1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 I love the 4th of July. 2 00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:09,080 Anybody with me? 3 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,680 It means it's summertime, who likes summer? 4 00:00:16,900 --> 00:00:21,400 I like it less now that my kids are at home all summer. 5 00:00:24,300 --> 00:00:27,300 I'm joking, I love spending time with my kids. 6 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:29,740 And so I love that about it. 7 00:00:29,740 --> 00:00:34,740 It means a few days off, it means food and family. 8 00:00:35,420 --> 00:00:37,860 I like to smoke meat. 9 00:00:37,860 --> 00:00:42,860 And the only thing bad is preacher can't smoke is meat, amen. 10 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:45,400 And so that's what we do. 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,500 And I just love getting together with people. 12 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:49,640 I love spending time with my church. 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:51,640 I'm looking forward to the picnic today. 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,120 It's 4th of July, it's about all that stuff. 15 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,060 But more importantly, it's about our nation. 16 00:01:01,620 --> 00:01:05,380 It's about the declaration of independence 17 00:01:05,380 --> 00:01:09,380 that our founders made 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,440 against the tyranny that they were experiencing from England. 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,580 And we are blessed as a nation, aren't we? 20 00:01:18,580 --> 00:01:23,580 We have historically had an incredible amount of freedom. 21 00:01:23,620 --> 00:01:24,960 I'm thankful for freedom. 22 00:01:24,960 --> 00:01:29,160 Freedom allows us to do what we're doing here today. 23 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,860 I'm thankful for people that paid the price throughout history 24 00:01:31,860 --> 00:01:34,900 so that we can do what we're doing here today. 25 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:37,460 I believe what we're doing here today is 26 00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:40,900 among the most important things we can do, amen. 27 00:01:40,900 --> 00:01:45,340 And to worship our God as the word of God 28 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,340 tells us to the freedom of conscience we have 29 00:01:50,340 --> 00:01:52,940 to worship him the way that he's told us to. 30 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:56,540 And our country in many ways has been a force for good 31 00:01:56,540 --> 00:01:58,700 in so many ways around the world. 32 00:01:58,700 --> 00:02:02,180 Not that we're perfect, but God has blessed our country 33 00:02:02,180 --> 00:02:06,840 and we ought to be thankful for him for what we have. 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:08,240 I love our country. 35 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:10,840 Do you love it? 36 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:11,680 I hope you do. 37 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:17,060 For some reason, that feels out of style. 38 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,500 But I think it's right to be patriotic. 39 00:02:22,500 --> 00:02:24,160 I don't care what the styles are. 40 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:28,940 So I love our country and I believe God has blessed our 41 00:02:28,940 --> 00:02:29,760 country. 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,640 But as I think about where we are as a nation today, 43 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:39,040 I wonder if we're really experiencing a growing 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,080 and thriving freedom today. 45 00:02:41,940 --> 00:02:44,340 Is freedom growing or declining? 46 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:47,020 Yeah. 47 00:02:47,020 --> 00:02:50,420 I believe the answer is it's declining. 48 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:53,560 Are we headed in the right direction as a nation? 49 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:55,700 I believe the answer to that is no. 50 00:02:55,700 --> 00:02:58,960 And I'm not saying that because of any particular 51 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,960 elected official that isn't a statement about political party. 52 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,980 I believe the objective answer on what is going on 53 00:03:13,980 --> 00:03:16,080 our country and whether there's, if we're going in the 54 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,520 right direction, I believe the objective answer is no. 55 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,760 There's a problem. 56 00:03:22,020 --> 00:03:23,520 There's a problem. 57 00:03:24,860 --> 00:03:27,600 Our country is in a mess. 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,600 Relationally, culturally, financially, morally, 59 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,100 spiritually, politically. 60 00:03:40,380 --> 00:03:41,380 It's in a mess. 61 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,520 Now as an individual citizen, I can only affect what I can 62 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:48,520 affect. 63 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:49,680 I'm a part of my neighborhood. 64 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,820 I'm a part of my city, my church, my family. 65 00:03:53,820 --> 00:03:56,220 I can do things to make a difference in my sphere of 66 00:03:56,220 --> 00:03:57,060 influence. 67 00:03:57,060 --> 00:03:58,600 Is that true for you? 68 00:03:58,600 --> 00:03:59,800 We can't affect everything. 69 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,300 We can affect something, right? 70 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,140 So that being said, I pose this question for all of us. 71 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:11,640 What can we as individual citizens who believe in the 72 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,380 Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe that many of us, 73 00:04:14,380 --> 00:04:17,340 most of us in the room today, know Jesus Christ 74 00:04:17,340 --> 00:04:19,420 as a savior, and if you don't, I'm going to make it very 75 00:04:19,420 --> 00:04:21,180 clear how you can know him as savior. 76 00:04:21,180 --> 00:04:24,420 It's the most important decision you could make. 77 00:04:24,420 --> 00:04:25,460 You must make. 78 00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:32,060 But as a people, as citizens who do believe in Jesus Christ, 79 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:38,200 what can we do to play our part in helping to solve the 80 00:04:38,740 --> 00:04:40,980 problems that face our nation? 81 00:04:40,980 --> 00:04:43,040 Now, I have good news today. 82 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:47,140 You guys look really down as I'm saying this, right? 83 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:49,880 You guys are like, man, Debbie Downer, 84 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:51,380 what are you talking about? 85 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,780 You can play a part in affecting good and lasting change 86 00:04:56,780 --> 00:04:57,720 in our country. 87 00:05:00,620 --> 00:05:01,460 No, you. 88 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:03,500 You can't. 89 00:05:03,500 --> 00:05:04,420 I can too. 90 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:12,160 We can make a difference in our family, in our schools, 91 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:13,100 and in our neighborhoods. 92 00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:17,240 We can help be the answer to these problems together. 93 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,420 And in fact, let me say it more urgently and more strongly 94 00:05:21,420 --> 00:05:22,980 and more passionately. 95 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:25,280 We must do our part. 96 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,780 We must do our part to answer the cultural and political 97 00:05:30,780 --> 00:05:35,320 and relational and financial and moral and fundamentally 98 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,700 spiritual problems that we have in our country. 99 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:39,760 We have to do it. 100 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:44,760 I normally preach verse by verse through the scripture. 101 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:53,340 If you were here last week, you heard the 23rd sermon 102 00:05:53,340 --> 00:05:55,300 in the book of Hebrews. 103 00:05:55,300 --> 00:05:57,180 We've gone verse by verse through Hebrews 104 00:05:57,180 --> 00:06:01,840 and we've got another 15 or 20 to go, so it should be fun. 105 00:06:03,220 --> 00:06:05,720 But in this particular month of July, 106 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:10,180 I wanna talk about maybe the most important thing 107 00:06:10,180 --> 00:06:14,560 I've brought to you since I've been your pastor. 108 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,460 It is not a change in vision of what the church, 109 00:06:17,460 --> 00:06:19,020 you know, the church was started, 110 00:06:19,020 --> 00:06:22,400 this church was planted in 1953. 111 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,840 And I am thankful for Pastor Milleone, 112 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:29,240 who planted this church and gave more than 50 years 113 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,740 of his life to pastoring this church. 114 00:06:31,740 --> 00:06:35,040 And Pastor Milleone was known as a soul winner. 115 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,520 He led people to Jesus and he was a man 116 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,720 that preached the gospel. 117 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,460 And then David Schaefer came after him, 118 00:06:44,460 --> 00:06:47,360 another man, phenomenal preacher, 119 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,420 phenomenal exposer of God's word, 120 00:06:50,420 --> 00:06:54,240 loved, loves God's word, is still working in ministry 121 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,040 and still doing great commission ministry today. 