WEBVTT 00:00:00.810 --> 00:00:05.269 We are starting a new series, and it is one that 00:00:05.269 --> 00:00:10.890 we have returned to every few years. If you have 00:00:10.890 --> 00:00:16.329 been here for any amount of time, I guess longer 00:00:16.329 --> 00:00:18.730 than a few months, you may have picked up on 00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:23.210 the idea that the house is more than just the 00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:26.670 name of this community. We've really gone pretty 00:00:26.670 --> 00:00:29.500 hard on the metaphors that you can... get from 00:00:29.500 --> 00:00:33.579 it the sort of, was that? We love a theme. I 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:36.159 literally wrote that in my books. I love a theme. 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:42.520 But it is a useful one. I promise it wasn't like 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:45.340 we weren't trying to be trendy. It really just 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:49.920 lends itself to a lot of useful ideas for what 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.100 we hope to cultivate here. And you can see it 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:58.939 in the teens gather. They are called the shed. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:04.560 The kids go to tree house. These are adjacent 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:08.620 structures with their own sense of meaning as 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:13.060 it relates to a house. A house lives in a neighborhood. 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:16.599 And we want to be good neighbors, as Jesus has 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:18.819 taught us, to love our neighbors. And we want 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:21.819 to care for those around us. So we pray for Greenbush 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:24.480 and highlight the neighbors that care for our 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:26.879 other neighborhoods as well, our other neighbors 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.140 as well. So like each day or each week at the 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:32.019 end of service, we've heard from other organizations, 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:34.500 like the Third Place has talked today. We'll 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:37.739 hear a little bit more about who NEST is in our 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:42.750 community. And so those are really, really useful 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:47.090 ideas for us to grab hold of that help us understand 00:01:47.090 --> 00:01:52.870 how Jesus wants us to be with each other. We 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:56.750 also have talked about establishing certain patterns 00:01:56.750 --> 00:02:00.969 here. We talk about rest, live, and work a lot 00:02:00.969 --> 00:02:06.060 each week. We pray in the spirit of... wanting 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.840 to be transformed so that our view of rest is 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.479 what it aligns with what God has for us, that 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.539 our view of life and work aligns with what God 00:02:16.539 --> 00:02:20.500 has for us. And this is a useful idea, too, because 00:02:20.500 --> 00:02:23.199 if you are a guest in someone's house, you might 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:27.060 be invited over. And generally, someone will 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:30.439 offer you hospitality the first few times that 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:32.500 look like, come, have a seat. No, don't get up. 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:34.879 I'll bring you a glass of water or a coffee. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:38.639 You sit. And as one gets more connected in a 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.219 house, you might be there for a meal. And our 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:44.259 community tables are built around this particular 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:47.379 idea. And at a meal, you linger and you talk 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:50.139 and you get into the things of life. And as you 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:53.250 become more connected to... that house, you know 00:02:53.250 --> 00:02:55.849 that as the dishes are being cleared, you might 00:02:55.849 --> 00:02:58.530 join in in the cleanup and you might, if you've 00:02:58.530 --> 00:03:00.270 even prepared something yourself and brought 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:02.990 it over to help feed the people, we work alongside 00:03:02.990 --> 00:03:07.069 of each other and for each other. And when somebody 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:09.949 moves, you know, we pick up a box and we put 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:12.990 it in our car, we vacuum, we clean, we help each 00:03:12.990 --> 00:03:17.689 other out in these ideas of community and home. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.780 And all of these things build so much more than 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:24.360 just a group of people that see each other on 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.659 Sundays. All of these things build a whole community, 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:31.259 and here they build the house. And these are 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:36.120 all the things that we see. But the things that 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.639 build a good and strong house are the things 00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:42.939 that are generally behind the walls and in the 00:03:42.939 --> 00:03:46.650 foundation and behind the siding. These are the 00:03:46.650 --> 00:03:49.830 things that one catches if you look at a blueprint. 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:56.909 We have these books that we've designed in the 00:03:56.909 --> 00:03:59.990 past that are available. I think we've got some 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.169 out in that cabinet in the lobby. You're welcome 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:07.330 to take one. These have been a useful guide for 00:04:07.330 --> 00:04:10.569 us, and they will tell you a lot about this community 00:04:10.569 --> 00:04:17.639 called the house. In here, On page 21, we hear 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:21.220 about what the blueprint means to this community. 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:26.939 And so it says, at the house, we encourage a 00:04:26.939 --> 00:04:30.259 pattern of discipleship that shapes our lives. 