WEBVTT 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.039 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:20.059 or to give online, go to connect .hcv .church 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.839 or give .hcv .church. If at any point during 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.000 this message you feel called to make a change 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.920 in your life, text CHANGEME to 9700. Thank you 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:34.700 and enjoy the message. I'm off. I'm on! Yay! 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:38.600 Good morning! Good morning. I always have to 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.000 go to the bathroom before you come and you turn 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:41.500 it off and then you got to turn it back on. But 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:44.439 yes, I'm Jess and you guys don't need to know 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:46.539 that, but I like to tell you unnecessary details 00:00:46.539 --> 00:00:48.700 because sometimes I just think it's funny. Anyway, 00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:52.799 so I am so thankful and grateful to be present 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:54.820 with you today, right? And if you're watching 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:58.280 us from home. And from not here and wherever 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.479 you are, I love you. And I am so glad that you've 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:04.700 chosen to be with us and you're with us in spirit. 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:08.640 And so, but if you're in the house today, it 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.780 is so good to be present here with you. It is 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:15.079 so good to be with people. It is such a privilege 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.260 to worship together. Wasn't that a worship was 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:20.640 like, I surrender all to you, God. Man, that's 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.120 just amazing. There's nothing like being present 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.140 with another person, right? There's nothing like 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:30.319 the presence of somebody in the room. And I just 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.480 appreciate each and every one of you. And this 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:35.140 place, this house of miracles, is such a blessing. 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:38.120 So I'm just thankful and grateful to be able 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.840 to share with you today. But I do have a confession. 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:44.700 As much as I love being with you, there's nothing 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:48.340 as great as the presence of God. And the presence 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:51.900 of God together is amazing. As Rhett was praying 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:54.209 there, just... practicing the presence of God, 00:01:54.310 --> 00:01:56.549 like acknowledging that God is in this room. 00:01:56.969 --> 00:01:59.269 We at the Vineyard believe God is here in this 00:01:59.269 --> 00:02:01.230 place today. Has anybody felt the presence of 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:03.790 God here today? I feel it all over the place, 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:07.049 right? And the presence of God is so essential 00:02:07.049 --> 00:02:09.370 to me. It's like air in my lungs, you know, but 00:02:09.370 --> 00:02:12.150 it's so difficult to remain in God's presence. 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:14.069 Sometimes when we leave this space or in the 00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:16.930 busyness of life, right? And so today I'm going 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:19.229 to share with you a few things that helped me 00:02:19.229 --> 00:02:22.550 stay. in God's presence, and help me get back 00:02:22.550 --> 00:02:26.930 into the presence of Jesus, into my life. So 00:02:26.930 --> 00:02:30.389 to be present with God. Today we are going to 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.650 be discussing how to practice the presence of 00:02:33.650 --> 00:02:36.490 God. We're in the fourth week of our series, 00:02:36.629 --> 00:02:39.090 Rooted, where we have been discussing what it's 00:02:39.090 --> 00:02:43.310 like to practice the way of Jesus. If we're Christians 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:46.090 or we say we believe what the Bible believes 00:02:46.090 --> 00:02:48.629 and we're little Jesuses, we should be doing 00:02:48.629 --> 00:02:51.789 the stuff that Jesus did. Amen? We shouldn't 00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:54.509 just read about him. We should do what he's doing. 00:02:54.750 --> 00:02:57.069 And so what we're doing is going through and 00:02:57.069 --> 00:03:00.270 talking about certain practices that will help 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:06.039 us be Jesus in everyday life. It's 2nd Colossians 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:10.960 2 says, let your roots grow down into him and 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.539 let your lives be built on him. Then your faith 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:16.080 will grow strong in the truth that you were taught, 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.840 that you will overflow with thankfulness. I don't 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.400 know about you, but I want faith. I want strong 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:29.000 faith that is true. And I can only do that in 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:31.610 the presence of God. And I want to be thankful. 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:34.210 I want to be thankful for all God's given me. 00:03:34.349 --> 00:03:38.490 And I want to overflow with that. Because if 00:03:38.490 --> 00:03:41.930 I don't have my roots in Jesus, things happen, 00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:44.250 right? And I can be blown away because you know 00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:49.610 life is hard, right? Everybody knows sometimes, 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:53.430 sometimes it feels like all the time, life is 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:58.580 hard. And faithfulness and thankfulness can be 00:03:58.580 --> 00:04:00.939 torn away if our roots don't grow down deep. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.000 Have you looked at the image? We have the image 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.199 of our series poster right behind us. And these 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:08.879 are some serious roots, right? In fact, these 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.379 are some roots that are inspired by J .R .R. 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:14.479 Tolkien, the author of Lord of the Rings. Here's 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:17.000 a picture of him sitting on the roots. And this 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.959 is a picture of our own Matt Pointer, who created 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.120 the series image, sitting there as well. These 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:25.579 are the roots that inspired some of his writings. 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:28.540 And J .R .R. Tolkien believed that trees were 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:31.240 magical, and they could come alive, and they 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.680 just ushered in the presence of God. Does anybody 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:38.120 here love trees? Okay, I love trees, and I could 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.779 talk about trees for a long time, but I'm not 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:42.500 going to do that for you this morning, but it 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:44.720 just brings me back to childhood. I just have 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.920 a lot of great memories of climbing trees as 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:48.920 a child, and everywhere we go, I just look at 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:51.379 the different kinds of trees and all God created, 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:56.180 and it just brings me back to Jesus, right? So 00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:59.139 when we look at these roots, think about how 00:04:59.139 --> 00:05:02.360 many roots it takes to be rooted and grounded 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:08.319 in love. rooted and established in love. In Matthew 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:11.279 7, 24 through 25, it says we read these words 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.660 spoken by Jesus. So then, let everyone who hears 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:18.540 my words and puts them into practice is like 00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:20.920 a wise man who builds his house on the rock. 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:26.339 The rain comes down, the waters rise, the winds 00:05:26.339 --> 00:05:28.519 blow and beat against that house, but it does 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:34.639 not fall. Our roots are essential to build our 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.600 lives on that foundation of Jesus, right? Practice 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.339 is essential as followers of Jesus, as it says 00:05:41.339 --> 00:05:44.540 in that scripture. In James 1 .22, it says, don't 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.180 just listen to the word of God. You'll fool yourselves 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:49.360 if you do that, but you must do what it says, 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:52.220 right? So we can't just read the word of God. 