122 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,800 Brother Mike Spahn continued that tradition, 123 00:07:01,100 --> 00:07:02,840 and I mean tradition in the good way 124 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:04,140 of preaching the word of God 125 00:07:04,140 --> 00:07:07,380 and winning people to Jesus and discipling them. 126 00:07:07,380 --> 00:07:09,280 And so the vision really hasn't changed, 127 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:12,200 but I'm gonna articulate the vision 128 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,320 and how we're gonna wrap our arms around this vision 129 00:07:17,660 --> 00:07:20,060 in these five sermons in the month of July. 130 00:07:20,060 --> 00:07:21,240 And we'll get back to Hebrews 131 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,140 when we get back to it in August. 132 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:25,500 And so if you're here today and you're like, 133 00:07:25,500 --> 00:07:27,580 man, this is a different kind of message, 134 00:07:27,580 --> 00:07:29,480 yeah, it's gonna be a little bit different. 135 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,560 It's called a topical message. 136 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,260 But I think it's an urgent message. 137 00:07:34,260 --> 00:07:37,320 And I think after these five weeks, 138 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,640 you're gonna understand not only what our mission is, 139 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:41,400 but how we're gonna do it here. 140 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:44,280 We have to do it. 141 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:47,640 We have to. 142 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:50,420 We don't have an option. 143 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,000 There's so much at stake. 144 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:55,240 Do you feel it? 145 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:58,320 I hope you do. 146 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:03,320 How will we respond to the problem in our nation, 147 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:04,800 to the problem in our county, 148 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,320 to the problem in our communities, 149 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,600 to the problem in our families? 150 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,520 We have no choice as believing citizens, 151 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:13,000 but to address this problem. 152 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,760 And if we don't understand the problem 153 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:17,040 and God's solution to the problem, 154 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:18,440 we'll never address the issue. 155 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,640 And so that's the focus I wanna have today. 156 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,640 Our believing, every believing citizen 157 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,880 must respond to our problem as a nation 158 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,800 by understanding three solutions to our problem. 159 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,080 The first solution is the past and declining solution. 160 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,000 The past and declining solution. 161 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,240 And that's God's answer to some of these problems 162 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,540 that are inherent in human beings with three institutions. 163 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:46,920 God has instituted three things 164 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,560 over the course of history that have dealt with 165 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:53,520 the problem of sin and the problem of evil in our world. 166 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,020 The first institution I wanna be referring to today 167 00:08:56,020 --> 00:08:58,280 is marriage and family. 168 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,600 In Genesis one, God made man in his own image. 169 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,200 When I say man, I am including humanity in that. 170 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,800 He made man and woman in his own image. 171 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,760 It says in Genesis one, 26, it says, 172 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,520 in God said, let us make man in our image 173 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,720 after our likeness and let them have dominion 174 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,240 over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air 175 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,520 and over the cattle and over all the earth, 176 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,960 over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 177 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,680 He made man, as it says here, 178 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,000 to have dominion over everything. 179 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,160 And he made man in his own image. 180 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,720 It doesn't mean that God has a body, 181 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:45,760 God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, 182 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:46,860 our triune. 183 00:09:46,860 --> 00:09:51,240 Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us when he came, 184 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:52,880 but God himself is spirit. 185 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:54,360 And the Bible says those that worship him, 186 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,160 worship him in spirit and in truth. 187 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,120 And so God made man in his own image. 188 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:00,760 It did not mean that he made him with, 189 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,400 he's not in his own image in the sense that he has a body. 190 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,000 He has made in God's image in the sense that he is, 191 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,880 he has a person, he has personhood. 192 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,040 He has relationship, he has intellect. 193 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,920 Man is moral, man is moral, man is spiritual, 194 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:20,000 man is body, soul and spirit. 195 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,080 And so we are made in God's image 196 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,480 and every person has intrinsic value 197 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,680 more than the chicken we're gonna eat this afternoon. 198 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,320 And all God's Baptist said, amen, right? 199 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,880 We are not just, we are not just the end 200 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,280 of natural processes. 201 00:10:46,580 --> 00:10:48,420 We are not meat machines. 202 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:51,800 We're not moist robots. 203 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,980 That's not what we are. 204 00:10:53,980 --> 00:10:56,580 God made man in his own image. 205 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:01,560 And it says that God also made man, male and female 206 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:06,080 and physically created man and woman to procreate. 207 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,600 In Genesis 1.27 it says, 208 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,200 and so God made man in his own image 209 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,640 and the image of God created he, him, 210 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,280 male and female created he, them. 211 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,760 And God blessed them and said unto them, 212 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,160 be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth 213 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,800 and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea 214 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,720 and over the foul of the air and over every living thing 215 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,600 that moveeth upon the earth. 216 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,960 That the means that God, this means that God's plan 217 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,840 for every human being created after Adam 218 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,360 is to be connected to somebody else. 219 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,640 God's plan for the planet was that it would be filled 220 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,000 with human beings that start out in families 221 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:46,360 connected to a mom and a dad. 222 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,360 Do you agree with that? 223 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,360 It was God's idea to steward kids to parents. 224 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:57,360 A mom and a dad. 225 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,360 It was God's plan that parents steward 226 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,360 the upbringing of their children. 227 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,360 First and foremost, this was to be done 228 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,640 in the context of marriage, one man and one woman 229 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,360 for one lifetime. 