Good morning, everyone. Good to see you all.
Well, I'll just start with this. One of my earliest
memories, so I moved here in 2001, and one of
my earliest memories of my young adulthood, so
I was 24 when I moved here, was my friend and
I would go to Borders pretty regularly. If anybody
knows what Borders is, it's a bookstore. And
it was up where, actually, is BAM still up there
right now? Okay, it was up where that is. So
we would go to Borders, and we would order coffee
and pull out, like, a ridiculous amount of magazines.
And we would just sit and read magazines for
a really long time. And one night, in real time,
we observed this situation. We were poor. We
were poor and we did not have a good practice
of consistently paying our bills and we had limited
income and so we were sitting in the cafe drinking
our coffee paid for with money that should have
been going to our electric bill and we noted
that that's exactly what was happening and we
laughed about it because we're like one day when
we thought we would be financially strong stable
we would look back at this incident as a part
of those formative memories that people have
for their young adulthood lives when they're
like forging their gritty way through young adulthood
and then we went back to our coffee and magazines
delighting in the fact that that was the truth
of the matter and the electric bill still wasn't
paid but we In that moment, we're escaping the
reality and enjoying our coffee and magazines.
And truly, as far as finding cheap activities
to do, that's a decent one. If you're looking
for something to do, you can look at magazines
and buy a coffee. But our observations of the
situation were notable, and the pattern was regular.
It wasn't like we were just observing a one -time
incident. This was recurring. So you make it
into young adulthood. bumpy years of learning
money management. And you may level up in your
work so that it becomes less critical for you
to figure out the intricacies of that because
you've got a good pad in there. Or like some
of the rest of us, we work in ministry. You don't
necessarily level up. You just enjoy your work
for life. Or for that matter, those who went
into teaching or nursing or social work, there
wasn't really a level up of, oh, now, now the
money is rolling in. This morning's message is
a part of our Desire Paths series. Desire Paths
are these. paths that can become ruts that we
have made where we most walk, where we spend
most of our time forging forward. And not just
us, but societies as well. These desire paths
are socially made, and there's a reason for that.
So today's focus is on... Those non -essential
spending points as well as entertainment. They
are not the same thing, but there is crossover
and there is connection. So that's where we're
going to spend our time. That's what we're going
to be looking at today. So non -essential spending,
that's the things that fall outside of your bills.
That's the coffee that you're buying when you
should be paying your electric bill. It's your
regular fees to keep the lights on, outside of
your regular fees to keep the lights on or the
food on the table, the car running, the people
healthy. It's the extras that you absolutely
could live without, but you enjoy them. And then
this can often be linked to entertainment of
various kinds. Entertainment doesn't always cost
money, but when it does, it falls under the non
-essential category. Whether a cost is attached
or it isn't. entertainment is typically understood
to be something that provides amusement or enjoyment.
And it comes in a variety, a myriad of forms.
A variety is a word that you say when you mean
variety and myriad. And so because it is the
season of Lent, each week we've discussed things
that when the relationship with them gains an
unbalanced priority in our lives, it requires
examination. So Lent is the 40 days leading up
to Easter where we re -enter the story of Christ's
life, willingly sacrificed for ours. It is, by
nature, meant to be a heavy event. There is nothing
lighthearted or explicitly uplifting in the narrative.
It is meant to be difficult, heartbreaking, dark,
and confronting. It is meant to be all the things
that we typically want to avoid, the things that
we want to escape. And we've become very good
at chasing and working hard to maintain a level
of happiness and lightness in our lives, or at
the very least, numb or disassociate ourselves
to the point that we no longer feel tied to the
things that I just mentioned a moment ago. Because
we've become very discomfort phobic. We don't
know how to deal with difficult things, with
hard things. And listen, I'm not saying that
we should like those things. They are a very
real part of life. But because we have gained...
A lot of things that help us walk away from our
discomfort or turn away from our discomfort,
our ability to engage with it has become small.
