WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.819 Okay, so today is part three of a four -week 00:00:03.819 --> 00:00:07.580 sermon series entitled rewrite we are going verse 00:00:07.580 --> 00:00:10.900 by verse Through the book of Romans chapters 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:13.580 one two and three and if you didn't bring a Bible 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:16.079 today I want to encourage you to look at the 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:17.679 screen a little later throughout the service 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:20.219 We're gonna study every single part of this passage 00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:23.760 Why because at Southern Hills we study the Bible 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.940 verse by verse chapter by chapter through the 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:29.019 books of the Bible and Romans is a letter that 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:32.210 was written by the Apostle Paul to the people 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:35.070 at Rome to explain to them the good news about 00:00:35.070 --> 00:00:37.429 Jesus Christ. And he was telling them that they 00:00:37.429 --> 00:00:41.729 don't have to stay living the same life and developing 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:44.969 the same culture that has led to such tragedy 00:00:44.969 --> 00:00:49.909 and was leading Rome to a great fall. Instead 00:00:49.909 --> 00:00:53.189 they could trade all of that which they had. 00:00:53.710 --> 00:00:57.369 and receive a new destiny if they repented and 00:00:57.369 --> 00:01:00.090 received Jesus Christ as Savior. And so that's 00:01:00.090 --> 00:01:03.450 what Romans chapter one, two, and three are really 00:01:03.450 --> 00:01:06.090 all about, and today we're in part three of four 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:09.569 weeks. And to illustrate the main concept of 00:01:09.569 --> 00:01:12.310 today, I wanna have a little fun with the audience. 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:14.390 If you're new to our church, you've never seen 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:17.250 me do this because we've never done it in this 00:01:17.250 --> 00:01:20.250 auditorium, but. when we started the church at 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:22.750 a storefront. And in our own building over here 00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:25.310 and across the way, I used to come down into 00:01:25.310 --> 00:01:27.150 the audience a little bit. And so I'm gonna do 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:30.230 that today. So if you are freaked out and I walk 00:01:30.230 --> 00:01:32.390 by, just go like this and I'll walk right by 00:01:32.390 --> 00:01:34.430 you. But we're gonna do that at this time. We're 00:01:34.430 --> 00:01:36.609 gonna go out into the audience. And by the way, 00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:38.769 if you're one of the hundreds and hundreds of 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:42.650 people who watch week after week online, and 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:45.150 you're used to actually seeing us, but you only 00:01:45.150 --> 00:01:47.409 watch online, I wanna encourage you to come out. 00:01:47.469 --> 00:01:49.689 be a part of this auditorium. You can actually 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:51.750 come. But follow me, I want to show you a few 00:01:51.750 --> 00:01:54.650 individuals that I want to introduce you to and 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:56.829 I want to ask them to participate in something 00:01:56.829 --> 00:01:58.629 that's going to help. First of all, marvelous 00:01:58.629 --> 00:02:00.269 Mark, give them a round of applause. This is 00:02:00.269 --> 00:02:04.810 Mark Camp. Mark, come on out, come on out. All 00:02:04.810 --> 00:02:06.750 right, this is Mark, ladies and gentlemen. Many 00:02:06.750 --> 00:02:09.870 of you don't know Mark, some of you do. Mark, 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:13.370 Mark, did I talk to you before this service? 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:15.229 Did you know that I was going to ring you up? 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:20.939 okay let's okay no you did not yeah okay well 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:23.400 first of all that is a lie and you don't have 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.280 to lie oh I was I was stretching the truth yeah 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.840 for the sake of the illustration yes give him 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.060 a round of applause ladies and gentlemen he's 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:35.840 a deacon who lies A deacon who lies. No, here 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.000 Mark, I did talk to you before but I did not 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.360 tell you exactly what we're gonna do. I gave 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:41.419 you a prop and I want you to hold out the prop. 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:43.780 Go ahead and pull it out right now and I want 00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:45.580 you to describe... Nope, that's not what I gave 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:48.219 you. Alright, put that away. See, I did not know 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:50.340 that was gonna happen. I don't give money, I 00:02:50.340 --> 00:02:53.900 take it. Okay, very good. Alright, what exactly 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.840 are you holding in your hand? A Pokemon card. 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:58.659 That's right, and that's not referred to as a 00:02:58.659 --> 00:03:02.629 Pokemon card. That's referred to as a... Okay, 00:03:02.750 --> 00:03:05.449 is this of your personal collection? No. No. 00:03:05.569 --> 00:03:08.650 No. Okay. Do you know who that is on here? No. 00:03:08.870 --> 00:03:11.110 Okay. All right. All right. Let me let me grab 00:03:11.110 --> 00:03:13.509 this real quick. Can you tell this man who this 00:03:13.509 --> 00:03:16.610 is? Who is that? That is Pikachu. Pikachu. Can 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:20.610 you say Pikachu? Pikachu? Okay. Yeah. Pikachu. 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:23.669 All right. All right. I was more of a poker man. 00:03:23.710 --> 00:03:29.289 Yeah. He's a poker man, not a pokeball. That's 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:32.080 pretty good. Did you think of that down there? 00:03:33.969 --> 00:03:35.789 Okay, here's what I want to do. What I want to 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:37.330 do is I want to find out if you'd be willing 00:03:37.330 --> 00:03:39.469 to make a trade with me, okay? Now, you don't 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:42.490 obviously know much about Pokemon, but I would 00:03:42.490 --> 00:03:45.310 say that the card you're holding is a good card, 00:03:45.330 --> 00:03:48.009 and Pikachu is one of the more famous Pokemon. 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:50.289 I've got in my hand... Can you tell what this 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:52.210 is? What exactly is this? Looks like a challenge 00:03:52.210 --> 00:03:54.509 coin of some sort. It's not a challenge coin, 00:03:54.509 --> 00:03:56.610 but it does look like that. It's a silver dollar 00:03:56.610 --> 00:04:00.229 coin from 2008. And if you've been paying attention 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:02.300 to the economy, it's actually gone... up in value 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:05.219 recently. I won't tell you how much this is worth, 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:06.639 and I'm not gonna tell you how much that card 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:08.560 is worth. My question to you is very simple. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.360 Will you trade your Pokemon card for this Silver 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.800 Dollar U .S. Silver Eagle? Will you trade? Whoa, 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:19.660 whoa, whoa, before you answer, how many of you 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.540 in this room think he should trade? If you do, 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:26.040 say yes. Okay, how many of you in this room say 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:31.480 no, that's a bad trade? Say yes. okay so yeah 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:33.540 say no if you say don't trade say yes if you 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:36.139 say trade if you think he should trade say yes 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.439 how many of you think he should not trade say 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:42.860 no Okay, what do you think you're gonna do? I'm 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:46.740 gonna go with the audience because Human human 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:48.800 nature has told me that when you know nothing 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.740 about something that you have to go with the 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:54.480 masses and clearly all these people know about 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.600 Love and the mercy of the Lord and Savior Jesus 00:04:57.600 --> 00:04:59.660 Christ. Yes. So I'm gonna go with the audience 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:01.379 and not trade He's not gonna trade give him a 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:03.060 round of applause. Ladies and gentlemen, he's 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:05.839 holding on to his Pokemon card and he's having 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:07.740 a seat Thank you very much. We're gonna get have 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:11.649 a seat. Please sit down Sit down. Thank you very 00:05:11.649 --> 00:05:13.670 much. We'll put that in the offering plate. Sir, 00:05:13.750 --> 00:05:15.129 can you put that in the offering plate a little 00:05:15.129 --> 00:05:16.689 bit later? Thank you very much. All right. Give 00:05:16.689 --> 00:05:19.810 Mark a round of applause. I still have my coin. 00:05:21.329 --> 00:05:23.589 I still have my coin, and I need to trade this 00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:25.490 coin with somebody. So I'm going to come over 00:05:25.490 --> 00:05:27.269 to this back section over here. I'm going to 00:05:27.269 --> 00:05:29.490 see our deacon. This is one of our deacons, Troy 00:05:29.490 --> 00:05:31.110 Pollard. Give him a round of applause, Troy. 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:34.779 This is Troy again if you're watching online 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:36.500 as you can see we have plenty of seats still 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:38.620 So you're welcome to come in person next week 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.399 Troy. Okay. Now did I talk to you beforehand? 00:05:40.459 --> 00:05:42.800 Yes or no? Yes. Okay and good and hold that. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.079 Thank you for not lying like mark, right? Okay. 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.699 Now I gave you a also something. It's not a Pokemon 00:05:48.699 --> 00:05:50.540 card. What is the thing that I gave you? I want 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:53.360 you to pull it out right now It's in your what 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.519 do you what is your problem? It's all your sermon 00:05:56.519 --> 00:05:59.540 notes. Oh, it's all Oh, give him a round of applause 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:03.800 Now, what did I give you? Hold it out to the 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.879 camera and describe what it is. It's the Taylor 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:10.620 Swift CD. It's not just any Taylor Swift CD, 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:15.139 it's 1989 Taylor's version of Taylor, which holds 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:17.019 the famous song, your favorite, right? It's Shake 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:20.000 It Off. Wow, that was on there? Oh, yes, yes. 00:06:21.139 --> 00:06:24.279 Troy goes from construction site to construction 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:26.759 site, constantly singing Shake It Off. He's a 00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:29.939 big Tay -Tay fan. Every day. Here's my question 00:06:29.939 --> 00:06:33.879 to Troy. Do you already have this CD? No, no, 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:37.120 so you could add it to your collection Yes, I 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:43.100 could I could But I'm not going to Not at all 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.439 It's like a dog whistle. All right. Look here. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:47.800 Let me just say he's very judgmental. Can you 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:51.540 tell? Okay, you have a choice Mark chose not 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.399 to trade. I want to ask you this question this 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:57.649 1989 I I just Let me just tell you about this 00:06:57.649 --> 00:07:00.370 CD. It's one of her defining CDs. It's become 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:02.290 a collector's item. You don't know much about 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:04.689 it, but you also don't maybe know how much this 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:06.149 coin is worth. Maybe you do, maybe you follow. 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:09.110 My question is, are you willing to trade this 00:07:09.110 --> 00:07:12.550 CD, Taylor Swift CD, for this silver coin? Yes. 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:15.930 That was pretty quick. All right, audience, how 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:17.850 many of you? Church, how many of you would say 00:07:17.850 --> 00:07:22.230 he definitely should trade? Say yes. How many 00:07:22.230 --> 00:07:27.220 of you say no? There's a little girls in the 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:29.680 back over there. You can come get it. That's 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.319 right. There's one Taylor Swift fan over there. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.379 Give him a round of applause. All right, very 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:36.680 good. You're gonna need the mic. I've got Taylor 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:38.639 Swift. I need that mic. Give me that mic. All 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:40.459 right, very good. All right, so now I've got 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:42.379 the Taylor Swift CD, and I've got one other person 00:07:42.379 --> 00:07:44.180 that I might be able to make a trade with. It's 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:46.079 an individual over here that I gave a skateboard 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:48.360 to earlier. If I gave you a skateboard earlier, 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:52.040 would you stand up? Oh, there he is. John David 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:54.199 Kolish, ladies and gentlemen. We love John David. 00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:59.029 This is John David Kolish and John as we look 00:07:59.029 --> 00:08:02.029 at this this skateboard Oh, our cameraman's having 00:08:02.029 --> 00:08:05.029 trouble. Okay. There he is All right. Now you 00:08:05.029 --> 00:08:07.569 have this skateboard. Do you know much about 00:08:07.569 --> 00:08:11.069 this skateboard? I do not. Okay, you do not Here's 00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:13.569 the question that I have for you. Would you trade 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:16.870 this skateboard for this 1989 Taylor Swift CB? 00:08:17.110 --> 00:08:21.170 Yes or no? That's a that's a hard no. Okay. No 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:26.379 No way. I should have picked younger and more 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:29.439 feminine, I think, for this to work. So it's 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.300 a hard note. You thought I would trade? You thought 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:33.299 I would? Here's my question. Can you ride this? 00:08:34.220 --> 00:08:36.500 I mean, I can give it a whirl. No, please don't. 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:38.279 No, we're not going to do that. OK, that's a 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:40.340 different sermon illustration called Broken Back. 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:44.860 OK, now, he's saying no, he's not going to trade 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:48.419 this CD for that skateboard. That's the decision 00:08:48.419 --> 00:08:49.559 that you're making. Are you going to stick with 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:51.940 your decision? How many of you, by the way, think 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:55.419 he should make this trade? Say yes. How many 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:59.100 of you say no, this is a bad trade say no No, 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:01.980 I'm losing my man card if I trade. Yeah, correct 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:07.360 happen a long time ago done. Um It's a joke we're 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:09.019 friends. All right, give him a round of applause. 