WEBVTT 00:00:07.880 --> 00:00:11.099 Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:15.019 like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:18.100 slash connect. If you feel called to give, go 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:21.980 to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at 00:00:21.980 --> 00:00:23.920 any time you feel called to make a change in 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:29.399 your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:31.679 message. I will make sure I keep my mic by my 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:33.719 mouth during the first gathering. I was used 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.020 to holding it down here and driving Donnie crazy, 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.539 so I won't do that now. If you're joining us 00:00:38.539 --> 00:00:40.320 from home, thank you for welcoming us into your 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.859 space. Hey, just a quick shout out before I pass 00:00:42.859 --> 00:00:47.840 the baton this morning. Night to Shine happened 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:51.600 this past Friday. And for those of you who don't 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:56.140 know, this auditorium became one big giant party. 00:00:56.700 --> 00:00:59.640 a dance floor for people that are forgotten and 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:04.640 quite often just not encouraged, right? So you 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.359 can see an image on the screen. And literally, 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:09.400 I was here Friday night standing back at the 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.579 welcome hub and literally just began to cry because 00:01:12.579 --> 00:01:15.180 God just shared with me that this is a picture 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:19.090 of heaven. Everyone dancing and having fun and 00:01:19.090 --> 00:01:21.989 celebrating. That quite often we forget what 00:01:21.989 --> 00:01:23.730 heaven's going to be like. Well, Friday was a 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:26.090 picture of heaven. So thank you for everybody 00:01:26.090 --> 00:01:30.109 that participated. But can we all give a big 00:01:30.109 --> 00:01:33.109 special shout out to Tracy Wetzel for all of 00:01:33.109 --> 00:01:38.349 her hard work. So when you see her today, give 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:41.370 her a high five, a hug, a tap on the shoulder. 00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:43.430 Just thank you, thank you, thank you. Because 00:01:43.430 --> 00:01:45.109 I tell you what, that event wouldn't have happened. 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:49.079 Without a hitch, without her. And the fact that 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:50.920 it's happening year after year after year, changing 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:53.420 lives, is just a testament to her faithfulness 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:55.319 and what she brings to our community of faith. 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:57.379 So just give her a big high five before you go. 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.379 And now, I'm going to hand this morning over 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:03.159 to my beautiful wife, Jessica, as she shares 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:05.560 and challenges you as we continue our series, 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:16.629 Check Up. Yes. Oh, I got my mic turned on. Thank 00:02:16.629 --> 00:02:19.750 you, Chris. That's awesome. Good morning, Hub 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:23.030 City Vineyard. Welcome. I heard you guys know 00:02:23.030 --> 00:02:24.729 how to party. You got to get a little louder. 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:28.270 Come on. Yeah. We got to shake off those winter 00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:32.430 blues, right? So like every day, we've had to 00:02:32.430 --> 00:02:34.960 put on layers. after layers, after layers of 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.340 clothes. Like, I not only have to put on, you 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:40.520 know, my coat, but my wool socks, my boots, my 00:02:40.520 --> 00:02:44.360 gloves, my hat, my scarf. Like, I put this chapstick 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:46.280 stuff on my face. Not really chapstick, but it's 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:48.400 like this ointment so I don't get chafed because, 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:51.500 like, that wind is crazy out there, people. But 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:53.819 we're getting some relief in the weather, but 00:02:53.819 --> 00:02:56.039 not quite shirt weather. So I have to go with 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:58.250 my... clothing haul over here. So let me just 00:02:58.250 --> 00:03:01.110 put on my HTV jacket. So just to let you know 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:06.430 how to put on a layer. So yeah. All right. So 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:09.150 maybe I'm extreme with all my layers, but I like 00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:11.610 to be comfortable. And I'm pretty guessing probably 00:03:11.610 --> 00:03:14.090 like 95 % of you guys like to be comfortable. 00:03:14.310 --> 00:03:16.770 There's always that 5 % that I run into like 00:03:16.770 --> 00:03:19.189 the Marines or the really tough people. They're 00:03:19.189 --> 00:03:22.449 like, this weather's awesome. I get to go dog 00:03:22.449 --> 00:03:25.090 sledding. I'm like, really? So there's always 00:03:25.090 --> 00:03:28.449 that 5%. So To you, God bless you, and thank 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:31.610 you for your gift of extremism. That's amazing. 00:03:32.430 --> 00:03:36.210 So not only does cold weather bring uncomfortability 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:39.009 in our physical bodies, but it's also in our 00:03:39.009 --> 00:03:41.310 emotional bodies. Have you guys thought about 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:43.150 it? The kids were off school for a week, right? 00:03:43.370 --> 00:03:45.509 And so if you're a parent, you have your kids 00:03:45.509 --> 00:03:47.710 off school. My daughter was happy. She's a teacher, 00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:49.490 so she was off school. Then we had to get her 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:51.270 back in. But your kids are off school, so you 00:03:51.270 --> 00:03:53.030 have to get a babysitter. You have to take off 00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:57.159 work, right? are stressed out because you overspent 00:03:57.159 --> 00:03:59.159 at Christmas, and you were going to make up for 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.659 it in January, and now you have less work, right? 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:05.400 Your heat bill has cranked up. I heard a lot 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:07.580 of people, pipes broke. So there's another bill, 00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:10.240 right? I have my dogs at home. I've got two big 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.699 poodles. What it's like to not walk two big poodles? 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:14.939 And I got new carpet for Christmas, and so now 00:04:14.939 --> 00:04:16.740 they're paying on the carpet. So there's all 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:19.279 these emotional things that we're going to, right? 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.199 It's icy. I need to go and help somebody shovel. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:23.500 So you go out, and you're trying to help your 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:25.000 family shovel, and then you slip. on the ice 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:26.879 and you fall and you hit your bottom right and 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:28.459 then you worry about your mom hitting her bottom 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:30.519 right so there's all these things that all of 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:32.560 a sudden we start to worry and there's all these 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.579 emotional stresses that can happen just because 00:04:35.579 --> 00:04:39.420 of weather so fear can creep in before you know 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:41.519 it you're overeating you're opening up the cabinets 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.819 like okay i can't control the weather but i can 00:04:43.819 --> 00:04:46.079 control what goes in my mouth right you're over 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:47.980 functioning you're going around the house trying 00:04:47.980 --> 00:04:49.240 to clean up after your kids they're just going 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.000 to make a mess anyway or you're under functioning 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:54.120 i'm just going to go to sleep i'm depressed It's 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:55.800 so cold, I don't even want to get out of bed, 00:04:55.899 --> 00:04:58.779 right? These are all emotional things that happen 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.959 to us, regardless of if the weather's cold, if 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:04.069 the weather's warm. we're always going to be 00:05:04.069 --> 00:05:06.290 triggered with different things. So today, we're 00:05:06.290 --> 00:05:08.889 going to talk about our emotional health journey, 00:05:09.110 --> 00:05:13.709 okay? So what we do as people is we have thoughts, 00:05:13.910 --> 00:05:17.170 right? So we see a meaning, and what we do is 00:05:17.170 --> 00:05:18.990 we make meaning based on our thoughts. Like, 00:05:19.009 --> 00:05:21.649 my thought was, okay, I'm not going to work today. 