1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,100 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. 2 00:00:16,100 --> 00:00:22,720 To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church. 3 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,960 If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text 4 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,400 change me to 970-00. 5 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,080 Thank you and enjoy the message. 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:34,680 Well good morning Hub City Vineyard. 7 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:36,400 How you guys feeling this morning? 8 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:41,120 Well as you can see it looks a little bit different up here on stage today and before 9 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,040 Carl and I jump into the message, the first thing I want to do is honor our senior pastor 10 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,520 Chris Slaughterbeck and just say thanks to him. 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:48,720 I don't know if he's watching right now. 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:53,000 I know he's on vacation but Carl and I just wanted to say from the bottom of our hearts, 13 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,840 thank you to him and Jess for entrusting us with this opportunity this morning. 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:58,880 But like I said, we're going to jump right in this morning. 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,880 As you can see it's going to be a little different. 16 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,760 I want to introduce this man to my right, your left. 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,800 He is my best friend in the business, Mr. Carl Hartman. 18 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,440 Typically you see him back here slaying on electric guitar. 19 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,000 When Chris came to me and said, hey Rhett, I'd like for you to give the message in August, 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,600 it wasn't but about two or three seconds and Carl's name, Carl's face popped up in my mind. 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:20,800 I believe that that was a prompting from God. 22 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,200 I believe that he really wanted us to do this together. 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,280 I came to Carl and I said, hey man, so what do you think about bringing the message with me? 24 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:31,840 So what we're going to do today, he and I are going to simply have a conversation 25 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,280 because I want to give you a little bit of insight on this man. 26 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,160 He is an analogy master, a metaphor master. 27 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,400 He is a master of words. 28 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:45,840 He has a way of speaking into my life like nobody else can and I believe that he is really 29 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,320 going to bless you just with his wisdom, knowledge and guidance this morning. 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,520 So one of my favorite things to do is simply sit down with this guy and have a conversation. 31 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,320 So that's what we're going to do today and you guys just get to be the beneficiary of it. 32 00:01:58,320 --> 00:01:59,160 Absolutely. 33 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:05,720 What an honor it is to be here with you this morning and be able to share with you what God has laid on our heart. 34 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,480 Those of you who don't know me as Rhett mentioned, my name is Carl Hartman. 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,120 My beautiful wife Cassie and my two beautiful kids, Gay and Kira, 36 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,480 and I have been coming to this house to be with you for about nine years. 37 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:23,280 And it is such a privilege to be a part of everything that God has done for this community. 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,920 And I'm so excited to share this message with you this morning. 39 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,080 The title of our message is Stay in Your Lane. 40 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,360 Stay in Your Lane. 41 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:32,040 Yep. 42 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:38,520 And the phrase stay in your lane in our culture holds a negative connotation similar to mind your own business. 43 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:39,120 Yep. 44 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,440 But we thought we'd flip it around and give a spiritual meaning to it. 45 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,240 And before we do that, I wanted to just look at the individual words. 46 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:51,880 So the word lane means a path of travel with a specific direction and a specific destination. 47 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:52,920 Buckle up. Here he goes. 48 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:54,000 He's getting ready. 49 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,760 The word your means ownership of that lane implies ownership of that lane. 50 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:08,280 And the word stay implies that maybe our default mode is to wander out of our lane and into somebody else's or off the roadway altogether. 51 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:16,520 So to stay in your lane spiritually means to stay spiritually aligned with God's will for your life to achieve his purposes. 52 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:25,680 And if alignment is the decision that we make to stay in that lane, I want to point out that God's grace is the entrance ramp that gets us onto the highway to begin with. 53 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:32,520 It's God's grace, not by our efforts that we're able to receive salvation and that we're able to have a right relationship with him. 54 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,960 Well, that doesn't mean it doesn't mean that our decisions are unimportant. 55 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:42,040 And this morning, as we discussed the concept of spiritual alignment and staying in our lane, 56 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:47,760 we're going to talk about some of the decisions that we can make to better align ourselves with God's will for our life. 57 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:55,200 And one of the the scriptures that we wanted to use as a launchpad for that is just simply the story of Jacob from the Old Testament. 58 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:59,320 Jacob's story is found in Genesis twenty five through thirty three. 59 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,480 For those of you who haven't read it, I highly encourage you to take a look at it this week. 60 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,400 But Jacob was the son of Isaac, he was the grandson of Abraham. 61 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:17,080 And through Abraham's obedience and through God's grace, Abraham was given a covenant blessing that he passed on to Isaac and then to Jacob. 62 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,000 And this was kind of unusual in the case of Jacob, because Jacob wasn't the firstborn son. 63 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:21,600 You're second. 64 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,760 Yep. So Jacob had an older brother just by moments, twin brother. 65 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,120 His name was Esau. 66 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:32,040 And in the culture of that time, normally Esau would have received was called the birthright. 67 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:39,840 But before the boys were even born, God spoke to Rebecca, the mother, and told her that the older would serve the younger. 68 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:42,920 And this naturally caused some conflict within the family. 69 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:50,400 And again, as we discuss spiritual alignment, we're going to talk about some of the decisions that Jacob made that caused conflict in his family. 70 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:55,600 We're also going to talk about some of the decisions that he made to align himself with God's will. 71 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,400 So why don't you give us a prayer? 72 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:02,000 I'll pray a sin. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity this morning to speak into the hearts of our people. 73 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Lord, I just pray that, God, this morning it wouldn't be Carl's words. 74 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,040 It wouldn't be my words, Lord, but it would be your words spoken through us. 75 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,320 Lord, use us as a vessel. God, we're grateful for this opportunity. 76 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:15,760 We pray that you would just shift the atmosphere into a position of faith, into a position of receipt. 77 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:19,440 And God, pour out all that you have for us here this morning. 78 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,320 Carl, I think, you know, when you think about staying in your lane, you know, obviously our message is on alignment. 79 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,760 And I don't think you can be aligned if you don't protect your identity. 80 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:29,120 Absolutely. 81 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:33,680 So thought one today is that alignment requires us to protect our identity. 82 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:39,720 But there's two aspects of the Genesis story that I want to look at today in regards to Jacob and Esau. 83 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:43,520 And the first one is that Esau gave away what he didn't want. 84 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,800 He essentially rejected his identity by giving away his birthright. 85 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,840 So, as Carl mentioned, we're going to be studying this story today. 86 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:54,120 So as we go through the message, we're going to give you like little bits and pieces of the story. 