WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.359 So we've been talking about, from the book of 00:00:03.359 --> 00:00:05.179 Hebrews, and I've been telling you that I'm going 00:00:05.179 --> 00:00:08.710 to be preaching this word. And I really wanted 00:00:08.710 --> 00:00:11.869 to set it up, though, because the verses leading 00:00:11.869 --> 00:00:15.849 up to the middle of Hebrews 12 are all verses 00:00:15.849 --> 00:00:19.489 that should encourage you and cause you to, with 00:00:19.489 --> 00:00:23.730 anticipation and joy, receive what the middle 00:00:23.730 --> 00:00:27.769 of Hebrews 12 says. And so the previous sermons, 00:00:27.789 --> 00:00:31.449 we've been talking about running our race and 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:34.329 how God wants us to do well in our race, and 00:00:34.329 --> 00:00:38.159 he's setting us up to run it well. Last week 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:41.219 we talked about thriving, right? Being a green 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:45.520 leaf and thriving. All of that is to set us up 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.380 for Hebrews 12. And one of my favorite verses 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:53.820 is in Isaiah 48, 17. And it simply says, the 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:58.960 Lord teaches you to profit. The Lord teaches 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.020 you to profit. Now that's not just about profit 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:06.359 financially. This is about profiting in my spiritual 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:11.019 life, in my emotions, in my family. It's profit 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:15.200 in all areas. Do I figure that out on my own? 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:21.140 No. The Lord teaches me to do that. And so our 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:26.420 text is out of Romans chapter 12. And we've just 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:30.079 finished. Talking about running our race, and 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.000 we finished with, here's how you run the race 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:37.140 well. You consider him who endured, right? You 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:42.819 look to Jesus who endured. And so directly following 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:47.799 that verse, in verse 5, it says, and have you 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:51.140 completely forgotten this word of encouragement 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:55.819 that addresses you as a father addresses his 00:01:55.819 --> 00:02:01.219 son? It says, my son, do not make light of the 00:02:01.219 --> 00:02:05.980 Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.819 he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines the 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:15.000 one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:21.800 as his son. Endure hardship as discipline. God 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:27.490 is treating you as children. For what children 00:02:27.490 --> 00:02:32.030 are not disciplined by their father? If you are 00:02:32.030 --> 00:02:35.210 not disciplined, and everyone undergoes discipline, 00:02:35.729 --> 00:02:39.389 then you are not legitimate. You are not true 00:02:39.389 --> 00:02:43.650 sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:47.289 all had human fathers who disciplined us, and 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:51.090 we respected them for it. How much more should 00:02:51.090 --> 00:02:54.250 we submit to the father of spirits and live? 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.500 They disciplined us for a little while as they 00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:02.539 thought best. But God disciplines us for our 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:07.020 good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:14.500 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:19.909 painful. Later on, however, It produces a harvest 00:03:19.909 --> 00:03:24.150 of righteousness and peace for those who have 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:30.430 been trained by it. Now, this passage is coming 00:03:30.430 --> 00:03:33.409 from a time in a culture where they assume that 00:03:33.409 --> 00:03:35.650 there are fathers and mothers that are training 00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:39.289 up their children, right? And we know, I was 00:03:39.289 --> 00:03:41.590 blessed to have that, and I'm thankful for the 00:03:41.590 --> 00:03:45.009 discipline of my parents and my grandmother. 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:50.099 But not everybody has had that kind of a relationship 00:03:50.099 --> 00:03:53.439 with a father or a mother where they have been 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:56.740 trained and disciplined. Or if they have, it's 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.680 been on the extreme side of abusiveness that 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.500 is not discipline and is not training. That is 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:08.340 the fruit of temper, anger, and perverseness. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.659 And so for some of us, this is going to be hard 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:16.300 to truly get what it looks like for a father 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:19.660 to truly discipline. You've never experienced 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.220 it. You just don't really have much clue what 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:26.120 that looks like. This is why it says the Lord 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.620 teaches us. What I don't want is for those of 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:33.160 you that experienced that to feel like, well, 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.120 that's not for me because I've not ever experienced 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:41.240 that. No, you have a perfect father that will 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:44.579 teach you, if you are open to it, what that looks 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:48.860 like. And will, in the process, heal woundedness 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:53.500 from that. He's fully able to do that. And so 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:55.660 I just want to say that as we're looking at that, 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.879 looking forward into this sermon, there's that 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.540 understanding that for some of you, this might 00:05:01.540 --> 00:05:03.779 be a whole new concept you need the Lord to teach 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:06.800 you and what it looks like for a father to discipline 