00:05:22.050 --> 00:05:24.490 I needed to work today, and now I can't pay my 00:05:24.490 --> 00:05:27.310 bills. And so when I know I cannot... can't pay 00:05:27.310 --> 00:05:29.689 my bills then i have a feeling that rises up 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:33.110 is shame right shame and guilt like why did i 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:35.569 spend so much at christmas i should have been 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:37.410 able to pay my bills i should have known cold 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:39.930 weather was coming and then insecurity comes 00:05:39.930 --> 00:05:41.670 in right so then we have these feelings that 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:44.620 come up and then we act out on those feelings 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:46.899 because then you're feeling stressed you're feeling 00:05:46.899 --> 00:05:49.220 anxious right we all carry anxiety with us but 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:51.639 then we act to act out on it i walk into the 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:53.360 living room i'm feeling stressed thinking about 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.360 the bills i cannot pay i step on a lego that 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.800 my six -year -old hasn't picked up hurt my foot 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.759 and then i yell at him because i feel big and 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:04.199 i want to control something right i want to control 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.899 something because i feel so out of control so 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.259 it's a cycle And then you feel bad, you feel 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:11.899 guilty because you yelled, and then you don't 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:13.459 want to yell because your dad used to yell at 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:15.180 you, and now you know how it feels like to be 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:17.699 your son. And so it continues all over again, 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.379 and we get in our heads, and we get off our focus 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:22.699 of God, and we think we can't do anything right, 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:25.899 right? But good news. I've got good news. Sorry 00:06:25.899 --> 00:06:27.759 about all the bad news. You came to church today. 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:31.160 You made it. If you're watching online, I'm so 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:32.899 happy you're here. There's no guilt. There's 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:35.759 no shame. You made it online, right? And we're 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:38.060 going to take a deep breath. And we're going 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:39.360 to welcome the Holy Spirit, and we're going to 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.579 learn a little bit more about what Paul says 00:06:41.579 --> 00:06:44.560 about our emotional health. Are you ready? Okay, 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:52.259 come Holy Spirit. God, we thank you for your 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:54.279 peace and your presence here today, Lord. We 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:56.220 thank you for each and every person that's here, 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.579 Lord. And I ask that as you would use these words 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:01.620 that you've given me, Lord, to transform lives. 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:05.759 To release people from guilt and shame and fear. 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:08.360 God, that we would understand, Lord, that you 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:14.339 love us. No matter what our mind says. Lord, 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:16.779 we just give this sermon to you, Lord, and we 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:18.600 ask that you would have your way. In Jesus' name 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:22.379 we pray. Amen. Amen. So for the past few weeks, 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:24.139 we've been in our February series. Chris has 00:07:24.139 --> 00:07:26.319 been talking about checkup. And we've been in 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.139 the book of Colossians. And so Chris, the first 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:30.180 week, talked about Colossians 1, where Paul says, 00:07:30.279 --> 00:07:33.360 it's all about Jesus, right? If you add Jesus 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.360 to your life, if you put Jesus at the center 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.139 of the wheel, right, everything falls into line, 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:40.300 right? But as soon as you take Jesus out of the 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:42.350 center, You put your marriage in the center, 00:07:42.430 --> 00:07:44.850 everything falls out of place, right? So the 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:46.930 important part of week one was like put Jesus 00:07:46.930 --> 00:07:49.410 at the center of your life. And then last week 00:07:49.410 --> 00:07:51.730 he talked about overflowing with the Spirit. 00:07:52.170 --> 00:07:54.569 When we overflow with the kingdom of God, when 00:07:54.569 --> 00:07:56.610 we put good things in our life, good things come 00:07:56.610 --> 00:07:59.029 out, right? And we can overflow with God's Spirit 00:07:59.029 --> 00:08:01.290 because he lives inside of us. And now we're 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:03.930 a new creation, and we're flowing with the things 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:09.319 of God. And this week, Paul talks about... In 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:13.860 chapter 3, he talks about emotional health. So 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:15.660 there's a little bit he talks about emotional 00:08:15.660 --> 00:08:16.959 health, but I'm going to tie it into emotional 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.560 health. So if anybody doesn't know about emotional 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:22.019 health, emotional health is resilience. Like 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:24.620 the ability to adapt or change or recover from 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:27.800 difficulties. Like if you lost a job, managing 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.740 stress, grief after a loved one, right? Self 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:32.980 -awareness, being aware of how you come across 00:08:32.980 --> 00:08:35.299 in a group of people. If you're aggressive, if 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:37.879 you're mean, if you're cruel, right? How do I... 00:08:38.250 --> 00:08:41.429 How do I control my feelings and not project 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:44.049 them onto others? Healthy relationships, that's 00:08:44.049 --> 00:08:46.090 part of our emotional health. Effective coping, 00:08:46.330 --> 00:08:50.029 how do I cope when I am sad? Do I just go, do 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:52.409 I go to Jesus? Do I go to the cross or do I go 00:08:52.409 --> 00:08:55.590 to the refrigerator, right? Or do I go and do 00:08:55.590 --> 00:08:58.250 I go by the liquor store and grab another six 00:08:58.250 --> 00:09:01.509 pack and just numb my pain, right? How we effectively 00:09:01.509 --> 00:09:04.440 cope. So these are all parts of our emotional 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:06.539 health. And Craig Rochelle said, if your emotions 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:09.820 have felt all over the place, know you're not 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:13.360 broken, you're human. God intentionally designed 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:16.120 you to feel. He cares deeply about your emotional 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.720 and mental health. While your emotions are real 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:23.240 and valid, they're not always reliable. You can 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:26.059 either fuel your faith or feed your fear depending 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:29.220 on what you focus on. So God made us emotional 00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:32.820 people. He gave us the ability to love, the ability 00:09:32.820 --> 00:09:36.960 to be passionate, right? Because God is passionate. 