01:27:14,600
empty basket today.

1149
01:27:14,600 --> 01:27:17,600
Here's the great beauty of these empty baskets.

1150
01:27:17,600 --> 01:27:20,600
God creates the empty baskets, but he creates them just the right size.

1151
01:27:20,600 --> 01:27:24,600
I've lost a couple of loved ones, but the truth is I've not lost somebody.

1152
01:27:24,600 --> 01:27:27,600
I've lost a brother in Christ a couple of times.

1153
01:27:27,600 --> 01:27:30,600
I lost Judy who was living in our house for the longest time.

1154
01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:34,600
I really love that woman, but I've not lost my wife, not lost my kids.

1155
01:27:34,600 --> 01:27:37,600
Other people have lost close loved ones to them, especially during COVID.

1156
01:27:37,600 --> 01:27:38,600
We've had a lot of loss.

1157
01:27:38,600 --> 01:27:42,600
There's an empty basket there, but you don't pick the empty basket.

1158
01:27:42,600 --> 01:27:47,600
God picks the size of the empty basket and then God, according to this, is going to fill

1159
01:27:47,600 --> 01:27:48,600
up the empty basket.

1160
01:27:48,600 --> 01:27:54,600
He says, blessed are you when you weep now, for you shall laugh.

1161
01:27:54,600 --> 01:28:01,600
The more size in your basket, the more bits of bread and blessing from God you can put

1162
01:28:01,600 --> 01:28:02,600
in your basket.

1163
01:28:02,600 --> 01:28:08,600
So the empty baskets are being created by life and by sin and by the failure of creation

1164
01:28:08,600 --> 01:28:10,600
that happened after the fall.

1165
01:28:10,600 --> 01:28:17,600
And then people are spending their lives working to fill them up, but you can't do that either.

1166
01:28:17,600 --> 01:28:20,600
So you can't create the baskets.

1167
01:28:20,600 --> 01:28:24,600
You cannot make sure that you have empty baskets for God to fill up.

1168
01:28:24,600 --> 01:28:29,600
And you cannot fill the baskets yourself.

1169
01:28:29,600 --> 01:28:34,600
If nothing else, that would be covered under blessed are you who are poor, right?

1170
01:28:34,600 --> 01:28:37,600
Because if you could fill the basket, then you are not without capabilities.

1171
01:28:37,600 --> 01:28:41,600
You're not poor, you're rich, and you're getting all the comfort you need now.

1172
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:46,600
This is the problem that I have with counseling for mourning or people saying,

1173
01:28:46,600 --> 01:28:48,600
well, I don't have enough money to buy this.

1174
01:28:48,600 --> 01:28:49,600
Well, I'll just get him a job.

1175
01:28:49,600 --> 01:28:50,600
Get him a job.

1176
01:28:50,600 --> 01:28:51,600
Get him a job.

1177
01:28:51,600 --> 01:28:52,600
Right?

1178
01:28:52,600 --> 01:29:01,600
And all of the solutions that we come up to to empty baskets are shadows at best of the

1179
01:29:01,600 --> 01:29:05,600
great thing that God wants for us.

1180
01:29:05,600 --> 01:29:12,600
God is not trying to make you rich, and He's not trying to make you poor.

1181
01:29:12,600 --> 01:29:16,600
But the fact is that if you are poor, if the situation develops you are poor,

1182
01:29:16,600 --> 01:29:19,600
then you have a promise here to receive the Kingdom of God.

1183
01:29:19,600 --> 01:29:23,600
And if you are rich, you have a promise here that you are already receiving your comfort,

1184
01:29:23,600 --> 01:29:26,600
and you will receive woe.

1185
01:29:26,600 --> 01:29:29,600
It's almost like we're caught between a rock and a hard place.

1186
01:29:29,600 --> 01:29:31,600
I can't make my own baskets, but I want to be filled up from God.

1187
01:29:31,600 --> 01:29:34,600
And okay, I've made my own baskets, now I'm not allowed to fill them.

1188
01:29:34,600 --> 01:29:37,600
God has to do it, and God won't seem to do it.

1189
01:29:37,600 --> 01:29:40,600
I can't get Him to do what I want Him to do.

1190
01:29:40,600 --> 01:29:45,600
It's like we're trapped.

1191
01:29:45,600 --> 01:29:51,600
He further warns in this text, don't let others determine the state of your baskets.

1192
01:29:51,600 --> 01:29:52,600
Oh my goodness.

1193
01:29:52,600 --> 01:29:54,600
Welcome to 2021.

1194
01:29:54,600 --> 01:29:58,600
For sure there is out there someone who will tell you that everything that's wrong with you,

1195
01:29:58,600 --> 01:30:02,600
everything that's wrong with your life, they will tell you what you need,

1196
01:30:02,600 --> 01:30:05,600
what you spend your money on, what you need to spend your money on in order to solve your problems.

1197
01:30:05,600 --> 01:30:07,600
They will tell you how to feel better.

1198
01:30:07,600 --> 01:30:12,600
Everybody is an armchair wise man in 2021.

1199
01:30:12,600 --> 01:30:17,600
Just get on social media and post something about one of your problems and see how many people chime up.

1200
01:30:17,600 --> 01:30:19,600
Or just post something and say, I need prayers.

1201
01:30:19,600 --> 01:30:23,600
See how many people pop on there and say, praying, praying, praying, little prayer hands.

1202
01:30:23,600 --> 01:30:25,600
Yep, me, I'm in, yep, okay, got that.

1203
01:30:25,600 --> 01:30:29,600
I don't know if they pray or not, but I've seen people get on there and ask for prayer

1204
01:30:29,600 --> 01:30:32,600
and have a hundred people tell them they're praying.

1205
01:30:32,600 --> 01:30:36,600
Now nobody out of those hundred people actually steps up to do anything about the situation

1206
01:30:36,600 --> 01:30:37,600
that they're in.

1207
01:30:37,600 --> 01:30:40,600
Nobody shows up at their house to lay hands on it.

1208
01:30:40,600 --> 01:30:43,600
And they don't want that necessarily because they want to fill their baskets themselves.

1209
01:30:43,600 --> 01:30:47,600
They want to feel like they're being prayed for so their baskets get taken care of on their own

1210
01:30:47,600 --> 01:30:49,600
without actually having God take care of it.

1211
01:30:49,600 --> 01:30:53,600
But nobody shows up at their house and puts their hand on their shoulder and prays for them

1212
01:30:53,600 --> 01:30:55,600
or anoints their forehead with oil.

1213
01:30:55,600 --> 01:30:58,600
They won't go to church on Sunday, but they'll get on Facebook and ask for prayer

1214
01:30:58,600 --> 01:31:00,600
and have a hundred and twenty people tell them they're praying for them.

1215
01:31:00,600 --> 01:31:03,600
But some of those people won't be going to church either on Sunday.

1216
01:31:03,600 --> 01:31:04,600
They won't be worshiping God.

1217
01:31:04,600 --> 01:31:06,600
They're not praying, they're not reading their Bibles.