So the items we are talking about today, entertainment,
non -essential spending, they are overwhelmingly
the conduits through which we work to maintain
this distance from discomfort in our lives. Now,
there is a level at which entertainment is a
gift. And if you have income that can bring things
that are enjoyable to you, praise God, and that's
great. I'm not saying these things are bad. Comedy
relief during a hard time, it's wonderful. The
joy of looking forward to the Super Bowl party
with friends? That's a fun thing. The super fun
video you saw on social media that you want to
share with everyone because it's that good and
made you laugh that hard, wonderful. The new
shoes that you got that look so good, listen,
when I bought my green Adidas last year, two
years ago, I was doing something for my 12 -year
-old self when I bought those. And that is okay.
But as with anything that makes us feel good,
it doesn't take a whole lot to want us to twist
it and use it in a way that it does some major
heavy lifting in our lives for things we should
be dealing with ourselves and with God. We love
a good distraction. And so this is a moment to
add a full disclaimer. Entertainment is not bad.
Like I said, it can be joyful and fun, meaningful
and uniting. Listen, a few weeks ago, I made
a flash decision to see Billy Joel in Indianapolis,
which is five hours away. And that's not a problem
unless you try to do it in less than 20 hours.
So I drove five hours to Indianapolis, saw the
concert. Kathleen, where'd you go? Are you around?
Oh, there you are. I was actually working in
Indianapolis, so I got to pop over and see the
event that she was working with, which was super
fun. So we got to visit, and then I hopped in
the car, and I crawled my way back to the Quad
Cities. And I got here at 9 .15 and rolled right
up to the church. But listen, it was worth it.
And entertainment has uniting features to it,
right? I did not know. Guys, I didn't know. I
didn't know that singing Piano Man with 50 ,000
of my closest friends in a starlit room was on
my bucket list. I didn't know until it was happening.
And then I'm like, oh my gosh. Why didn't anybody
tell me? This is amazing. And none of us that
were in that room are going to forget that. And
so I spent some non -essential money to go see
that show because Billy Joel is 75. And I know
that I regretted not seeing Ray Charles when
he came through. And I didn't want to do that
again. So I went to go see him. And I do spend
money on concerts sometimes to go to be entertained.
It's a joy. And of course, I love music. And
so that's a joyful way for me to spend some time
and money. And so listen, this is not just me
justifying. The concert that I went to to be
like, so because I went to a concert, it's fine.
Everybody, it's fine. I do mean it. The things
that we're talking about in this series are not
bad things. However, they are things that can
easily become poorly and unhealthily prioritized
in our lives. And so it's easy for them to become
that because they make us feel a certain way.
And we like it. So they require examination and
perhaps a season away in order to find ourselves
realigned with them in our lives in a more sustainable,
happy way and realigned in a more purposeful
way to the things that have real meaning to us.
So Lent is a gift of the historic church that
teaches us to take some time to be quiet. truthful,
and reflective, uncomfortable even, in order
to reorient ourselves towards the story of Christ
in our lives. So let's pray together that this,
from here on out, that we would hear what God
has to say to us. Jesus, thank you so much for
the church historic and these points within the
church year that remind us of what we are a part
of. I'm grateful for the creativity of the seasons
of Lent and Advent and Ordinary Time and Pentecost
and Holy Week. And they are remarkable moments
that we get to relive year after year. Again,
to reorient ourselves honestly and truthfully
to the kingdom story and to your story, Christ.
And so with our time today. The topic here, for
those of us that it is an issue for, help us.
Lord, help us. Societally speaking, God, this
is a big issue in society. So God, help us in
our world, in our society. And just help us realign
ourselves with you. Open our hearts and search
them. We pray this in your name. Amen. So living
in America, we know that we love our entertainment.
We know it. And getting ourselves a little treat.
Who loves a little treat? Yeah, there we go.
I just want a little treat. I deserve a little
treat. Just a little treat. Every day. Five times
a day. I deserve it. I deserve a little treat.