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:11.399 He made his decision. Have a seat I get to keep 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.860 the Taylor Swift CD What a great joy that is. 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:17.720 Okay. All right. So all of these things have 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:19.899 been happening right in front of you. These men 00:09:19.899 --> 00:09:22.559 did not know specifically and individually that 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:24.519 I was going to make these trade offers. They 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:26.419 had no idea. Hey, Jordan, good job with worship 00:09:26.419 --> 00:09:28.759 today. Give them a round of applause. Jordan. 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:35.399 Okay. Why go around with all of these questions 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:38.080 and talk about it today? Here's why. Because 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:41.299 oftentimes we trade and we don't realize what 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:44.769 we're trading away. Absolutely true that the 00:09:44.769 --> 00:09:47.710 silver coin at today's rate, I used to start 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:51.090 collecting them when they were $18 a piece. They're 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:54.549 trading now for $100 a coin. How many of you 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:56.909 knew that? That's absolutely incredible. And 00:09:56.909 --> 00:09:59.990 so that was a, that was an interesting trade. 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:03.230 Now I found out today that each and every one 00:10:03.230 --> 00:10:06.090 of these items that I talked about today actually 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:11.809 hold an intrinsic value. The coin. $100, the 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:15.210 Pokemon card. The Pokemon card, how many of you 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:17.049 think that was a good trade or a bad trade? You 00:10:17.049 --> 00:10:19.610 say, does a good trade say yes? Bad trades say 00:10:19.610 --> 00:10:24.009 no. I found out that, yeah, yeah. I found out 00:10:24.009 --> 00:10:28.809 that that Pokemon card is worth $17. Bad trade, 00:10:29.309 --> 00:10:32.690 bad trade. Then I found out whenever it comes 00:10:32.690 --> 00:10:35.470 to this, where was it? We were talking about 00:10:35.470 --> 00:10:39.250 the coin or the Taylor Swift CD. Somebody came 00:10:39.250 --> 00:10:40.750 up after the service after the first service 00:10:40.750 --> 00:10:42.250 said they looked it up. Don't spend your time 00:10:42.250 --> 00:10:46.549 do it after the service They said this CD specifically 00:10:46.549 --> 00:10:49.789 because of the style of CD it is and Taylor's 00:10:49.789 --> 00:10:52.330 version of this with the CD. It's selling online 00:10:52.330 --> 00:10:57.370 for a hundred and fifty six dollars Wow, then 00:10:57.370 --> 00:10:59.909 I found out that this skateboard this skateboard 00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:04.070 because Tony Hawk That's not true. I made that 00:11:04.070 --> 00:11:11.389 part up That skateboard goes online for about 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:14.370 a hundred and fifteen dollars They said well, 00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:16.129 which one was the good trade? Which one was the 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:18.970 bad trade? Well, we could debate it based on 00:11:18.970 --> 00:11:20.690 what you actually like or what you might want, 00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:25.129 but I'll tell you the the worst trade The worst 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:29.649 trades that human beings have ever made are all 00:11:29.649 --> 00:11:32.309 of them outlined in the Bible passage We're about 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:35.700 to talk about I've been making trades since I 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:38.179 was a child. I traded baseball cards, and now 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:41.580 I like to trade stocks. I love to trade stories, 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:43.399 but I'll tell you what you see in the scripture 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:49.200 here are the top five worst trades that humanity 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:55.440 makes. Here is the problem. We as humans have 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:02.559 a proclivity to trade down because we think We 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:06.340 know the value of something without doing the 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:09.779 research to know what the actual value is. And 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:11.679 the message that I want to talk to you about 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.059 today over the next 25 to 30 minutes is this. 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:20.940 Never trade down. And here's why. When you begin 00:12:20.940 --> 00:12:24.519 to swap out God's best for lesser things, this 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:29.279 is when life is ruined. I know this to be the 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.899 case because I've done it. I have many times 00:12:32.899 --> 00:12:36.039 swapped out God's best for lesser things and 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.779 I've lived to regret it and so have you. There 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:41.200 have been times in your life that God gave you 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.480 something and the thing that God gave you you 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.639 did not value so you threw it away and you traded 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:51.080 it for something less than. And all of this can 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.200 be traced back to this concept found in Romans 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:58.590 chapter one verses 18 through 20. where the apostle 00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:01.570 Paul is speaking to the Roman Christians and 00:13:01.570 --> 00:13:04.070 he's telling them, don't you ever wonder how 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:08.149 the world got into the mess that it is? Have 00:13:08.149 --> 00:13:10.710 you ever looked at society and thought, how did 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:15.669 we get here? When did humanity arrive at this 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:19.980 place? What happened to our city? What happened 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:23.080 to our nation? What happened to my family? What 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.279 happened to my life? What happened to our relationship? 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:30.620 All of the brokenness can be traced back to five 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:35.399 bad trades. Let me list them for you. Number 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:38.679 one, in Romans chapter one, verse 18, he talks 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:42.360 about the first of the five worst trades of humanity. 