1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,680 in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,920 Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,300 discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church 5 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:31,880 and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your 6 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,420 host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing 7 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:40,560 to you and bring you closer to God. 8 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:54,120 Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I have a message I've entitled today, A 3M Sermon 9 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:59,280 on Movement, Momentum and Motivation. I want to take a moment to thank you all who are 10 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,500 listening and subscribing and sharing this podcast. The goal of this podcast is simply 11 00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:11,240 to bring forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, the simple gospel that Jesus is the Son of 12 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:18,820 God. He was sent to be God incarnate and through His sacrifice on the cross He has made it 13 00:01:18,820 --> 00:01:27,040 possible for us to be redeemed from our life of sin. Repent of your sin and give your life 14 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:32,040 to Jesus Christ. You will make heaven your home. You will have salvation through grace 15 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:39,320 from our Father in heaven. That's as simple as it can get. Today I put together a message 16 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:45,140 called A 3M Sermon, Movement, Momentum and Motivation. I just want to say, Lord I pray 17 00:01:45,140 --> 00:01:50,100 that you will open our ears, our hearts and our minds to your word. Amen. So let's go 18 00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:55,780 ahead and look at our text as a jumping off point today. That's going to be John 5 verses 19 00:01:55,780 --> 00:02:07,400 1 through 9. This is the healing pool on the Sabbath story from the gospel of John. Verse 20 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,860 1 it says, After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now 21 00:02:12,860 --> 00:02:19,020 there was in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has 22 00:02:19,020 --> 00:02:26,540 five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame and paralyzed, waiting 23 00:02:26,540 --> 00:02:31,720 for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at a certain season 24 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:36,920 in the pool and stirred the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the 25 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:43,060 water was healed of whatever disease he had. One man was there who had been an invalid 26 00:02:43,060 --> 00:02:47,980 for 38 years and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there 27 00:02:47,980 --> 00:02:53,260 a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, Sir, 28 00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:59,700 I have no one to put me into the pool when the water stirred up. And while I am going 29 00:02:59,700 --> 00:03:06,300 and, you know, one, and while I'm going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Get 30 00:03:06,300 --> 00:03:11,300 up and take your bed and walk. And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed 31 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:17,140 and walked. So as an intro to this, this message, I just want to, you know, talk a little bit 32 00:03:17,140 --> 00:03:21,660 about the live hard program. This is something that I've been doing for the last couple of 33 00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:27,020 years. This is not a Christian program. This is, but this is a mindset program that I stumbled 34 00:03:27,020 --> 00:03:34,820 across. It's been very useful to me and in my life. And so I started back on this, this 35 00:03:34,820 --> 00:03:42,900 program, you know, a while back and I was in the third phase of this larger program. 