1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,000 We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Let's build that relationship together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. 3 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Okay, there we go. Well, morning church. Welcome to everybody in the sanctuary. Welcome to everybody watching online or listening. 4 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:36,000 You know, it's great to have you all with us. Right? A lot of choices out there. A lot of places you go, you all choose here. Right? It's appreciated. 5 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:44,000 I love this place because we all come together, our highs and our lows. This week is kind of a low for me. I was down sick. 6 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:52,000 That's why I tried to keep my distance, not trying to be rude. But I'm at the tail end, but just in case, kind of want to keep that distance from you all because I don't want to pass anything on. 7 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,000 You know, it's part of why we didn't have Tessa here with us today. She's at home right now dealing with illness. 8 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:03,000 So, you know, keep her in prayer, you know, as we were praying before service and everything. 9 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:10,000 So, you know, it's something to keep in mind. You know, the video that we were just watching, you know, things change. 10 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:19,000 We have a lot of highs. We have a lot of lows in our lives. Right? And it is the sum because we don't get to really know those really good, joyful things, 11 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:27,000 those things that really make us happy without those lows. Right? We need those lows so that we could truly appreciate the highs. 12 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:32,000 You know, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed. There's been a little bit of change in the air. Right? 13 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,000 The temperatures come down. We're not seeing those days where we're constantly in the 100 degrees anymore. 14 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 You know, some low 90s, but more and more of those 80s. You know, a little bit more rain. 15 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,000 I know you're probably inside all the time, so you miss it. Right? 16 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:54,000 I know I spent a lot of time outside. Brian does. I'm sure you guys with your job, you had doors, bay doors and stuff open all the time. Right? 17 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:01,000 With class. So, so. Yeah. You know, but, you know, it is starting to cool down. We're starting to see rain. 18 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Balloon Fiesta is going to be coming up on us. So we're going to start seeing winds come in, more rains coming in. 19 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Hopefully not raining out the Balloon Fiesta. Right? That's always one of those things where we have to kind of wait and see what direction it goes. 20 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:19,000 You know, football season started. Right? Some football fans in here, I'm sure. I know at least a couple in here. 21 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:27,000 You know, football's nice until, you know, it holds things down until hockey season starts here in a couple weeks and we have a real sport. You know? 22 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Just kidding. Oh, yeah. No, I know. He talked to me about that too. 23 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:39,000 He was asking for an earlier service time so he could watch his Cowboys. And I told him, put Jesus first. 24 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:49,000 That's what family's for. That's part of why I love this place. You know, a lot of things are changing. 25 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:58,000 Pumpkin spice season started early. So, you know, we have all the women in the line at Starbucks waiting to get their fill. Right? 26 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:05,000 A lot of teachers out there waiting to get theirs. I know I see a lot of people at the transportation as well. 27 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:11,000 You know, because you walk in a dispatch and it just reeks of pumpkin spice and a couple of us are like, oh, I'm over it. 28 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:18,000 We're over it before it started. You know? You know, things are changing. Right? The seasons are changing. 29 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Chapters are changing. Things are starting. You know, one thing is ending. Another thing is starting anew. Right? 30 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Kind of like a book series. You get a chapter. It comes to an end. A new one starts. 31 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,000 And that's really how life is. Right? That's how all these things are. They're all seasons. 32 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,000 We don't play football year-round. We don't get to watch hockey year-round, unfortunately. 33 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Thankfully, it's not pumpkin spice season year-round. Right? Just teasing those of you who like it. 34 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,000 You know, I've been known to have my share once in a while. I'm more of a pumpkin pie guy. Right? 35 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:58,000 But even that, I don't want it year-round. I like to have my apple. I like to have my cherry. Things need to change. 36 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:04,000 You know, and the past, you know, I'd say the past few weeks, even like really kind of going into the last couple months now, 37 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,000 we've been talking about change here, you know, within the fellowship. Right? Transition. 38 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:17,000 You know, we are going through a time of change here where one chapter is coming towards a close and another one starting to open. 39 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:26,000 And we're starting to see that come more and more into fruition, you know, as Pastor Mark's been called, you know, to minister differently. 40 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:31,000 Right? And it's not, you know, when it comes to change, it's not something anybody takes lightly. 41 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:36,000 It's something, you know, we take prayerfully because we need to talk to God. We need to have God involved in it. 42 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:42,000 We need to keep him at the forefront of everything that's going on in our lives. Right? 43 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:48,000 As we saw with Pastor Mark when he came up and, you know, he explained to us what was happening, it was very heavy on him. 44 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,000 It is, you know, it's a very emotional thing for him. So it's not something that he took lightly. 45 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:58,000 It's not something the Board of Trustees have taken lightly because they have changed before them as well. Right? 46 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 It's not something I've taken lightly. You know, when I came back here, you know, 47 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:11,000 seeing myself up here in this capacity was really not what I had envisioned at the time. 48 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:18,000 It's funny because, you know, our paths change. They diverge. Sometimes we're blessed with the unexpected. 49 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:24,000 And it's a good thing. You know, a familiar face from an old church. It's not something I expected. 50 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,000 You know, just like when I came back and Clint was still with us and seeing him with us. Right? 51 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:33,000 It brought a smile to my face. It made me feel good. You know, old friends. 52 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,000 I could say old friends because they were at my wedding. 53 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 We put them to work. They helped set things up and break things down. 54 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:47,000 So, you know, while it was work for us, it was work for them as well. 55 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:56,000 So there is a lot of change going on. Right? And seasons. Our highs, our lows. 56 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:02,000 They help us to appreciate things. And none of us get to see everything exactly the same way. 57 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:11,000 We all see it from different points of view, just like the boys in this video we just watched a little bit ago. Right? 58 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:17,000 So, this is the first point. It's a time of change. Change is going to happen. 59 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:24,000 We can't stop it. But we can work with it. We have to work with it. 60 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,000 So at this point, I'm going to go ahead, as we get ready to go, I'm going to invite everybody, 61 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:36,000 go ahead and open up your Bibles or your apps to Ecclesiastes, specifically chapter three. 62 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:45,000 As we get started, and as you all are doing that, so Ecclesiastes chapter three might kind of give a little bit of a run down of the book as a whole. 63 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:52,000 It's written by King Solomon near the end of his life, his wanting days, when he's kind of looking back, lessons learned. 64 00:06:52,000 --> 00:07:00,000 And he's reflecting on those younger days and those lessons that he's learned in his life. 65 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:10,000 This was done about 935 B.C. And when he wrote this, it wasn't just to the subjects of his kingdom, 66 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:17,000 but for future generations as well, for all of us. That's what was in mind. It wasn't just to a specific people. 