230 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,920 In Genesis 2.18 it says, and the Lord God said, 231 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,520 it is not good that man should be alone, 232 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,520 I will make and help meet for him. 233 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:24,520 The word meet here means appropriate or fitting for him. 234 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,720 And that's exactly what he did. 235 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:28,560 It says in chapter 2 verse 21, 236 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,320 and the Lord God caused his deep sleep to fall on Adam 237 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,360 and he slept and he took one of his ribs 238 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,320 and closed up the flesh instead thereof. 239 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,520 And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man 240 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,920 made he a woman and brought her unto the man. 241 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,120 And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones 242 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:47,520 and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman 243 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,520 because she was taken out of man. 244 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,920 Therefore, this is really important. 245 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,920 This is some of the first teaching in the Bible 246 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,920 that is apart from just telling them what happened. 247 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,920 The first part was that he said, when I made man, 248 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,920 I made man in my own image. 249 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,920 Here's like when I made man and woman, 250 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,920 the reason I did it the way that I did verse 24, 251 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,920 therefore, because I made man and woman this way, 252 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,920 shall a man leave his father and his mother 253 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,920 and shall cleave unto his wife, 254 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:29,920 and the two shall be one flesh. 255 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:31,920 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, 256 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,920 and were not ashamed. 257 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,920 And it was this institution of marriage 258 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:39,920 that God designed to bring, 259 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,920 designed to be a building block of civil culture. 260 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:49,920 Moms and dads raising kids and stewarding their upbringing. 261 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,920 This institution is God's plan. 262 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,920 Institution number two that God ordained. 263 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,920 The second institution ordained by God 264 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,920 that I want to speak about is human government, human government. 265 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,920 The Bible tells us in Romans 13, this weighty passage 266 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:10,920 on when it comes to speaking about our relationship 267 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,920 with this institution and God's intention for us. 268 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:15,920 Romans 13, one says this, 269 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:19,920 let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. 270 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,920 For there is no power but of God, 271 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,920 the powers that be are ordained of God. 272 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,920 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, 273 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,920 resisteth the ordinance of God. 274 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:32,920 What does that mean? 275 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,920 The powers that are in place were ordained, 276 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,920 they were there because God had a plan 277 00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:40,920 for civilization that there would be government, 278 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:43,920 that there would be hierarchy, that there would be power. 279 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,920 And so if you resist the government 280 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,920 as it submits to God, 281 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:52,920 that's key, 282 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,920 then you're resisting God. 283 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,920 Verse three, for rulers are not a terror to good works 284 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:00,920 but to evil. 285 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:02,920 But thou then not be afraid of the power. 286 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:04,920 Do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same 287 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,920 for he is the minister of God to thee for good. 288 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:09,920 But if thou do not do that which is evil, 289 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,920 be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain. 290 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,920 Anybody ever been driving and in your rear-view mirror 291 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,920 you see red and blue flashing lights 292 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:26,920 and you go, and what do you immediately do? 293 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:30,920 In fact, you lift your leg up off of the accelerator 294 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,920 and you look at your speedometer and go, 295 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:35,920 what's the speed limit? 296 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:37,920 What am I doing wrong? 297 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:42,920 They're there as a terror to bad works, not to good works. 298 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,920 That's God's fundamental thing for them. 299 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,920 Let's see. 300 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:50,920 Verse four, for he is the minister of God to thee for good, 301 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,920 but if thou do what is evil, be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain. 302 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,920 For he is the minister of God a revenger to execute 303 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:58,920 wrath upon him that doeth evil. 304 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:00,920 Wherefore, you must need to be subject not only for wrath, 305 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,920 but also for conscience's sake. 306 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,920 For this cause also pay you tribute, 307 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,920 for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. 308 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,920 Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, 309 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:17,920 custom to who custom is due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. 310 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:19,920 This could be a whole message, 311 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:21,920 so I'm not going to say everything I could say, 312 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:22,920 but I will say this. 313 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,920 We find here that human government is a check against anarchy. 314 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,920 Lawlessness leads to all kinds of negative outcomes. 315 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,920 The government ought to be a check against lawlessness. 316 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,920 We understand here that human government is ordained of God. 317 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,920 This does not mean that God approves of everything that the government or a leader does. 318 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,920 Who agrees with that? 319 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,920 What it does mean is that God has ordained that there be a power that is a check 320 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,920 to the potential evil that exists in the world. 321 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:58,920 We also learn that this human government is subject to God. 322 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:03,920 Our leaders will answer to God for how they handle their duties. 323 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:05,920 We all will, won't we? 324 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,920 We will all answer to God for the stewardship that he gives us. 325 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:12,920 When human government tells its people to do something that goes against God's will then, 326 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,920 it is the duty of those people to disobey. 327 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:20,920 Knowing that there will be ramifications for that obedience or disobedience. 328 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:25,920 The last institution that God ordained is the local New Testament church. 