87 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,760 And in Genesis 25, we learned that Esau was out hunting, which he loved to do. 88 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:05,080 And he was out for so long and he became so famished that he came back and he ran into Jacob and he actually wanted to trade. 89 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:11,160 He asked to trade his birthright, his inheritance, for a bowl of soup. 90 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,560 He literally traded chicken noodle soup for his inheritance, for his blessing. 91 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:21,760 And you guys have to remember, it's kind of hard for us maybe to understand about inheritance and blessing because it's really not that much of a thing anymore. 92 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,080 But back then, it was everything. 93 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,880 I mean, if you had the family generational inheritance that you got, the land, the animal, it was basically your livelihood. 94 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:40,040 So for Esau to want to trade away all of that for something that was going to fill him up for a minute shows that he did not protect his identity. 95 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,840 And ultimately, it landed him in a very, in a very bad spot. 96 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:52,960 And, you know, I think that's something that plagues us today, Carl, is that oftentimes we get in the heat of the moment and we trade short term pleasure for long term pain. 97 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,760 Don't get hungry. Don't get hungry. Don't get hungry. 98 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:03,840 How many times have we been going through a season and maybe we are at a crossroads and we do what feels good for a minute. 99 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:09,680 But in reality, we know that that decision is going to cost us long term, but we don't think about the long term consequences. 100 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,640 We're only consumed by what we need in the moment. 101 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,600 So what Carl said, don't get hungry. Say that out loud. 102 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:20,720 Don't get hungry. Don't trade your birthright for a measly bowl of soup. 103 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:27,120 And the second part of this is that not only did Esau give away what he didn't want, but but Jacob took what wasn't his. 104 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:33,240 So, again, in the story, we learn that Rebecca, who was Jacob and Esau's mother, 105 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:38,560 Rebecca and Jacob came up with this devious plan that they were going to trick Isaac. 106 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:42,080 So Isaac was blind. Jacob's father was essentially blind. 107 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:46,560 So Jacob assumed the identity of Esau. He put on all of his clothes. 108 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,640 He made himself. I think the Bible says he made himself smell like Esau. 109 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:58,840 And he approached Isaac, tricking him, making him think that he making Isaac think that he was Esau and asked for the blessing, asked for the inheritance. 110 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:03,240 And what did Isaac do? He did it because he thought that Jacob was really Esau. 111 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:08,280 So Esau gave away what he didn't want. And Jacob stole. He took what wasn't his. 112 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,720 Both of these things are a breach of identity. Right. 113 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,800 They gave in to to identity theft or identity fraud. 114 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:20,600 And what I want to challenge you with this morning, my friend, and all these people as well, is that we need to know our purpose. 115 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:28,560 We need to know our identity, because let me tell you something, if you're shooting for someone else's finish line, you're never going to run the race that's meant for you. 116 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:38,960 Amen. And I believe that so many times in life we see on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and Twitter and Snapchat and let me go on with all of the social media platforms. 117 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,600 We see the people who look to have the picture perfect life. 118 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:48,280 They got the perfect spouse and the wonderful kids and they make a lot of money and they keep getting promoted and they're always on vacation every time you see. 119 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,720 And it's easy for that jealousy and envy to creep into our life. 120 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:58,560 And if we try to start running their race, if we try to start aligning to what they need to be aligned with, we will never end up in the place that God wants for us. 121 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:03,360 And I think that's big in this day and age. We've got to stay in our lane. We have to stay in our lane. 122 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,720 So let's look at Hebrews 12.1. It says this. 123 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:15,920 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangled and let us run with perseverance. 124 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:23,120 The race marked out for us, we can play pretend or we can pursue our purpose, but we can't do both. 125 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,640 No, we cannot. We cannot. So alignment requires us to protect our identity. 126 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:33,680 Number two, alignment is a process. Alignment is a process that oftentimes includes discomfort. 127 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:34,160 Amen. 128 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:41,000 So one of the most vivid memories that I have as a teenager growing up is going to the orthodontist and getting braces. 129 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,720 And for those of you who have had braces, you know how uncomfortable it can be. 130 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:50,000 For those of you who haven't had braces, let me give you my version of the memories. 131 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:50,840 Can I tell you some real quick? 132 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:51,040 Yeah. 133 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,720 My mother-in-law is either coming to this service or the next, and she worked for an orthodontist. 134 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:55,520 So be nice. 135 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:56,040 OK. 136 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:57,320 She's here. She's here. 137 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,680 So we might have to change the sermon just a little bit. 138 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,640 It was an absolutely fantastic experience. 139 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,400 And I would do it again in a heartbeat. 140 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:09,920 Good job. 141 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,080 OK, point three. 142 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:19,880 What I remember as a teenager, and I'm sure the process has evolved quite dramatically since I was a teen, 143 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,480 but it's far more comfortable now. 144 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:22,760 It is. 145 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:23,320 I'm sure. 146 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:28,080 I remember going to the orthodontist and sitting down in the chair, and they pulled the cement truck up to the window, 147 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,120 and they pump your mouth full of this mold. 148 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,720 And you have to stay perfectly still for 20 minutes. 149 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:39,960 And then they pull the mold out and they take this huge hunk of plastic and they put it around 37 different places and take all these pictures of your teeth. 150 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:41,240 It's like dripping down your throat. 151 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:42,240 Yeah, I remember that. 152 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:48,920 Yeah. And then they move you to the orthodontist chair and they glue all these metal brackets onto your teeth and they install this wire. 153 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:55,800 And the purpose of the wire is to create tension on your teeth so that they can slowly shift into alignment. 154 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,720 And this whole process, obviously, it's uncomfortable. 155 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,080 I'm trumping it up, but it's not that bad. 156 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:02,280 It's still uncomfortable. 157 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,200 When you leave the orthodontist's office, you have to learn how to eat again. 158 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:06,600 You have to learn how to brush your teeth again. 159 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,640 You have to learn what foods you can eat, what food you can't eat. 160 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:14,480 Over time, eventually, you kind of get used to the feeling of having braces in your mouth. 161 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:15,760 But then something interesting happens. 162 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:16,760 You have a checkup. 163 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:17,760 You go back. 164 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:18,760 And you go back. 165 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:25,040 And the orthodontist goes in and he tightens that wire a little bit tighter and your teeth shift a little bit closer into alignment. 166 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,800 And the point is that alignment is a process. 167 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:28,560 It's a process. 168 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:30,560 Romans 12, 2 puts it this way. 169 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:37,480 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 170 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:43,360 Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. 