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:47.320 Number one. We as humans like to trade the truth 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:54.399 for a lie Worst trade number one we trade the 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:00.740 truth for a lie God gives you as his creation 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.840 the truth And we like to hold that truth and 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.000 the moment we hear a good sounding lie. We trade 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:12.320 it away Look what it says, but God shows his 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:17.259 anger from heaven Against all sinful and wicked 00:14:17.259 --> 00:14:22.799 people who suppress the truth by their wickedness 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.720 You say I don't like the idea of God being angry 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:29.259 But I actually myself like the idea of God being 00:14:29.259 --> 00:14:32.320 angry when you read the rest of the verse The 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.299 Bible says God gets angry when wicked humans 00:14:35.299 --> 00:14:39.360 suppress the truth How many of you agree it's 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:42.320 a villain who suppresses the truth? How many 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.720 of you also agree with the great truth of the 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:48.340 Bible that the truth will set you free? We don't 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:52.340 need less truth. We need more truth in our world 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.860 But there are those in our world who want to 00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:57.379 suppress the truth. They do it politically. They 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:00.159 do it nationally They do it globally, but we 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:04.179 also do it personally we get truth from God But 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.379 because we don't like the way the truth sounds 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:10.360 we Suppress it. Oh, in fact, that's gonna happen 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:14.000 in this room today. There will be some of us 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.799 in this room who are gonna hear truths for the 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.679 first time. And the moment you hear it, it'll 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:23.600 go contrary to what you've been believing. And 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:26.559 instead of receiving truth, you'll suppress the 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.980 truth. And it'll hurt you. And you've always 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:34.360 known the truth because from a child when you 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:36.980 were born, God gave you as your inheritance of 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:40.679 His creation, the truth. But because a long time 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:43.100 ago you traded the truth for a lie, now it's 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:45.679 hard for you to give that lie back up. Look, 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.700 it goes on. It says they know the truth about 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:53.299 God. They, who's they? Humans. Humans know the 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:56.799 truth about God because He has made it obvious 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:02.980 to them. Truth number one, there is a God. You 00:16:02.980 --> 00:16:04.480 say, how do you know there's a God? Because it's 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.100 obvious. You say, some people don't believe in 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.700 a God. I understand. Some people don't believe 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:12.879 in a God. You say, why don't they? Because they 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.559 took the truth about God that God gave them at 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.059 creation, at their birth, and they traded it 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:21.080 away for a lie. See, that's not a very open -minded 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.840 way to think. It's a biblically -minded way to 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:29.179 think. The reason some do not believe in a God, 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.320 even if it's you. is because you had the truth 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:35.480 about God somewhere in your past, you know there's 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.360 a God. You've always, listen, you've always known 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:44.399 there's a God. Inside of you, you know that someone 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:49.120 created you and somebody somehow convinced you 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:55.019 to take a very, very bad thing and trade it away. 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:00.360 A truth for a lie. Look, it goes on. It says, 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:02.960 and they knew the truth about God because he 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.079 has made it obvious to them forever since the 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:09.299 world was created, people have seen the earth 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:12.619 and sky. It shows you how you came to the truth 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:15.319 about God. You knew there's a God because the 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:17.180 other truth is there's a creator. He created 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:21.380 you. He made you. You know that he made you. 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:24.420 He created all things and he created you you 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.839 say how to how is this so obvious? The reason 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.339 it's obvious is because rational logical thinking 00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:32.140 would to say if there's a creation there must 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:37.829 be a creator It's illogical to think in any way 00:17:37.829 --> 00:17:42.230 that all of this just happens to be here we know 00:17:42.230 --> 00:17:45.950 inherently that there is a Creator as it goes 00:17:45.950 --> 00:17:48.569 on and it says it says forever since the world 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:51.549 was created people have seen the earth and sky 00:17:51.549 --> 00:17:55.329 Through everything God made they can clearly 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:58.269 see his invisible qualities Not only can we see 00:17:58.269 --> 00:18:01.309 there is a creator when we look at his creation. 00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:04.819 We can learn things about the creator Himself 00:18:04.819 --> 00:18:09.079 his eternal power and divine nature so you say 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:13.980 so what's the point so? They have no excuse for 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:21.099 not knowing God Humanity has no excuse for not 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:25.339 knowing God ignorance is not an excuse Willful 00:18:25.339 --> 00:18:29.359 ignorance is not an excuse We know there's a 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:36.530 God because the creation shouts there is God 00:18:36.530 --> 00:18:41.329 One of the first big mistakes humans make is 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:44.730 They think about God and they think I don't want 00:18:44.730 --> 00:18:49.130 somebody telling me what to do So they trade 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:53.869 the truth of God for a lie and That leads to 00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:56.569 the second trade the second worst trade that 00:18:56.569 --> 00:18:58.549 humans make is they trade the truth for a lie 00:18:58.549 --> 00:19:01.190 the second Trade they make is they trade light 00:19:01.190 --> 00:19:07.490 for darkness We we trade light for darkness When 00:19:07.490 --> 00:19:10.369 you're born God gives you truth when you're born 00:19:10.369 --> 00:19:14.710 God gives you light But throughout our lives 00:19:14.710 --> 00:19:18.130 Men love darkness rather than light because our 00:19:18.130 --> 00:19:20.970 deeds are evil and we don't like the light of 00:19:20.970 --> 00:19:23.970 God Illuminating the darkness of our heart so 00:19:23.970 --> 00:19:27.890 we prefer to cover up and not allow God to see 00:19:27.890 --> 00:19:31.670 us Look he goes on and says yes, they knew God 00:19:31.960 --> 00:19:35.519 But they wouldn't worship him as God or even 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.660 give him thanks They knew there's a God humans, 00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:41.079 but they didn't want to worship. God is the God 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:45.680 that he was and so They began to think up foolish 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:49.440 ideas of what God might be like as a result their 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:56.119 minds became dark and confused Humans naturally 00:19:56.119 --> 00:20:00.509 want to worship something We desire it. This 00:20:00.509 --> 00:20:02.470 is something that an atheist and a Christian 00:20:02.470 --> 00:20:05.750 can agree on something inside of our hearts desire 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:10.890 to worship something and So what we do is humans 00:20:10.890 --> 00:20:13.430 according to this passage is God says worship 00:20:13.430 --> 00:20:16.910 me and We don't want God because we don't like 00:20:16.910 --> 