329 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:30,920 Institution number three is the ecclesia, the assembly, the church. 330 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,920 It's the body of Jesus Christ. 331 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:35,920 He is the head. 332 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:37,920 He is the head. 333 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,920 Jesus is greater. 334 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:41,920 You guys agree with that? 335 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,920 He is the head of the church. 336 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,920 What he said is that there are some people who are more or less aware that the Lord 337 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,920 told that he loved and gave himself for the church. 338 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,920 Ephesians tells me that it is a mystery that was previously unrevealed, 339 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:57,920 which is now being revealed. 340 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,920 He says in Ephesians chapter five verse 25, 341 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,920 husbands love your wives even as Christ also has loved the church 342 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,920 and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing 343 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:14,240 church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 344 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,520 but that should be holy and without blemish. 345 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,520 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. 346 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,720 He that loveeth his wife, loveeth himself. 347 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:24,360 That's my life verse, I love that. 348 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:29,680 For we are members of his body, 349 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,120 sorry, sorry, verse 29, 350 00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:33,080 for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, 351 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,280 but nourished it and cherished it, 352 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,560 even as the Lord of the church, 353 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,520 for we are members of his body, of his flesh, 354 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:40,520 and of his bones. 355 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,920 For this cause, does this sound familiar? 356 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,440 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother 357 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:46,960 and cleave unto his wife, 358 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,720 and the two shall be one flesh. 359 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:50,720 This is a great mystery, 360 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,080 but I speak concerning Christ in the church. 361 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,080 Why is a definition of marriage so important 362 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,080 as one man and one woman for one lifetime? 363 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,840 It's because that when God designed marriage, 364 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,620 he had Christ in the church in mind. 365 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,480 That's why it's important. 366 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:10,320 It's not just important 367 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:12,880 because that's how we designed the world for human flourishing. 368 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,520 It's also important because every husband and wife 369 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,960 are a picture of what God wanted to do from eternity past 370 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:24,200 to bring lost sinners to a savior 371 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,460 and to make them one body in the local assembly. 372 00:19:28,460 --> 00:19:29,600 Does that make sense? 373 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,560 God does things on purpose and for a reason. 374 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:39,520 God always had in his plan the redemption 375 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,200 of all who would believe in his son. 376 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,480 He elected to save those who would put their trust in him. 377 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,760 He designed the marriage of man and woman 378 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:50,880 to represent Christ in his assembly. 379 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,680 And it was his plan that this called out assembly 380 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,760 be his body in the world. 381 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,840 Paul told Timothy about that expectation 382 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:00,400 of what the church ought to be 383 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:05,060 in 1 Timothy 3, 14 and 15 where he says this, 384 00:20:05,060 --> 00:20:08,720 these things right eye into thee, Paul says to Timothy, 385 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,160 hoping to come to these shortly. 386 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,720 But if I tarry long that them is know 387 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:16,080 that how the audits to behave thyself in the house of God, 388 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,800 which is the church of the living God, 389 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,360 the pillar and ground of the truth. 390 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:24,880 What we steward in the church, 391 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,880 okay, are God's people and God's word. 392 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,320 That's a big deal. 393 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:37,320 That's a big deal. 394 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,800 So I wanna point out that all three institutions 395 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:48,800 ordained by God are made up of God's people. 396 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:53,800 Three institutions ordained by God are made up of people. 397 00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,100 Have you noticed? 398 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:01,440 Who's in a family? 399 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,200 People, who's in the government? 400 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,360 People, who's the church? 401 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:13,640 People, it's people. 402 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:18,640 In our culture, they're made up of the American people. 403 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,180 So let me ask you a question. 404 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:25,040 To speak to our problem, 405 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,600 how are these institutions faring in America in 2023? 406 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,040 Let's talk about the decline of marriage and family. 407 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,320 All of these institutions are in decline. 408 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,400 The divorce rates are not good. 409 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,120 The amount of people living together 410 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:44,520 and doing married people things 411 00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,920 without marriage commitment is on the rise. 412 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,840 We're trying to redefine what God has already defined 413 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,800 when it comes to marriage and gender. 414 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:55,880 The family is not doing well. 415 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,580 What I'm about to read to you was written back in 1996 416 00:22:00,580 --> 00:22:02,720 and I would submit it hasn't gotten better. 417 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:10,000 Since 1970, this is from the Brookings Institution, 418 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,600 which is a left-leaning organization. 419 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,080 This is what they said back in 1996. 420 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,760 Since 1970, out of wedlock birth rates have soared. 421 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,760 In 1965, 24% of black infants and 3.1% of white infants 422 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,600 were born to single mothers. 423 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:33,600 By 1990, the rates had risen to 64% for black infants 424 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,780 and 18% for whites. 425 00:22:35,780 --> 00:22:37,720 Every year, about one million more children 426 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,440 are born into fatherless families. 427 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,600 If we have learned any policy lesson 428 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,360 over the last 25 years, 429 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:46,800 it is that for children living in single-parent homes, 430 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,440 the odds of living in poverty are great. 431 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,360 The policy implications of the increase 432 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:54,140 in out-of-wedlock births are staggering. 433 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,720 Now, if you are a mom in a single-parent home, 434 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,960 I'm not saying that there's destiny there. 