1218
01:31:06,600 --> 01:31:08,600
They're not letting God fill up the baskets.

1219
01:31:08,600 --> 01:31:11,600
We're looking for all of these solutions on how we're going to fill up the baskets.

1220
01:31:11,600 --> 01:31:17,600
And then he says, Jesus says it this way, he says,

1221
01:31:23,600 --> 01:31:28,600
Woe to you when all men speak evil of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.

1222
01:31:28,600 --> 01:31:33,600
Woe to you when they speak well of you.

1223
01:31:33,600 --> 01:31:39,600
Basically, he's saying you can't let them determine the state of your baskets.

1224
01:31:39,600 --> 01:31:41,600
You follow?

1225
01:31:41,600 --> 01:31:46,600
If somebody comes up and says, you know, you're a beautiful person and you're doing a great job.

1226
01:31:46,600 --> 01:31:48,600
I love the way you do this.

1227
01:31:48,600 --> 01:31:50,600
I love the way you do that and whatever.

1228
01:31:50,600 --> 01:31:53,600
And then because they say that, you feel good about yourself?

1229
01:31:53,600 --> 01:31:55,600
You've got a problem.

1230
01:31:55,600 --> 01:32:04,600
But if you go to Jesus and you say, Lord, I need to know who I really am.

1231
01:32:04,600 --> 01:32:08,600
I need to know what I'm supposed to be doing.

1232
01:32:08,600 --> 01:32:10,600
I need the comfort that I'm supposed to receive.

1233
01:32:10,600 --> 01:32:12,600
I need the chastisement that I'm supposed to receive.

1234
01:32:12,600 --> 01:32:16,600
I need to be directed and encouraged to go in the right direction and so on.

1235
01:32:16,600 --> 01:32:18,600
And Jesus does it.

1236
01:32:18,600 --> 01:32:20,600
Now you don't have a problem.

1237
01:32:20,600 --> 01:32:23,600
Now, if Jesus sends somebody to encourage you,

1238
01:32:23,600 --> 01:32:25,600
I'm going to be transparent.

1239
01:32:25,600 --> 01:32:30,600
I've been going through a spiritual warfare for the last two weeks myself.

1240
01:32:30,600 --> 01:32:32,600
And then I had about two weeks of peace.

1241
01:32:32,600 --> 01:32:35,600
Before that, I had about three weeks of spiritual warfare.

1242
01:32:35,600 --> 01:32:38,600
And I was greatly encouraged by what the church did this morning,

1243
01:32:38,600 --> 01:32:40,600
especially by the words of Brother Tony.

1244
01:32:40,600 --> 01:32:42,600
It greatly encourages me.

1245
01:32:42,600 --> 01:32:44,600
But here is the fact.

1246
01:32:44,600 --> 01:32:46,600
I can't orchestrate that basket.

1247
01:32:46,600 --> 01:32:48,600
I can't fill that basket myself.

1248
01:32:48,600 --> 01:32:52,600
And I better be darn well sure that if the Lord is going to use Brother Tony

1249
01:32:52,600 --> 01:32:55,600
or our church to fill the basket, that's how He's going to do that.

1250
01:32:55,600 --> 01:32:56,600
I better be darn well sure.

1251
01:32:56,600 --> 01:32:58,600
I take that back to the Lord.

1252
01:32:58,600 --> 01:33:00,600
And I don't feel better because someone made me feel better.

1253
01:33:00,600 --> 01:33:04,600
And don't go to the Lord to make sure that the things that were said about me

1254
01:33:04,600 --> 01:33:06,600
are true and created by God.

1255
01:33:06,600 --> 01:33:09,600
You can't orchestrate your baskets.

1256
01:33:09,600 --> 01:33:11,600
You can't find the right baskets.

1257
01:33:11,600 --> 01:33:13,600
The size would not be chosen by you.

1258
01:33:13,600 --> 01:33:15,600
You can't empty your baskets.

1259
01:33:15,600 --> 01:33:17,600
And you can't fill your baskets.

1260
01:33:17,600 --> 01:33:19,600
Paul says in Galatians 5, it says,

1261
01:33:19,600 --> 01:33:24,600
Do not fulfill the desires of the flesh, the lust of the flesh.

1262
01:33:24,600 --> 01:33:27,600
The things that you want, you can't do that for you.

1263
01:33:27,600 --> 01:33:29,600
If you're shopping the internet thinking about,

1264
01:33:29,600 --> 01:33:31,600
I need to buy this and that will make me feel better,

1265
01:33:31,600 --> 01:33:34,600
or, oh, I love that, or I love this thing, I'm collecting these, I'm going to buy this.

1266
01:33:34,600 --> 01:33:38,600
If everybody knows that you're the person to buy X for,

1267
01:33:38,600 --> 01:33:43,600
then you're probably filling some kind of basket with X.

1268
01:33:43,600 --> 01:33:46,600
And it's time to stop and think about where do the baskets come from?

1269
01:33:46,600 --> 01:33:47,600
They come from life.

1270
01:33:47,600 --> 01:33:49,600
They're empty because life is like that.

1271
01:33:49,600 --> 01:33:52,600
You're not going to always have somebody to encourage you.

1272
01:33:52,600 --> 01:33:54,600
You're not going to always have somebody to lift you up.

1273
01:33:54,600 --> 01:33:55,600
You may be poor.

1274
01:33:55,600 --> 01:33:57,600
You may struggle financially.

1275
01:33:57,600 --> 01:34:03,600
You may weep for sorrow, for broken hearts over relationships or jobs or lost loved ones.

1276
01:34:03,600 --> 01:34:06,600
The person that you thought you could trust betrayed you.

1277
01:34:06,600 --> 01:34:11,600
You're going to have empty baskets.

1278
01:34:11,600 --> 01:34:15,600
Don't let those empty baskets be created by what others say about you

1279
01:34:15,600 --> 01:34:20,600
or be filled by what others say about you.

1280
01:34:20,600 --> 01:34:22,600
Life will do it all by itself.

1281
01:34:22,600 --> 01:34:24,600
And because of the way God has orchestrated life,

1282
01:34:24,600 --> 01:34:28,600
He will make sure that the basket is just the right size.

1283
01:34:28,600 --> 01:34:30,600
It's filled at just the right time.

1284
01:34:30,600 --> 01:34:36,600
It's empty for just the right time to drive you to do what you're supposed to do and so on.

1285
01:34:36,600 --> 01:34:39,600
This is what people think is actually going on.

1286
01:34:39,600 --> 01:34:42,600
1 John chapter 2 verse 16, it says this, it says,

1287
01:34:42,600 --> 01:34:46,600
For all that is in the world, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes,

1288
01:34:46,600 --> 01:34:53,600
and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1289
01:34:53,600 --> 01:34:58,600
So everybody that lives has lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and a pride of life.

1290
01:34:58,600 --> 01:35:02,600
And when it talks about pride of life, it talks about being able to fix the problems,

1291
01:35:02,600 --> 01:35:07,600
sustain yourself, you don't need God, you're not poor in spirit basically, you're okay.

