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So remodeling, y'all remodel, you remodelers, I almost, I'll put it back, I took it out,

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but I would say like if you'd asked me five years ago if I was good at remodeling things,

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I'd say I think I'm pretty photogenic but I've never booked a gig.

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And then I wrote pause for laughter because I kind of knew you wouldn't laugh that much

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at it but I thought I might get you with the pause for laughter thing.

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I have not always been handy.

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I just, I have not.

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I've always been a problem solver, like it's a problem that I'm a problem solver sometimes,

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but up until about five years ago I had never used a miter saw or table saw, a nail gun,

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a router, a planer, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you what a planer was.

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I'd never framed a wall or wired lights or outlets or installed a toilet and now I have.

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All of those things, I know what all of those things are.

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I could pick a planer out of a lineup because I can do those things because a couple

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of friends did know how to do those things.

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Well that and YouTube, right?

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So YouTube always comes in handy.

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But over the course of the last few years we finished out our basement.

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We added a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom.

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Different friends of mine showed me how to do the different things

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and then they would come along the long way and go like yes, that looks good.

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Let's make sure that this is not going to burn your house down.

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You know, all of those good things.

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Now the basement is finished.

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I'd say air quotes because there's always something left to be done.

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So this summer was time to turn our attention while I was on sabbatical to the kitchen.

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I think it was strategic that you do a bunch of stuff in the basement that people

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that just come over don't naturally just see automatically before you start doing things

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that anyone that comes to your house might end up seeing.

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But we live in a house from 1925 but the kitchen floors are from like 1990

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and they'd seen better days especially next to the back door where I think water

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and snow would end up coming in.

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And while there were two lights in the kitchen, one had stopped working

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and the other just wasn't bright enough.

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The kitchen was like dark.

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The whole time we lived there, Cindy was being like the kitchen just feels so dark.

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So the original kernel of the idea was let's replace the flooring and add more lighting.

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Nothing is ever as simple as that, is it?

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Right? And that is what today's sabbatical sermon is about.

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So let's open up our Bibles to the book of Philippians, Ephesians, Philippians.

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If you see either of those, you're kind of in the right area.

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I'm going to be reading from the message and so if that's a little too complicated for you,

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feel free to just listen as I read.

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Otherwise, if you'd like a Bible, we have physical ones

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out on the bookshelf you can take home with you or download one from the digital app store.

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Okay? So we have a tradition around here to stand in body or spirit as you are willing

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or able as we read the scriptures.

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So if you'll stand with me as you're willing or able.

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And we will read, I'm going to be Philippians 1, 3 through 6.

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And again, this is the message so if it doesn't line up perfectly

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with your version just listen along.

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Philippians 1, starting in verse 3.

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Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.

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Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer.

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I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.

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I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us,

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believing and proclaiming God's message from the day you heard it right up to the present.

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There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work

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in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Jesus Christ appears.

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Let us pray.

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God of every tribe, every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you for the scriptures

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that we have them, that they have persisted throughout the millennia.

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And I pray that whatever you have for us to learn today, I pray that it would stick,

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that it would become a part of the framework of our faith,

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that our faith would become stronger, that we would literally become more like your son Jesus.

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Amen. Thanks, y'all.

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You can have a seat.

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Okay, so you probably guessed that this summer I didn't just replace the kitchen floors

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or just add lights because when you're fixing something that's already there,

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it's one thing from the basement where it's just an empty basement, okay?

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It's another thing when something is already there because you realize that everything is connected.

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So this is what I actually did.

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First picture, my boy Liam.

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So this is what I actually did.

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I started by putting a photo up.

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You got it?

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I can't preach without it.

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Oh, no.

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Oh, you got it?

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First photo.

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All right, here we go.

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So this is what I actually did.

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I started by removing these kitchen cabinets.

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See those kitchen cabinets?

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They're useless.

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Why did I replace those?

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Because, well, for one, the fridge was in there so tight.

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Our fridge went bad a couple years ago, and so we got this one.

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And what you can't see is that I actually had to notch out the top layer of that.

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That floor is laid on top of another floor that's laid on top of the original floor.