00:20:19.130 what he has to say to us So we say I'll create 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:22.609 my own God and when we turn off the light from 00:20:22.609 --> 00:20:27.819 God our hearts become darkened When you reject 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:31.039 the light God is trying to show you all that 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:35.319 does is darken your own heart You've heard the 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:38.000 phrase show me the light. This is the bit God 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000 showed me the light this illuminated your mind 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.480 illuminated your heart see that's what the Bible 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.519 is talking about here now We all know what it's 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:48.779 like to turn a light on and to turn the light 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:53.480 off You remember as a child does anybody remember 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:57.740 as a child? standing at your bedroom door and 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:00.700 shutting the door and ready to turn the light 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:03.319 off. And you go to turn the light off and you 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:06.799 try to get into bed before it gets dark. How 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.339 many of you remember that last week? You remember? 00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:20.839 When you turn off the light, darkness comes. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.410 Here's where a lot of humans are. individually, 00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:28.349 nationally, globally, as a people group. What 00:21:28.349 --> 00:21:31.630 we do is we turn down the light, we say, no God, 00:21:31.990 --> 00:21:35.170 no, no, no, and we wonder why our hearts are 00:21:35.170 --> 00:21:37.569 getting darker and our society is getting darker. 00:21:39.769 --> 00:21:42.529 We trade the light for the darkness. It goes 00:21:42.529 --> 00:21:47.049 on in verse 22, claiming to be wise, these humans 00:21:47.049 --> 00:21:50.940 instead became utter fools. How many of you have 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:52.259 ever worked with somebody who thought they were 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:56.000 smarter than they really were? Anybody? Yeah, 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.900 you're pointing at your husband. Don't do that. 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:02.180 That's not All right Claiming to be wise instead 00:22:02.180 --> 00:22:04.339 they became fools and instead of worshiping the 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:06.920 glorious ever -living God They worshiped idols 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:09.779 made to look like mere people and birds and animals 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:14.660 and reptiles Like this is human history Instead 00:22:14.660 --> 00:22:16.519 of worshipping God a lot of people say why are 00:22:16.519 --> 00:22:18.859 there so many religions? There's not there's 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.980 God and then there's human fantasy that has created 00:22:21.980 --> 00:22:27.319 a bunch of stories That's the binariness of all 00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:32.730 this And God revealed himself to man and man 00:22:32.730 --> 00:22:35.849 says, no, we turn off the darkness. But inside 00:22:35.849 --> 00:22:38.289 of man, we want to worship something. And so 00:22:38.289 --> 00:22:41.990 instead of worshiping the creator, we create 00:22:41.990 --> 00:22:44.390 our own little gods. And so we go over to the 00:22:44.390 --> 00:22:47.130 stone heap and we carve out a little stone and 00:22:47.130 --> 00:22:49.289 it looks like a reptile. And we're like, this 00:22:49.289 --> 00:22:52.990 is a God. And we carve a little fish and we say, 00:22:53.150 --> 00:22:56.329 this is my God. And this is what we've done throughout 00:22:56.329 --> 00:23:00.930 human history. The Egyptians did it the Mesopotamians 00:23:00.930 --> 00:23:04.089 did it the Babylonians did it the Persians did 00:23:04.089 --> 00:23:07.490 it all throughout history no matter where you 00:23:07.490 --> 00:23:10.589 go humans desire to worship something but if 00:23:10.589 --> 00:23:13.210 they turn off the light of God in their heart 00:23:13.210 --> 00:23:16.309 they become dark and now suddenly they're bowing 00:23:16.309 --> 00:23:18.789 down now think about this from God's point of 00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:23.069 view God the one who made everybody he's watching 00:23:23.069 --> 00:23:26.369 you cut down a tree and then carve out of the 00:23:26.369 --> 00:23:29.130 tree a bird and then you bow down to worship 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:35.049 the bird and say give me good crops You say, 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:40.210 you're making it sound silly. It's not silly, 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:50.730 it's stupid. My goal is not to be soft with you 00:23:50.730 --> 00:23:53.710 today. My goal is to share truth with you today. 00:23:55.170 --> 00:23:56.950 And if you've got to a place where you're so 00:23:56.950 --> 00:23:59.309 willing to trade comfortability for truth, you 00:23:59.309 --> 00:24:02.240 may not like the rest of this sermon. And by 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:03.839 the way, I don't think you want a church where 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.599 all they're doing is trading comfortability for 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:13.240 truth. Can I get an amen? So this is not wise. 00:24:13.579 --> 00:24:15.400 Now, a lot of us as Americans, we can be like, 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:17.779 that is so silly. But here's what Americans do. 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:20.859 We don't chop down trees and create gods. We 00:24:20.859 --> 00:24:26.799 look in the mirror and call ourselves God. The 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:29.720 God we worship is whatever I want to be whoever 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:33.880 I think I am discover myself and My identity 00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:36.519 is what I claim my identity to be I don't even 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:38.359 believe in God except for the one who looks back 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:41.059 at me in the mirror Whatever you want is what 00:24:41.059 --> 00:24:46.599 I get and you end up worshiping yourself And 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:52.200 you're no better than any other false Human alive 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:55.200 and neither am I These are the trades we make. 00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:58.380 Oh, this is getting interesting goes on the truth 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:01.019 for a lie the light for the darkness Here's the 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:03.099 third worst trade that we as humans make trade 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:07.279 number three. We trade the creator for his creation 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:13.759 We we as humans love the gift of God's creation 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.619 We look at it and we're amazed by it. The animal 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:20.359 life, the sky, space, what's happening in the 00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:23.240 sea, all the creation that God has made and we're 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:25.660 in love with what he gave us. The problem is 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:28.440 we love what he gave us so much that we begin 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:32.990 to reject the one who gave it to us. It's it's 00:25:32.990 --> 00:25:35.809 like loving the Christmas gift that your parents 00:25:35.809 --> 00:25:38.690 gave you but hating your parents who gave it 00:25:38.690 --> 00:25:41.009 So much so that all you do is spend time with 00:25:41.009 --> 00:25:43.230 your Christmas gift and you ignore your parents. 