171 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,520 And the two words I really want to hone in on are the word transformation and the word renewal. 172 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:48,760 Those are both processes. 173 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,840 They're not something that happens overnight. 174 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,000 They're something that happens slowly over time. 175 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,600 And I've seen the same transformation process play out in my own spiritual life. 176 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:04,120 As Rhett mentioned, I'm a member of Hub City Worship and one of the more visible roles that I play. 177 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,640 I'm electric guitar player and also one of our musical directors. 178 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:14,080 But one of the less visible roles is along with Rhett, we create the lyrical musical content for our original songs. 179 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:19,200 And one of the most recent songs that we introduced is a song called Runs Wild. 180 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:24,200 And this song has a very personal meaning, a very close place to my heart. 181 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:29,040 It was written right as I was coming out of this season of transformation, this season of renewal. 182 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:38,520 So the song really mirrors Psalm 139 and it talks where David talks about how there's nowhere that he can go to get outside of God's presence. 183 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:46,080 There's nowhere that he can hide that God won't see him and that God's love is so encompassing that it pursues him throughout everything. 184 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:46,760 Every season. 185 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:47,560 Yep. 186 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:58,360 And as I was coming out of this season of transformation, God was really convicting me about some of my thought processes and how I was thinking specifically about our communication, 187 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,160 the communication between God and I. 188 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:07,640 I come to this place where every time that I was hearing God's voice or every time that I was sensing God speaking to me, 189 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:13,360 I was feeling like he was angry or he was displeased or he was frustrated with me, frustrated at my lack of progress. 190 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:20,840 And God really convicted my heart that his voice is so much kinder and gentler than what I imagined in my mind. 191 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:21,480 Amen. 192 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:27,720 And that by imagining him upset at me or angry at me, I was driving this wedge in between us. 193 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:29,080 Carl, I'm going to jump in real quick. 194 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:35,040 I think that's one of the greatest tools of the enemy is that he attacks all people, 195 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,760 but he attacks people that have a huge purpose on their life. 196 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,360 And he attacks people who have never experienced the goodness of God. 197 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:48,760 And his purpose for the latter is that he wants to make God appear out to be exactly what you said, this mean, ugly, forceful God, 198 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,560 and so that people never want to have that relationship with him. 199 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:58,000 So I think what you said is huge, and I want to drive home today is that God is not this guy on his throne 200 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,720 with, you know, wearing this shield, this coat of armor, like looking down and like punishing us. 201 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:04,720 Like, he is our father. 202 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:05,480 He is our friend. 203 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:07,080 He wants what's best for us. 204 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,280 And he is good. 205 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:15,840 The bridge of the song runs wild, just repeats over and over again that God pursues us. 206 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:17,560 He pursues us through every season. 207 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:20,840 He pursues us even when we're weak, when we can't see it. 208 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,000 And I believe that Jacob experienced this in his life. 209 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:31,520 So right after he had tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing, obviously, Esau found out and was very upset with him. 210 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:31,880 Very upset. 211 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,080 And was actually, the Bible says he was breathing murderous threats. 212 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:35,840 He was trying to... 213 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:36,320 He wanted to kill him. 214 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:37,120 Yeah, he wanted to kill him. 215 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,600 So Jacob ran. 216 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:47,040 He ran from Beersheba, which was his home, and he was headed for a destination called Padden Aram, which is where his uncle was. 217 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:55,520 But in between Beersheba and Padden Aram, he came to a place for the night called Luz, where God revealed himself to Jacob in a dream. 218 00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:02,880 And in this dream, he revealed that there were so many more promises and so much more purpose to Jacob's life than what Jacob had realized. 219 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:08,920 But what struck me about this specific incident is where God chose to meet Jacob. 220 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:09,600 Yep. 221 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,000 God didn't wait until Jacob got to his destination. 222 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:24,200 He met him in the middle, and so many times I buy into the lie that once I reach a certain spiritual destination or certain spiritual checkpoint, God is going to pour out his blessings and his promises on my life. 223 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,200 But again, God met Jacob. 224 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:31,320 He stepped down into the middle of his mess and gave him what he needed to move forward. 225 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,240 And I just want to speak to anybody here today who's in the middle of something. 226 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:40,320 If you're in the middle of a situation or a circumstance that you can't control, it's outside of your understanding. 227 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,560 God will meet you in the middle right where you are, not when you get to the destination. 228 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,200 He will meet you right where you are and give you what you need to move forward. 229 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:53,840 The key is we have to align ourselves with God's will for our life and partner with him. 230 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,040 Yep. And be ready for the process. 231 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:56,320 Yep. 232 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:57,080 Be ready for the ride. 233 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:57,960 Yep. 234 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,440 Our third point today is that alignment is a partnership. 235 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,880 And there's two different entities of this partnership that I want to look at. 236 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:11,400 The first one is obviously between us and God, right, in order to be aligned with what God has for you, 237 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,240 what God has for me, what God has for us. 238 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,480 We have to be aligned with what he's speaking into us. 239 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:25,600 John 15, 4 through 5 says this, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine. 240 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,920 Neither can you unless you abide in me. 241 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,920 Basically, what God is saying here is that unless you're connected to me, 242 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,320 you're not going to produce the fruit that you are supposed to produce. 243 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:37,800 I am the vine, you are the branches. 244 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:44,960 Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. 245 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,760 Apart from God, you can do nothing. 246 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:53,400 Now, you can do something apart from God, but it's not going to be what God wants for you. 247 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,680 And how many know that God knows what is best for you? 248 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:56,560 Absolutely. 249 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:03,960 So in order for us to follow and stay in our lane and be aligned with the promises that God speaks into us, 250 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:05,800 we have to be aligned with God. 251 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,160 So let's reference God and Jacob. 252 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:13,720 You see, when Jacob chose to step out of his lane and assume the identity of Esau, what happened? 253 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,040 He became a disaster. 254 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:16,760 It was a mess. 255 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,000 He made a dirty deal with his brother. 256 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,520 He he lied and tricked his father to receive something that wasn't supposed to be his. 257 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,560 And then what do we find him doing, just like you said, he was in trouble. 