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.579 and to train. And so this morning, we're going 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:14.639 to start with a story from a man after God's 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:18.980 own heart, King David. And this is following 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:25.189 King David's affair. and subsequent murder of 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:29.290 another person, not himself, right? So it starts 00:05:29.290 --> 00:05:33.149 in the story of King David not being where he 00:05:33.149 --> 00:05:36.089 should be in the spring. All of the other kings 00:05:36.089 --> 00:05:38.829 were out fighting in battle, and he was still 00:05:38.829 --> 00:05:43.910 at home. He was lounging at home when he should 00:05:43.910 --> 00:05:47.290 have been out to war. So to begin with, he wasn't 00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:51.139 where he should have been. And so his gaze found 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:56.680 Bathsheba bathing on the housetop. And he desired 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:02.399 her. And so he took her. I'm the king. I can 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.540 take whoever or whatever I want. And so she became 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:10.500 pregnant. Well, now his sin is going to find 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:14.279 him out because her husband was where he should 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:17.180 have been. He was out fighting on behalf of King 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:22.220 David. And so while Bathsheba's wife is fighting 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:25.079 for King David, King David had an affair with 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:30.300 his wife. So now she's pregnant, and David has 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:36.100 to cover his sin. And he does that through having, 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:39.740 through a set of circumstances, her husband killed 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:44.699 in battle. And so this is where we find King 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:48.379 David. Now, I also want to say this about discipline 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:53.240 and correction of the Lord. For King David, this 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:58.060 is the result of his sin. Not every discipline 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:00.439 and correction is because you have some big sin 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:04.430 in your life. Sometimes God is just wanting to 00:07:04.430 --> 00:07:07.990 train you. He's wanting to prepare you. He's 00:07:07.990 --> 00:07:10.029 wanting you to learn the ways of the kingdom. 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:14.350 In fact, in Proverbs 30, it says there are some 00:07:14.350 --> 00:07:18.170 things that the earth can't tolerate. The earth 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:22.430 can't abide. And that is a servant that becomes 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:27.990 a king. Well, why is that? Because servants don't 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:32.750 have the mentality, the paradigm of what it is 00:07:32.750 --> 00:07:36.490 to be royalty. And so there's no way they can 00:07:36.490 --> 00:07:39.129 occupy the role of a king. They only know what 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:42.329 it is to be a servant, to have a servant mentality. 00:07:44.089 --> 00:07:47.360 And so it says the earth can't abide that. Well, 00:07:47.379 --> 00:07:49.639 think about what we've all come out of in our 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:54.540 sin, in our past, in all of our willfulness before 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:59.160 we met Jesus. And now it says we have Abba Father. 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.339 Now we are stepping into the place of royalty. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.439 I think there's some things we need to learn 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.839 about the kingdom, right? And so when we're talking 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.060 about correction and discipline, it's not about 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:17.180 just punishment. It is about consequences for 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:20.259 sure, but it's also about training us in the 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:24.000 ways of God's kingdom. And although David here 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.300 is going to learn that there were consequences 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:30.560 to his sin, really what this is about is that 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:36.019 he was not doing his life kingdom -minded. And 00:08:36.019 --> 00:08:38.779 so it wasn't just a consequence, but God's trying 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:41.120 to teach him, David, here's what you need to 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.409 be to be a king of Israel. And so David has done 00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:51.649 all of this, and in 2 Samuel 12, the Lord sends 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:54.950 to David a prophet who is a trusted friend of 00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:59.610 David's, and his name is Nathan. And so when 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:03.750 Nathan comes to David, he says, he tells a parable, 00:09:03.750 --> 00:09:07.860 kind of like Jesus. And I know all of you that 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:11.580 have watched VeggieTales are thinking of the 00:09:11.580 --> 00:09:14.279 king's duck, right? I know what you're all thinking. 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:20.240 There were two men in a certain town, one rich 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:24.860 and the other poor. The rich man had a very large 00:09:24.860 --> 00:09:29.120 number of sheep and cattle. But the poor man 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.779 had nothing but one little ewe. He raised it, 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:38.159 and it grew up with him and his children. It 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:41.580 shared his food, it drank from his cup, and it 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:44.779 even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter 00:09:44.779 --> 00:09:49.279 to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, 00:09:49.539 --> 00:09:52.860 but the rich man refrained from taking one of 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:56.620 his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:01.070 the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:04.809 went to his neighbor, he took the ewe lamb that 00:10:04.809 --> 00:10:07.730 belonged to the poor man and prepared it for 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:13.110 the one who had come to him. Oh, it says in verse 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:18.730 5 that David burned with anger against the man 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:23.549 and said to Nathan, as surely as the Lord lives, 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:28.460 the man who did this must die. He must pay for 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:31.440 that lamb four times over because he did such 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:35.659 a thing and had no pity. Oh, then comes the kicker. 