435 00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:06,760 What I am saying is that God designed family to be 436 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,340 children raised by a mom and a dad. 437 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,240 That's God's plan. 438 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:15,600 According to the US Census Bureau, 439 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,440 18.4 million children, one in four, 440 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,880 live without a biological, step, or adoptive father 441 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,480 in the home. 442 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,440 This contributes to poverty, incarceration rates, 443 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,720 behavioral and psychological problems. 444 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,720 Birth rates themselves have been cut in half since 1950. 445 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,720 From 24 births per 1,000 people down to 12 per 1,000 people 446 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,800 in our country, the family's in decline. 447 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,520 Like literally, there are less kids. 448 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,280 The decline in our government. 449 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,240 First institution was marriage and family. 450 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:55,600 What about government? 451 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,960 No matter what side of the aisle that you're on, 452 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,400 an objective look at our government 453 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,760 does not lead to an encouraging view. 454 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:03,120 Corruption is on the rise, 455 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,520 no matter the party affiliation. 456 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:10,520 Spending is out of control, out of control. 457 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,840 The government is growing in size 458 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,640 and infiltrating our lives in more and more intrusive ways. 459 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,000 Are we more free or less free than we were five, 10, 15, 460 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,000 20 years ago? 461 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:23,840 Yeah. 462 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:26,600 What about churches? 463 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,960 Our churches are on the decline. 464 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:34,000 According to the Christian post, 465 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,720 which cited a Gallup poll in May, 466 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,240 church attendance is in decline. 467 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,240 Overall, Gallup found that 31% of America's 468 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,480 attended religious service at a church mosque, 469 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,560 synagogue or temple in the past week, 470 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,200 online or in person, improvement from 30% 471 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,320 who said the same in 2020 and 2022, 472 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,280 as well as the 29% measured in 2021. 473 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,200 The 31% weekly attendance rate remains lower 474 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,000 than the 34% recorded in 2019, the last full year 475 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,600 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic 476 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,320 that led to restrictions on in-person church services 477 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:12,000 and the Ascent of Virtual Church Services. 478 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,280 From 2016 through 2019, 479 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,120 Gallup's church attendance rates registered at 34% 480 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:23,120 dropping to 31% between 2020 and 2023. 481 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:28,680 You know, churches are closing in our country. 482 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,280 In 2019, approximately 3,000 Protestant churches 483 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,840 were started in the US, but 4,500 Protestant churches 484 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:38,760 closed according to estimates from 485 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,400 Nashville-based LifeWay Research. 486 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,840 The Evangelical Research Organization 487 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,680 analyzed congregational information 488 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,080 from 34 denomination in groups, 489 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,640 representing 60% of US Protestant churches 490 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,280 to arrive at the church plant and close their numbers 491 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,560 for 2019. 492 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,960 So many churches, even of the ones that are still here, 493 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:07,280 so many churches are not staying faithful to the Lord, 494 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,760 to His word, to His mission or to His people. 495 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,040 The church is in decline. 496 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,040 Now God has given all three of these institutions to us, 497 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:24,720 and their arse to steward. 498 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,040 Our stewardship is in decline. 499 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,920 This solution, our institutions are in decline. 500 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:35,280 So what's the solution to the decline of our institutions? 501 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,280 If those are solutions to human flourishing, 502 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:40,560 who agrees? 503 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,080 God desired the family to be what the family ought to be 504 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,120 so men could flourish. 505 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:48,120 It's a good gift. 506 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:50,760 God designed government, human government, 507 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:53,320 so that we could flourish. 508 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,760 Who's glad that basically when you're headed home today, 509 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,600 you know that there's not gonna be bands of robbers 510 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,960 attacking you, right? 511 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:01,920 I'm glad for that. 512 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,040 I'm glad that there is a check on evil. 513 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,040 And I'm thankful for the church. 514 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:09,640 God loved and gave them so for it, 515 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:10,800 but it's all in decline. 516 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,780 So what are our solutions? 517 00:27:13,780 --> 00:27:16,020 Well, there's a present and partial solution. 518 00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:20,660 This deals primarily with political engagement. 519 00:27:22,340 --> 00:27:24,420 Part of the solution to our nation's problems 520 00:27:24,420 --> 00:27:26,060 is political engagement. 521 00:27:28,260 --> 00:27:31,020 God has called us to be salt and light in this world. 522 00:27:31,020 --> 00:27:33,700 So how do we make a difference in our world? 523 00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:38,700 I wanna give you a case study in Ohio right now. 524 00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:43,700 Since Roe versus Wade was struck down as unconstitutional 525 00:27:45,020 --> 00:27:49,020 on June 24th, 2022, there's been a flurry of activity 526 00:27:49,020 --> 00:27:51,420 on both the pro-life and the pro-abortionist side 527 00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:53,060 of the debate. 528 00:27:53,060 --> 00:27:55,580 This is because abortion has not been outlawed. 529 00:27:56,980 --> 00:27:59,260 Now that Roe versus Wade has been struck down, 530 00:28:00,340 --> 00:28:02,500 the decision has just been put in the hands 531 00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:05,740 of state lawmakers and therefore the people of the states 532 00:28:05,740 --> 00:28:07,020 in which they reside. 533 00:28:07,020 --> 00:28:10,020 On Monday, June 26th in the courier, 534 00:28:12,020 --> 00:28:16,020 a highly biased editorial masquerading as a news article 535 00:28:17,020 --> 00:28:18,460 was on the front page. 536 00:28:20,020 --> 00:28:22,020 I agree with the first part of the title 537 00:28:22,020 --> 00:28:25,020 of the article which read Ohio is ground zero. 538 00:28:26,020 --> 00:28:30,020 And then it says, this is the part I don't totally agree with, 539 00:28:30,020 --> 00:28:33,020 but some would agree, two elections to decide 540 00:28:33,020 --> 00:28:36,020 if women have reproductive rights, 541 00:28:36,020 --> 00:28:38,020 that's one way of framing the argument. 542 00:28:38,020 --> 00:28:40,020 Of course, I would say there are two elections to decide 543 00:28:40,020 --> 00:28:42,020 if women have the right to end the life of a child 544 00:28:42,020 --> 00:28:43,020 in their womb. 545 00:28:46,020 --> 00:28:48,020 Of course, this is the crux of the issue. 