00:04:31.579 --> 00:04:35.180 Each step can build on the last. The goal is 00:04:35.180 --> 00:04:38.680 to become like Jesus. That is what the blueprint 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:44.189 is made to help us with. that structure in our 00:04:44.189 --> 00:04:47.769 lives. So if we continue to extend this metaphor, 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:51.569 we realize that in a house, things do break down 00:04:51.569 --> 00:04:54.790 without continued maintenance, don't they? Anybody 00:04:54.790 --> 00:04:57.410 who's a homeowner knows this really, really well. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:01.300 The challenge about the elements that are critical 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:04.160 to the infrastructure is that, as I said, they 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:07.240 are not the most visible pieces. You have to 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.839 go looking for them. You have to go finding them. 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:12.040 You have to do your research and your study. 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.040 You have to be really in tune with the house 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.740 to be cognizant of, oh, wait a second. It feels 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:20.339 a little bit more humid in here than normal. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.720 Why is that? Oh, wait a second. That light is 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:25.779 flickering. Is it just the bulb or is it the 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:31.360 electric in the house? And so all these things, 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:34.220 the electrical, the crack that water got in that 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:37.519 now causes rot on an internal beam, the chink 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:40.699 in the foundation behind the drywall, all of 00:05:40.699 --> 00:05:44.680 those things are the sort of, yeah, they're the 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:48.139 things you don't see, but it is critical to keep 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:51.160 an eye on them. It is critical to maintain them. 00:05:52.490 --> 00:05:54.750 Not all of us are privy to the blueprints that 00:05:54.750 --> 00:05:56.930 built our houses, but we have a pretty good idea 00:05:56.930 --> 00:05:58.850 of what's written on them because of what we 00:05:58.850 --> 00:06:01.149 use in the house and how we use the house. And 00:06:01.149 --> 00:06:04.029 these things, if left uncared for, unmaintained, 00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:08.509 mean degradation for the structure. That is unavoidable. 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:12.990 And so for our house here, the things that are 00:06:12.990 --> 00:06:16.509 important to the blueprint, the things we pay 00:06:16.509 --> 00:06:18.949 close attention to or we should, the things that 00:06:18.949 --> 00:06:22.149 we care for, And the things that we maintain 00:06:22.149 --> 00:06:27.170 in our lives are patterns of rest and life at 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:30.709 the table and abiding in prayer and meditating 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:33.850 on scripture, listening to the spirit, practicing 00:06:33.850 --> 00:06:36.509 your faith, forgiving as you've been forgiven 00:06:36.509 --> 00:06:40.750 and working with God. These are not arbitrary. 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:43.089 We didn't just pick these out of the air because 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:46.389 they seemed nice. They were not chosen because 00:06:46.389 --> 00:06:49.889 they seemed, oh, this could be worth the effort. 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:54.339 We chose them because they are patterns that 00:06:54.339 --> 00:06:58.660 we find in scripture and encouragement towards 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:04.459 a healthy life in following Christ. This is not 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:06.639 a one for one, but what I'm about to read, but 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.589 I do want to read from the book of John. Jesus 00:07:09.589 --> 00:07:12.269 was getting ready to head to the cross and he 00:07:12.269 --> 00:07:14.790 had a number of things to pass on to his disciples 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:17.569 in these last hours that he had with them. So 00:07:17.569 --> 00:07:20.850 the things that he says in his last moments, 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:23.730 in his last hours with them, are things that 00:07:23.730 --> 00:07:27.230 we should really like, we should really be paying 00:07:27.230 --> 00:07:30.449 attention to. Because if there are things that 00:07:30.449 --> 00:07:32.230 if you know that your time is limited, you're 00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:34.449 going to pick the most important. You're going 00:07:34.449 --> 00:07:36.750 to pick the ones that you're like. If you have 00:07:36.750 --> 00:07:40.829 heard me say anything at all, it is these things 00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:46.430 I want you to remember. And so he was very focused 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:50.689 on them knowing that it is important to stay 00:07:50.689 --> 00:07:54.350 connected to him and that even though it is time 00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:57.949 for him to go, the connection will not be lost. 00:07:58.269 --> 00:08:01.990 To be encouraged, to stay connected, to grow, 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:06.449 bear fruit, and keep this going. beyond themselves. 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:09.829 He wanted to encourage them and let them know 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:13.170 things were not coming to an end. They were actually 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:16.870 getting started. So as we read, you will see 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:20.310 the through line here and what is Jesus' most 00:08:20.310 --> 00:08:23.230 crucial conveyance of information. These are 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:25.850 the things he chose to say. And so I'm going 00:08:25.850 --> 00:08:28.250 to encourage us to stand as we are able or take 00:08:28.250 --> 00:08:33.340 a posture of attention as I read through. Parts 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:40.779 of John 15 and parts of John 16. Of the Gospels, 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:43.340 this is the last in the group of four in the 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:47.039 New Testament. And so I'm going to start in chapter 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:51.360 15. I'm going to read 1 through 17, the New Revised 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.279 Standard Version updated. And so at verse 1 it 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.240 says, Jesus is saying to his disciples, I am 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.299 the true vine and my father is the vine grower. 