1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,680 Today we're starting a new series called /fully. 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:04,560 And the reason I want to make sure 3 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:05,640 that we have this graphic up was 4 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:06,680 because it's literally in my notes 5 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:08,080 that I was going to say that this is one 6 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,260 of the favorite graphics that we've ever had, for me, 7 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:13,720 that we've ever had for a series. 8 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,480 There's a guy sitting there, he's looking up at a starry sky 9 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,480 and the details on the screen may not capture all this, 10 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,680 but there's just stars everywhere 11 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,320 and they are just enamored by the beauty of the sky. 12 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,720 And then what we've done is we've superimposed a water 13 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,080 balloon that's being punctured in slow motion 14 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,400 and it's just suspended above this person. 15 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,160 What happens is your imagination starts 16 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:44,320 to think about what that's going to do. 17 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,000 It's going to fall on that person. 18 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,760 How will they handle that? 19 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,560 How will they be able to take all of that in? 20 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:54,000 And when I look at it, I look at it 21 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,160 and I go, that's definitely too much water 22 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,200 to fall on any one human being. 23 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,280 And yet at the same time when I look at it, 24 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,160 I think I could take it. 25 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,760 I think I'd be okay. 26 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,080 I don't know about you, but I think I'd be okay. 27 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,320 I think that they are going to be okay. 28 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:14,080 It might even be exhilarating. 29 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:17,320 It's going to be something that they talk about 30 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:18,220 for the rest of their life. 31 00:01:18,220 --> 00:01:20,320 There was one time I was standing looking at the stars 32 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,760 and then suddenly there was a giant water balloon above me 33 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,000 and an invisible hand popped it and it all fell on me 34 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:28,240 and I was okay. 35 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,800 Something really captivating about that 36 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:37,800 because that is how I feel about the fullness of God. 37 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,720 The fullness of God is more than we could possibly take in 38 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,520 any one of us, it's too much. 39 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,520 But that too muchness will not leave us injured. 40 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:54,080 Amen? 41 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,320 Nearly everything on this earth, if you do it too much, 42 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,720 eat it too much, take in too much, it will hurt you. 43 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,240 Even the central elements for life, 44 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,320 if you drink too much water, and this is true, 45 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,360 if you drink too much water, you can get sick 46 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,720 from an electrolyte imbalance. 47 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,120 Oh, we're finding this out. 48 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:23,120 If you get, if you take in too much pure oxygen, 49 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,240 you'll actually get dizzy, you can get nauseous, 50 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,240 your heart rate can lower to a dangerous rate. 51 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:31,240 When was the last time you were at church 52 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:32,920 and your pastor's phone rang? 53 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:37,920 Now to be fair, it wasn't my phone, it was my iPad, but. 54 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,520 You can have too much, 55 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,520 you can have too much of a good thing, oxygen, water. 56 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,320 But what about Jesus? 57 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,080 Last week and the week before, 58 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,520 we introduced a new song called Make Room. 59 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,960 It says, I will make room for you 60 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:04,600 to do whatever you want to. 61 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,080 And in the bridge, it says, shake up the ground 62 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,400 of all my tradition, break down the walls 63 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,120 of all my religion, because too much religion 64 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,520 can be a bad thing. 65 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:21,840 Notice I said religion, not Jesus. 66 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,200 Religions are just systems for understanding God. 67 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,120 And if we fill up on religion, 68 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,400 the system more than the fullness of God, 69 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:38,400 or if we confuse the system for what is able to fill us, 70 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,440 we will probably get injured. 71 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,200 We could get dizzy, nauseous, our heart rate could slow, 72 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,840 we could fall into our heads, 73 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,440 and maybe we would then attribute that injury to God 74 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,040 instead of to the system. 75 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,280 We don't want people to fall in love with a system. 76 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,560 We don't want you to fall in love with just the house. 77 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,440 We don't want you to fall in love with the concept 78 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:09,720 of Christianity. 79 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,160 You're meant to meet Jesus, 80 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,400 to encounter God the Father, 81 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:21,400 to experience and be moved by the Holy Spirit. 82 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,800 We don't want you to get it confused. 83 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,600 The songs and the sermons and the systems, 84 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:31,240 the structure are not the point. 