Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]: Hey. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Great to see you guys. It's nice to see you on a non rainy Saturday night. Hope you guys stay dry over, the last few days. And glad it wasn't as bad as they, expected it to be. Hopefully, it was the same way for for you guys as individual. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:20]: You know, but, sometimes you gotta take those things seriously. Right? And hopefully, that you got prepared and all that. Before I jump in the message though, I did wanna say one thing, and it didn't make it into your bulletin, but on Feb. 16, we're planning to have a a member's meeting, and, you might not be wonder you might not be aware whether actually, am I a member? Am I not a member? But in the past that if you've been around, we had a thing called the growth track, and a number of us that where we did membership even during the service where we did a series, through that just called Grow. And, and the members meeting is something that we do, periodically. Normally, it is, especially when we're gonna be voting for new council members, which is what we will be doing. And it'll take place at the end of the, service on Sunday morning of the And it's a short meeting, probably like thirty to forty minutes. But since we haven't especially, doing the classes, especially during the pandemic, we haven't restarted since then. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:27]: A lot of that had to do with facilities, a lot of that had to do with time and all of those things. And so if you're not sure if you're a member, come see us and, and and we just confess that sometimes, can I just say something that many of us have been through it, but I know we don't have recorded everybody who's a member, because that forms were filled out, but somehow on the back end, those things were never recorded? And so if you have a question, whether you're a member or you're wondering what do I need to do to be a member, you can see us at the info table, Saturday night here tonight. I just said come see me, I think, and we'll talk about that. Okay? And then we'll change gears. You you know, last week, I know we concluded the series, we said, on the power to change, and I guess gotta say, I lied. Not not intentionally, not intentionally, but, it seemed like a good time to end the series. You know, end of the month, it would start like a so I was saying, start a new series at the beginning of the month. But to be honest, I think that as I I thought about it in some of the ways that I hopefully, you've been encouraged to to grow the good habits and begin to learn how to do some of those things, learn how to break some habits, and and give you some tools to do those kinds of things, and about going forward, and and to not be overwhelmed. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:45]: Part of that is by making certain things habitual, making them, disciplines, spiritual disciplines, as well as other kinds of disciplines. I hope you were able to work on some of those things that help build healthy, positive, habits to keep you on track, keep you healthy, balance you financially, relationally, all those kinds of things. Yet, at the same time, I noticed something that we didn't address. And one of the things, that is is, not not everybody has the same abilities in developing certain kind of habits. Some air some areas are harder for us to develop habits in for for us than it is for others. And some are easier for us, and, you know, vice versa, than it is sometimes for others. And, whether it's things we wanna grow, sometimes it's things that we wanna break, which leads me to do one more message in the series, before we really conclude. And, and that makes sense that we want to talk about how do you make the most then of the changes and the habits that you want to develop. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:47]: And that that's what I wanted to do with this, particular message just to tag on at the end of, for the end of our series. Now, I let me just start by saying this. I wanna bring up a familiar name. I I hope it's familiar to most of us. How many of us, know who Michael Phelps is? The name familiar? Right? Yeah. I think if you're a sportsperson, even if you're not a sportsperson, but Michael Phelps is the Olympic swimming champion considered to be one of the greatest, not just swimmers, but athletes in history because Phelps won not only more Olympic medals than any Olympic swimmer, but, more than, Mark Smith. So some of us knew he was the greatest Olympic swimmer, but he has won more Olympic medals than any athlete in history. And and so this is, Michael Phelps, right? With a bunch of his, medals, gold, silver, bronze, right? And just an amazing guy. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:51]: Now, at the same time, I would be shocked if anybody could say that they actually know the name, Picham El Garouj. Now, anybody know that guy's name? Okay. Yeah. So I'm not surprised. I never heard of him either. Right? Unless you are a super running fan and that you are a running fan, especially for middle distances like the 1500 or the 2000 meter run. If you are, then maybe you would have heard that about him because he's also a two time, gold medalist, in those events. Right? And you know the difference is that Phelps is six four, and El Guerrouj is five nine, but they have something in common that I I would be a little unusual on the surface to think about. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:39]: They share the same inseam on their pants. There's a seven inch difference, right? But they share the same inseam on their pants. Because Phelps has a typical swimmer's body. He has a long torso and short legs. So I guess that must mean Japanese born swimmers. No. But you know, like I'm sorry. That's just the way it rolls. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:06]: So, you know, but he has a wide back, and all of that is perfect for swimmers because it's with this power that they use their back for the pull. And, and if you actually wondered what the average height for Olympic gold medal swimmers are, guess what the average height is? Six four. So he's right in that sweet spot. Now El Guerrouj who's who's five nine is the exact opposite. Like the brother's all legs and short torso. Right? And, it's like, you pull the pants up and you tie it up here, like, hey, where's where's the rest of the body? And, you know, the thing is that but that is the perfect body for runners in his kind of, events that they they they need long legs. They don't have to have the big powerful upper bodies like like sprinters, like in the hundred yard, a hundred meter, 200 meter, right? They they don't need that. Right? Because they're they're a different distance. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:10]: And so you see the build is actually quite different. And what's the average height for, these kind of middle distance gold medalist? Five ten. Right? So there's something about that they're genetically for these guys, they're kinda genetically predisposed to be great. Right? A greater likelihood in these areas. Now, could can Michael Phelps run? I'm sure he can, right? Would he be if he had changed sports? Would he have been a gold medalist in in running? To be honest, based on his mechanics, based on his body shape, based on, you know, his height, probably not. Because you don't need a giant guy to run that kind of distance because you're just carrying more weight. Right? Now with El Gerouch, can El Gerouch swim? I have no idea. I hope he can, but, being from Morocco, maybe he doesn't. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:09]: I don't know. But the thing is, he could probably swim, or he can at least learn to swim, but he wouldn't be the greatest swimmer. He wouldn't be probably an Olympics, swimmer even if he did know how to swim. And so they had to choose sports that were actually in their favor. And so all of their training, all of their habits were actually placed in areas that made the greatest difference for them as an individual to excel. And so the key to maximizing your habits in the same way is, and your changes, and the things that you wanna do in your life is sometimes you gotta make it in the right place so that you get the best results, you get the best bangs for your buck, so to speak. And this applies in sports, business, or ministry, or relationships, right, in in every area of your life. Because the truth is everybody is born with different abilities, with different kind of personalities, with different kind of natural talents. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:12]: And so I want to just talk about that. Like what's some ways that you can maximize that? And, you know, because it's not just true for physical things like sports, right? And we said, right? You can apply in different things. But it's mental, emotional ones as well. You know, I may have an ability, at least a little bit of ability to communicate, right? And, or maybe sometimes I can organize things, a bunch of the kind of outreach things, events that we've done. To be honest, I've been really kind of one of the larger forces in organizing those kinds of things. Right? Just a kind of a one time event. But if you ask me, what am I can I program a computer? No. I can barely use my phone and the computer that I have. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:59]: Right? If you ask me to apply math, I would say, no. I decline applying. I I'm gonna apply for something else. Because competence is highly dependent on context, And the people of any competitive field are not only well trained, but they're well suited to the task. So sometimes what we gotta ask is, are you implying yourself even in the change, are some of the things, are you focusing on places that give you the best return? But the question might be for you is how to do that? Well, let's just say this though, there's three points we're talking about. But the first one is this: choose the right places to grow and change. Because you have to pick behaviors that align with your natural personalities, natural abilities in order to continue them probably the the easiest. Right? They they say there's five big traits that predispose your personality, and and then I just I I read this and I go, oh, wow. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:59]: This is really kind of interesting. And it says, one of those are the openness to experience. Right? Whether you're curious and inventive on one end or you're cautious and consistent on the other. Right? So some people, you know, you're, you know, you're just you're always learning, you like to learn, I like to learn, I like to or sometimes you just, I just wanna do the same thing over and over and over. But the thing is, I have I have similar, two of those things, but, the other part is conscientiousness, whether you're organized and efficient or, and, or you're easy going and spontaneous. Right? For some of us that I know really spontaneous, you don't plan, you don't it's just like it's just you go as it as the moment dictates. And others, man, you got a list. Right? You have a list for everything. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:44]: How many of you guys like your lists? Everybody here you You like your list? Okay. Now I know who to tap for administration things. So, but that's a great thing. Conscientiousness. There's another thing called extroversion. It's the some of us are outgoing. This is just on a spectrum. Outgoing and energetic to solitary and reserved. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:00]: Sometimes we just call it, you know, introvert extrovert. Right? And, some of you guys that you you do great like in a a group maybe for some of us like on your table. You know that size between three to to six or some of us like, man, I just do a group really small. I I like those. And some of us, you know, you're you're the life of the party, and, that's just a different thing. Everybody's wired up a little bit different. Agreeableness. Some people are friendly and compassionate. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:29]: And some people are detached and challenging. Right? That that you just, you know, you wanna get it done, and and so you're not agreeable. Right? And so, and then the last one is neuroticism. Whether you're anxious and sensitive, and some people, you're calm and stable. Now, you know, our habits determine our they don't determine our personality, but they sometimes nudge it in a certain way. Because all of these things, depending on what you are, and maybe when you look at this, you might say, what area am I? Because I may be more open and because I'm curious and inventive, but you know, I'm not so, you know, know, at the same time, I'm kinda more outgoing and easygoing, and I tend to be energetic, I tend to be, you know, that person like that, but I can find myself at times being very challenging. I'm not always agreeable. You might think about stuff like that, but you you see these things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:29]: But deep rooted preferences make certain habits easier than others. And it's nothing to apologize for. It's kinda the way that you were you were wired up. Right? Now someone on the lower conscientiousness scale might be by nature a little bit more kinda, shall we say, creative and not that organized. And so for you, like, if you still need to develop some structure in your life and that you wanna develop habits, it's hard for you to do it on your own. But sometimes if you get into a place that provides joined the military, and they were super they they never had any discipline. And then you see them in like six months after they've done basic and after they've done school, and they come back, and and it's like, man, it's like a different person. Because they couldn't do it on their own and they tried. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:31]: But when they had a highly structured environment, it allowed them to thrive in that kind of an area. And so some of us, when you think about these kinds of things, it actually makes a difference even in places that you work and the kind of environments that you you you choose to be a part of. And, so often, your habits and the changes that you make in your daily lives, right, they're gonna influence all parts of our life, but you want to do something that helps you. Now, how many of you would say that you want to read more? You want to read more this year, you want to develop a habit, right? Grow and yeah, I want to read more. I read, but I want to read more, right? And sometimes I'm doing different things that help me to do that. To be honest, some of them I said read, but some of them I'll listen to audiobooks. Right? I'll do different things. I have a friend that when he was, they were him and his wife were expecting, they said, can we read this book together? And this is an older book now, but it used to be called What to Expect When You're Expecting. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:35]: How many of us read that book or you heard of that book? Right today though, when you ask young couples that that are expecting, they don't really know the book, but they go, what? I don't know. I give an app that talks all about it. They go, Oh yeah, wow, they have an app now, right? But I have a friend that, he reads, but the only thing he reads is sports and business. That's it. Like, he reads every day, but that's all he reads. But she would place the book and he would never read the book and all that. Now, I think, you know, for your own child, for your marriage, all this, probably, you know, you might want to skim that book a little bit, open it up, but sometimes if it's a natural thing that he likes, yeah, read that. If you need to broaden your scope, right? Then that's a different thing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:22]: Now, you you broadening your scope, that's a different story. But often the habits and changes that we wanna make means that we need to be a little bit more disciplined. Right? We we wanna be stronger. We wanna be healthier. We wanna be better learners. And the scripture says about us that, yes, we are all wired differently. Let's read what it says, Romans 12 verses four to six. And, we'll read this out loud. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:48]: Can we this is the first scripture we're reading in the of the the, evening tonight. Can we just stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word? And let's read what it, read, let's read what it says together in, Romans chapter 12. Ready? Let's read. Just as our bodies have many parts, and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out as with much faith as God has given you. Now this continues to go on. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:32]: It says, If you're a teacher, teach, right? If you're a server, serve, right? If you're, you know, have different kinds of gifts. And it's saying this though, but God has given each of us, right? Let's say each of us Certain gifts. Right? It hasn't given you all the gifts. You just give certain ones. And so there's areas in your life that naturally you and I are given an ability that we can excel. That maybe in some areas, you'll be better than someone else and someone else will be better than you in some area. Right? But here's the the good news, is that God made you to thrive somewhere. So before you're seated, turn to your neighbor and just tell them, Hey, I'm so glad God made you to thrive somewhere. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:18]: Right? Different by design, not just laziness, right? Or conscientiousness or DNA, right? Now, you know, I I know we we started by kinda looking at a physical area, right? But you know, sometimes, you know, there's other areas that that happen. Right? We said that some of it's personality, some of it's like people skills. Right? If you're an introvert and highly organized, you probably don't wanna choose to make your living that, you know, in an area that's really outgoing and creative all the time. You probably don't wanna be a a musician and and being on the stage. Right? You probably don't wanna be the, the person that you have to get up in front of people all the time. But you can learn skills that will help you, right? You can learn skills. It's not saying that you cannot learn skills, but sometimes you have to be careful, not just the area that you develop, but sometimes the pace at which you go into certain areas. I remember, we had a brother in the church a while back that had a great heart, godly man, husband, father, good guy, really good guy, but a little bit awkward, right? A little bit awkward socially, and he wanted to become a financial planner. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:40]: Now, he may have been great in all the stock research and picking financial winners and that to be honest, I I don't know. But I remember praying with him and and talking with him, and I remember him going on all of these interviews, to be hired by these, you know, financial companies. And it's not the fact that he's destined to never be a financial planner by design, But the the issue is that he he wasn't getting picked up because the jump he was trying to make was too big of a jump at the time. For instance, the people who research this stuff say that the best kind of change that you make in a habit is something that challenges you like about 4%. Four % more than what you're doing. And because, you know why? Because it's enough of a challenge that you just don't automatically do it, but it's not so hard of a challenge that it requires everything within you every single day. Right? And so, the thing is that for him, instead of trying to be they call that the Goldilocks slot, by the way, because it's not too much, not too little, it's just right. Right? So you wanna get to the just right spot. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:59]: Now the thing is that instead of him just trying to go straight from where he was, basically, a blue collar job to a white collar job, basically, to making a jump that he had no professional background in in financial products like that, neither did he have the the sales aspect of the thing. But you know what could have been, a thing that he could have done? He could have started working at an insurance company, trying to get in a in a starter position where maybe you're working, in administration things and you learn about the business. And or maybe we could say he could have started by just getting a kind of introductory sales job, where you have to put yourself out. He could have helped himself by saying, I'm gonna learn how to to speak better. I'm gonna learn how to take some skills. I'm gonna learn how to pronounce my words, enunciate better. And so all of those things, if he had just started in those areas and built some foundation, he could have easily gone from where he was to the next step, just not all in one jump. Right? Does that make sense? And so sometimes the issue isn't that you're not destined for this thing, but sometimes it's, you know, we we cannot jump from one one floor or two, like like a giant floor all at once. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:30]: Right? We can't develop all in one time. And so because especially from where he's starting. Now sometimes, the greatest thing we have to be great at everything to succeed in life, in relationships or ministries, we think is I gotta I gotta balance out all my weak points. How many of you guys know that you have weak points? Okay. Great. Great. It's good to be reflective knowing that you have weak points, but the thing is that, you know, the reality is sometimes your weak points get surfaced all the time. Right? You ever see somebody like that? Right? I I I, I I did, I was at an event, and I had to go up in front of, after my friend, and he was singing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:11]: And it's like I've heard him sing. I don't know how many times. I heard him sing forever, but like, and he has a good voice. But that day was, like, something, like, was amazing. I I when I got up, I said, well, how many of you guys ever feel jealous that you don't sing as good as somebody else? I just felt like that. Right? I I felt like I saw my my weakness. I'm not a singer, but the thing is, man, it's like somebody is so good at that. If I if I had a pastor that's like, man, he's like selling out like a speaking engagement. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:39]: I probably would feel the same way. Right? But all of us, we have certain areas that, you know, you feel like, wow, I I need to grow in this area. I need to grow in this area. But to be honest, you know, the reality is that what makes you successful is not working on all your weak spots, it's working on your strong points. Because the thing that will make you great in something, it's not by just shoring up all your weaknesses, it's getting your strengths to become over, over above and beyond. And so sometimes, what you need to remember is God has given us different gifts for doing what? Certain things well. So rather than just saying, I just show up all my stuff and I can do everything mediocre. He's saying, Be able to do certain things well. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:32]: Be able to do certain things well. And he says it like this that maybe the the way that we can think of it, and I had mentioned running, like El Gerhude's running, that he says it like this in Hebrews twelve:one, Therefore, since we are surrounded let's read this together. This is a great verse. I love this verse. Ready? Let's read. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. So let's stop up here, right? So we talked about sometimes, it's breaking bad habits, right? And so we see it's stripping off sin that weighs us down, right? And so that trips us up and all of those things. Things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:18]: But then he says this. Let's read that last sentence together. Ready? Begin. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Now the thing is that your race and my race may be different, and you need to run your race, right? And guess what? God is not going to make you run a race where He gives you no ability to run. He has given you abilities to run-in the places where He wants you to run your race. You are structured around that. You are designed for that. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:56]: So, if you want to figure out where you are, what's the strength for me? To be honest, sometimes we don't realize our strengths because we think everybody can do it. But that's not the case, right? Like if the person who sings well, they probably think, Ah, you can you can, you know, I'm not that special, anybody can sing. But can everybody sing? Believe me, I know not everybody can sing. I hear it. No, I'm just kidding, I'm just joking. But you know, the thing is because every can everybody, like, run fast? No, not everybody can run fast, right? Can could I make it in the NBA? You can be anything in this world. Like, you know, you're smoking dope if you think I can be in the NBA. This is, this is, I cannot be in the NBA. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:39]: I wasn't made to be a runner, a player in the NBA. So, sometimes this is what you, we minimize is the thing that you actually, it comes easily to you. Sometimes the aspect that you need to work hard in is an area that it comes easy to you. It doesn't mean that because it becomes easy, I don't give any attention to it. Sometimes it's the sign that you work hard in that area because you will largely excel in that area. Another thing that you could think about is that maybe we need to focus on I'm gonna give you a few things that to think about, where you might be able to focus your efforts. What feels like fun to you but work to others? Right? Do you guys ever think about stuff like that? I hate doing financial stuff, right? I hate doing financial stuff. I majored in accounting in business in college until I hit the intermediate accounting and I did taxes and all those things, and doing all these worksheets, and I just hated it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:52]: And then I switched to business. So when we had a friend and she was on staff, and I don't know why we're talking about balancing your checkbook. How many of you guys balance your checkbook every month? How many of you that's the last thing you think about, right? I know, okay, I see some heads nodding, and some of them worked in the bank. I'm not going to say who. No, but like, but here's the thing. But she would say this, she would say, You know, when I balance my checkbook, I feel joy. And I said: I think you must be feeling sick. You know, like, because to me that would be the last thing in the world, right? But for her, doing this kind of thing brought joy. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:38]: Guess what she did as a job? Accounting. And it came naturally to her. I was making myself do accounting because I thought it would give me a good career. But it wasn't how I was wired. Maybe another thing you could say is, Where do I lose track of time? You guys ever hit that state where he goes like, Man, everything is just flowing? You get that flow state, and it's like, man, you just you just feel like you're on. You know, you just feel like everything's clicking together. That sometimes you're doing, and then everything else fades away. Is there something that you do when you do it? It's maybe not always that easy, but you go like, man, I I feel it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:22]: It's clicking. Sometimes that's the place. Maybe the other thing you can think about is where do I go that I get greater returns for my effort than other people? Right? You ever see people like that in school, that they study for ten minutes and they get straight A's, right? And you, you study, study, study, study, and in a certain class, right? And so, if you're struggling with all of these things, you know, in physics, in calculus, in all the engineering classes, well maybe, maybe engineering is not for you, right? So the thing is, not everybody is meant to be an engineer, because sometimes in college they call those classes weirder classes. And it's not to be mean and say, You know what? That you're just not good enough. It's saying this, you know what? If you struggle in this class at this level, all all that it takes that much energy, maybe there's a different course for you. Maybe there's a different field for you. Right? Because you're trying your hardest, but it's still that way. Now some of you have been in that place. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:40]: How many of you have also heard the saying that the old saying that a chain is only as strong as its what? Weakest link. Right? So some of us know this is a TV show that came back on the weakest link and all that. But but you know, the idea is that there's a a system or a person, you know, you're only a team. Right? You're only as strong as your weakest point. Right? And the scriptures talk about that in in several ways where, you know, we emphasize wisdom and character and strengthening our weaknesses and and being honorable, all of those kinds of things. And as we build our lives this year, you know, we need to grow in habits and put in place things that we are made to be strong, right? That you're made to be strong. Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor and say, you're made to be strong. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:24]: You're made to be strong. Yep. But you're not strong in every area, right? You're not strong in every area. And we say the whole point is not to be strong in every area or just all work on your weak points, but it doesn't mean we ignore all of our weak points. Right? It doesn't mean that we ignore all of our weak points because not everything can be a strong point, but it doesn't mean when you ignore all of these because there's there's a scripture in Ecclesiastes that speaks about a principle. Ecclesiastes ten:one says it like this, As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink, so a little bit of foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor. Now, you know, the thing is that what is this really talking about? Right? It's saying that you could have this using an illustration. It's saying you could have this beautiful bottle of perfume. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:20]: It's powerful. It's fragrant. It's desirable. It's probably expensive, but it can go bad. Right? How does it go bad in this thing? It attracted flies because it's so strong in its fragrance, but what happened? The fly goes in the bottle somehow, the container, and what happens? Yeah. Maki, the thing dies in there and then it starts to rot, and so this just starts to sink. So all of a sudden, it's saying this, so now this is how it's explaining the illustration. So a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:55]: In other words, wisdom and honors are your strong point, right? Wisdom and honor are your strong point. But what's a spoiler? Foolishness. You see, foolishness can tear down all that wisdom and honor can build. And so, it's illustrating the fact that all of us have a weak link, all of us have things that if left unattended, it's a spoiler. So I want to use this kind of illustration with something that maybe I know we don't, we use talking about the chain and a and a weak link, and and it's only one dimension. So I wanna kinda talk about something that has more dimensions. And so let's look in terms of a barrel. You know, like a barrel that, we probably don't see them a whole lot around here, but like this is a barrel. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:45]: Right? So if you've ever seen a barrel that it's not made from one piece of wood, but it's made of many. Right? Made of many little planks, My wife, you know, in Sapporo, there's a Sapporo beer factory and they used to have all these barrels and she really wanted one, not because she drank beer. She doesn't drink at all, but she just liked the barrel to put in the corner and you know, as a decoration, and we still have it. Right? But the thing is that, it's many different pieces of wood. You usually use a very solid wood like oak or whatever it is, but it's many pieces. Now if we were to take that barrel and take the top off and add water in it, it could hold water. Right? Because it's it's designed for that. It's designed to to hold, and it's it's molded together all these many planks of wood. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:38]: But what if the problem was, the problem was is that not every plank is the same height. If not every plank is the same height, then you get a different problem. That what you will have is, it cannot store all that it's capable of. Why? Because there's a spill point. The spill point is the shortest plank, right? You see, sometimes, this illustration that the the Ecclesiastes is talking about is saying, Yeah. You have great strengths, but the problem isn't that you don't have great strengths. The problem is foolishness is calling the spillage. In this case, you know, you could say the same thing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:31]: You could say, you look at this weak point, is that sometimes God is bringing blessing in your life. God gives you great abilities in your life, but unless you attend to the weak link, you'll never be able to rise to the place that you're supposed to. Right? So you could have somebody who is, you know, really talented, like a great they're great technical person. They can figure out anything that they're they're, you know, they you give them a manual, they learn it. You you take them through a a science course, they got it. You know, you teach them, you know, this this kind of aspect of, chemistry, they they learn it or whatever it is. But that when being hired by an an engineering firm, they cannot work under authority. Guess what's going to happen? What limits them is this area, right? And so, the issue is they are not saying you don't know your stuff. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:35]: You just cannot work on the team. That's the problem. And so this is an area sometimes that you have to develop. And so this is an aspect that balances the fact that you focus on your strengths, but you have to attend to the places where you leak, right? You have to attend to your places when you leak. Even when you think about it in terms of relationships, you think about it in terms of marriage, that all of us when you got married or you started dating your spouse, they had great areas of strength, and generally, I'm guessing you were attracted to that. Right? You're attracted. Wow. They're so organized, and they're so thorough, and this is the opposite of me, and you go like, that's so wonderful. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:24]: And then later on, after a few years, you think, man, they're so crazy rule bound. Right? You think like that. Or maybe you start thinking, oh, this person is so creative, so, you outgoing, so spontaneous, and then you think like, brother, I cannot plan a thing in his life. Right? And the thing is that, it's not saying that you don't have great strengths, but sometimes what's the area, it's like you just have one area, or you have a couple areas that you need to work on. How do you know where that place is? I think maybe sometimes you just have to ask what's the low point? That low point is you can think in terms of this, What's your greatest pain point in your life? Is it a greatest pain point in your life that this is the same area that always comes up in relationships? Sometimes, this is the same area that comes up in job reviews. Sometimes that you work six jobs. If you work six jobs and it's all the same kind of jobs, but all of them had horrible people, all of them was a a horrible work environment, none of them knew what they were doing, but they are different companies, what's the one thing that's in common? You. Maybe your weak point is you don't know how to work with people, Right? Maybe the weak point is sometimes we become too combative or too, you know, whatever the case, but like what's your greatest pain point in your life? Where do you feel that you are always tripping up? Right? So that's the issue, is that you can develop great strengths, but sometimes you have to attend to those things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:11]: I love what second Corinthians says. Second Corinthians twelve:nine says it like this, Each time he said What does it say? Let's read that. My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, weakness, so that the power of Christ can work through me. You know, I I had mentioned that I'm not a math guy. Right? And I remember in college that, I had to take calculus, to graduate. I had to take it for my major. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:48]: Even though as a business major, you still had to take calculus. And you know, my friend at the time and my girlfriend at the time, she was a she was a kind of she took calculus in high school and didn't even have to study and and test it out in college and the whole thing. And you guys ever like if anybody struggle with math and then somebody who's the math whiz help you, and they say say they look at yourself, they go, oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let me help you. Let me You just gotta do them like this. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:15]: And then you go like, but that's not how the book says to do them. Right? And I get I used to get so frustrated. And and it just was crazy. And I I flunked in the class before, and then I became a believer. And when I became a believer, I just said to God, God, I struggle in this area, but I really need your help. I just really need you. I can't do this. You gotta help me in this area. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:41]: Area. And you know, the thing is, I struggled, but when I passed, when I when I finished the class, I got an A in the class. Don't ask me to do calculus today. Ask Anela. She can probably still do. It. But the thing is that, you know what? In my weakness, god somehow showed his strength. When you confess, this is my weakness, god, can you help me? What is his promise? My grace will be sufficient for you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:13]: Does it mean that I majored in math? Absolutely not. But it allowed me to get through what I needed to do. And so, it's not in your notes, but I love what it says to Philippians four:thirteen, right? It says, I can do what? All things through Christ who gives me strength. I just can give you one last point, is that, you know, sometimes when you're in the midst of doing things that, and you're on this role, and you're developing habits, you get good. You get good at stuff. The author of the book that we were talking, a lot of these concepts come from his book, not tonight, but a lot of them, came from the book, is that James Clear wrote this that he he used to be a baseball player. Right? And but when his career ended as a baseball player, he wanted to take up another sport. And so he is looking at something, what what's something I can do, and there was a gym nearby where he was that did Olympic lifting. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:16]: Now, we're not talking power lifting, we're not talking bodybuilding, but Olympic lifting is totally different, right? There's like, clean and jerk and the snatch. It's it's it's a lot of speed. Obviously, you need strength, power, flexibility, all of those things, but technique is huge. Technique is huge. It's a very different sport. And so, one day, an elite, you know, Olympian, to be honest, in weightlifting came by. He was a coach and had coached other Olympians. And so, the author went up, introduced himself, and asked some questions, you know, like techniques and all these things. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:52]: And then he got down to this point and he said this, coach, what can I just ask you this? What's the difference between the ones who are the best athletes and everybody else? And you know, some of the answers was, you know, that you would expect, Oh, genetics, right? You know, sometimes it's it's hard work, right? Sometimes it's talent, sometimes it's luck. But then what surprised him was when the coach said, At some point though, at some point, it's who can handle the boredom of training every day doing the same lifts over and over. Because he's saying that the greatest threat to success warrior, and when they would go to battle, right, he would win. But then it came in that one portion where it says, In the spring, when all kings go to battle, David stayed home. And that's where he got into his greatest failures because of boredom. And so, you know, it's not about getting amped. It's not about just finding your passion. It's not about like you gotta just really want it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:14]: Sometimes when you hit a certain point, everybody likes motivation, right? How many of you, you love your job in general, but how many times you're bored, right? I think everybody, right? Everybody has things like that. Everyone lacks motivation at times. Everyone gets bored at times. Is that true? Retind to your neighbor and says, all of us get bored sometimes. Not right now. Not right now. No, I'll be kidding. But you know the thing is, when you look at athletes, right? It's not that Michael Jordan always loved getting up at 5AM. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:58]: He just did it. Right? It's not like he loved never skipping a workout in the off season. He just did it. And he had a group called the the Breakfast Club, Jordan with Scottie Pippen and Rob Ron Harper that they they had this routine. They would work out in the morning before team practice. Before the grind, they would work out. And over the years, it gave him an edge, endurance, strength, right? And he's already a super competitive guy, right? He's the last to leave and the first to show up. And Michael Jordan's greatness didn't come from talent. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:38]: He wasn't that great of a player. He was cut from his high school basketball team. He wasn't that great in college. But it's his hard work that got him through. And guess what? There are times. It's boring. And so, it came from a willingness to push through boredom, repetition, and exhaustion. And so, there are people who have maybe more natural talent, arguably, but it was his capacity to get through boredom that made him great. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:12]: Because as habits become more routine, they often become less interesting and less satisfying because you just get a little bored. But anybody can work when they're motivated. But can you do it when it's boring? You know, Galatians six:nine says it like this. Can we read this together? It says it like this. Let's read: So let's not get tired of doing what is good. Because at just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing, when? If we don't give up. Right? And so he says, Let's not get tired. There's this principle that you gotta keep going even when you don't feel like it. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:53]: We're not going to be mastered just by our feelings. You know, Humphrey Bogart once defined a professional as a person who did a better job when he didn't feel like it. And a Christian needs to do what God calls him to do even when he doesn't feel like it. Because there's a deeper thing, right? You know, Moses was known in the scripture as probably, like, he's the principal figure in the Old Testament, right? Now, it says this about Moses that, God says about Moses. God says this about Moses. He says, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions. I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:44]: He is, let's read that last line together, He is faithful in all my house. Now, you know, Moses wasn't always a great prophet and a great teacher and a great leader. Right? He started the first forty years being groomed royal family, but he had a falling out, right? He wanted to rescue Jews, he had a heart, he knew that was his ethnic background, he kills the guy, and so he runs off. And what happens to him the next forty years is he's a shepherd of sheep for the next forty years in the mountains around Sinai. And why does God choose Moses? It doesn't tell us exactly, but I wonder if God knew that Moses would be faithful in his house with the children of Israel because he was faithful for forty years, leading sheep when no one was watching. You see, I think he did it when it was exciting and he did it when it was boring. And Eugene Peterson, who's a pastor, he's since passed away about seven years ago now, theologian, author, wrote over 30 books including The Message translation. He worked thirty years on The Message translation. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:19]: And but he wrote also a book, one of his more well known books called A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. And in it, he says this, he says, One aspect of the world that I've been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently. There's little enthusiasms for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. And what he's saying is sometimes obedience is in the long moments where you get bored at times. But that is where you develop holiness. And you know the thing is that in order to be excellent at something, it means that the things, the basics, just going to be ingrained in you, and then you will see a little thing that other people cannot see. But it takes time, right? They say that, you know that there's huge things in flight, you know, this week. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:39]: Right? There's a couple of plane crashes. But you know they say that radar, tower control people, aviation what is it again? Air traffic control. Thank you. What the heck am I saying? I don't even have words. So air traffic controllers that seasoned air traffic controllers can see in the in the in the Gulf War, they said, that they could see on the screen something that's going at the same speed, and the same shape, and the same look in general on on the screen that would indicate that's a friendly, that's their own plane, that they could tell when it was an enemy plane. Just they don't even know why they can tell. They can just tell because they've done it so often that they said it was at one point that this guy knew that that was an enemy missile that was being shot toward the ship, but because he'd done it so many times, was able to distinguish. And and so Clear says in his book, the secret to getting results is just never to stop making improvements on keeping growing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:53]: Right? But you gotta go through those seasons that that is not exciting. And you got to be faithful when it gets boring, right? Because until that point, you never get to the place that sometimes where you break through. You know, he ends his book with some amazing statements. I love what he ends his book. He says, It is remarkable what you can build, he says, if you do not stop. Because if you don't stop, your business, you can, imagine the business you can build if you don't stop working. Imagine the body you can build if you don't stop training. Imagine the knowledge you can build if you don't stop learning. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:44]: Imagine the fortune you can build if you don't start saving. Imagine the friendships you can build if you don't stop caring. I would add a couple others. Imagine the faith you can build if you don't stop seeking God. Imagine the character you can build if you don't stop growing and changing. Imagine the impact you can build if you don't stop serving and believing. Because it's these habits, some of them spiritual habits and spiritual disciplines, some of them lifestyle habits and lifestyle disciplines, some of them and lifestyle disciplines, some of them professional habits and professional disciplines. But we need those things to grow in order for us to grow. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:31]: Make sense? And sometimes where you place that, it makes all the difference in the world. Hey, let's bow our heads. We'll close in a word of prayer. Father, I'm guessing that some of us that when we talk about change and growth and habits, we're often thinking about those things that have been pain points in our life. You know, but it's, you know, that getting my diet under control, getting my spending under control, Lord. But sometimes there are things in relationships that we need to deal with a habit. And it's the biggest pain point maybe in our life. Sometimes it is a personal thing that we do, Lord, that it causes rift in both our personal life and sometimes it causes rift in professional life because but it is a low point. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:33]: It is a low point that shows itself in different things. Would you shine your light in our life that not just the things that we change because we want to look better or we want to have better health or we want to, you know, do better, but the things that, Lord, really that sometimes I don't really see that that's what's holding me back. Would You put Your finger on that? Would you help us to know? And Lord, some of us that we are thinking and dreaming about what we want to do, and what you are calling us to do in the future for an occupation, a calling in that direction. Sometimes, Lord, it's a ministry thing. Sometimes, Lord, it's a a thing to to make an impact and a change in the world. And sometimes, Lord, I think we discount that it's not something that we wanna work in all these other areas, but but sometimes we really need to excel in something. So would you show us, Lord, if there's an area that we just really need to excel in? Remind us, Lord, if it's an area where it seems to come easy, and so I don't discipline. But Lord, that's the very thing I need, to take it to the level of greatness. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:52]: Father, that sometimes there's a thing that, man, I do lose track of time because sometimes it's just a flow, but Lord, I need to excel in that place. Would You lead Your people? Because Lord, thank You that You're not just telling us, work on our weakness, that you are asking us and created us to do certain things well. Father, I pray each of my brothers and sisters would see those things and work toward them. And, Lord, at the same time, we would see the areas of our low plank and shore up that one area because we don't want our perfume to stink. Father, thank You for Your lead. Thank You for Your guidance. Thank You for our time together. Thank You for this series. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:45]: Father, I pray that all of us would grow and all of us can change and Father, all of us want to in Christ Jesus. In Jesus' name, God's people say, Amen? Amen. Hey, God bless you guys. Thanks.