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.040 We can't just read what it says in the Bible. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:56.379 We have to do it. And one of the examples of 00:05:56.379 --> 00:05:58.660 that, you know, spring is here, right? Does anybody 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:00.959 know spring is here? Kind of. Some days it feels 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:02.860 like spring. Some days it still feels like winter. 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:06.300 But guess what? The daffodils are up. Spring 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:10.399 is coming, and it feels so good after a long, 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:12.740 hard winter. We've had a long, hard winter, right? 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.220 And some seasons in our life are long, hard winters, 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:21.100 right? And we just see that life bursting forth 00:06:21.100 --> 00:06:23.259 from the ground, and we think, spring is coming. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.620 God did something. Everything isn't dead. God's 00:06:27.620 --> 00:06:29.579 still growing something. And that's what roots 00:06:29.579 --> 00:06:32.600 do. They establish us, right? And it's the spring, 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.339 right? So we have spring sports. And for my family, 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:38.839 it makes all the kids go from hibernation mode 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:42.399 right out into the spring sports field. So I 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.740 live in Williamsport by all the school fields. 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:47.620 And so we have baseball games and track meets 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:50.259 and all these different things going on. And 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:52.560 so you don't even think about, when you think 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:54.500 about sports, you always think about the word 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:56.720 practice, right? There's no way you would give 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:58.779 your kid a book and tell them about baseball. 00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:01.439 Read this book on baseball and now go out and 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:03.180 you can be in the major leagues. That's ridiculous. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:05.800 And sometimes we do that as followers of Jesus. 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:08.540 We think, okay, I'll read the Bible and then 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:11.620 I'll just try. Or I'll just read the Bible. That's 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:13.000 what I've got to do to be a Jesus follower. But 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.300 no. We've got to practice. And we're all in that 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:18.819 mode where we have to practice. And practice 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.730 isn't a bad word. It's a good word. Okay? Practice 00:07:21.730 --> 00:07:24.529 is a good word. You know that you have to practice 00:07:24.529 --> 00:07:26.670 to get proficient at anything you do, right? 00:07:27.689 --> 00:07:30.129 We know that... Do you guys know the saying, 00:07:30.269 --> 00:07:32.850 practice makes perfect? Anybody ever heard that 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:35.829 old saying? No? Just me? I'm only... Okay. All 00:07:35.829 --> 00:07:38.029 right. I must just be old, right? So practice 00:07:38.029 --> 00:07:40.629 makes perfect, right? But I would like to say... 00:07:40.629 --> 00:07:42.610 I would like to change the statement. Did anybody 00:07:42.610 --> 00:07:45.149 read my email? That's okay if you didn't. I still 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:47.509 love you. I would like to change the statement 00:07:47.509 --> 00:07:50.939 that says, practice makes permanence. Because 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:53.639 we don't need to be perfect followers of Jesus, 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:56.800 right? We need to be permanent followers of Jesus. 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:59.100 And that's what we're talking about today. Not 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:01.660 perfect followers of Jesus. Not practice makes 00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:03.600 perfect. We'll be these perfect Christians. But 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:07.180 we will be permanent Christians. That our lives, 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:09.819 our roots will go down deep. And when the winds 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:11.600 come, when the rains come, we'll be able to stand 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.339 against those hard times, right? Because they 00:08:13.339 --> 00:08:16.100 are going to come. right? But I want my life 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.079 to be established in the kingdom of God for my 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.560 kids, for my grandkids, for the kingdom of God 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.120 to come and his will to be done on earth as it 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.180 is in heaven forever and ever, right? And so 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:28.019 I just don't want me to, I just don't want to 00:08:28.019 --> 00:08:31.220 be tossed and turned by every wave, right? I 00:08:31.220 --> 00:08:33.159 want to have my roots to go down deep, and so 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:38.129 I have to practice. So most of this talk, I have 00:08:38.129 --> 00:08:39.830 to confess, comes from the book I listened to 00:08:39.830 --> 00:08:42.929 on Audible beginning last summer. So it's about 00:08:42.929 --> 00:08:45.090 a year that I listened to this book. It's by 00:08:45.090 --> 00:08:48.049 John Mark Comer, and it's entitled The Ruthless 00:08:48.049 --> 00:08:52.210 Elimination of Hurry, which is his book is entitled 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:54.110 from a quote from Dallas Willard. If anybody 00:08:54.110 --> 00:08:56.269 knows who Dallas Willard is, he was a theologian. 00:08:56.970 --> 00:08:59.750 But what his life did, anybody that knew him 00:08:59.750 --> 00:09:03.230 knew that he knew Jesus, right? Because he didn't 00:09:03.230 --> 00:09:04.909 believe that we just had to read God's Word. 00:09:04.970 --> 00:09:07.909 We have to do. what Jesus said, right? And so 00:09:07.909 --> 00:09:10.750 the quote that John Mark Comer wrote the book 00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:14.809 from, it says, hurry is the great enemy of the 00:09:14.809 --> 00:09:21.450 spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly 00:09:21.450 --> 00:09:24.210 eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:27.950 else. Let me read that again. Hurry is the great 00:09:27.950 --> 00:09:31.480 enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:34.039 ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.820 is nothing else. And when I listened to the book, 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:40.799 I had kind of come to a place in my life where 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.139 I felt like I was doing things for God, but I 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:46.279 was on this hamster wheel. I was so rushed and 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.159 I was so hurried and I was doing Christian life 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:50.259 and I was doing the church and we're doing ministry 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:52.919 and serving my family and serving in the community. 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:55.100 I felt like I was on this little wheel. And I 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:58.679 was so tired and I was angry and I was unkind. 00:09:59.419 --> 00:10:04.480 Right? And I wanted to change. And so there's 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.299 a famous quote by Corrie Ten Boom. And Corrie 00:10:07.299 --> 00:10:10.399 Ten Boom was a Holocaust survivor. And she also 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.720 helped Jewish people escape. She was a watchmaker. 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:16.360 If you haven't read her autobiography, it's a 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.899 beautiful story of how God used her family. But 00:10:20.899 --> 00:10:24.139 her quote says, if the devil can't make us bad, 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:28.549 he will make us busy. If the devil can't make 00:10:28.549 --> 00:10:31.309 us bad, he will make us busy. Because what I'm 00:10:31.309 --> 00:10:33.629 talking about here isn't necessarily sin per 00:10:33.629 --> 00:10:35.490 se, right? It's not like I went out and I was 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:37.470 like, okay, I'm going to go cheat on my husband 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:38.909 or I'm going to go and do these different things. 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:42.710 It was just I'm so busy that I'm angry, right? 00:10:42.950 --> 00:10:46.289 I'm resentful. I don't enjoy life, right? And 00:10:46.289 --> 00:10:50.850 so I decided to try a new journey. I decided 00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:53.230 what I was doing wasn't working, and I wasn't 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:56.250 able to just quit and go off and just have a 00:10:56.250 --> 00:10:59.049 midlife crisis, right? But I decided to practice. 