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:04.009 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. 00:09:04.210 --> 00:09:06.629 Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make 00:09:06.629 --> 00:09:09.730 it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed 00:09:09.730 --> 00:09:12.830 by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:17.370 in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot 00:09:17.370 --> 00:09:19.950 bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:23.029 vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 00:09:23.129 --> 00:09:26.690 Stay connected, he's saying. I am the vine, you 00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:29.549 are the branches. Those who abide in me and I 00:09:29.549 --> 00:09:32.379 in them will bear much fruit. Because apart from 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:36.080 me, you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.080 in me is thrown away like a branch and withers. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:40.100 Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:43.419 and burned. But if you abide in me and my words 00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:47.480 abide in you, my words, ask for whatever you 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.679 wish and it will be done for you. My father is 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:53.399 glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:57.190 become my disciples. As the Father has loved 00:09:57.190 --> 00:10:00.230 me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:02.549 you keep my commandments, we've talked about 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:05.690 obey, you will abide in my love just as I have 00:10:05.690 --> 00:10:07.809 kept my Father's commandments and abide in his 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:09.629 love. And I have said these things to you so 00:10:09.629 --> 00:10:12.950 that my joy may be in you and that your joy may 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:15.809 be complete. This is my commandment, that you 00:10:15.809 --> 00:10:18.909 love one another as I have loved you. No one 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:21.169 has greater love than this to lay down one's 00:10:21.169 --> 00:10:24.740 life for his friends. You are my friends. If 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:27.279 you do what I command you. I do not call you 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:29.120 servants any longer because the servant does 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.460 not know what the master is doing, but I have 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:33.480 called you friends because I have made known 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:36.480 to you everything that I have heard from my father. 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:39.940 You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:43.639 appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:46.480 will last, so that the father will give you whatever 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.200 you ask in my name. I'm giving you these commands 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.279 so that you may love one another. And part of 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.940 chapter 16. Verse 1 says, I have said these things 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:59.139 to you to keep you from falling away. And 12 00:10:59.139 --> 00:11:01.779 through 15, I still have many things to say to 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:05.019 you, but you cannot bear them now. When the spirit 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:08.700 of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:11.940 Listen to the spirit. For he will not speak on 00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:14.320 his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.000 he will declare to you the things that are to 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.620 come. He will glorify me because he will take 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:22.370 what is mine and declare it to you. All that 00:11:22.370 --> 00:11:24.570 the Father has is mine, and for this reason I 00:11:24.570 --> 00:11:26.870 said that he will take what is mine and declare 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:32.649 it to you. Let's pray. God, as we hear from you 00:11:32.649 --> 00:11:37.870 today, as we look to you, continue to shape us 00:11:37.870 --> 00:11:43.529 as disciples of you, that we would grow, that 00:11:43.529 --> 00:11:48.409 we would internalize these things, that they 00:11:48.409 --> 00:11:51.690 would become foundational to us. that they would 00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:54.929 become patterns that we not only repeat in our 00:11:54.929 --> 00:12:00.330 own lives and build from, but that we would help 00:12:00.330 --> 00:12:05.549 each other in all of our efforts to be disciples 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:09.990 of you. And so speak to us today. Open our ears 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:13.009 to hear you. Open our eyes to see you. We pray 00:12:13.009 --> 00:12:16.070 this in your name. Amen. You can have a seat. 00:12:18.110 --> 00:12:21.299 So rest. Live at the table. Abide in prayer, 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:24.100 meditate on scripture, listen to the spirit, 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.379 practice your faith, forgive as you've been forgiven, 00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:31.600 work with God. The blueprint has been a part 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.899 of the house's structure since the very beginning. 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:36.720 We encourage the practice of these things as 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.840 key aspects in your life with Christ, things 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:42.519 every follower of Jesus would do well to grow 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.740 in. We're going to take a little side quest, 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:49.789 which is not surprising with me. to two of my 00:12:49.789 --> 00:12:53.370 other jobs, which are piano teacher and orchestra 00:12:53.370 --> 00:12:56.490 manager. So I'm a musician. I work with musicians. 