A number of sources report that in 2022 and 2023,
the average American spent roughly... $3 ,500
to $3 ,700 on entertainment each year on average
at base level, which is just over $290 to $300
per month. Did we know that we had extra $300
a month in our pockets? I did not know. That
was news. I did not know. Entertainment may include
any number of things, such as going to the movies
as a family or seeing a concert. It can also
include less costly items, such as the money
you spend on your favorite game or app on your
device, the coffee you got while out running
errands or taking kids to activities. But it
certainly adds up a lot, a lot. And most Americans,
by contrast, do not have savings accounts or
emergency funds. But most Americans do spend
$3 ,500 a year. And they often do so while thinking
they don't have enough money. That's real. And
that's not a judgment. I'm saying that's the
truth of it. This is generally just the reality
of what we experience. Now, non -essential spending
and entertainment, like I said, aren't exclusively
linked. There's a lot of entertainment available
to us that is free. And you don't even need to
leave your house. Once upon a time, there's a...
a comedian content creator named Rashonda Elias
that she goes to the board to bring some truth.
And one of her things was, now, what we want
us all to know that has a chokehold on us is
outside. If you go outside, you are spending
money. Money is outside. And she wants to remind
us that outside is closed. Don't go outside.
Except that outsiders come in. And it is on my
phone. And I can push a button. So, yeah, you
don't even need to leave your house. You just
pick up that device and down the wormhole you
go, watching videos about a topic you did not
have an interest in five minutes ago, but now
it's the only thing you've ever cared about.
Please respect my life choices. I will be taking
no further questions. And so what we end up spending
often is not just our money, but it is our time.
We spend so much time. And we expend so much
energy. When we think we're going to entertainment
because we're tired, we don't realize how much
our entertainment is sucking from us. Time and
energy. And I get it, sometimes we need a portal
out. We are in something that is difficult at
a very real level, and we just need a window
out. Entertainment provides that. I haven't been
diagnosed with ADHD, but my life makes... No
sense if I don't have it. So a quiet mind is
not something I understand. I wake up with 10
raging thoughts in my head at minimum. And about
five require further research for the questions
they are bringing up. Entertainment, specifically,
I end up on social media because it quiets my
brain. And it puts my busy mind on hold. And
if you live a life where your resources are always,
in another scenario, if you live a life where
your resources are always going out towards others'
needs, buying something just for yourself or
a night out with a partner feels vital. There
are reasons that we find our ways to these places,
but at their very core, whether or not they can
provide momentary care and relief and even something
good, they are ultimately pathways of distraction,
escape. or disassociation. And it's okay to be
truthful about that. It's okay to say, I'm actually
escaping right now. I'm actually looking for
a little relief. I think where we will benefit
is if we just say it. Because that is exactly
what's happening. And again, not all escape in
those moments is bad. Sometimes you do need a
window out. Sometimes you need a moment out.
But again, we need to be honest about that stuff.
So at their very core, That is what is happening.
They are pathways of distraction, escape, or
disassociation. And the society we live in, y
'all, the society we live in is structured in
a way that lives are being built on these things.
We have to rage against it if you want to live
another way. You want to not be on social media?
People don't understand. You want to not give
your kids cell phones until they're older teens?
People do not understand. You want to not do
something, see something, engage in something
that is highly popular in the world of pedal
distraction? People do not understand. The thing
is, we all know that this tension exists. We
all know where those tension points lie. We all
know. what is being desired of us by an entertainment
-based and easy -spending society. And we all
know what it feels like to either say no to it
or not engage in it to the degree others do.
So not only is the distraction there and easy,
but if you try to pull away from it, there's
a tension on the other side. Because when we
do that, when we do say no, it disrupts the status
quo. And that means something harder. That we
may not have the time or energy to engage in
because we've already spent it. We disrupt a
status quo and we know that the others around
us then feel judged. We've experienced that.