00:25:43.250 --> 00:25:48.799 That's not right This is what humans do We elevate 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:52.259 creation above the creator. There are more Americans 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:55.940 today who elevate creation above the creator 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:58.920 They would rather focus on the environment than 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:01.299 the one who created the environment and that's 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:05.740 a problem Look at what the scripture says So 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.720 God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.339 that are in their hearts that they desired Here's 00:26:11.339 --> 00:26:14.599 how it works. If you abandon the light of God 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:18.380 God will abandon you to do whatever you want 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:22.500 We don't like that word abandoned right because 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:25.559 some of us have actually been abandoned by fathers 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:29.079 and mothers We've been abandoned by husbands 00:26:29.079 --> 00:26:33.880 or wives We've been turned away from listen to 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.680 me very clearly Jesus said I will never leave 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:42.460 you or forsake you But God also says I won't 00:26:42.460 --> 00:26:47.259 force myself on you Which means if you turn your 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:49.259 back on God and say I don't want anything to 00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:52.779 do with you he Abandons you that is lets you 00:26:52.779 --> 00:26:56.400 go your own way and explore your path until you 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:01.559 realize how fruitless it is God is a gentleman. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:05.980 He will not force himself into your life. Do 00:27:05.980 --> 00:27:09.680 you see? He abandons you to go your own way and 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:12.660 do whatever your heart desires by the way Whatever 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:14.400 your heart desires you say that's what I want 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.480 I want to just I grew up in the age in the 90s 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:22.160 where we were taught as kids from Disney Just 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:26.539 follow your heart Every movie at the end every 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:28.259 movie you know like every one of my sermons at 00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:30.980 the end is like follow Jesus right every Disney 00:27:30.980 --> 00:27:34.099 movie the same follow your heart The problem 00:27:34.099 --> 00:27:38.119 is I have followed my heart into really bad scenarios 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:42.819 many times. You know why? Because the Bible teaches 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:47.900 us the heart is wicked, desperately evil. It 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:51.279 constantly desires that which will hurt us. We 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.200 don't follow our hearts into the truth. We follow 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:59.700 the scripture to God. This is what the word of 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:01.400 God teaches. No, no, no, it goes on, it goes 00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:04.579 on, it goes on. It says, as a result of following 00:28:04.579 --> 00:28:08.799 your heart, They divide they did vile and degrading 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:11.960 things with each other's bodies That is if you 00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:14.359 tell your heart whatever you want today. That's 00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:17.279 what you'll get. You'll end up hurting yourself 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:23.140 You have to say no to yourself They traded the 00:28:23.140 --> 00:28:25.940 truth about God for a lie. There's the bad trades. 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:28.039 So they worshiped and served the things that 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:32.380 God created Instead of the creator himself who 00:28:32.380 --> 00:28:34.299 is worthy of praise and honor and glory forever. 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:41.329 Amen trading the truth of the creator for his 00:28:41.329 --> 00:28:53.710 creation. I was at Chipotle. Can I get an amen 00:28:53.710 --> 00:28:58.250 and hallelujah for Chipotle? I love Chipotle. 00:28:58.329 --> 00:28:59.910 I do, I love Chipotle. I'm going to Chipotle 00:28:59.910 --> 00:29:01.710 today. You know why? Because I was thinking about 00:29:01.710 --> 00:29:03.289 this sermon all week and I'm like, I need some 00:29:03.289 --> 00:29:07.200 Chipotle. This happened like 12, 10 years ago. 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:08.799 I was with my kids. I remember they were little. 00:29:08.819 --> 00:29:10.319 I don't remember how long ago it was, but I was 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:13.660 at the Aurora Crossing Chipotle, you know, right 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:16.480 up there. And we were sitting there. It was a 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:18.220 Sunday after church with some friends. We were 00:29:18.220 --> 00:29:19.660 sitting there with our Chipotle, and all of a 00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:23.220 sudden came through the door, and this is absolutely 00:29:23.220 --> 00:29:29.819 true, a Chipotle protest, which I'd never seen 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:33.519 before. And immediately my wife was like, ugh. 00:29:33.710 --> 00:29:38.410 And I was like, oh, this is gonna be good. This 00:29:38.410 --> 00:29:42.410 is Primo. We've picked the right day. And there 00:29:42.410 --> 00:29:45.349 was like seven people in there that came in. 00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:48.190 They were all holding signs and there was one 00:29:48.190 --> 00:29:50.670 or two guys with cameras and they were gonna 00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:52.849 photograph and obviously this was some sort of 00:29:52.849 --> 00:29:56.069 a social media thing. And so we're sitting there 00:29:56.069 --> 00:29:57.630 and all of a sudden they got in place and they're 00:29:57.630 --> 00:29:59.470 holding the signs up and they started chanting. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:02.779 This is true. Chicken are people, too. Chicken 00:30:02.779 --> 00:30:07.720 are people, too. Chicken are people, too. And 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:09.339 my kids, they were young, they were having fun. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:10.940 They thought it was a show. They're like, this 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:14.180 is great. And I can remember, there's a few signs 00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:16.220 I remember. One of the signs, they didn't want 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:18.259 us to eat chicken apparently. And one of the 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:21.180 signs, there was a chicken face and a chicken 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:25.220 head and there was a tear coming down the chicken's 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:29.440 eye. I was like, that is some, that's good. And 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.059 then there was another one of like a chicken 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:32.940 like it was kind of bloody like his head was 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:35.079 cut off That wasn't the one I looked at there 00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:37.460 was another one. She had a sign on both sides 00:30:37.460 --> 00:30:41.619 one was like fried chicken grilled chicken and 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:44.119 like like sauteed chicken on the other there 00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.440 was multiple other and like it was It was really 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:51.440 making me more hungry, you know, like I was like 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.819 I could go her It had the converse effect of 00:30:54.819 --> 00:31:02.200 what I think it was supposed to do And they shouted 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:05.799 and yelled and shamed and they're very passionate, 00:31:06.039 --> 00:31:10.259 very passionate about saving the chickens' lives. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:18.740 And then the manager came out and said, okay, 00:31:19.079 --> 00:31:20.640 you know, you got to go. This is private property. 