258 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:28,240 He had to run. 259 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:28,960 He had to flee. 260 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,560 His brother wanted to kill him. 261 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,720 His his dad was obviously disappointed in him. 262 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,880 But when he reached to lose, he finally had the God moment. 263 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,440 And just like you said, the Bible tells us that God came to him in a dream. 264 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,160 And in this dream, he saw a stairway descending from heaven. 265 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:47,800 I want to take a minute right here. 266 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,360 Notice that I said descending from heaven. 267 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:55,520 How good is our God that he comes down to us when we're in the time of trouble, right? 268 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,800 He doesn't create this staircase. 269 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,920 And he doesn't say, hey, you did this and you did that. 270 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:02,240 You need to come to me. 271 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,400 He creates the staircase and he comes down to us, just like he did to Jacob. 272 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:13,600 And when Jacob awoke from his dream, the Bible said that he said, surely the Lord is in this place 273 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,240 and I have not been aware of it. 274 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,800 And I believe that that statement, surely the Lord is in this place and I have not been 275 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:24,480 aware of it wasn't just that place that he was in, but it revealed to Jacob that the 276 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,760 Lord has been with him everywhere he went. 277 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,360 So I want to speak to a young person in here today who's getting ready to go back to school. 278 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,200 The Lord is going to be with you when you take that classroom on the first day. 279 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaking to someone that's having maybe some issues at work, the Lord is with you on Monday 280 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,560 morning when you hit the time clock. 281 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,720 And I am sure that he is with you and you that we, I go through it too, that we have 282 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:47,760 just not been aware of it. 283 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:52,000 Until the past year, actually probably two years now, goodness, I've shifted my prayers 284 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:59,200 for our worship team not from being God reveal your presence to us, but awaken our senses 285 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,640 of your presence because you are surely here. 286 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,700 The Bible says that when two or three gather in his name, his presence is here. 287 00:19:04,700 --> 00:19:07,040 How many times do we say, God, please meet me here. 288 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:08,040 God, please come. 289 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:09,180 God, please reveal yourself. 290 00:19:09,180 --> 00:19:12,440 I think we should shift our prayer and our thinking not from God, show me something, 291 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:17,760 but God, awaken my senses to being able to receive and realize that you've been with 292 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:22,400 me in the pit, you've been with me in the fire, you've been with me in the hard times. 293 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,840 Awaken myself so that I know that you have been with me. 294 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:29,520 And the other part, so in order to be aligned, we have to be aligned with the partnership 295 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,880 between us and God, but also between us and other Christ followers. 296 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,760 Ecclesiastes 4 through 9 says this, two are better than one because they have a good reward 297 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,800 for their toil, for their work. 298 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,080 On Jacob's story, we see strong themes of families and generational blessings. 299 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:50,080 When we align ourselves with God, we become what Romans 11 calls part of ingrafted branches. 300 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,840 And we have access to the same root system that Jacob did. 301 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,040 If you think about it, we all come from the same lineage. 302 00:19:56,040 --> 00:20:01,680 So how cool is it that just as God revealed himself to these people that seem like heroes 303 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:06,960 to us, we are part of the same root system, which I think is incredible. 304 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,360 And I want to encourage somebody in here today that maybe knows this, maybe doesn't, but 305 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:15,280 I can tell you from experience, one of the greatest blessings that you will have in this 306 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:20,000 life is a friend or a family member who will walk with you in your journey. 307 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,740 And that is exactly why I asked this guy to come up here and join me on this stage, because 308 00:20:23,740 --> 00:20:28,680 I have a lot of friends, but this guy is someone who constantly speaks encouragement just into 309 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,520 me, just anytime I'm going through a rough time and we bounce ideas back off each other, 310 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,460 I can always count on him to be in my corner. 311 00:20:35,460 --> 00:20:40,240 So I want to challenge you this morning, find somebody to be in your corner, but not just 312 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,240 anybody. 313 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,040 It has to be someone who understands what God wants for you. 314 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,400 It has to be someone who will speak that life and existence into you. 315 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:51,600 So in order to be aligned, we have to be partnered with God and we have to be partnered with 316 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:52,600 other Christ followers. 317 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:53,600 Absolutely. 318 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:59,880 Number four, alignment is a decision that connects our purpose with our priorities. 319 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,120 Alignment is a decision that connects our purpose with our priorities. 320 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:09,280 So what we choose to focus on or our priorities determines our ability to achieve God's purposes 321 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:10,280 for our life. 322 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,400 And I want to make clear, our priorities are our responsibility. 323 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,920 Our purpose is God's responsibility. 324 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,700 I believe when we were looking at the story of Jacob and Esau, I believe that Esau had 325 00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:23,600 a priority issue. 326 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:29,480 The writer of Hebrews puts it this way in Hebrews 12-16, watch out for the Esau syndrome, 327 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:35,000 eating away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short term appetite. 328 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,280 You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing, but 329 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,480 by then it was too late, tears or no tears. 330 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,560 And as again, as we were studying this story, we just kept looking at the details. 331 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,280 I realized that there was this common theme in Esau's life. 332 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:58,200 So Esau is almost immediately upon introduction in the Bible identified as a skillful hunter, 333 00:21:58,200 --> 00:21:59,880 a man of the open field. 334 00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:05,080 And I have to believe that he found purpose in hunting, providing for his family and for 335 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,880 going out and conquering the wild. 336 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:13,640 But hunting is also present in both of the places where he lost the birthright and the 337 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:14,640 blessing. 338 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,240 So he was coming back from hunting, he was famished when Jacob ultimately tricked him 339 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:20,960 into giving him the birthright. 340 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,080 And he also, Isaac sent him out to hunt right before he was going to give him the blessing. 341 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:31,680 So it created that moment of opportunity for Jacob and Rebecca to take the blessing. 342 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,720 And what I found out is that we can spend so much time hunting for purpose on the wrong 343 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:42,960 level that we ultimately end up making decisions that cost us that purpose. 344 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:47,800 And again, as we talk about alignment, I came across this article, show of hands, how many 345 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,600 of you have ever fired a gun using open sights? 346 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,640 Okay. 347 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:59,760 The article says this, with typical post style iron sights, and this is talking about alignment, 348 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,920 with typical post style iron sights, the shooter centers the front post in the notch of the 349 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,280 rear sight with the tops of both sites being level. 350 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:15,400 Since the human eye is only capable of focusing on one plane and the rear sight, front sight 351 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:22,040 and target are all in separate planes, only one of those three planes can be in focus. 