Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
How many of you guys that when you started the year, you know, like we started we had the 21 days of prayer and fasting, and so, you know, you dedicated yourself to the Lord. You dedicated your year. You dedicated your relationships. Right? You, you you prayed for all these things, and then, you know, as this year went on, you know, things happen and and things get busy, and then all of a sudden you get tested and pulled, and and then you kinda made it, and then came to the end of summer, and then things kinda just that'll you had a change of pace maybe for for those of you guys who, have work in education that you guys had a summer break. Well, a lot of us. Right? Maybe you traveled a little bit, maybe you had friends and family come, maybe you had some nice beach days or lazy days or project days, and you had all those things that happened. And, and all of a sudden you just kinda, you know, like where you started, you're kinda just like in a different place. Right? Because, I don't know about you, but like for me, when, my schedule changes, then sometimes just like my habits change.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:03]:
Right? They get in the way, right? So things that I normally do, whether it's, sometimes it's eating well, what time I eat, sometimes it's my spiritual Right? Because, you know, I I don't have that time in in in the morning or different things along those lines. And so these are, some of the things that I had mentioned earlier, the travel and all that stuff being hopefully, taking had mentioned earlier, the travel and all that stuff being hopefully taking time, those are often very welcomed changes in the summer, but to be honest not everybody has a fun summer because for some of us that summer is really kind of crunch time, that for different kind of, if you work in hospitality. Right? You work in tourist industry, or maybe it's upheavals because COVID started going around. But, you know, all of these things, change us, and then maybe in the last couple weeks, how many of us get a little off track because you started watching a lot more news after, you know, Trump almost got assassinated, and then Biden resigns, and then it's like it's just crazy the last few weeks in in the news cycle, and then some of us Anybody here hibernating watching all the Olympics? Right? So maybe that some of those things, I just cannot gonna watch them on YouTube later on. But I, you know, those things, they they get in the way. And now, and as we start this series that we're starting tonight, I'm just simply calling it refocus, because that so often that we we set our sights on Christ, we set our sights on what God has for us, believing for the best, and then at the same time over time, you know, things kind of push and pull and and then we find that we get a little bit sidetracked, and and so we want to be able to not just start the year well, but we want this series is meant so that we end the year well. And because it's not how you start often, it's how you finish. And and so when we're in the midst of this, because life gets interrupted, and and so sometimes we forget.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:54]:
Now how many of you guys that you guys remember where you at to your health goals? Right? Like how many, you know, like said I was gonna lose weight or I was gonna exercise more. I was gonna do it right and we we said all those things. How are we doing on those things? Right? So we don't wanna just wait till December and then just say, oh, my gosh. You know, it's too late. Right? And or or spiritual goals, that how I'm I'm gonna meet with the Lord on a consistent basis. I'm gonna I'm gonna read to you the New Testament. I'm gonna whatever it is that you had, I'm gonna pray daily or or or maybe it's in your work life or or just, you know, developing your prayer life, whatever it is. But, you know, for it's as we're starting this series, we are aware, like, again, it's the change of season, and and we are affected by the schedule of life because how many of you guys know on Tuesday, if you've been driving to town right now, that if you've been driving to town and you've been getting like you leave your house half an hour later, you and your office maybe like all the way past downtown, right? Like how many of you guys know if you leave that same time on Tuesday, you're not getting there till 9 o'clock, right? Like, you know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:08]:
And so it's it's things we're affected by some of these changes because everybody's gearing up for some kind of change. You know, for me too, I I've I've been affected. Right? Because I had my time away, with the family and and going to Japan and being with family and doing all those things, and that was great. Coming back, jumping with both feet in, but I don't know if you guys know, but for some of you guys, you probably were aware that you haven't seen my wife. People ask, where's Rika? Well, she's still in Japan. Right? To be honest, she just came home this morning, and so it's a it seemed long. It's like 5 weeks that after I came home, she was still in Japan, and, you know, how many of you guys know even though we would FaceTime, we would text, we would call, right, that we had the family chats on a text kind of a thing that that, hey, 5 weeks away, we need to reconnect. Right? We need to reconnect, and and that because although we had we are doing our best to connect, that we just just need to get closer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:19]:
You know, this afternoon was was real nice that, I'm still working on was real nice that, I'm still working on the message. I take a little bit of a break sitting next to my wife on the sofa and just kind of have her lean her head on my shoulder, and I told her, oh, try to massage my neck. No. No. No. But like, no, I didn't do that. I actually did for her. Right? And the thing is that, you know, those kinds of things and just it's just it's nice to to get closer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:43]:
And I think for us that this aspect of distance, we use these to communicate something about the nature of our relationships. Right? Because if somebody that we're emotionally close to them, we use that word that we're we're close. Right? And then if if things are things have gotten in the way, and then maybe know, like you're at odds or you you just kinda I don't know, I haven't seen them, it's like, oh, we we've we've kind of been a little distant. Right? Use those kind of terms of distance, because they don't just reflect a physical proximity, they often reflect something about the the the character of the relationship at the moment. And so I believe that with that in mind, that that how do we refocus? Sometimes you just gotta get closer. Right? Sometimes you just gotta get closer. You know, in the scriptures, it uses those terms as well. And, so would you do me a favor? We're gonna read this evening.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:42]:
We're gonna read 2 2 verses. We're gonna read Matthew 26 58, then we're gonna read Daniel 11:32. But let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for his word, and we're gonna take a look at getting closer. Okay? This is what it says, Matthew 2658. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin. Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance. Let's say what? At a distance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:08]:
And came to the high priest's courtyard. He went in and sat with the guards and waited to see how it would all end. You know, this is the night of the crucifixion, I mean, not the night of the crucifixion, but the the night before the crucifixion, and Jesus has been arrested. And and, you know, Peter always loved Jesus, but all of a sudden he's following, but he's not following super close. He's following at a distance. And you know, how many of you guys know that sometimes at a distance, you just can't see what's going on. Right? And, and maybe if you're like me, even more so, you get affected. Right? Because, like, when we would do jujitsu in this very room and and, you know, when you when you do that kind of stuff, you cannot wear glasses.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:51]:
I mean, you guys, like, you cannot wear glasses when you do that. So I'm taking all this stuff, and we're doing doing instruction. We might be doing drills, it's fine. But when they're doing instruction, you know what I noticed? It's like, man, I cannot really see what they're trying to instruct. So what was the what was the, solution? Get closer. Right? You say, hey, just come in closer if you cannot see. Right? Because I could have stood back and watched, and to be honest, not been able to do what was instructed because just simply I was too far. Sometimes that relates to us in our in our walk with Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:29]:
Right? And so God uses these terms about distance sometimes to tell us that sometimes that's maybe we're, you know, that you're not that you're not in the family. It's not that you're not loved. It's not that you're not you don't love Jesus. Sometimes we're just a little bit too far. We just say, hey. Would you get closer? And because this is what it says in Daniel 11:32. Let's read what it says. Ready? Begin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:51]:
But the people who know their god will be strong. You know? And some of these translations said be strong and take action. And then that's our hope is that that as we get closer, that we'll be stronger and be able to take action. And because when we're closer, not only do we see, but that we have the capacity to be emboldened. So do me a favor. Before you're seated, just turn to your neighbor and say, hey. God wants you to be closer. Right? I want you to be closer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:21]:
I don't know how close you are, but I can say that without without any hesitation. I believe that God would love for all of us to become closer. How do we do that though? There's 3 things we want to look at this this evening, and so the first thing is I I just wanna say this is very simple. It's just remember the lord. Remember the lord. And somebody said, I always remember the lord. Right? I I I I say grace at, meal time. I I I read the verse of the day on my Bible app, or maybe sometime I do devotions, you know, periodically I'll go to life group or small well, maybe I didn't go in the summer for some of us, but hey, but, you know, we say, I'm not gonna I I remember the Lord, but it's not remembering him in the sense that, yeah, god is always with you, that theological truth.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:06]:
And it's true, but but to remember who he is. Right? Because sometimes the closer we get or the more distant we get is that we don't always see someone clearly. We see them as we interact with them. We see them differently. You know, I was having a conversation with one of the brothers and and his, and we were just talking about dealing with, kind of like boyfriends and girlfriends of your kids. You guys, and sometimes, you know, like how many of you guys know that it's it's hard? Sometimes you go like, man, I don't know if this this kid is good enough for my child. Right? Like, you you guys have that kind of a thing, but I've I've met some of those folks and I that, you know, like and they're great, you know, but, like, there's been times where when I met this, one guy, and we love him and we still like this this guy, young man, but when I first met him, he just kind of was like this. When I met him, he just went like, hey man, and he shook my hand.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:15]:
And I was inside I just said, oh, hey, nice to meet you. Whatever whatever. I'm Sarah's dad or whatever it is. But inside, you know what I was thinking? Bruh, you and me, we're not on the same level. Like, you can call me mister Yamaguchi or uncle or whatever, but don't act like just if we're just buddies, we could hang out because that's not how I see you when you're hanging out with my daughter. You know what I mean? And that he kind of forgets that. How much more so do we forget that sometimes with God? Right? That God it's like it's like, hey God, but we forget that like, well, we're not on the same level. Right? He's God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:00]:
He's the Lord. And the Lord actually is a is a title. Right? It's a title. It's a it's a it's a title of kingship. It's a title of authority. It's a title of of power, and and so it says this in Psalm 113 verses 4 and 9 that we forget maybe, but it says the lord is exalted over all the nations. Right? Not just over my life, not just over my family. You know, sometimes we we think that God is only, like, over our family, but he's saying, no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:34]:
No. He's over all the nations. His glory above the heavens and not just the nations, above this world. Right? And and who is like the Lord, our God? The one who sits in throned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth. And he raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them with princes with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as happy as a happy mother God. He's ruler.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:07]:
And in fact, that God that he has to God. He's ruler, and in fact, that God that he has to stoop down from heaven to look over the atmosphere, to look over the universe, that he has to stoop down to do that because he's far above all these things, and yet at the same time he's actively involved. Right? Isn't it like amazing that someone who is so mighty, who created all things, and is so far above, yet it says that he can see the person, the poor person, who's kind of in in the midst of most difficult times and staying in the dust, enlist the needy from the ashes. Because God is not just powerful, he's compassionate. Right? And God doesn't, I'm so glad that God doesn't love us from a distance. God wants to get up close. Aren't you glad God wants to get up close to you, Right? Because he knows your situation. Right? But he does say this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:12]:
We gotta draw close to him, and part of that is remembering who he is. Because sometimes if we just go, hey, Jesus, and then we just kinda go our way, you know, maybe we forget a little bit who he is. He's the Lord. We remember that he stooped down. Frame and that, you know, you know, I'm a man or woman of flesh, but there's dusty places in our lives. But nothing's too big and nothing's too little for him. Would you know that he he he looks at your life and he wants you to trust him with every detail, the big things. And, you know, to us, whatever is big.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:53]:
You know, what what is big for for some of us? Some of us, the big is, well, it's it's my relationship. Right? For some of us, the big is it's it's my job situation. For some of us, the big is, what's my calling? For some of us, the big is, is whatever the challenge, but this is to God, there's nothing that's like He doesn't go like, aren't you gonna look at your stuff, your situation, and go like, bro, oh, I don't know about that one. Like, you know, I know I could raise the dead, but I don't know about this thing. But to him, nothing is too big, and neither is nothing too small. And we see that in this passage, right? The heavens, the earth, the nations, and the woman who's in the dust. Nothing's too big, and nothing's too small. Do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:43]:
Turn to your neighbor and say, you're not too big, and you're not too small for god. You're not too big and you're not too small for god. Right? He came for us. And so, you know, to remember the lord, I think, is to remember if he is the lord is to also start with a heart of obedience. Right? It's a heart that says not just that I want to hear the Lord, but that, Lord, that what you say, I want to obey. Begin with the spirit. Like, as we're going to refocus, for many of us, what we don't lack is knowledge. Right? For many of us, sometimes what we where we struggle is obedience.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:24]:
I don't know about you, but I know way more than what I do at times. I know just I just know way more. The average believer, you know more about God than what you do, and so God is saying this. It's not that he he doesn't want you to keep learning. It's not that he doesn't want you to keep being in the word of god or anything, but he wants you to turn your heart to have a heart of obedience. If you contrast that with a religious spirit, you know, for instance, that the religious spirit is different because it's saying it's not starting with like me obeying God. It's saying, God, look at what I do. Right? God, look at what I do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:04]:
I look I I I pray, god, look at you know, I go to church. Look, god, I do these things. And and then all of a sudden, if we start with kind of a religious spirit, like, look what I've done. Look what I've been. Look at what I've done to honor you. That's that's why you should bless me because I, you know, have done all these things. Then all of a sudden, you know, it really focuses. It really becomes me centered.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:28]:
Right? God is it's almost like if we're not careful, we can say, god, you owe me, when god is saying this. It's not that god doesn't want to do things in your life. God wants to do things in your life. And he wants to be compassionate. And he wants to fulfill your needs and meet your needs. But he wants you to do it because you we're close. Right? He wants to do it because we're close. And that means sometimes for me that I gotta be willing to submit myself to be under his loving leadership.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:01]:
You ever tried to lead somebody who doesn't wanna follow? Or you had a leader that you didn't wanna follow. Sometimes create some tension and creates some tension. And but this is what Jesus said about that, or or the scriptures say about that. Let's read what it says, 1 John 5:3. It says it like this. Ready? Let's read. Loving God means, what? Keeping His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:32]:
He's saying it's not sometimes we say, you know, it's, like, so hard to do the word of God. It is in the sense that your flesh may often not wanna do it. Your your flesh may not want to humble yourself. Your flesh may not want to seek God at times. Your flesh may just wanna but this is what he's saying. But if we're filled with the spirit, if we're being close to him, if we're refocusing and responding to who he is, and we wanna be closer, he says, you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna naturally wanna do those things. Right? When you're in close connection, in close proximity, how many of you guys ever felt like, you know, like, your friends say, hey, let's do this, and you go, like, nah, tired. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:13]:
I don't want to do it. But then they just say, they come over, they come to your house, they don't take no for an answer, and they say, hey, come. And it's like all of a sudden, they go, ah, okay, we go. And then you have the time of your life. Right? Because it's the relationship when you're close, right, Then it's a it's a joy to respond. It's a joy at times to be led. How many of us have ever been in that place? Somebody had to say something to you that it was it it changed the trajectory of your life. Right? I've known people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:48]:
I just ran into somebody that that, when we were in a bible study, he'd just come from work a a little while ago, and and he had been promised a job. He made decisions with his family as a result, a promotion and all of these things. And then he kept asking, oh, just hey. When's the promotion happening? Oh, no. No. Just sit tight, sit tight, sit tight. And and then months had gone by. And then later he just kept asking, and he said, oh, don't worry, don't worry.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:21]:
And then finally he found out, he found out that that, they actually just gave the job to somebody else, and they never told him. Now how many of you guys you would just say, like, that wouldn't be a good day at work? Yeah. That'd be a rough day. It was a rough day at work. And you know what his temptation was? Was? Take his keys, slam them on the desk, right, and just say, take all my marbles, and I'm going home then. Like, right? He he was ready to quit, and then we were in a in a small group, in a bunch of the men, and and to be honest, I I just said, hey, I we totally understand. Totally understand how you feel. I think anybody in your position, they would feel the same way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:08]:
I've been in that place. Guess what? I've done it. And I felt good at the moment, but you know when I felt it is when I didn't have a paycheck. Right? And so everybody in the group had a story like that. And then this is what we just said. You're not staying there because they treated you well. You're staying there because you're a provider and you're responsible to provide for your family, right? And you know, I just I just saw this brother the other week, and we were talking about he asked me about somebody else who's in that exact same situation. I I didn't know, you know, he just mentioned a name.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:50]:
I was like, whoop. And they said, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He says and you know what I tell him? I said that it's that time in small group. It changed my life. Guess what? Today he has a position. Today he has a position.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:04]:
But if he had bailed and quit at that moment, he would have abandoned everything that God was doing in him. And even though he didn't understand that there was twists and turns, and sometimes it looked like setbacks, God it wasn't on his timing, but God had it in his timing. And so, you know, be mindful that we we need to be willing to obey. Because sometimes God's gonna say, hang in there. Be willing. Trust me. Because he says, when you do that, if you are willing and obedient, not just willing, willing and obedient, then you'll eat the good things of the land, he says. We don't just obey to get, but we obey because we love, we trust, and we recognize that God is our God, that he's over all the situations that when that when that happened to my friend, that God some he I don't understand it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:05]:
I don't know why. It's, like, so disrespectful. Disrespectful. He didn't feel treated like a man. It's not up and up, and you're questioning all the integrity of different people and and all these things, and he's saying, but he just knew this, but I can trust God. The bottom line is, did God change because a human being failed you? And he said, no. So let's just let's trust God. And that if you're in a place that where someone human has failed you, is your God bigger than that person? Because you're not doing it because he loved the job or he loved his boss.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:46]:
He loved his family and he trusted God. Right? So we remember we remember the Lord. Remember the Lord. And so the other part of it is, I think, very simply, like I had mentioned, that for many of us, the habits, you know, that you have that that sometimes they they get interrupted, right, by different things. I was in the gym, actually, I think this week, and I was talking to one of my friends. He's, pastor Todd out with New Hope Windward, but he lives in Eva. Right? So I see him in the gym, and we're working out, and we're just talking, and he says, yeah, just maintaining, you know, at this point, and he's, like, he's huge. So, and he's strong, but we were talking to him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:32]:
I said, you know, I still get this part that I wanna make gains. He said, I kinda like we're older already. Like, I said, no. But you know what? Because, I'm so inconsistent at times that my I go backwards. Easy. I I wanna make the gain back. You know what I mean? Like, we're just joking, and we're going back and forth. And the thing is that, you know, sometimes you just gotta start all over again.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:54]:
Right? That maybe when I was in Japan, I didn't work out for a while. Right? Or when time gets busy, I I I I I I skip some of those kinds of things. I don't go for, like, a couple weeks or whatever it is. And maybe you go backwards, but you know what? Just make make time again. The same way that if your walk with God's gotten interrupted, your time, your regular time, your time of prayer, your time of devotion, your your time of fellowship, your time with small group, whatever the case, make time again. In Psalm 631, it says it like this. Oh God, you are my God. Can we read that last part? Ready? Begin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:34]:
I earnestly search for you. In the original Hebrew, the concept is being diligent and seeking wholeheartedly because of a strong desire to develop this relationship. And so and so seeking the Lord in the morning or whatever it is, or seeking the Lord at night, or seeking the Lord for it's not a requirement like necessarily the time, but the like, the morning. They don't know there were passages that talk about the morning, but it's because we want a relationship. Right? Some of us that, you know, like, you've you've been in a place where you have a time and and you or you've been told how many of you guys have been told you gotta seek the Lord in the morning? No? Only only a few of us? Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah. A bunch of us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:28]:
Right? Now I try to I try to do that, make sure that I do that every day. Psalm 53 says this listen to my voice when? In the morning, it says, Lord. In the morning, Lord. Each morning, I bring my request to you and and wait expectantly. And and so maybe I if you missed the morning, don't worry because you ran out the car late and you're running out to your, you know, like, you forget Tuesday. Oh my gosh. Traffic is gonna be crazy. Whatever.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:54]:
So you maybe you you didn't have that time. But you know what? Do it tomorrow. Right? Do it later do it later that day. Right? But I I think that there's one of the things that's great to do it in the morning is sometimes it equips you for the things of the day. Right? You get you get ministered to. You get peace in the morning. You get vision for the day. You have something that you can do for the day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:15]:
You have something that you can do for the day. You have something that you can do for the day. You have something that you can do for the day. You You get vision for the day. You have something that you can pass on, you can hold on to at work. You know, maybe you're talking about this thing about being patient and enduring under, under trial, and then you go to work and somebody's, like, going crazy or whatever. It's like, you just remember those things. Right? And they they give you fuel for the day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:37]:
And yet at the same time, how many of us that, like, man, that it's like at night when you come come home for or sometime that you just decompress and you don't have the pressure, you don't have a little time kind of things. And it's like, oh, this is when I meet in the Lord. It's like, is that bad or wrong? Of course not. Because the scripture says search in in 1st Corinthians 16:11, it says this, search for the Lord and for His strength, when? Continually, continually seeking Him. So to be honest, the when is the best time to continually seeking Him. So to be honest, when is the best time? I think the time that works for you. Right? But but here's the thing that He's saying, saying, that if you're a night person, try seeking him in the morning too. Right? If you're a if you're a morning person, make sure you're talking to him throughout the day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:22]:
Right? And and so seeking the Lord is something that we ought to do continually. In fact, the theme that we're doing for our 21 days of prayer is to pray without ceasing. Right? That, yes, we get interrupted, but we're gonna address the things that interrupt us in our in our time of connecting. So because it's not about checking the right box. It's not about, you know, getting down your list and although, you know, nothing wrong with lists, but it's staying connected. Make time for him, right? If you haven't had time with him, start again, really. That's that's the whole thing. Right? Just start again.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:02]:
Now, when we start again, it's like it's it's like don't worry about getting it perfect. Don't worry about getting it perfect, but it's not too late. You know that if you start it again and you wanted to read through the New Testament, if you started now and you read 2 chapters a a day, you've finished the New Testament by the end of the year. Right? And, you know, like, it's actually less than that, but you would finish the New Testament in the year. But there's so many things that you could do now. It's it's in in August, and yet it's it's not too late, not too late to end the year well. But I would say this, that one of those things that you need to be doing, though, is in order for us to do that, to get closer, is you gotta be open to correction because sometimes the reason why we're at a distance is that when we made a mistake or things haven't gone well is that we don't want anybody to say anything about it. Right? Have you guys ever been in that place, like, or been with somebody? It's like, they made a mistake, but they don't want anybody to mention it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:13]:
But the thing is sometimes you you need somebody needs to mention something because we have to say, what was lesson that was learned? Right? Sometimes we have to say, how can we avoid this in the future? Right? And Psalms tells us like this. Psalms speaks to us like this. He says, let the godly strike me. It will be a kindness. Why? Let's read what it says. Let's read this the from from here on together. Ready? Begin. If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:46]:
Don't let me refuse it, but I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds. Know, he says that when he says, don't let me refuse it, he understands that sometimes he may not always be open. Open. Even though we all say how many of you guys wanna be able to be corrected? Raise your hand. Right. How many of you guys know that we're not always open to correction depending on the situation and the time? Right. So, like, if you totally blew it, like, you totally blew it with your wife, you totally blew it with your husband, you totally messed up, and and you feel real bad, and you see them, and then as soon as they say and they and then it starts like this with their hands on the hip. Like all of a sudden how many of us that we go like, you wanna put up your hand and say, I know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:36]:
I know. I know. Don't need to say anything. Right? He he understands. He's like that too. That's what David is saying, that sometimes he I don't let me refuse it because sometimes I just wanna say No no no no no no. This is enough really. But instead he's saying, Lord, let me let me receive it because it's actually gonna help me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:01]:
It's actually gonna be like medicine. You know, like, you guys remember when it wasn't always pills but you used to take like the liquid medicine? How many of you guys think today is like that was like the one of the most horrible things that you used to have to drink? Right? Because medicine doesn't always taste good. You take medicine because its effects are good. Right? And and sometimes, you know, that's how God works. He says, the medicine in our soul, it doesn't always sound good because it it highlights my insecurity. It it highlights the thing that I did wrong. It highlights the thing that I struggle with. God doesn't do us to shame us, but sometimes it's to heal us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:48]:
Sometimes it's to correct us. Sometimes it's so that we we change an attitude, we change a direction. I love what it says in James 4 verses 8 to 10. It says, come close to God, and God will what? Come close to you. Right? So getting closer to God is this. He says that God's already turned his face toward you. Right? So he's saying that when he's already looking at you, but sometimes you're looking in the opposite direction. Sometimes I'm looking in the opposite direction.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:21]:
But he says this, but when you turn around and you face him, then all of a sudden, what you can find is god has drawn close to you. And so wash your hands, it says, you sinners. Purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. God's getting a little bit direct here. Right? God's getting a little direct here. And he's saying, hey, sometimes, you know, your loyalty is divided. And then we're going like, I know. I know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:46]:
No. No need to say anything. And, but let there be tears, he says, for what you've done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter and gloom instead of joy. But humble yourselves before the Lord and, what, He will lift you up in honor. Because sometimes it's not that God doesn't want to bless us, we just need to be able to receive the blessing. In order to receive the blessing, sometimes we need to be able to receive correction.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:17]:
Right? Because, if you've ever handled handed something precious to someone and someone didn't handle it well, know, maybe they dropped it or stepped on your glasses or whatever it is, probably if you get brand new glasses, you're not just gonna give them to them, right, without them understanding that, hey, just no problem, no harm, no fall last time, you know, like not holding it against you. But for this time we got to understand that when I tell you be careful, you got to be careful, Right? And that's what God is saying is that the problem isn't that He needs you to just wallow in the dirt. It's just saying this, if we did not handle well what God entrusted it to us the last time, He just wants us to know, like, okay, do we understand that we gotta do this differently? Because otherwise, he won't wanna hand it off. And and so we need to do that sometimes because if we don't if we don't, then sometimes something that seems small and insignificant becomes a big problem in our life. You guys know, what a potbellied pig is? Like, it was all the craze, I guess. I don't know how many years ago, but it was like all the craze for people to get potbellied pigs as pets. Right? Because they're smart, they're like they're supposed to be smarter than a dog and loyal and all that kind of a thing, and they don't grow that giant like, you know, like the kind luau pig kind of size. Right? So I I've seen, like, in Philippines, I've seen that kind of like 600, like, it's crazy, big, pigs.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:02]:
But the thing is that right now, they say in Delaware that there's a situation with pot bellied pigs that's getting the attention of all the agricultural officials, and part of that is, you know, because disease and damage and all this thing, but it started when people bought those pot bellied pigs as pets. And, you know, this was cute in the beginning and just kinda cool, and then as they grew up that what a lot of people found was their house, their situation, it wasn't quite like ready to deal with. They were they were fine with the pot bellied pig like this, but when the pot bellied pig they can grow up to £200. So when the pot bellied pig got to £200, you know, we don't know what to do. But it's a pet. Right? So you know what? Unless you like the full on hardcore farmer guy, you're not gonna just take the pig to slaughter, that's your pet. Right? What did they do? They did what people do with the fish in their fish tank that they don't wanna take care of anymore, just throw them in the river, or throw them in the lake, and they decided to let these pigs go in Delaware. And so all of a sudden, 20 years later, these pigs have reproduced and because they can reproduce at a young age, they can become pregnant, they said, at 3 months old.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:33]:
Right? And so, it's just like grown out of control in, in Delaware. So it's it's it's just kind of overwhelming. And sometimes this is what happens to us, I think, when when John tries to correct us and something that starts out really small and cute just kind of grows beyond our capacity and then starts just doing damage in the fabric of our lives. Right? Gets in the way of us fulfilling our call. Gets in the way of us kind of standing in the place where God wants us to be. Right? So don't let the pigs run wild in your life. That's what he's saying. It's just that we're gonna learn.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:20]:
Okay, if we let one pig go, you know what? That's the past already, but you got to learn how to not let them come and wreak havoc in your life now. You know, I'd mentioned that this morning Rica came home. Right? And so late last night, she boarded a plane in Tokyo. Right? So it was time difference. So it was still evening there, but she boarded the plane in Tokyo and you know, like when the pilot is in his seat with his co captain and then maybe just, I don't know if they have a navigator, these giant I guess they're the a 3 eighties, somebody was saying that these, Airbus that, you know, they have all that stuff programmed in their computer. Right? They have all that flight plan that's been filed and and all of these things that they know where they're going, they know what how long it's supposed to take, they know the direction and all of those things, But, you know, when they take off, how many of you guys know that there's things in the flight path that sometimes they don't always anticipate? Sometimes it's the the strength of the winds, you know. Sometimes it's the the turbulence that they cannot anticipate that you would think that they would know, but, like, sometimes they don't always know. And so the thing is that, you know, if in that it could have had a perfect plan when it took off, but what would happen is, like if it's a 100 miles out from Narita airport out of Tokyo, when it's all past the bay, and they run into these headwinds, or they run into this jet stream, and and it just blew the plane off course one degree.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:06]:
One degree. Still has another 28 100 miles to go or whatever it is. You know, if it never made a correction, I would still be waiting in the airport right now. Right? Because it would have flowed right past Hawaii. Right? And so this is what we do is that what they do is they have a flight plan, and it's all been filed, but they're constantly making mid course corrections, right? Because they have to. Because it's nothing that it's not the problem isn't that your plan was bad, it's just that life happens along the way. Right? So if you started with a good plan this year, or you started with a good plan the other month, and all of a sudden, it's not so good, What do we need to do? Just need to make a mid course correction. Well, what are you correct to? What are you correct to? Ultimately, all you really do is just connect back to Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:16]:
Connect back to Jesus. Get close because what you'll find is that when you draw close to him, what? He's drawing close to you. And then he'll say, hey, can can we deal with that thing? And somebody's gonna say, can you cleanse your hands and cleanse your hearts. Right? And and so, hey, let's just deal with this, that sometimes, you know, you your loyalty was divided here. Can we can we just kind of shore that part up? Right. And so, because when we do, it's if we expect that we'll never have any things happen in life in the course of a year, I think that's unrealistic. The reality is this. As long as we're making mid course corrections, and that's what 21 days of prayer, where the beginning is, it's just a chance to not just made make mid course corrections, but to train to stay on course as we head to the back end of the year.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:18]:
Because we all know that God has so much more in store for you, for us as a church, right, for our community, because God wants to bless his people that we might be a blessing to others. Make sense? So I just wanna encourage you guys as we're getting started getting ready to start these 21 days of prayer, that if you can, I'm gonna encourage you, join us daily. If you can't in the house, then join us online. If you don't you can't watch when it's live, watch it in the morning or whenever it is, or or play it on your drive to work or however it is, or if your if your your job allows you to just you know what? Play it while you're some of it, you can play that while you're at work in your your earphones, but just do this. Is it because the the broadcast is the most important? No. It's not. The most important is that you pray. The most important is you connect with God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:16]:
This is just a tool. Right? And and it's we wanna equip you guys maybe how to pray in different ways, pray through different things, pray past different things. And and we always start at a word because it's the word of God, it says, that stirs faith. Right? So little little message, little kind of some time to worship, and then then we give you guys all time to pray. Make sense? Yes. Let's bow our heads. We'll close in a word of prayer. Father, that sometimes we we we all get to this place where, Lord, maybe we find ourselves a little more distant than we had started out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:02]:
And, Lord, maybe you've just been a little further from God, then you know that you should be. Would you just tell the Lord, Lord, I I just wanna draw close again. I know I need to refocus, but can I start because I wanna be close to you today? Father, I thank you that you know, it's just like with Peter. You knew that Peter was following, but he was just following at a distance. And because of that, Lord, he he lacked the courage he needed. Lord, he he compounded his mistakes, but Lord, we're thankful that you sought him out. Today, God, we wanna respond to you. God, God, we just say, God, that whatever it's been, we just wanna be closer today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:02]:
And father, would you open our eyes and father for some of us we just have to think maybe it's a time to Do you have a time? Do you have a place that you you're gonna meet with God? And yes, you can pray throughout the day, but sometimes it has a it's great to have a place to start. Right? It might be in the morning, it might be at night, doesn't matter when, but just keep drawing close and be open to being corrections. Without them, we might get to the end of the year never really hitting where we were supposed to be just because we were 1 or 2 degrees off. But with the little corrections, God will get you there. So father, we just respond to that. And father, that today, we just look forward over the next 21 days to draw close, to be stronger, to shake off the cobwebs of the summer, because, Lord, you have great plans for us. Thank you. You have great plans for our community.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:11]:
Thank you that you have great plans for our family. Lord, thank you you have great plans for me. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God bless you guys.