00:10:59.450 --> 00:11:02.009 I decided I would practice the presence of God 00:11:02.009 --> 00:11:04.450 in my life. I would take what I was learning 00:11:04.450 --> 00:11:06.350 in this book, and I would apply it to my life 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:09.870 little by little by little every day and see 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:12.830 what God would do, right? And so I'd like you 00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:14.470 guys to go on this journey with me together, 00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:17.610 and you can try it. Everybody's journey is a 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:19.769 little different. But I'm telling you, it worked 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:21.669 for me, and hopefully it'll work for you, and 00:11:21.669 --> 00:11:24.529 it'll get you closer to who God wants you to 00:11:24.529 --> 00:11:26.850 be and make you a little happier in your life. 00:11:27.090 --> 00:11:35.570 So let's pray. Holy Spirit, come. Have your way. 00:11:35.669 --> 00:11:38.950 God, this is your stage. God, this is your room. 00:11:38.950 --> 00:11:41.389 This is your church. We're your people, God, 00:11:41.490 --> 00:11:43.830 and we just ask that you would just speak to 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:53.629 us today, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So 00:11:53.629 --> 00:11:56.190 the first step I did was to eliminate hurry. 00:11:56.509 --> 00:11:59.110 The first step, and what John Comer practiced 00:11:59.110 --> 00:12:02.990 in this book, is to eliminate hurry, right? John 00:12:02.990 --> 00:12:07.490 13, 34, and 35 says, so now I'm giving you a 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:10.809 new commandment. Love each other just as I have 00:12:10.809 --> 00:12:13.389 loved you. You should love each other. Your love 00:12:13.389 --> 00:12:16.149 for one another will prove to the world that 00:12:16.149 --> 00:12:21.779 you are my disciples. If we're followers of Jesus, 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:24.240 the only thing we can do for this world is give 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.700 them love, right? If we're not loving our neighbors, 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:29.919 if we're not loving our families, if we're not 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:32.600 loving those around us, what are we doing? What 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:34.659 are we doing here? The world says, no thanks. 00:12:34.740 --> 00:12:36.740 I don't want an anxious Christian. I don't want 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:39.539 to do life like you. I don't want to be busy 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:41.220 like Jessica. I don't want to be mean. I don't 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:43.080 want to be in such a hurry. I can't have a conversation, 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:46.830 right? We need to be loved to the world, right? 00:12:46.950 --> 00:12:48.970 And if we're called to be Christ followers, we 00:12:48.970 --> 00:12:51.529 have to bring that love into the world. James 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:54.450 1, 19 through 22 says, understand this, my dear 00:12:54.450 --> 00:12:57.370 brothers and sisters, you must be quick to listen, 00:12:57.549 --> 00:13:02.509 slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger 00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:04.970 does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 00:13:05.389 --> 00:13:08.490 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your 00:13:08.490 --> 00:13:11.450 lives and humbly accept the word that God has 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:13.860 planted in your hearts. For it has the power 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:16.440 to save your souls. But don't just listen to 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.899 God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:25.360 you're only fooling yourself. Do what the word 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:31.039 of God says. So the first thing we want to talk 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.000 about is Jesus never hurried, right? Jesus never 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.549 hurried. He was never busy. Here's an example 00:13:37.549 --> 00:13:41.029 of this. Mark 5, 32 through 34, it says, but 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:44.250 he kept on looking around to see who done it. 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.909 The frightened woman trembled in realization 00:13:47.909 --> 00:13:50.470 of what had happened to her, came and fell to 00:13:50.470 --> 00:13:52.549 her knees in front of them and told him what 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:56.509 she had done. And he said to her, daughter, your 00:13:56.509 --> 00:14:00.149 faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:04.789 is over. Your suffering is over. So this is Jesus. 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:07.360 I didn't give you the whole context here, but 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.860 I will right now. So this is Jesus in the midst 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:12.399 of a crowd. He's out. He's busy. He's doing the 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:14.659 things that God wants him to do, right? And he's 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:17.940 going to heal someone else, right? But while 00:14:17.940 --> 00:14:22.539 he's walking that way, a woman reaches out and 00:14:22.539 --> 00:14:25.940 touches the hem of his garment. She's so desperate 00:14:25.940 --> 00:14:29.000 for healing. She's so desperate to be seen. She's 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:31.460 been bleeding with an issue of blood. She's unclean 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:34.580 for years. And she reaches out, and her faith, 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:38.769 I need a miracle from God. I want to reach out, 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.190 and she touches Jesus, and he's not too hurried. 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:44.830 He understands what she wants, and he turns, 00:14:45.049 --> 00:14:48.850 he finds her, and he says, woman, your faith 00:14:48.850 --> 00:14:52.570 has made you well. He says to her, I see you. 00:14:52.669 --> 00:14:55.889 I see your pain. I see what you're going through, 00:14:55.990 --> 00:15:00.690 and you're important to me. I'm not too busy 00:15:00.690 --> 00:15:06.120 for you. You're important to me. And so if Jesus 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:09.879 could be walking and he recognizes that this 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:11.879 woman needs him and he stops and he does what 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.320 he sees, he heals her, right? Just by touching 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:18.679 him, she's healed. And then he stops. He acknowledges 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:22.279 her, right? And then he goes on and he heals 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:25.860 again, right? But he was never hurried. He was 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:29.139 never in a rush. He stopped and saw her for who 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:32.360 she was. It's so important as Jesus followers 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:35.179 just to see people, like I see you people, like 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:37.860 to have a relationship with you, to talk to you. 00:15:37.940 --> 00:15:41.440 We all just want to know that we're seen. We 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:43.799 want to know that God loves us and that we're 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:47.899 important and that we matter, right? And God 00:15:47.899 --> 00:15:51.419 does see you. But we as Jesus followers need 00:15:51.419 --> 00:15:54.799 to be that for other people, right? We need to 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.399 have those relationships where we're not in a 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.220 hurry so that we do sit down and see. what you're 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:04.960 going through. So for me, when I wanted to practice 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.179 this, I'm trying to think, okay, God, how do 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:09.399 I practice? We're going to stay back on the first 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:10.919 point. Sorry, I'm not ready to practice the second 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.840 point yet. So, oh, so it's not there. So, but 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:16.500 he was never hurried or busy. So for what it 00:16:16.500 --> 00:16:18.779 means for me in my life is I took and I said, 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.580 okay, where am I hurried? Where am I busy? And 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:23.080 I said, the first thing I need to do is just 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:26.240 get in God's presence. So I just carved out time 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.039 in my day just to spend with God. just to be 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.779 seen by God, just to have that devotional time 00:16:32.779 --> 00:16:35.899 again, just to be in his presence. And I had 00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:39.000 let that time slip away. I had been doing my 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.019 devotionals, but they were quick, right? I had 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:43.039 been like, okay, check, check, check on the Bible 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.080 app, right? It was a list of things I was doing. 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:48.360 But I actually got up, and I spent time with 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:52.340 God, and I sat with him, and I was seen by him. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:55.799 And I poured my heart out to him. And it took 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.860 time, it took practice, but gradually I started 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:02.279 to change again, to know how loved I was by him, 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:05.680 to know that my identity was with him, not with 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.740 what I was doing, not in the other things that 00:17:07.740 --> 00:17:09.700 I needed, not in the people, not in my relationships, 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:14.500 but Father God saw me, right? Because Jesus was 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:16.420 never hurried or busy, and God wants to spend 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:19.380 time with you people. The second thing we are 00:17:19.380 --> 00:17:21.140 going to talk about today is the practice of 00:17:21.140 --> 00:17:24.380 silence and solitude. Now, I know some of you 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:26.039 guys, this is a little much. You're like, okay, 00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:28.400 I don't really like to be alone with my thoughts. 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:30.240 I don't really like to do this. But we're going 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.279 to practice, okay? Luke 6, 12 says, One day, 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:36.299 soon afterwards, Jesus went up to the mountain 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:42.720 to pray. He prayed to God all night. Matthew 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:46.880 14, 23. After sending them home, he went up the 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.039 hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:54.380 was there alone. So this is Jesus. Mark 1 .35 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:57.140 says, before daybreak the next morning, Jesus 00:17:57.140 --> 00:18:00.460 got up and went to an isolated place to pray. 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:05.259 He practiced silence and solitude. Jesus spent 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:09.500 time with God. Now, if Jesus needed to spend 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.079 time with God in silence and solitude, I think 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:14.559 we do, right? I think it might be important for 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:21.930 us, right? One way that I did this in my life 00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:24.490 to practice silence and solitude is I started 00:18:24.490 --> 00:18:27.890 just turning off the radio, just started turning 00:18:27.890 --> 00:18:29.589 off the noise. So even at my house, sometimes 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:31.490 I'd be listening to worship music or I'd put 00:18:31.490 --> 00:18:34.069 on an audible book like you heard I like to do, 00:18:34.170 --> 00:18:36.529 and so I would just stop and just not put anything 00:18:36.529 --> 00:18:40.569 on at all, not listen to anything, just be present 00:18:40.569 --> 00:18:43.009 with myself and with my thoughts, what was going 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:46.970 on, right? And I started to gradually get more 00:18:46.970 --> 00:18:49.910 comfortable with silence and solitude. I actually 00:18:49.910 --> 00:18:53.710 enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed collecting my 00:18:53.710 --> 00:18:56.789 thoughts and not being so scattered and not acting 00:18:56.789 --> 00:19:00.309 out of the next thing, right? And so it just 00:19:00.309 --> 00:19:03.690 takes time. It takes practice, right? So Moses... 00:19:04.789 --> 00:19:06.849 Moses, does anybody know the story of Moses? 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:10.529 You hear the famous story of Moses who led the 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:13.109 people out of Egypt, right? And he did all these 00:19:13.109 --> 00:19:17.009 great things for God, right? Well, Moses didn't 00:19:17.009 --> 00:19:19.950 know his identity for half of his life, right? 00:19:20.069 --> 00:19:22.930 He was raised by the Egyptians as royalty, right? 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:26.809 And he was Hebrew. And so when he saw the Egyptians 00:19:26.809 --> 00:19:31.039 beating and beating, and beating his people, 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:34.039 when he saw the injustice being performed, he 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:36.740 reached out and he killed the Egyptian out of 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:40.220 anger. That righteousness was planted in his 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:43.799 heart by God, but that anger wasn't good, right? 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.779 The anger wasn't good, but God took him away 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:50.039 to silence and solitude to figure out who he 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:52.779 was so that he could use that righteousness that 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:55.259 he felt to free his people to do it God's way. 00:19:56.680 --> 00:19:59.380 Sometimes we have these agendas where we see 00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:01.160 something and we get angry, right? And we want 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.420 to go and fight and do the stuff, right? But 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:06.480 God's saying, wait, let me show you who you are 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:10.160 first and then do it my way. Moses, when he was 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.079 in, when God took him away to silence and solitude, 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:15.319 he was in the wilderness and he was walking. 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:18.259 Silence and solitude, not paying attention to 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:19.940 everything. He saw the bush and he turned and 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:22.859 he noticed it. And he saw that the bush wasn't 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:26.230 burning up, right? And he said, that's odd. Why 00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:28.450 wouldn't the bush burn up? He just noticed things 00:20:28.450 --> 00:20:30.250 in nature. God was using him. And it said when 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:32.930 God, when he turned and saw that the bush wasn't 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:36.430 burning up, then God spoke, right? It took Moses 00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:38.950 being in a place of silence and solitude for 00:20:38.950 --> 00:20:41.269 God. God was trying to speak, right? And then 00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:44.609 when he turned, God spoke. Sometimes we're so 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:46.529 busy in our lives, we don't notice the things 00:20:46.529 --> 00:20:48.670 that God's trying to tell us, right? We're just 00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.349 so focused on, I almost feel like sometimes I'm 00:20:51.349 --> 00:20:53.769 a horse with blinders on. You know, I'm just 00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:56.789 focused on what's next on my schedule. I don't 00:20:56.789 --> 00:20:59.549 see what God's doing around me, right? But Moses 00:20:59.549 --> 00:21:03.250 noticed what God's doing, and then notice, God 00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:09.789 told Moses who he was. God told Moses, you are 00:21:09.789 --> 00:21:13.079 my child. I have called you to save your people. 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:15.400 You are going to pull people out of Egypt, right? 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:17.920 You are going to free your people. And Moses 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:20.200 was like, who, me? That's not who I am. And God 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:23.099 said, yes, that's who you are. Some of you today 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:25.900 do not know who you are. You're not who your 00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:27.759 parents said you are. You're not who your friends 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:29.779 say you are. You're not what social media says 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:31.500 you are. You're not what the society tells you 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:34.619 you are. You are who God says you are. And God 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:36.779 says, you're valuable. You're worth my time. 00:21:36.859 --> 00:21:38.759 I have a plan and I have a purpose for your life, 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.880 but you have to know who you are and your authority 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.240 and me first because I'm going to do the work 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:45.900 through you. I'm going to do the work through 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:47.700 you. Moses was like, how is this going to happen, 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:52.359 God? Trust me, God says. Trust me. I don't know 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:54.660 how God's done everything in my life, but I have 00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:57.319 to trust him, right? And so when we know who 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.259 we are, when we spend the time with silence and 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:01.440 solitude with God, we can trust that he's going 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.890 to do the work in our lives. Because we know 00:22:03.890 --> 00:22:07.150 it's not about us. It's about God. And then God 00:22:07.150 --> 00:22:09.750 brings people into Moses' life to help him, and 00:22:09.750 --> 00:22:12.430 he just continues to have that time with God, 00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:14.809 and he continues to have times of silence and 00:22:14.809 --> 00:22:19.809 solitude while he's a leader. Silence and solitude 00:22:19.809 --> 00:22:23.089 is so important in our lives. Just start by little 00:22:23.089 --> 00:22:26.250 steps. The next thing I'm going to tell you today 00:22:26.250 --> 00:22:30.490 is to practice Sabbath. To practice Sabbath. 