67 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:23,000 You know, it was very much for generations to come. 68 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:30,000 You know, he took the lessons that he learned, the blessings bestowed on him by God, the very wisdom that he was blessed with. 69 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:43,000 And he put it to work. You know, to some people, this book itself, it can seem very dark, very dreary, very kind of humdrum, right? 70 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,000 But that wasn't his intention. It wasn't his intention for it to be a downer. 71 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:54,000 It was more so, you know, especially those of us who have kids, this is easy to relate to, or those of you who have trained people. 72 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:00,000 It was more so, you know what, hey, I've gone through this. I've seen this. This is what I've seen in my life. 73 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:10,000 This is what I've experienced. And I would like for you to learn from my mistakes and my triumphs so that you don't have to deal with it yourself, 74 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:17,000 so that you can go forward and you can take these lessons learned and apply them to a better future, a better tomorrow. 75 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:24,000 In the military, there's very much, you know, this whole piece that's instilled. Leave things better than how you received it. 76 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:28,000 You know, Marine Corps, we're really good at that because we get a whole lot of hand-me-downs from other branches. 77 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,000 You know, we're sitting there busting rust off of things and kicking things, trying to get it back in the working order, you know, 78 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:38,000 scrubbing out mud that's been caked in there from probably Vietnam, who knows? 79 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:44,000 That's just life. That's how it works, right? 80 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:49,000 But that's the whole point. Lessons learned. That's where we get a lot of the things that we're at today. 81 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:54,000 That's why we go to school, because things have already been learned. We have a history. We have a working order. 82 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:07,000 Trial and error. You know, it's really the point of history is so that we can learn and hopefully not repeat those same mistakes. 83 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:13,000 Sadly, all of us in our own life have to learn things the hard way. I know I've learned my fair share. 84 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:23,000 I'm sure everybody in this room has, right? And as a society, as a culture, we have to go through things over and over again sometimes as well. 85 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:31,000 You don't have to look too far to see it. Turn on the TV. Look at the news, right? Look at the talk shows and the stuff that they talk about. 86 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:37,000 The biblical and the unbiblical. History repeats, and it's not unique to just us here in the U.S. 87 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:44,000 Worldwide themes, worldwide circumstances, stuff that other cultures have dealt with, right? 88 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:52,000 Like you go back to even look at our Civil War. You look at all the civil wars that are going on in other countries as we speak, right? 89 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:59,000 You look at the battles being fought in places like Africa, the stuff going on in the Middle East, right? 90 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:06,000 The confrontations that are being dealt with internally and externally with Russia. 91 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 So there's a lot to be picked up from history. 92 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:17,000 You know, and the point here, especially when we're looking at this book that King Solomon has, is the point is God has a plan. 93 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:23,000 And it's a plan for everyone, and everyone has to experience seasons. 94 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:35,000 You know, they work for us as we complete things, as we go through life. You know, and the obstacles that we face, they're being used by God for us to discover our own blessings, our own giftings, 95 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:43,000 to challenge us and to bring out a better person so that we're better tomorrow than we were today, right? 96 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:49,000 And so our families are better tomorrow than they were today. 97 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:54,000 And it all comes from trusting in him. So from here, we're going to go ahead, we're going to dive into the Word. 98 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,000 We're going to start off with Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. 99 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:07,000 Okay, so Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1 through 8. I'm excited. I get to use my new Bible up here today. 100 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:23,000 I'm excited to give you a new Bible. I'm excited to tell you that I can do everything there is a season, time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted, 101 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:29,800 break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to 102 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:39,240 dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to 103 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:49,320 refrain from embracing. Bless you. A time to gain and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to 104 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:58,440 throw away. A time to tear and a time to sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time 105 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:09,480 to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time for peace. So I kind of forgot to get my slide 106 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:21,160 there but there it is. A time for peace. You know, time to change. Timing is important. We look at 107 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,160 all these times right here. There's a lot of times, right? A lot of seasons, a lot of chapters, things 108 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:32,120 that we all go through in life. And if these words sound familiar and they probably do, right, 109 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:39,960 it's because back in, I believe it was 1959, it didn't really become more famous until the early 110 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:46,200 mid-60s. Pete Seeger actually took these exact verses, added about six words to it for kind of 111 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:52,680 like a course, and published it with the birds. Turn, turn, turn, right? Almost verbatim. He 112 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:57,560 rearranged a couple of the words so it flowed a little differently for the way we speak. But 113 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:03,720 that's a song that to this very day has been used in countless shows and movies on the radio, 114 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,640 has been covered by group after group after group. Matter of fact, just the other day I was going 115 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:12,120 down the road and I was channel surfing and I heard a version of it from Wilson Phillips who 116 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:17,480 I don't think anybody's even thought of or heard of since the 80s, right? And it's like, what is it? 117 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,880 It's like, is that who, what's? It's like, I had to stop on the radio station for a second, right? 118 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,520 The word at work in our lives, it's still going through, right? It speaks for itself. This is one 119 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:32,440 of those times where it's loud and clear that it's speaking for itself. You know, when we go through 120 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,200 each of these verses, you know, they all take, they all have an appropriate time and an appropriate 121 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:41,720 place in our lives. And it's something that every man, woman, and child is going to have to deal 122 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:50,200 with at some point in their life, right? It's just the way it is. Not trying to coin another song 123 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:57,800 there. But, you know, the fact is, when a lot of these seasons come, it's not out of convenience. 124 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:03,800 Matter of fact, especially some of those hard times come at a time that is very inconvenient. 125 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,320 You know, there's certain things that we have to deal with. There's never going to be a convenient 126 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:13,400 time in our lives, right? You know, Pastor Mark, he's dealing with the death of his mom, right? 127 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:19,560 Wasn't that long ago, our brother Brian over here dealing with the passing of his father, everybody 128 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:26,680 in this room, Doug, left to take care of family. He's no longer with us, right? Everybody in here 129 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:32,840 has dealt with these things at one point or another. And when has death ever been convenient for a 130 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:44,200 single person? Anybody? No, I didn't think so. Because it's not meant to be. It's not supposed to 131 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:53,800 be. But the timing of it is still important in our lives, right? It's not because of our timing. If 132 00:14:53,800 --> 00:15:01,400 we waited for everything to be convenient for us in our time, it never would be. It's not because 133 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:06,200 of our time, it never would be. We would never get to it. We would never experience the things 134 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:14,440 that we're supposed to. Because it's not from our timing. It's His timing. God's perfect timing. 