546 00:28:48,020 --> 00:28:51,020 Since it's a baby in the womb, 547 00:28:51,020 --> 00:28:52,020 it's wrong to kill that baby. 548 00:28:56,020 --> 00:28:59,020 On August 8th, there will be a special election 549 00:28:59,020 --> 00:29:01,020 with only one issue on the ballot. 550 00:29:01,020 --> 00:29:04,020 Should state law require that any proposed amendment 551 00:29:04,020 --> 00:29:06,020 to the constitution of the state of Ohio 552 00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:08,020 receive the approval of at least 60% 553 00:29:08,020 --> 00:29:12,020 of eligible voters voting on the proposed amendment. 554 00:29:13,020 --> 00:29:16,020 Now, Ohio's current constitution can be amended 555 00:29:16,020 --> 00:29:19,020 as it stands right now by a simple majority. 556 00:29:21,020 --> 00:29:23,020 That means in the history of Ohio, 557 00:29:23,020 --> 00:29:26,020 our state constitution has been amended 558 00:29:26,020 --> 00:29:29,020 160,000 times more than the state of Ohio. 559 00:29:29,020 --> 00:29:32,020 That has been amended 170 times. 560 00:29:34,020 --> 00:29:36,020 Now, I believe that our forefathers are wise 561 00:29:36,020 --> 00:29:38,020 in how they proposed an amendment 562 00:29:38,020 --> 00:29:40,020 to be changed to our US constitution. 563 00:29:40,020 --> 00:29:42,020 I'm not talking about a bill being proposed 564 00:29:42,020 --> 00:29:44,020 or legislation being proposed. 565 00:29:44,020 --> 00:29:46,020 I'm talking an amendment to the constitution. 566 00:29:46,020 --> 00:29:48,020 Do you understand what I'm saying? 567 00:29:48,020 --> 00:29:51,020 The state constitution, what is proposed 568 00:29:51,020 --> 00:29:54,020 and on the ballot in August is whether or not 569 00:29:54,020 --> 00:29:57,020 we're gonna go from a simple majority of 50% 570 00:29:57,020 --> 00:30:00,020 to a 60% vote being the threshold 571 00:30:00,020 --> 00:30:03,020 for an amendment being made to the Ohio state constitution. 572 00:30:04,020 --> 00:30:07,020 Now, our forefathers, when they proposed 573 00:30:07,020 --> 00:30:12,020 how to make the US constitution being amended, 574 00:30:14,020 --> 00:30:16,020 this is what it takes. 575 00:30:16,020 --> 00:30:19,020 An amendment may be proposed by a 2 thirds vote 576 00:30:19,020 --> 00:30:21,020 of both House and Congress, 577 00:30:21,020 --> 00:30:23,020 or of 2 thirds of any of the state's requests, 578 00:30:23,020 --> 00:30:26,020 won by a convention called for that purpose. 579 00:30:26,020 --> 00:30:28,020 The amendment must then be ratified 580 00:30:28,020 --> 00:30:31,020 by 3 fourths of the state legislatures 581 00:30:31,020 --> 00:30:33,020 or 3 fourths of conventions called 582 00:30:33,020 --> 00:30:35,020 in each state for ratification. 583 00:30:37,020 --> 00:30:40,020 That means I believe if I'm not mistaken 584 00:30:40,020 --> 00:30:45,020 that our federal constitution has only been amended 27 times. 585 00:30:45,020 --> 00:30:46,020 Is that right? 586 00:30:46,020 --> 00:30:48,020 27, 28 times. 587 00:30:48,020 --> 00:30:50,020 As opposed to, like compare that to Ohio 588 00:30:50,020 --> 00:30:53,020 where it's been 170 times. 589 00:30:53,020 --> 00:30:54,020 And that's because it's way easier 590 00:30:54,020 --> 00:30:56,020 to change our state constitution 591 00:30:56,020 --> 00:30:59,020 than it is to change the federal constitution. 592 00:30:59,020 --> 00:31:02,020 Even those on the side of the abortionists in Ohio 593 00:31:02,020 --> 00:31:04,020 admit that this proposed amendment 594 00:31:04,020 --> 00:31:06,020 is about the abortion issue. 595 00:31:06,020 --> 00:31:08,020 If they wanna make an amendment that secures 596 00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:10,020 a woman's right to an abortion, 597 00:31:10,020 --> 00:31:13,020 they need to only get a simple majority. 598 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:16,020 In the August special election to be held on August 8, 599 00:31:16,020 --> 00:31:18,020 the proposed amendment is that the state law 600 00:31:18,020 --> 00:31:20,020 should require that any proposed amendment 601 00:31:20,020 --> 00:31:22,020 to the constitution of the state of Ohio 602 00:31:22,020 --> 00:31:24,020 receive the approval of at least 60% 603 00:31:24,020 --> 00:31:28,020 of eligible voters voting on the proposed amendment. 604 00:31:28,020 --> 00:31:31,020 I'm told that if the amendment does not pass 605 00:31:31,020 --> 00:31:34,020 the chances of an amendment being made to the constitution, 606 00:31:34,020 --> 00:31:37,020 that would outlaw any regulation on abortion 607 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:39,020 would be much greater. 608 00:31:39,020 --> 00:31:41,020 The second election to be held in November 609 00:31:41,020 --> 00:31:44,020 is called the reproductive rights amendment. 610 00:31:44,020 --> 00:31:45,020 Here's what it says. 611 00:31:45,020 --> 00:31:48,020 Every individual has a right to make and carry out 612 00:31:48,020 --> 00:31:50,020 one's own reproductive decisions 613 00:31:50,020 --> 00:31:52,020 including but not limited to decisions on 614 00:31:52,020 --> 00:31:55,020 contraception, fertility treatment, 615 00:31:55,020 --> 00:31:57,020 continuing one's own pregnancy, miscarriage care, 616 00:31:57,020 --> 00:32:00,020 and abortion. 617 00:32:00,020 --> 00:32:04,020 Now this would make a right to abortion 618 00:32:04,020 --> 00:32:06,020 and no regulation on abortion 619 00:32:06,020 --> 00:32:08,020 a part of the constitution of the state of Ohio. 620 00:32:08,020 --> 00:32:10,020 It means that the door would be open 621 00:32:10,020 --> 00:32:12,020 to have abortions up to and including 622 00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:15,020 all nine months of pregnancy. 623 00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:17,020 The language is written in such an intentionally 624 00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:20,020 broad way as to include things like the lack of need 625 00:32:20,020 --> 00:32:22,020 for parental consent for abortion 626 00:32:22,020 --> 00:32:26,020 or even transitional surgeries and more. 627 00:32:26,020 --> 00:32:28,020 Now some of you may be thinking, 628 00:32:28,020 --> 00:32:32,020 Pastor Ben, are you telling me how I should vote? 629 00:32:32,020 --> 00:32:37,020 What I'm telling you is that you should vote. 630 00:32:37,020 --> 00:32:40,020 That's what I'm telling you. 631 00:32:40,020 --> 00:32:43,020 And when you vote, you should consider 632 00:32:43,020 --> 00:32:46,020 what the scripture has to say on every subject. 633 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:49,020 And understand what the current issues are. 634 00:32:49,020 --> 00:32:52,020 I'm not telling you how to vote. 635 00:32:52,020 --> 00:32:54,020 I'm telling you that you should 636 00:32:54,020 --> 00:32:57,020 and that you have a stewardship of that. 637 00:32:57,020 --> 00:33:07,020 And I believe that God made you a person in the womb. 638 00:33:07,020 --> 00:33:10,020 And that that child in the womb is made 639 00:33:10,020 --> 00:33:15,020 in the image of God. 640 00:33:15,020 --> 00:33:20,020 And that child in the womb is made in the image of God. 641 00:33:20,020 --> 00:33:22,020 So what does scripture say about voting? 642 00:33:22,020 --> 00:33:24,020 Here's an easy one. 643 00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:26,020 This is simple. 644 00:33:26,020 --> 00:33:28,020 To him that knoweth to do good 645 00:33:28,020 --> 00:33:30,020 and doeth it not, 646 00:33:30,020 --> 00:33:34,020 to him it is sin. 647 00:33:34,020 --> 00:33:37,020 You do know that politics matters, don't you? 648 00:33:37,020 --> 00:33:38,020 It does. 649 00:33:38,020 --> 00:33:41,020 Let me show you a picture. 650 00:33:41,020 --> 00:33:48,020 This is a picture of the Korean Peninsula at night. 651 00:33:48,020 --> 00:33:54,020 You have South Korea and you have North Korea. 652 00:33:54,020 --> 00:33:58,020 What do you see in South Korea? 653 00:33:58,020 --> 00:34:01,020 What do you see in North Korea? 654 00:34:01,020 --> 00:34:07,020 What you see in South Korea is freedom. 655 00:34:07,020 --> 00:34:12,020 What you see in North Korea is dictatorship. 656 00:34:12,020 --> 00:34:14,020 Do politics matter? 657 00:34:14,020 --> 00:34:18,020 You better believe it. 658 00:34:18,020 --> 00:34:24,020 And if God's people don't give their voice to the processes 659 00:34:24,020 --> 00:34:28,020 that have been given to us to steward 660 00:34:28,020 --> 00:34:36,020 and the institution that God's given us to steward, 661 00:34:36,020 --> 00:34:42,020 what's at stake? 662 00:34:42,020 --> 00:34:46,020 Maybe a few little babies. 663 00:34:46,020 --> 00:34:52,020 Maybe our right to be here today. 664 00:34:52,020 --> 00:34:55,020 I believe that we ought to be good citizens of our country 665 00:34:55,020 --> 00:34:56,020 and our state. 666 00:34:56,020 --> 00:34:59,020 I believe we should be engaged politically. 667 00:34:59,020 --> 00:35:02,020 I want you to know that to vote in the August special election, 668 00:35:02,020 --> 00:35:04,020 you have to be registered to vote. 669 00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:08,020 And the last day to register to vote is July 10th. 670 00:35:08,020 --> 00:35:13,020 And so if you're not registered to vote, you should register. 671 00:35:13,020 --> 00:35:16,020 The last day to request an absentee ballot is also July 10th. 672 00:35:16,020 --> 00:35:20,020 Early in absentee voting can start on July 11th. 673 00:35:20,020 --> 00:35:23,020 And if you've not registered to vote or if you've not requested 674 00:35:23,020 --> 00:35:26,020 the absentee ballot, you can do that today in our lobby. 675 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:31,020 We have a table set up with the forms that you need to be able 676 00:35:31,020 --> 00:35:33,020 to do that. 677 00:35:33,020 --> 00:35:36,020 I believe it's on each and every one of us to get educated 678 00:35:36,020 --> 00:35:38,020 on these issues and vote. 679 00:35:38,020 --> 00:35:44,020 I believe that people with ill intent wanted to put this in 680 00:35:44,020 --> 00:35:48,020 August because they know August is a potentially low turn. 681 00:35:48,020 --> 00:35:52,020 This is my opinion, a low voter turnout. 682 00:35:52,020 --> 00:35:58,020 I believe we've got to get God's people to the polls. 683 00:35:58,020 --> 00:36:05,020 Souls to the polls, that's what we need. 684 00:36:05,020 --> 00:36:08,020 I believe it's on each and every one of us to get educated 685 00:36:08,020 --> 00:36:10,020 on these issues and to vote. 686 00:36:10,020 --> 00:36:15,020 Now, a few weeks ago, I was meeting with about 20 or so 687 00:36:15,020 --> 00:36:18,020 pastors in the area where we were being presented with this 688 00:36:18,020 --> 00:36:20,020 information about upcoming elections. 