352 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,620 I love that word focus. 353 00:23:23,620 --> 00:23:28,280 Look at your neighbor right now and tell them, don't bug me, I'm focused. 354 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,360 Don't bug me, I'm focused. 355 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:34,860 So listen, in this analogy, our purpose is our target. 356 00:23:34,860 --> 00:23:39,840 Our priorities are what we choose to put right in front of us and God is our reference point. 357 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:45,560 The article goes on to say, even a tiny error in the angle of sight alignment results in 358 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:50,920 a trajectory that diverges from the target, causing the bullet to miss its mark. 359 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:56,600 The amount of divergence is directly proportional to the distance from the target. 360 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:01,000 So think about this, if my goal is just to survive, just to get through the work day, 361 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:06,180 just to survive marriage, just to survive being a parent, I haven't set the target very 362 00:24:06,180 --> 00:24:09,960 far out and so my alignment isn't as critical. 363 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,280 But if my goal is to thrive, if my goal is to achieve God's purposes for my life, if 364 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,560 my goal is to thrive in my marriage, thrive in my family, walk out God's calling, I've 365 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:24,640 set the target much further out and so my alignment becomes critical. 366 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,680 I want to make clear right off the bat that God had chosen Jacob. 367 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:34,360 Romans 9, 11 says, yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad in order 368 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:40,800 that God's purpose and election might stand, God chose Jacob to be the recipient of the 369 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:42,520 blessing. 370 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,600 But it wasn't until Luz that he laid out these far greater plans. 371 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,680 He set the target much further out. 372 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:52,340 So Jacob started to understand that his alignment was critical at that point. 373 00:24:52,340 --> 00:24:54,680 And I really want to drive home this point. 374 00:24:54,680 --> 00:25:00,440 God determines our destination, but our decisions determine how hard we have to work to get 375 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:01,440 there. 376 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:02,440 Say it again. 377 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:03,440 Let me say that again. 378 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,520 God determines our destination, our decisions determine how hard we have to work to get 379 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:08,520 there. 380 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,680 And as we were preparing this, I kept coming back to this phrase, it only takes a little. 381 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:14,240 So let's go back to the article. 382 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:19,760 Even a tiny error in the angle of sight alignment results in a trajectory that diverges from 383 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:20,760 the target. 384 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,760 It only takes a little. 385 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,240 It only takes a little error in judgment. 386 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,120 It only takes a little bad decision. 387 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:32,240 It only takes a little step off the path to get misaligned with God's will for our life. 388 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:33,240 But it works both ways. 389 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,240 Amen. 390 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:35,240 Come on. 391 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,760 If it only took a little for me to get off the path, it's only going to take a little 392 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:38,880 for me to get back on. 393 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,080 It only takes a little good decision. 394 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,600 It only takes a little time with God every day to set the tone of my day. 395 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:49,320 It only takes a little faith to believe that God is working in the situation that I'm in 396 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:50,320 right now. 397 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,920 And I want to know, is there anybody here today who's got a little faith? 398 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:53,920 Come on. 399 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:58,480 Is there anybody here today who's got a little faith to believe that God is working in your 400 00:25:58,480 --> 00:25:59,760 situation? 401 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,200 Aligning our priorities, our decisions and our choices with God's purpose for our life 402 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,800 requires that we have the correct heart posture. 403 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,920 So our first action point, number one, we've got to position your heart towards God. 404 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,600 We've got to position our heart towards God. 405 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:15,960 We can't hit what we're not aiming for. 406 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,000 So if my target's over there, but I'm aiming in this direction, I'm not going to have a 407 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,760 chance in the world of hitting that target. 408 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,040 We have to position our heart towards God. 409 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,240 And that requires that we evaluate our priorities and our focus. 410 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,140 As you had said, Jacob spent the first part of his life running from who he thought he 411 00:26:33,140 --> 00:26:38,880 was until God redirected his focus and showed him who he actually was. 412 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,840 And if we take that into the concept of staying in your lane, you can make great time headed 413 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:45,760 for the wrong destination. 414 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:46,880 This happens to me all the time. 415 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,880 So a couple of times a year we go down to Baltimore for some doctor's appointments and 416 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,000 I have no problem for whatever reason, I have no problem getting to Baltimore. 417 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,620 It's coming home that's the issue. 418 00:26:56,620 --> 00:27:00,240 So I'm coming home and for again, for whatever reason, I don't know what it is. 419 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:07,360 I get hung up, there's 95 and 195 and 295 and 695 and 895 and 1195 and all these. 420 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:08,360 And I have no idea. 421 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:10,840 You know, somehow I get off the beaten path. 422 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:15,320 I had, you know, Sirius telling me I've got two hours and 15 minutes and all of a sudden 423 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,040 it's going to take me seven hours to get home. 424 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,040 I got to drive up to Harrisburg and catch a flight down to Eastern Regional Airport 425 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,040 and you know. 426 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:23,040 Can I say something? 427 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,360 I think after God made the world in seven days, I think he threw a bone to the devil 428 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:28,100 and said, hey, you get to create one thing. 429 00:27:28,100 --> 00:27:30,480 And the devil picked the beltway, the Baltimore Beltway. 430 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,960 I'm pretty sure that's what he said. 431 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:33,960 Let's create that. 432 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:34,960 Amen. 433 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:35,960 Yes. 434 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,560 But you can, just like that, you can make great time. 435 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:42,240 I can be going 85 miles an hour, which is probably over the speed limit. 436 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,680 I can be going fast, but going in the wrong direction and I'm never going to get to where 437 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:47,680 I'm going. 438 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:49,760 We got to position our heart towards God. 439 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:50,760 That's good. 440 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,800 We need to write a song and I need to give credit to my dad. 441 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,320 When I was like, when I was little and I was getting into music, he told me, he said, 442 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,480 you need to write a song called Making Good Time, but with no destination. 443 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:00,480 Yeah. 444 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:01,480 He spoke that. 445 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:02,480 He spoke that into my life. 446 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,400 I don't even know if you remember that, dad, but he spoke that at the time. 447 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:06,400 I was like, that's crazy. 448 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:07,560 What are you talking about, man? 449 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,960 But now it's like, there's something in there. 450 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,880 And it's so true that you can go through all the right motions and it can feel like, you 451 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,720 know, so whether you're going 70 miles in the right direction or the wrong direction, 452 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,080 you're still going 70 miles an hour. 453 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:21,080 Absolutely. 