1292
01:35:07,600 --> 01:35:09,600
And I know what I'm doing.

1293
01:35:09,600 --> 01:35:13,600
And that is, all of those things, lust of the flesh, which means your body wants it,

1294
01:35:13,600 --> 01:35:18,600
lust of the eyes means your mind, your eyes want it, pride of life means you're okay.

1295
01:35:18,600 --> 01:35:24,600
All of that, those things are, wait for it, not of the Father.

1296
01:35:24,600 --> 01:35:29,600
They're empty baskets, but they are not of God,

1297
01:35:29,600 --> 01:35:33,600
which means they are provoked by other people, and they are provoked by us.

1298
01:35:33,600 --> 01:35:35,600
They are baskets that we choose.

1299
01:35:35,600 --> 01:35:37,600
We see them as empty. We think it's wrong.

1300
01:35:37,600 --> 01:35:40,600
Remember when I said I go to scripture sometimes, and I'm hurting,

1301
01:35:40,600 --> 01:35:42,600
and I go and I'm looking for a solution, and I get hurt more?

1302
01:35:42,600 --> 01:35:45,600
Sometimes it's because I think I'm hurting, my basket is empty,

1303
01:35:45,600 --> 01:35:48,600
and it's a basket I chose for myself, or a basket I made empty,

1304
01:35:48,600 --> 01:35:51,600
I dumped out the stuff that was in it, and said, well that's not good enough,

1305
01:35:51,600 --> 01:35:54,600
that's not counterpoints to blessings basically, I can do that, yeah,

1306
01:35:54,600 --> 01:35:57,600
but I know I'm actually bad in this way, and all of that,

1307
01:35:57,600 --> 01:36:01,600
and ultimately I made the basket empty, and then I'm taking the basket to try to get it filled,

1308
01:36:01,600 --> 01:36:05,600
and if I'm going to get it filled, I've got to get it filled with not God stuff,

1309
01:36:05,600 --> 01:36:07,600
because it's not a basket from God.

1310
01:36:10,600 --> 01:36:12,600
But there's one more verse.

1311
01:36:12,600 --> 01:36:16,600
Right after 16 it says, those things are not of the Father, but of the world.

1312
01:36:16,600 --> 01:36:20,600
They are worldly baskets. They are the worldly creators of baskets.

1313
01:36:20,600 --> 01:36:24,600
The next thing he says, and the world passes away,

1314
01:36:24,600 --> 01:36:28,600
and the lust of the world passes away,

1315
01:36:28,600 --> 01:36:33,600
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

1316
01:36:33,600 --> 01:36:38,600
So the baskets that we are all worried about getting filled,

1317
01:36:38,600 --> 01:36:43,600
all concerned, regret, mourning, worry, all depression,

1318
01:36:43,600 --> 01:36:47,600
all these things that we're flossing about basically,

1319
01:36:47,600 --> 01:36:50,600
most of them come from the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,

1320
01:36:50,600 --> 01:36:54,600
they are not of the Father, and they will pass away.

1321
01:36:56,600 --> 01:37:00,600
Because the world does so, and the lusts of the world do so,

1322
01:37:00,600 --> 01:37:04,600
lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life, all passes away.

1323
01:37:04,600 --> 01:37:08,600
But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Do you want to go on?

1324
01:37:12,600 --> 01:37:16,600
I know I'm giving you something difficult as we move to our conclusion.

1325
01:37:16,600 --> 01:37:19,600
I'm giving you something difficult to embrace.

1326
01:37:21,600 --> 01:37:25,600
Let me begin the conclusion by telling you about God's baskets.

1327
01:37:25,600 --> 01:37:29,600
Because this will be the solution that we need.

1328
01:37:31,600 --> 01:37:36,600
The world creates all kinds of baskets, as I said, comfort, pain, suffering, endurance, fatigue,

1329
01:37:36,600 --> 01:37:40,600
broken relationships, self-esteem, poverty.

1330
01:37:40,600 --> 01:37:45,600
All these issues that arise are constantly going on.

1331
01:37:45,600 --> 01:37:50,600
God's got some produce, and you could say you have a basket

1332
01:37:50,600 --> 01:37:55,600
labeled for every kind of produce that God wants to make for you and in you.

1333
01:37:55,600 --> 01:38:05,600
And they are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness,

1334
01:38:07,600 --> 01:38:11,600
meekness, and self-control.

1335
01:38:11,600 --> 01:38:15,600
These things are the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

1336
01:38:15,600 --> 01:38:22,600
They won't feed you like an apple off a tree, but they will sustain you like fuel for eternity.

1337
01:38:24,600 --> 01:38:31,600
In your hunger, decide, I may be hungry, but I will still be filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

1338
01:38:33,600 --> 01:38:37,600
I will not covet what other men have.

1339
01:38:38,600 --> 01:38:42,600
I will be satisfied with what God decides to give them.

1340
01:38:42,600 --> 01:38:46,600
I will be satisfied with what God decides to give me.

1341
01:38:46,600 --> 01:38:50,600
God has given me the capability to produce physical things in this lifetime,

1342
01:38:50,600 --> 01:38:57,600
to work or to manage details or whatever, and I will not engage in producing those things outside the will of the Lord,

1343
01:38:57,600 --> 01:39:04,600
because if I do, I will simply become rich, receiving my blessings in this lifetime, and none in eternity.

1344
01:39:04,600 --> 01:39:11,600
Against these things that I have just named, there is no law, Paul says,

1345
01:39:14,600 --> 01:39:16,600
and everyone stops there.

1346
01:39:16,600 --> 01:39:19,600
But he actually goes on to say,

1347
01:39:19,600 --> 01:39:32,600
and they, these people that are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.

1348
01:39:32,600 --> 01:39:34,600
You hear it now?

1349
01:39:36,600 --> 01:39:40,600
This is what Christians have done at the moment of being saved.

1350
01:39:40,600 --> 01:39:44,600
The empty baskets that the world wants to tell you you have,

1351
01:39:44,600 --> 01:39:47,600
that the world wants to propose the solutions for you to fill,

1352
01:39:47,600 --> 01:39:51,600
that you want to choose for yourself,

1353
01:39:51,600 --> 01:39:54,600
the ones that you would select off the back shelf and pull forward,

1354
01:39:54,600 --> 01:39:59,600
that you would carry around with you, waiting for God to fill up those baskets,

1355
01:39:59,600 --> 01:40:06,600
those baskets that are driven by the lusts and the affections of this world,

1356
01:40:06,600 --> 01:40:09,600
which will die with the world when God creates the new heaven and new earth,

1357
01:40:09,600 --> 01:40:14,600
they will be gone, or will die for you when you die and go to heaven,

1358
01:40:14,600 --> 01:40:20,600
and I submit to you, if you die and go to hell, they will never die.

1359
01:40:22,600 --> 01:40:25,600
They will be with you for eternity.

1360
01:40:25,600 --> 01:40:30,600
But if you die and go to heaven, they will die, they will be burnt off, those baskets,

1361
01:40:30,600 --> 01:40:34,600
that you chose for yourself, that others tried to inflict upon you, and so on.