689 00:36:20,020 --> 00:36:23,020 And there was a time of discussion and someone asked a 690 00:36:23,020 --> 00:36:28,020 prescient question and I was so, so thankful for this. 691 00:36:28,020 --> 00:36:32,020 Not everybody in the room was Baptist, but all of them believe 692 00:36:32,020 --> 00:36:40,020 the gospel the way I believe it, which I'm very grateful for. 693 00:36:40,020 --> 00:36:41,020 But this was the question. 694 00:36:41,020 --> 00:36:46,020 Let's say that the vote goes in the way we want it to in August 695 00:36:46,020 --> 00:36:50,020 and then in the way we want it to in November. 696 00:36:50,020 --> 00:36:56,020 Isn't there just going to be another attempt and another vote later? 697 00:36:56,020 --> 00:37:00,020 And then it led to this question, what's the long-term answer? 698 00:37:00,020 --> 00:37:05,020 And I want to encourage you with this. 699 00:37:05,020 --> 00:37:11,020 Almost in unison, we all came to the same conclusion. 700 00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:15,020 Evangelism and discipleship. 701 00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:21,020 Jesus Christ and the gospel is the answer to this. 702 00:37:21,020 --> 00:37:24,020 That's the answer. 703 00:37:24,020 --> 00:37:31,020 Repentance and faith in Christ is the answer. 704 00:37:31,020 --> 00:37:34,020 And that's the last and ultimate solution I want to speak to today. 705 00:37:34,020 --> 00:37:38,020 The urgent and eternal solution, spiritual revival through great 706 00:37:38,020 --> 00:37:41,020 commission engagement. 707 00:37:41,020 --> 00:37:43,020 The problem is sin and sinfulness. 708 00:37:43,020 --> 00:37:49,020 The problem is the sinful hearts of men and women starting with me. 709 00:37:49,020 --> 00:37:52,020 Repentance and faith in Christ is the answer. 710 00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:54,020 Paul put it this way. 711 00:37:54,020 --> 00:37:57,020 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, 712 00:37:57,020 --> 00:38:00,020 that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, 713 00:38:00,020 --> 00:38:03,020 wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, 714 00:38:03,020 --> 00:38:06,020 and be not conformed to this world. 715 00:38:06,020 --> 00:38:12,020 But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove 716 00:38:12,020 --> 00:38:14,020 that God is a miracle. 717 00:38:14,020 --> 00:38:21,020 What is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God? 718 00:38:21,020 --> 00:38:25,020 Our issue is moral and spiritual. 719 00:38:25,020 --> 00:38:32,020 And so ultimately political things can't solve our problem. 720 00:38:32,020 --> 00:38:39,020 Do you believe that? 721 00:38:39,020 --> 00:38:42,660 influence the politics rather than the politics 722 00:38:42,660 --> 00:38:46,340 influencing the spiritual and the moral. 723 00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:50,260 Repentance is merely turning from the way we think 724 00:38:50,260 --> 00:38:52,900 about the world and thinking the way God thinks. 725 00:38:52,900 --> 00:38:55,420 For people to think the way that God thinks, 726 00:38:55,420 --> 00:38:57,500 they must be made spiritually alive 727 00:38:57,500 --> 00:38:59,140 by the mercies of God. 728 00:38:59,140 --> 00:39:03,300 They must be transformed by the renewing of their minds. 729 00:39:03,300 --> 00:39:04,740 How does that happen? 730 00:39:04,740 --> 00:39:09,140 How do people's hearts get changed? 731 00:39:09,140 --> 00:39:11,940 How do people's mind get changed? 732 00:39:11,940 --> 00:39:14,860 A man that changes a mind against his will 733 00:39:14,860 --> 00:39:18,040 is of the same opinion still. 734 00:39:18,040 --> 00:39:22,920 There has to be transformation on the inside. 735 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:26,780 God gave us a plan. 736 00:39:26,780 --> 00:39:28,180 It's his plan. 737 00:39:28,180 --> 00:39:30,060 It's his mission. 738 00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:32,660 It's called the Great Co-Mission. 739 00:39:32,660 --> 00:39:35,820 If you walk into our foyer, 740 00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:37,620 you will find five banners that quote 741 00:39:37,620 --> 00:39:40,860 from all five of the Great Co-Mission passages. 742 00:39:40,860 --> 00:39:42,820 The most famous of which is this, 743 00:39:42,820 --> 00:39:45,140 and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, 744 00:39:45,140 --> 00:39:48,780 all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 745 00:39:48,780 --> 00:39:52,940 Go ye therefore and teach or make disciples of all nations, 746 00:39:52,940 --> 00:39:55,980 baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son 747 00:39:55,980 --> 00:39:59,900 and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things 748 00:39:59,900 --> 00:40:03,100 whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, 749 00:40:03,100 --> 00:40:06,260 I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. 750 00:40:06,260 --> 00:40:09,340 The Great Co-Mission is the mission 751 00:40:09,340 --> 00:40:12,660 that God the Father handed to God the Son, 752 00:40:12,660 --> 00:40:15,660 and that the Son of God handed to his disciples 753 00:40:15,660 --> 00:40:19,900 who went out and won people to Christ, 754 00:40:20,740 --> 00:40:23,420 started churches with the power of the indwelling 755 00:40:23,420 --> 00:40:24,340 of the Holy Spirit. 756 00:40:24,340 --> 00:40:28,620 Jesus says, Jesus said, as the Father has sent me, 757 00:40:28,620 --> 00:40:32,380 even so, send I you. 758 00:40:36,260 --> 00:40:37,260 Do you guys feel this? 759 00:40:39,220 --> 00:40:42,020 God didn't call us to make anybody 760 00:40:42,020 --> 00:40:43,660 a certain political party. 761 00:40:46,460 --> 00:40:51,460 God didn't call us ultimately to be just great Americans. 762 00:40:51,540 --> 00:40:53,540 He called us to follow Jesus 763 00:40:53,540 --> 00:40:58,180 and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. 764 00:40:58,180 --> 00:41:00,980 These disciples would do the work of evangelizing, 765 00:41:00,980 --> 00:41:04,100 helping people experience conversion. 766 00:41:04,100 --> 00:41:05,820 They would then teach them to follow all 767 00:41:05,820 --> 00:41:07,580 that Jesus taught them to do. 768 00:41:07,580 --> 00:41:10,300 People who get saved are born again from the gospel 769 00:41:10,300 --> 00:41:12,300 and from the Spirit, and the word of God 770 00:41:12,300 --> 00:41:14,780 changes their hearts and transforms them 771 00:41:14,780 --> 00:41:16,780 from the inside out. 772 00:41:16,780 --> 00:41:19,620 That transcends and transforms politics. 773 00:41:19,620 --> 00:41:22,020 Jesus didn't come to reform the government. 774 00:41:22,020 --> 00:41:24,420 He came to transform people. 775 00:41:28,700 --> 00:41:31,620 Transform people make transformed decisions 776 00:41:31,620 --> 00:41:33,860 and make a difference where they are. 777 00:41:33,860 --> 00:41:35,900 Our families are made up of people. 778 00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:37,940 Our churches are made up of people. 779 00:41:37,940 --> 00:41:40,340 Our government is made up of people. 780 00:41:40,340 --> 00:41:45,340 And Jesus loves and gave himself for people. 781 00:41:47,420 --> 00:41:48,940 He died for them. 782 00:41:48,940 --> 00:41:54,100 So my job isn't to try to convince them, 783 00:41:54,100 --> 00:41:56,900 first and foremost, about tax policy. 784 00:41:59,220 --> 00:42:01,940 My job is to tell them about Jesus 785 00:42:04,660 --> 00:42:07,460 and how we can save their souls. 786 00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:11,900 If we want those institutions to function the way 787 00:42:11,900 --> 00:42:15,460 that God desires and the people need to be transformed 788 00:42:15,460 --> 00:42:19,860 and the transforming work has been handed to us, 789 00:42:19,860 --> 00:42:22,940 to believers and to churches. 790 00:42:25,340 --> 00:42:28,380 Two slides I wanna show you just to kind of 791 00:42:28,380 --> 00:42:30,700 help you understand where we're headed, okay? 792 00:42:31,660 --> 00:42:33,900 First is this, if the transforming work 793 00:42:33,900 --> 00:42:35,980 is going to affect our families, 794 00:42:35,980 --> 00:42:40,180 if that transforming work of the great commission, 795 00:42:40,180 --> 00:42:43,380 the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, 796 00:42:43,380 --> 00:42:47,180 that all is gonna happen in such a way 797 00:42:47,180 --> 00:42:48,780 that it affects our families, our neighborhoods, 798 00:42:48,780 --> 00:42:50,780 our country, our state, and our nation, 799 00:42:50,780 --> 00:42:55,780 then we must make Jesus Christ's last words, our first work. 800 00:42:58,780 --> 00:43:00,060 What did he say? 801 00:43:00,060 --> 00:43:02,940 Go make disciples of all nations, 802 00:43:02,940 --> 00:43:04,940 baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, 803 00:43:04,940 --> 00:43:08,340 and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe 804 00:43:08,340 --> 00:43:10,180 all that I've commanded you. 805 00:43:10,180 --> 00:43:12,080 And we do that in our homes. 806 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:13,840 We do that in our families. 807 00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:15,560 And we do that in our neighborhoods. 808 00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:17,560 And we do that in this church. 809 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,880 You're not dismissed, you're sent. 810 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:26,680 His final words must be our first work. 811 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,480 Number two, the great commission mandate 812 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:34,080 of evangelism and discipleship cannot be unknown and undone. 813 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:39,280 We must make that work our primary focus. 814 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:40,120 Focus. 815 00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:48,240 We must make that work our primary focus. 816 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,520 It must be our commission vision. 817 00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:58,720 We do it together. 