454 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,280 And if you're not sure, thank God, now today we have Waze and GPS and Google Maps to tell 455 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:26,600 us that we're going the wrong way. 456 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:31,300 But if you don't realize that you're going in the wrong direction, you can be driving. 457 00:28:31,300 --> 00:28:32,300 Everything feels right. 458 00:28:32,300 --> 00:28:33,520 You're on a road. 459 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:38,200 You're not wrecking, but you're never going to get where you're supposed to be. 460 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:39,200 Absolutely. 461 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,160 And how good a metaphor is that, you know, sometimes we can get up, clock into our nine 462 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,160 to five, go home, make dinner, get in bed. 463 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:51,240 And if we don't understand where we are supposed to be, it can feel like we're doing all the 464 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:52,240 right stuff. 465 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,560 It can feel like we're making good time. 466 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,680 But I do not want to be the one that gets the end of my life and realize that my destination 467 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,120 has been wrong the whole time. 468 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,200 It's not only staying in your lane, but it's heading in the right direction. 469 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:05,200 Absolutely. 470 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:06,200 Because you can be in your lane. 471 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,600 You can be involved in ministry, but you're starting to pull back when God wants you to 472 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:10,600 push forward. 473 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:11,600 Yeah. 474 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,840 And that's ultimately what that means to position our hearts towards God. 475 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,640 We've got to stay in our lane and be headed where God's calling us. 476 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:17,640 Yeah. 477 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:18,640 And one more thing I want to circle back to. 478 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,120 You said a word that is big, is focus. 479 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,120 Yes. 480 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,160 And I think that I got this thought. 481 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,200 What you focus on will be magnified. 482 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:28,200 Absolutely. 483 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:29,200 In your life. 484 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:30,200 And I think about a magnifying glass. 485 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,840 I know they're really not a thing of the day because we can go like this and make everything 486 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,160 bigger as to what we're looking at, right? 487 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:40,120 But back in the day, right back in the good old days, we had this thing called a magnifying 488 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:41,120 glass. 489 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,120 If you're under the age of 10, I'll explain what it is. 490 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:44,880 But anyway, think about it. 491 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:46,720 That is what you focused on. 492 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,400 And what was behind that is what was magnified. 493 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:54,880 And so we can go through life with our magnifying glass. 494 00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,320 And wherever that magnifying glass lands, that's what's going to be magnified. 495 00:29:58,320 --> 00:29:59,320 That's where our focus is. 496 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:03,680 So we have to make sure that we are focusing on all the right things. 497 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,400 All right, good. 498 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,480 So first action step again was position your heart towards God. 499 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,160 The second one is this. 500 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,620 Pursue your purpose. 501 00:30:12,620 --> 00:30:15,680 So we're kind of drawing a line in the sand here, right? 502 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,520 So we understand that God has spoken some things over our life. 503 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,080 We understand maybe where we need to go. 504 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,560 But in order for us to get there, it seems a little bit self-evident, but we have to 505 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:26,560 pursue it, right? 506 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:27,920 We have to take that step. 507 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,760 Once you take aim, once you lock in on your purpose, you have to act. 508 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,120 Proverbs 4, 25 to 26 says this. 509 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:40,080 Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you. 510 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:41,800 Ponder the path of your feet. 511 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,840 When you walk, then all of your ways will be sure. 512 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,320 When you walk, there's an action here. 513 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:54,480 God is telling us we need to pursue the promise and the purpose that He has put in our life. 514 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,520 Once we get our sight alignment down, that's not good enough, right? 515 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,920 You can be the best marksman, but once you get to this point, if you don't pull that 516 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:05,320 trigger, you're never going to achieve your goal. 517 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:06,320 So imagine this. 518 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,760 So let me speak to some married people in the room. 519 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:13,800 Imagine that your lovely spouse or, yeah, let's say your spouse is getting ready to 520 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,960 turn a special birthday and you want to plan the biggest and the best party for her. 521 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,200 Imagine going through all of the planning. 522 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,880 You create the Facebook event and you make sure that you click private and that guests 523 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,640 can't invite other guests so that there's no chance that she'll see it because you want 524 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,000 it to be a surprise. 525 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,200 You call her favorite venue and you reserve it. 526 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,480 You get all the catering lined up. 527 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:38,480 You have your best friend go there the day before and decorate, and you get everything 528 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:39,480 squared away. 529 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,640 And then imagine not actually having the party. 530 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,160 It sounds foolish, right? 531 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:48,460 But I believe that so many of us this day and age, that's what we do. 532 00:31:48,460 --> 00:31:51,080 We ask God, God, reveal your purpose to me. 533 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,680 Reveal your plan to me in my life. 534 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:54,680 I want to do this. 535 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:55,880 I want to do that. 536 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,940 And He gives us what we're asking for, but then we falter. 537 00:31:59,940 --> 00:32:03,800 Then we either get scared because we think the vision is too big or maybe we just don't 538 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,120 have the faith that it takes to take that first step. 539 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,000 And I want to tell you this morning, you're never going to achieve the promise and the 540 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,720 purpose that God has for you if you don't step out in faith. 541 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,280 We sing a song all the time called Oceans. 542 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,260 Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. 543 00:32:19,260 --> 00:32:21,960 We need to step out of the boat and get on our way. 544 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:23,360 The Olympics just ended. 545 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:28,600 Another example, imagine being an Olympic athlete and you train your body for four years. 546 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,760 You track every carb, every calorie that you're putting in, but then the day of the Olympics 547 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:34,560 comes and you decide not to go run the race. 548 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:36,160 It's the same thing, right? 549 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:37,160 You prepare. 550 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,720 You can go through all of the right motions, but if you don't execute, it's a wasted effort. 551 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:44,280 So we need to execute. 552 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:48,080 We need to pursue the purpose that God has for us. 553 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,520 I'm going to ask our worship team to come back up. 554 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:52,920 And I just want to take a minute real quick. 555 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,760 Can you guys give it up for the worship team that led this morning? 556 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,400 My goodness. 557 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:01,280 My goodness. 