1362
01:40:34,600 --> 01:40:42,600
We, who are Christ's, have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.

1363
01:40:43,600 --> 01:40:46,600
So get some empty baskets for crying out loud,

1364
01:40:46,600 --> 01:40:50,600
but don't get them from the world, don't get them from TV, don't get them from social media,

1365
01:40:50,600 --> 01:40:53,600
don't get them from some kind of book you read, don't get them from your family,

1366
01:40:53,600 --> 01:40:56,600
don't get them from anywhere except from God.

1367
01:40:56,600 --> 01:41:01,600
Say, okay God, I'm suffering, I'm hurting, what am I going to do about it?

1368
01:41:01,600 --> 01:41:04,600
And if God says to you, what are you going to do about your suffering and hurting?

1369
01:41:04,600 --> 01:41:07,600
Well, I want you to suffer and hurt, then suffer and hurt.

1370
01:41:07,600 --> 01:41:12,600
And when God decides to fill up that basket, you're going to rejoice,

1371
01:41:12,600 --> 01:41:18,600
and you're going to weep the whole time, and then laugh all the way to the eternal bank.

1372
01:41:18,600 --> 01:41:23,600
If your brother or sister in Christ who passed away is in heaven with God now,

1373
01:41:23,600 --> 01:41:28,600
when you dance with them in heaven, when you sing songs and laugh with them in heaven,

1374
01:41:28,600 --> 01:41:33,600
the weeping that you went through on this earth will pale, and eventually,

1375
01:41:33,600 --> 01:41:37,600
it says God will wipe away every tear, it'll be gone.

1376
01:41:38,600 --> 01:41:43,600
Which is why Paul also says that we mourn not as those who have no hope.

1377
01:41:43,600 --> 01:41:51,600
But some do, and it's because they have a basket that they've chosen for themselves.

1378
01:41:51,600 --> 01:41:57,600
And God's not filling it up, which comes as no great surprise to me as I look at this text.

1379
01:41:57,600 --> 01:42:03,600
So get some empty baskets now, or miss the ultimate filling.

1380
01:42:03,600 --> 01:42:07,600
But get your empty baskets from God, not from the world,

1381
01:42:07,600 --> 01:42:13,600
but for the consumption of resources gone by the wayside.

1382
01:42:13,600 --> 01:42:16,600
Paul will say it this way in Galatians 6.9, he says,

1383
01:42:16,600 --> 01:42:21,600
Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season, wait for it,

1384
01:42:21,600 --> 01:42:25,600
we shall reap if we faint not.

1385
01:42:25,600 --> 01:42:28,600
When do the baskets fill up?

1386
01:42:28,600 --> 01:42:32,600
When the reaper reaps.

1387
01:42:32,600 --> 01:42:35,600
When the workers go into the field to harvest the fruit.

1388
01:42:35,600 --> 01:42:37,600
That's when the baskets fill up.

1389
01:42:37,600 --> 01:42:40,600
I get it, you've got some baskets, you've got them from God.

1390
01:42:40,600 --> 01:42:43,600
You're mourning over the loss of a loved one, but you're trying to do it in a godly way.

1391
01:42:43,600 --> 01:42:48,600
You're giving and generous with your wealth so as not to be hoarding riches or whatever,

1392
01:42:48,600 --> 01:42:50,600
trying to be generous, whatever, if you're like,

1393
01:42:50,600 --> 01:42:52,600
but I feel like I'm not doing enough.

1394
01:42:52,600 --> 01:42:57,600
Well, maybe you're not. You figure it out. Ask God, let him lead you, whatever.

1395
01:42:57,600 --> 01:43:01,600
Get your empty baskets from God, and in time, God will fill them up.

1396
01:43:01,600 --> 01:43:08,600
Get them from the world, and they will cling to you like leeches until the day you rot in hell.

1397
01:43:08,600 --> 01:43:13,600
Jesus Christ died on the cross.

1398
01:43:13,600 --> 01:43:16,600
Can we really bemoan the suffering that we go through

1399
01:43:16,600 --> 01:43:23,600
compared to the price that was paid for our eternal salvation?

1400
01:43:23,600 --> 01:43:25,600
They walked through the fields, and the disciples picked grains,

1401
01:43:25,600 --> 01:43:29,600
just grains off the wheat to eat them because they were all hungry.

1402
01:43:29,600 --> 01:43:33,600
Jesus said, I have nowhere to lay my head down on a bed.

1403
01:43:33,600 --> 01:43:37,600
The Son of Man has no place to call home.

1404
01:43:37,600 --> 01:43:44,600
Can we really complain? Should we really grow weary?

1405
01:43:44,600 --> 01:43:48,600
Should we really get all that frustrated when we lack?

1406
01:43:48,600 --> 01:43:51,600
Or should we measure our lack by God's standards and say,

1407
01:43:51,600 --> 01:43:54,600
Okay, God, I lack. This lack.

1408
01:43:54,600 --> 01:43:59,600
Is this an empty basket that I'm supposed to have that you're going to fill up?

1409
01:43:59,600 --> 01:44:03,600
It's no rule, is it? It's not easy.

1410
01:44:03,600 --> 01:44:12,600
Get your empty baskets from God. How do you even do that?

1411
01:44:12,600 --> 01:44:19,600
This is said about rules. A rule versus a principle.

1412
01:44:19,600 --> 01:44:23,600
A principle comes from the inside of a person.

1413
01:44:23,600 --> 01:44:26,600
It doesn't really speak all that well in language a lot of times

1414
01:44:26,600 --> 01:44:29,600
because the things that you feel inside are hard to put in words.

1415
01:44:29,600 --> 01:44:34,600
A rule is on the outside. It's simple. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it.

1416
01:44:34,600 --> 01:44:39,600
It's a restriction. A person just says, I'll obey it.

1417
01:44:39,600 --> 01:44:44,600
But a principle, on the other hand, is a way to exercise your mental and moral powers

1418
01:44:44,600 --> 01:44:48,600
and all that you are to be what you're supposed to be by that principle.

1419
01:44:48,600 --> 01:44:51,600
Dr. Frank Crane said it this way. He said,

1420
01:44:51,600 --> 01:44:56,600
A principle supports us by the armpits over life's passes,

1421
01:44:56,600 --> 01:45:01,600
and a principle makes us sure-footed.

1422
01:45:01,600 --> 01:45:06,600
Listen to me. Life creates empty baskets.

1423
01:45:06,600 --> 01:45:09,600
Whether or not you take those empty baskets on yourself,

1424
01:45:09,600 --> 01:45:11,600
whether or not you get hung up by them,

1425
01:45:11,600 --> 01:45:14,600
whether or not you listen to what other people tell you you need

1426
01:45:14,600 --> 01:45:19,600
outside the kingdom, etc., that's up to you.

1427
01:45:19,600 --> 01:45:24,600
You can make a rule and say, I'll never take a basket that doesn't belong to God.