We know that when the outside boundaries of this
structure, or we know where the outside boundaries
of this structure are. We do. We all know. We
all know. And when we choose to pull away from
it. So what has happened when somebody has said,
oh, I saw this thing on Facebook, and you say,
I don't have Facebook. We all know. Somebody
on that other side of that conversation is like,
oh, you don't have Facebook? You're great. There's
this perceived judgment that exists. Oh, you
don't do that? Okay. Fine. Nice for you. If you're
telling me about something you saw, well, I was
going to say on X, right? Like that used to be
like the universal neutral symbol of something
that you could say, someone's X or whatever.
But now I can't say if you saw something on X,
meaning like a neutral social media platform
because X is a real thing. Yeah. If I say, did
you see this? And you say, I don't have that.
Like we feel that tension. Because we all know
our society is structured on this stuff. And
because our society is structured on it, our
brains and our lives and our time are all being
restructured around it. Our attention spans and
addictions to dopamine and serotonin boosts require
that even tools meant to be instructional or
informative have had to become entertaining.
Who uses Duolingo? Raise your hands. I know you're
doing it. And great, like I love it. You're trying
to learn something new. That's cool. What a great
thing to do, to learn something new. But Duolingo
had to make their app entertaining. It had to
input in it dopamine boosts, the little ding.
When you get something right. Even our news has
had to become entertaining. Because it is how
people will watch it. We are being altered. Are
we being altered towards something better? I
think we all agree, no. I don't even have to
ask hypothetically. So Lent is saying no. Lent
is resistance. So my advice when it comes to
non -essential spending is always books, which
can sound very academic and, oh, that's fine.
There's always a way to justify getting a book.
Unless you don't have the money for the book
or the coffee, because you've got to pay your
electric bill. But I, man, so I was walking through
the airport a few weeks ago, and I saw a book.
Because, guys, airport bookstores. Do you know
what I'm talking about? Thank you. It's so good.
Anyway, this book, because it's very bright,
stood out to me. It was in the front. But I'm
thrilled I bought it. It is an excellent book.
Omar Al -Akkad has something to say about resistance
in this book, and I'll leave it up here so you
can take a look. He has a chapter on leave -taking,
simply saying no. He talks about negative resistance.
So positive resistance is when you go to something.
Negative resistance is when you pull away from
something. We all know the power of a boycott.
So structures and marketing in society is set
up. On the understood social experience that
people, when you feed them enough of the same
thing over and over, will cave and say yes to
it. Enough targeted ads based on your algorithm
will undoubtedly result in your inevitable purchase
of the thing or the subscription or the download
or the ticket purchased or, or, or, or. In a
capitalist society, neutrally stated, we need
to understand that we are simply entities of
consumption and are treated as such in order
to keep the structure going. You need consumers.
So what happens when the consumer says, I opt
out. No, thank you. I choose not to participate.
Disengagement, reflection, reorientation. Lent
helps us return to a pace and a self that we
were designed to be. Because the world is not
that. We belong, though, to a kingdom where things
are very different. Our world has many things
that leave us overwhelmed. It can be a very noisy
place. And if your brain is always noisy and
the world is always noisy, you want to run away
from that. I hate how reachable we all are. I
hate that you can text me and message me and
this and this and this and this and this and
this. And we're all expected to respond at all
points of time. That is 100 % unsustainable.
We utilize entertainment and spending as a way
to escape. But where are we, if we're escaping
from, where are we going to? And that's the part
we don't think about. We just think about, I
just need to get away. But what are we moving
towards? Joshua Johnson is a comedian and social
commentary who's really funny and really sharp.
