Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. Good evening, everybody. Good to see you guys. Thank you so much for a great 25th anniversary last weekend. We had to, whether a Saturday or Sunday, we got visits from a lot of our friends, some of our old friends, some of our friends from the community. Was nice the the video that the representative Garcia from this district actually presented and made for us and was really nice on Sunday that, Mike Gabbard, our state senator came down to present a little, kind of a plaque and, or certificate. And, you you know, I just saw Mike at that, you know, as he came up, at the end of the worship. And and worship guys, I I gotta tell you, I could tell how moved he was, at the during that time, and and and especially you can kind of tell when he starts talking the lyrics of the songs that we just sang.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:58]:
You know, like that's kind of an indicator as well, but you know, it wasn't just the the time to to look back on some of the good things that have gone on, but also at the end, right, to celebrate, whether it was here or on Sunday. We had more than enough food, but can we just say thank you to all the Dream Teamers who made that possible? I love Hawaiian food, and I ate it for 3 days. So, no, but, but you know, at the same time that, I love Hawaiian music, but I'm not a, I'm not a Hawaiian language guy, but one of the things that sometimes as we're thinking about what we're gonna, talk about here was, the only way that I or I think the best word I can think of to talk about, what we're beginning in our series this evening, is a Hawaiian word, and it's the word oh, it's actually 2 words, I think. Right? And I'm not a Kamehameha grad. And it's not CAM school either because it's not a Chinese school. So those of you guys who went there, you guys know that that's I always hear that all the time. So, but but the thing is that, you you hear it often. I don't know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:08]:
I hear it often in sports things. I hear it in, sometimes just kind of like trying to rally and gather the spirit, but it means to move forward. Right? It it has and gathering strength to to to make the journey and to make progress. And this, evening, we're starting a new series, and we're just calling it Imua. And because the the call, as we have looked back over the last 25 years, God's been more than faithful. Even last week, it was great to see that with the tropical, storm, that, you know, we prayed and God answered. Right? And it was, no rain by the time that service started. Sometimes we could see a little bit of gust when I saw somebody holding the tent once, but, you know, it was great to see how God answers prayer just like how He answered in the past, but this evening, we're gonna be looking at how we move forward.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:03]:
And, and sometimes I understand that people find it difficult how to move forward. You know, sometimes we go through seasons in life where we get to a place where where we kinda go, I I'm good. You know, I I I'm not, you know, I think I'm good where I'm at, you know, and and I kinda like it where I am. And you know, one of the things that we find in the scriptures is is sometimes when people settled into places that maybe it wasn't so negative in the beginning, but sometimes there's a cost that come in the future. As the people of God entered into the promised land, there were a few tribes that said that when they never quite made it into the Promised Land, they just wanted to say this, Lord would you extend the Promised Land to where we are? And so the tribes of Reuben and Gad, they never actually went into the Promised Land. They said, This is good enough. And there's a danger to that because, you know, as they were physically kind of removed from the life of the land that that in the worship in the land that sometimes this is what caused their hearts to drift. And so this evening, we want to say is that we want to press into all of that, and we're going to be looking primarily, in this series through the book of Philippians.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:19]:
And it's not going to be an expositional verse by verse of every verse in the scriptures, but looking at these concepts and what becomes so critical for us to move ahead because we see Paul the apostle, although he begins by like he does in most of his letters, you know, thanking the people that he is writing to, if he's had a relationship with them, he's thankful for them, he's grateful, and gratitude is always a great place to start. But then he quickly transitions in saying some things that are a little bit challenging, a little bit of a call to move forward. And and what we find in the book of Philippians is part of the reason Paul can say that is Paul was the founder of the church. That if you've, if you go back and read in Acts chapter 16, you see Paul on a journey where there's a call of God in his heart to go from where he's at and to go to Macedonia. It's the northeastern today. It's the northeastern part of Greece today. And that city of Philippi, where we get the book Philippians, right, the people who live in Philippi, it's named after Philip the Great. If he sounds, I'm sorry, Philip of Macedon, if he sounds familiar, it's because he's Alexander the Great's dad, that when he he entered to that town and he he fortified it, he created this city that some 400 years later when Paul is writing to that and when he starts the church, it's become a great urban center.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:57]:
It's very cosmopolitan. It's kind of like Hawaii, a lot of different ethnic groups, a bunch of different languages, different religious practices. And it's there that he he meets leads her to Christ, and she begins to to make some changes in her life, that he's walking through the city, that there's these things that are really powerful. You read in Acts chapter 16, where there's a woman who's who's tells the future, but but something's not quite right because there's a spirit actually that allows her to tell the to tell the future, and Paul calls out the spirit from her and casts it out, and yet at the same time, she that gift to to tell the future is gone. She doesn't have that capacity. And so there's a a mob that ensues because people are saying about believers and people are saying about Paul and Christians that the same people who have turned the world upside down have come to our city. And would it be that we would be the people who we don't turn it upside down in the sense like, kinda like the tear it all down kind of movements, right, that we saw maybe during the pandemic. That's like everything is unjust, everything is and and it's to tear it all down.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:11]:
No. In fact, what he says that the scripture is talking about is that rather than us living in darkness, rather than us having our old ways, that God, we want all of your ways, and it turned people's lives upside down in the best way possible. And you see these things happening in the book of Philippians, but we're gonna take a look, starting off this evening, after, after Paul's little introduction and his prayer of thanks, for the the people that who have maintained and and continued on in the church and who have continued on in the faith. He comes to verse 9 and this is what he writes. And we're gonna read that together. And would you be kind enough to stand with me, let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word, and let's read what it says verses 9 to 11. Ready? Let's read. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:12]:
And so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. People had laid down their lives in Philippi. There was opposition in Philippi. There was a resistance, and people gave their lives to Christ, and they they pursued Jesus. And sometimes, they gave up old ways, and sometimes, they gave up old practices, and and they experienced the grace of God. But this is what Paul says, haters more. Right? He's saying, you know, as as much as you have loved and the jailer whose life and his family was turned upside down because there was a miraculous movement of God, and rather than Paul abandoning him, Paul stayed to spare his life. And it was in that weekend, that night, he gave his life to Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:07]:
His whole family was changed, but Paul said this. God's done amazing things, but there's more. And so before you're seed, do me a favor. Would you turn to your neighbor who says, hey. There's more. Right? Wherever you're at today, there's more. Because when we come when we come and we experience Jesus, our prayer is that you would experience all the grace that God has for you, not just some of the grace. Right? Not not just enough to get you into heaven, not just enough to so that the smoke doesn't smell on your clothes when you get into heaven.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:38]:
Right? But that we would experience all the grace. Sometimes, what is that? Sometimes it's power. Sometimes it's direction. Right. But but part of it is why do we we're talking about this is for us to embrace the future means that we don't stay the same that we are. Right. It's great to have great stories. Just last week, I got to talk to some folks, and and it was at one point, it turned around.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:02]:
It's all the old old timers kind of were standing in the corner, and then, one of the guys came over, Glenn Fermezzo came over, yay, I I gotta come with you guys. And I thought, like, oh, because we started the the first church meeting was at his house. So I thought he was talking about, like, you know, the guys who were in the beginning. He says, no, all the guys old like me. It's like, oh, shocks. Then you got to go to another table. No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, the thing is that we were talking about some of the old days, and it's fun, and we're laughing and and things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:33]:
But but in order to embrace the future, it's not enough just to try to go forward, but I think it entails us growing forward, right? You see, you never can embrace the future, the fullness of the future without some kind of change and transformation. You know, everybody, when we come to Christ, that when God loves us and He calls us, He takes us as we are, we say, but He doesn't leave us as we are. Right? Now here's the thing that what we find in all of us, in all of us, in our own flesh, in our own past, in our own kind of experiences, there is the seeds for your destruction. If you guys know what I'm talking about, right. Sometimes it's it's things that have hindered you in the past, sometimes it's the the the tendencies that you have, sometimes it's the temptations that you face, sometimes it's the character issues that you've gone through, some of the places where you've kind of failed in these areas over and over again. Now here's they said they said some of you guys are, I'm so glad I came to church today talking about the destruction. No. It's like, but here's here's what I mean.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:42]:
We all come with some of those things in us. And the good news is this, that God takes you right where you are at, and He says this. He gives you a grace, and you experience this. You grow a little. You change a little. And what that does is it suppresses it suppresses. It's like the weeds. You guys don't know, like if you have, a lawn that, to be honest, all of us, there's kind of like weeds that are buried in the in the soil.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:11]:
Right. All it needs is the right environment. It needs it when when the lawn gets super dry. It needs it when there's a bowl of head space and all of a sudden it can take root. There's these seeds, but when it's healthy, when it's growing, it tends to suppress these kinds of things. And so the more you grow, it allows you to go into the future. But if we wanna stay exactly as we are, if we're unwilling to deal with some of these things, if we're not letting Jesus into some of these spaces, what happens is that you will move forward, but you will find as you do these things that we have stuffed sometimes in the shelf, you know, put it under the carpet. They they will tend to present themselves.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:54]:
And so the way forward is not that you cannot pull all those things out and you're supposed to be perfect. Right? So the part of the god's plan, I don't think, is that, hey, don't ever be tempted. Part of god's plan is to say, make your life perfect. That's not the way that god's plan. He's saying, Hold on to me. Grow in me and you'll be able to move forward. And so how we embrace the future is not just going forward, it's growing forward. Do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:20]:
Turn to your neighbor who says, You can grow more. Alright. You can grow more. And Paul talks about 3 areas of that. He says, would your love abound? But how would your love abound? With knowledge and discernment. And what else? Then he says, and fill with the fruit of righteousness. And you know what? What? I think all of us that we're we get to the place that that you ever come where you you see somebody and you have compassion with somebody in the situation that they're in, and then all of a sudden, after a while, you you don't want any more compassion. You know what I mean? Like you kinda ran out of compassion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:54]:
Sometimes I think that, you know, we can run out of love. You can. You can run out of love for people. You can run out of love for your situation at times. You can run out of love. But here's the good news is that God's love never runs out. Right? And so when Paul calls him, he says, it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more. What he's saying is, I'm not calling calling you to love with your love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:21]:
I'm calling you to let God at times love through you. Because when God loves through you, then then he's saying this. It's it's not just you loving with your love, but you loving with your love compounded with God's love that he says, and it and when God pours more and more, may your love abound more and more. That word abound means to be more than enough. It's in abundance. It's in extravagance. Paul tells us later in Ephesians that God lavished His love. It's a 1st John tells us about an extravagance of His love.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:58]:
God doesn't love us with like, what's in my pocket? Oh, I got a penny? Here. Here's your love. You know what I mean? He didn't give you leftovers. He's saying he pours out, lavishes love on us. And the implication is this, it's a love that's overflowing, right, and that He wants to fill your cup not just so you can have a sip, but so you can be refreshed. And there's an ongoing flow. More than enough. Why does God want to have more than enough for you? Because then you spread it to other people, right? But what I found is that you can never give what you do not possess, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:39]:
If I were to take this cup and pour the water on the stage, everybody would be surprised and somebody would get a mop, but that's not what I'm gonna do. But the thing is that if there's nothing in the cup, I can never pour out. I don't have anything to give. And God's not calling you at times, sacrifice, give more, do all that. He's saying the precursor to those things is be filled. Be filled with His love. Experience it. Know that whatever your circumstances today, God says this, I love you no matter what.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:10]:
I love you in the midst of this. Does it mean that He always loves what we're doing? No. But He says, you know, would you know that you're still loved? Why is that? Because He wants you to abound more and more and so that you would have extra to give, you would have an abundance of love. Now when I talk about love, I'm not talking about like when you go to work that you're like, oh man, I love you. Right? Now we're not talking about that. That would be really inappropriate for some of us who work on the docks, or some of us who work in the military or whatever. That in whatever your your work, probably it's not appropriate for you to be emotionally overly mushy at work. Right? And God not asking you to do that either.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:53]:
But to be filled with His love means that maybe when you're at work or you're at home or you're at school or you're about the world, but that you are a conduit for His love and that it will look different in different contexts. Because some days, I I would hope that, you know, if you're with your kids or you're you're you're with your your family, you're you're with your spouse, you're with, you know, people like your best friends that I hope that at times you affirm them and you speak that you love, you know. So so many of us we were raised that you were shown love by what they did for you, right. Maybe they weren't so verbal, right. So, yeah. I I remember as an adult when wasn't until I moved to the mainland till my dad said, you know, verbally, I love you, and at first I thought, Who is this? On the phone, right. Because it's like, I've never heard this before, not from my dad, right. Now, but this is how my dad loved me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:48]:
He always, but he showed me, Right? And and he said, what do you mean if we love you? We buy food for you. We buy clothes for you. Right? We send you to school. All those kind of things, that was their kinda that was the way that they showed it. But here's what it is. Love is not a feeling. Love is a choice. Ultimately, love is not a feeling.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:09]:
Love is a choice. But you have the capacity to choose because you would know that God has chosen you, that God is still with you. God's choosing. It's not that He doesn't have any feelings, but it's not just based on feelings, right? It's based in His call. It's based in His decision. Sometimes you ever wonder, how does God, how can God love me? Because he chooses. He just chooses. He's chosen you before you were born.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:42]:
He called you out of out of darkness, called you out of the world. Right? So I've been in places, I've run out of love for a person at the moment. And in those moments that, and I'm struggling maybe because it's not going to be a lovey dovey kind of love, right. Sometimes that love just means that that I stick it out and just walk with this person through this situation, right. Sometimes it's been, you know, placing a limit in some of the things because, to be honest, sometimes the reason why God has a love for that person as well, but sometimes God wants us a choice, is to say not to enable, right, not to enable that person. Sometimes, that's the harder love. Right? Why is that the harder love? Because sometimes, the reason why God cannot move in someone's life is we start we rescue them from all the consequences. Right? When we start doing that, nobody can grow up.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:47]:
Right? You and I wouldn't grow up if we were always rescued from all of our consequences. And so sometimes love, but it's it's not saying this, find it, brother. Go, see if I care. That's not love either, right? So it is a choice to do what God's best will be, the best that we can discern, right, that it's the choice to continue, to be for that person, to be on their side, to be wanting God's best and whatever that may mean in different contexts, right, that that we that's what we want for them, Right? We want God's best because I don't want to get in the way of what God's trying to do in someone's life because my emotion maybe is in the wrong direction, right, that I want to rescue. Right? And I have kids too. Right? There's times how many of us that if you're parents, you just realize sometimes we discipline with the right motive, and sometimes we did it because we just wanna go to bed, right, or whatever. Right? And and sometimes, to be honest, you're just too tired. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:52]:
Sometimes we're just too tired. I've said this like, I don't want to discipline. I don't want to have to say, but I don't say it for me. I need to say it for them. And so here's what God says though, But if we see how God has corrected us, loved us, stood with us, encouraged us, believed in us, poured out to us, even when it seems like we we hardly deserve it and maybe we don't deserve it, That's what he's saying. Because I want to keep pouring into you the love of God so that your cup is full. And the second thing he goes on, though, he says, is that that we that it would be done with knowledge and all discernment. You know, it reminds me of something I I had read about a study that was going on.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:42]:
A scientist, had called together. There was in a scientific symposium, and and they're talking about the conditioning of of different, kind of life forms. Right? So, like, obviously, your dog or, you know, that those kind of levels, they they can do a lot of tricks. Right? But but he pulled out a spider and for most of us have said that we don't believe they have the the cerebral cortex to do the things that would be possible, like, say, with a dog. But then, the the trainer came up, and he he used some voice commands. He said, I'm gonna use voice commands to show you what is possible with this spider. And and so he said to the spider, go forward. And the spider started to walk forward, and everybody was like, you hear that kind of a thing, like, is this a joke? And then he says, spider, go left, and all of a sudden the spider starts moving to the left.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:28]:
And and he's like, is this a coincidence, or is there light or the vibration? And he goes, spider, go to the right. Spider goes to the right. Then he says, spider, back up. And it's like, at this point you can hear a pin drop. Right? Until finally he goes this. He says, spider, do a back flip, and you see those spiders just totally do a flip, and all of a sudden people are, like, clapping and all these arms. And he says that sometimes we we don't know the degree to which things are possible with people or even with people things and life forms, even like the spider. And And so then the scientists pull out a little, scalpel and he started to cut off the the different parts of the legs with a scalpel.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:11]:
And then he said to the spider, he says, but now move forward. And the spider didn't move. And And then he said, now move left. And the spider didn't move. And he said, now move right. Spider didn't move. And then he says, now move backward. And the spider didn't move.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:24]:
And he says, the unfortunate thing is, what we have found is that with surgery, the spider goes deaf. No. No. No. But like, you know, obviously that's a wrong conclusion. Right? So, just by the way, you'll use it tomorrow because when you go to work because there's no better joke. Right? No. But, you know, unfortunately, we sometimes make the wrong conclusions in our faith.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:47]:
Right, because just having the love of God and being loved, sometimes we think that that's all we need. Right? And sometimes we say it in relationships, and maybe maybe it's a younger season of love. We say, say, All we need is love. It's our love will conquer all. But God says this, right, that I want you to grow and I want you to abound in love, but He wants more than that. He says this, I want you to learn and grow in real knowledge and discernment. And so we need to ask God to grow in real knowledge and discernment because sometimes what we find is that the problems that we run into is because we don't have enough information. Right? Because we haven't read the scriptures, because we don't know what God wants, that we do we act on ways that we think God wants.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:39]:
This is one of the most, kind of picturesque stories that and this is illustrated I find in the Old Testament in the book of Judges where this this ruling judge, Jephthah, was dedicated to God, and he had challenges just like you and I have challenges. And he wanted to move forward, and he battled a people, the Ammonites, and he said, God, if you give me victory over the Ammonites, I promise I will sacrifice in as a as a burnt offering to you whatever comes out of the tent when I go to my house. Right? And so God gives him the victory, right. And so when he gets home, the unfortunate things is what does he see? He sees his daughter coming out. Now here's the thing, in the scriptures, God never has demanded a human sacrifice. Abraham was asked, but he was only asked if he was willing to do it. He never wanted the blood sacrifice and so the scripture never says that. When you see people, sometimes with mental illness, right, and they feel like I needed to Sometimes, unfortunately, you hear these horror stories about somebody killing their children because they hear voices, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:53]:
Would you know that this is never found in the Bible, right? Is it a sign of dedication? Yeah, it's a sign of dedication. Jephthah does the very thing he said he promised, but the whole point of that story, the whole point of that story is not that's what we do, this is a sign of what happens when we don't know God's ways. Sometimes our devotion can be horrific in its expression, right, because it was never supposed to be that. Because this is one of the things, when you read the Bible, I think most of us in this room, you know that not everything in the Bible is telling you to do this or approve of this because sometimes it's descriptive. It's telling you what people did, and we see the horror of it. So we go, oh, shoot. That's not what we're supposed to do. And some of it is prescriptive that when you read it to they gave of themselves and they prayed and they ministered to people, even, he says, beyond their means.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:59]:
Now he's saying this, that's prescriptive. Right. That's to tell us what to do. But unless we have that knowledge that sometimes we can, in even kind of misaligned devotion, actually do great harm to those around us, to ourselves. Now how do you do that? Do you learn it from a class? You got to take a class today? Class can help, right? Classes can help. We do classes, right? They just we just had a class that concluded in April, I mean, not April, a couple weeks ago in August. And, you know, the thing is that classes are good, but you know how the best way is just be in the Bible on your own daily. Right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:41]:
Sometimes you gather together in groups. Gathering in small groups is a is a huge way. Right. Because one of the things that I did as a young believer is that I would read the Bible, but and how many of us that you read the Bible and you're like me, you don't always understand everything you read. Right. I didn't understand everything. I still don't understand everything I read today. And sometimes, what I do now is the same thing that what I used to do before is I have a card at times in my Bible.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:11]:
And that I would write down, I would read something, and it bothered me. Like, what the heck is this talking about? So I would write the question on the thing, and I would go to church. And after the service, I would go up to the pastor, and I would say, pastor, can I ask you a question? Right? And I would just pull up my card. Why do I put it on the card? Because so many times I forgot what the question was at church, then I go home, and then what? Now or tomorrow, too late already. Right? And so that's what I did. I did that, and to be honest, I learned so much. And you know, like, did I bother the pastor? Maybe I did, but I don't think that's what I did. Because if you were to do that to me today, you know what, I would be like so stoked because I love when people have questions because it's showing that they're trying to integrate, they're trying to grow in knowledge and understanding of what they already know about the world sometimes, and what does the word of God say? How does that integrate? How does that work together? Right? And I don't have the answer to everything.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:12]:
That's why I still write it down, because sometimes that's what I research on my own as well. Right? And so you we need to grow in real knowledge and real discernment. But if we're not in the word of God, to be honest, if we're not in the word of God, then sometimes what we are left with is traditions and feelings. And and sometimes what we're we're in is that we're we'll be guided by what somebody tells you. And and to be honest, this is what often leads us astray. And so the other part of knowledge is this word, discernment. Let's say the word, discernment. Discernment.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:48]:
And what is discernment? Discernment is spiritual perception. Right? It's it's the capacity to to discern something. What what are we discerning spiritually? It's sometimes error from truth. Right? We have to discern between error and truth, that some of us, as we face the election, we need discernment, right, because there's a lot of words that's said, but some of it is smoke and mirrors, and some of it is true, right. So we need discernment to discern error from truth, sin from deception, and sin and deception from moving in the right direction, right? Some of us that you're confronted with decisions, and sometimes it's pointed to you as a provision. And sometimes what you have to know is it's a temptation. And how do you know that? You need discernment at times, right? So, as well as just to know the will of God, right? So we need spiritual perception for these things. And we live in the information age, and we are so inundated by so much information.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:52]:
Sometimes you're tempted to say, you know what? Google came up with this answer, you know, or whatever. YouTube said this or social media. This guy said this. And this best arbiter of truth is not those things. It's God's word, but it's also the spirit of God, the spirit of God in you because he has placed his spirit in you so to speak to you, to lead you, to guide you. Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor and says, God's spirit lives in you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, right, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, that this Holy Spirit lives in you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:30]:
But why do we need the spirit of God in these areas? Because to be honest, that you got to be reminded that it's it's not just the devil or God that can be in the midst of these things because some things that happen, it's it's not just the devil or God. Sometimes what we find is it's just the way of the world. It's just the way of the world. So there's the world that sometimes it's a worldly answer. It's not it's not necessarily the devil. It's not necessarily God, but it's just the way of the world. But the way of the world, often for many of us though, is that we do for our own advantage. We we live and do what we can in the world.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:12]:
We we get what we can in the world, we can all we get in the world and we sit on the can, right. So that's the worldly way at times, right. And so sometimes when you get a worldly option, does that mean it's like from the devil? No. Sometimes it's just because that's just the world system, right. Sometimes that's just the way your office works. Sometimes just that's your thing, and then it's like you can discern, okay, this isn't it's not like the devil is doing this to me. This is just the system that we live in, right. And so then we have to make a decision.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:45]:
God, are You leading me to move along with the system as it is, or do you have another direction? Right. And sometimes it's sometimes you got to know, too, it's like it's your own desire. Have you ever convinced yourself at times because you want something so bad, this is God's will? Right? And and so sometimes it's like, I I have this feeling, oh, I had this must be God. Well, sometimes sometimes it could be God, but we have discernment. But sometimes, I think if we're real honest, sometimes if you wanted something so bad, you just it's because you want it. Right? That's how it was when we were trying to buy our house, that that when, you know, I told the story about how, originally, I wasn't called to come to Kapolei. Right? It was given to another guy. So you know what I did in that meantime? Because I was in this season because I was coming out from working in sales and I had a higher income that I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to qualify for my mortgage, right, when we start the church.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:45]:
I wouldn't be able to because my income's gonna go down. And so, I wanted to buy a house then. And that was a thing. We went to Mililani, and I grew up in Wahiawa, and some of us are around that, you know who lives in Mililani? That's the upgrade from Wahiawa, right? So like if you grew up in Wahiawa, Mililani is the upgrade. And you say, wow, but where do you live? Mea, Mililani. Right? So and we all we both grew up in Wahiawa, but like the thing is that when we were there, we saw this beautiful house. It had rock wall on two sides already, so if we bought the house, I don't need to build rock wall, you know, that kind of thing. It was a beautiful home, had a great view, was just close to the, kind of the perimeter.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:33]:
It was just really beautiful. And, and we could have afforded it. Right? We could have afforded it. And and so we could have covered the mortgage, and my wife asked me, do you think this is God? And I was so irritated with that question. Of course it's God. She said, You sure? And I said, Yeah, it's God. Like, No, no, no, no. Like, are you sure she's asking? And I said, Yeah, it's God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:58]:
And I signed the papers, basically. But the reality is I didn't ask God, right, and I didn't have discernment. But I realized, I really realized later, that that's that was just what I wanted. It wasn't what God wanted. And so when that time came, when I signed that and I wrote a $5,000 check, and then I this is what I signed on a Sunday or a Saturday, And on Tuesday, I get the call that says, Glenn, Alex doesn't feel called to go to, start the church in Kapolei. He's going to go back to Montana. We want you to go. So between that week and, you know, there was more weeks in it, but like just from that moment when I signed it, 3 days later, I want to unsign it because I realized this wasn't God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:59]:
This was me. I just wanted it, right. I wanted it so bad. But this is what God was saying. I have a place, right. I have a place for you. And so I was thinking, this is a $5,000 lesson I'm gonna learn. But I humbled myself and I said, hey, you know, I'm changing jobs and different things and, you know, I am gonna because I'm moving in the ministry, I'm not gonna and so this may not be the best situation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:27]:
And all I paid was a $25 processing fee. And God had a grace for me. Right? God will have a grace for you often. Sometimes we learn, like, a very small price, but this is what you'll find. If you keep doing it, the price goes up every time. Right? The cheapest cost of obedience is the first time. And God lets you God lets you change your course. It's just that the price tends to go up every time because, you know, there's a cost sometimes to disobedience.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:02]:
And so, but discernment tells you sometimes that's a fleshly thing. It's not demonic. Right? It's just the fleshly. It's just your soul, it's just what you want. Sometimes it's it's just the world, but sometimes it is the devil. Right? Sometimes it is the enemy. And so when Paul was walking in Philippi, that first time when he started the church, it says the woman was saying the woman was saying, look, these are the servants of the most high God. Right? Listen to them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:36]:
And so she was saying not negative things. In fact, it's like she's praising God and she's drawing direction to them. But it says this about Paul, he was greatly disturbed in his spirit because he understood the source at which the words were good, but the empowerment was evil. And in some ways, what they were trying, the enemy was trying to do was co opt his message. It's to say, why? Because this woman who was filled with a demonic spirit, she was the one who was validating. So it was by the spirit in her, right. So this is what Paul turns around. He casts the spirit out of the woman.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:21]:
She comes to her senses and can no longer do these things. So sometimes we need to have discernment because it sounds like things will come your way. It'll sound great. But what is at the root? Now I'm not saying that, you know, you your friend tells you, hey, let's go out to dinner tonight. What's the root of that? Right? I'm not saying, you know, that kind of a thing, but we need to have discernment. And sometimes that things will come our way like that. And then we see in Paul, when Paul is, being shipwrecked, in in the book of Acts in chapter 28, it says that they were they were in this horrible storm for 2 weeks and how many anybody gets seasick? Right. Okay.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:06]:
There's a couple of us seasick. My wife gets seasick. I mean, you know, I went fishing and I was just describing how the boat is like this and like when we get on onshore, it wasn't bad, but some of the folks were saying, I just feel like the room is moving like this. You know, that kind of a thing. But can you imagine in a horrible storm for 2 weeks, right, it's it's like this. And so the people are they've given up. They're beyond despair. And it says Paul addresses them and he says this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:34]:
In the middle of the night, an angel appeared to me and gave me information. He told me that we'll all be rescued. You just gotta follow what I gotta follow what I gotta tell you. God gave us some information, right. What is that saying? Discernment is Paul could see and hear the angel, everybody else on the ship couldn't, right. And so there was a discernment that what is from God at times, what is from the enemy, what is from the world, sometimes just what's from yourself. And so we can see these things. Discernment often helps us to discern the root of this thing, right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:16]:
What is the source of this thing? And sometimes it comes out by leading it to know truth or error or to be able to have a knowledge about the right way to go and what the will of God is and what's deception and what's, you know, provision versus temptation. So, discernment is important. Right? And then he goes on. Right? He goes on and he says this. He said what did he say? He said, so that you the fruit that you'll be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. You see, sometimes, the the fruit that we have is exposed it gets exposed by different things. And, you know, I do wanna go back one more thing when I was talking about this demonic thing is that sometimes, it's also discernment will be important because it will lead you at times to what you leave behind. You know, I'll say it like this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:18]:
Sometimes we don't know at the time, but later on, you kind of know. When I was in high school, some of you remember I I told the story and we were in a car accident and we're spinning across all across the freeway, right, and we expected, I really thought this is it. I'm cashing all the chips. But 3 weeks before that, 3 weeks before that, the reason why we kinda we were all freaked out about it so much wasn't just the accident because 3 weeks before that, we were playing with tarot cards at my friend's house. And I never had tarot cards. We used to read the astrology. We used to do all those things. But somehow my friend had tarot cards.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:56]:
We did it, and the message came up that you will die or be near death, you or someone near you. And the 4 guys that were playing together were the 4 guys in the car. Right? And so we redid it, and it came up with the same message. And we redid it, and it came up with the same message. But you know the thing is that we were like, oh, kinda heebie jeebies out, right. We're kinda creeped out with that because none of us were Christians, right. We're all kids in high school playing with something that we think is harmless, but then 3 weeks later, this happens. Now why is that? You see, when you agree with something that's demonically spoken, you give it power over you in many ways.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:39]:
And so one of the things I did that when I came to Christ, one of the first things I did was I renounced all that kind of stuff, astrology, the tarot cards, and walking around going to like, hey, I'll go into all the kind of crazy stuff we did as unbelievers, that I had to renounce those things. Why? Because it wouldn't have a hold on me. And sometimes for some of us that we participate in things and you think it's harmless, but nothing could be further from the truth. And so sometimes that discernment to say, you know, when you have somebody who wants to tell you the truth like that lady or the tarot cards or whatever it is, please stay as far away from that as is possible because those things actually give the foothold the enemy wants to have. So the scripture talks about discernment as being very necessary, but then he also says about the fruit, right, about the fruit of righteousness. And what is the fruit of righteousness? He's saying this. He's saying that there's a byproduct in your life of of love, of discernment, of of the truth, right, with knowledge. He says it will be reflected in your life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:51]:
And so know your fruits reflect the health of your roots. Right? Because he says that you would be rooted in Christ. Where does it come from? From Jesus. Right? That when you're connected with Jesus, he's saying this, then as you're growing that way, you will have byproduct in your life. You will have a visible expression of that. It might be the way that you treat people. It might be the way that you speak. It might be the attitude of your heart.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:18]:
It might be the fact that that you're an overcomer because although you've gone and been pressed down, you're not being held down. Right? And so these things bear that, the quality of our fruits is is just know this, that whatever it is that's happening in your life, it's often a reflection. It's usually a reflection of the health of your roots. And so if you find that I have no joy, I have no sense of you know what God is saying? You gotta grow your roots deeper for some of us. That's what it's saying. It's that you gotta you gotta grow deeper. You gotta spend more time with me. Right? It says in Psalm 1 that blessed is the man who doesn't kinda traffic in the way of of of sinners, you know, stand in the seat of of of of the ungodly or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:14]:
And in his law he meditates day and night. In other words, I'm pursuing God according to knowledge. I'm letting God pour into me by the love of God. And he says this, then you will be like a tree planted by streams of water that bears its fruit in season, right. It might not be overflowing every day, but in the right season, it bears fruit. But he says this, But your leaf will not wither. You don't dry up on the vine, right. You don't you guys ever have plants that you don't water in your yard? And how do you tell? Because they just start to wilt, kind of sag, right? There's a tree we have in our yard, if you don't water it every day, that little tree, man, you just literally see it like it's just so thirsty, right? And you know what? Sometimes that's us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:07]:
So God's saying this, Let Me water your roots. And you know what will happen? You're gonna bear the fruit. Right? Be in a place. Let let God water your roots because you gotta grow forward, not just go forward. And then he goes, he's gonna say this one other thing is that that, you know, when we talked about the city of of Philippi, it's a it's a Roman church. Right? I mean, it's a Roman city. And so, they are experiencing tension and opposition, and there there are these things that are happening, within the church. And, and Paul says that when he's writing to them, I know the the things that you're going through just like me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:49]:
He says, but he says this in verses 12 to 14. Let's read what it says in verses 12 to 14. Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. And as a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident of the Lord, and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. Can we just say that words, without fear? Without fear. He says that we we don't have fear to proclaim. Now what are the circumstances that Paul is talking about? Well, Paul is talking about that, you know what, he's been stoned before.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:39]:
Actually, later at the city near where Philippi, that city near there, the next city he goes to, he gets stoned there, right. And when he goes to Jerusalem, he's beaten in Jerusalem. He's arrested in Jerusalem. He spends 2 years in prisons getting his chain jerked around, the different governors saying, hey, I can let you out, but they're really looking for a bribe. And so he's there until he finally appeals to Caesar. And he appeals to Caesar so he gets put on a ship, and he's going on a ship to go to Rome. What what happens? The storm. 2 weeks, right, and God rescues him, but the ship is destroyed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:21]:
They're on the beach. He gets up on the beach, and what happens? They're making a fire, warming themselves by the fire, and all of a sudden a snake They're making a fire, warming themselves by the fire, and all of a sudden, a snake bites him, and he expects that he's gonna die, and he says instead of it, he does the he does a Taylor Swift song. He just shakes it off. Right. So and nothing happens, right. Until he gets to Rome, and then in Rome, what happens is he's thrown in a hole in the ground, and this is his conclusion. Like, what would your conclusion be? I don't like some of us, this is what we think of that conclusion. I don't like follow Jesus because it sounds tough, right? Sounds like it sucks, but this is Paul's conclusion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:04]:
You know, all these things, they actually have advanced the gospel. His perspective is, God, because I'm so close to You, I sense Your thing. Even when it seems like it's negative, he's trying to advance the gospel. He's so kingdom minded and he's saying these things is that now I want you to understand why is that. Because when he's in jail, that his his mobility is limited, isn't it? His financial situations are limited. Who he can talk to is limited. And so it would be easy to say, it's like, Paul, how can you say it's served to advance the gospel? Because he gives this explanation, he says, because among, he says, as a result, it has become clear throughout the whole what? Palace guard. Some of your translations will say the praetorian guard, which are the guards that are in the palace for the emperor or sometimes it's for the governor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:15]:
And and so it's these palace guards that that are talking about like, Wow, this Paul guy, he's not just like some crazy guy. He's not just some political guy. He's not just some criminal. Man, there's something about him because guess what? That when you're in prison and the only people that you have to talk to are the guards, guess what Paul's talking to them about? Jesus. And he's praying, I believe, for them. And faith begins to stir in the hearts of the prison guards, the Praetorian guard, the palace guards. And so now, Paul has come to the center of the known world, and part of it it this is what he's seeing, God, I I knew that you wanted me to come to this place to preach the gospel, but I didn't know that being in prison was gonna be the way that I get to lead people to Jesus. So he has this thing.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:19]:
Now, so what does that mean to us? When you find yourself that you find yourself limited with time, right, you ever find yourself limited with financial resources? You ever find yourself limited that you cannot go to places that you really feel called and you want to go? This is what I see Paul doing. He doesn't focus on what he cannot do, he focuses on what he can do. Right? So for us, focus on what you can do, not what you cannot do. If you work with people who don't know Jesus, tell them about Jesus. Right? If you have a neighbor, right, then maybe you maybe some of us, you wanna go to Myanmar, but you know what, it's it's it's not in the cards for you at this season. Maybe some of you, you wanna go you wanna witness to the kids in the schools or whatever it is, but you know that that door isn't open to you at the moment. But you know what you can do? That's what God's probably calling you to do, right? So is there a neighbor, is there a person that when you go home, like a spouse or like your kids, sometimes that that's who God wants you to speak to, right, because it's not about what you cannot do. You don't focus on what you cannot do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:37]:
Focus on what doors are available. And then this is the the great news that what you're gonna find, because even though all of us at times, we have limitations, is that here's what we'll find is that although Paul says this, I am in chains, basically what he's saying, the gospel is not in chains. Although I'm in chains, God is not in chains. And so though I'm limited, God is unlimited. And so don't wait for perfect conditions because you'll never get anything done, it says in Proverbs 11:4. But the other part of this is what he's saying, is that my god doesn't have limits, right. My god doesn't have limits because we know that when we're limited and we do what we can, not just do what we, you know, complain about what we cannot do, but when you focus that God is not limited, you're going to start praying like God is not limited. You're going to start acting like God is not limited.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:38]:
You're going to start taking opportunities like God is not limited. Who knows? Maybe God was going to do something. I'm just going to invite this person to church. Hey, I don't know, but I'm just going to ask this person who sometimes is grumpy, is there, you know, what's going on? And then maybe pray for them in the middle of the things that are going on. Sometimes people are not just grumpy, some people are. But sometimes they're just going through something. And you know, when you're a listening ear and maybe you say, Hey, is it all right? I just want to pray for you, right? You start praying for them. Guess what? God is not limited.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:13]:
And don't focus that I, you know, like in my job, I cannot talk about Jesus too much. In my job, I understand. But But can you pray? I think you can always pray. I think you can always reach out. I think you can always have a kind of a compassion, or sometimes you can invite that, right. Sometimes there's a different situation. And so focus on what you can do, not what you can't. But also, also, I think he's saying this, is know that the gospel is not limited.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:46]:
Whatever your limitations are, God doesn't have that limitation. So when you trust yourself in Him, pray like it's that He's not limited, what you'll find, God's gonna be moving something forward. Hey, you know, we're gonna take communion here in a second, but, I did wanna close with this story. And it's written by a guy named Philip Yancey. He wrote this article a little while back, and part of it, he says he says, sometimes it's hard, he says in his article. It's sometimes difficult to maintain a commitment, he says, to both this world and the next, right. Because in this world, you have concerns, right, and you wanna make progress in this world, right, but then he says, but we also need to keep an eye on the next world. And so sometimes it's a tough balance, he's saying.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:36]:
He said a friend of mine uses this analogy of a busload of tourists on route to the Grand Canyon, and you know, because they live in the mainland. Right? So he's saying it's a long journey across wheat fields of Kansas, and coming through the Midwest, and through the glorious mountains of Colorado, and the travelers inexplicably, inexplicably keep the shades down, you know, intent on the ultimate destination, right. So they're trafficking through, I don't know if you guys ever seen the Rocky Mountains. It is, it's beautiful, and they're majestic. And I haven't seen the wheat fields of Kansas, but I assume it has its own beauty. And he's saying that, as a result, because they're blocking out what's outside, they spend so much time arguing over little matters about who has the best seat, who's talking too much, who's taking too much time in the bathroom, and he says the church can resemble such a bus. We should remember that the Bible has far more to say how to live during the journey than about the ultimate destination. And some people of faith, he says, tend to be either or kind of people, but the world does not need either or people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:52]:
Rather, we need both and kind of believers. People devoted to God's creatures and God's children, as well as to God, and as committed to this life as to the afterlife, to this city as well as to the heavenly city. Because He's not saying this life doesn't matter. This life matters. But he says this. If you only live for this life, if you only live for this life, then you're gonna really have the short end at the stake for the long term. So he says this, right? But we don't want to be so focused on heaven that we ignore all the people that are around us because they both matter. So that's the call for us that as we grow forward, be focused on Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:46]:
Part of it is, what I find just for me myself, it allows me to see the people around me more clearly, and to treat them better than I would if I didn't. That helps me to kind of balance the both. Make sense? Hey. But what we're gonna do is we're gonna take part in communion here in a second, but, and we practice an open communion. We invite you guys to take communion with us. I just wanted to close this portion in a in a word of prayer. Would you join me? Can we bow our heads? Father, that, I don't know about where each of us are at, but I have a sense that You have a different message almost for each person, Because when we talk about abounding in love or in real knowledge and discernment or with the fruit of righteousness, sometimes the fruit of righteousness is repentance. Sometimes the fruit of righteousness are are good acts, but if any one of those things just that's what's sticking out to you, would you just let the Lord search your heart? Because what he's saying is this, just don't dig in your heels.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:08]:
If you don't dig in your heels and you keep seeking after me, he says, we'll be on this journey together. I'll be able to pour abundantly beyond I want there to be an overflow of my love in your life, and he he wants that. But he says with that, we need to grow in knowledge and discernment. It's not either or. It's not just love. It's not just knowledge. It's love and knowledge with this discernment, and then we'll have fruit along the way. And sometimes fruit takes a little bit of time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:51]:
Right? But when you let love and discernment and knowledge water the roots of your life, you'll see it play out over time. A greater patience, a greater love, a greater strength, a greater capacity. And then maybe you start getting like Paul, where we start seeing actually God at work, not because I was so great, but because He was so great despite my limitations. Would you just let him speak to you today? If he's saying, would you just open your heart up to more of My love, would you just receive it? If He's saying, I want to teach you new things, I want to teach you things of the Spirit, I want to teach you because it let the Spirit of God have access to the fullness of your heart. Or for some of us, just saying, I want you to take a step and focus not on all the things that you can focus on that you would like to do, but focus on things that you can do. I'm asking you to do go across the ocean. I'm asking you sometimes to go across the world. I'm asking you sometimes to go across the dinner table.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:10]:
Sometimes I'm asking you to go across the street. Focus on what you can do. Father, we just want to hear you. We want to listen to you today, and we're thankful it's because in there that we'll find you, in there that we'll grow. So, Father, would you have your covering over each of us today? In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, we're gonna take communion as well tonight, and communion is it's a it's an invitation to the presence of God to meet us and to manifest His life. Paul said later in the chapter, he says, yes, I I I rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and with the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. Paul, basically, he gets out of prison, by the way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:02:05]:
He gets out of prison and he's out for a few years. He does some amazing things in that season. He says, but it's also my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but that with the full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is to gain. And he kind of goes into this thing. It's like, you know, I'd rather go to heaven and be with Jesus, but I know that if I stay here, I know it makes a greater difference. But he's saying this because but wherever I am, that if I'm with Jesus, there's life. And so what communion says in 1st Corinthians is this, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, and we who are 1, we who are many are 1 body, for we all partake of the bread.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:03:06]:
And he's saying this that when we gather together corporately like this, it's to meet Jesus. And when we take the bread and we take the cup, it's an invitation to Jesus. Come meet us again in this place of sacrifice. So that's what we're asking. And so, at your own leisure, go pick up the elements in the back, the bread, the juice, and when everybody gets that, and you have some time maybe to reflect a little bit, I I say it like this. If there's something to confess, confess it. If there's something to surrender, surrender it. If there's some place that you need His touch, ask for it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:03:42]:
Right? If there's a commitment you need to make, commit that. But let God search your heart, and then let's go get the elements, and we'll take them together. Name it is. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful As a few of us are still getting the, elements though, when Jesus poured out the wine on the evening before his death and he poured out and he tore a piece of the bread and he handed it, he said, this is my body that's broken for you, and this is my blood that is poured out for you. And he's saying, as often as you gather together, do this in my name. And it's not like, we do it in, like, the name, you know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:06:54]:
Do whatever it is we do and say, in the name of Jesus, sat there. It's just saying this, it's align your life with me and my authority. And what you're gonna find is that my life is manifested in the midst of that. And so we remind ourselves by the bread, and we remind ourselves by the cup. But it's really just asking Jesus to say, God, I just really need you all over again. Just as much as that first time, would you manifest your life in? Because I wanna know you more. I wanna draw close to you. And sometimes the greatest reminder is a place of sacrifice.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:07:33]:
When you wonder if you are loved, when you feel like you this is what he's saying. I've laid down my life. When you're a 1000000 miles away, I never stop loving you. And even when you're close, I never stop covering. I never stop going before you. Father, as we hold these elements before us, we recognize that at times we we have ups and at times we have downs. But we're thankful your love never changes. Father, that sometimes we're strong and sometimes we're weak.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:08:11]:
We're thankful you've never abandoned us, that the blood of Jesus and the breaking of your body is still enough. And Father, this evening, what you would do with we want our roots to go down deeper in you. Father, that because in you, we find life. So would you take these elements? Lord Jesus, we thank you for the bread that your body, even today, that breaking up that body is still good enough for me today. And we're thankful, Lord, the blood that was shed is still enough for you. And today, Lord, as we take this cup, Lord, we just wanna draw close to you all over again. Come fill us, lead us, guide us. Lord, we need more discernment.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:09:11]:
Lord, with the abundance of your love be poured out in our hearts, open our eyes to see what you're doing. And so we can focus not on what we cannot do, but what you want us to do. Let me take the cup. Let's take the cup. And the Lord is saying that you're covered. I'm gonna lead you through the season. Those parts that you think are so unlovely, I still love. I still love you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:10:05]:
You don't have to earn my love, but you should receive it. Thank you Lord that you have us covered. Father, would your strength be poured out? But we're at times we are like broken vessels which hold such a dear treasure that you've placed in us. But what would that be bound around that heart state? Receive it. We wanna stand in it. Would it renew us and strengthen us and empower Lord, we love you. We bless you. In Jesus name, God's people say, amen.