1428
01:45:24,600 --> 01:45:27,600
But I submit to you, you're going to spend a lot of time trying to figure out

1429
01:45:27,600 --> 01:45:29,600
what basket doesn't belong to God or not.

1430
01:45:29,600 --> 01:45:31,600
I mean, it's not your fault that so-and-so dies.

1431
01:45:31,600 --> 01:45:33,600
It's not your fault that something broke down.

1432
01:45:33,600 --> 01:45:38,600
It's not your fault that so-and-so said what would hurt you the deepest or whatever.

1433
01:45:38,600 --> 01:45:41,600
And then suddenly the basket is on you.

1434
01:45:41,600 --> 01:45:45,600
And you go back to the Lord and work through it and figure out,

1435
01:45:45,600 --> 01:45:47,600
is this a basket that God has given me?

1436
01:45:47,600 --> 01:45:50,600
Does it make me a loving person?

1437
01:45:50,600 --> 01:45:53,600
Will it build joy in me?

1438
01:45:53,600 --> 01:45:56,600
Will it help me have peace ultimately?

1439
01:45:56,600 --> 01:46:00,600
Ultimately, does it breed patience?

1440
01:46:00,600 --> 01:46:03,600
Ultimately, do I become more gentle?

1441
01:46:03,600 --> 01:46:07,600
Ultimately, do I become more kind?

1442
01:46:07,600 --> 01:46:11,600
Ultimately, do I become more meek?

1443
01:46:11,600 --> 01:46:14,600
Ultimately, does it build faith in me?

1444
01:46:14,600 --> 01:46:18,600
Ultimately, does it help me learn self-control?

1445
01:46:18,600 --> 01:46:21,600
And if that basket has those purposes,

1446
01:46:21,600 --> 01:46:24,600
then it's just sitting waiting for the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be piled in.

1447
01:46:24,600 --> 01:46:28,600
And if that basket has any purpose other than that,

1448
01:46:28,600 --> 01:46:34,600
chuck it, burn it, get it as far away from you as you possibly can

1449
01:46:34,600 --> 01:46:39,600
because it's no basket of the Lord if it's not made for fruit of the Lord.

1450
01:46:39,600 --> 01:46:41,600
That's the principle.

1451
01:46:41,600 --> 01:46:44,600
On the Milan Cathedral, the door on the right says,

1452
01:46:44,600 --> 01:46:48,600
that which pleases lasts for a moment.

1453
01:46:48,600 --> 01:46:50,600
The door on the left says,

1454
01:46:50,600 --> 01:46:55,600
that which causes trouble lasts for a moment.

1455
01:46:55,600 --> 01:46:58,600
And the door in the middle says,

1456
01:46:58,600 --> 01:47:10,600
nothing is important except that which is eternal.

1457
01:47:10,600 --> 01:47:12,600
And that's the standard.

1458
01:47:12,600 --> 01:47:13,600
These fruits, they are eternal.

1459
01:47:13,600 --> 01:47:15,600
They are what we will experience in heaven.

1460
01:47:15,600 --> 01:47:20,600
They are what we must embrace now.

1461
01:47:20,600 --> 01:47:24,600
How do I know that every day Jesus wants you to be turning away

1462
01:47:24,600 --> 01:47:27,600
from the baskets that you've chosen for yourself,

1463
01:47:27,600 --> 01:47:29,600
from the baskets that other people have heaped on you?

1464
01:47:29,600 --> 01:47:31,600
Because Jesus said these words,

1465
01:47:31,600 --> 01:47:34,600
and they are the final words that I'll say in the sermon today as well.

1466
01:47:34,600 --> 01:47:37,600
He said, and He said to them all,

1467
01:47:37,600 --> 01:47:42,600
if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself,

1468
01:47:42,600 --> 01:47:47,600
take up his cross, and follow Me.

1469
01:47:47,600 --> 01:47:49,600
Take up his cross daily and follow Me.

1470
01:47:49,600 --> 01:47:52,600
Let him deny himself.

1471
01:47:52,600 --> 01:47:55,600
So you've got some baskets that you chose for yourself.

1472
01:47:55,600 --> 01:47:57,600
It's time to deny them, to say,

1473
01:47:57,600 --> 01:48:02,600
these are not the things that God wants for me.

1474
01:48:02,600 --> 01:48:06,600
And instead, choose those baskets that God does want for you.

1475
01:48:06,600 --> 01:48:09,600
What will breed those fruits?

1476
01:48:09,600 --> 01:48:11,600
What will grow them?

1477
01:48:11,600 --> 01:48:13,600
What will nurture them?

1478
01:48:13,600 --> 01:48:16,600
What will unleash them in your life?

1479
01:48:16,600 --> 01:48:18,600
Those are the baskets that wait for it,

1480
01:48:18,600 --> 01:48:25,600
have to be empty before God so He can fill them up.

1481
01:48:25,600 --> 01:48:28,600
And you say, well, I would learn self-control by this activity.

1482
01:48:28,600 --> 01:48:30,600
If I just cut that out, I would learn self-control.

1483
01:48:30,600 --> 01:48:31,600
And you try to cut it out, and you don't.

1484
01:48:31,600 --> 01:48:32,600
And you try again, and you don't.

1485
01:48:32,600 --> 01:48:33,600
You try again, and you don't.

1486
01:48:33,600 --> 01:48:34,600
After years, you're still trying.

1487
01:48:34,600 --> 01:48:35,600
You haven't cut it out.

1488
01:48:35,600 --> 01:48:39,600
In the process, you just might be learning self-discipline.

1489
01:48:39,600 --> 01:48:42,600
And that basket might be that basket for that harvest of self-discipline

1490
01:48:42,600 --> 01:48:45,600
that you are learning, that you're slowly filling,

1491
01:48:45,600 --> 01:48:47,600
or that one day God will fill completely.

1492
01:48:47,600 --> 01:48:49,600
Do not embrace the things of this life

1493
01:48:49,600 --> 01:48:53,600
over the things of the Kingdom of God.

1494
01:48:53,600 --> 01:48:59,600
Let your baskets be empty before God so that He can fill them up.

1495
01:48:59,600 --> 01:49:04,600
You might be here today, and you might say,

1496
01:49:04,600 --> 01:49:11,600
I only just now am able to trust God to handle taking care of my baskets.

1497
01:49:11,600 --> 01:49:13,600
The truth is, it might not be in those words,

1498
01:49:13,600 --> 01:49:15,600
but if you have not fully trusted God with your life,

1499
01:49:15,600 --> 01:49:18,600
then you've not been saved before now.

1500
01:49:18,600 --> 01:49:19,600
That's the reality.

1501
01:49:19,600 --> 01:49:23,600
If you've continued to make decisions that do not honor God,

1502
01:49:23,600 --> 01:49:27,600
that do not put God first, that do not walk the course of the Kingdom of God,

1503
01:49:27,600 --> 01:49:29,600
if that's how you've been living your life,

1504
01:49:29,600 --> 01:49:31,600
then you're probably not a follower of Jesus,

1505
01:49:31,600 --> 01:49:34,600
because that's not the road that Jesus is on.