36 00:03:42,900 --> 00:03:48,980 And I got to tell you, this program is truly hard. This is, this is what I had to do during 37 00:03:48,980 --> 00:03:54,580 this period of time. I had to follow a diet. It was a diet of my own choice. I mostly eat 38 00:03:54,580 --> 00:04:02,460 like a ketogenic diet because of inflammatory reasons from previous injuries from the military, 39 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:07,140 some nerve damage and stuff like that. So, so eating a ketogenic diet helps me to mitigate, 40 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:11,420 you know, inflammation in my body. So that's what the diet I had to follow. I also had 41 00:04:11,420 --> 00:04:18,360 to do two 45 minute workouts and one of those 45 minute workouts has to be outside regardless 42 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,700 of weather. I had to do three critical power list items and those are things that you choose 43 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:27,020 or you're choosing as well. So these are three goals that you want to accomplish that you 44 00:04:27,020 --> 00:04:32,700 feel are going to help you win the day. And then with this phase, I also had, you know, 45 00:04:32,700 --> 00:04:36,900 with a couple of the phases of this program, you have to take five minute cold showers 46 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:41,100 and then you also have to go out and talk to a stranger every day. You have to take 47 00:04:41,100 --> 00:04:46,220 a selfie to just gauge your progress. You have to drink a gallon of water every day. 48 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:49,440 You have to read 10 pages of a nonfiction book, some sort of book that's going to help 49 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:54,740 you again to achieve your goals and life. So you could have that being read 10 pages 50 00:04:54,740 --> 00:04:58,800 of the Bible every day if you want to focus in on your spiritual growth, but you have 51 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:04,000 to do that every day. And then no alcohol or cheat meals, which is fine. I haven't 52 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,880 drinking in over 20 years and you know, cheat meals. If you're eating, you know, a strict 53 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,600 ketogenic diet, you don't have a lot of room for cheat meals because that's a lot of carbs 54 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:17,260 typically and that'll take you out off a program. And then you also have to do like a random 55 00:05:17,260 --> 00:05:22,100 act of kindness. Now, something of this random act of kindness that's interesting is it can 56 00:05:22,100 --> 00:05:26,740 be something like picking up trash in and around your area. It could be, you know, going 57 00:05:26,740 --> 00:05:35,500 and helping somebody specifically, or it could be, you know, donating to a group or some 58 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:39,620 sort of charity. So these are all things you have to do, but you have to do this stuff 59 00:05:39,620 --> 00:05:44,820 in the third phase of the Live Hard program. You have to do this every day for 30 days. 60 00:05:44,820 --> 00:05:50,000 And if you miss a day, not only do you fail phase three, but you end up failing the whole 61 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:57,340 Live Hard program for the year because you have to do phase three of this program within 62 00:05:57,340 --> 00:06:03,180 the last 30 days of the year long program. So this is a challenging mental toughness 63 00:06:03,180 --> 00:06:09,340 kind of program. So what's the point of this craziness? Like, why do I bring up this, this 64 00:06:09,340 --> 00:06:14,660 mental toughness challenge in reference to the sermon? The point for me was when I started 65 00:06:14,660 --> 00:06:20,620 this program, you know, it's been about almost two years ago that I started, you know, getting 66 00:06:20,620 --> 00:06:26,460 into this, this program. I'm currently, it's, I guess, a year and a half. I'm currently 67 00:06:26,460 --> 00:06:34,260 about, you know, halfway through the second year of Live Hard right now. And the goal 68 00:06:34,260 --> 00:06:40,880 for me was to stop making excuses. Oftentimes we'll sit idly by waiting for someone else 69 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:46,560 to do the work for us. And we're all searching for that easy button. The reality is there's 70 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:51,700 no easy button in life. What we're told in the scripture is that we have to move in order 71 00:06:51,700 --> 00:06:57,900 to start seeing our path forward. Movement is the first step and it will be the first 72 00:06:57,900 --> 00:07:02,820 M that we look at during this message as well. But before we go there, I would like to give 73 00:07:02,820 --> 00:07:07,460 you a little bit, you know, of another, you know, illustration, something that I find 74 00:07:07,460 --> 00:07:13,280 pretty interesting because there's