00:12:56.629 --> 00:12:59.049 I teach young musicians. I hire musicians for 00:12:59.049 --> 00:13:01.590 the symphony. My friends are musicians. I'm around 00:13:01.590 --> 00:13:04.269 people that have dedicated their lives to music, 00:13:04.389 --> 00:13:09.850 whose livelihood is music. And since I was seven 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:12.669 years old, I have been familiar with the idea 00:13:12.669 --> 00:13:18.899 of practicing, much to my chagrin. For just about 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:23.860 all of my students now, practicing is the apex 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:28.039 obstacle for moving forward. And of course it 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:33.240 is. It is unfun. It can be a slog. And everybody, 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.259 almost anybody that I know who has eventually 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:38.980 quit taking an instrument, they were like, I 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:41.659 just hated practicing. I'm like, well, yeah. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:46.700 That's everybody. The goals of it are difficult 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:48.899 to conceptualize, especially if you're young, 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:52.919 because it takes a long time to understand the 00:13:52.919 --> 00:13:56.480 value of it. But how do we go from something 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:59.360 newly learned to becoming strong in that thing? 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:03.179 Somehow, somewhere in our minds, we believe it 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:06.799 can be done without practice. And even if we 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.600 think practicing is a good idea, many believe 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:12.559 a one or two time pass through is probably enough. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:17.190 We don't. have good muscles for practicing something. 00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.529 We have a violinist in the orchestra who is 86 00:14:21.529 --> 00:14:25.029 years old, and he is still in the orchestra because 00:14:25.029 --> 00:14:29.809 he has become good at practicing. None of us 00:14:29.809 --> 00:14:33.529 like practicing, but we do like the results of 00:14:33.529 --> 00:14:36.710 practicing, don't we? And when my students and 00:14:36.710 --> 00:14:40.149 I have this conversation, everyone agrees we 00:14:40.149 --> 00:14:45.240 want what practicing delivers. And there is just 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:50.820 no shortcut, guys. That is the reality. You get 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:53.899 better by going through the hard stuff. You get 00:14:53.899 --> 00:14:59.419 better by going through the practice. And this 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:02.139 is, of course, applicable to all sorts of things. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:04.639 This metaphor is not mysterious. Like, you can 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:07.269 apply it to just about anything. But when it 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:09.870 comes to growing as a follower of Jesus, we do 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:13.230 have a naive notion that we just sort of should 00:15:13.230 --> 00:15:15.990 arrive at a healthy and mature state without 00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:18.789 practicing any sort of transformed lifestyle. 00:15:19.789 --> 00:15:22.549 When we commit to following Christ, we commit 00:15:22.549 --> 00:15:25.070 to, in the historic way of understanding it, 00:15:25.149 --> 00:15:28.230 walking so close to the rabbi that the dust of 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:31.870 him gets on us. And if that is the case, you're 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:36.389 not just walking and observing. close enough 00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:39.269 to do as he does and speak as he speaks and watching 00:15:39.269 --> 00:15:42.389 and participating in what Jesus does and copying 00:15:42.389 --> 00:15:45.250 it until it becomes fully settled in us too, 00:15:45.389 --> 00:15:48.029 until it becomes fully realized and matured in 00:15:48.029 --> 00:15:52.350 us as well. When I model something for a student 00:15:52.350 --> 00:15:55.590 on the piano, the initial times it's played by 00:15:55.590 --> 00:16:00.129 them, it is just copying me. It's not internalized 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:03.909 yet. How can I, the attempt is just to make it 00:16:03.909 --> 00:16:08.000 sound like what I just did. But the goal is for 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.340 the student to inherently know how the music 00:16:11.340 --> 00:16:14.759 should go, should be able to interpret the music 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:17.159 and play something melodic and musical with great 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:21.320 artistry because they now have built the skill 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:26.179 to do it. And so they understand execution better 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:30.419 and style and dynamics. That's the goal is to 00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:33.200 get them to that point, which only happens over 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.120 time through many hours. of a lifetime of practice. 00:16:39.559 --> 00:16:44.700 But practicing is hard because it's done often 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:48.679 in places that are unseen. And it feels like, 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:51.580 again, what is the goal? And the results are 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:56.759 hard to see quickly. It is built over time. And 00:16:56.759 --> 00:17:00.720 sometimes, in fact, quite often, when you set 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.019 out to practice, there's not actually clear direction. 00:17:03.690 --> 00:17:06.049 Like, we all get that something should be practiced 00:17:06.049 --> 00:17:09.190 if you want to get better at it, but how? How 00:17:09.190 --> 00:17:12.450 do we do that? What's the course of action? When 00:17:12.450 --> 00:17:15.769 a student is told to practice, and even that 00:17:15.769 --> 00:17:19.309 concept is new, when I get a new kid, they are 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:21.910 going in blind. They don't know what that means, 00:17:22.109 --> 00:17:25.410 and so even practicing takes practice, which 00:17:25.410 --> 00:17:29.890 feels very weird, right? But when my students 00:17:29.890 --> 00:17:32.329 get a new piece of music, we start by playing 00:17:32.329 --> 00:17:35.579 it. That makes sense. The goal though is not 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:39.099 correctness. The goal is not to play it correctly 00:17:39.099 --> 00:17:41.619 on that first pass. The goal is reconnaissance. 00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:45.539 We are gaining information. What is the piece 00:17:45.539 --> 00:17:47.920 doing? Where are the dynamic marks? What's the 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.500 phrasing? What are the patterns? And then after 00:17:52.500 --> 00:17:55.819 that, we check in. What was tricky? I asked them. 