He said as a part of a broader, like this really
good segment he did, one of his stand -up routines,
as a part of a broader segment, entertainment
will never be your salvation. Entertainment,
by and large, is escapism. And no one has ever
escaped their chains by forgetting they were
there. No one has ever escaped their chains by
forgetting that they were there. You will not
be saved through entertainment. At the core of
the word translated as repentance in scripture
is the idea of a turning away. But in a turning
away from, it indicates that there must be a
turning. So in reorientation, in turning away,
we see that, in fact, there is a place we can
turn to. Because there has been an invitation
offered. We've been invited to something. We
are being invited to the kingdom. We are being
invited to full life in Christ. Amazing. So I
want to read from Luke 14, chapters, not chapters,
chapter 14, verses 15 through 24, although I'm
going to read a little bit at the start of it
too. So if you want to join me in this, you have
Bibles on your table, they are on your phone.
I think this is the NIV version. I will invite
us to stand as we are able to take a posture
of attention with the scriptures. And so I'm
going to read Luke 14. I'm going to start, I'm
going to read verse 1 to give context, and then
actually I will start at 12 from there. So one
Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house
of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully
watched. Verse 12, then Jesus said to his host,
when you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite
your friends, your brothers or your sisters,
your relatives or your rich neighbors. If you
do, they may invite you back and so you will
be repaid. So the idea is don't do something
because you know it's coming back to you. But
when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the
crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be
blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you
will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
Verse 15, when one of those at the table with
him heard this, he said to Jesus, blessed is
the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom
of God. And Jesus replied, a certain man was
preparing a great banquet, invited many guests.
At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant
to tell those who had been invited, come, for
everything is now ready. But they all alike began
to make excuses. The first said, I have just
bought a field and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me. And another said, I have just bought
five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them
out. Please excuse me. And still another said,
I just got married, so I cannot come. And the
servant came back and reported this to his master,
and then the owner of the house became very angry
and ordered his servant go out quickly into the
streets and alleys of the town and bring in the
poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
Sir, the servant said, what you ordered has been
done, but there is still room. And then the master
told his servant, go out to the roads and the
country lanes and compel them to come so that
my house will be full. I tell you, not one of
those who were invited will get a taste of my
banquet. He's talking about the previous people
that said no. And he wasn't being petty. He was
just saying they said no to the invitation. They
don't know what they're missing. You may be seated.
If I were to recontextualize this a little bit.
I might say Jesus replied, a certain man was
preparing a great banquet and invited many guests,
and at the time of the banquet he sent his servant
to tell those who had been invited, come, for
everything is now ready. But they all alike began
to make excuses, and the first said, I have to
scroll social media for a while. And another
said, I have to go to the store. I have people
coming over. And still another said, I've got
a concert to go to. I have a football game to
watch. I have a thing. I have a thing. And so
the servant came back and reported this to the
master. And the things that these invited guests
were doing were not bad. In fact, they felt important
to those people, but in light of the invitation,
they chose the wrong priority. Not seeing the
invitation for what it was. Not knowing that
they had been invited to something amazing. And
they couldn't recognize it. And so they missed
out. I asked God for some guiding scriptures
for me during Lent while preparing this message.
Social media is absolutely where I spend too
much time. It is too easy. Like I said, it quiets
my brain down. And that's a terrible reason to
use it. So I get sucked in very easily. And that's
what it's designed to do, right? It's designed
to pull you in. Anything that is entertainment
-based is designed to get you coming back. You
are simply the consumer. And you prop up the
system by consuming. So I have a few weeks left.