00:22:31.789 --> 00:22:35.589 We read Genesis 2, 2 through 3. It says, on the 00:22:35.589 --> 00:22:37.849 seventh day, God had finished his work of creation, 00:22:38.009 --> 00:22:42.309 so he rested from all his work. And God blessed 00:22:42.309 --> 00:22:44.289 the seventh day and declared it holy because 00:22:44.289 --> 00:22:46.970 it was the day that he rested from all his work. 00:22:47.750 --> 00:22:50.950 All the work of creation, God rested. So if God 00:22:50.950 --> 00:22:55.950 rests, do we not think we need to rest? Forrest 00:22:55.950 --> 00:22:58.690 Frank, one of my singers I like right now, he 00:22:58.690 --> 00:23:00.809 has a song that says, even God takes breaks. 00:23:01.630 --> 00:23:04.509 Even God takes breaks, people. We need a break. 00:23:04.569 --> 00:23:06.509 We need a time out, right? We need to know that 00:23:06.509 --> 00:23:11.549 it's okay to rest. Rest is a gift from God. We 00:23:11.549 --> 00:23:13.769 are actually, in the Old Testament, God commanded 00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:16.970 his people to rest. Exodus 31 through 13 says, 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:20.450 tell the people of Israel, be careful to keep 00:23:20.450 --> 00:23:23.289 my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath day is a sign 00:23:23.289 --> 00:23:26.450 of the covenant between me and you from generation 00:23:26.450 --> 00:23:30.720 to generation. It is given to you. so you may 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:35.200 know that I am the Lord who makes you holy. God 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:41.880 gave us a gift of Sabbath, of rest. Mark 2, 27, 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.940 then this is the New Testament. Jesus said to 00:23:44.940 --> 00:23:47.640 them, the Sabbath was made to meet the needs 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:50.940 of the people and not people to meet the requirements 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:54.109 of the Sabbath. right? The Sabbath is God's gift 00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:56.710 to us. He doesn't care how we take it and what 00:23:56.710 --> 00:23:58.890 we do with it, but he knows we need it, right? 00:23:58.970 --> 00:24:03.890 If God needs rest, we all need rest, right? And 00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:10.289 so Psalms 23 says, he lets me rest in green meadows. 00:24:10.549 --> 00:24:15.410 He leads me beside peaceful streams. There he 00:24:15.410 --> 00:24:21.269 renews my strength. And so how I practice this 00:24:21.269 --> 00:24:23.309 in my life is I decided, you know, we work on 00:24:23.309 --> 00:24:27.470 Sundays for church. We take Mondays off, which 00:24:27.470 --> 00:24:29.869 is supposed to be our Sabbath day, but we choose 00:24:29.869 --> 00:24:32.390 to work on Mondays too. So we decide to do our 00:24:32.390 --> 00:24:35.589 laundry, cut the grass, go and plan our week, 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:37.690 do all those kind of things, right? So we've 00:24:37.690 --> 00:24:40.910 packed our Sabbath into all this stuff that needs 00:24:40.910 --> 00:24:42.490 to get done, right? And those things are important. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.539 So what I did is I prayed and I go, God, how 00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:47.740 can I have Sabbath in my life? How are there 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:51.019 times of rest? So I practice, okay, Saturdays. 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:53.200 So we've taken like half a day on Saturday or 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:54.839 I've done different things here or there just 00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:56.920 to have some times of rest where we don't have 00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:00.019 anything on our schedule. Where I can just enjoy 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:02.359 my family or I can take a walk with my dogs, 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:05.460 right? I can look up, we were taking a walk with 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.680 our dogs yesterday and we saw that in the woods, 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:10.559 we saw the daffodils blooming, right? It's beautiful 00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:12.900 just to get out in God's creation on a day of 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:15.900 Sabbath. You know, even if it's just a few hours, 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:19.240 practice it. Practice it. See how you feel. Notice 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:22.200 how you feel the next day after your Sabbath, 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:29.500 right? The fourth step, or the fourth thing I 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:33.599 did, it was practice simplicity. Practice simplicity. 00:25:35.380 --> 00:25:39.400 Matthew 6 .33 says, Seek the kingdom of God. 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:43.880 above all else, and live righteously, and he 00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:48.720 will give you everything you need. God will give 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:54.700 you everything you need. God will give you everything 00:25:54.700 --> 00:25:59.880 you need, right? Not everything you want, right? 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:04.329 But everything you need. Mark 6, 8 through 10 00:26:04.329 --> 00:26:06.730 says he told them to take nothing for their journey 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:10.029 except a walking stick, no food, no traveler's 00:26:10.029 --> 00:26:12.509 bag, no money. He allowed them to wear sandals 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:17.369 but not to take a change of clothes. So Jesus, 00:26:17.509 --> 00:26:19.930 this is when Jesus is telling his disciples to 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:22.369 go out and preach the good news, right? He said, 00:26:22.390 --> 00:26:24.630 you don't need anything. You just need my good 00:26:24.630 --> 00:26:26.410 news and you need these simple things, right? 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:29.450 We've complicated it so much, people. Jesus says, 00:26:29.529 --> 00:26:32.910 you don't need much. right? If you have the kingdom 00:26:32.910 --> 00:26:36.230 of God, we are living in an age that everybody 00:26:36.230 --> 00:26:39.410 has just way too much stuff, right? We went over 00:26:39.410 --> 00:26:42.970 to Kenya in the spring, and just to see those 00:26:42.970 --> 00:26:46.349 families and what they had was humbling, right? 00:26:46.549 --> 00:26:49.769 At first, I'm like, oh man, I have so much stuff. 00:26:50.620 --> 00:26:53.960 and then a widow let us come into her home, and 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:56.700 she had five kids, and they each had a bed, and 00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:58.539 they had concrete floors, and they had a picture 00:26:58.539 --> 00:27:01.000 on their wall. It's just so ironic to me how 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.480 much I spend time making my house nice and decorating 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:05.500 my home, and her home was clean, but she had 00:27:05.500 --> 00:27:08.400 one of those pictures from an auto place where 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.319 you get where it's a calendar and a picture together, 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:13.200 and that was her artwork on her wall, and then 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.200 a picture of the matriarch of the family, and 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.420 that's it, right? And she had curtains in between 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:22.250 the rooms. But they were living, and they were 00:27:22.250 --> 00:27:25.269 thriving, and they were smiling, and they loved 00:27:25.269 --> 00:27:29.650 Jesus, and their life was fine, right? It was 00:27:29.650 --> 00:27:33.089 simple. Sometimes we overcomplicate things. I 00:27:33.089 --> 00:27:36.049 have in my house, how many pairs of shoes do 00:27:36.049 --> 00:27:39.970 you think I have in my house? I have six kids, 00:27:39.970 --> 00:27:43.450 and I have Chris, and you have me. So we have 00:27:43.450 --> 00:27:46.650 probably, each of us probably, I'm not underestimating, 00:27:46.690 --> 00:27:50.009 probably have ten pairs of shoes, right? That's 00:27:50.009 --> 00:27:52.750 like 80 pairs of shoes alone in my house, one 00:27:52.750 --> 00:27:56.250 pair of house, and one house. And so what I did, 00:27:56.329 --> 00:27:58.750 oh, and then Phoenix has a lot of toys, so we'll 00:27:58.750 --> 00:28:00.470 talk about that later. So what I did is I was 00:28:00.470 --> 00:28:03.289 like, okay, God, what do I need? And so I just 00:28:03.289 --> 00:28:06.069 started going through my home, and I just, all 00:28:06.069 --> 00:28:07.750 my days of rest, I just simplified, okay, I'm 00:28:07.750 --> 00:28:10.369 going to get rid of this stuff and this clutter 00:28:10.369 --> 00:28:12.819 because I can't take care of it. It becomes where 00:28:12.819 --> 00:28:15.140 I have to spend days and days cleaning and taking 00:28:15.140 --> 00:28:17.220 care of the things that I have. And so I'm like, 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.359 what's important to me and what's not? And so 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.319 I've been able to give away so much. But just 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.559 practice going through my closet, getting rid 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:26.920 of this, getting rid of that. You don't need 00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:30.539 that much. Because when I live simply, I'm able 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:32.680 to breathe. I don't have as much laundry to do. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.700 Sometimes I even take off my clothes. I go and 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.539 I work out, and then I put my clothes back on. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:41.240 I used to change my outfit like three or four 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.799 times a day. No lie. Because you get up, you 00:28:43.799 --> 00:28:45.980 put your pajamas on. And then you get up, and 00:28:45.980 --> 00:28:47.259 then you put your workout clothes on. Then you 00:28:47.259 --> 00:28:48.380 change your workout clothes. You jump in the 00:28:48.380 --> 00:28:49.700 shower, you put the next clothes on for work. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:51.519 Then I put on clothes for later in the evening. 00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:53.460 And then I change again. I'm like, I'm just wearing 00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:56.180 all these different clothes, right? And so for 00:28:56.180 --> 00:28:59.839 me, in my life, it was simplifying what we have 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:02.500 in our home. And even our son, Phoenix, it's 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:06.019 funny, last week, I got to spend the whole week 00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:09.339 with Phoenix, me and him alone. So Chris went 00:29:09.339 --> 00:29:12.640 down and spent time with his daughters in Florida 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.440 and Boca. So he hung out with them, and so it 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:17.400 was me and Phoenix. And so I'm trying to practice 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:18.940 patience, so we'll talk about this later, but 00:29:18.940 --> 00:29:21.819 I'm like, Phoenix, let's pick up our room. And 00:29:21.819 --> 00:29:24.660 I've just said, he has so many toys. He can't 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:26.660 keep track of all the ones he has, right? And 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:29.140 so it's like almost impossible for him to focus 00:29:29.140 --> 00:29:31.599 and put his toys away. So finally, after two 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:33.740 hours of him trying to clean up four toys in 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:35.819 his room, I just picked the trash bag up. I said, 00:29:35.859 --> 00:29:37.740 obviously this isn't important. And I put him 00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:39.960 in the trash bag and I said, okay, we don't really 00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:41.640 need these because you can't pick them up anyway. 00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:45.180 And he said, yeah, I don't need them. He calls 00:29:45.180 --> 00:29:46.880 his dad. His dad goes, oh, I heard you had some 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:48.500 toys thrown away. He goes, yeah, it was good. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:50.599 I got my room cleaned up and I didn't even need 00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:52.180 them. those toys anyway because I got plenty 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:55.319 you know what I mean so it's like it's so impossible 00:29:55.319 --> 00:29:57.759 for him to clean up all the toys he has right 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:00.019 because we have so much stuff we don't even know 00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:02.859 what's important to us or valuable so trying 00:30:02.859 --> 00:30:05.759 to practice simplicity of our life Jesus said 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:10.079 beware this is Luke 12 15 it says guard against 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:13.279 every kind of greed life is not measured by how 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:17.299 much you own Life is not measured by how much 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:19.519 you own. So, you know, I love audio books. I've 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.200 already confessed my sin to you. So I was going 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:24.680 to get Chris at the airport on Friday, and I 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:28.180 downloaded The Psychology of Money. I don't know 00:30:28.180 --> 00:30:30.339 if anybody's heard that book. But they talk about 00:30:30.339 --> 00:30:32.799 how people acquire all this wealth, you know, 00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:34.519 from the stock markets. I know nothing about 00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:37.890 this. I'm just trying to learn this stuff. The 00:30:37.890 --> 00:30:40.009 psychology, like people that have been raised 00:30:40.009 --> 00:30:42.029 poor and have gained all this wealth and just 00:30:42.029 --> 00:30:43.930 lost it because they've been greedy. They were 00:30:43.930 --> 00:30:45.930 like, they had millions and millions and millions 00:30:45.930 --> 00:30:47.890 of dollars and they weren't satisfied, so they 00:30:47.890 --> 00:30:50.130 decided to cheat and then they end up in jail, 00:30:50.309 --> 00:30:53.630 right? Or they take these risky investments, 00:30:53.829 --> 00:30:55.549 you know, because what happens is the stock market, 00:30:55.670 --> 00:30:59.069 what I'm learning is investments over time work, 00:30:59.329 --> 00:31:02.910 just like practice. So you need to know, like, 00:31:02.970 --> 00:31:04.910 if you're going to invest, it's going to... make 00:31:04.910 --> 00:31:07.470 results for you over time. It multiplies over 00:31:07.470 --> 00:31:10.390 time. So if you get scared and you need your 00:31:10.390 --> 00:31:12.650 money to work for you super fast, right, and 00:31:12.650 --> 00:31:14.269 you take your money out, you could lose a lot 00:31:14.269 --> 00:31:15.750 of money. So you just need to know that your 00:31:15.750 --> 00:31:17.329 investments are going to work over like a 30 00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:20.029 -year period, not over a two -year period. So 00:31:20.029 --> 00:31:22.210 what people do that are successful is they start 00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:24.670 investing early and they know that their investments 00:31:24.670 --> 00:31:27.630 are going to take time. And so that's what we're 00:31:27.630 --> 00:31:29.289 talking about when we're talking about practicing 00:31:29.289 --> 00:31:31.269 the spiritual disciplines in our life. It's going 00:31:31.269 --> 00:31:34.769 to take time to build wealth. right? It doesn't 00:31:34.769 --> 00:31:36.769 come overnight. And they also talked about in 00:31:36.769 --> 00:31:39.109 this book how many, and they said nobody's crazy, 00:31:39.309 --> 00:31:41.730 which I would argue everybody's crazy in the 00:31:41.730 --> 00:31:43.269 book. I always say everybody's crazy. He said 00:31:43.269 --> 00:31:44.990 nobody's crazy, but that's another way to say 00:31:44.990 --> 00:31:48.910 it. But he said everybody is in their own, their 00:31:48.910 --> 00:31:51.049 minds, right? We do things because of what is 00:31:51.049 --> 00:31:54.319 in our heart, right? And so he talks about the 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:56.319 millions of people who buy the lottery ticket. 00:31:56.539 --> 00:31:58.599 And he said, you're not crazy if you buy a lottery 00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:00.839 ticket and you're one of the people that can't 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:02.599 even afford to pay your bills, right? Because 00:32:02.599 --> 00:32:06.119 you think, okay, this is a chance. I'm taking 00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:08.140 a chance that I can pay my bills tomorrow, right? 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:10.440 Right? So it's only a dollar and I'm making an 00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:12.319 investment. I might pay my bills tomorrow, right? 00:32:12.460 --> 00:32:14.740 So in our minds, we think it's a good choice, 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:16.859 right? Because of what you've experienced in 00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:19.980 your life. The things we do in our life are because 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:22.619 of the things we've experienced, the situations 00:32:22.619 --> 00:32:25.359 we've been in. And so what we have to do is we 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:27.440 have to retrain our brain to say, I have all 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:30.900 I need. I'm not poor. I am rich in the kingdom 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:33.380 of God. God, show me how to invest my money wisely. 00:32:33.559 --> 00:32:35.900 God, show me what to do with this. What is important 00:32:35.900 --> 00:32:40.440 to me? What's important to my family? If you 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:43.640 feel like you have greed, ask God, why? Why do 00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:46.680 I need all this stuff? If you're overeating, 00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:48.099 if you're like, okay, I've got to get the next 00:32:48.099 --> 00:32:51.380 thing. Donuts just look so good, you guys. We 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:52.880 had these guys come in and cut our trees yesterday, 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:55.339 and I told Chris, I know they're bad for me, 00:32:55.380 --> 00:32:58.779 but they just look so pretty. I'm just like Eve, 00:32:58.839 --> 00:33:00.400 like the apple that's up in the street. I'm like, 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:02.680 I know why she ate it. Things are just presented 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:06.220 to us in these such packages. They're marketed 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:08.099 so well that we're like, we've got to eat that, 00:33:08.180 --> 00:33:11.579 right? But it says, Jesus is the bread of life. 00:33:12.029 --> 00:33:14.529 We don't need the donut, right? But our minds 00:33:14.529 --> 00:33:16.589 are telling us we need the donut, right? When 00:33:16.589 --> 00:33:18.730 we feel like we're hungry, why am I eating this, 00:33:18.730 --> 00:33:21.750 God, right? Why am I making this choice? Am I 00:33:21.750 --> 00:33:23.849 hungry for you? Have I spent time with you, God? 00:33:23.950 --> 00:33:25.789 Do I know who I am in you? Did I just have a 00:33:25.789 --> 00:33:28.710 situation come up that was stressful? Did I have 00:33:28.710 --> 00:33:30.809 to look at my money and then I just bought a 00:33:30.809 --> 00:33:32.250 donut instead because it's not going to work 00:33:32.250 --> 00:33:35.990 out anyway, right? So we have to ask God, why 00:33:35.990 --> 00:33:38.529 is it that I overspend or I overbuy? What's it 00:33:38.529 --> 00:33:43.140 doing to me? Psalms 23 .1 says, the Lord is my 00:33:43.140 --> 00:33:47.680 shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I have all 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:54.099 that I need. I have all that I need. Fifth thing 00:33:54.099 --> 00:33:58.140 I did is I practiced slowing down and meditating. 