135 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:25,400 When we go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 49, verses 8 through 9. So Isaiah 49, verses 8 through 9, 136 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:34,840 the word says this. This is what the Lord says. This says, Lord, in an acceptable time I have heard 137 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:41,320 you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. I will preserve you and give you as a covenant 138 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:49,320 to the people to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages that you may say 139 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:55,320 to the prisoners, go forth to those who are in darkness. Show yourselves. Or if you're reading 140 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:03,160 the NIV version, instead of show yourselves, it might say, be free, right? Here, when we're looking 141 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:08,280 at Isaiah, Paul's talking about God's perfect timing. Things are going to happen. Ugly things, 142 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:15,720 bad things, unfathomable things, right? It's going to happen. History is littered with atrocities. 143 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:25,800 It's still having atrocities added to it. You know, matter of fact, just this last week, 144 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:35,480 just a few days ago, we had an anniversary, right? 9-11. Certainly wasn't convenient to anybody. 145 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:43,640 The single worst attack of a generation, right? With an implication for generations to come. 146 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:48,760 And when you think about it, every generation has had something. And if we think about, 147 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:59,640 just here in the U.S., right? JFK, for example. Another good example, right? Dr. Martin Luther King. 148 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:05,640 The Challenger explosion, right? These are things that just come to mind just standing here. I don't 149 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:13,400 have to think too hard. Pearl Harbor. Tet, right? Those of you who are versed in Vietnam history 150 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:19,480 and everything, the Tet Offensive was huge. There's a lot of things that go out there, a lot of pain, 151 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:25,080 a lot of hardship. These are things, lessons learned for millions. Like I said, there's a lot 152 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,800 of implication. Things that happen in our lives that impact us in some way. 153 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:40,280 I can think of exactly where I was on 9-11. I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, with the base locked 154 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:47,000 down in the middle of a typhoon Nari. And I get a call from one of my sergeants saying, hey, I'm on 155 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,640 my way in. I'm like, what are you talking about, dude? You're confined to quarters. You live on 156 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:56,440 base. You're not coming in. He's like, trust me, I'm on my way in. Go back to the interpreter's 157 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:01,240 office, turn on the news, you'll see what I'm talking about. This is a brother Marine who had 158 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:07,640 no sense of humor. So I knew he wasn't pulling my leg. He wasn't the type. And I went back, told 159 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,160 our interpreter to turn on the news, and sure enough, just in time to see the second tower get 160 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,240 hit, I thought he was watching an action movie. I had to tell him, hey, turn off your movie, turn 161 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:20,200 on the news. He's like, no, that's it. That's AFN right there. And I'm like, what's going on? 162 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:27,560 AFN right there. And it stuck, just like it stuck for everybody who was alive at that time and of 163 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:38,840 age, right? And the way it impacted my life, here I am. I'm a Marine. When I initially enlisted, 164 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:50,680 we weren't at war. We weren't looking at war. Right? Instead of being there serving my time, 165 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:59,240 it turned into a career overseas. You know, my goal, since I was a kid up to that point, 166 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:04,440 I knew I wanted to be in the military. It was a matter of choosing what branch. You know, 167 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:10,120 I'm growing up through the years. Each season of my life, what branch it was changed. There's a 168 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:15,720 juggling act. And eventually I landed on the Marine Corps, and that's where I went. You know, 169 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:21,160 and my goal at that time was to stay as a career serviceman. I was going to be in the Marine Corps. 170 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:26,760 That was going to be my life. That was my calling. Little did I know that a few years later, 171 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:33,640 the Lord was going to set me on a different path. First I had to play without a chaplain. 172 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:41,480 While we were overseas, we took our little New Testaments that we received before we went over 173 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:47,800 from, I can't even think of the name of the group now, the Gideons. There we go. From the Gideons. 174 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,560 And we had our own little service right there in the field trying to deal with the, 175 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,200 and cope with the things that we were seeing and the things that we were doing. 176 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,920 And not that long after that, I get a career ending injury. I'm med-sept and sent home. 177 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:06,120 Times change. Things stick though, right? It was never my intention to get hurt. 178 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:10,120 But that was what my path had in store for me. 179 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,120 You know, it certainly never crossed my mind that I'd be in the ministry. 180 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,600 Even after that, it wasn't until after I came home and came back to Albuquerque 181 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:25,400 that I truly started to get enrolled in it more and more every year. Getting pulled in. 182 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,960 Being told, no, this is your call. Answer it. And I was very resistant for a time. 183 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:34,200 You could say I was reluctant. It would probably be the best word for it. 184 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,880 When our time comes though, when it comes to a screeching halt, 185 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:47,000 it hurts. And we have to be ready for it. Sometimes though, we're blessed. Sometimes we 186 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:53,160 actually get time for a handoff, right? We get to have things explained. We get help along the way. 187 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,280 Those are always the easiest times, right? Those are the best transitions. 188 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,880 But there's things that are going to happen to us in life that we're never going to fully grasp 189 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,680 until we're standing face to face with Jesus. And that's the way it's meant to be. 190 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,800 We're not always going to like the answers that we get. Sometimes, matter of fact, when we get them, 191 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:17,960 it's going to be yes, no, wait. Sometimes the yes is hard. Sometimes the no is hard. Wait is almost 192 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:25,960 always hard. Who likes to wait? Right? It's like telling a little kid to go take a nap. I don't 193 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:43,640 want to know. Right? Trying to put a baby down for a while. That's always fun. It's a fight. 194 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:52,280 You know? But everything that we do, again, it ultimately comes down to his will, not ours. 195 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:58,120 His time, not ours. And when we get the work and we have these things going on, whether it's 196 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:02,360 something that we're looking forward to or we're expecting or not, we need to remember that it is 197 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:08,840 a blessing. It is a gift from above. It is from the Lord. Right? And we have a responsibility 198 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:15,720 not to take that limelight for ourselves, but to take it and do the work that's presented with it 199 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,360 gratefully that we actually have the work and use that time to point the light and to point the 200 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:26,920 direction towards the one who belongs to God, right? To Jesus. You know? Because the glory is 201 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:33,720 his. It's not ours. It's his. And that's where our responsibility comes to. It's where it lies on, 202 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:40,120 depends on. So with our seasons, we have our time of change. We have the timing that's important, 203 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:46,200 those life altering events. Right? But then we have that time of work. When we turn back to 204 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:53,800 Ecclesiastes chapter three, we look at verses nine through 15, the word says this, 205 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:03,800 what profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task 206 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:09,320 with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. 