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I had to notch out the top of that floor so that it would fit under the cabinets that are there.

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And once it was in, we became woefully aware that it will never come out unless we remove those cabinets.

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And so we removed those cabinets.

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They weren't doing all that much.

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Anyone that has cabinets above the refrigerator can probably realize they just hold the things

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that you never remember where they are.

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But it was also that cabinet on the right there was actually blocking a vent.

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And so they had added another little vent, but barely any air would go in.

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They added another little vent, but barely any air would come out of it.

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And so we removed those.

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And then next picture.

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I demoed the soffit and the ceiling and the wall around the chimney.

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This is a picture of after I tore out the soffit.

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Do you all know what soffit is?

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Show of hands if you know what soffit is.

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Okay. Soffit has a lot in common with time capsules from the 90s.

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What I mean is that they're mostly pointless.

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You have no idea what's in them.

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And eventually someone's going to open it up and throw most of it away.

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We had soffit above every single one of our cabinets and there was nothing behind it except

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for the, over there on the left where the far left you can see like a vent in the wall.

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That is the vent for the microwave.

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Okay. That's the only thing that the soffit was covering.

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And then the problem with needing more lights in any kitchen like, or,

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well specifically our kitchen is that you either have to hang lights

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that are plugged in somewhere, right?

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Or you have to run new wiring for those lights.

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So next picture.

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Right? So if you're going to run new wiring, you either have to know exactly

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where the wires are going to go or you just have to take down the entire ceiling.

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Okay. So this is halfway.

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This is halfway taking down the ceiling.

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Because like the floors, there were also layers.

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There was tile and then there was cement board and then there was drywall

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and then there was the rafters.

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Okay. And then next picture.

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I think we need to be honest with ourselves.

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If you have the chance to expose some 100-year-old brick in your kitchen,

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you just do it.

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Next picture.

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So over here on the left there's some, there was a chimney that was coming

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up all the way through the house and we decided let's give that a chance.

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Okay. Next picture.

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Then I ran the wiring for the new ceiling, the lights and the ceiling fan.

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And Cindy, the lovely wife that she has helped me hang the drywall on the ceiling.

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We now joke that if you want to test your marriage, hang a ceiling together standing

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on a ladder in a chair without a drywall lift.

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It was very challenging.

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Once we were talking to each other again.

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I'm just joking.

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Just joking.

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We did great.

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Next pic. Next picture.

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I installed the new ceiling and the lights.

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We taped mudded and painted.

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Not bad, eh?

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Not bad. Yeah.

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So then it was time to move on to the bathroom.

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Bathroom you say.

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I thought this was a kitchen project.

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Right. But here's the thing.

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The floors in the kitchen go through the hallway into the bathroom.

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So if I was going to do the floors in the kitchen,

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it made sense to do the floors in the bathroom.

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You can go back to the logo.

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That's the last photo for a while.

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So what I needed to do was then I needed to remove the bathroom vanity.

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And then I should replace the toilet that had already clearly started to leak

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and damage the subfloor.

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And if I'm putting in new lighting in the kitchen,

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I might as well update the 1990s glamour shot lights that were in the bathroom as well.

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And so then I did all that.

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And then I laid the new floors through the kitchen, the hallway, the bathroom,

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installed the new toilet, installed the bathroom lights, installed the new vanity,

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connected all the plumbing, replaced a few of the light switches and outlets.

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It sounds like I'm done, right?

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Well, no, not really.

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No. Because when I took up the floors, I also removed all of the trim.

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And I made no attempt at preserving it.

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No attempt whatsoever.

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Because somewhere in the 90s when the previous owner, one of the previous owners,

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added the bathroom and the laundry onto the existing house, that was an addition.

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When they did that, instead of matching the trim in the new hallway, in the new bathroom,

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to the trim in the rest of this 1925 house, instead of doing that,

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they just removed all of it, and they put in three inch trim everywhere.

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It looked fine.

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It was fine.

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But I figured this started with floors, lights, and turned into wiring and switches

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and walls and subfloors and toilets, so why stop there?

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Why not reinstall trim that matches the rest of the house so that it's not obvious

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that that part of the house wasn't built at the same time?