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:40.179 God loves. God gets angry, right? But he says, 00:09:40.179 --> 00:09:43.759 get angry and sin not. So God is an emotional 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:47.659 God, and so we are emotional people, and so we 00:09:47.659 --> 00:09:50.059 need to learn how God wants to come in and use 00:09:50.059 --> 00:09:52.720 our emotions to heal us and to set us free and 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.940 to affect others. So the first point that Paul 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:02.779 talks about is shift your mind to new life. Colossians 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:05.940 3, 1 through 2 says, Since you have been raised 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:08.940 to new life with Christ, set your sights on the 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:12.240 realities of heaven. Where Christ sits at the 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.720 place of honor at God's right hand. Think about 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.919 the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:22.080 And one of my best examples of that is I love 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.820 the movie series The Matrix. You know, and when 00:10:24.820 --> 00:10:27.159 they get plugged into The Matrix. So at home 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.879 I'm always like, man, I forgot I started living 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:32.000 in The Matrix again, right? Because in The Matrix, 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:35.700 the world around them isn't real. right the world 00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:37.639 around and the things we do every day they matter 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:40.960 right but they're not the real world when we're 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.639 focused on we know our father we know father 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.379 god we know where we're going little things that 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:49.919 trip us up and interrupt our day don't matter 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.679 quite as much right it doesn't quite matter if 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:55.080 somebody cuts you off in traffic right it doesn't 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:58.879 quite matter if you know You're a few extra pounds 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.840 today. It doesn't matter in the light of eternity, 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.159 right? It doesn't matter. So if we fix our focus 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.240 on Jesus, if we know where we're going back to, 00:11:07.419 --> 00:11:11.600 we can say, God, I am looking forward to spending 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.940 eternity with you, and I can focus on the kingdom 00:11:13.940 --> 00:11:17.080 of God here on earth as it is in heaven. I don't 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:18.720 have to focus on those little things that the 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.659 enemy wants to distract, rob, kill, instill, 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.700 and destroy, right? So focus on the things of 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:27.179 heaven. You don't have to believe every anxious. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:30.279 thought or follow every emotion. Instead, fix 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.559 your focus on truth. God's truth reminds you 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.600 that you're not a prisoner to what you think. 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:39.279 Your mind can be renewed and your emotions don't 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.500 get the final word. Jesus does. And so what Paul's 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:47.259 saying here is mindset matters. Where you put 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:50.639 your focus matters. And mindset is an established 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:53.460 set of beliefs. and assumptions that shape how 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:55.639 an individual interprets and responds to and 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:58.539 acts upon the world around them. It's kind of 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.500 like your mental lens or your glasses, okay? 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:05.960 And so if we have a... So many of you guys might 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.559 know the book... mindset. I've talked about it 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:11.019 before. You have a growth mindset and a fixed 00:12:11.019 --> 00:12:14.019 mindset. I grew up with a very fixed mindset 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:16.899 because things came easily for me as a kid. So 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:19.100 when something didn't come easily, like in high 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:20.659 school when they signed me up for typing class 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:22.960 and I wasn't going to get an A, or in middle 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:25.080 school when I played the clarinet and I wasn't 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:26.759 first chair because I didn't practice, guess 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:29.759 what? I quit because I didn't want to not get 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:32.480 an A. I did not want to be first here. I wanted 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.419 to be successful. I thought my identity was perfect. 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.139 Like, I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to do 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.039 the best I could be. And if something felt hard 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.220 or it felt difficult, I remember in fifth grade 00:12:41.220 --> 00:12:43.600 I was a good runner, and I had a stomachache 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:45.279 before a run, just kind of the same thing I had 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.940 this morning before I got up here. And I said, 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:49.440 Mom, I've got a stomachache. She's like, okay, 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:51.440 you don't have to run. And I was like, okay, 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:54.480 I won't. You know, so I always took the easy 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:56.500 way out. There was something that was pushing 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:59.139 me or challenging me. But what growth, that's 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:01.059 a fixed mindset. mindset, right? But what a growth 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:04.039 mindset says, I can learn. I can get better. 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:06.580 Every time I fail, if I come in second place, 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:09.299 guess what? There's always another race. There's 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:11.500 always something else I can do. I can change 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:13.940 this habit. I can change this behavior because 00:13:13.940 --> 00:13:16.679 if I do this behavior long enough, this is the 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:18.600 behavior I used to do, but if I do this one long 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:20.700 enough, things are going to happen, results are 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:22.519 going to happen, and there's going to be an explosion 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:25.679 over here, right? If I don't start running a 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.779 race, I start by walking. right? You walk. I 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:31.179 walk a mile. Then I start to run. Then I run 00:13:31.179 --> 00:13:33.600 and walk. Then I run two miles. Then I run three 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.779 miles. I don't start by running a marathon, right? 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:37.620 And that's the same thing it is with our Christian 00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:40.019 walk, right? We don't start by running a marathon. 00:13:40.299 --> 00:13:43.559 We start by walking. We were babies when we come 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:45.179 into this relationship with Jesus, and we have 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:47.759 to grow. And growth takes time, and it takes 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:50.299 patience, and it takes energy, and it takes commitment. 00:13:50.779 --> 00:13:54.360 So don't take on shame when you mess up, okay? 