207 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:17,320 Also, he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does 208 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:26,040 from beginning to end. Know that nothing is better for them to rejoice and to do good in their lives. 209 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:33,560 And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is 210 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:39,960 it is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does, 211 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:49,800 it shall be forever. Nothing could be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it, 212 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:59,320 that men should fear before him. That which has already been and what is to be has already been. 213 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:09,000 And God requires an account of what is past. You know, work, 214 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:17,960 could be a four-letter word sometimes, right? We don't like four-letter words, right? Exactly, 215 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:25,880 cuss word. Exactly. It's like, what did you say? You want what? Come on now. I'm much rather to have 216 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:30,040 a job. Three-letter words, kind of happy, you know, it's short, it's fast, it's done quickly, 217 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:37,400 right? But it can be. It could be a four-letter word sometimes in our life, unfortunately. And 218 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:44,200 really, you know, that's the point that King Solomon is saying here. Do you have an attitude 219 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:49,080 of gratitude, right? I know we've all heard this phrase before, an attitude of gratitude. 220 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:57,720 You know, it's the way that we look at things. It's our outlook, right? Sometimes we get up, 221 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:04,840 you know, and we have to ask, do I have a purpose? And sometimes those answers come based on our own 222 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:10,520 attitude, what we see because of what we make out of it. You know, those days when you get up, 223 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,920 you're like, oh man, I'm not ready for this, right? Something happens at work, you're like, 224 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:22,200 oh, I'm too old for this. Say, uh-uh, forget about it. You know, you get up, you wander in the 225 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:27,240 kitchen, grab that cup of coffee, and you're debating with yourself, I'm going to call in 226 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:32,200 today. I don't think I could deal with this. It's like I've been out of bed for all the five 227 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:39,160 minutes and I'm already over it, right? We've all been there. It's just life. It's the attitude. 228 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,440 You know, some people call it waking up on the wrong side of the bed, you know, or, you know, 229 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,760 we also have those days when we wake up, we're pumped, we're jazzed, we can't wait to see what's 230 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,800 coming. Like, yes, it's going to be an awesome day. We got good things already planned happening 231 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:59,320 at work. The weather's supposed to be awesome, right? I get to ride my motorcycle a day and I 232 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:06,280 have to worry about rain and hail, you know? I get to go and have lunch outside and I have to 233 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:12,120 worry about getting dumped on by the wind, you know? Little things in life that we enjoy, you 234 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:16,120 know? It's like, oh, I get to work with my work buddy today. I get to work with my best friend. 235 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,480 That's something everybody always enjoys, right? Getting to go and hang out with the people that 236 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:30,200 we love. You know, I know my wife, she loves spending time with Becca here. She does. She 237 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:35,320 gets excited if something happens, they don't miss you, they don't get to see you. They get 238 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:39,720 to connect and they miss each other. Guaranteed, I'm going to hear about it. She's going to come 239 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:48,360 home a little bummed. Hope everything's okay, right? It happens. You know, but, you know, 240 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:52,920 it's very much those questions. Do I have a purpose? What is it? Am I doing the best of my 241 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:59,240 ability? And like I said, the answers, they come with our attitudes. You know, we become dissatisfied 242 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:06,760 and we lose sight of things based in part because of how we're feeling inside. Our attitude on 243 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:15,080 things, right? The things that we cast outwardly, not the things that God had intended, but we and 244 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:23,240 our humanness and our brokenness, right? We cast a vision that was never meant to be and we get 245 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:34,200 stuck in it like a picture. You know, when we lose sight, we lose sight of the purpose that God has 246 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,520 intended for us there. You know, as we see in this passage, God's blessed us with work. We're 247 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:48,360 supposed to work. We have a life of labor, you know, that labor of love, as you call it, you know, 248 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:53,000 the fruit of the labor, that's the blessing, that's the gift from Him. It's not so much the work, 249 00:27:53,000 --> 00:28:00,200 itself, but the afterproducts, right? You got out, you stretched a barbed wire fence, you've 250 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:06,280 roofed a house, you've painted walls, you know, you built something, you fixed something, you know, 251 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:12,600 an engine or a radio, a computer, something, right? And afterwards everything's, it's working. 252 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:20,120 It looks nice and you get to step back and be like, wow, I had a hand in that. Praise Jesus, right? 253 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:23,800 You know, I can't think of a single mechanic shop that you walk into and you don't hear somebody in 254 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,800 the background yelling and cussing because they hit their hand on something, you know, or they 255 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:36,360 can't get something to move. But then afterwards you're like, it's working, it's running. Let's 256 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:45,320 hope the next car is just an oil change, right? Probably what it sounds like a little bit over 257 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,720 Pastor Mark's house sometimes with their travel issues, right? I mean, I'm not sure if you've 258 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:54,440 got travel issues right now. It's like, oh man, what's coming next, right? Just having to remember 259 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,520 to lift that chin up and smile and be like, okay Lord, I know you got this. I know there's a reason 260 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:03,320 for it, right? And when the blessing comes through, it's always a good thing, right? It's like, as 261 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:10,600 tough as it is, transportation's still working out. It's a good thing. You know, it's that sense of 262 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,480 satisfaction at the end of the day, the end of the project, you know, we need to remember that our 263 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:25,800 work is one of the many ways that we serve God. What we're doing, it is a calling, whether we 264 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:32,680 realize or not, and it is part of our service to God. He has put us in this line of work for one 265 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:43,080 reason or another. It's not always going to be the work that you want. It's not always going to be 266 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:51,560 the work that you expect. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes you get paired up with somebody 267 00:29:51,560 --> 00:30:03,960 and you're just like, oh Lord, please open my eyes, right? Especially those hard times. You know, 268 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,800 in the good times, it's easy to remember this, but in those hard times, we need to remember the Lord's 269 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:15,000 working through us, right? He's working on our character, but he's also put us there to shine 270 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,680 light for somebody else because if we're dealing with something and it's a hard time for us, 271 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,360 odds are it's a hard time for the person that we're standing in front of as well or the person that 272 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:33,000 we're talking to. Might even be somebody on the other end of the phone, right? When it comes to 273 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,040 my line of work outside of the fellowship, sometimes I'm kind of seen as a gloomy guy, 274 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:46,040 and it's not that I intend to be. That's not how I purpose to be, but it's because of 275 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:54,120 how people hear what I'm saying because unfortunately I come from a background of 276 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:01,000 first response. I've worked in law enforcement. I've worked in healthcare, right? I've been around 277 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,240 the world with security. You know, when it comes to the criminal justice system, I've worked pretty 278 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:09,880 much every area outside of, you know, corrections and being a lawyer, which I wouldn't wish on 279 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:17,640 anybody unless it's their calling, right? Healthcare too. I've worked in hospice. I've worked in 280 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:23,400 surgery. I've been there and I've held people's hands as they've passed on to be with the Lord. 281 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,880 So when I'm there and I'm talking about things, especially in my current role, 282 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:37,880 working in dispatch, when I'm talking to my people, it's not, you know, I have to relate to them. 283 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:43,800 It's not a matter of if something is going to happen. It's when something's going to happen. 