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So he's not here, but I want to say special thanks to Jeff Duncan.

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Those of you who know Jeff Duncan, he owns this building because he was kind enough

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to let me repurpose a bunch of old reclaimed pine that was salvaged from this building

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because there was no way I could afford oak for three rooms.

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So I planed for the first time ever.

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I planed and cut and trimmed and routed everything to match.

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Installed trim and baseboards throughout the kitchen and hallway and bathroom

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that matches the rest of the house.

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Now I was done.

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Kind of.

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Because then I installed the water line for the fridge, I cut and hung bifold doors

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for the closets in the basement, cleaned off the back deck, and put away tools.

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Now I was done.

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Okay, but ask me if I'm really done.

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I'm not really done.

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I still have switches and outlets that I should change.

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There's spots where I need to add cord around because something's not exactly perfect.

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I didn't even start the floor in the laundry room that's just also connected to that same

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hallway.

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There's a bit of trim left to do in the basement.

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And all of the trim that I added in the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom, all of it needs to

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be stained in poly to match the rest of the house.

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So there is always next summer.

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Can't wait.

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The point of me telling you all of this is, part of it is like I was gone for a few months,

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and so some people are like, what in the world did you do with all that time?

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The point really, most projects are bigger than you think.

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And nothing is really ever done until it's done.

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The passage that we read is from Philippians.

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It's from a guy named Paul that's writing back to a church that he had planted.

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And this verse resonates with me, not just because I spent a summer fixing things, but

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because while I wasn't here for three months, I still felt confident that while I was tearing

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apart and putting my house back together, that God was continuing to work in this house.

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Paul's writing to a church that's now 13 years old, and he tells them not only is he pleased

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that they still believe, but he's encouraging them that he's confident that Jesus is going

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to finish every bit of work that was started in them.

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That is what I believe about you.

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That is what I believe for us.

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But I know that for some of us, maybe we look at our lives and we feel like nothing will

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ever be done.

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We were worshiping and praying and singing, the idea of God listens to us, yeah?

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That thing that we still wish was different.

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We still pray we'd have a different outcome.

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Maybe some of us feel like nothing is ever done, that nothing will ever be perfect.

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Some of us maybe look at other people's lives and think that.

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So if you hang with me, I got a couple things that I want to talk about and I want to point

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out, okay?

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Yeah?

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Is that right?

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Amen?

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All right, let's try it.

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The first thing is this, that I want us to learn that I think that we need to embrace,

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is that people are not projects.

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People are not projects.

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At least they aren't our projects.

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They are God's workmanship.

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Scriptures tell us that we are His workmanship, but people are not our projects.

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I want to read you something from one of the most revered pastors of the last 40 years.

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His name is Eugene Peterson.

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He's the one that translated the message translation of the Bible.

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This is what he said.

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As a pastor, you've got to be willing to take people as they are and live with them where

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they are and not impose your will on them because God has different ways of being with

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people and you don't always know what they are.

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The one thing I think is at the root of a lot of pastors' restlessness and dissatisfaction

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is impatience.

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They think if they get the right system, the right programs, the right place, the right

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location, the right demographics, that it will all snap into place.

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Truth is, the very first few years of pastoring this church, I had two primary frustrations

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that are related to this quote.

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The first was attendance.

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We started this church in Rock Island High School Auditorium because I 100% completely

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expected that this church would be a thousand people within a few years because back then

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I bought in just enough to those unhealthy things that Eugene is describing.

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I think I thought I was just charismatic enough, passionate enough with systems and experiences

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and talents.

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Yes, I knew that Jesus wanted to reach Rock Island, but behind it was also these personal

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things.

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I was coming from a church of 10,000 people.

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And to add to that, like I mentioned before, all the giftedness and talents of someone

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like Pastor Jen.

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And I probably did think that it would all just snap into place.

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Fast forward to 2022 post pandemic.

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I feel thankful and amazed when we have more than 30 or 40 people in the same room.

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My second frustration used to be when people would ask for my insight and advice and then

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do the exact opposite.

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I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but that's how it felt.