00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:43.659 Nathan looks at David and says, David, you are 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:52.139 that man. You are that man. And then there follows 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:55.889 God's rebuke to David. over what he had done 00:10:55.889 --> 00:11:00.730 with Bathsheba and her husband. And so I want 00:11:00.730 --> 00:11:03.009 us, there's just a couple of takeaways today 00:11:03.009 --> 00:11:05.850 that I want us to look at to help us, because 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:09.470 this is a gift. The correction, the discipline, 00:11:09.710 --> 00:11:14.389 the rebuke of the Lord is a gift to you. It means 00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:18.789 that he considers you. He's not pushing you away 00:11:18.789 --> 00:11:21.789 from him. What he's doing is trying to bring 00:11:21.789 --> 00:11:25.230 you closer to him. It means you're his daughter. 00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:29.870 It means you're his son. And he's trying to draw 00:11:29.870 --> 00:11:33.289 you closer into him. That's what the discipline 00:11:33.289 --> 00:11:37.629 and correction means. And so the first thing 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:42.230 in our ability to endure and undergo that kind 00:11:42.230 --> 00:11:45.610 of rebuke and discipline and correction is that 00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:48.590 we first have to understand the heart of God 00:11:48.590 --> 00:11:52.379 in it. Okay? We have to understand the heart 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:55.700 of God. And you guys, you hear me read this passage 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:58.259 over and over. And I want us to go to it today. 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:02.580 I started us out with it. But in Isaiah 48, this 00:12:02.580 --> 00:12:05.100 is another life passage for me. I should just 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:07.419 write them all down. I don't know. I have so 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:10.740 many of them that have truly been such foundational 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:14.799 transformative verses. And this is one of them. 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:20.549 And so it starts out in verse 13. This is what 00:12:20.549 --> 00:12:24.090 the Lord said. Now, he wrote this after addressing 00:12:24.090 --> 00:12:28.929 Israel as being strong -willed. They were exerting 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:32.470 their own will. And so this is what God says 00:12:32.470 --> 00:12:37.350 to them in the face of that. I am the Lord your 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:42.549 God who teaches you what is best for you. What 00:12:42.549 --> 00:12:45.750 I read earlier was a different version, who teaches 00:12:45.750 --> 00:12:51.100 you to profit. I think this is the NIV, it says 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:54.620 he teaches what is best for you. And we often 00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:59.700 think we know what's best, right? Who directs 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:04.580 you in the way you should go. If only you had 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:08.860 paid attention to my commands, your peace would 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.320 have been like a river. Your well -being like 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.370 the waves of the sea. Your descendants would 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:19.009 have been like the sand. Your children, like 00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:21.590 its numberless grains, their name would never 00:13:21.590 --> 00:13:25.809 be blotted out nor destroyed from me. This is 00:13:25.809 --> 00:13:28.669 such a powerful passage, and there's a couple 00:13:28.669 --> 00:13:31.090 of takeaways from it that I want us to get. And 00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:36.149 the first one is that he wants your best. And 00:13:36.149 --> 00:13:39.740 some of us, that's hard to really believe. Because 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:43.000 nobody in life has wanted my best. And so now 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.899 I believe I don't deserve best. But can I say 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.320 to you, he is wanting to teach you what is best. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:56.220 He wants your best for you. He wants you to profit. 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:02.200 He desires you to profit. He desires to establish 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:09.860 a way of life that is peaceful. He desires a 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:14.860 life for you that is one of well -being. He desires 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:20.639 this to be a family legacy. Some of you, the 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.399 legacy you inherited was not one of peace, was 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.419 not one of well -being. He wants to establish 00:14:28.419 --> 00:14:33.279 a new family legacy through you. That's his best 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.700 for you. That's why he gives his correction and 00:14:36.700 --> 00:14:40.340 his discipline. He's establishing a new family 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:44.539 legacy. And so this means that his goal for you 00:14:44.539 --> 00:14:48.019 is not your creature comforts, how you're feeling 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:51.600 and how comfortable you are right now. That's 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:57.379 not his goal for you. His goal is a transformational, 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:02.789 transforming legacy. to pass on to the generations. 00:15:04.330 --> 00:15:09.970 We cannot be short -sighted in this. He's creating 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:16.769 a legacy that is ongoing and eternal beyond you 00:15:16.769 --> 00:15:21.029 being comfortable today. And that's hard because 00:15:21.029 --> 00:15:24.590 we like being comfortable. We don't like things 00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:29.009 like fasting. Because we get uncomfortable. But 00:15:29.009 --> 00:15:33.669 fasting is a way of training ourselves in righteousness. 