558 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,840 It is such an honor and a blessing for Carl and I to be able to have the week completely 559 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:08,360 off and just be blessed in worship. 560 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:09,360 So thank you, worship team. 561 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,960 All right, I'm going to give you a spoiler. 562 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:16,760 This is my favorite point of the entire message, and it's this. 563 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:18,280 Pick your perspective. 564 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:23,920 Carl, the word perspective in my life is like a blessing and a curse. 565 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:30,160 I love it, and I challenge people all the time to shift their perspective and to consider 566 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:31,160 your perspective. 567 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,560 But man, how easy it is to fall into the trap of not preaching to yourself. 568 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:36,560 Yes. 569 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:41,560 I believe that perspective sounds cliche, but it changes everything. 570 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:46,720 Your perspective can quite literally change everything in your life. 571 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,280 Second Corinthians says, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us in 572 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,480 eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 573 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:56,000 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. 574 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,760 Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 575 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,040 Right there. 576 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:02,040 Fix our eyes. 577 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:03,040 Focus. 578 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:04,040 Focus. 579 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:05,040 Exactly. 580 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:10,480 So the enemy loves to try to knock us off course by getting us to question God's promises. 581 00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:16,440 So you've heard Carl allude to the place called Luz, where God met Jacob in the dream. 582 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:21,680 Luz roughly translates to separation or departure. 583 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:26,340 And how awesome is our God that he chose to meet Jacob in a place that literally meant 584 00:34:26,340 --> 00:34:28,320 separation or departure? 585 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:33,320 Because I have to believe that Jacob was feeling those two things in that moment. 586 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:38,040 I mean, he couldn't have been feeling any more separated from his family that he just 587 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:39,760 betrayed, that he just lied to. 588 00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:45,200 And he had to feel departed because he just chose to run in the midst of his troubles. 589 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:46,200 But here's the best part. 590 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:51,960 You see, through the dream, God reveals both his plans and his promises to Jacob. 591 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:52,960 He's in trouble. 592 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:53,960 He's on the run. 593 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,480 He's in the middle, but God shows up. 594 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,040 However, this is where it gets good. 595 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:03,760 Jacob still woke up with his head on the same rock that he went to sleep in, with the same 596 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:09,680 set of problems and the same issues and circumstances that he had before he went to sleep. 597 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:15,140 Receiving God's promise, receiving the promise did not remove the problems. 598 00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:18,960 Just because God reveals his promise to you doesn't mean that he's also going to pull 599 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,560 back all of life's problems because he wants to test your strength. 600 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:24,260 He wants to test your faithfulness. 601 00:35:24,260 --> 00:35:29,080 He wants to see if you have what it takes to endure the problems that you will need 602 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:30,080 to face. 603 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,820 In the dream, God never tells Jacob that he won't face oppositions or have problems. 604 00:35:33,820 --> 00:35:36,920 He simply promises that he will be with him. 605 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,240 Not for a minute was I forsaken. 606 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:40,440 The Lord is in this place. 607 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,320 And here's the bold truth. 608 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:46,120 God may not change your position because he wants to change your perspective. 609 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,960 Come on, I want to say it again. 610 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:54,840 God may not change the position that you are in because he wants you to wake up and realize 611 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:55,840 your perspective. 612 00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:01,880 And I believe so many times in life we have the greatest blessings that life has to offer, 613 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,680 but we view them as problems instead of blessings. 614 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,520 And I'm speaking to myself because right now my wife, my lovely wife Katie and I are going 615 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,800 through being parents of a four and a six-year-old. 616 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:15,380 And we love those kids to death, but man, there are a lot of long days. 617 00:36:15,380 --> 00:36:21,720 And so many times I just think, my goodness, God, can you help these kids just act right? 618 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:27,060 And my perspective admittedly shifts into a place where it shouldn't be. 619 00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:30,420 And I believe that God's trying to tell me, God, Rhett, I have entrusted you with these 620 00:36:30,420 --> 00:36:35,100 two beautiful souls because there are no two better people on this planet that can align 621 00:36:35,100 --> 00:36:38,660 Jackson, that can align Kinley to the promises that they have over their life. 622 00:36:38,660 --> 00:36:42,760 And I'm here to tell you, parenting in this example, you can take this example and extrapolate 623 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:44,200 it out however you want for your life. 624 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,300 But parenting is hard. 625 00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:49,120 And this, and if my wife was here, she would say the same thing. 626 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:53,680 It has been the longest and hardest six years of our life just raising and shepherding these 627 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,760 two strong-willed souls. 628 00:36:55,760 --> 00:37:00,480 But I believe day after day, God is trying to tell me, I'm not changing your position 629 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,320 because I want you to change your perspective. 630 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:07,440 You see, Jacob woke up and changed his perspective on where he had come to. 631 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:12,120 He anointed the place previously named Luz and changed the name to Bethel. 632 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:13,440 Carl, what does Luz mean? 633 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:14,440 Luz means separation. 634 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:15,440 Separated or departure. 635 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,480 Does anyone know what Bethel means? 636 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:18,480 Tell them. 637 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:19,480 House of the Lord. 638 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:20,480 House of the Lord. 639 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:21,480 The House of the Lord. 640 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,880 So he felt God's presence and received his promise and decided to change the name of 641 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:26,960 the place that he was in. 642 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:31,920 Luz meaning separation and gave it a new name, meaning the House of the Lord. 643 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:38,260 See, the presence of God in that place didn't change Jacob's destination. 644 00:37:38,260 --> 00:37:40,480 It changed the definition. 645 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:45,320 It did not change Jacob's destination of where he was, but it changed the definition of the 646 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:46,320 place that he was in. 647 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:50,640 He changed it from separated and departed and renamed that place the House of the Lord. 648 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:55,320 And I believe that when we step out in place, God won't change our destination every time. 649 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,600 We may be broken, we may be hurting, we may be feeling separated, but when we reach the 650 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:04,840 destination of brokenness, we have the authority to partner with God and rename it restored. 651 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:10,400 When we reach the destination of pain and hurting and grief, God calls us to rename 652 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:11,840 it healed and whole. 653 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:16,980 When we reach the destination of emptiness and separation, God wants to fill us with 654 00:38:16,980 --> 00:38:19,360 his promise of unshakable peace. 655 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:20,720 I'm going to say it one more time. 656 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:26,080 God won't always change your destination because he wants to change the definition of what 657 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:27,080 you're going through. 