85 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,160 They are not what fills you. 86 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:38,160 God truly fills us. 87 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:43,760 There is more in God than we could ever fully experience 88 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,440 in our entire lives. 89 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,640 With that, let's open up our Bibles, okay? 90 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:54,800 If you don't have a Bible, 91 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:56,960 there are blue ones on the tables, 92 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,240 or they are out on the bookshelf out in the lobby. 93 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,680 You can take one of those home. 94 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,200 If you need it or you can download a Bible 95 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,640 from any of the digital app stores, 96 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,360 we are going to be in John chapter 10. 97 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,480 It goes Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. 98 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:14,360 If you see any of those, 99 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,440 you know that you're in the right neighborhood. 100 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:18,560 And then we have a tradition 101 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,520 of giving the scriptures our full attention 102 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,760 when being read in the context of the sermon. 103 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:24,080 You can do that any number of ways, 104 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,480 whichever way helps you give it the most attention. 105 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,560 If you would like to stand with me as I read it, 106 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,760 you are invited to do that as you are able. 107 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,640 It is John chapter 10, starting in verse one, it says this. 108 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,320 Very truly I tell you Pharisees, 109 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,600 anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, 110 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,560 but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. 111 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,520 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 112 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,560 The gatekeepers opens the gate for him, 113 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,040 and the sheep listen to his voice. 114 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,200 He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 115 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:01,880 When he has brought out all his own, 116 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:03,120 he goes on ahead of them, 117 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,320 and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 118 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:07,800 But they will never follow a stranger. 119 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,800 In fact, they will run away from him 120 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,760 because they do not recognize a stranger's voice. 121 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,880 Verse nine, I am the gate. 122 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:16,840 Whoever enters through me will be saved. 123 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,600 They will come in and go out and find pasture. 124 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,680 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 125 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,680 I have come, they may have life, have it to the full. 126 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,280 Let us pray. 127 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:34,080 God of every tribe, every tongue, every color, 128 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,440 every nation, we thank you for your word. 129 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:38,680 We thank you that it has persisted 130 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,160 throughout the millennia, that we still have it to read, 131 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:42,800 to consider, to learn from, 132 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:44,920 and I pray that whatever you have for us to learn today, 133 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,040 that it would stick, 134 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,320 that it would become a part of the framework of our faith 135 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,120 as we become stronger, 136 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,880 as we become more like your son, Jesus. 137 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:58,120 Amen. 138 00:06:58,120 --> 00:06:59,920 Amen, thanks y'all, you can have a seat. 139 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,120 All right, so let me just walk through this a bit, okay? 140 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,520 Jesus is talking to the Pharisees here. 141 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,120 Generally speaking, the Pharisees believed 142 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,320 that the system would save them. 143 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,120 They care deeply about following the rules, 144 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,520 because if they followed the rules perfectly, 145 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,320 God would bless them. 146 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:27,320 God would save them from their enemies. 147 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,320 God was good, yes, 148 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,320 but in their practical theology, 149 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,720 God's expression of goodness was tied to their behavior. 150 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:36,720 Does that make sense? 151 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,720 And so the perception of the Pharisees from the outside 152 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,720 was that the only fullness they had inside 153 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,520 was from rules and laws and legalism. 154 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,720 And so Jesus is confronting that by saying, 155 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,520 the way that you're doing this is stealing life. 156 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,520 The way that you are doing this is stealing life. 157 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,720 He's saying, the sheep that are looking for rules, 158 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,520 they're gonna follow you for sure. 159 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:12,920 And there are always gonna be people 160 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:14,920 that are looking just to follow rules, 161 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,720 believing that the rules are what will save them. 162 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,920 But the sheep that are looking for life, 163 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,120 not just law, Jesus says they're gonna follow me 164 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,720 because they will hear my voice, know my voice, 165 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,520 and they will follow me. 166 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:32,320 Now, I've never been hunting. 167 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,320 I don't know about you. 168 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,920 At least I don't think I've ever been hunting, 169 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:41,120 that I can recall, but my neighbor Ben is an avid hunter. 