00:33:58.700 --> 00:34:01.980 Slowing down. So I have slowing and meditating 00:34:01.980 --> 00:34:05.619 on the outline. Slowing and meditating. Proverbs 00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:09.360 19 .2 says, Enthusiasm without knowledge is no 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:15.340 good. Haste makes mistakes. Ecclesiastes 3 .11 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:18.659 says, Yet God has made everything beautiful in 00:34:18.659 --> 00:34:21.380 its own time. He has planted eternity in the 00:34:21.380 --> 00:34:24.420 human heart. But even so, people cannot see the 00:34:24.420 --> 00:34:27.980 whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. 00:34:28.809 --> 00:34:31.230 You know, roots take time to grow deep in the 00:34:31.230 --> 00:34:33.150 soil. If I took a seed right now and put it in 00:34:33.150 --> 00:34:35.050 the ground, it's not going to produce roots for 00:34:35.050 --> 00:34:37.389 a long time, and we've got to water it, right? 00:34:37.630 --> 00:34:39.889 And we've got to add sunlight and soil, and we've 00:34:39.889 --> 00:34:42.690 got to keep caring for it so our roots go down 00:34:42.690 --> 00:34:44.889 deep. It takes time. We can't see all the things 00:34:44.889 --> 00:34:46.849 God's going to do in our life. We can only see 00:34:46.849 --> 00:34:49.670 this moment in time, right? And so when we grow 00:34:49.670 --> 00:34:52.699 our roots down deep, right? And when we take 00:34:52.699 --> 00:34:55.119 time, when we make choices, we're not going to 00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:56.880 make mistakes, right? There's so many times that 00:34:56.880 --> 00:34:59.699 I've made quick decisions, right? And then later 00:34:59.699 --> 00:35:02.639 been like, oh, hindsight is 20 -20, right? Right? 00:35:02.699 --> 00:35:06.780 Hindsight is 20 -20. So one of the things that 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:08.960 John Mark Comer says to practice in the book 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:11.019 is if you want to practice slowing down, practice 00:35:11.019 --> 00:35:13.039 doing things like getting in the longest line 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.980 at the grocery store. Right? So I tried to get 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:18.679 Chris to practice this. He was not a fan of it. 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:20.860 He said, no, Jessica, I will not do that with 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:24.099 you. And I was like, okay, that's fine. I will 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:26.380 do it when I'm not with you. So I tried. I've 00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:29.239 tried several times to be able to practice standing 00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:31.059 in the long line at the grocery store. I do have 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:32.900 a five -year -old who runs away a lot, though, 00:35:32.940 --> 00:35:35.039 so I kept running back and forth while I'm in 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:37.519 line. So just practice those things. And then 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.000 I practiced getting in the slow lane of traffic 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.920 and just going slow. Have you guys ever practiced 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.800 going slow? It's very interesting. Apparently 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:47.960 the fast lane is the slow lane, which drives 00:35:47.960 --> 00:35:51.199 Chris absolutely nuts. And it does drive me nuts 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:52.340 when I'm trying to get to the airport on time. 00:35:52.539 --> 00:35:55.019 So yesterday I realized, I'm like, okay, so this 00:35:55.019 --> 00:35:57.400 morning before church, I'm driving up here and 00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:00.179 somebody's going like 25, like those Sunday drivers, 00:36:00.380 --> 00:36:02.099 don't they know that I have to get to church, 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:04.280 right? And I was like, God, I was like, you're 00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:08.139 so funny, God. You are so funny. You want me 00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:10.460 to slow down and practice slowing down because 00:36:10.460 --> 00:36:12.139 I'm going to be talking about it today, right? 00:36:12.619 --> 00:36:14.860 So it's not a one thing. So things that would 00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:18.000 take time. Practice cooking a meal from scratch. 00:36:18.099 --> 00:36:21.119 Practice cooking together as a family. I know 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:23.199 that's one thing I love to do is just to take 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:25.880 fresh whole foods and just have your kids cut 00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:27.719 up the vegetables while you're putting worship 00:36:27.719 --> 00:36:30.059 music on and just make cooking a family affair 00:36:30.059 --> 00:36:33.280 because when you cook together, good things take 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:36.429 time, right? Good food tastes better. If you're 00:36:36.429 --> 00:36:38.130 opening something out of a package, and I'm not 00:36:38.130 --> 00:36:40.429 saying, just sometimes. We're going to start 00:36:40.429 --> 00:36:42.389 with one night a week that we make a dinner. 00:36:43.550 --> 00:36:46.730 I can't say it. Obviously, I need a meal. We 00:36:46.730 --> 00:36:48.329 will start with one night a week that we cook 00:36:48.329 --> 00:36:50.489 together as a family. Maybe it'll be on our Sabbath. 00:36:50.710 --> 00:36:53.210 Maybe it'll be Sundays. Or maybe it'll be Tuesday 00:36:53.210 --> 00:36:55.090 nights because nobody has a game that night. 00:36:55.469 --> 00:36:58.550 And so just practice it. See how you feel. See 00:36:58.550 --> 00:37:02.570 what works. See what doesn't work. See how you 00:37:02.570 --> 00:37:05.639 feel. And just see if you like it or if you don't, 00:37:05.659 --> 00:37:07.900 and then switch it. It's no big deal. It's practice. 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:13.139 See, you don't have to be perfect. So what we're 00:37:13.139 --> 00:37:15.380 going to do right now is we're going to practice 00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:19.199 together slowing down, and we're going to practice 00:37:19.199 --> 00:37:23.059 meditating on God's word. So meditating is a 00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:27.550 new word, right? No, it's not a new word. God 00:37:27.550 --> 00:37:30.909 told us to meditate. David said meditate on the 00:37:30.909 --> 00:37:33.170 word of God, right? And so it's a thing that 00:37:33.170 --> 00:37:35.849 Jesus and God's told us to do. And in the church, 00:37:36.210 --> 00:37:38.809 we've gotten so busy, we've stopped to say, hey, 00:37:38.849 --> 00:37:40.690 you guys need to meditate on scripture, right? 00:37:41.070 --> 00:37:43.570 And so what we do when we meditate is we take 00:37:43.570 --> 00:37:45.409 the scripture and we say, what is this really 00:37:45.409 --> 00:37:48.610 saying? What is this saying to me right now? 00:37:48.809 --> 00:37:51.110 And what does God want to say in his words, right? 00:37:51.190 --> 00:37:53.659 Because if God has given us... The word of God, 00:37:53.719 --> 00:37:56.139 and it's alive and active and sharper than any 00:37:56.139 --> 00:37:58.780 two -edged sword, it should be able to do something 00:37:58.780 --> 00:38:01.920 in your life, right? So we're going to practice 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:04.360 slowing down and meditating on the scripture. 00:38:04.500 --> 00:38:05.739 And what I want you guys to do is I'm going to 00:38:05.739 --> 00:38:07.440 read it so you guys can get in a comfortable 00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:08.920 position. I know you're sitting down already, 00:38:09.079 --> 00:38:11.500 but you can open your hands or you can close 00:38:11.500 --> 00:38:14.059 your eyes or you can stare at my beautiful hair, 00:38:14.219 --> 00:38:17.320 whatever you want to do. My nice shirt that Lisa 00:38:17.320 --> 00:38:19.960 got me. Okay, so you can just practice and just 00:38:19.960 --> 00:38:22.380 get in a comfortable position. and just be willing 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:25.719 to receive from God, okay? You don't have to 00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:29.219 do anything. Isn't this great? So take a deep 00:38:29.219 --> 00:38:40.179 breath in. Let it out. Deep breath in. Let it 00:38:40.179 --> 00:38:42.239 out. As you breathe in, just think about breathing 00:38:42.239 --> 00:38:47.480 in God's presence and holding it as you breathe 00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:50.329 out. Think about blowing out everything that's 00:38:50.329 --> 00:38:52.570 weighing you down. Everything you don't want, 00:38:52.610 --> 00:38:55.489 just... Don't blow too hard. You don't want to 00:38:55.489 --> 00:38:59.429 blow your neighbor away, but... Yes, blow out 00:38:59.429 --> 00:39:01.090 all the things that are holding you back right 00:39:01.090 --> 00:39:03.829 now, all the things on your mind. And we're just 00:39:03.829 --> 00:39:06.110 going to get in a sacred space with God. And 00:39:06.110 --> 00:39:11.489 you guys can do this anywhere, at any time. So, 00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:18.139 I'm going to read Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. 