284 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,880 Because I work dispatch with transportation within the schools. You look at everything 285 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,800 that's going on with the schools. That's why schools have their own security teams and their 286 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:58,360 own law enforcement now, their own dispatch now. You know, nurses are actually being trained up 287 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,480 even to a higher level now than what even they used to be. 288 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,800 Because it's not if something's going to happen, it's when something's going to happen. 289 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:14,920 Just a few days ago here in this country, what Georgia, I think it was, we had a shooting, 290 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:23,960 right? Again, again, another one. It's like year after year now. It's happening so much 291 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:30,520 more often, so much more frequently. So stressing that, to stress the importance of the training 292 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:34,840 that we do and the reason why we do things and we have a certain structure for things and we report 293 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:39,400 things a certain way, it comes across very gloomy. Because that's the line of work that I'm in, 294 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,520 right? So it's very hard for some people to hear because it's not what they want to hear. 295 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,840 They want everything to be candy-coated. I work in a wonderful place in a perfect world. 296 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:55,240 No, Careberry, you don't. I'm sorry. It's not the way it works. It's not supposed to work that way. 297 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:58,440 Our reality is much different. 298 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,760 You know, like I said, I don't look forward to bad things happening. It's not what I want. 299 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:12,840 But what I do want is for when things happen, I want everybody that I work with, everybody that 300 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:21,000 I come in touch with there at work, to be ready, to be ready for it, to be able to respond, right? 301 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:30,920 For a number of reasons. It improves the outcome. The chances of people's safety and people not 302 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:38,040 being hurt or at least not hurt as badly go up tenfold. The appropriate people being called to 303 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:45,640 respond. People are likely to freeze up. They're going to call who they need to call, right? Just 304 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,760 like in the military, we hated going out and having to do certain training. It's like, oh, 305 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,920 man, we're doing this again? Seriously? But then when we deployed, what happened? 306 00:33:55,960 --> 00:34:02,760 We're ready to work. And it doesn't matter what area you're in. When it came time 307 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:09,400 for brass tacks, you were ready to go. And it's no different in law enforcement. It's no different 308 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:16,840 in EMS. It's no different for cooks, right? It's no different for communications operators, 309 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:24,360 and linemen, engineers, even the guys who go out and make potable water for people to drink. 310 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:30,040 There's a lot of training, but when it comes time, they're ready to respond. And it doesn't 311 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:34,200 matter if they're going to war or if they're responding to an earthquake or hurricane, 312 00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:39,880 a tornado, a traffic accident, or somebody passed out out here on one of the bus benches in town. 313 00:34:41,240 --> 00:34:47,160 Everybody goes through this training so that when things happen, they're prepared for the best 314 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:53,160 possible outcome. And so that Jesus' light can shine through in that time of darkness for others, 315 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:59,320 the time when it matters the absolute most for people to see Him and to know, hey, 316 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:04,840 it's going to be okay. You know, the problem when it comes to this, 317 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:14,680 you know, is that it's our human, our humanist. God has set eternity into human heart, right? 318 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,040 That's what it says here. 319 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:21,400 And what it means is that we're always going to be looking for that next best thing. 320 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:29,240 We're looking for perfection, which is why when we get things, it might be great for a little 321 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:34,520 while, but then we're looking for the next thing. Pretty much everybody in here has a cell phone, 322 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:39,480 right? Is there anybody who doesn't know? I didn't think so. And what happens is that 323 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:46,440 we get that cell phone, right? Ooh, this is great. It's got all the bells and whistles. I can do this. 324 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:53,560 And then after a while, we start finding the flaws. Oh, this isn't what I signed up for. 325 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:58,040 Oh, but next year, they got the upgrade coming. That's going to take care of all these old problems. 326 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,840 I'm just going to trade it in. I'm going to upgrade. I'm going to get that next phone. 327 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:04,440 It's going to be great. And we do that. And what happens? 328 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:12,280 We start the cycle over again, right? We get a car. We're pumped. Ooh, I got a new car. 329 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:18,360 Check out my ride. This thing's pimping, right? I'm going to cruise slow downtown. Everybody's 330 00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:23,480 going to see it. I'm going to blast the music, get their attention, right? And then before long, 331 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:29,960 oh, speakers aren't so good. It doesn't get good mileage. It doesn't get good 332 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:38,200 speed. Speakers aren't so good. It doesn't get good mileage. I had to go and somebody 333 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:44,200 back. Yeah, a little blemish. Things aren't quite what they are. It starts to age. 334 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,840 You're cruising on the highway and a rock gets thrown up and chips the paint. It's like, oh, man. 335 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:54,760 Especially if you think of older cars and the way the paint would fade and peel. We don't see that 336 00:36:54,760 --> 00:37:00,120 as much today, but we still see some, right? Same thing. There's always something that's like, 337 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:10,920 I'm ready for an upgrade. We get those pictures in our heads. Ooh, I want a 69 Camaro. Super sport. 338 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,920 And then you get it. You find out how bad the mileage is, right? All the work you've got to 339 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:21,400 put into it to keep it running. You're like, I got a Camaro, not a Ford. What's going on? 340 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:27,400 It's the same thing. It goes on and on. And we take these things and we have this hole, like I said, 341 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:33,160 because we're looking for perfection. We have these holes in our lives, these holes inside, 342 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:40,040 and we start looking to other things. Drugs, alcohol, clubbing, relationships, sex, work. 343 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:46,200 Yes, work. Workaholics, that's actually a thing. People will go and they will spend more time 344 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,960 focused on work. They will take it home with them. They will go to work. They will go to work. 345 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,880 They will take it home with them. They will take it everywhere with them. They're focused on nothing 346 00:37:53,880 --> 00:38:01,240 but trying to get ahead, thinking that's going to fulfill that gap that they have inside, right? 347 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:09,080 It's another addiction. Gambling, right? All this other stuff. Video games. 348 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:15,320 You know, I know people, I play my bass. I love my bass. My wife plays her guitar. She loves it. 349 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,160 I know people, that's their addiction. Oh, I got this. I've got this mastered. I've got to 350 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:27,880 get another instrument. I have to, right? That's their addiction. They're trying to fill a gap. 351 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:32,520 They're trying to fill that loss. And the problem here is only the Holy Spirit can fill that. 352 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:40,520 Only Jesus can fill that. He is the only one. That place that's there, it is a place for God to come 353 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:46,040 and dwell within us. And we need to invite Him into it. You know, you can apply this to just about 354 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,880 anything. You know, and it's temptations. It's temptations that all of us have to deal with. 355 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,640 You know, and you see it's because we're created in God's image. 