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:21.960 We're going to call the police. And they finished 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:24.319 their filming and they left peacefully and they 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:30.019 left out. And I thought to myself, man. Need 00:31:30.019 --> 00:31:38.740 another chicken burrito. I that's what I You 00:31:38.740 --> 00:31:43.700 say you mocking it yes Because things that are 00:31:43.700 --> 00:31:46.920 deserving of being mocked need to be mocked now 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:49.460 hear me now You say people are passionate about 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:53.339 the planet. We as children of God are stewards 00:31:53.339 --> 00:31:56.940 of this planet We have a responsibility to care 00:31:56.940 --> 00:31:58.980 for our environment and care for this planet 00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:02.960 and care for the animals. Yes Yes, we believe 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:06.519 this The problem is not in caring for the planet 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.160 The problem is we live in a society that cares 00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:12.259 more about caring for creation than we care for 00:32:12.259 --> 00:32:18.039 the creator People are dying and going to hell 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:23.900 and we're talking about saving the turtles You 00:32:23.900 --> 00:32:25.380 see, you talk about this like you actually believe 00:32:25.380 --> 00:32:33.859 that. Yes, that's the point. Don't you understand? 00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:37.880 Our society is no better than some ancient culture 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:41.319 that begin to elevate all of creation above the 00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:44.039 creator themselves. And as we look down upon 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:48.200 those who follow the things of God as unintelligent, 00:32:48.599 --> 00:32:51.079 here's the reality, people are talking about 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.369 chickens are people too. There's something broken. 00:32:55.309 --> 00:32:59.130 And how did it break? We made a bad trade. We 00:32:59.130 --> 00:33:01.630 traded the creator for his creation. We don't 00:33:01.630 --> 00:33:04.289 think about God. We worship his creation. By 00:33:04.289 --> 00:33:06.589 the way, the more you actually worship the creator, 00:33:06.809 --> 00:33:10.789 the more you wanna take care of creation. Properly. 00:33:11.269 --> 00:33:13.109 Fourth worst trade. Here's the fourth worst trade 00:33:13.109 --> 00:33:15.690 we make. We trade God's way for humanity's way. 00:33:17.650 --> 00:33:21.789 The next statements he makes. cut right to the 00:33:21.789 --> 00:33:24.950 heart of the way we as humans are. The problem 00:33:24.950 --> 00:33:29.609 we have with God is not that God is a problem, 00:33:29.869 --> 00:33:33.970 as long as God does what we want him to do. We 00:33:33.970 --> 00:33:38.970 want God made in an image like Santa Claus. That's 00:33:38.970 --> 00:33:42.910 a God I can believe in. A God who has a list 00:33:42.910 --> 00:33:45.250 and checks it twice, but occasionally he just 00:33:45.250 --> 00:33:47.329 crosses it out and says, they're fine, give them 00:33:47.329 --> 00:33:53.549 a gift. That's the kind of God we want The problem 00:33:53.549 --> 00:33:59.869 is that's not who God is God has a very specific 00:33:59.869 --> 00:34:05.630 way Life is supposed to live be lived a certain 00:34:05.630 --> 00:34:09.829 way every aspect of your life See, I'll do it 00:34:09.829 --> 00:34:13.769 my own way The problem is you as a human don't 00:34:13.769 --> 00:34:16.809 know how life is supposed to be lived You say 00:34:16.809 --> 00:34:21.630 why because you didn't create life Okay, imagine 00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:25.030 imagine there was a guy named Steve Jobs who 00:34:25.030 --> 00:34:29.730 made the iPhone and He walked into your house 00:34:29.730 --> 00:34:33.809 and he saw you had an iPhone and you used it 00:34:33.809 --> 00:34:37.889 as a doorstop And Steve Jobs came to you and 00:34:37.889 --> 00:34:39.329 said, wait a second, wait a second, you know 00:34:39.329 --> 00:34:41.289 that can do a lot more than stop doors. And you 00:34:41.289 --> 00:34:45.269 say, who are you to tell me how to use my iPhone? 00:34:45.409 --> 00:34:46.630 And he's like, well, I'm not trying to ruin your 00:34:46.630 --> 00:34:48.630 life. I'm just trying to say, that can do a lot 00:34:48.630 --> 00:34:53.170 more than stop doors. I'll do what I want with 00:34:53.170 --> 00:34:58.650 my iPhone. I will abandon you to your own way. 00:35:00.590 --> 00:35:03.210 God says, I know how life is supposed to be lived. 00:35:03.389 --> 00:35:05.210 How about, listen to me, and maybe your life 00:35:05.210 --> 00:35:07.809 will go better than the way you're living it. 00:35:10.250 --> 00:35:12.110 Humanity's way versus God's way, look at what 00:35:12.110 --> 00:35:14.750 it says in verses 26 and following. That is why 00:35:14.750 --> 00:35:17.570 God abandoned them to their own shameful desires. 00:35:18.929 --> 00:35:21.590 God allows you to do whatever your heart tells 00:35:21.590 --> 00:35:25.070 you to do and it leads to some problems. Even 00:35:25.070 --> 00:35:29.309 the women turned against the natural use of having 00:35:29.309 --> 00:35:33.010 sex and instead indulged with sex with each other. 00:35:33.739 --> 00:35:37.300 And the men, instead of having normal sexual 00:35:37.300 --> 00:35:40.539 relations with women, burned in their lust for 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:44.519 each other. Men did shameful things with other 00:35:44.519 --> 00:35:49.760 men. And as a result of this sin, they suffered 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:52.219 within themselves the penalty they deserved. 00:35:53.659 --> 00:35:57.599 The natural results of doing it man's way versus 00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:00.920 God's way is there going to be some consequences 00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:03.739 to this. And God says, if you want to go your 00:36:03.739 --> 00:36:12.639 own way, do your thing. You do you, bro. Verse 00:36:12.639 --> 00:36:16.940 28, since they thought it was foolish to acknowledge 00:36:16.940 --> 00:36:20.320 God, He abandoned them to their own foolish thinking 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:23.500 and let them do the things that should never 00:36:23.500 --> 00:36:31.019 be done. Happens the same for all humans. God 00:36:31.019 --> 00:36:35.199 gives you His best. You take it. And if you're 00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:38.139 foolish, you trade away God's best for your way. 00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:42.139 It's true in relationships. It's true in sexuality. 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:44.900 It's true in finances. It's true in nations. 00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:47.699 It's true in politics. It's true in every aspect 00:36:47.699 --> 00:36:50.519 of your life. You can seek your way or you can 00:36:50.519 --> 00:36:53.440 seek God's way. And if you go God's way, things 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:56.019 go well because He made life. If you go your 00:36:56.019 --> 00:37:02.679 way, this is what we get. And all of that leads 00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:07.659 to the worst trade humanity has ever made. Number 00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:10.920 five. The worst trade we've ever made. We trade 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:14.840 God's kingdom for man's nightmare. Now maybe 00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:16.960 you're absolutely good with how the world has 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:18.980 handled itself. All of humans, we've done pretty 00:37:18.980 --> 00:37:27.019 good. How did it get this way? Look at what he 00:37:27.019 --> 00:37:30.320 says. Their lives, talking about humanity, became 00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.340 full of every kind of wickedness. He's telling 00:37:33.340 --> 00:37:38.139 you the history of humanity. Sin and greed and 00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:41.500 hate and envy and murder and quarreling and deception. 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.699 Do you see these things? These things were never 00:37:44.699 --> 00:37:46.820 part of the original plan for God's kingdom. 