1506
01:49:34,600 --> 01:49:38,600
And now Jesus is saying to you, come follow me.

1507
01:49:38,600 --> 01:49:41,600
Come follow me.

1508
01:49:41,600 --> 01:49:45,600
And I'm asking you, will you?

1509
01:49:45,600 --> 01:49:48,600
And it will look like life will continue to create baskets for you,

1510
01:49:48,600 --> 01:49:49,600
and you're going to say, well, that's not my basket.

1511
01:49:49,600 --> 01:49:51,600
That's not the basket that God wants for me.

1512
01:49:51,600 --> 01:49:52,600
That's not my basket.

1513
01:49:52,600 --> 01:49:53,600
That's not the basket God wants for me.

1514
01:49:53,600 --> 01:49:55,600
Oh, here's one that will breed love in me.

1515
01:49:55,600 --> 01:49:57,600
Here's one that I can love others.

1516
01:49:57,600 --> 01:49:58,600
I can learn to love others.

1517
01:49:58,600 --> 01:50:02,600
Yep, that's my basket.

1518
01:50:02,600 --> 01:50:03,600
And I don't know.

1519
01:50:03,600 --> 01:50:07,600
I guess there could be more than nine that God wants to pour into you,

1520
01:50:07,600 --> 01:50:11,600
but that much I know for sure there are at least those nine.

1521
01:50:11,600 --> 01:50:13,600
Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior

1522
01:50:13,600 --> 01:50:15,600
and earn us for the first time ever today

1523
01:50:15,600 --> 01:50:17,600
and begin to live your life for the Lord?

1524
01:50:17,600 --> 01:50:18,600
Maybe you say, I have.

1525
01:50:18,600 --> 01:50:20,600
I have been living my life for the Lord.

1526
01:50:20,600 --> 01:50:22,600
I have tried to be a follower of Jesus,

1527
01:50:22,600 --> 01:50:24,600
but I also realized that I've collected a bunch of baskets,

1528
01:50:24,600 --> 01:50:26,600
other things that I'm concerned about,

1529
01:50:26,600 --> 01:50:28,600
other things that I'm waiting to be filled up,

1530
01:50:28,600 --> 01:50:30,600
other things that are not truly of God.

1531
01:50:30,600 --> 01:50:33,600
And if you're waiting for money, if you're waiting for sustenance,

1532
01:50:33,600 --> 01:50:37,600
if you're waiting for relationships, if you're waiting for health,

1533
01:50:37,600 --> 01:50:41,600
if you're waiting for to get over something bad that happened,

1534
01:50:41,600 --> 01:50:44,600
none of those baskets are from God.

1535
01:50:44,600 --> 01:50:45,600
None of them.

1536
01:50:45,600 --> 01:50:46,600
They're just not.

1537
01:50:46,600 --> 01:50:48,600
And you need to give them over or get rid of them

1538
01:50:48,600 --> 01:50:53,600
and get on with the baskets that are from God.

1539
01:50:53,600 --> 01:50:56,600
And I'm asking you to do that.

1540
01:50:56,600 --> 01:50:58,600
I'm asking you to burn them, chuck them,

1541
01:50:58,600 --> 01:51:00,600
throw them as far from yourself as you can

1542
01:51:00,600 --> 01:51:05,600
and only collect the baskets that are from God.

1543
01:51:05,600 --> 01:51:07,600
You can't orchestrate this.

1544
01:51:07,600 --> 01:51:10,600
And sometimes it's going to be tricky because it moves.

1545
01:51:10,600 --> 01:51:12,600
It's not as simple as, oh, this works.

1546
01:51:12,600 --> 01:51:14,600
Sometimes you're going to go, I think this is a basket from God.

1547
01:51:14,600 --> 01:51:16,600
You might start filling it for a while, and you might go, wait a minute.

1548
01:51:16,600 --> 01:51:20,600
It turns out this is not a basket from God, and you've got to chuck it.

1549
01:51:20,600 --> 01:51:22,600
And you're hard labor.

1550
01:51:22,600 --> 01:51:24,600
Don't send good money after bad.

1551
01:51:24,600 --> 01:51:25,600
Don't send good work after bad work.

1552
01:51:25,600 --> 01:51:26,600
It's like I had a relationship.

1553
01:51:26,600 --> 01:51:29,600
It turns out this guy was a dirt bag or this girl was a dirt bag.

1554
01:51:29,600 --> 01:51:32,600
Or it turns out that I had a job and I thought it was everything,

1555
01:51:32,600 --> 01:51:34,600
and then it turns out it really wasn't.

1556
01:51:34,600 --> 01:51:36,600
Or whatever.

1557
01:51:36,600 --> 01:51:37,600
Chuck it as soon as you figure it out.

1558
01:51:37,600 --> 01:51:39,600
It doesn't matter how much work you've put into it.

1559
01:51:39,600 --> 01:51:42,600
Get rid of it if it's not for God, if it's not of God,

1560
01:51:42,600 --> 01:51:47,600
if it's not going to collect the fruit from God.

1561
01:51:47,600 --> 01:51:50,600
Maybe you're here today and you say, I need this to be my church home.

1562
01:51:50,600 --> 01:51:54,600
Or I need to be baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

1563
01:51:54,600 --> 01:51:57,600
Or I need to repent of a specific sin.

1564
01:51:57,600 --> 01:52:01,600
Then you do that as we play this song, so close out our service.

1565
01:52:01,600 --> 01:52:04,600
But as you do that, you don't sing.

1566
01:52:04,600 --> 01:52:06,600
Don't even do it.

1567
01:52:06,600 --> 01:52:13,600
Just say, God, in my heart, I want to be yours.

1568
01:52:13,600 --> 01:52:15,600
And make the decision that you're making today,

1569
01:52:15,600 --> 01:52:18,600
and then make that decision public in front of everybody.

1570
01:52:18,600 --> 01:52:22,600
Why do you think Jesus says that he is ashamed of me in front of men,

1571
01:52:22,600 --> 01:52:24,600
I'll be ashamed of him in front of my Father?

1572
01:52:24,600 --> 01:52:28,600
Because that's the pride of life.

1573
01:52:28,600 --> 01:52:29,600
Right?

1574
01:52:29,600 --> 01:52:33,600
That's you saying, I don't need Jesus to do, I don't need anybody to do anything.

1575
01:52:33,600 --> 01:52:34,600
It's the pride of life.

1576
01:52:34,600 --> 01:52:36,600
And that dies.

1577
01:52:36,600 --> 01:52:42,600
Jesus can't bring you in to heaven if you aren't willing to claim him.

1578
01:52:42,600 --> 01:52:43,600
He won't.

1579
01:52:43,600 --> 01:52:48,600
He'll let you go where you're saying you want to go, separate from him.

1580
01:52:48,600 --> 01:52:51,600
So whatever decision God is calling on your heart to make today,

1581
01:52:51,600 --> 01:52:52,600
you make that decision.

1582
01:52:52,600 --> 01:52:54,600
And you don't back down, and you say it boldly,

1583
01:52:54,600 --> 01:52:58,600
and then you let it affect everything in your life.