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:58.579 What do you want to focus on with this this week? 00:17:58.660 --> 00:18:02.589 What feels hard? We come up with a kind of a 00:18:02.589 --> 00:18:06.289 plan, something that helps make the wholeness 00:18:06.289 --> 00:18:08.809 and the bigness of it feel much more doable, 00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:11.490 much more accessible. Because sometimes they 00:18:11.490 --> 00:18:13.210 turn that page and they see all the notes on 00:18:13.210 --> 00:18:16.490 the page and they're like, oh my gosh, it's too 00:18:16.490 --> 00:18:19.650 much. And then we just break it down. We have 00:18:19.650 --> 00:18:21.470 to break it down. So that's part of the plan, 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:24.269 right? We have to break down practice. We have 00:18:24.269 --> 00:18:26.190 to find things that are tricky. We have to figure 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:30.170 out what is going on. And then it feels doable. 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:33.230 And y 'all, this is the same for how we approach 00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:37.890 this blueprint. Folks, how are we at changing 00:18:37.890 --> 00:18:43.230 the air filters in our house? Did you even know 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:47.549 you had to do that? It's a part of the unseen 00:18:47.549 --> 00:18:51.750 stuff, right? I have started setting reminders 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:54.650 in my phone for myself every few months to remind 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:58.500 me to change it. But a step back from that. I 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:00.680 can't change it if I don't have one to switch 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.000 to, right? Because when you need to change it, 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:05.579 you're not like, oh, I got to go to the store. 00:19:05.660 --> 00:19:08.099 Like, it's like one of those, like, life is busy 00:19:08.099 --> 00:19:13.720 right now. So I set another alarm to buy a pack 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.920 at a certain time of year. And then I have the 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:19.299 air filters. And this is a kind of maintenance. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:23.339 But I have to make a plan for it. Because even 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:25.579 if I set the reminders and I don't have the stuff, 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:29.140 like, the thing isn't getting done. When we don't 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:31.940 have a plan even for how we practice something 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:35.640 or how we maintain something, the chances are 00:19:35.640 --> 00:19:39.180 it will just start moving in the opposite direction 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:45.079 than we would hope. And truly, it's about preparedness. 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:50.279 We practice so that we may be prepared. There 00:19:50.279 --> 00:19:52.519 are a couple passages or a couple lines in these 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:57.339 sections from John that I want to go back to. 00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:01.430 Jesus told his disciples about the ways things 00:20:01.430 --> 00:20:03.789 are about to change. He's getting them prepared. 00:20:03.990 --> 00:20:07.690 He's trying to give them a heads up. But that 00:20:07.690 --> 00:20:09.289 their relationship with him, their connection 00:20:09.289 --> 00:20:11.730 with him will not be severed, which would be 00:20:11.730 --> 00:20:14.809 hard to imagine, right? With that in mind, though, 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:17.569 people, he is saying, Jesus is letting them know, 00:20:17.609 --> 00:20:19.069 they're not going to understand it because it's 00:20:19.069 --> 00:20:22.170 going to look kind of new. And he wants them 00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:25.450 to be prepared for what could happen so that 00:20:25.450 --> 00:20:29.490 they can look ahead. So throughout chapter 15, 00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:32.990 we see him finishing thought groups with statements 00:20:32.990 --> 00:20:38.690 like, I'm telling you this so that. I don't want 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:40.730 you to be surprised. I want you to be ready. 00:20:40.769 --> 00:20:42.650 I want you to stay connected. Keep going the 00:20:42.650 --> 00:20:50.009 course. I'm telling you this so that. John 16, 00:20:50.150 --> 00:20:53.990 one, I have said these things to you to keep 00:20:53.990 --> 00:20:57.539 you from falling away. I want you to be prepared. 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:01.460 I want you to be ready. 16 -4 says, but I've 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:05.460 said these things to you so that when their hour 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:08.099 comes, you may remember I told you about them. 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:13.500 I want to get you ready. He's basically saying, 00:21:13.619 --> 00:21:18.019 keep the house strong, you guys. Don't forget. 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:23.299 Don't sit in your despair. Keep going. Keep focusing 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:25.740 on the things that are critical here. Keep the 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:29.720 house strong. My students can come back from 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:32.119 a week between lessons and often say, oh, I didn't 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:33.880 get a chance to practice. I didn't have time. 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:37.779 And often I'm like, well, you're seven. You did. 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:40.539 You just don't know time management yet. And 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:46.539 that is what one says when a plan to practice 00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:52.480 was not put in place. It's not uncommon for a 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:57.099 student to sign up for lessons. And a family 00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:59.799 can come back and just be like, I don't know, 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:02.960 we just can't figure out how to do this. And 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:05.960 I'm like, you make time for it. You carve out 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:09.319 the time. You put it in the schedule like you 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.559 do with all the other things. And that sometimes 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.200 can genuinely feel like a revelation. As though, 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:17.980 shouldn't the time have just been there for me? 