probably another 3M that you may have heard of. 3M 75 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:20,340 is a company that's been around a long time and it has a very rich history. And I've had 76 00:07:20,340 --> 00:07:25,380 the privilege of selling some 3M products and different roles that I've had in my sales 77 00:07:25,380 --> 00:07:30,180 career. But I just, I think it's, I think it's an inspiring story here. So let's look 78 00:07:30,180 --> 00:07:37,440 at the 3M as a company. More than a century ago, 3M started as a small scale mining venture 79 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:43,940 in Northern Minnesota. Then at that point in time, it was named Minnesota Mining and 80 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:49,100 Manufacturing Company. But now as a global powerhouse, their products improved the daily 81 00:07:49,100 --> 00:07:53,940 lives of people around the world. But their success and longevity were not apparent from 82 00:07:53,940 --> 00:07:59,300 the start. They tried, they failed, they tried something new. Repeating that cycle over and 83 00:07:59,300 --> 00:08:05,580 over again, innovation and perseverance drove their founders and it continues to drive what 84 00:08:05,580 --> 00:08:10,980 they like to consider themselves or call themselves today 3M-ers, even in today's history. 85 00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:16,820 I have a friend who works for 3M and he is, so he's definitely a 3M-er. He works with 86 00:08:16,820 --> 00:08:21,500 the, with a specific part of the industry that focuses on automated automotive products 87 00:08:21,500 --> 00:08:26,420 and in the sense of like paint and, and, you know, sealants and coatings and different things, 88 00:08:26,420 --> 00:08:31,180 abrasives to a certain extent. He's very proud of the work that he does with 3M. And when 89 00:08:31,180 --> 00:08:35,820 I was selling 3M product, it was mostly on the health and safety standpoint or product 90 00:08:35,820 --> 00:08:40,180 lines. So respirators, different, different kinds of, you know, medical equipment and 91 00:08:40,180 --> 00:08:45,740 things of that nature. But anyway, 3M came from humble beginnings and now today it's 92 00:08:45,740 --> 00:08:51,220 a Fortune 500 company. When it began in 1902, the five founders had a simple goal to mine 93 00:08:51,220 --> 00:08:57,500 for corundum, a mineral that was ideal for making sandpaper grinding wheels. But what 94 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:01,900 it turns out that they thought corundum was really a diff, you know, what they thought 95 00:09:01,900 --> 00:09:09,540 they had was corundum was really another low grade mineral called anortho, anortho-site. 96 00:09:09,540 --> 00:09:13,180 Discovering the poor quality mineral could have caused an early end to the fledgling 97 00:09:13,180 --> 00:09:18,300 company, but their founder persisted. Why did he persist? Because something more important 98 00:09:18,300 --> 00:09:24,100 was born that first year, the spirit of innovation and collaboration that forms the foundation 99 00:09:24,100 --> 00:09:29,820 of 3M today. So instead of calling it quits, they turned to a different material, applied 100 00:09:29,820 --> 00:09:34,820 them to other products and gained the trust of an important investors and built up sales 101 00:09:34,820 --> 00:09:40,060 little by little. Scientific and technical marketing innovations produce the success 102 00:09:40,060 --> 00:09:46,500 upon success over the years, eventually making 3M a constant name on the Fortune 500 list. 103 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:52,220 Today more than 60,000 3M products are used in homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and 104 00:09:52,220 --> 00:09:58,340 other industries. One third of their sales come from products invented within the past 105 00:09:58,340 --> 00:10:04,940 five years. Thanks to those innovations from thousands of researchers and scientists that 106 00:10:04,940 --> 00:10:11,180 are 3M employees around the world. With corporate operations in over 70 countries and sales 107 00:10:11,180 --> 00:10:17,100 in over 200 countries, they're committed to creating a technology and products that 108 00:10:17,100 --> 00:10:21,420 advance every company, enhance every home and improve every life. Now I'm not trying 109 00:10:21,420 --> 00:10:27,260 to sell you on 3M, I just think it's relevant to the overall idea of this message, which 110 00:10:27,260 --> 00:10:33,640 is that movement creates momentum, momentum creates motivation and motivation paired with 111 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:41,900 determination maintains perpetual movement. So I'll say that again, movement