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:57.820 All right. Just like you guys have been watching 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:00.000 the Olympics, right? And so there's so many things 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.779 these Olympians have practiced time and time 00:14:02.779 --> 00:14:04.460 again, but they couldn't control. Like I was 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:06.379 watching the speed skaters yesterday, and the 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:08.820 track, I guess, apparently the ice was melted, 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.440 right? And one of them, like, they're in first 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.110 place, and their skate gets tripped up. And I 00:14:15.110 --> 00:14:17.909 think that's what it's like with our minds. When 00:14:17.909 --> 00:14:20.470 we get tripped up, if there's a little gap in 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:22.070 the road or something happens, there's going 00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:24.509 to be those gaps. It doesn't mean the person 00:14:24.509 --> 00:14:26.029 didn't practice hard enough. It doesn't mean 00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:28.110 they're not a good skater. It doesn't mean that 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:29.909 they couldn't have won if the track was in good 00:14:29.909 --> 00:14:32.529 conditions. It just means there was a hole in 00:14:32.529 --> 00:14:36.909 the track. Very simple explanations, but we take 00:14:36.909 --> 00:14:39.850 it on as our identity. Oh, I'm not a good skater 00:14:39.850 --> 00:14:41.470 anymore. I'm never going to skate. I fell in 00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:44.720 the Olympics. That's not what God says. Okay, 00:14:44.740 --> 00:14:49.559 so let's look more into this. Every day we're 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:51.600 flooded with a wide range of emotions. We need 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.259 not to ignore them, but acknowledge them as a 00:14:54.259 --> 00:14:56.820 way to understand ourselves better. However, 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.539 we do not allow our emotions to control us or 00:14:59.539 --> 00:15:01.879 how we interact with others. Emotions such as 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.899 anger and fear can hurt us and those we love. 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:07.840 So we need to get rid or strip off of these things. 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:10.559 So that's what Paul says in the next part of 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.929 Colossians. Strip off. Old, unhealthy, emotional 00:15:13.929 --> 00:15:17.629 patterns. Colossians 3 .5 says, So put to death 00:15:17.629 --> 00:15:20.490 the sinful, earthly things lurking within you, 00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:23.129 having nothing to do with sexual immorality, 00:15:23.250 --> 00:15:26.789 impurity, lust, evil desires. Don't be greedy, 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:29.850 for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping 00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:32.649 things of this world. So the first step in our 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:34.509 relationship with God is, you guys know that, 00:15:34.549 --> 00:15:36.769 just strip off the old stuff, right? It's so 00:15:36.769 --> 00:15:40.399 easy. It's not easy. It's not a one -time thing. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.779 When Paul says this, it's a constant stripping 00:15:42.779 --> 00:15:45.059 off. Like this mannequin here has this black 00:15:45.059 --> 00:15:48.539 t -shirt, and I have to literally, like I would 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:50.559 be like God in this relationship, and I have 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:54.559 to help strip off. the old clothes right to make 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:56.820 room for the new clothes and sometimes we think 00:15:56.820 --> 00:15:58.500 oh i've already stripped that off but because 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:00.679 of our emotional health sometimes we like to 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:02.799 put it back on because it's comfortable so paul's 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:04.980 saying strip off all this stuff you don't need 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:07.379 it anyway so if you're struggling with all those 00:16:07.379 --> 00:16:10.659 things i listed lust impurity evil desires greedy 00:16:10.659 --> 00:16:14.059 sexual immorality that is going to hold you back 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:16.240 completely that's going to wreck your emotional 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:17.860 health so those are the that's the first step 00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:20.279 right okay so we're going to throw that away 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:25.169 then Colossians 3, 7 through 9 says, you used 00:16:25.169 --> 00:16:27.269 to do these things when your life was still part 00:16:27.269 --> 00:16:29.730 of this world, but now is the time to get rid 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:34.409 of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, 00:16:34.509 --> 00:16:37.710 dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:39.570 you have stripped off the old sin from nature 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:45.029 and all its wicked deeds. So, anger. We all struggle 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:48.399 with anger. Filthy talk. We don't do that. We 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.360 don't lie to each other. Why do we lie to each 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:51.879 other? So those are the questions you need to 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:54.240 ask. When I get angry, because you're going to 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:58.100 get angry, why was I angry, right? When I cuss 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:02.899 and swear at my loved one, why am I doing that? 00:17:03.419 --> 00:17:05.680 Does it make me feel in control? Does it make 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.859 me feel better? We need to start asking ourselves 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:11.339 the right questions, right? When I'm lying to 00:17:11.339 --> 00:17:14.220 my spouse because I bought something that I shouldn't 00:17:14.220 --> 00:17:15.960 have and I know I wasn't supposed to, right? 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.980 Am I lying because I'm ashamed and I want to 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:21.839 hide it? Like when I was a kid and I got caught 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.740 by my mom, right? Because we all grew up in some 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:28.079 kind of family system. And so there's a thing 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.740 called family systems theory, and it views the 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:34.480 whole family as a cohesive emotional unit. We're 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:36.839 interconnected people rather than just one individual. 00:17:37.180 --> 00:17:40.480 So this was developed by Dr. Murray Bowen, and 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.519 this is a framework. What they were doing is 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.630 they were treating people for... They were treating 00:17:45.630 --> 00:17:47.750 people for addictions, right? And they would 00:17:47.750 --> 00:17:50.369 have lots of success with these people when they 00:17:50.369 --> 00:17:52.069 would take them away to the clinic. They would 00:17:52.069 --> 00:17:53.890 deal with them in rehab and all those kind of 00:17:53.890 --> 00:17:55.890 things. They'd be great. And then as soon as 00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:58.289 you put them back into their family system, they 00:17:58.289 --> 00:18:00.230 would relapse. They would become the person they 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:02.609 were in their family again. So what their theory 00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:05.289 is, we all act a certain way within our family. 00:18:05.430 --> 00:18:08.269 So you know how you can be good? 90 % of the 00:18:08.269 --> 00:18:10.130 time. Think about the movie Four Christmases, 00:18:10.210 --> 00:18:12.990 right? They're good. They have it together. They're 00:18:12.990 --> 00:18:14.670 in control. But as soon as you put them back 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:18.470 into their family system, they are triggered 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:20.710 to the person they were as a kid, right? They 00:18:20.710 --> 00:18:22.609 were triggered to like, oh, I used to get bullied 00:18:22.609 --> 00:18:25.269 by my sister. I used to do this, right? And you 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:28.250 start to act in that same system. So what God 00:18:28.250 --> 00:18:30.410 wants to do is he wants to heal our emotional 00:18:30.410 --> 00:18:32.670 health so that we know when those triggers come, 00:18:32.769 --> 00:18:35.069 when I get angry, when I lie, when I do things 00:18:35.069 --> 00:18:37.779 I used to do. I'm triggered by this family system, 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:40.319 and God can heal that, right? And so we need 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.460 to minister to the whole family. That's why we 00:18:43.460 --> 00:18:45.339 need to minister to the husband, the wife, the 00:18:45.339 --> 00:18:48.759 kids, the grandparents, you know, everybody. 