1584
01:52:58,600 --> 01:53:00,600
Start looking at the baskets that don't belong there anyway,

1585
01:53:00,600 --> 01:53:03,600
and chucking them, and looking at the baskets that do,

1586
01:53:03,600 --> 01:53:08,600
and saying, God, I will wait on you to fill them when you are ready.

1587
01:53:08,600 --> 01:53:13,600
And I will not grow weary, and I will work and reap in due time.

1588
01:53:13,600 --> 01:53:17,600
I ask the praise team to come forward and lead us in this song.

1589
01:53:17,600 --> 01:53:20,600
And in a moment, as soon as they're ready, we'll ask everyone to stand up,

1590
01:53:20,600 --> 01:53:22,600
if they're comfortable with you, so sing with us.

1591
01:53:22,600 --> 01:53:25,600
But if you're making a decision today, then you don't sing.

1592
01:53:25,600 --> 01:53:29,600
You just come to me, come down front, not to me, but to Jesus.

1593
01:53:29,600 --> 01:53:31,600
Or you just let me know right where you are.

1594
01:53:31,600 --> 01:53:32,600
Hey, that's me, and I've got to speak up.

1595
01:53:32,600 --> 01:53:35,600
And then as soon as we're done singing, I'll call on you, okay?

1596
01:53:35,600 --> 01:53:36,600
All right, we're ready.

1597
01:53:36,600 --> 01:53:40,600
We're going to sing this song, and we'll sing this song as I close in on him.

1598
01:53:40,600 --> 01:54:01,600
And then you make the decision that God is calling on you.

1599
01:54:01,600 --> 01:54:11,600
We fall down, we lay our ground at the feet of Jesus.

1600
01:54:11,600 --> 01:54:22,600
We bring ourselves mercy and love at the feet of Jesus.

1601
01:54:22,600 --> 01:54:39,600
And we cry, Holy, Holy, Holy.

1602
01:54:39,600 --> 01:54:47,600
He is the Lamb.

1603
01:54:47,600 --> 01:54:58,600
We fall down, we lay our ground at the feet of Jesus.

1604
01:54:58,600 --> 01:55:03,600
Let the prayer this love is the mercy and love.

1605
01:55:03,600 --> 01:55:06,600
The King is offering to God, it wasn't accepted.

1606
01:55:06,600 --> 01:55:09,600
He brought His basket full of His fruit.

1607
01:55:09,600 --> 01:55:12,600
You say, here it is, Lord.

1608
01:55:12,600 --> 01:55:17,600
God looked with disdain on His offering.

1609
01:55:17,600 --> 01:55:19,600
God's exodus.

1610
01:55:19,600 --> 01:55:25,600
God's move.

1611
01:55:25,600 --> 01:55:29,600
God's taking to your heart today.

1612
01:55:29,600 --> 01:55:33,600
No good phrase speaking out.

1613
01:55:33,600 --> 01:55:35,600
One more verse.

1614
01:55:35,600 --> 01:55:36,600
Come on.

1615
01:55:36,600 --> 01:55:44,600
We fall down, we lay our ground at the feet of Jesus.

1616
01:55:44,600 --> 01:55:54,600
Let the prayer this love is the mercy and love at the feet of Jesus.

1617
01:55:54,600 --> 01:56:11,600
And we cry, Holy, Holy, Holy.

1618
01:56:11,600 --> 01:56:18,600
He is the Lamb.

1619
01:56:18,600 --> 01:56:26,600
Holy, Holy, Holy. He is the Lamb.

1620
01:56:26,600 --> 01:56:31,600
I don't know about what we could write in entire theology about empty baskets.

1621
01:56:31,600 --> 01:56:33,600
That's how meaningful it was to you.

1622
01:56:33,600 --> 01:56:34,600
I hope it was meaningful to you.

1623
01:56:34,600 --> 01:56:38,600
But I want you to think for a second about how, from Cain and Abel,

1624
01:56:38,600 --> 01:56:41,600
everywhere through, what happened in the book of Judges?

1625
01:56:41,600 --> 01:56:43,600
Well, every man did what he felt was right.

1626
01:56:43,600 --> 01:56:45,600
Their baskets, their fruit. Not God's.

1627
01:56:45,600 --> 01:56:49,600
You could go all the way through the entire scripture and see that theme.

1628
01:56:49,600 --> 01:56:55,600
And have you ever, has anyone ever thought about where the baskets came from at the feet of the 4,000 or the 5,000?

1629
01:56:55,600 --> 01:56:59,600
Ever thought about why they bothered to pick up all those leftovers?

1630
01:56:59,600 --> 01:57:02,600
They could eat leftover bread for a month, right?

1631
01:57:02,600 --> 01:57:04,600
It won't even last that long, right?

1632
01:57:04,600 --> 01:57:06,600
But it was a great statement.

1633
01:57:06,600 --> 01:57:13,600
God wants to fill His baskets, your baskets that are His baskets, up to overflowing.

1634
01:57:13,600 --> 01:57:17,600
And He does go on to talk about it in the measure that you give in that same passage in Luke.

1635
01:57:17,600 --> 01:57:20,600
That's where it says, in the measure that you give, sow what we've given unto you.

1636
01:57:20,600 --> 01:57:23,600
We love others.

1637
01:57:23,600 --> 01:57:27,600
And in the process of loving others, some baskets are going to be created.

1638
01:57:27,600 --> 01:57:29,600
They're going to be painful baskets. They're going to be hurtful baskets.

1639
01:57:29,600 --> 01:57:30,600
They're going to be lacking baskets.

1640
01:57:30,600 --> 01:57:32,600
Things that we don't know what to do about baskets.

1641
01:57:32,600 --> 01:57:34,600
You've got to turn them over to God.

1642
01:57:34,600 --> 01:57:36,600
And if they're God's baskets, then they'll stay in your life.

1643
01:57:36,600 --> 01:57:38,600
And He'll fill them up in due time.

1644
01:57:38,600 --> 01:57:41,600
And if they're somebody else's baskets, then get rid of those baskets.

1645
01:57:41,600 --> 01:57:44,600
You can't get rid of them as fast as you can, because all they're going to weigh you down.

1646
01:57:44,600 --> 01:57:47,600
We live for God.

1647
01:57:47,600 --> 01:57:55,600
And as God's people, we have crucified the loss of the flesh and the affections of the world.

1648
01:57:55,600 --> 01:57:58,600
Looks like there's a lot of good things that we can do.

1649
01:57:58,600 --> 01:58:01,600
But they are.

1650
01:58:01,600 --> 01:58:02,600
They're restraining us.

1651
01:58:02,600 --> 01:58:07,600
They are the things that hold back the great things that God wants to do.

1652
01:58:07,600 --> 01:58:09,600
We're going to close in prayer at this time.

1653
01:58:09,600 --> 01:58:11,600
Is there anyone who needed to speak up and say,

1654
01:58:11,600 --> 01:58:15,600
Hey, I need to tell you that I feel like God was saying this in my heart from right where you are.