creates momentum, 112 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:48,300 momentum creates motivation and motivation paired with determination maintains perpetual 113 00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:53,900 movement. So that brings me to my first point, which is movement. When we look at this story 114 00:10:53,900 --> 00:10:59,660 in the Bible, like from that we read, you know, at the very beginning and John five 115 00:10:59,660 --> 00:11:07,340 verses one through nine, the healing pool on the Sabbath, what we see is that and what 116 00:11:07,340 --> 00:11:13,380 should resonate with you is that when God heals, when God blesses, when God moves, he 117 00:11:13,380 --> 00:11:19,900 expects us to move also. There is an expectancy from the Lord that we pick ourselves up and 118 00:11:19,900 --> 00:11:26,060 get moving. Why do you think that that is like, what do you think is the purpose behind 119 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:30,440 that? What is it about movement that is so important to the kingdom of God and even to 120 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:37,320 our own lives, our own health and our own mindset. In acts nine, 32 through 35, we see 121 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:43,660 the healing of Ananias. Now, now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came 122 00:11:43,660 --> 00:11:50,420 down also to the saints who lived at Lydia. There he found a man named Ananias bedridden 123 00:11:50,420 --> 00:11:56,140 for eight years who was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Ananias, Jesus Christ heals you, 124 00:11:56,140 --> 00:12:01,940 rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose in all the residents of Lydia and Sharon 125 00:12:01,940 --> 00:12:09,100 saw him. They and they turned to the Lord. In acts 12, six through nine, Peter is rescued. 126 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:16,140 We see in this portion of scripture. So let's go ahead and read verse six. Now when Herod 127 00:12:16,140 --> 00:12:21,480 was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound 128 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,860 with two chains and centuries before the door regarding the prison. And behold, an angel 129 00:12:26,860 --> 00:12:31,660 of the Lord stood next to him and a light shown in the cell. And he struck Peter on 130 00:12:31,660 --> 00:12:36,260 the side and woke him saying, get up quickly. And the chains fell off of his hands. And 131 00:12:36,260 --> 00:12:40,980 the angel said to him, dress yourself, put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said 132 00:12:40,980 --> 00:12:47,440 to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And when he went out and followed him, 133 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:53,060 when Jesus prayed for the sick, he expected something to happen in the recipient of the 134 00:12:53,060 --> 00:13:00,020 gift. There is a built in need for us to move when we, when we squash that need to become 135 00:13:00,020 --> 00:13:06,420 sickly in either mind or spirit. In the article titled, how simply moving benefits your mental 136 00:13:06,420 --> 00:13:11,780 health from Harvard, we can see that it is true that the movement has some power to heal. 137 00:13:11,780 --> 00:13:16,660 While it is obvious that your feelings can influence your movement, it is not as obvious 138 00:13:16,660 --> 00:13:21,220 that your movement can impact your feelings too. For example, when you feel tired and 139 00:13:21,220 --> 00:13:26,540 sad, you may move more slowly. When you feel anxious, you may either rush around or become 140 00:13:26,540 --> 00:13:31,140 completely paralyzed. But recent studies show that the connection between your brain and 141 00:13:31,140 --> 00:13:37,980 your body is a two way street. And that means movement can change your brain too. This two 142 00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:42,780 way street is part of the reason why movement is needed when God moves. Our faith is strengthened 143 00:13:42,780 --> 00:13:47,220 when we move in faith. You will never grow your faith by sitting around and waiting for 144 00:13:47,220 --> 00:13:53,820 God to move. Yes, it is true that God can move on your behalf, but let's be real. But 145 00:13:53,820 --> 00:13:58,900 let's be real here. Let's back up. Let's think about this. If you have any relationship 146 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:05,340 with God, then he has moved and now it is your turn. When God decided to judge the earth 147 00:14:05,340 --> 00:14:11,380 with the flood, he said to Noah to build an ark and Noah by faith began moving. We see 148 