00:37:47.449 --> 00:37:49.849 When God made humanity, there was supposed to 00:37:49.849 --> 00:37:52.170 be no murder, there was supposed to be no greed, 00:37:52.469 --> 00:37:54.550 there was supposed to be no lying and hate and 00:37:54.550 --> 00:37:56.750 envy, none of these things were supposed to be, 00:37:56.829 --> 00:38:00.510 there was no scams, there was no deception, there 00:38:00.510 --> 00:38:02.949 was no lying to each other, that's not what God 00:38:02.949 --> 00:38:06.210 had intended. But man said, I don't need you, 00:38:06.289 --> 00:38:10.070 I'm doing my own thing. We don't need you as 00:38:10.070 --> 00:38:12.489 our king, we don't need you as our God, we're 00:38:12.489 --> 00:38:17.539 going our own way and we'll figure it out. They 00:38:17.539 --> 00:38:21.420 are backstabbers and haters of God Insolent and 00:38:21.420 --> 00:38:25.000 proud and boastful they invent new ways of sinning 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.340 and they disobey their parents They refuse to 00:38:28.340 --> 00:38:32.159 understand break their promises. They're heartless 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:35.500 They have no mercy and they know God's justice 00:38:35.500 --> 00:38:38.460 requires that those who do the things deserve 00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:45.199 to die Yet they do them anyway Humans know inherently 00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:48.480 deep down that I've done something wrong and 00:38:48.480 --> 00:38:52.860 God's gonna judge me for it. And then you do 00:38:52.860 --> 00:38:56.219 the thing anyway. Now before you point your finger 00:38:56.219 --> 00:38:58.920 at them, how many of you have ever known the 00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:02.179 thing you're not supposed to do? And then you 00:39:02.179 --> 00:39:03.840 go and do the thing you're not supposed to do 00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:10.199 anyway? He's talking about. See, Christians like 00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:11.980 to talk about this passage and we're like, see 00:39:11.980 --> 00:39:14.340 how they are? Until we realize and really study 00:39:14.340 --> 00:39:16.519 it. And it's God saying, yeah, do you see how 00:39:16.519 --> 00:39:22.820 you are? And then the last few words I didn't 00:39:22.820 --> 00:39:24.239 have on the screen, because I want you to see 00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:25.440 them in your Bible. If you don't have a Bible 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:27.619 open, I'll read them to you out loud. Hear the 00:39:27.619 --> 00:39:31.280 words. It ends the chapter by saying, worse yet, 00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:43.420 they encourage others to do them too. What does 00:39:43.420 --> 00:39:45.780 that mean for Christians? It means this. We say 00:39:45.780 --> 00:39:47.980 things like this as Christians. We think, I follow 00:39:47.980 --> 00:39:51.760 Jesus, I do my thing, but you do you. And we 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:56.239 encourage people to damnation. And we actually 00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:58.219 think that that's tolerance and open -mindedness. 00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:03.119 It's not that it's tolerant and open -minded. 00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:06.139 It's the fact that you don't want to carefully 00:40:06.139 --> 00:40:09.710 and lovingly confront somebody you love. Because 00:40:09.710 --> 00:40:11.449 you don't want to be uncomfortable So we go day 00:40:11.449 --> 00:40:14.309 after day and allow people to trade light for 00:40:14.309 --> 00:40:18.489 darkness truth for lies the creator for his creation 00:40:18.489 --> 00:40:22.510 my way for his way and Now they live a nightmare 00:40:22.510 --> 00:40:28.369 and the entire time you have the truth And we 00:40:28.369 --> 00:40:31.730 encourage them no, it's fine. I'm just a Jesus 00:40:31.730 --> 00:40:38.869 person Well, then help them How do you help them 00:40:39.609 --> 00:40:42.050 How do you help them? Here's how you help them. 00:40:42.309 --> 00:40:49.570 Tell them about the trade. See what trade? If 00:40:49.570 --> 00:40:54.469 you have been saved, you made a trade. Do you 00:40:54.469 --> 00:40:56.130 remember when you traded your whole life for 00:40:56.130 --> 00:40:58.750 Jesus? Do you remember? Do you remember when 00:40:58.750 --> 00:41:00.130 you were born? Do you remember when you were 00:41:00.130 --> 00:41:01.429 born again? Do you remember when you got saved? 00:41:02.619 --> 00:41:04.519 Do you remember when you bowed your head and 00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:06.260 you admitted you're a sinner, you received the 00:41:06.260 --> 00:41:08.119 good news of the gospel, you called upon Christ 00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:10.860 to be your Savior? Romans chapter 1 verses 20, 00:41:11.139 --> 00:41:13.239 Romans chapter 1, 16 and 17. Do you remember 00:41:13.239 --> 00:41:17.079 what it says? You gave your life to Christ. You 00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:27.760 traded everything for Jesus. Tell him. Tell him 00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:30.420 kindly. Tell him patiently. But tell them why 00:41:30.420 --> 00:41:32.340 you made that trade. It's because you figured 00:41:32.340 --> 00:41:38.619 out what was actually valuable. I'll end with 00:41:38.619 --> 00:41:41.400 this story. It's not a Josh story, it's a Jesus 00:41:41.400 --> 00:41:47.320 story. Jesus was talking about making a trade, 00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:50.139 just like I was, except His story you'll remember. 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:57.579 Jesus one time said, there was a man who was 00:41:57.579 --> 00:42:01.059 walking through a field one day. And as he walked 00:42:01.059 --> 00:42:05.360 through the field one day, he tripped over a 00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:09.159 box. And he went back to the box and he opened 00:42:09.159 --> 00:42:11.440 up the box that was sticking half out of the 00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:15.139 dirt, brushed away the brush, the dirt, opened 00:42:15.139 --> 00:42:19.360 it up and inside the box was a treasure of great 00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:24.440 value. And in Jesus' parable, the man stepped 00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:27.260 back and he looked around and he said, does anybody 00:42:27.260 --> 00:42:31.280 see me? Anybody? Whose treasure is this? It looks 00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:33.820 like it's been here a very long time. What do 00:42:33.820 --> 00:42:37.539 I do?" And he closed the box and he went to find 00:42:37.539 --> 00:42:40.760 who the treasure might belong to. So he went 00:42:40.760 --> 00:42:42.880 down to the county assessor's office and he said, 00:42:43.179 --> 00:42:45.420 there's a piece of land, not too far, and he 00:42:45.420 --> 00:42:47.960 described it and said, who owns that land? They 00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:50.840 said, well, it's owned by the county, but it's 00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:56.860 for sale if you want it. How much? Said the man. 00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:02.139 The assessor looked and said, well, and gave 00:43:02.139 --> 00:43:07.360 him a number that the man could barely calculate. 00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:11.099 So he went home and he sat down with a pen and 00:43:11.099 --> 00:43:13.880 a pad and he began to calculate, how much does 00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:19.480 my farm cost? And how much are my mules and how 00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:22.239 much are my goats? And if I were to sell everything 00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:25.400 that I had, and he was able to calculate that 00:43:25.400 --> 00:43:29.059 if he calculated everything he owned, he would 00:43:29.059 --> 00:43:33.480 have enough to buy the piece of land. And so 00:43:33.480 --> 00:43:36.260 he did. He spent the next few months selling 00:43:36.260 --> 00:43:39.280 everything in his possession, gathered all the 00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:41.860 money, went to the county assessor and put the 00:43:41.860 --> 00:43:43.539 money on the table and say, I want that piece 00:43:43.539 --> 00:43:46.380 of land. You want that old piece of land? Why 00:43:46.380 --> 00:43:48.780 would you want that old piece of land? Little 00:43:48.780 --> 00:43:51.400 did the county assessor know there was a treasure 00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:55.159 in that land that would make everything worth 00:43:55.159 --> 00:44:01.250 it. And when he bought, Jesus says, the land, 00:44:02.150 --> 00:44:09.849 he got the treasure with it. The point of the 00:44:09.849 --> 00:44:14.670 story is obvious. Jesus says, I am that treasure. 00:44:18.250 --> 00:44:20.409 And for those who have never given their life 00:44:20.409 --> 00:44:22.690 to Jesus, you need to understand what Jesus' 00:44:22.829 --> 00:44:27.360 people think. What we've done is we've calculated 00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:32.000 everything in my life of value. And we've thought, 00:44:32.059 --> 00:44:36.219 you know what? All that I am is nothing compared 00:44:36.219 --> 00:44:40.800 to Jesus. I'm willing to trade everything and 00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:45.820 give it to Him. And if I get Him, I get everything. 00:44:47.639 --> 00:44:50.559 That is the trade of a Christian.