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:51.119 Everybody can change together, so that's why 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.700 it's so powerful when we all change together. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:57.359 So point three, after we strip off, we need to 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:00.470 choose to put on our new identity. Colossians 00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:03.789 3, 12 and 13 says, since God chose you to be 00:19:03.789 --> 00:19:07.230 the holy people, he loves you. You must clothe 00:19:07.230 --> 00:19:10.910 yourself with tenderheartedness, mercy, kindness, 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:14.869 humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance 00:19:14.869 --> 00:19:17.509 for one another's faults and forgive anyone who 00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:19.930 offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:30.039 so you must... So I've got my haul here. You 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.420 guys know what a haul is? No, it's okay. I didn't 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:35.079 know what it was either until Christmas. And 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:36.900 my daughter's like, she opens up our presents. 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:38.740 She's like, I'm going up to record my haul. I 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:41.740 was like, what is that? So on social media or 00:19:41.740 --> 00:19:43.980 TikTok and all those places that exist in that. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.059 So influencers, what they do is they go to a 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:48.799 store and they buy all these clothes and show 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.039 you how to use the haul together, right? So they'll 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.819 bring out racks and racks of clothes. So my daughter 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:55.400 didn't get racks and racks of clothes for Christmas. 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:57.440 And even the other day we went shopping. She's 00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:59.180 like, oh, I posted my haul again. I was like, 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:01.279 we just went to Dick's Overtime. It's not a business. 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:03.680 big deal. But she thinks she's an influencer, 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:06.759 so let her go. Anyway, so I've got my haul. And 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:09.079 so when we come into this new relationship with 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:12.339 Jesus, we get a new haul, right? And I say haul 00:20:12.339 --> 00:20:15.119 funny according to first service people. So what 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:16.960 we're going to do is we're going to take these 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:18.819 clothes. And when we get a lot of clothes, sometimes 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:20.440 it's overwhelming because we don't know what 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:23.180 to wear. Like this morning, I didn't know what 00:20:23.180 --> 00:20:26.039 to wear, so I put on a new coat. From here? Anyway, 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:27.720 because I needed something new, right? Anyway, 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:30.740 so the first thing God tells, he tells us, Paul 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:32.900 tells us in the scripture is to clothe ourself 00:20:32.900 --> 00:20:35.920 with mercy. And some of us don't even understand 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:38.740 what mercy is because we've never experienced 00:20:38.740 --> 00:20:42.359 mercy, right? Because if you've come from someplace 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.559 that you've never been shown compassion or forgiveness, 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:48.140 you've never been shown that in your family. 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:50.339 You've just been told to suck it up. What you 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:53.619 say doesn't matter or you're stupid, right? But 00:20:53.619 --> 00:20:57.559 if we... Allow God to clothe us in mercy. If 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:02.259 we receive mercy for ourselves, that's who we 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:05.099 have to receive it for first, people. If we don't 00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:06.940 have mercy for ourselves, if we don't understand 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.319 God's amazing grace for all the things we've 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:11.779 done, all the choices we've made that have been 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:13.779 so far from him, how can we extend that to other 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.299 people? And so God says, I want to clothe you 00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:17.940 in mercy, but some of us don't even know what 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:21.009 mercy feels like. Right? And so what you do is 00:21:21.009 --> 00:21:22.950 you partner with Jesus and you sit at his presence 00:21:22.950 --> 00:21:26.089 and you go, God, what's mercy like? And Jesus 00:21:26.089 --> 00:21:29.230 said, I died on the cross for you. That's mercy. 00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:31.730 You go to the word of God and he shows you the 00:21:31.730 --> 00:21:34.230 character of Christ. And you say, I want that 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:37.430 for my life. I want to be like Jesus. I want 00:21:37.430 --> 00:21:39.269 to embrace mercy. I don't want to be somebody 00:21:39.269 --> 00:21:41.170 who goes around judging other people. I don't 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:42.750 want to be somebody that condemns other people 00:21:42.750 --> 00:21:44.650 or says what's right or what's wrong or what 00:21:44.650 --> 00:21:46.809 to do. I want to be a person that's clothed in 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:50.869 mercy for myself and for others, right? The next 00:21:50.869 --> 00:21:54.490 thing in my hall here is I've got humility. Some 00:21:54.490 --> 00:21:56.509 of us have a lot of issues with pride, right? 00:21:57.889 --> 00:22:00.869 Me, I had a lot of issues with pride. It's how 00:22:00.869 --> 00:22:02.910 we protect ourselves, right? If I can be the 00:22:02.910 --> 00:22:06.150 best, if I can be in control, then nobody's going 00:22:06.150 --> 00:22:08.490 to hurt me. If I can control what's going around 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:12.410 me, but if we're full of humility, Jesus came 00:22:12.410 --> 00:22:17.710 to earth as a baby because God loved you so much. 00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:21.470 He humbled himself, and he took on the form of 00:22:21.470 --> 00:22:24.819 a servant. And he didn't puff himself up in front 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:27.779 of people. He got down with the people. He lived 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:30.539 with the people. He didn't make himself a superstar. 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:32.619 He didn't come as a king of kings and a lord 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:36.240 of lords. He came as a baby. He came as a friend. 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:39.119 He was exactly what people needed him to be. 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:42.799 He ate with people. He ate with sinners. He was 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:46.700 a person full of humility. What's it like to 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:50.819 experience humility? God, I'm going to take... 00:22:52.070 --> 00:22:53.730 Time to figure out, I'm going to do something 00:22:53.730 --> 00:22:56.130 that's hard. I'm going to learn how to type, 00:22:56.250 --> 00:22:58.730 and you're going to show me humility, right? 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:02.130 I'm really not good. My son really wants to play 00:23:02.130 --> 00:23:04.569 tennis, and I don't like tennis, but you know 00:23:04.569 --> 00:23:05.930 what? Because I know he's going to beat me, but 00:23:05.930 --> 00:23:08.710 I'm going to play tennis with my son once a week 00:23:08.710 --> 00:23:11.549 because it's time with him, and I'm going to 00:23:11.549 --> 00:23:14.910 be showed humility, right? So we have to do things 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:17.190 to practice the characters that we want to embrace, 00:23:17.430 --> 00:23:20.599 right? And so when we start to get close, we've 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:25.000 got humility. We've got to go back to the rack. 00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:28.880 Okay, we've got kindness. We've got kindness. 