00:14:11,380 --> 00:14:16,560 this in Genesis six, 13 through 14 in the verse 22. And God said to Noah, I have determined 149 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:22,780 to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through, through them. 150 00:14:22,780 --> 00:14:28,700 Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make 151 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:34,300 rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. In verse 22, Noah did this. He 152 00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:40,420 did all that God had commanded him. When Abraham was called by God, he moved by faith. Genesis 153 00:14:40,420 --> 00:14:45,740 12, one, one through five. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go from your country and your 154 00:14:45,740 --> 00:14:50,400 kindred and your father's house and to the land that I will show you. And I will make 155 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,780 of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will 156 00:14:54,780 --> 00:15:02,140 be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you. I will curse 157 00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:06,940 and in you and all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham went as the Lord 158 00:15:06,940 --> 00:15:13,820 had told him and lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Iran. 159 00:15:13,820 --> 00:15:17,660 These are just two examples of movement by faith. Even with these two examples, though, 160 00:15:17,660 --> 00:15:23,420 we can see a pattern that's being set. God speaks and then we're expected to by faith 161 00:15:23,420 --> 00:15:28,700 move. We are created to move our bodies and are designed for movement and our minds are 162 00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:33,320 built to learn and to be challenged. In fact, studies show that there are several ways to 163 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:38,860 reduce age related decline like dimension, Alzheimer's, and that's through exercise, 164 00:15:38,860 --> 00:15:44,820 diet and mental exercise. So that brings me to my next point, which is momentum. And Deuteronomy 165 00:15:44,820 --> 00:15:51,260 34 seven says Moses was 120 years old when he died. His I eyes were undimmed and his 166 00:15:51,260 --> 00:15:56,900 vigor unabated. And second Timothy four seven, I have fought the good fight. I have finished 167 00:15:56,900 --> 00:16:01,700 the race. I have kept the fate. Now that we have talked about movement, let's look at 168 00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:09,420 the inertia before we get to movement or momentum. In science, inertia is the property of matter 169 00:16:09,420 --> 00:16:14,640 that stays at rest or continues moving in a straight line. So long as it's not acted 170 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:21,300 upon by an external force. This is also Newton's first law of motion. Inertia, an object at 171 00:16:21,300 --> 00:16:28,480 rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. Here's a simple illustration. 172 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:34,780 The car had a change in motion or momentum, but the giraffe resisted the change. Ouch. 173 00:16:34,780 --> 00:16:40,420 Still confused? That car resisted the change in motion or, you know, or momentum of the 174 00:16:40,420 --> 00:16:46,840 giraffe. It's inertia kept it still. So inertia describes an object's resistance to change 175 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:52,540 in motion or lack of motion. And momentum describes how much motion it has. When we 176 00:16:52,540 --> 00:16:56,740 consider earlier point that God speaks and then there is an expectation of movement on 177 00:16:56,740 --> 00:17:02,340 our part, we can see that God is that external force that is being applied to us to push 178 00:17:02,340 --> 00:17:08,340 us out of our state of stillness. Momentum is your force or the speed of movement, but 179 00:17:08,340 --> 00:17:13,860 inertia is what keeps you going. That is why it's important to, that's why it's important 180 00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:19,060 to this point. God calls us to move by faith, therefore pushing us out of our inertia or 181 00:17:19,060 --> 00:17:25,960 of stillness. As we move and live by faith, our momentum or movement is now in a new direction. 