356 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:07,080 We have a spiritual thirst for those perfect things, right? Those treasures that are stored 357 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:15,880 up in heaven. Things that we can't even fathom. We just have a little glimpse of it, right? 358 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:23,000 And not only that, but you look at the things that influence in the way we place value on things, 359 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:29,400 right? Different products, different, I hate to say this, different people. 360 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:37,320 You don't have to go far. You step out these doors. You can go next door. Unfortunately, 361 00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:42,440 and even in this room, a lot of us, you know, we have our own biases that we have to deal with, 362 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:51,240 right? We have our own prejudices that we have to deal with. We have to turn to God to deal with 363 00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:57,720 these things and help us to change these things in our lives. That's just the way it is. That's our 364 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:05,080 humanness. That's our brokenness. You know, there's nothing more valuable and nothing, 365 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:12,440 absolutely nothing that can truly satisfy us and will fulfill our lives like Jesus. 366 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:21,880 Nothing. There's nothing of more value. And God's given us just an extremely small glimpse, 367 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:31,240 if you can even call it that, a sliver, a splinter of his eternal perfection, his perfect creation, 368 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:40,360 right? And because that is rooted so deeply in us, going all the way back to the beginning of man, 369 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:48,920 nothing but God will ever fully satisfy, which makes it all the more horrifying for those who 370 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:54,760 will turn and walk away from him because they will never know what it is to be filled. 371 00:40:55,880 --> 00:41:03,080 They will just know the pain and the anguish. And in fact, if we turn to Psalm 34 verse 8, 372 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:14,360 Psalm 34 verse 8 says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. 373 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:22,440 Blessed is the man who trusts in him. You know, it's that invitation. He says, Hey, try this. 374 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,600 You're going to like it. Hey, I want you to come in. I want you to meet Jesus. You're going to 375 00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:37,400 absolutely love him. This is going to be great. Right? And when you do, and you start getting that 376 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:42,200 little taste, right? You taste, you know that he's good. And it becomes the beginning of a 377 00:41:42,200 --> 00:41:47,080 tremendous relationship, a relationship that continues to build and build and build as long 378 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:54,520 as we're here on earth. Right? A relationship that won't be fully realized until we stand before him. 379 00:41:54,520 --> 00:42:01,480 And it's not supposed to be until we are there with him in heaven. You know, and that should get us 380 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:06,680 excited. That should get us pumped about eternity. That should get us really happy to look forward 381 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:16,040 to what's in store for us in heaven. However, we also need to remember. It's not in our time to get 382 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:21,560 there. It's in his, he has worked for us here. We cannot be in a rush to get there. We need to take 383 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:26,360 time to see the things, take them in and learn the lessons that we have here and pass them on to the 384 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:36,200 next generation. You know, let's go back here just to a, to Ecclesiastes three verses 14 and 15, 385 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:44,440 right? That's really important. Let's read it again. So verses 14 and 15, I know that whatever 386 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:49,080 God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. 387 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:57,080 God does it that men should fear before him that which is has already been and what is to be has 388 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:03,480 already been. And God requires an account of the past. Another way of saying that, that last part 389 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:10,600 there is God is going to seek an account of everything that you've pursued. It's not just 390 00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:14,440 the things that you've done and completed, but the things that you've attempted, the things that 391 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:21,960 you've pursued, right? Let's face it. Some of the things that we've started to do weren't so great. 392 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:28,360 No, we stopped, but you know what? That sin was already in your heart. That action was already 393 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:35,080 put into play. You're going to have to answer for it, whether you do it covered by the blood of the 394 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:41,960 lamb or you do it looking at the gates of hell. The choice is on you, but you need to remember, 395 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:49,560 we have to answer for that. The good things that we do in life, just the same, right? 396 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,880 You had the opportunity to shine light. Did you shine the light? Yes. Good. Okay. Great. 397 00:43:55,880 --> 00:44:01,720 But we still have to offer that account of what happened and why. 398 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,760 You know, we have to be ready, just like in life, to give an account for our actions and 399 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:14,280 our belief, right? Our faith. We need to remember that God's our eternal creator and that we need 400 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:23,560 to be ready to explain ourselves at any given time. Not excuses. Never excuses. Right? We all 401 00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:33,960 have them. They're not going to fly in the kingdom. The facts. So when we go to court, 402 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:40,360 right, and you swear an oath, you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, not the 403 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:47,320 rest of the stuff, but the facts, right? If you could drag it, the facts and just the facts, 404 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:56,840 right? Same thing. Those facts. The good, the bad, the ugly. You know, it's not saying, 405 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:01,480 and when it says fear here, it's not saying that we need to be scared of God. 406 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:09,960 A different way of looking at that is when we see fear, we should look at it as revere. We should 407 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:18,520 revere God, right? Love Him, honor Him, exalt Him, right? Give Him His due, right? Give Him praise. 408 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:21,400 We need to be in awe of Him. 409 00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,080 But here's the thing. We need to be able to speak to Him as well. 410 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:36,760 If you mess up, right? So you're going to mess up before me, and here's one of your parents coming 411 00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:46,200 up. I said, hey, you know what? Here's your choice. You can tell Mom what you did, or I could tell Mom 412 00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:52,760 what you did. What way do you think is going to be the better way to do it? 413 00:45:52,760 --> 00:46:01,160 What way do you think is going to be the better way to do it? Even as an adult, 414 00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:06,120 just the image of having to do that makes us all feel like a little kid again, right? 415 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:10,280 And probably because at some point we've had somebody tell us that, right? It's like, 416 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:15,000 you want to tell them or should I? I've had students I've done this same thing with. 417 00:46:15,720 --> 00:46:18,440 Matter of fact, just the other day I was dealing with a student with a foul mouth. 418 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,680 Here comes Mom. You want to tell your Mom what you said or shall I? I think it would be a lot 419 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:28,600 better if you did it right away. Excuse me? What? He did the right thing. He told Mom. 420 00:46:29,720 --> 00:46:36,920 Paid the piper, of course, but you know, when it comes to God, it's no different. 421 00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:43,720 Matter of fact, if anything, it's worse because we cannot hide a single thing from Him. 422 00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:49,720 He knew us before we were in the womb, right? He knows every part of us, the way we think, 423 00:46:49,720 --> 00:46:54,920 the way we feel, the way we talk, everything. Those things are vocalized and the things that are not. 424 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:07,160 So again, when it comes to standing before Him, is He going to see me in my sin or is 425 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:14,120 He going to see me covered in the blood? So in this season we've got our time of change, 426 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:20,120 our timing. It says time of the word. It should say time of work. That's my mistake. 