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:32.259 The quality of being friendly, generous, and 00:23:32.259 --> 00:23:35.079 considerate. Some of us don't know what it's 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.079 like to be kind. We've been taught different 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.700 things by this world. This world doesn't tell 00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:41.640 you to be kind. They say, oh, if somebody steps 00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:45.099 on you, step on them, right? If somebody does 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.930 that, but Jesus says. If somebody slaps you, 00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:54.170 turn the other cheek. Who cares? Who cares? That's 00:23:54.170 --> 00:23:57.789 just your pride anyway. Be kind. Be tenderhearted. 00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:07.549 Go tonight to shine. Be kind to somebody. Somebody's 00:24:07.549 --> 00:24:09.670 having a bad day, they yell at you, say, God 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:14.450 bless you. If you can't be kind, ask God, why 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:16.880 can't I be kind? What does it mean that needs 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:20.220 to change, right? Practice kindness. Go to the 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:22.579 nursing home. Figure out something that you need. 00:24:22.700 --> 00:24:25.279 If kindness is a struggle for you, how can I 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:27.779 be kind? God's going to show you, right? Get 00:24:27.779 --> 00:24:30.940 in the scripture. See how Jesus was kind. He 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:34.440 embraced the children, right? Serving the children's 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:39.130 ministry. Shameless plug. Anyway, kindness. Kindness, 00:24:39.130 --> 00:24:41.009 right? And sometimes we get so confused because 00:24:41.009 --> 00:24:43.089 there's so much new things to put on. It's so 00:24:43.089 --> 00:24:44.869 great because we just took off all the old stuff. 00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:47.269 We're still clothing ourselves in newness. This 00:24:47.269 --> 00:24:52.190 one is a great one. Gentleness. I'm one of those 00:24:52.190 --> 00:24:54.470 tough people, so it's hard for me to be gentle. 00:24:55.710 --> 00:24:58.009 But how good does it feel when somebody's gentle 00:24:58.009 --> 00:25:00.809 to you when you've had a rough day, right? I 00:25:00.809 --> 00:25:02.250 remember one time, I'm going to have a lot of 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:04.470 airport stories today. I was at the airport crying 00:25:04.470 --> 00:25:06.930 because something was going on, and the lady 00:25:06.930 --> 00:25:09.430 at the lady thing was like, Just take the water. 00:25:09.769 --> 00:25:11.470 Just take the water bottle because she's closed. 00:25:11.609 --> 00:25:15.269 But she was just so gentle with me and just came 00:25:15.269 --> 00:25:16.829 over and gave me a hug. Sometimes we just need 00:25:16.829 --> 00:25:18.829 somebody to sit with us while we tell them our 00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:20.750 story. Because guess what? Your feelings matter. 00:25:20.950 --> 00:25:24.549 You do get hurt. And it's okay. Like, that's 00:25:24.549 --> 00:25:26.769 okay to acknowledge how you feel. And so just 00:25:26.769 --> 00:25:29.009 having somebody that's gentle around, that's 00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:31.569 compassionate, that's kind, that can listen to 00:25:31.569 --> 00:25:34.670 you, that's so amazing. And if you can be that 00:25:34.670 --> 00:25:37.900 for somebody else, wow. I want to be closer than 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:43.160 that. That's cool. I want to be gentle. My husband, 00:25:43.220 --> 00:25:44.859 I always tell him to be gentle. He's like a big, 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:48.339 strong hugger. I'm like, gentle, gentle. Some 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:50.160 of us passionate people, it's hard to be gentle, 00:25:50.220 --> 00:25:54.380 but you know, it happens over time. This one's 00:25:54.380 --> 00:26:00.380 a good one. Patience, right? Patience is the 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:04.480 capacity to accept or tolerate delay or trouble 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:07.869 or suffering. Without getting angry or upset. 00:26:08.009 --> 00:26:11.430 How many of us? So I, confession, I'm going to 00:26:11.430 --> 00:26:13.769 give a lot of confessions today, but like I hate, 00:26:13.849 --> 00:26:16.509 I used to hate wasting time, right? Every single 00:26:16.509 --> 00:26:18.089 second of my life counts for something and I'm 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:20.089 doing something every single second. But God 00:26:20.089 --> 00:26:22.910 showed me in that hurriedness, in that busyness, 00:26:22.950 --> 00:26:26.150 I wasn't patient. I wasn't patient with myself. 00:26:27.789 --> 00:26:30.369 I wasn't patient with my children. I wasn't patient 00:26:30.369 --> 00:26:33.900 with my husband, right? And guess what? Phoenix 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:36.000 sees a mom who not only tells him, hey, honey, 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:37.640 you need to pick up your Legos. I've told you 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:39.119 40 times you need to pick up your Legos. We've 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.279 got to go. He needs a mom that says, I'm going 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.900 to set my schedule 10 minutes early. And I'm 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:46.640 going to say, Phoenix, let's get down together. 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.880 Let's pick up these Legos together. Let's do 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:53.119 it together, buddy. We can do it together if 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.779 we work together, right? That's what we need. 00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:58.099 We need to be clothed in patience for people, 00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:02.309 right? People can cut us off, or I remember Phoenix 00:27:02.309 --> 00:27:03.970 was like, that guy pulled out in front of you. 00:27:04.049 --> 00:27:05.710 He didn't see you. I was like, but you know what? 00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:10.210 I saw him, right? That's okay, right? There's 00:27:10.210 --> 00:27:11.529 been times I've been in a hurry, and I've cut 00:27:11.529 --> 00:27:14.329 people off, right? But if we have patience, if 00:27:14.329 --> 00:27:15.670 we have patience with ourselves, because it's 00:27:15.670 --> 00:27:19.589 a process. We can't say, hey, I messed up today. 00:27:19.869 --> 00:27:21.710 I'm just going to go back to putting on that 00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:24.710 old clothes, right? Oh, I was mean. I yelled 00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:27.990 at my kids. No, why? You've got to make room 00:27:27.990 --> 00:27:30.730 in your life to be patient. Maybe you need to 00:27:30.730 --> 00:27:33.130 practice slowing down. Maybe you need to practice 00:27:33.130 --> 00:27:35.630 solitude, right? Maybe nobody was ever patient 00:27:35.630 --> 00:27:38.910 with you. So I would love to put on this patient 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:42.289 shirt. So as you can tell, I'm putting on the 00:27:42.289 --> 00:27:45.130 shirt on the mannequin. And that's what our relationship 00:27:45.130 --> 00:27:47.650 is like with Christ. It's not us doing it by 00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:51.019 ourselves. We're doing it together. We're doing 00:27:51.019 --> 00:27:54.000 it in relationships. I'm doing it with my son. 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:56.019 I'm doing it with my family, right? I'm doing 00:27:56.019 --> 00:27:58.420 it with Jesus because that's the only way we 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:02.200 change. It says point four is partner with the 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:05.319 transformation. Colossians 3, 10 through 11 says, 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:07.799 put on your new nature, be renewed as you learn 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:10.339 to know your creator. You will become like him. 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.619 In this new life, it doesn't matter if you're 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:14.920 a Jew, you're a Gentile, if you're circumcised, 00:28:14.980 --> 00:28:16.779 if you're uncircumcised, if you're barbaric, 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:19.400 you're uncivilized, slave or free, Christ is 00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:23.339 all that matters. He lives in all of us. There 00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:25.460 is no way you are discounted from the kingdom 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:28.279 of God. That's what that scripture says. Nobody, 00:28:28.460 --> 00:28:31.880 nobody is beyond the reach of Jesus. Jesus is 00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:34.400 all -inclusive. All you have to do is say, yes, 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:37.740 I want you. It's like a big funnel. Jesus accepts 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:40.539 everybody. He wants everybody to come into a 00:28:40.539 --> 00:28:42.539 relationship with him. And guess what it says? 