182 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:31,540 God continues to challenge us to move forward and that force increases our momentum. And 183 00:17:31,540 --> 00:17:37,060 now our inertia is tied to that movement. Let's go back to the live hard program and 184 00:17:37,060 --> 00:17:42,620 why I would do something this ridiculous. I tend to have a personality that wavers between 185 00:17:42,620 --> 00:17:49,200 idleness and excessiveness. What do I mean by that? I mean, I can easily fall into extreme 186 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:55,660 laziness or I can be compelled into extreme activeness. Some would characterize me as 187 00:17:55,660 --> 00:18:01,100 being either, uh, you know, zero miles per hour or a hundred miles per hour with no in 188 00:18:01,100 --> 00:18:06,600 between. So for me, it's incredibly useful to have a plan laid out before me to keep 189 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,700 challenging me, to keep pushing me to the finish line. The point of the live hard program 190 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:16,560 is mental toughness. It's not a fitness, but the reality is that when you work on your 191 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:21,580 mental toughness, you will see benefits in all areas of your life. Now let's tie this 192 00:18:21,580 --> 00:18:27,100 back to the word of God in our texts. We see that Jesus healed the invalid of 38 years. 193 00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:32,940 If we pick up this portion of scripture and we, and we go back, you know, in verse 10, 194 00:18:32,940 --> 00:18:38,420 we get to see the rest of the story. So John five, 10 through 17, now that day was the 195 00:18:38,420 --> 00:18:44,180 Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath and it is not 196 00:18:44,180 --> 00:18:49,700 lawful for you to take up your bed. But he answered them, the man who healed me, that 197 00:18:49,700 --> 00:18:55,420 man said to me, take up your bed and walk. They asked him, who is this man who said to 198 00:18:55,420 --> 00:19:00,740 you take up your bed and walk? Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was 199 00:19:00,740 --> 00:19:06,140 for Jesus had withdrawn. And as there was a crowd in a crowd in the place, afterward 200 00:19:06,140 --> 00:19:12,380 Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see you are well, sit no more that nothing 201 00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:17,180 worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who healed 202 00:19:17,180 --> 00:19:22,580 him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on 203 00:19:22,580 --> 00:19:29,420 the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, my father is working until now and I am working. God 204 00:19:29,420 --> 00:19:35,500 wants us to move, he exerts force upon us when he moves, but it requires our faith to 205 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:41,500 be the catalyst and to get us moving in his direction. Here we see the paralyzed man was 206 00:19:41,500 --> 00:19:49,340 healed by Jesus and he by faith got up and moved. That in the end and of itself is not 207 00:19:49,340 --> 00:19:55,300 enough for God though. He wants us to use that new inertia to move in his direction 208 00:19:55,300 --> 00:20:00,780 to continue accelerate and gain more momentum. That's why Jesus goes back to the man and 209 00:20:00,780 --> 00:20:06,300 tells him, sit no more. We're all called to leave behind our past idleness and move 210 00:20:06,300 --> 00:20:12,740 toward God. Gaining momentum, growing in faith, God gives us clear instructions in the Bible 211 00:20:12,740 --> 00:20:17,020 and we should follow the pattern and move in faith. This brings me to my final point 212 00:20:17,020 --> 00:20:24,980 which is motivation. This 3M idea is a circular idea. Movement creates momentum, momentum creates 213 00:20:24,980 --> 00:20:33,340 motivation. Motivation paired with determination maintains perpetual movement. So as I close 214 00:20:33,340 --> 00:20:39,540 let's look at motivation. Often times we look at motivation as happening first. This can 215 00:20:39,540 --> 00:20:45,900 be true but in the sense of salvation we are first prompted by the Holy Spirit. Paul was 216 00:20:45,900 --> 00:20:51,540 not motivated to convert to Christianity by his own motivation. Paul's conversion happened 217 00:20:51,540 --> 00:20:57,340 through divine intervention and we can see that in Acts 9 verses 1 through 19. We see 218 00:20:57,340 --> 00:21:02,220 that his story throughout the entire Bible God intervenes and that is the first spark 219 00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:07,720 of faith or motivation that gets us moving. That is not what I'm talking about here though. 