00:39:23.139 --> 00:39:32.280 I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green 00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:36.099 meadows. He leads me beside peaceful streams. 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:44.480 He renews my strength. He guides me along right 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:53.170 paths. bringing honor to his name. Even when 00:39:53.170 --> 00:39:56.070 I walk through the darkest valley, I will not 00:39:56.070 --> 00:40:03.929 be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your 00:40:03.929 --> 00:40:09.869 rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You 00:40:09.869 --> 00:40:12.469 prepare a feast for me in the presence of my 00:40:12.469 --> 00:40:15.929 enemies. You honor me. By anointing my head with 00:40:15.929 --> 00:40:22.269 oil, my cup overflows with blessings. Surely 00:40:22.269 --> 00:40:26.570 the goodness of the Lord, your goodness and unfailing 00:40:26.570 --> 00:40:29.289 love will pursue me all the days of my life. 00:40:32.250 --> 00:40:35.769 And I will live in the house of the Lord forever. 00:40:37.170 --> 00:40:45.190 Amen. Amen. So notice, when I read that, What 00:40:45.190 --> 00:40:48.849 words stood out to you? What phrases stood out 00:40:48.849 --> 00:40:50.750 to you? Maybe those are something that you're 00:40:50.750 --> 00:40:53.250 asking from God right now. Will you be my shepherd? 00:40:54.730 --> 00:40:58.989 Do I have rest? Are you protecting me from my 00:40:58.989 --> 00:41:04.710 enemies? Am I at your table, God? And what we 00:41:04.710 --> 00:41:06.969 would do if we were in another place, we would 00:41:06.969 --> 00:41:09.239 just read that scripture again. And we'd see 00:41:09.239 --> 00:41:12.000 what God's saying again, right? And you just 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:13.739 write out, like, what are you doing with this 00:41:13.739 --> 00:41:16.440 here, God? And you'd notice, right? And that's 00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:18.739 what it's like to meditate on God's word. Super 00:41:18.739 --> 00:41:22.579 simple, super easy, but it takes a few minutes, 00:41:22.780 --> 00:41:25.340 right? I've noticed in my day lately, I've been, 00:41:25.460 --> 00:41:28.519 what I do is I get frazzled by the middle of 00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.480 the day. And so what I've been doing in the middle 00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:31.739 of the day is saying, okay, I need a minute. 00:41:32.230 --> 00:41:33.909 And so when I go out, instead of getting on my 00:41:33.909 --> 00:41:36.630 cell phone or instead of turning on a song or 00:41:36.630 --> 00:41:38.170 instead of doing something, I just stop and I 00:41:38.170 --> 00:41:41.250 pause and say, God, I give you my frazzled day. 00:41:41.849 --> 00:41:44.730 God, I give you my anger and my frustration at 00:41:44.730 --> 00:41:47.630 my child for not listening. God, I give you my 00:41:47.630 --> 00:41:49.050 schedule because I don't know how it's going 00:41:49.050 --> 00:41:52.909 to work. And God, it says in your word that a 00:41:52.909 --> 00:41:55.510 righteous woman's steps are ordered to the Lord. 00:41:55.590 --> 00:41:57.530 And so God, you order my steps this afternoon. 00:41:59.550 --> 00:42:02.519 May I walk in your peace. May I walk in your 00:42:02.519 --> 00:42:05.920 love. May I walk with you. Because all we can 00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:08.239 do is give Jesus to the world. All we can do 00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:11.179 is be a non -hurried presence in a world full 00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:14.900 of anxiety, right? And when we're non -hurried 00:42:14.900 --> 00:42:17.699 and we're present with people, they can experience 00:42:17.699 --> 00:42:23.699 the love of God. Romans 12 says, here's what 00:42:23.699 --> 00:42:26.280 I want you to do. God helping you. Take your 00:42:26.280 --> 00:42:29.739 everyday, ordinary life. You're sleeping, you're 00:42:29.739 --> 00:42:31.519 eating, you're going to work, you're walking 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:34.079 around life, and place it before God as an offering. 00:42:34.719 --> 00:42:37.159 Embracing what God does for you is the best thing 00:42:37.159 --> 00:42:40.059 you can do for him. Don't become so well adjusted 00:42:40.059 --> 00:42:42.059 to your culture that you fit into it without 00:42:42.059 --> 00:42:45.300 even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on 00:42:45.300 --> 00:42:47.860 God, and you'll be changed from the inside out. 00:42:49.420 --> 00:42:52.179 readily recognize what he wants from you and 00:42:52.179 --> 00:42:55.019 quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around 00:42:55.019 --> 00:42:57.539 you, always dragging you down to its level of 00:42:57.539 --> 00:43:03.739 immaturity, God brings out the best in you. And 00:43:03.739 --> 00:43:06.739 develops well -formed maturity in you. And that's 00:43:06.739 --> 00:43:08.699 what we want, people. We want you to know Jesus. 00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:11.019 We want you to know his love. But we want you 00:43:11.019 --> 00:43:13.260 to be mature Christians that you know that you 00:43:13.260 --> 00:43:15.599 know that you know. When those storms come, that 00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:18.239 God is here and he's in control. And your roots 00:43:18.239 --> 00:43:22.260 are growing down deep. Right? And some of you 00:43:22.260 --> 00:43:24.940 right now might not know this love I'm talking 00:43:24.940 --> 00:43:27.460 about. Might not know what Jesus is all about. 00:43:29.130 --> 00:43:31.389 To me, I've sold a pretty good product today, 00:43:31.550 --> 00:43:34.630 right? Who doesn't want peace? Who doesn't want 00:43:34.630 --> 00:43:36.710 joy? Who doesn't want love in their life, right? 00:43:37.130 --> 00:43:39.409 And if the way you're doing it isn't working, 00:43:39.510 --> 00:43:42.789 I invite you into God's presence today. Can we 00:43:42.789 --> 00:43:46.230 all pray together this salvation prayer that 00:43:46.230 --> 00:43:50.309 I feel like we need every day, but you can choose 00:43:50.309 --> 00:43:52.389 to pray it or not, right? So we're going to just 00:43:52.389 --> 00:43:54.510 invite the Holy Spirit to come. So come, Jesus, 00:43:54.670 --> 00:44:03.190 come. Come, Holy Spirit. God, I'm broken, full 00:44:03.190 --> 00:44:11.730 of doubt, regret, shame, fear. Change me. I believe 00:44:11.730 --> 00:44:18.730 you're God's son. I believe you love me, you 00:44:18.730 --> 00:44:23.829 came for me, you died for me to set me free. 00:44:25.010 --> 00:44:30.780 I give to you. All my burdens. All my distractions. 00:44:32.559 --> 00:44:39.579 All my needs. Be present with me. In Jesus' name. 00:44:40.659 --> 00:44:45.079 Amen. Amen. You know, this week, when I was walking 00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:47.780 around this week, I just realized, do you know 00:44:47.780 --> 00:44:52.159 how much Jesus loves God? Have you ever thought 00:44:52.159 --> 00:44:54.880 about that before? Sometimes I think about God 00:44:54.880 --> 00:44:56.480 and I'm like, God, why did you send Jesus to 00:44:56.480 --> 00:44:58.880 die? Why did you send your son to die? Because 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:02.239 I have three sons and I just couldn't do that. 00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:03.960 I think, oh my gosh, I couldn't do that. But 00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:07.619 Jesus chose to come because he loved God so much. 00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:11.480 He knew how good his father was and how much 00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:13.260 God wanted to have a relationship with each and 00:45:13.260 --> 00:45:16.599 every one of you that he chose to die. He chose 00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:18.909 to come to earth. and live a humble life because 00:45:18.909 --> 00:45:22.550 he loved God so much. And so to me, that's a 00:45:22.550 --> 00:45:25.489 good, good father, right? That's a father I want 00:45:25.489 --> 00:45:28.090 to serve, somebody that I love so much. I'm willing 00:45:28.090 --> 00:45:30.570 to lay down my life and die for him every day 00:45:30.570 --> 00:45:36.489 because he loves me so much. So just something, 00:45:36.610 --> 00:45:40.090 just an extra bonus. So right now, you guys, 00:45:40.110 --> 00:45:44.210 we have some prayer. And so if this message spoke 00:45:44.210 --> 00:45:46.289 to you, if you need extra prayer, I'd like you 00:45:46.289 --> 00:45:47.829 to come and get prayer on the side. We also have 00:45:47.829 --> 00:45:49.829 some words of knowledge. Here at the Vineyard, 00:45:49.889 --> 00:45:53.289 we believe that God is here in this room. God 00:45:53.289 --> 00:45:55.289 has shown up because we're here. And there's 00:45:55.289 --> 00:45:57.449 times for miracles. There's times for healings. 00:45:57.510 --> 00:46:00.190 And so we have some words of knowledge. If you 00:46:00.190 --> 00:46:03.530 have pain in your tailbone, issues with breathing, 00:46:03.769 --> 00:46:09.760 your ribs hurt, you have a hearing loss, Or if 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:11.860 people are using hearing aids and want some more 00:46:11.860 --> 00:46:16.199 healing. Issues with watery eyes, right hip pain, 00:46:16.460 --> 00:46:20.579 or neck pain. Sorry, one more. Left leg pain 00:46:20.579 --> 00:46:23.300 that has some sort of infection. We want you 00:46:23.300 --> 00:46:25.480 to come to the front and get prayer. But if you 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:27.880 need prayer for anything else, just come to the 00:46:27.880 --> 00:46:30.679 front. So can I have everybody stand? I'm going 00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:34.590 to ask you to do one more thing, right? Before 00:46:34.590 --> 00:46:36.650 you leave, right now, I just would ask you to 00:46:36.650 --> 00:46:38.829 just high -five or hug somebody and just say, 00:46:38.889 --> 00:46:42.150 I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you're here 00:46:42.150 --> 00:46:45.650 today. I'm so glad you're here today. I'm so 00:46:45.650 --> 00:46:50.489 glad you're here today. Right? You guys go Sabbath. 00:46:50.750 --> 00:46:53.230 Have a great week. We're going to be finishing 00:46:53.230 --> 00:46:56.190 the message next week. Chris has a great follow 00:46:56.190 --> 00:47:11.039 -up. Oh, pour it out.