427 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:28,120 Helps if you proofread your stuff, right? Time for full sin. So going back a little bit 428 00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:33,720 to when Pastor Martin was talking about the time of the word, the time of the word, 429 00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:39,320 so going back a little bit to when Pastor Mark was talking to us last week, right? He's talking 430 00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:43,800 about Isaiah chapter 6. I want to go back to that just briefly, specifically to a verse he brought 431 00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:52,120 up. Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8. I love this verse. I really do. Matter of fact, a buddy of mine, 432 00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:58,440 his ministry out in the Phoenix area is actually based off of this. Isaiah 6 8, send me. Right? 433 00:47:58,440 --> 00:48:03,480 So looking at Isaiah 6 8, the word says, also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I 434 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:15,800 send and who will go for us? Then I said, here am I, send me. Chapters in our lives, I'm sorry, 435 00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:21,720 seasons in our lives change. Chapters and a new one start. The chapters change, right? However 436 00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:28,440 you look at it, same thing, seasons, chapters, so on and so forth. You might even have another term 437 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:39,240 for it, but it's all the same. And in response to God's question, who will go for us? The appropriate 438 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:49,880 response for all of us is exactly the same thing. Send me. I'm right here. Send me. Prepare it or 439 00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:56,200 not. Because we know when God's asking for someone to step up and to step into a void, he's doing it 440 00:48:56,200 --> 00:49:03,800 for a reason and the person who answers that call, they're doing the right thing, whether they know 441 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:11,640 what they're getting into or not. You know, the question itself, it actually takes me back to 442 00:49:11,640 --> 00:49:20,760 when I was in seminary years ago. One of the pastors I was interning with, Pastor Jonathan, 443 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:28,600 Brian knows him, Cindy's brother, used to be our keyboardist years ago. He pastored, I digress, 444 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:32,760 he pastors a church out in the Phoenix area now, but when I started my internship, he asked a 445 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:39,560 question. Before we even got started with anything, day one, I go and I sit down in his office, 446 00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:47,560 he says, I need to ask you something. What if the Lord wants to send you someplace that's not here? 447 00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:56,840 He's like, I'll go. He's like, no, no, no. Let me clarify. What if the Lord wants to send you 448 00:49:56,840 --> 00:50:05,800 someplace out of states, possibly out of country, a less than desirable place at that matter? 449 00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:10,840 He didn't know my background coming from the military. He's like, I'll go. He's like, 450 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:15,560 you sound very sure about that. And it's like, well, I know what I feel in my heart right now. 451 00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:21,560 I know my experience. I know my background. It's like when the Lord calls us to go somewhere, 452 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:31,160 it's not on us to say why, or what do you mean, or can you send somebody else? What if the Lord 453 00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:36,600 says, you need to go somewhere? He's putting it on you for a reason. He's putting it on your heart 454 00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:41,720 for a reason. So if he tells me, hey, I don't want you anymore. I want you to go somewhere else, 455 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:49,080 and this is where it's going to be for however long it is, then I'm ready to do that. I got to 456 00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:55,560 that point in my life where I was ready to hand everything over and whatever the Lord asked of me, 457 00:50:55,560 --> 00:51:03,480 I was ready to do. And in doing that, and in saying that, and in the course of this conversation, 458 00:51:05,320 --> 00:51:10,600 new doors opened. New people entered. New opportunities came. 459 00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:19,080 And I was sent to plenty of places. I was ministering to patients when I was in hospice, 460 00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:26,440 traveling to other states to preach, doing vocations, being asked to step into other roles 461 00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:34,360 where ministry was needed, places I never expected to be. I tell you, going in a hospice, 462 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:41,560 that terrified me. I knew what the outcome was for most of those patients. I knew exactly what 463 00:51:41,560 --> 00:51:45,400 that outcome was. It was not something I was looking forward to. I was looking forward to 464 00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:50,680 going in there and filling that role and doing what the Lord called me to do at that time, 465 00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:56,760 at that season of my life, was also one of the biggest blessings of my life. 466 00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:05,240 I'd worked a lot with the dead and with dying people, and it wasn't until I got to that point 467 00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:10,040 that I was able to see more of the picture and why God had put me in those other places in my past. 468 00:52:10,040 --> 00:52:15,240 It was to take me in a prepared position to do what I was doing. I was able to see more 469 00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:21,000 prepared me for what I was going to see and what I was going to deal with there. The brokenness 470 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:26,760 and the pain of not just the patients, but their families and their friends and the people that 471 00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:35,400 needed to be ministered to. And it wasn't until I saw that and it's like, oh, I see what you're 472 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:40,280 talking about, Lord. I see the picture and it came together for me. And when it comes to our 473 00:52:40,280 --> 00:52:44,360 experiences and the things that we do, no matter how long or how short of a chapter it is in our 474 00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:50,520 lives, we're all going to have that moment at some point too, and it's like, aha, and the light goes 475 00:52:50,520 --> 00:53:00,040 off. And it goes all the way back to that time of work, right? It's that final product where it's 476 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:09,800 like, oh, I see, Lord. Thank you. You know, I mentioned earlier, you know, and all of you know, 477 00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:15,960 you know, I spent a lot of time overseas. When I first enlisted, we weren't at war yet. 478 00:53:18,120 --> 00:53:24,840 So when I enlisted, at that time, it's like, hey, I want to go overseas. I volunteered to go 479 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:29,560 overseas. I wanted to end my contract to go overseas. I did anything and everything so I 480 00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:36,280 could go and see places that I would likely never get to see again. Really, taking a vacation 481 00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:40,440 on Uncle Sam's dime, right? It's really what I had in mind. I was going to go and I was going to see 482 00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:45,400 beaches, and I'm going to go scuba diving, and I'm going to go climb mountains and see waterfalls 483 00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:51,880 and all this cool stuff. And I did. I did. I saw a lot. To this day, my favorite place to go scuba 484 00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:59,160 diving is the nice warm waters in the East China Sea, just off of the coast of Okinawa. No two dives 485 00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:06,360 were ever the same. Those waters never dropped below 60. Wonderful. I have pictures from all 486 00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:11,720 sorts of stuff. A lot of pictures have been lost, but that was what I was looking forward to. 487 00:54:12,280 --> 00:54:17,480 And then what happened? The season changed. 9-11 happened. 488 00:54:21,480 --> 00:54:27,080 And the calling in my heart, the goal that was there for me changed, just like it changed 489 00:54:27,080 --> 00:54:33,400 for thousands of people, regardless of their vocation. Some people went back and they 490 00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:38,920 reenlisted. Some people stopped what they were doing and they went into emergency response, right? 491 00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:44,200 Some people stopped what they were doing and they went into other vocations like education. 492 00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:50,600 They found things changed for them overnight. And even in my line of thinking, instead of 493 00:54:50,600 --> 00:54:54,200 being like, hey, I'm going to go and I want to see this place. I'm going to catch a flight or a hop 494 00:54:54,200 --> 00:55:02,600 or whatever or a boat and go check out all this stuff, my line of thinking changed. Send me. 495 00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:11,400 Here I am. I'm already trained. I'm already halfway around the world. I'm just hours from 496 00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:20,680 where you need me to go. Send me. These guys are still at home. These guys still have families. 497 00:55:20,680 --> 00:55:23,880 I'm over here a bachelor with no kids. Send me. 498 00:55:26,920 --> 00:55:32,120 I've already worked in law enforcement. I've seen the assaults. I've seen the rapes. I've seen the 499 00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:38,280 brutality that humans have to offer one another. And that's all that we're going to be seeing over 500 00:55:38,280 --> 00:55:41,960 here. Send me so that they don't have to see it. 501 00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:50,040 Send me so that they don't have to see it. I'm here. Use me now. 502 00:55:52,600 --> 00:56:00,040 Let me go to war so that they know peace. Send me. That's how my mindset changed. 