220 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:14,180 What I'm looking at here is the fruit that comes from moving and building a history of 221 00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:19,980 movement or momentum. As we look at before inertia is a state of being. We are either 222 00:21:19,980 --> 00:21:26,060 idle or in some state of movement but whatever that state of inertia is the force that will 223 00:21:26,060 --> 00:21:33,860 either keep us moving or keep us still outside of any other force. But praise God we're moving 224 00:21:33,860 --> 00:21:40,540 now. We are increasing in faith and we have built a good head of steam or momentum. How 225 00:21:40,540 --> 00:21:47,200 do we keep it? How do we maintain our focus, direction or faith? This is what Paul was 226 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:52,900 talking about in 2 Timothy 4.7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, 227 00:21:52,900 --> 00:21:57,780 I have kept the faith. This is what Jesus was talking about when he healed the paralytic. 228 00:21:57,780 --> 00:22:03,020 In John 5.14 it says after where Jesus found him in the temple it said, See you are well, 229 00:22:03,020 --> 00:22:10,220 sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you. We have to fight to maintain our movement 230 00:22:10,220 --> 00:22:16,100 and our momentum. How do we go about this is what sets apart those who persevere for 231 00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:22,740 Christ and those who abandon Christ. I am motivated versus I am determined. In a lot 232 00:22:22,740 --> 00:22:27,300 of conversations you could probably say either sentence and get the same idea across yet 233 00:22:27,300 --> 00:22:36,580 there is a difference. To put in the words of executive coach Jamie Durahee, motivation 234 00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:41,900 is what gets you started, determination is what helps you finish what you've started. 235 00:22:41,900 --> 00:22:48,620 If we are determined to do something we will stay on it even after the initial motivation 236 00:22:48,620 --> 00:22:55,460 disappears. Here is an idea, here is an illustration of the idea, doing nothing at all versus making 237 00:22:55,460 --> 00:23:05,700 small consistent efforts. So if you take 1.00 and you put that to the power of 365 that 238 00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:14,740 is doing nothing at all you will end with 1.00. If on the other hand you are doing even 239 00:23:14,740 --> 00:23:23,940 the most minute efforts so you are at 1.01 and you multiply that for the year so you 240 00:23:23,940 --> 00:23:33,340 put it to the power of 365 that equals out to 37.7. So the smallest incremental increase 241 00:23:33,340 --> 00:23:40,160 can create dramatic results when compared to sitting in idleness. This works out with 242 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:46,780 playing music and learning a new instrument or learning a new language. If you practice 243 00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:54,620 even five minutes a day on something at the end of the year you would have practiced many 244 00:23:54,620 --> 00:24:01,220 many minutes and you are going to be way further ahead with whatever that task or hobby is 245 00:24:01,220 --> 00:24:07,260 whether it is music or a language than you would be if you did nothing every day. Some 246 00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:11,340 people say I wish I could learn French or I wish I could learn the piano but they will 247 00:24:11,340 --> 00:24:18,500 spend zero time a day on it and then they get no results from it. Whereas the people 248 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:22,540 who spend even the smallest amount of time on it can come back the next year and say 249 00:24:22,540 --> 00:24:28,940 I made some improvement. So in closing we need a track record, a movement that shows 250 00:24:28,940 --> 00:24:33,820 our act of faith. This movement over time builds momentum and inertia caused by that 251 00:24:33,820 --> 00:24:38,820 movement and an increasing momentum is what will provide us the motivation and determination 252 00:24:38,820 --> 00:24:45,260 to break through walls, overcome obstacles and persist in our faith till the end. So 253 00:24:45,260 --> 00:24:53,140 in closing I would just say take up your bed and walk. Do what little you can do every 254 00:24:53,140 --> 00:25:01,580 day because even what little you can do every day is better than doing nothing. If all you 255 00:25:01,580 --> 00:25:08,260 can do is read a verse a day of the Bible then do that. If all you can do is pray for 256 00:25:08,260 --> 00:25:15,580 a couple minutes a day then do that and over time try to increase and strengthen those 257 00:25:15,580 --> 00:25:22,940 things making yourself incrementally better every week, every month, every year. But just 258 00:25:22,940 --> 