818 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:04,120 We must do it together as a church body. 819 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:05,640 Over the next four weeks, 820 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,400 I'm going to share with you, 821 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:11,600 I just shared with you the problem 822 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:12,880 and I started on the solution. 823 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:17,400 Next week we're gonna talk about our mission, our mission. 824 00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,320 The week after that we're gonna talk about our strategy. 825 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:23,880 We need to have a plan of helping people 826 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:27,000 who don't know Jesus come to know Jesus. 827 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,280 And we need a plan for people who are coming to faith 828 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:35,720 in Christ to know what it means to obey all that he taught. 829 00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:37,880 And then once those people are becoming obedient 830 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,160 to all that Jesus taught, 831 00:44:39,160 --> 00:44:41,240 one of the things that we need to teach them to do 832 00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:46,240 is to go reach other people who need Jesus. 833 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,840 Who need to be taught, are you getting the plan? 834 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:54,440 That's what we need to do. 835 00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,280 And so over the next few weeks, 836 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:59,040 I'm gonna teach you what our mission is, 837 00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:00,960 what our strategy is, 838 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:03,400 and I'm gonna teach you what our target is 839 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:07,920 to help everybody that's a part of our church family know 840 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,960 what the next step is for them in their walk with the Lord. 841 00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:15,480 The Great Commission isn't just for foreign missions. 842 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,720 It's not just for people we're supporting over there. 843 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:26,000 The Great Commission has been handed to us to do here. 844 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:31,000 It's our mission and it's our strategy. 845 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:36,920 So what's the ultimate solution? 846 00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:38,320 Do we need to vote? 847 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:39,320 Absolutely. 848 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,360 But more importantly, we need to help people 849 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,440 understand the gospel. 850 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:48,280 And if you're here today 851 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:49,560 and you don't know what I'm talking about, 852 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:51,040 let me be very clear to you. 853 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:54,240 The Bible says that the gospel is this, 854 00:45:54,240 --> 00:45:58,160 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 855 00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,640 He was perfect. 856 00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:03,160 Being God, he never sinned. 857 00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:06,200 He was born without a sin nature, being man, he could die. 858 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:09,560 He lived a perfect life without sin 859 00:46:09,560 --> 00:46:12,080 and he died on the cross for our sins. 860 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:14,280 When he was on the cross, 861 00:46:14,280 --> 00:46:17,120 he was dying for your sin and mine. 862 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,360 We as sinners have nothing to offer to a holy God 863 00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,440 that will make him accept us. 864 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,880 There's no righteousness that we can offer to God 865 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:27,800 that will do that. 866 00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:30,640 But God did say that if we would place our faith in him 867 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,640 and what he did on the cross for our sins 868 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,360 that he would save us 869 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:41,600 and that he began to transform us from the inside out. 870 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,720 He didn't just stay dead, he rose from the dead. 871 00:46:45,720 --> 00:46:48,040 That's not a good preaching point 872 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:52,960 but it's a historical reality, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 873 00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:54,080 died and rose again. 874 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:57,720 And the people that followed him didn't say follow Jesus 875 00:46:57,720 --> 00:47:00,920 because he was a great teacher, although he was. 876 00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:02,240 They didn't say to follow Jesus 877 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,000 because he was really moral, really ethical, 878 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:08,720 really sage, although he was all those things. 879 00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:12,560 They said to follow him because he proved himself to be God 880 00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:15,280 by dying and rising again from the dead. 881 00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:18,400 And the promise of the Bible and the promise of God, 882 00:47:18,400 --> 00:47:20,520 the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit 883 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,000 is that when we put our faith and trust in him, 884 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,320 our sin debt can be forgiven. 885 00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:28,320 Your sins could be forgiven. 886 00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:31,760 You can be guaranteed by God himself 887 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:34,800 to be able to know that when you die, 888 00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:36,880 you'd spend forever with God. 889 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,200 Not because you're good but because he's good. 890 00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:43,760 That's the gospel. 891 00:47:43,760 --> 00:47:46,960 And in the end, if we get all the politics right 892 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,760 and we miss that, we've blown it. 893 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:52,040 Do you get it? 894 00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:56,560 If we tell people to vote right 895 00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:59,120 but we don't teach them how they can get right, 896 00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:02,360 we've missed the point. 897 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:06,920 And if you're here today, you don't have to die 898 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:09,360 and be separated from God forever. 899 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:11,400 Your sin can be forgiven 900 00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:14,160 and heaven could be your home. 901 00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:18,160 So what's your decision? 902 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:22,360 If you're here and you're a dad, 903 00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:24,640 God has made you the leader of your home, 904 00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:26,360 that institution that he married. 905 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:29,120 If you're a husband or a wife, 906 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:34,120 he's made you to be a picture of himself and his church. 907 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:36,200 How are you doing at that? 908 00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:39,880 If you're here and you're a church member, 909 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:41,440 you're a part of God's body, 910 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,160 who he's stewarded this mission to, 911 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:46,920 how are you doing at that? 912 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:48,320 Are you telling people about Jesus? 913 00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:50,320 Are you making disciples? 914 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:52,480 If you're a citizen of this country, 915 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:54,480 you've been stewarded with the opportunity 916 00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:57,760 to be salt and light through the processes 917 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:01,480 that God has allowed us to all enjoy being in this country. 918 00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:03,560 How are you doing at that? 919 00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:04,400 Are you engaged? 920 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,080 Do you know what's going on? 921 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:07,520 Do you know more about the NFL 922 00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:11,440 than you do about what's happening in the news? 923 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,240 And in your government, it matters. 924 00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:20,320 How's your stewardship? 925 00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:38,320 Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?