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:22.180 we think about that with a lot of things. There 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:23.839 are just a few things that make it a little bit 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:28.440 more obvious. So often when we say we ran out 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:30.740 of time, what we actually mean is we weren't 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:35.480 prepared. We did not look ahead. We did not know 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:38.819 how to manage that time well for that week. And 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:42.480 now listen, this is not an indictment. Life really 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:45.279 be like that sometimes, y 'all. And you feel 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:47.660 like you can't catch your breath. That is real. 00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:55.329 But also sometimes we are just not doing what 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.609 we need to do to prepare, to look ahead. We are 00:22:58.609 --> 00:23:01.250 not taking a breath to consider what we need 00:23:01.250 --> 00:23:06.390 to make time for, and we're not remembering our 00:23:06.390 --> 00:23:10.279 priorities or what we value. Or even where those 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.160 places in our life where things have gotten pushed 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:16.140 out by other things are that we didn't notice. 00:23:16.180 --> 00:23:18.059 And all of a sudden we've got stuff in our life 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:22.500 that we didn't want. And so we do need to make 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:26.519 a plan to look ahead, to reevaluate. We do not 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:31.920 have to let life keep deciding for us. If anyone's 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.319 familiar with something called a rule of life, 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.819 does this sound familiar to anybody? It is a 00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:42.039 very useful practice. It is built out of monastic 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.539 communities. That is where it is originated from. 00:23:45.539 --> 00:23:48.680 But a rule of life is an intentional schedule, 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:52.599 a set of practices, and relational rhythms designed 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.359 to help provide structure for your daily routines 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.240 around your core values and spiritual goals. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.099 So I just shifted into a new chapter in my life. 00:24:04.180 --> 00:24:07.700 I work for the symphony full -time now. And going 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:11.839 into it, I knew my time wouldn't look as it had 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:15.519 before. And so I knew I would need to revisit 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.160 some things that I had previously built structures 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:21.500 for, and I would need to go back and reevaluate 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:28.000 them to see if it still matches what I value. 00:24:28.619 --> 00:24:30.799 and what I want to keep time for in my life. 00:24:33.099 --> 00:24:35.720 I've not been able to do it yet because things 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:40.420 had transitioned quickly. But the thing is, it 00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:44.200 is on the calendar. I have carved the time out 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:49.740 to do this thing because it's important to me. 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:52.880 And I know that if I don't go forward with a 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:56.980 plan, one will be thrust upon me. And it may 00:24:56.980 --> 00:24:59.440 rub up against the things I value or the things 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:02.519 that I want to keep time set aside for. And so 00:25:02.519 --> 00:25:06.059 I get to decide that. It's not easy to carve 00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:08.759 out time for it, but I understand that I need 00:25:08.759 --> 00:25:13.299 to in order to go forward feeling like I had 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:17.220 a plan to care for the maintenance of the house, 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:22.519 as it were. And so I looked ahead. I put it on 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:24.940 my calendar. And much like one does when you 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:27.180 want to take a vacation, or plan for friends 00:25:27.180 --> 00:25:31.880 to come over, you make that time noted and you 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:34.799 set boundaries around it. And so here's the thing 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:38.119 I will offer. We do know how to do that in life. 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:41.900 We make plans for regular things all the time. 00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:45.740 We know when school starts for the kids and they 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:47.799 probably get there on time most of the time. 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:52.279 We make time to be here. We make plans for when 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:55.750 homework gets done. We make... Financial plans, 00:25:55.950 --> 00:25:58.789 savings plans. We make exit plans in case of 00:25:58.789 --> 00:26:01.289 emergency. Some people are really good at making 00:26:01.289 --> 00:26:03.990 weekly meal plans because you know how well that 00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:06.769 will get out of hand if you don't. Some families 00:26:06.769 --> 00:26:09.529 have really, really great chore structures for 00:26:09.529 --> 00:26:11.109 their house and they have really established 00:26:11.109 --> 00:26:15.569 plans for that. Vacation plans. You've set aside 00:26:15.569 --> 00:26:19.130 that period of time for your vacation. We know 00:26:19.130 --> 00:26:24.220 how to do it. But I think that we forget that 00:26:24.220 --> 00:26:28.200 things like how we grow in discipleship and in 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.539 our relationship with the Lord somehow doesn't 00:26:31.539 --> 00:26:35.819 feel like it should be cared for in the same 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:42.400 way or planned for or structured. So we have 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.220 a variety of other plans in our lives. It is 00:26:44.220 --> 00:26:47.500 not crazy to consider that plans that care for 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:51.650 your spiritual self are possible. We make time 