00:25:28,700 like Jesus told the paralytic take up your bed and walk and he actually says later on 259 00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:38,220 right he says sin no more. Because if God has set you free from the bondage of sin then 260 00:25:38,220 --> 00:25:42,540 we should be consistently trying to move closer to Christ because that's what it means to 261 00:25:42,540 --> 00:25:47,020 be Christian to be Christ like. We're striving towards perfection. We're never going to 262 00:25:47,020 --> 00:25:54,060 reach it here on earth but it doesn't give you an excuse not to strive for it. So take 263 00:25:54,060 --> 00:25:57,940 up your bed and walk. If I could have every head bowed every eye closed real quick of 264 00:25:57,940 --> 00:26:03,660 course if you need to keep your eyes on the road please do. I know it's a stupid joke 265 00:26:03,660 --> 00:26:11,660 and I say it every time but you know just humor me. If this message has impacted you 266 00:26:11,660 --> 00:26:18,060 in any way and you've recognized that you know what I know I'm a sinner but I know that 267 00:26:18,060 --> 00:26:22,300 Jesus died for my sins and I want to accept him you can do that you can signify that with 268 00:26:22,300 --> 00:26:27,940 an uplifted hand I can't see it but God can and he knows your heart. I'll never know your 269 00:26:27,940 --> 00:26:34,660 heart but he knows your heart. So if that's you then just repeat this simple prayer after 270 00:26:34,660 --> 00:26:38,220 me dear Lord God I know that I'm a sinner but I know that your son Jesus died on the 271 00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:44,940 cross for my sins I turn from my sin and accept Jesus as my Lord and my Savior I thank you 272 00:26:44,940 --> 00:26:51,780 for the gift of grace that washes away all my sins and for salvation in Jesus Christ 273 00:26:51,780 --> 00:26:57,620 amen. Very simple prayer and if you said that with conviction and meaning in your heart 274 00:26:57,620 --> 00:27:02,740 I know that you felt a difference in your life and I know that God's going to help you. 275 00:27:02,740 --> 00:27:07,860 He promises that he's going to help you. So what do you do next right? That's always the 276 00:27:07,860 --> 00:27:14,800 question well what I recommend is you get a good Bible you start reading a little bit 277 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:21,980 every day you can get the U version app there's all sorts of translations on there it's free 278 00:27:21,980 --> 00:27:29,260 and you can read the Bible every day. I recommend you pray even for a little bit every day and 279 00:27:29,260 --> 00:27:33,260 then you know the last thing is find a Bible believing church. Now if you're in Sammon 280 00:27:33,260 --> 00:27:42,060 Arm reach out come and visit us we're holding small we're a church plant we're holding small 281 00:27:42,060 --> 00:27:47,940 services at the Sammon Arm Innovation Center boardroom currently but reach out to us and 282 00:27:47,940 --> 00:27:55,620 you can reach us at the pottershousesa at iCloud.com or you can find us on Instagram 283 00:27:55,620 --> 00:28:02,900 as the pottershouse SA or pottershouse Sammon Arm and then we'd be happy to have you come 284 00:28:02,900 --> 00:28:07,780 and to Sunday service with us or maybe if you don't want to do that you can meet us 285 00:28:07,780 --> 00:28:14,460 we have a Bible study every Wednesday night at the Tim Hortons on fourth but maybe you 286 00:28:14,460 --> 00:28:18,020 don't live close to us because this is a podcast it goes out everywhere and that's great too 287 00:28:18,020 --> 00:28:24,540 because we have over 3,500 churches globally and if you need a church reach out and I'll 288 00:28:24,540 --> 00:28:29,120 give you you know get you contact in contact with a great Bible believing church. I want 289 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:35,300 to thank you for the time that you taken to listen to me I pray that these messages are 290 00:28:35,300 --> 00:28:40,240 helping you I also would like to ask that you like share and subscribe because it really 291 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:46,340 helps us to get further you know reach with this podcast and the whole goal of this podcast 292 00:28:46,340 --> 00:28:52,540 is to get these messages out so that hopefully the Spirit of God can work in people's lives 293 00:28:52,540 --> 00:28:56,700 and more people can come to Christ because we do believe we're living in the end times 294 00:28:56,700 --> 00:29:02,940 and we do believe that it is the great commission from Jesus to go out and spread the gospel 295 00:29:02,940 --> 00:29:26,940 so thanks again for listening and I pray that you have a blessed day. Amen.