I can knock off of social media. I don't want
to, which is an indication. That I should. I
don't need it to live. It's not essential. And
I absolutely know I will have a clearer mind
when I go back if I choose to. It will be better
for me if I say no to it. But again, a moment
to pause and reflect and to be truthful about
it tells me all I need to know. So I asked God
to give me some places to direct my thoughts,
places to recognize I was being invited to. Reminders,
and these came to mind the quickest. God said,
be still. Psalm 46 .10, be still and know that
I am God. I am invited to be still, and I believe
that if God has invited me to be still and to
know that he is God, this busy mind of mine is
able to be cared for. The phrase, think on these
things, came to mind, which is from Philippians
4, 4 through 9. Rejoice in the Lord always. I
will say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness
be evident to all. The Lord is near. Don't be
anxious about anything, but in every situation,
by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present
your request to God, and the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is right and pure, whatever
is lovely and admirable, if anything is excellent
or praiseworthy, think about these things. Whatever
you have learned or received or heard from me
or seen in me, put it into practice and the God
of peace will be with you. I've been invited
to this. I've been invited to set my mind on
things above. Colossians 3, 1 and 2 says, Since
then you have been raised with Christ. Set your
hearts on things above where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the
things above, not on the earthly things. And
I was reminded that I'm invited to do all things
for the glory of God, so whatever you do. Whether
you eat or whether you drink or whatever you
do, do it all for the glory of God. Listen, it's
hard to sit and scroll for hours and feel like
you're really dedicating your time to the kingdom
and seeing it as good, that you're doing it for
the glory of God. It's a good delusion, though,
if that's what you're looking for. But it's really
hard to justify that. And so these were things
that I was glad that I was thankful that God
reminded me of. Reminded me that I'm invited
to. And I know that there are things that I love
outside of these, outside of these moments of
my own escapism. And so it just got me thinking
about some good practices to keep in mind. I'm
going to put out a few of them, and some of them
may resonate with you, and for some of you, you
may jump off and think of some others. But the
first one that I thought of was... Related to
Psalm 139, ask God to search your heart. It's
a good place to start. Psalm 139, 23 and 24 says,
search me, God, and know my heart. And test me
and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's
any offensive way in me and lead me in the way
everlasting. Gosh, that's a better place to be.
It's a place that's sustainable and everlasting.
That's good. That's a place I want to be. So
God, search my heart and help me see things clearly
and truthfully. Help me reorient myself towards
the kingdom. In general, we're talking about
fasting from, you know, non -essential spending
and entertainment. I mean, just in general, whether
it's Lent or not, that's a good fast to practice.
Just stepping away. We all know what it does
to us. It's not good. It's not making any of
us better, right, as a whole. Again. You can
use it informatively, but just be aware of what
it's doing to you. We know that it's changing
young people. We know that now. That's not a
theory. It's proven. And so on top of that, adults,
it's also changing us. Take a look at your bank
account and see how much you spend on certain
things. That's useful. You probably all... have
seen on your online banking, there's a little
pie chart available that shows you your percentage
of spending. That's a useful thing to just take
a look at because money is pretty abstract to
us now. We don't do a lot of cash in hand. And
so money has taken on a very abstract existence
to us. And we don't see the money diminishing.
And so... Keeping an eye on that might lead you
to a budget, which could be really helpful. Because
then you, again, the nonessential spending, it's
not a bad thing to do, but at least know where
it's going and how you're using it. And reorient
it. Reorient your money spending towards the
kingdom, towards God, towards the glory of God.
Again, in an Amazon world, it's very easy just
to hit and click and see something show up at
your door. It's a dopamine boost, isn't it? Try
boredom, everyone. Try boredom. Boredom is a
gift, and I haven't experienced real boredom
in a long time. I have a lot of jobs, so that's
one reason, but I can stop boredom anytime I
want by picking this up. So boredom is really
good, and we've forgotten. Or we didn't learn
how to be bored. It is noted that Gen X is the
last generation to know what true boredom is.
Raise your hand if you're Gen X or older. We
are the last of it. Yeah, the last of the feral
children, that's right. What did your parents
say when you inevitably whined this sentence
out? I'm bored. Read a book? What? I'm dad. Go
outside. Go outside. Go play. Find something
to play with. Or they would say, how many toys
do you have upstairs? Did you forget? No parent.
No parent of our generation said, let me play
with you kids. That sounds terrible. But it's
really true. They were like, go outside. Find
your friends. I'm not your solution. Yes. And
so be bored. Boredom is such a good thing to
cultivate and to figure out how to respond to.