1655
01:58:15,600 --> 01:58:16,600
And you bowled.

1656
01:58:16,600 --> 01:58:18,600
Going once.

1657
01:58:18,600 --> 01:58:20,600
Going twice.

1658
01:58:20,600 --> 01:58:22,600
All right. We're going to close in prayer.

1659
01:58:22,600 --> 01:58:28,600
Last, Brother Reverend, Reverend RJ Sho to pray for us in closing.

1660
01:58:28,600 --> 01:58:30,600
Would you do that, please?

1661
01:58:30,600 --> 01:58:32,600
Do you have a father who will think for this time together?

1662
01:58:32,600 --> 01:58:34,600
Thank you for everyone that's here.

1663
01:58:34,600 --> 01:58:38,600
God, I pray that we just continue to grow and seek your will.

1664
01:58:38,600 --> 01:58:48,600
Lord, I pray for everyone here that we may follow you and learn from you and grow as Christians and see your kingdom grow.

1665
01:58:48,600 --> 01:58:57,600
And pray for the church mission tonight that it goes well and that most it glorifies you.

1666
01:58:57,600 --> 01:59:03,600
Pray that the kids have fun and that they realize that we're doing this not only to have fun, but to give you glory.

1667
01:59:03,600 --> 01:59:04,600
In Jesus' name, Amen.

1668
01:59:04,600 --> 01:59:05,600
Amen. Thank you so much.

1669
01:59:05,600 --> 01:59:09,600
Go to your therefore and be the church.

1670
01:59:09,600 --> 01:59:10,600
Thanks for listening.

1671
01:59:10,600 --> 01:59:12,600
I hope you've grown today.

1672
01:59:12,600 --> 01:59:18,600
And if you seek the Lord, he will always work with you and help you grow and reach new heights in Jesus.

1673
01:59:18,600 --> 01:59:21,600
Just a couple of quick events I want to mention upcoming to you.

1674
01:59:21,600 --> 01:59:24,600
This particular podcast was from the day of the Hall of a Lot of Fun.

1675
01:59:24,600 --> 01:59:25,600
You heard about that.

1676
01:59:25,600 --> 01:59:30,600
Well, as a podcast coming up online, the Hall of a Lot of Fun has come and gone.

1677
01:59:30,600 --> 01:59:32,600
And it was a wonderful thing.

1678
01:59:32,600 --> 01:59:35,600
We had lots of kids come out and play games and win candy.

1679
01:59:35,600 --> 01:59:41,600
Quite a few church volunteers and even a few community volunteers come out and run games for us.

1680
01:59:41,600 --> 01:59:45,600
And it just was just a blessing and I think a great honor and glory to God.

1681
01:59:45,600 --> 01:59:48,600
Midnight snowball fight was a huge hit.

1682
01:59:48,600 --> 01:59:54,600
Kids love throwing the snowballs and the glow in the dark and the black light and seeing that like effect.

1683
01:59:54,600 --> 02:00:01,600
And then also midnight drive, which was driving a glow in the dark and headlight empowered race car through an obstacle course.

1684
02:00:01,600 --> 02:00:02,600
And a dim room.

1685
02:00:02,600 --> 02:00:08,600
And they were really liking that and a lot of the other games that were really cool.

1686
02:00:08,600 --> 02:00:13,600
And so that went by and I pray that out of that, God has been glorified and honored.

1687
02:00:13,600 --> 02:00:19,600
But there's always a lot of cool things going on at New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.

1688
02:00:19,600 --> 02:00:25,600
And you can usually see about them on our website at churchtoledo.com.

1689
02:00:25,600 --> 02:00:26,600
I'll get that out.

1690
02:00:26,600 --> 02:00:35,600
But real quick, I'll mention to you upcoming this coming weekend beginning on Sunday, the 7th, I think is the right date.

1691
02:00:35,600 --> 02:00:43,600
And that pastor Jerry East from Mississippi will be with us and he will be preaching the beginnings of our sort of revival.

1692
02:00:43,600 --> 02:00:51,600
And we're going to do church together, worshiping God, praising Him and looking to reach New Heights in Jesus Sunday through Wednesday.

1693
02:00:51,600 --> 02:00:54,600
And so we'll be back Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night.

1694
02:00:54,600 --> 02:01:00,600
We'll try to podcast those services for you, for those of you who can only get them on podcast.

1695
02:01:00,600 --> 02:01:06,600
But maybe you're in the Toledo area and you'd like to come out and join us for one of those services or all of those services.

1696
02:01:06,600 --> 02:01:11,600
We're going to have some theme nights in there and so just some good stuff with that going on.

1697
02:01:11,600 --> 02:01:17,600
There will be some light refreshments before the service in case you need to put your dinner off until after.

1698
02:01:17,600 --> 02:01:21,600
And the kids will go out as they normally do and have a lesson.

1699
02:01:21,600 --> 02:01:29,600
And then on Tuesday night, Tuesday night of the revival, we'll split down men in one area and ladies in another and children in another.

1700
02:01:29,600 --> 02:01:35,600
And so we're going to have a great time focusing on God and reaching New Heights in Jesus.

1701
02:01:35,600 --> 02:01:39,600
Also coming up on that same Sunday is the Grand Prix kickoff.

1702
02:01:39,600 --> 02:01:48,600
And so kids come out and race matchbox cars down the track and then see some examples of what might be made as we go into the Grand Prix season.

1703
02:01:48,600 --> 02:01:53,600
We've got about a month until our Grand Prix, a few workshops coming up and things like that.

1704
02:01:53,600 --> 02:01:56,600
Throughout all of it, we'll continue to worship God and put him first.

1705
02:01:56,600 --> 02:02:00,600
Throughout all of it, we'll continue to be the church as he's ordained for us to do.

1706
02:02:00,600 --> 02:02:04,600
Check us out on our website. You can give there. You can find ways to serve there.

1707
02:02:04,600 --> 02:02:07,600
You can look at what it takes to be a non-resident member there.

1708
02:02:07,600 --> 02:02:14,600
Of course, I would encourage you to find a local church near you that you can be part of and give and serve and be part of the kingdom.

1709
02:02:14,600 --> 02:02:20,600
But the information about being a non-resident member of New Heights is also on our website.

1710
02:02:20,600 --> 02:02:22,600
And so you can take a look at that if you will.

1711
02:02:22,600 --> 02:02:31,600
Also teach you maybe something about if you don't already have a good understanding of some about what it means to be a church member and to be part of the King of God at work in a local church.

1712
02:02:31,600 --> 02:02:37,600
Then join us whenever you can. Certainly join us in prayer.

1713
02:02:37,600 --> 02:02:44,600
Certainly join us in advancing the Kingdom of God wherever you may live and I hope reaching New Heights in Jesus.

1714
02:02:44,600 --> 02:02:48,600
Check out the website churchtoledo.com.

1715
02:02:48,600 --> 02:02:54,600
Dial in for many more podcasts and we're going to just keep right on until Jesus comes again.

1716
02:02:54,600 --> 02:03:08,600
Thanks again. God bless you today.