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:45.299 Put on your new nature and you will be renewed. 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:48.359 As you learn to know your creator, you will become 00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:53.279 like him. Right? It's a renewal. It's a process. 00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:56.380 It's like a practice process. At the same time, 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:58.539 formation into the image of Jesus isn't something 00:28:58.539 --> 00:29:01.880 we do as it is something that's done to us. God 00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:05.779 himself, as we yield to his work of the transforming 00:29:05.779 --> 00:29:09.640 grace, our job is basically to just make ourselves 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:12.740 available. So what I've done in my life to practice 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:15.240 these things is just say, I'm putting an hour 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:17.079 in my schedule to spend time with Jesus first 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:20.380 every day. Not work out first because I used 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:23.339 to get up, put my, I'm going to put on my worship 00:29:23.339 --> 00:29:25.319 music and do my workout so I get everything done 00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:27.740 at once. No, I'm going to sit because I have 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:30.500 a problem sitting. My one friend said, what would 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:32.359 it be like if you just got up and sat, Jessica? 00:29:32.619 --> 00:29:35.579 I'm like, can you do that? Can you just sit? 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:38.640 And I couldn't so I had to like color while I 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:40.940 was sitting. So that helped me. But what would 00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:43.539 it be like to just sit for an hour and just to 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:47.519 let the love of God pour over you? You know? 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.880 It's not about what we do. It's about who we 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:52.920 are, and we can't change unless we're in God's 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:57.039 presence. Mary chose the better. Mary chose the 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.220 better thing, people. And we need to be like 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:01.880 Mary and sit at the feet of Jesus and allow him 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:07.680 to change us. John 10, 27 says, My sheep listen 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:10.359 to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.440 Jesus is the shepherd. We are the sheep. right? 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:17.599 We think we can do it on our own, right? But 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:20.160 we need a shepherd. We need a shepherd. We need 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:22.279 to come to church. We can shepherd you. Jesus 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:24.539 shepherds you. You get shepherded in groups, 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:27.660 right? You get shepherded when you come to the 00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:31.660 Holy Spirit worship night, right? He is the potter. 00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:34.099 We are the clay, right? He's doing the work in 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:36.559 us, and we're allowing him to transform us. We 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.779 just need to ask the questions, right? Why am 00:30:39.779 --> 00:30:43.680 I like this? How can I change? How much do you 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.339 love me, God? Because guess what? Fear and shame 00:30:48.339 --> 00:30:52.119 come when we don't know we're loved. If we know 00:30:52.119 --> 00:30:56.259 how much God loves us, we will never be afraid 00:30:56.259 --> 00:30:58.960 to do anything again. Are we going to fail sometimes? 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:02.000 Yes. But when we fall, he's going to be right 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.609 there to pick us up, right? We have a responsibility 00:31:05.609 --> 00:31:08.710 to cooperate with his transforming grace. He 00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:11.349 won't force it on us. So St. Augustine said, 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:15.490 without God, we cannot. Without us, God will 00:31:15.490 --> 00:31:21.289 not. Without God, we cannot. Without us, God 00:31:21.289 --> 00:31:23.069 will not. God is a gentleman. He's not going 00:31:23.069 --> 00:31:24.789 to force you to do anything you don't want to 00:31:24.789 --> 00:31:27.190 do, right? He's not going to say, bang you over 00:31:27.190 --> 00:31:28.930 the head, say, you need to do this spiritual 00:31:28.930 --> 00:31:32.369 practice or you're going to get, no. We need 00:31:32.369 --> 00:31:35.529 to participate. And God will use us. We need 00:31:35.529 --> 00:31:37.309 to say, yes, God, I'm going to show up to teach 00:31:37.309 --> 00:31:39.230 kids. Yes, God, I'm going to show up to give 00:31:39.230 --> 00:31:41.630 a high five. Do I feel, like, did I have a lot 00:31:41.630 --> 00:31:43.890 of anxiety this morning? Yes. Am I feeling a 00:31:43.890 --> 00:31:46.250 little depressed? Yes. But I'm going to try this, 00:31:46.410 --> 00:31:49.950 right? Some of you guys, you know, you underperform 00:31:49.950 --> 00:31:52.230 when you're fearful, right? You want to curl 00:31:52.230 --> 00:31:54.089 up in a ball and just knock it out of bed, right? 00:31:54.630 --> 00:31:56.369 And just by you getting up and saying, I'm going 00:31:56.369 --> 00:31:59.230 to do the next thing, I'm going to get up. I'm 00:31:59.230 --> 00:32:01.279 going to take a glass of water. I'm going to 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.160 go to work. You know, just do the next thing 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.000 and God will partner with you in the process. 00:32:09.859 --> 00:32:13.140 The fifth point I have today is invite counsel 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:18.319 and correction. Colossians 3 .13 says, Make allowance 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:20.839 for each other's faults and forgive anyone who 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:23.380 offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:28.160 so you must forgive others. So as people offend 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:30.769 us and they hurt us, because they will, Because 00:32:30.769 --> 00:32:33.210 we're practicing, right? We need to say, okay, 00:32:33.390 --> 00:32:36.130 I got hurt there. And we need to take that to 00:32:36.130 --> 00:32:38.470 God and we need to release them to God, right? 00:32:38.829 --> 00:32:40.529 And we need to lay them at the foot of the cross 00:32:40.529 --> 00:32:42.710 because guess what? We can't change somebody. 00:32:43.509 --> 00:32:46.269 Only God can, right? We can't do the work in 00:32:46.269 --> 00:32:48.950 them, but we can pray for them, right? And when 00:32:48.950 --> 00:32:50.609 we're praying for them and we're forgiving them, 00:32:50.650 --> 00:32:51.950 we lay them at the foot of the cross and we say, 00:32:51.990 --> 00:32:54.930 God, we give this situation to you. God, I give 00:32:54.930 --> 00:32:57.809 this to you, right? And then he comes in and 00:32:57.809 --> 00:33:01.019 he transforms them. Right? And when we forgive 00:33:01.019 --> 00:33:03.420 and we extend that heart of mercy, we can forgive 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:05.440 ourselves and we can forgive others. And then 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:09.259 they're free. Right? They're free. If you have 00:33:09.259 --> 00:33:10.980 unforgiveness in your heart, you're just chaining 00:33:10.980 --> 00:33:15.400 yourself. Right? Let them go. Fix your thoughts 00:33:15.400 --> 00:33:17.980 on the kingdom of God. Fix your thoughts on heaven. 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:21.299 Will this matter in 10 years? Or does this relationship 00:33:21.299 --> 00:33:26.490 matter? And there is time for... authentic conversations 00:33:26.490 --> 00:33:29.150 where you're saying, hey, you hurt me here. Or 00:33:29.150 --> 00:33:33.150 when you get angry and you yell at me and you 00:33:33.150 --> 00:33:35.150 say those words to me, it makes me feel this 00:33:35.150 --> 00:33:38.589 way. Can you please try to change? You know, 00:33:38.589 --> 00:33:40.829 you can have those conversations because people 00:33:40.829 --> 00:33:42.769 aren't perfect, right? But when you have those 00:33:42.769 --> 00:33:45.609 conversations in love rather than hate, then 00:33:45.609 --> 00:33:49.349 God's at work, right? God's at work. Because 00:33:49.349 --> 00:33:51.589 it's an opportunity for growth, the growth mindset, 00:33:51.690 --> 00:33:55.049 right? I messed up today so I can grow. Right? 