It creates opportunities for thinking and creativity
and self -confrontation and reflection. The best
things come out of boredom. And then don't do
something as a reaction or don't do things as
a reaction and, like, you know, I talked about,
like, the turning away from, okay, I'm not going
to do this anymore, but what are you going to?
Know what you're going to. We talked about the
kingdom, and the kingdom is... full of life and
it is a different way of living. And I also know
that in terms of resistance, there are other
life -giving things that we can engage in that
are in alignment with the kingdom. I'm reminded
of this quite often when I travel. I work overseas
quite a bit and it gives me an opportunity to
leave the American structure, which I'm grateful
to get to learn from other places. So I was in
Spain a week ago, and I was reminded of the importance
to many places in the world of the daily walk.
America is very fitness -focused, and so if we
see people walking, they're doing it for fitness.
It's objective. Whereas other places aren't thinking
that objectively about things like a walk. They
just have it as an integrated part of the day.
You get outside, touch grass, feel the sun, or
in our case, in the Midwest winter, feel the
blisteringly cold Arctic wind on your face. Be
refreshed. But do something intentional. Go to
an art gallery. Go to a library. Go to a public
speaking event. Go to your friends. Go to the
park. Go to camping. Go to something versus trying
to escape something else. Be really intentional
about that. Big or small. And it is a good idea
to have a list of those things because when you
are bored and feeling like you want to escape,
you will just escape unless you have a plan.
And so make a plan. Make a thing that you do.
Once you did something and you enjoyed it, write
it down. And remember, I liked doing that. I
want to do it again. I want to build a practice
of this. So you got to make a plan for it because
otherwise we will just find the entertainment
that we always find. We will just go do the thing
that we always did because when we feel overwhelmed
or like we need to escape or step away, we will
do the thing we always did. So make a plan. And
then along with the boredom thought, stay with
your thoughts longer than it's comfortable. This
is where we discover the ability to change. This
is where change occurs. Stay with your thoughts
longer than it is comfortable staying with them.
I want to be aware. Sometimes our thoughts get
really dark. And I want to actually acknowledge
that there are real places that that is not helpful
for us, to stay with them too long. then I encourage
you to go to something that will help you. Again,
find the friends. If you are finding your thoughts
are very dark and you need professional help,
go to that. Or go to the friends that can help
you get to that stuff. But again, be purposeful
about what you go to. So anyway, these are the
thoughts on the non -essentials, on the entertainment.
It might be helpful just to make a list of where
you... Where you find your entertainment. Much
like your bank account has the pie chart of the
money that you spent. It's useful to make a pie
chart of the time that you spent, too. To be
able to honestly reflect on it. And then as you're
thinking about what you're escaping from and
how you are using tools to escape, what are you
going to as you turn away? So let's pray. Thank
you, God, for your... Truth, thank you, God,
for your reminders. Thank you for bringing those
scriptures to mind when I asked you for words
of encouragement and things to move towards.
And I would ask that you would do that for all
of us here today. And we take some time to ask
God what I can move towards, good reminders of
things to reflect on as this season of Lent is
here. And if there's anything in these last few
weeks as we lead up to Easter, if there's anything
that we should turn away from, So that we can
reorient ourselves towards you in this story
of Easter and the truth of Easter. Would you
put that on our hearts and make that clear to
us so that we can respond to that? We want to
be a church that looks towards your kingdom.
We want to be a church that looks towards you.
And we want to be a people that resist. We want
to be a people that resist and say no thank you
to the things that are demanding our attention
and pulling us in other ways. We want to be people
that resist the common and the status quo so
that your kingdom may be alive in us fully. We
want to be a people that when somebody says,
oh, you don't do that, we say, no, but I have
other things. I'd like to invite you to it, too.
We become invitational about the kingdom as well
to help others know that they can turn away from
the things that bind them, the chains that they
don't see because they're overlooking them. We
pray that you free us from everything that holds
us and that as we are in this season of Lent,
we continue to look towards the freedom that
is ahead of us because of your sacrifice for
us, God. I pray this in your name. Amen.