00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:55.910 for the things that we value. So as we discuss 00:26:55.910 --> 00:27:02.089 the blueprint, this book discusses a plan. And 00:27:02.089 --> 00:27:05.170 we've used these as foundational topics for community 00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:10.269 tables. And here, we revisit them here every 00:27:10.269 --> 00:27:12.769 four years. And so this is the fourth time we've 00:27:12.769 --> 00:27:16.549 done a series on them. These are the macro sort 00:27:16.549 --> 00:27:21.380 of views. The overview here. and the community 00:27:21.380 --> 00:27:25.940 tables. But we do suggest a weekly rotation through 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:29.220 these things as well to keep them fresh, to keep 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:31.460 them in front of you so that they don't get far 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.940 away from your site. So Saturday, a good day 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:38.140 to rest and consider rest. It already fits within 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:42.700 a cycle that we live in in our societies. Sunday, 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:45.890 live. a good day to live and interact with others 00:27:45.890 --> 00:27:48.430 and consider healthy life. Monday, abiding in 00:27:48.430 --> 00:27:51.029 prayer. Tuesday, obeying God's word. Wednesday, 00:27:51.190 --> 00:27:53.049 listening to the spirit. Thursday, practicing 00:27:53.049 --> 00:27:56.529 your faith. Friday, practicing forgiveness. And 00:27:56.529 --> 00:27:59.809 all week, consider what it means to work along 00:27:59.809 --> 00:28:03.990 with God. If you grab this book, 22 and 23, have 00:28:03.990 --> 00:28:06.789 a place where it's structured out for you with 00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:09.049 scriptures that help you think about these things. 00:28:09.349 --> 00:28:12.150 It's very useful. There's a number of weeks in 00:28:12.150 --> 00:28:15.400 it already. that will take you through a few 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:21.180 rounds of it to keep it fresh. As we head into 00:28:21.180 --> 00:28:25.500 this series, each of these things will get their 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:28.359 own week where they're highlighted. You will 00:28:28.359 --> 00:28:29.859 learn more and you will have the opportunity 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:32.619 to meet for the first time or revisit some of 00:28:32.619 --> 00:28:37.690 these ideas more in depth. And so as you go into 00:28:37.690 --> 00:28:42.210 it, be open to what God wants to say. Now, I'm 00:28:42.210 --> 00:28:44.650 going to make a little note here. If you are 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:47.950 an all or nothing person, I want to say this. 00:28:48.490 --> 00:28:51.230 This is not all at once, y 'all. This is not 00:28:51.230 --> 00:28:55.170 all at once. In fact, things often go more smoothly 00:28:55.170 --> 00:28:59.309 when we take bites at a time. The music my students 00:28:59.309 --> 00:29:03.440 learn and focus on, we do. We talk about, like, 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:05.539 how do you want to approach this? Let's do a 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:08.039 few measures here. Let's do hands separately. 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:13.559 We always pull it apart and do it in small bits. 00:29:15.819 --> 00:29:19.180 For those of us who might be just a little neurodivergent, 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:22.799 I do know that even taking small bites can feel 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:27.400 like a lot sometimes. And so sometimes making 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.480 a plan and building a habit, that's a hard thing. 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:34.720 Building a habit, it does feel impossible. Please 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:38.119 know that I know. I know. You're not alone. Every 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:43.299 day resets itself from the things that we did 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:45.640 yesterday as though they never happened. And 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:49.119 even, you know, I looked left and all of a sudden, 00:29:49.180 --> 00:29:53.039 like, the last 12 days hyperfixation has reset 00:29:53.039 --> 00:30:01.440 itself. So things can inexplicably change. That's 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.539 just the way of life. But listen, we are not 00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:08.680 without hope. Because also, lesson from the divergence, 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:12.200 don't beat yourself up about this when this happens. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:15.519 Because the thing is about this is it's already 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:17.619 set up for you. And much like you've heard me 00:30:17.619 --> 00:30:20.859 perhaps talk about our church year schedule, 00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:28.759 I think of it a lot like a map. These structures. 00:30:30.379 --> 00:30:33.420 believing you probably will get off course, these 00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:35.359 structures are here for you so that you know 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:38.420 how to get back, that you know where to go back 00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:43.140 to. Because the system will fail, y 'all. It 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:46.859 will fall apart. When we set these things up 00:30:46.859 --> 00:30:49.220 to try to adhere to a structure, they are there 00:30:49.220 --> 00:30:53.160 to help, but we are imperfect, right? And so 00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:56.220 they will fall apart. A big thing like a job 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:59.460 shift, a move, somebody passing away, they can 00:30:59.460 --> 00:31:04.059 all be major disruptors. And so this is why I'm 00:31:04.059 --> 00:31:07.380 not wanting to talk about this as a self -help 00:31:07.380 --> 00:31:11.640 trellis. I'm talking about this as a life with 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.960 Jesus that I value. And each of these things 00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:19.359 discussed are integrated into that, not separate 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:24.480 from it. And so as I walk with Jesus, I listen 00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:29.720 and I pray and I think on the scriptures and 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:33.460 I respond to them and I go through it and sometimes 00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:36.579 one will stand out as something I need to pay 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:39.559 more attention to and God's going to let me know 00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:43.079 because I'm practicing listening and the scriptures 00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:44.920 will stand out to me and something will really 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:47.440 move me and I will want to think about that passage 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:52.930 for days. The Lord will lead us. Be of good faith 00:31:52.930 --> 00:31:58.470 because you are not alone in this. And so as 00:31:58.470 --> 00:32:02.250 we go into this next eight weeks of this series, 00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:07.809 I want to offer to you to be praying about asking 00:32:07.809 --> 00:32:11.109 God and thinking seriously about just strengthening 00:32:11.109 --> 00:32:15.589 one of them. You're going to the gym and you're 00:32:15.589 --> 00:32:19.029 starting with arms. That's what you're doing. 