00:15:36.769 --> 00:15:42.529 Now, once we trust that he wants what is best 00:15:42.529 --> 00:15:47.330 for us, we can then trust his direction. It's 00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:50.850 hard to trust his directing in your life if you 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:54.210 don't trust his heart that he wants what is best 00:15:54.210 --> 00:16:00.269 for you. And so I actually asked, Gage and Kenzie 00:16:00.269 --> 00:16:02.990 aren't here today, and I asked her last night 00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:06.029 if I could share this testimony. What some of 00:16:06.029 --> 00:16:09.250 you older ones don't maybe know, because when 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:12.809 you got married 50, 40 years ago, we had a different 00:16:12.809 --> 00:16:18.070 culture and society. But for our young adults, 00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:23.309 our younger families, getting married and not 00:16:23.309 --> 00:16:29.759 just living together, is a real sacrifice. It 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:33.320 is very, our society and our government has not 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:35.600 made it easy for our young people to get married. 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:40.360 It costs them a lot of money when most of them 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:44.179 don't have a lot of it to begin with. And so 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:46.960 for them to take that step of obedience, I remember 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.259 when Destiny and Les did that, they immediately 00:16:50.259 --> 00:16:58.039 lost money in child care. Thousands. So I've 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.419 been going through marriage counseling with Gage 00:17:00.419 --> 00:17:03.820 and Kenzie. They're getting married in May. And 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:08.180 if you don't know this yet, Kenzie has begun 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:12.859 this semester with nursing school. And so in 00:17:12.859 --> 00:17:16.779 our discussion has arisen, well, if we can have 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:20.440 just a ceremony and file the legal paperwork 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:27.880 later, save her thousands of dollars with her 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:31.559 FAFSA. And so Darren and I had the conversation 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:35.559 with them just a couple weeks ago saying, there 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:39.180 is this point in the process where we begin to 00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:44.500 trust the blessing of the Lord over the aid of 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:49.039 the government, right? Now we can all agree, 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:52.180 but that's a hard step to take because you will 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:58.170 feel it. So they were, okay, we're going to do 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:00.670 it legally. They'd made that decision, we're 00:18:00.670 --> 00:18:04.130 going to do it legally. Well, Darren had made 00:18:04.130 --> 00:18:06.529 that statement about trusting the blessing more, 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:10.170 and so she messaged me Thursday, and she said, 00:18:10.190 --> 00:18:13.190 I had to share this with you. Ever since our 00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:15.549 meeting, I've been repeating that to myself every 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:19.130 day about trusting the blessing. She said, I 00:18:19.130 --> 00:18:24.019 got a phone call today that... Through certain 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:28.099 funding, not her FAFSA, but from funding from 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:33.980 elsewhere, all of her schooling, all of her schooling 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:43.460 has been covered. All of it. I read it and I 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:48.420 laughed, didn't I? I laughed. What did they do? 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.920 They decided to trust. That God wanted their 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:57.400 best. And so they aligned their life to that. 00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:03.420 And God came through. God came through. Praise 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:07.740 the Lord. So when we begin, what is she doing? 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:09.819 What is her engaged doing now in that moment? 00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:14.599 They are beginning to build their story of God's 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:18.720 faithfulness to them. Right? That's now become 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.740 a foundation to build their family on when God 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:25.680 reveals his faithfulness to them in that way. 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:28.819 And so now the next time they feel a direction 00:19:28.819 --> 00:19:31.299 of the Lord, what are they going to do? They're 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:33.220 going to be a little more likely, aren't they, 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:36.240 to come into alignment with God's direction. 00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:40.960 Now they can trust the heart of God for them. 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:45.900 And so they will now. much easier follow in the 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:49.720 direction that he wants them to go. And so that's 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.779 our second point there is that now we're trusting 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:55.720 his direction. So I learned something in small 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:03.220 group on Wednesday night that aircrafts, if they 00:20:03.220 --> 00:20:07.799 by one degree, there's a rule, a rule that is 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.559 called the one in 60 rule. Okay, everybody say 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:17.740 one in 60 rule. A one degree, often stated as 00:20:17.740 --> 00:20:24.940 a 1%, course deviation. So just one degree, 1 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:32.819 % of a course deviation results to being one 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:37.440 nautical mile off track for every 60 nautical 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:41.099 miles traveled. Okay, so you say, what does that 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:47.259 mean? You boil that down to this. A one degree 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:54.680 error on a flight from Los Angeles to Rome will 00:20:54.680 --> 00:21:04.039 land you in Africa. A one degree, a 1 % off from 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:08.319 Los Angeles to Rome will land you in Africa. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:14.680 And see, sometimes we're just, Lord, we're just 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:17.640 a little bit. I'm not hugely walking in a direction 00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:20.740 foreign to God, but there's this one area that 00:21:20.740 --> 00:21:24.160 I really want my will to be done. And it won't 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.119 hurt anything. It's just 1%. It's just one degree. 00:21:28.940 --> 00:21:32.920 For the most part, I'm still going in his direction 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.539 that he wants me to go. I'm still doing it his 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:40.960 way. Listen, that 1 % is all that stinking devil 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.559 needs, and we will find ourself in a place we 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:52.519 never thought we would be, out in Africa. We 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:56.059 think it's not much. This is why we sing what 00:21:56.059 --> 00:21:58.900 we do this morning. We're going to be completely 00:21:58.900 --> 00:22:01.960 consumed. We give it all. We don't hold anything 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:06.230 back. Because it doesn't take much for us to 00:22:06.230 --> 00:22:14.630 begin to veer off track. In our passage in Hebrews 00:22:14.630 --> 00:22:19.009 12, it said, how much more then should we submit 00:22:19.009 --> 00:22:22.630 to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined 00:22:22.630 --> 00:22:26.369 us for a little while as they thought best. But 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:29.430 God disciplines us for our good that we may share 00:22:29.430 --> 00:22:34.569 in holiness. And so once you trust, he wants 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:39.490 your best. You can trust his direction. And once 00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:42.650 you trust his direction, now you are truly open 00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:48.930 to correction. Now you have a teachable spirit. 00:22:49.289 --> 00:22:52.109 Have you ever tried to teach somebody that doesn't 00:22:52.109 --> 00:22:54.630 have a teachable spirit? Oh, she's here. I'm 00:22:54.630 --> 00:22:57.829 going to use her as an example. Chris Northrup 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:02.700 down here. I tell this story a lot, Chris. Steve 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:06.160 and Chris are from our church in Galesburg. And 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.839 I have said, I can teach anybody to knit. Anybody. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:13.960 I have taught so many people to knit. I can teach 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.579 anybody to knit. And then I would try to teach 00:23:16.579 --> 00:23:20.619 Chris. And I will tell you, she's been the only 00:23:20.619 --> 00:23:23.480 person I have failed to teach to knit. And do 00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.119 you know why? I don't know if you remember this, 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:29.079 Chris. The whole time she kept saying, I just 00:23:29.079 --> 00:23:31.619 can't do this. I just can't do this. The whole 00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:33.900 time she was repeating, I just can't do this. 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:37.740 Finally, I was like, no, you can't. Do you know 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:40.829 why? Because she was... She was determined. She 00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:44.170 couldn't do this. Listen, there are things in 00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:46.609 your life that you think because of your past, 00:23:46.769 --> 00:23:48.890 because of your family, because of this or what 00:23:48.890 --> 00:23:51.930 you've done or before Jesus, the things that 00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:55.029 you did, that you can't do what God wants you 00:23:55.029 --> 00:23:57.690 to do. You can't live in accordance with his 00:23:57.690 --> 00:23:59.829 ways. And I'll tell you, it's just not true. 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:03.109 If you will be open, we're going to have to have 00:24:03.109 --> 00:24:05.009 another knitting lesson, Chris. I'm determined 00:24:05.009 --> 00:24:08.259 now. We're going to change the narrative that 00:24:08.259 --> 00:24:12.880 you declare while we're doing that. Once you, 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:17.779 it is that open, teachable spirit that is what 00:24:17.779 --> 00:24:20.960 gives you the ability to be empowered by and 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:26.160 guided by the direction of God. It's being teachable. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:32.180 And so the correction of God that we find. Here 00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:37.440 in verse 7 of 2 Samuel, Nathan had said to David, 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:40.500 remember, you are that man. And God began to 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:44.880 then do what? Rebuke him. He began to, in fact, 00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:48.420 down in verse 12, God said to him, you did it 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:52.059 in secret, your sin. This is why I'm always on 00:24:52.059 --> 00:24:56.319 about making the secret place beautiful. Because 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:01.430 you win it in the secret place. You did it in 00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:05.670 secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight 00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:09.569 before all of Israel. He was going to rebuke 00:25:09.569 --> 00:25:14.710 and correct David. I love, though, David's immediate 00:25:14.710 --> 00:25:20.170 response. Because, see, David messed up a lot, 00:25:20.250 --> 00:25:22.730 but David did have a heart for God, and he was 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:26.130 teachable, and he said, I have sinned against 00:25:26.130 --> 00:25:31.250 the Lord. And what you need to hear and be encouraged 00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:35.369 by is Nathan's response. Immediately, he says, 00:25:35.589 --> 00:25:40.150 the Lord has taken away your sin. You are not 00:25:40.150 --> 00:25:44.730 going to die. Immediately, the mercy of the Lord 00:25:44.730 --> 00:25:47.470 was showered down upon David on his confession. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:53.940 Now he said, but because by doing this you have 00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:57.819 shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born 00:25:57.819 --> 00:26:02.940 to you out of this sin will die. Now a couple 00:26:02.940 --> 00:26:05.720 of things in that. First of all, we said it, 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:10.119 the secret place matters. The second thing we 00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:12.400 see here, and this might feel harsh to you, is 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:16.910 that God was going to expose it in public. And 00:26:16.910 --> 00:26:18.710 there's just a couple of things I want us to 00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:21.970 be mindful in this verse. First of all, David 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:28.750 was a king. And when you are king, you have greater 00:26:28.750 --> 00:26:34.730 responsibility. You live in public. And so he 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:38.930 was going to be exposed in public. I feel that 00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:42.819 as I minister the word publicly. I am going to 00:26:42.819 --> 00:26:45.119 have a greater accountability for what I say 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:49.920 and how I live because I have a public place 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:54.339 here doing that. And so we need to take that 00:26:54.339 --> 00:26:57.680 in mind, that David was in that public office 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:01.319 of being king. We see that across the board with 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:04.160 the ministers that have been taken out of ministry 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:08.039 in the last year across the nation. And it happens 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:11.359 very publicly. Why? Because they are... people 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:15.859 in the public face, right? And so they can't 00:27:15.859 --> 00:27:18.480 just repent and it all just be okay. No, they 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:22.460 had to be removed from that place. So we take 00:27:22.460 --> 00:27:24.960 that into consideration. The other thing that 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:28.200 I find fascinating in this is that David's life 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:31.680 has always been a foreshadow of the Messiah. 00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:36.660 How he did worship, how he led, even his heart 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:39.940 of worship. He had revelation in the old covenant 00:27:39.940 --> 00:27:43.420 that nobody else had of what the new covenant 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:46.559 was going to be. So David is always, his life, 00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:48.819 his kingdom, his reign has been a foreshadow, 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:52.279 right? Jesus came from the lineage of David. 00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:56.420 And I think that this is a beautiful foreshadow 00:27:56.420 --> 00:28:00.519 that all of our sin in the secret places, Jesus. 00:28:02.150 --> 00:28:07.849 publicly took on the cross. All of our sin and 00:28:07.849 --> 00:28:11.609 shame was exposed there on the cross. He didn't 00:28:11.609 --> 00:28:13.910 do it in the secret room in the back, take our 00:28:13.910 --> 00:28:18.569 sin. No, he did it on the cross in front of everybody. 00:28:20.529 --> 00:28:23.329 Now, having said all of that, I believe in the 00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:27.299 kindness of our Father, of God. And I believe 00:28:27.299 --> 00:28:30.539 that, like any good parent, that he brings us 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:35.000 along in the easiest way that we will come. And 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.059 some of us are very quick to respond when he 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:41.880 brings that correction. Yes, Lord, I have sinned. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.720 And it's dealt with. Some of us have to learn 00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:49.339 our lessons a little bit harder. Some of us are 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:53.049 a little more teachable than others. And so it's 00:28:53.049 --> 00:28:57.470 however we learn to respond to the Father. I 00:28:57.470 --> 00:29:00.210 believe he is not a God of humiliation, that 00:29:00.210 --> 00:29:02.549 he is not trying to deal with your stuff in front 00:29:02.549 --> 00:29:05.710 of everybody. It's the beauty of the secret place. 00:29:07.390 --> 00:29:11.109 And so just as in raising my four kids, they 00:29:11.109 --> 00:29:16.670 got a lot of correction, right? I did not correct 00:29:16.670 --> 00:29:20.789 them in front of other people. I was not wanting 00:29:20.789 --> 00:29:24.390 to humiliate my children in front of other people. 00:29:25.430 --> 00:29:28.450 That was the place of the secret place of their 00:29:28.450 --> 00:29:31.809 home. And I believe that's the heart of our Father. 00:29:32.230 --> 00:29:36.130 He's always, he's not the God of humiliation. 00:29:36.130 --> 00:29:40.309 Jesus took that humiliation. And so this is part 00:29:40.309 --> 00:29:43.410 of the ability to trust his correction and guidance. 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.619 That he's always trying to cover you. He's always 00:29:47.619 --> 00:29:50.079 trying to do it in the easiest way possible. 00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:53.140 And he's always trying to do it in a place where 00:29:53.140 --> 00:29:57.599 you will feel safe and secure in receiving it. 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:02.119 Amen? And so I just feel like we need to say 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:06.400 that. That if we think that, oh, he's going to 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:08.700 be like he was with David in front of everybody, 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:11.039 expose my stuff. That's not the heart of our 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:15.789 Father. Okay, and so it does say though in Hebrews 00:30:15.789 --> 00:30:17.990 12, and I want to throw this in again because 00:30:17.990 --> 00:30:20.869 we're not just talking about sin. We're using 00:30:20.869 --> 00:30:24.329 that example of King David, but it said in verse 00:30:24.329 --> 00:30:29.690 7 to endure hardship as discipline. God is treating 00:30:29.690 --> 00:30:33.410 you as children. And so your hardship, am I saying 00:30:33.410 --> 00:30:36.769 your hardship is a result of sin? I am not. I'm 00:30:36.769 --> 00:30:39.950 saying that hardship, if we will trust that he 00:30:39.950 --> 00:30:43.809 will use all things for our good, I'm saying 00:30:43.809 --> 00:30:48.250 hardship will train us for what is to come. Hardship 00:30:48.250 --> 00:30:51.910 will teach us what it is to not live as a servant, 00:30:51.950 --> 00:30:54.369 but to live as a son and a daughter of a most 00:30:54.369 --> 00:30:57.549 high God. When I am in the places of hardship, 00:30:57.829 --> 00:31:02.089 I will tell you, I understand that we said it 00:31:02.089 --> 00:31:04.390 last week, an enemy that is out to steal, kill, 00:31:04.470 --> 00:31:07.450 and destroy you. And when I'm talking to the 00:31:07.450 --> 00:31:10.210 enemy, I'm always rebuking and resisting. But 00:31:10.210 --> 00:31:13.250 when I'm turned toward the Father, I am embracing 00:31:13.250 --> 00:31:18.670 the hardship as the way that the Lord is teaching 00:31:18.670 --> 00:31:24.080 me and training me, disciplining me. Because 00:31:24.080 --> 00:31:27.099 in Hebrews 12, 11, later on in that passage, 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:32.779 it says that later, once you have endured, later. 