503 00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:06,840 How my calling changed. How the calling of thousands of other people who took an oath changed. 504 00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:11,480 How people were called to service when they graduated for years after that happened. 505 00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:25,080 It went from selfish to selfless. And when God's saying, who am I going to send? That's what He's 506 00:56:25,080 --> 00:56:34,840 looking for. Someone to drop the selfish and embrace the selfless. To go into the change 507 00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:40,440 in the Marine Corps, what we say, adapt and overcome. But to do the things that need to be done. 508 00:56:41,960 --> 00:56:47,720 The good, the bad, and the ugly. Because we already know God can use everything, the good and the bad 509 00:56:47,720 --> 00:56:52,760 and the ugly to bring forth the greatness of His kingdom, to shine light for others to see. 510 00:56:52,760 --> 00:56:59,320 And He can use you to do it no matter where you are in your life today, even here in little Albuquerque. 511 00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:04,120 You could have the one thing that comes in front of you this week, the smallest act that has an 512 00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:10,760 impact on somebody and generations to come. Because you answered the call of send me. 513 00:57:12,920 --> 00:57:15,800 When it comes to our church, when it comes to our fellowship, 514 00:57:17,800 --> 00:57:21,240 we need to embrace our seasons. We need to embrace the change. 515 00:57:21,240 --> 00:57:29,240 The transitions that we're going through. They can be hard, they can be confusing, right? 516 00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:37,560 They're uncertain times. Because what you've known is changing into something that you don't, 517 00:57:37,560 --> 00:57:42,600 or you know, you might know a little bit. But there's still an unknown factor here, right? 518 00:57:42,600 --> 00:57:51,640 It's a transition, it's a season, it's a change. And we need to be willing to step up and say, 519 00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:57,640 send me, let me be the one who supports this. Let me be the one who empowers this through you, 520 00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:05,240 through your love and through your light. You know, it's nice to go back, it's not a decision that 521 00:58:05,240 --> 00:58:13,080 anybody's made lightly. It's a decision that still carries weight with it. Right? But it's one that 522 00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:19,400 we're still holding. And when we go through these transitions, and we see these things throughout 523 00:58:19,400 --> 00:58:23,000 different functions of our lives, and I use myself for a lot of examples today, right? 524 00:58:25,560 --> 00:58:29,080 Just to demonstrate the things that I've had to go through all this time, 525 00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:35,640 everybody in here has had to go through different changes. But when we go through things, we need to 526 00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:41,400 remember, we need to turn to God, we need to rely on God, we need to have him guide our footsteps 527 00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:46,200 and our words as we go through these transitions to remind him, just like, hey, you know, 528 00:58:46,920 --> 00:58:50,120 can you clear up this confusion for me? Can you help me with the transparency? 529 00:58:50,120 --> 00:58:55,320 You know, I had this weight in my heart, can you lift it for me? Lord, you know, we need to speak 530 00:58:55,320 --> 00:59:03,240 to him. We need to lean on him as we go through this change, this phase, right? And we need to 531 00:59:03,240 --> 00:59:08,920 remember that everything that's going on, it's by his will, it's by his design, it's in his time, 532 00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:16,840 and by his will that it all happens. And when he gives us things, 533 00:59:18,280 --> 00:59:21,800 we need to take those blessings, no matter what they are, and make sure that they're 534 00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:26,200 being implemented in the right place and in the right way. Right? It's like the last, 535 00:59:27,160 --> 00:59:30,760 you know, few weeks, especially we've been having issues with our soundboard. 536 00:59:32,520 --> 00:59:34,840 Things haven't been coming out, even just here in the building, right? 537 00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:39,720 And what happened? We've been blessed with a new one that we need to install now. 538 00:59:43,080 --> 00:59:46,760 It's a change, something getting ready to come up, something getting ready to happen. 539 00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:52,280 It's a good thing, like when your computer starts to act up, right? It starts doing funky things. 540 00:59:57,480 --> 01:00:02,680 But it's not always about upgrading things. It's about taking what we have, taking our blessings, 541 01:00:02,680 --> 01:00:12,120 and taking our gifts, and using them to serve the Lord. Leaning on him as we cope with things 542 01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:20,200 that are changing in our lives and the world around us. We need to remember that he holds 543 01:00:20,200 --> 01:00:26,840 our future, and God wants us to have a great future with him in the kingdom. He wants the best 544 01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:31,800 for us. And so we need to trust in him for everything that happens and everything that we deal with. 545 01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:38,920 You know, when I say full send, it's meaning that we're fully committed to the things of God, 546 01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:44,920 that we're fully committed to the things he has us doing. We're not sandbagging on anything, right? 547 01:00:44,920 --> 01:00:54,360 We're going at it wholeheartedly. We're giving our best, and we're doing the best that we can. 548 01:00:54,360 --> 01:01:01,720 That's what full send is. It's that full commitment, that full payload of whatever it is that you have 549 01:01:01,720 --> 01:01:12,280 that needs to get delivered. And as Christians, as tempting as it is to stay in one place and just do 550 01:01:12,280 --> 01:01:19,720 the same things, we have to be wary of that. We have to be aware of that. We have to be aware of 551 01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:27,240 that. And just do the same things. We have to be wary of that. Because that's when we start to get 552 01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:32,280 legalistic about things. And it becomes more about, oh, you have to do this, you have to say that, 553 01:01:32,280 --> 01:01:38,760 and it has to be in this perfect order. And what happens is we end up pushing out the Holy Spirit. 554 01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:47,640 We don't give him the room to move and to work that he deserves, right? That place in our lives 555 01:01:47,640 --> 01:01:54,600 that we should be in, and not all this other stuff. And we become idols in our own lives, 556 01:01:54,600 --> 01:02:01,400 and we start worshiping other false gods in his place. And it's not something that we can take lightly. 557 01:02:03,240 --> 01:02:11,240 We have to adapt, we have to overcome the world through the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will 558 01:02:11,240 --> 01:02:18,680 calm anything that gets in our way. With changing seasons, with changing chapters, anytime that 559 01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:24,760 there's change, it's an opportunity to start fresh, to start anew, right? Every season brings 560 01:02:24,760 --> 01:02:30,760 something distinct with it. Just like the video that we watched before, you had the four brothers 561 01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:37,720 that all saw different things in different seasons, right? New things. Things that are great, 562 01:02:37,720 --> 01:02:41,640 things that when it pulled together, pulled the whole picture together and showed something 563 01:02:41,640 --> 01:02:49,800 absolutely wonderful. But we can't just go off of the sliver. We have to give it that opportunity, 564 01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:56,680 and we have to rely on God. Let him open the eyes of our heart for us to truly see what he 565 01:02:56,680 --> 01:03:03,080 wants us to see, and not just see what the enemy puts in front of us. Let us pray. 566 01:03:03,080 --> 01:03:08,440 Lord, we see things changing all around us. It causes uneasiness, it causes uncertainty. 567 01:03:08,440 --> 01:03:14,520 We recognize that these things are hard, much like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly. 568 01:03:15,720 --> 01:03:23,240 There's a lot at work, and it's happening all around us. Yet we know that you have our best 569 01:03:23,240 --> 01:03:29,480 interest in mind. We ask that you ease the burdens of our hearts and our minds as we look to make 570 01:03:29,480 --> 01:03:36,440 sense of everything and the ways that we know how and through you. We ask that you help us to remain 571 01:03:36,440 --> 01:03:44,760 steadfast in you and not caught up in the things that we shouldn't be. And when you ask us to move 572 01:03:44,760 --> 01:03:53,000 forward, to do the things that aren't always the easiest to do in life, that we're ready to get out 573 01:03:53,000 --> 01:04:02,520 of our own way and say, send me, that you could continue to speak to us gently, that gentle reminder 574 01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:10,520 that when we stand in the void, you're still there with us. You've never leave us, you've never left 575 01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:17,720 us, you never will. And that you're cheering us on and the work that you have set for us to bring 576 01:04:17,720 --> 01:04:23,960 for greatness and to shine a light on your kingdom, in your will and in your time. 577 01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:32,440 And as we leave here today, please continue to work on us and remind us, as only you can, 578 01:04:33,560 --> 01:04:37,720 that each and every one of us is loved by you and is blessed by you 579 01:04:38,680 --> 01:04:42,440 and help us to work diligently as we go forward to be the church. 580 01:04:42,440 --> 01:04:47,320 And all as people said, amen and amen. All right. Thank you everybody. 581 01:05:12,440 --> 01:05:14,680 See you next time. God bless.