00:32:19.089 --> 00:32:23.900 And then over time, As you build a practice, 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:29.720 as you implement a plan, you will have built 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:33.720 strength with all of these. Because it's not 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:36.779 a race. We don't need to get it done in a certain 00:32:36.779 --> 00:32:42.980 amount of time. We just need to start. So back 00:32:42.980 --> 00:32:45.039 to the house metaphor, because metaphors are 00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.859 flying around right now. Within a house, when 00:32:47.859 --> 00:32:51.500 things are broken or needing attention, It doesn't 00:32:51.500 --> 00:32:54.259 go well when somebody tries to do everything 00:32:54.259 --> 00:32:57.519 all at once, right? You just end up with a whole 00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:01.140 lot of things started and nothing finished. You 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:03.420 know that when you have to do projects, you have 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:06.920 to make a plan of priorities. That's what's going 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:10.599 to be useful. And so as I said, as I listed these 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:12.799 things off, or as the next eight weeks get laid 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:15.279 out, I encourage you to listen to God, pay attention 00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:18.279 to your hearts, assess and evaluate which one 00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:20.440 makes the most sense to start out and go from 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:25.299 there. I believe God will tell you. When the 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:27.799 house isn't maintained, it isn't healthy, and 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:31.099 it's hard to live in. It is difficult to get 00:33:31.099 --> 00:33:33.779 back to a good place, and it adds worry, concern, 00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:37.539 and even fear in our lives. And when the people 00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:39.660 in the house are not paying attention to the 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.779 things the blueprint outlines should be in good 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:45.839 working order, the house becomes an unhealthy 00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:50.839 place to live by inaction. A house does not maintain 00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:58.190 itself. And so for some of us, this is new. We 00:33:58.190 --> 00:34:00.349 are just getting familiar with the blueprint. 00:34:00.569 --> 00:34:03.390 And for some of us, we are being reminded to 00:34:03.390 --> 00:34:05.890 check in on things that are familiar but might 00:34:05.890 --> 00:34:11.670 be important to do a solid review of. We can 00:34:11.670 --> 00:34:13.389 easily fall out of practice on things in our 00:34:13.389 --> 00:34:15.610 life. We did mention that. We become rusty. Something 00:34:15.610 --> 00:34:18.170 needs to be strengthened again or fixed after 00:34:18.170 --> 00:34:20.570 sustaining some damage. You might have sustained 00:34:20.570 --> 00:34:22.849 some damage that you didn't even know affected 00:34:22.849 --> 00:34:25.530 you. And the house may need some maintenance. 00:34:26.670 --> 00:34:31.690 And as I said, it's not just for you. As a community, 00:34:31.869 --> 00:34:35.670 we are also for each other. We do it so that 00:34:35.670 --> 00:34:38.690 we can care for each other as well. We care for 00:34:38.690 --> 00:34:41.719 the house so that it is a place. of rest for 00:34:41.719 --> 00:34:44.340 others that need it. We care for the house so 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:46.860 that others can be welcomed as we were welcomed. 00:34:47.079 --> 00:34:49.320 And we care for the house and we listen to the 00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:51.800 spirit and we become people that pray and we 00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:53.760 live in the fullness of God that God designed 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:56.539 for us so that we can continue to offer it to 00:34:56.539 --> 00:35:00.480 others that need a house that is safe and good 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:07.940 and welcoming to them. And so as we go into this 00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:11.230 series, I encourage you to go into it. with great 00:35:11.230 --> 00:35:15.130 openness, that God can use this time for you 00:35:15.130 --> 00:35:20.309 and for us as a way to strengthen the house, 00:35:20.349 --> 00:35:24.969 fix things that have been maybe overlooked, those 00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:26.929 moments where you're like, oh, I'll get to that. 00:35:27.289 --> 00:35:30.789 Let's get to that. Let's do the things that we 00:35:30.789 --> 00:35:36.210 need to do, okay? Let's pray. Jesus, I am grateful. 00:35:37.510 --> 00:35:42.409 I am grateful for what you offer us. You offer 00:35:42.409 --> 00:35:47.750 us a place of safety and rest and wholeness and 00:35:47.750 --> 00:35:51.309 goodness. And you invite us to offer that to 00:35:51.309 --> 00:35:57.550 others. And as we seek to do that, as we seek 00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:03.170 to, as the house here, provide a good place for 00:36:03.170 --> 00:36:06.349 others, help us be mindful of where perhaps we 00:36:06.349 --> 00:36:10.070 need to. maintain some things, check on some 00:36:10.070 --> 00:36:12.150 things, fix some things, address some things, 00:36:12.389 --> 00:36:21.869 and set priorities, make a good plan. Yeah. And 00:36:21.869 --> 00:36:23.809 maybe even recognize that this is something that 00:36:23.809 --> 00:36:28.389 we haven't prioritized or valued in a way that 00:36:28.389 --> 00:36:33.070 has found space in our life. And so I pray that 00:36:33.070 --> 00:36:35.809 you transform us through this series, that you 00:36:35.809 --> 00:36:39.889 help us forward. I pray this in your name. Amen.