00:31:33.059 --> 00:31:36.440 And if you remember, we used that word endure 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:39.119 when we talked about running our races, didn't 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:43.140 we? That was a key word we saw, endure, endure, 00:31:43.339 --> 00:31:47.500 endure. It's the theme word for those Hebrews 00:31:47.500 --> 00:31:53.779 10 through 12, endure, endure, endure. When we 00:31:53.779 --> 00:31:57.500 endure, we will see then the harvest of righteousness 00:31:57.500 --> 00:32:03.660 and peace is a promise for us. And so we go through 00:32:03.660 --> 00:32:08.720 all that hard stuff, and it's not fun. Did any 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:13.859 of us as kids enjoy being disciplined? No, we 00:32:13.859 --> 00:32:16.500 didn't. You're like, yeah, I'm getting a spanking 00:32:16.500 --> 00:32:25.829 today. No, we didn't. And I've always been such 00:32:25.829 --> 00:32:27.950 a one that wants to receive affirmation from 00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:30.029 my leadership because I want to please them. 00:32:30.130 --> 00:32:33.150 Even to think that, oh man, they're upset with 00:32:33.150 --> 00:32:39.269 me. It's hard. It's hard. We have to endure it. 00:32:39.450 --> 00:32:42.150 But let's just walk through the aftermath, can 00:32:42.150 --> 00:32:45.529 we? Once we have endured it, let's look at the 00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:50.250 beauty of the aftermath. Once David had gone 00:32:50.250 --> 00:32:54.259 through the rebuke of the Lord, And his child 00:32:54.259 --> 00:32:58.599 had died. Here's what it says in verse 20. Then 00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:03.359 David got up from the ground, because he had 00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:07.559 been in a place of grief, a heap of ashes, praying 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:13.660 for his son. After he got up from the ground, 00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:18.599 After he had washed, put on lotions, and changed 00:33:18.599 --> 00:33:21.579 his clothes. What was he doing? He's saying, 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.859 that isn't my identity anymore. I'm not in the 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:30.099 place of grieving and mourning anymore. It says 00:33:30.099 --> 00:33:34.180 he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. 00:33:35.220 --> 00:33:38.200 He went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. 00:33:38.810 --> 00:33:42.549 Then he went to his own house, and at his request 00:33:42.549 --> 00:33:46.529 they served him food, and he ate. What David 00:33:46.529 --> 00:33:50.009 didn't do in the face of all of the direction 00:33:50.009 --> 00:33:55.349 of the Lord, all of that, he did not wallow in 00:33:55.349 --> 00:33:59.130 shame. He did not wallow in regret. He did not 00:33:59.130 --> 00:34:04.910 wallow in sorrow. He began to worship. He began 00:34:04.910 --> 00:34:09.219 to worship. I think he learned his lesson well, 00:34:09.460 --> 00:34:15.199 didn't he, in that moment. And so in Hebrews 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:20.619 12, verse 12, at the end of our passage there 00:34:20.619 --> 00:34:27.250 on the correction of the Lord, it says, Therefore, 00:34:27.309 --> 00:34:30.010 now that you have endured the correction, now 00:34:30.010 --> 00:34:32.369 that you've endured the hardship, therefore, 00:34:32.469 --> 00:34:37.949 strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. He's 00:34:37.949 --> 00:34:41.409 acknowledging that at the end, you're not going 00:34:41.409 --> 00:34:44.150 to feel all strong and glorious and ready to 00:34:44.150 --> 00:34:46.829 go forward in victory. No, you're going to feel 00:34:46.829 --> 00:34:51.110 weak. You're going to feel all of that lack of 00:34:51.110 --> 00:34:54.210 strength. And we think there's something wrong 00:34:54.210 --> 00:34:57.210 with our season because we feel weak, because 00:34:57.210 --> 00:35:00.409 we don't feel victorious. Can I just say, just 00:35:00.409 --> 00:35:03.369 maybe God is wanting to do a work of correction 00:35:03.369 --> 00:35:07.670 and training. And at the end of it, you will 00:35:07.670 --> 00:35:11.309 strengthen. your feeble arms and weak knees. 00:35:11.449 --> 00:35:15.789 You will make level paths for your feet so that 00:35:15.789 --> 00:35:20.309 the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 00:35:20.750 --> 00:35:24.170 He is not wanting you to go forever disabled. 00:35:24.289 --> 00:35:28.230 If you're going from that place of correction 00:35:28.230 --> 00:35:32.469 disabled, then you're missing something in the 00:35:32.469 --> 00:35:37.739 process. You're missing the healing. Because 00:35:37.739 --> 00:35:42.059 he always heals and restores. He always heals 00:35:42.059 --> 00:35:47.840 and restores. And so I'm going to ask if the 00:35:47.840 --> 00:35:52.940 worship team would come up. There was a time 00:35:52.940 --> 00:36:01.840 frame when David first had committed his adultery 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:09.940 and murder. Nathan didn't come to David until 00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:13.559 the baby had, she had gone through nine months 00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:17.099 of pregnancy. So David had gone through a long 00:36:17.099 --> 00:36:29.219 season of thinking he's doing okay. And when 00:36:29.219 --> 00:36:33.780 it says that He got up and he changed his clothes 00:36:33.780 --> 00:36:37.719 and he went into the house of the Lord to worship. 00:36:38.460 --> 00:36:41.739 Do you know what I think that he wrote? Do you 00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:44.579 know what song I think he wrote when he went 00:36:44.579 --> 00:36:49.219 and worshiped? I think that's where we had Psalm 00:36:49.219 --> 00:36:55.039 51 come out of. I think that's where, I think 00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:58.400 it was in that moment. Where he had gotten up 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:00.719 and he had gone into the house to worship. I 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:08.079 think that's when he wrote Psalm 51. And we're 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:10.679 not going to read all of Psalm 51. But I do want 00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:13.739 to read probably the passage we are most familiar 00:37:13.739 --> 00:37:18.659 with. And this would be a great one for you just 00:37:18.659 --> 00:37:22.079 to meditate on this week. Because when he's writing 00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:25.800 Psalm 51, he's talking about even emotionally. 