658 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:28,080 Amen. 659 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:29,080 Can I preach for a second? 660 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:30,080 I think we should stand up. 661 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:31,080 I think we should stand up. 662 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:36,080 You guys stand up with us. 663 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:41,320 We're going to close this thing out. 664 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:48,200 This has been a crazy week for me. 665 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:54,040 It's been a crazy week as we've been preparing this message of intense revelation, but it's 666 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,840 also been a week of intense resistance. 667 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,240 I've been hearing a lot of things through this message, but one of the voices that I've 668 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:05,680 been hearing I know is not from God, it's from the enemy. 669 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:10,000 When your sports team is so far ahead and the game is just absolutely there, as the 670 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,560 announcers say, it's your game to lose. 671 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:13,560 It's their game to lose. 672 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:19,240 I kept hearing that this week that was chipping away at my confidence. 673 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:22,160 It's your message to mess up. 674 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,000 That is the word of the enemy. 675 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:26,440 That's not the word of the Lord. 676 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:28,760 God stepped in and He said something completely different. 677 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:34,440 I want to speak this over somebody here today because I believe this is life change. 678 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,040 It's yours for the taking. 679 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,320 Purpose is yours for the taking. 680 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,720 Peace is yours for the taking. 681 00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:44,280 Joy is yours for the taking. 682 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,280 Confidence is yours for the taking. 683 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,920 It's all about having the right perspective in the moment. 684 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:54,200 Number four, I believe that as we step into our purpose, as we align ourselves with God's 685 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:59,960 will for our life, we are going to face opposition, but we have to persist in the face of that 686 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:00,960 opposition. 687 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:02,200 We have to persist. 688 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:08,440 The opposition that we come to is an opportunity for God to show His faithfulness in our life. 689 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:12,800 And as we were preparing, I just, I believe that there's some people here this morning 690 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:18,000 who have already made the choice to step out in faith and align themselves with God's will 691 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,000 for their life. 692 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,120 And when you were on top of the mountain top, it was exhilarating. 693 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:23,120 It was magnificent. 694 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,720 But then God led you through a valley. 695 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,760 And when He led you through the valley, you became discouraged and stuck. 696 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:32,320 And I want to speak to you this morning. 697 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:34,800 Psalms 23, we're going to look at the New King James Version. 698 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:36,800 We're bringing out the good stuff. 699 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,880 The Lord is my shepherd. 700 00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:41,080 I shall not want. 701 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:44,400 He makes me to lie down in green pastures. 702 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,920 He leads me beside the still waters. 703 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:49,000 He restores my soul. 704 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:50,600 He leads me in the paths of righteousness. 705 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,120 Look, I got to stay in my lane. 706 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:56,600 He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 707 00:40:56,600 --> 00:41:02,280 Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you 708 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:03,280 are with me. 709 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:09,400 And two words, two words about that last verse that God, God really spoke to me. 710 00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:12,920 Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 711 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,800 So a couple of weeks ago, my son Jake and I, we were watching the live stream. 712 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,760 John Butler led worship. 713 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:21,160 And the first song that he sang was a song that we sang this morning. 714 00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:23,800 It's a song called Graves in the Gardens. 715 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:28,440 And there's a line in that song that says you turn seas into highways. 716 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:34,080 That's a reference to the Exodus where Moses led the nation of Israel out of captivity 717 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,240 in Egypt towards the promised land. 718 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:39,360 They were leaving their problems and they were headed for their promise. 719 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:40,360 But what happened? 720 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,480 Right after they left Egypt, they came up against the Red Sea. 721 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:44,960 They came up against opposition. 722 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:50,480 And God in His grace split that sea so that the nation of Israel could pass right through. 723 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,240 And as we were worshiping, Jake and I, my son Jake and I were worshiping with this song, 724 00:41:54,240 --> 00:42:00,720 he got a little bit confused because he thought the line was you turn seas into driveways, 725 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:02,240 not you turn seas into highways. 726 00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:05,940 And I thought this was hysterical until God challenged me on it. 727 00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:11,440 How many times in my own life do I come up against spiritual opposition and I park myself 728 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:12,640 right in the middle of it? 729 00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:13,640 I get discouraged. 730 00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:18,240 I just get, you know, my confidence is wrecked and I park myself right there. 731 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:22,520 And this verse says, ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 732 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,120 Ye though I walk through it. 733 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:28,400 I want to tell you, somebody here this morning is going through a situation or a circumstance 734 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,440 and you are going to get through it. 735 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:32,720 I promise you, you're going to get through it. 736 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:33,720 It's not a driveway. 737 00:42:33,720 --> 00:42:34,720 It's a highway. 738 00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:35,720 It's not a driveway. 739 00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:36,720 It's a highway. 740 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,400 And number two, the valley of the shadow of death. 741 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:42,200 Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 742 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:48,160 And I got to admit, for almost my entire adult life, I have been misreading this verse because 743 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:53,000 all this time I thought that God was giving me the face to get through the valley of death 744 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:54,480 where death was attacking me. 745 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,000 But that's not what the verse says. 746 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,680 The verse says, ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 747 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:06,320 And I came here to tell you this morning that when you walk in your purpose, the only thing 748 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:08,800 the enemy can do is cast a shadow on you. 749 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:11,800 He cannot touch you. 750 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:16,960 We may face opposition, but one of the greatest, greatest tools of the enemy is to get us to 751 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:21,560 engage in too many of us spend too much of our energy shadow boxing. 752 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,840 We're fighting fear and anxiety and insecurity. 753 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:30,160 And I just want to tell you this morning, God doesn't say that we won't have to face 754 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:34,120 the enemy, but he says that we won't have to face him alone. 755 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:41,040 I believe that victory in our lives is achieved not by raising our fists, but it's achieved 756 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:42,040 by lifting our hands. 757 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:43,040 Come on. 758 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,520 I ask you this morning, how will you fight your battle?