170 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:42,120 I love him, he's a great guy. 171 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,320 I've watched him train a hunting dog named Paul 172 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,120 for the past few years. 173 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,320 I'll be driving down the alley between our houses. 174 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:54,320 He lives on this side of the alley, 175 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:55,520 I live on this side of the alley. 176 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:56,520 And from the end of the alley, 177 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,120 I can see him working with Paul 178 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,320 doing exercises on being a good hunting dog. 179 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,120 And I know, I have no concern whatsoever 180 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,320 that this dog is gonna run out in front of me in the alley 181 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,520 because Paul is well trained. 182 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,520 Now, we have a dog named Ralph. 183 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,320 He is a pug, and we love him. 184 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,120 But Ralph only listens if you have a treat in his hand, 185 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,120 or in your hand, and only if you're directly in front of him, 186 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:29,320 and only if there isn't a bush 187 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,920 that he really wants to go over and smell, 188 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,320 or if there isn't anything other that he would rather do. 189 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,320 Ralph does not listen very well. 190 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,320 He is in many ways the opposite of Paul. 191 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,320 He is a pug, Ralph is a pug. 192 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,320 Paul is a giant black Labrador. 193 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,320 Ralph is chubby, Paul is lean. 194 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,320 Because Paul has learned to listen to Ben's voice, 195 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,320 Ben can actually throw a fake duck halfway down the alley, 196 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:06,320 and he will just sit there waiting for his master's voice, 197 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,320 waiting to be told that he can go, 198 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:13,320 because you do not want your dog chasing a bird 199 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:14,320 when you're out hunting, 200 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,320 and someone else might still be firing their weapon. 201 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,320 Paul is safe because Paul has learned to listen to Ben's voice. 202 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:28,320 Ralph belongs in the backyard or with a leash on. 203 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,320 The sheep that Jesus is talking about, 204 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,320 they're closer to Paul than they are to Ralph. 205 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:41,320 Because sheep really do learn to listen to the voice of their shepherd. 206 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,320 I've seen videos of this, 207 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,320 where people go up to the edge of a sheep pen, 208 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,320 and they call and they try and convince the sheep to come over 209 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,320 five different ways, 210 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,320 and the sheep ignore all of them 211 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,320 until they hear the voice of the shepherd, 212 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,320 and the shepherd comes along and gives out their call, 213 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,320 and the sheep come over because they know, 214 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,320 okay, that is my shepherd. 215 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,320 Now goats, on the other hand. 216 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,320 Have you ever been around goats? 217 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:08,320 Anyone? 218 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,320 Everyone been to a petting zoo? 219 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,320 Every year during fall break, 220 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,320 we take all the kids out to Shady Knolls, 221 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,320 and every single year, we get one of those bags, 222 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,320 we get one little bag for every kid 223 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,320 of the stuff that you can feed to the animals, 224 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,320 mostly goats. 225 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,320 These goats, they are what I would call 226 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,320 aggressive. 227 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:33,320 They will eat from any hand 228 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,320 that is remotely moving in their direction. 229 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,320 They climb over each other, 230 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,320 on top of each other, 231 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,320 they maneuver with everything that they have, 232 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:44,320 they jockey for position, 233 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,320 they stick their heads through the fencing, 234 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,320 even sometimes getting stuck, 235 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,320 just to stretch their tongue out, 236 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,320 to grab one more grain 237 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,320 from one tiny child's hand. 238 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,320 It's as if they think they will never eat a meal again. 239 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,320 Sheep will follow their shepherd's voice. 240 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,320 But from what I have read, 241 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,320 goats don't learn to do that. 242 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:19,320 Goats have to be coaxed with something out in front of them, 243 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,320 convinced that there is a prize. 244 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,320 They have to be convinced to move 245 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,320 with some kind of reward. 246 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,320 A blessing, if you will. 247 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:40,320 Goats will only move from blessing to blessing to blessing 248 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,320 to get where the shepherd wants them to go. 249 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,320 But the sheep will listen and trust 250 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:53,320 that the shepherd is leading them to good places. 251 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,320 Jesus is trying to tell them 252 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:59,320 that he's not just holding out handfuls of grain, 253 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,320 that he's actually leading them to fields of pasture, 254 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,320 to streams of water, 255 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:09,320 life to the full, 256 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,320 not life for the moment. 