00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:32.099 His nine -month season where he doesn't, because 00:37:32.099 --> 00:37:34.900 when it says, it says, restore to me the joy 00:37:34.900 --> 00:37:38.000 of my salvation. Well, what does that say to 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.659 me? During that season, he didn't have the joy 00:37:40.659 --> 00:37:44.639 of salvation, right? And so I think it was a 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:47.559 quiet season. I think it was a season where he 00:37:47.559 --> 00:37:50.139 didn't feel connected to God. I think it was 00:37:50.139 --> 00:37:54.380 a season where probably his worship songs were 00:37:54.380 --> 00:37:57.880 not flowing out of him. I have a feeling Psalm 00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:00.460 51 may have been one of the first he had written 00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:07.579 in a long time. But he writes in Psalm 51 in 00:38:07.579 --> 00:38:12.119 this prayer of repentance. Purge me with hyssop 00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:18.219 and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be 00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:22.880 whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness. 00:38:23.820 --> 00:38:28.139 That the bones you have broken may rejoice. That's 00:38:28.139 --> 00:38:31.260 the heart of the shepherd. That sometimes disables 00:38:31.260 --> 00:38:34.440 sheep because they will not stay with the shepherd. 00:38:35.260 --> 00:38:39.739 And it's an act of mercy and kindness. That the 00:38:39.739 --> 00:38:43.880 bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your 00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:47.599 face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 00:38:47.860 --> 00:38:51.789 Create in me a clean heart, O God. And renew 00:38:51.789 --> 00:38:57.889 a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me 00:38:57.889 --> 00:39:02.510 away from your presence. And do not take your 00:39:02.510 --> 00:39:09.530 Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of 00:39:09.530 --> 00:39:14.289 your salvation. And uphold me by your generous 00:39:14.289 --> 00:39:19.409 spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your 00:39:19.409 --> 00:39:23.469 ways. and sinners shall be converted to you. 00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:29.110 I think he wrote this when he went to the house 00:39:29.110 --> 00:39:34.429 to worship. And he's being restored. What is 00:39:34.429 --> 00:39:36.789 he doing? He's making the path straight for his 00:39:36.789 --> 00:39:39.090 feet. He's saying, I'm not going to continue 00:39:39.090 --> 00:39:45.489 on as king, disabled and broken. I'm going to 00:39:45.489 --> 00:39:49.500 receive the joy of salvation again. I'm going 00:39:49.500 --> 00:39:52.480 to be upheld by the generosity of the Spirit 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:57.480 of the living God. And some of you today, we're 00:39:57.480 --> 00:39:59.639 all in different places. And listen, we're all 00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:03.719 going to experience, because we're all sons and 00:40:03.719 --> 00:40:05.840 daughters, the correction and discipline of the 00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:09.179 Lord. And there's just something in us being 00:40:09.179 --> 00:40:15.260 willing to embrace it. Can I just say, the more 00:40:15.260 --> 00:40:19.250 we embrace and the more we... are teachable the 00:40:19.250 --> 00:40:23.989 quicker quicker we get through our lessons right 00:40:23.989 --> 00:40:28.130 and so this morning we're going to take a moment 00:40:28.130 --> 00:40:30.989 as the team leads us in worship and we're just 00:40:30.989 --> 00:40:35.829 going to make this a place of altar you can in 00:40:35.829 --> 00:40:39.510 your seat or if you need to come to the altar 00:40:39.510 --> 00:40:44.889 itself but can we just have a few moments where 00:40:44.889 --> 00:40:50.619 we Come to God as our Father and say, Lord, maybe 00:40:50.619 --> 00:40:53.340 you're not in that teachable place right now. 00:40:53.400 --> 00:40:56.059 Maybe God's not doing that work in you now. I 00:40:56.059 --> 00:40:58.260 guarantee you he will be because he's continually 00:40:58.260 --> 00:41:01.340 wanting us to learn and to grow from glory to 00:41:01.340 --> 00:41:06.000 glory to glory. And there's a process. And so 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:08.579 this morning I want us to just take a moment 00:41:08.579 --> 00:41:12.380 before we leave to just say, yes, Lord. We sang 00:41:12.380 --> 00:41:18.409 it today. When we sing things like, I want to 00:41:18.409 --> 00:41:24.289 be tried by fire. It really feels like a fire. 00:41:26.150 --> 00:41:30.150 He's not going to refine us while we're sitting 00:41:30.150 --> 00:41:36.469 back eating chocolates and enjoying life. It 00:41:36.469 --> 00:41:41.269 really feels like a fire. It really is painful. 00:41:41.590 --> 00:41:47.329 It really is uncomfortable. And so we can sing, 00:41:47.449 --> 00:41:49.750 oh, that's such a great song. I love to sing 00:41:49.750 --> 00:41:53.630 that song. But as soon as he puts a fire under 00:41:53.630 --> 00:41:57.090 us to reveal what's in us, like, oh, wait a minute, 00:41:57.210 --> 00:42:00.289 where's the bucket of water? Holy Spirit, rain 00:42:00.289 --> 00:42:04.969 down on me. I'd rather have the rain than the 00:42:04.969 --> 00:42:09.889 fire. Can we just today, before we leave, take 00:42:09.889 --> 00:42:12.889 a moment to embrace, Lord, we sang it. We sang, 00:42:12.989 --> 00:42:17.929 I want to be tried by fire. But right now I'm 00:42:17.929 --> 00:42:20.010 feeling the fire and I've been resisting. But 00:42:20.010 --> 00:42:23.010 would you teach me your ways? Would you teach 00:42:23.010 --> 00:42:27.989 me your direction? I open up my difficult places. 00:42:28.469 --> 00:42:31.989 I open up the hardships. I open up my places 00:42:31.989 --> 00:42:35.869 of grief and difficulty. I open up the season 00:42:35.869 --> 00:42:38.750 where I can't really hear you. And I just invite 00:42:38.750 --> 00:42:41.869 you in as my father to do in me what needs to 00:42:41.869 --> 00:42:45.050 be done. Can we just take a moment to do that? 00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:48.920 And so I want to just invite you to stand. And 00:42:48.920 --> 00:42:52.260 the team is going to lead us. And you are welcome 00:42:52.260 --> 00:42:54.739 to make where you're standing an altar. You're 00:42:54.739 --> 00:42:57.219 welcome to come down to the front. Sometimes 00:42:57.219 --> 00:42:59.719 we need to get away, even from our family members, 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:02.699 just to have one -on -one with God. But let's 00:43:02.699 --> 00:43:06.320 make space for a few moments to just embrace 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:10.639 the work that the Father wants to do in us.