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Someone would be like, Hey, I want to get coffee with you of this thing I want to talk

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about and we'd talk and we would come to some kind of conclusion and then I would watch

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them go into the exact opposite.

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I wouldn't have used these words, but the truth is that they were my projects and they

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were the ones that were messing up their lives.

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They'd only listen to me, things would be fine.

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These kinds of frustrations aren't from the spirit.

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They are rooted in foolishness and control.

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But I've learned and I'm continuing to learn and I hope that you know as well that people

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are not our projects.

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People shouldn't be treated like they can be fixed with bullet points.

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Years ago I wrote a discipleship plan called the blueprint and full disclosure here in

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a couple of weeks we're going to start up a new series based on the blueprint again.

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We do that every four years or so and it's a plan.

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It's a discipleship plan.

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Plans have value, but plans do not guarantee outcomes.

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Wish I could get an amen.

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Plans do not guarantee outcomes.

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In churches and pastors, you and me, I, Greg Hampton, as much as I am a problem solver,

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I have to remember that pastors aren't people solvers.

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We are present, we are prayers, we are pointers.

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We're meant to, as Eugene would say, pay attention and call attention.

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We're not purveyors of outcome.

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We are partners in patience and peace.

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So you, you, you, you are not my project.

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Person sitting next to you is not your project.

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We are God's workmanship.

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He will complete his good work in his good timing.

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Yeah?

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Second, I want to remind us that tearing something down is always easier than building it up.

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Pulling down the ceiling of our kitchen was hard.

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I'm not saying that it was easy.

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As I said, it had a layer of cement board.

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It had a layer of drywall for some reason around the edges.

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Not nowadays we would use tape, paper tape.

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When we mud back then for whatever use, they use this black metal mesh.

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And so yes, it was difficult taking down the ceiling.

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But the only thing that was required to pull down the ceiling was brute force.

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A hammer and an arm, as long as it didn't give out.

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That's all that it required.

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It wasn't nearly as difficult as putting it back up.

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Because even before we could put it up, the first thing we had to do was clean up the

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mess.

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Then we had to pull all the nails that were left over because the ceiling was put up in

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the air where they didn't use screws.

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They used nails, a lot of nails.

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And then we had to cut the drywall to size and hoist them awkwardly and painfully above

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our heads.

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And a few of those pieces did not go in easily.

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They went up and down, up and down, up and down.

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Because I had to trim them in all the little spots because old houses are not square.

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But even after we got all of those secured in place, it wasn't finished.

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You still have to tape and mud the joints and sand and mud and sand.

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And if you're me, you have to do that a couple more times than necessary because you're not

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a professional.

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Then it's done.

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Nope.

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Nope.

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Because then the first coat of primer goes on and you realize that you can see the tape

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through the primer.

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And so you go back and you mud and sand again.

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Then two more coats of paint.

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Then the ceiling is done.

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Listen, anyone can tear something down.

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Anyone can tear something down.

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I can get anyone in this room, young or old, a hammer and they can go over and start knocking

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down that wall.

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But not everyone in this room knows how to put it back up because anyone can tear something

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down.

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Anyone can tear someone down.

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But building it back up is always harder.

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And Christians are meant to be builders.

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We are meant to build people up.

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First Thessalonians 5, 11, therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as

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in fact you are doing.

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Philippians 2, 3, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit rather in humility,

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value others above yourselves and not just your friends.

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Jesus said this about the people that we might want to tear down the most.

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He said, to you who are listening, I say, love your enemies.

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Do good to those who hate you.

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Bless those who curse you.

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Pray for those who mistreat you.

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People are not our projects and tearing people down is always easier.

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It's an easy way out is what it is.

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Because it's always easier than building them up.

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Maybe if I tear someone down then I won't have to build them up.

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So what do we do with any of this?

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How do we practice or participate with this?

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Well I'm going to go back to one photo.

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Liam, if you put up that photo of the ceiling when it's done, all the lights, the very last

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one where it's there, there you go, right there.

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Alright, you already gave me a little round of applause earlier so I'm not looking for

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paths on the back, okay?

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But it looks pretty good, right?

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It looks pretty good.

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I have a secret.

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It's not as good as it looks.