257 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,320 And that phrase, life to the full, 258 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,320 it's in our prayers that we pray here, 259 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,320 it's across songs that we sing, 260 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,320 because it's from the Scriptures. 261 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,320 That phrase is a pivotal one. 262 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,320 It means greater, 263 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,320 it means excessive, abundant, exceedingly, 264 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,320 properly all around, 265 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,320 beyond what is anticipated, 266 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:43,320 exceeding expectation, going past the expected limit. 267 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,320 The Amplified Version says, 268 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,320 I came that they may have life and have it in abundance 269 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:53,320 to the full till it overflows. 270 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:59,320 Father overflow my cup. 271 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,320 So listen, there are a thousand things 272 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:04,320 competing for our attention. 273 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,320 A thousand voices, a thousand shepherds, 274 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,320 with a thousand carrots and a thousand rules, 275 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,320 looking to steal and kill and destroy. 276 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,320 Competing to be what we think will fill us, 277 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:23,320 whether it is politics or money or romance or religion. 278 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,320 We can frantically careen our necks 279 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,320 to get the seeds from any passing hand, 280 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,320 or we can listen to the voice of Jesus 281 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:35,320 and follow where he leads, 282 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,320 trusting that he will fill us to the full, 283 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:45,320 satiated and satisfied beyond expectations. 284 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:51,320 That he will help us experience life to the full. 285 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:52,320 So how do we practice this, 286 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,320 or how do we even participate with this? 287 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:59,320 Well I think first we need to ask ourselves a question 288 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:00,320 and meditate on this. 289 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,320 You can write this down, 290 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:03,320 put it in your phone if you want, 291 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,320 you will not have enough time 292 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,320 to give this question enough attention right now. 293 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:11,320 We need to start by asking ourselves, 294 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,320 are we being injured by what we think will fill us? 295 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,320 I know something about myself, 296 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:19,320 and I've said this before, 297 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:20,320 it's not a secret, 298 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,320 it's not something I'm necessarily embarrassed about, 299 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:27,320 it's just something I know to be true about myself. 300 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,320 Sometimes I eat far more than I need to, 301 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,320 and that's not a joke. 302 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,320 I eat more food than I need to, 303 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,320 and I know that it's because I have an issue 304 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,320 with managing my emotions. 305 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,320 I know that it is a mechanism for me. 306 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,320 I don't always have a healthy relationship with food, 307 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,320 and sometimes what I'm literally trying to do 308 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:55,320 is cover up one feeling with another. 309 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:00,320 I'm trying to cover up sadness or grief or trauma or anger 310 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,320 with this feeling of being too full. 311 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,320 In those moments, I'm being like a goat. 312 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:14,320 I'm looking for an immediate fix for my feelings. 313 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,320 And that is why I've started talking to a therapist about it, 314 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,320 because I think so many of my issues with food 315 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,320 are connected back to trauma and grief. 316 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:28,320 Now notice, I didn't say I'll just pray about it, 317 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,320 because I pray all the time. 318 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,320 I wake up in the morning literally praying almost every day, 319 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,320 talking to Jesus, the first words in my mouth, 320 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,320 as I'm coming to be awake. 321 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:45,320 I'm talking to Jesus, and I hear Him say, 322 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:50,320 go talk to a therapist. 323 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,320 Prayer is a conversation. 324 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,320 For some of us, if we have a real conversation with God, 325 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,320 we will hear Him say, 326 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:05,320 why don't you go talk to someone about that? 327 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:10,320 When we listen to the shepherd, he will lead us to life. 328 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:16,320 And what I want all of us to hear is that if you are being injured 329 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:21,320 by something that you have been trying to fill your life with, 330 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,320 please talk to someone about it. 331 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:31,320 Please talk to someone about it. 332 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,320 Then I'm reminded that where the Spirit of the Lord is, 333 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,320 there is freedom. 334 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:41,320 I'm reminded that God is love, and that His love casts out all fear. 335 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:46,320 I'm reminded this love frees us from the bondage of the law and legalism. 336 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:51,320 I'm reminded that Jesus has made His home literally in my heart. 