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See all those lights, those six LED lights, they have this feature called night light

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mode.

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If you go over and you flip the switch and turn all those lights off and then you flip

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it right back on, there's just like a little glowing edge around the top of each of those

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lights.

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It's like a night light.

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And so it's probably like one tenth the amount of light.

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It's also like very amber.

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And it's meant to be something you can just have on when you just chill or just at night

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and you just don't want all of the lights on.

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And when you turn on the night light mode, what happens is that the light actually, instead

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of shining down, it scatters across the surface.

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You see where I'm going with this.

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Scatters across the surface of that ceiling.

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And suddenly you can see where the pieces of drywall come together.

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And that some of them aren't completely flat.

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Where my mudding and sanding skills were lacking.

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See, it seems counterintuitive.

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When there is less light, you can see more imperfections.

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But those with ears, here, here.

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When there is less light, you can see more imperfections.

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Reminds me of 1 Peter 4.8.

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It says, above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sin.

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Or 1 John 4.16 that tells us that God is love.

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Or 1 John 1.5 that says that God is light.

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And when Jesus said, a new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you,

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so you must love one another by this.

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Everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

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So this is what I have to say.

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What do we do with all this?

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We have to really love each other.

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Like really.

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Like really, actually love each other.

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The only way to keep from tearing each other down and treating each other like we are projects

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is to really love each other with the love of Jesus.

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Because when we love like Jesus, we don't treat people like projects.

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When we love like Jesus, we don't tear them down.

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We don't scatter a bit of light, exposing every flaw.

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When we love like Jesus, we shine so much light that it covers a multitude of sin.

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Suddenly a ceiling that has flaws looks just about perfect.

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Flaws are still there.

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But it's the light that makes us look perfect.

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Doesn't mean that we never point anything out.

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Some people are like, oh, this sounds like chief grace, Greg.

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Jesus did say if your brother or sister sinned against you, go point out their fault just

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between the two of you.

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They listen to you.

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You have won them over.

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Galatians 6.1 gives us more context.

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It says, brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore

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00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,800
them gently, privately, gently restore.

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So that was a close.

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It's the last thing I have for you.

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Remember when I mentioned the trim and the baseboards in my house?

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I didn't put up a picture because I want you all to come to my house at some point.

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I'll show it to you, right?

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My view post-summer is now this, that my floor and my ceiling, the toilet, all that stuff,

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those were projects.

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But the trim and the baseboards, that was restoration.

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That was putting something back the way that it should have been.

425
00:27:03,060 --> 00:27:09,640
I was taking a mistake that someone made in 1990 and restoring it.

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Here's the thing.

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00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:17,440
Of all of the things that I did, doing that trim correctly was the most difficult because

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00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,000
it required precision.

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00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,240
Because it required using tools that if you don't use them correctly, all right, well,

430
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:25,240
that piece is gone.

431
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,480
I need to start over with the new piece.

432
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:34,240
It required everything to be cut to the right lengths for routers to cut out just enough

433
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:38,920
of the inside of this board so that it fit over this board the way that every other board

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00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,800
in this house fits.

435
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,360
Required the most precision.

436
00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:48,400
And so because of that, I'd say it required the most honor.

437
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,720
People are not our projects.

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If we are in Christ, then we are the light and this love covers a multitude of sins.

439
00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:03,720
And when mistakes cast a long shadow, we don't use hammers, we use precision.

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And we restore with honor and care.

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I hope that that is who we are as a church.

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Anyone can walk through these doors and their flaws are not amplified, but the love of Christ

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covers them.

444
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Amen?

445
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,200
Let's pray.

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Jesus, we thank you that you are love, you are light.

447
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:44,680
That the light that came into the world covers all of our sin, covers all of our mistakes,

448
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:51,480
draws us in to be closer, to be more restored and honored and cared for than we could ever

449
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:52,480
imagine.

450
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:58,880
And I pray that that spirit, your spirit of comfort would be in this place comforting

451
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:07,320
every bit of us that has felt like we have been tinkered with.

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00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:14,680
You would show us how to love each other, to restore with care and honor.

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Your love would cover a multitude of sins.

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In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.