337 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,320 I'm reminded that if I feel injured by what is filling me, 338 00:17:55,320 --> 00:18:04,320 I might be trying to jam something in where Jesus already is. 339 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,320 When we moved to Colorado from Georgia, many in 2010, 340 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,320 we lived in Colorado for a year, three years earlier, 341 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,320 for the school of worship that we went to, 342 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,320 and then in 2010, we were moving back there. 343 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:25,320 I had this 94-ish Mazda Protege, five-speed, a little black, 344 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:30,320 a little speeder, and we were pulling it behind the U-Haul, 345 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:32,320 because we had a van as well, so one of us drove the van, 346 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,320 one of us drove the U-Haul with this car. 347 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,320 What we did, like many of us have done, we used the car we were pulling, 348 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,320 like what? Like extra storage, right? 349 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:47,320 Let's jam more stuff into this thing, because it didn't all fit into that thing. 350 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,320 And what happened was I had this old guitar that I really didn't play much anymore, 351 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,320 because it was broken in two or three different ways, 352 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,320 but it was that nostalgia guitar. 353 00:18:55,320 --> 00:19:01,320 I had had it forever. I had played the ever-living snot out of this thing. 354 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,320 What happened is I didn't have anywhere to put this guitar. 355 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,320 Literally, everything was full, and so I opened the driver's door, 356 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,320 and I tried to, actually I was on the passenger door, 357 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:19,320 and I tried putting it up into the dash, the guitar in a big travel case, 358 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:25,320 onto the dash, over the wheel, and then I'm trying to close the door. 359 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:31,320 I'm like trying to close the door on this guitar case inside of this little car, 360 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:37,320 and then I heard the crack. 361 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:47,320 The crack, not of the guitar, of the windshield. 362 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,320 I was trying to cram something in a space where it didn't belong. 363 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:56,320 I took the guitar back out, this piece of junk guitar, 364 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,320 and leaned it against the house that we were moving away from. 365 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,320 I sent a text message to my buddy Kent Cray, and I said, 366 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:07,320 yeah, I left a present for you on my old porch. 367 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:15,320 I closed the door, we moved to Colorado with a giant crack through the windshield, 368 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:23,320 my primary vehicle. 369 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:29,320 If you believe in Jesus, I'd say to any extent, 370 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:36,320 if you believe in Jesus, you are full of Jesus. 371 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:41,320 That means that everything that goes in here, 372 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:45,320 Jesus is going, yeah, this belongs right here with me. 373 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,320 This belongs right here. This belongs right here. 374 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:53,320 Sometimes there's going to be stuff that we try to fill our own self with, 375 00:20:53,320 --> 00:21:02,320 but we just don't trust that Jesus really has already filled that space. 376 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:09,320 We can trust that if you know Jesus, then you are full. 377 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,320 And over the next, I think, seven more Sundays, 378 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,320 where we talk about different kinds of fully, how to live fully, 379 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,320 we are not telling you that those are things that you need to get into you. 380 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,320 We are saying that those are things that God helps live out from us. 381 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:30,320 Last thing I want to say, that I'm reminded of a quote from the line, 382 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:35,320 the witch in the wardrobe, and this has been used many times, 383 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,320 so maybe you've heard this before, you've probably read the books, 384 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,320 obviously C.S. Lewis is writing these books as allegory, 385 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,320 as a kind of theology of how he views God. 386 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:51,320 Mr. Beaver says, Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion. 387 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,320 Ooh, says Susan. I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? 388 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,320 I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. 389 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:07,320 Safe, said Mr. Beaver. Who said anything about safe? 390 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:13,320 Of course he isn't safe, but he's good. 391 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:20,320 He's the king, I tell you. 392 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:25,320 Along the way, if you're standing in the presence of God, 393 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:30,320 you're going to have some growing pains. 394 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:38,320 Living with the Lord in a way that does not injure us does not mean that nothing will ever hurt. 395 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:43,320 In the moments of pain, in the moments of stretching, in the moments of growth, 396 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,320 we're meant to remember that even though this feels dangerous, 397 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,320 even though this might feel confusing at times, 398 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:58,320 that the one that we are following, the one that we are filled by, is good. 399 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:04,320 Jesus is the good shepherd. He's not just a shepherd. 400 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:11,320 He's the good shepherd. He is tov. He is from the beginning. 401 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:19,320 He is for us, and he will not injure us. 402 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,320 He will lead us into life. 403 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,320 Life to the full. That is what you have for us. 404 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:34,320 Amen? Amen. Let us pray. 405 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:38,320 Jesus, thank you for being a good shepherd. 406 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:46,320 I pray that each of us would have a conviction from your spirit that we are full, 407 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,320 and that if there are things that we have been trying to jam into all of the spaces, 408 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:56,320 that you help us set some of those down, 409 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:04,320 that we will trust that you will show us how to live fully, 410 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:14,320 that you will not injure us, even as you lead us through danger. 411 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:22,320 Amen.