00:33:56.349 --> 00:34:01.309 So just part of my journey on this. So I get 00:34:01.309 --> 00:34:03.230 to go away for this retreat. I'm super excited 00:34:03.230 --> 00:34:05.690 because I haven't gone away by myself for a long 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:08.670 time. I get to the airport. I scan in at the, 00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:10.710 you know, they take my picture. I'm smiling at 00:34:10.710 --> 00:34:14.260 the camera for security. And they go, beep. I 00:34:14.260 --> 00:34:17.000 was like, what's wrong? Okay. And the guy's like, 00:34:17.059 --> 00:34:18.300 I don't know. There must be something wrong with 00:34:18.300 --> 00:34:19.860 this flight. The lady ahead of you gets beeped 00:34:19.860 --> 00:34:21.820 in. I'm like, okay, that's cool. So I'm waiting. 00:34:21.940 --> 00:34:23.380 I'm waiting for the main lady. And I'm like, 00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:25.860 oh, I need to get on this airplane. No, I had 00:34:25.860 --> 00:34:29.119 traffic. No big deal. I'm patient now. I'm kind. 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:32.179 My dad was taking me. Good time with him. I get 00:34:32.179 --> 00:34:33.599 there. I get checked in. And the lady's like, 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:38.159 well, you're at the wrong airport. So the extra 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.360 hour that is spent in traffic is a big deal now. 00:34:40.460 --> 00:34:42.619 So I'm like, okay. So my old self would have 00:34:42.619 --> 00:34:45.820 been like, I'm so stupid. I would have been crying 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:49.039 and phoning Tampa. I was like, okay, God. Obviously, 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.059 I just messed up here. I took ownership for my 00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:54.559 responsibility. I got up to the counter. I said, 00:34:54.619 --> 00:34:56.380 okay, do you think? He's like, there's plenty 00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:58.980 of flights. There's a flight at 4, but you have 00:34:58.980 --> 00:35:02.039 to get to Reagan. I was like, never mind. So 00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:08.210 I'm like, okay, get an Uber, $65. I get to meet 00:35:08.210 --> 00:35:10.389 this great Uber driver that has like 20 different 00:35:10.389 --> 00:35:12.409 degrees. He's out of work now. He's going through 00:35:12.409 --> 00:35:14.389 a hard time. We talk for like the whole time 00:35:14.389 --> 00:35:17.530 over, which is really long. But I'm able to share 00:35:17.530 --> 00:35:19.449 with him about Jesus. I'm able to share with 00:35:19.449 --> 00:35:20.889 him about his family and how they get together 00:35:20.889 --> 00:35:23.389 on Zoom. I've got some great ideas from him where 00:35:23.389 --> 00:35:25.789 I'm able to pray for him. And then I get to the 00:35:25.789 --> 00:35:27.090 airport, and he drops me off at the place, and 00:35:27.090 --> 00:35:31.059 then I run like a bad word. and I'm literally 00:35:31.059 --> 00:35:32.659 running through the airport because it's like 00:35:32.659 --> 00:35:35.960 E40. Okay, and I get stopped in security because 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:39.079 I have protein shake in my bag, and we had empty 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:40.739 bags. I don't know if you guys, but we had baggies 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:43.159 in our house, and the kids took the last baggie 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:44.760 in the drawer, so there's still a box there. 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.780 So I went to pack my protein shake, and I was 00:35:46.780 --> 00:35:48.900 like, oh. So I put it in this old bag, and then 00:35:48.900 --> 00:35:50.400 a slick came out and went like this. So then 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:52.300 I put it in a bigger bag and then zipped it up 00:35:52.300 --> 00:35:53.739 and put it in my bag. So she stops me for the 00:35:53.739 --> 00:35:56.119 protein shake. I'm like, yes. So I'm just talking 00:35:56.119 --> 00:35:58.019 to the security lady. Hey, it's great. Yeah, 00:35:58.179 --> 00:35:59.969 I got stopped. My daughter, you know, just. started 00:35:59.969 --> 00:36:01.329 with those stories. I was like, okay, then I 00:36:01.329 --> 00:36:03.869 just run. And literally, I'm running down the 00:36:03.869 --> 00:36:05.570 airport like, God, if you want me on this flight, 00:36:05.650 --> 00:36:07.489 I'm going to get here. My lungs were burning. 00:36:07.909 --> 00:36:09.869 I'm like, I'm at E40. I had to like literally 00:36:09.869 --> 00:36:12.210 stop. I realized I'm not, I've been run walking 00:36:12.210 --> 00:36:16.429 too much. So I finally get to the gate. The lady 00:36:16.429 --> 00:36:19.269 in front of me at the gate, it was delayed like 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:22.909 10 minutes. Holy Spirit, right? And the lady 00:36:22.909 --> 00:36:27.300 in front of me is in chronic pain. And so I'm 00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:29.559 able to help her with her bag and get her on 00:36:29.559 --> 00:36:33.519 the flight. She's like, why isn't she picking 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.139 up her bag? And I could tell the lady how to 00:36:36.139 --> 00:36:37.400 wig on, and I don't know if she had went through 00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:39.840 cancer treatment or whatever it was, but I was 00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:43.079 able to help her onto the plane. And then I was 00:36:43.079 --> 00:36:44.800 able to cough up a lung the whole time on the 00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:47.159 plane, so everybody thought I had COVID. Literally, 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:50.159 my lungs were burning. I have to practice spreading. 00:36:53.269 --> 00:36:55.170 I've learned from myself, right? I could have 00:36:55.170 --> 00:36:57.010 been in shame. I could have been like whatever, 00:36:57.130 --> 00:36:59.489 but God worked it out. And I was able to meet 00:36:59.489 --> 00:37:01.070 these people and meet these people where they 00:37:01.070 --> 00:37:04.269 were because I wasn't so fixed on myself and 00:37:04.269 --> 00:37:06.690 getting it perfect and getting it right. And 00:37:06.690 --> 00:37:08.769 so there's always going to be an integrity gap. 00:37:08.849 --> 00:37:11.610 There's always the person you want to be. You 00:37:11.610 --> 00:37:13.110 know, in Christ, you're like, this is who I want 00:37:13.110 --> 00:37:14.989 to be and the person you are. And there's always 00:37:14.989 --> 00:37:16.789 a spot where you're working towards the middle, 00:37:16.869 --> 00:37:18.829 right? So there's always a place like, I want 00:37:18.829 --> 00:37:21.469 to be a kind, compassionate person who's full 00:37:21.469 --> 00:37:24.230 of God's love, grace, and mercy. But guess what? 00:37:24.329 --> 00:37:26.869 This is where I am now. And sometimes I get really 00:37:26.869 --> 00:37:30.389 angry for no reason. And why do I get angry? 00:37:30.469 --> 00:37:32.250 It's because I want to be in control, right? 00:37:32.389 --> 00:37:35.070 Or I got triggered, right? So learning to know 00:37:35.070 --> 00:37:37.599 where you are now. Self -aware and knowing where 00:37:37.599 --> 00:37:39.519 you want to be. And so that's my goals for the 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:41.179 years. Like, this is the person I want to become. 00:37:41.820 --> 00:37:44.579 Like, at the end of my life, this is who I want 00:37:44.579 --> 00:37:46.980 to be known for. I want to be known for a person 00:37:46.980 --> 00:37:49.480 who loves God, who loves their neighbors, who 00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:51.539 is full of peace. And when I come into the room, 00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:54.179 peace comes into the room. Not because of me, 00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:55.920 but because the Holy Spirit is living in me. 00:37:56.409 --> 00:37:58.469 And so when I come into a relationship and there's 00:37:58.469 --> 00:38:00.909 a struggle in my family, I can come in with peace 00:38:00.909 --> 00:38:03.190 and I can see both sides of the issue, right? 00:38:03.510 --> 00:38:06.130 And I'm not throwing my junk on everybody all 00:38:06.130 --> 00:38:09.489 the time, right? That's who I want to be. That's 00:38:09.489 --> 00:38:10.789 who I want to be. And there's always going to 00:38:10.789 --> 00:38:12.570 be room for improvement, but that's what we need 00:38:12.570 --> 00:38:15.769 to focus on as followers of Jesus, right? And 00:38:15.769 --> 00:38:18.030 the only way we can do this is point six, practice 00:38:18.030 --> 00:38:21.239 gratitude and praise. Practice gratitude and 00:38:21.239 --> 00:38:23.980 praise. Colossians 3 .17 says, and whatever you 00:38:23.980 --> 00:38:28.179 do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord 00:38:28.179 --> 00:38:31.880 Jesus, giving thanks. Through him, to God the 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:35.340 Father. Always be thankful. There's always something 00:38:35.340 --> 00:38:37.980 you can be thankful about, right? Just switching 00:38:37.980 --> 00:38:40.360 your mindset. I mean, just that, the sermon we 00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:42.440 did on gratitude, that whole series of just like, 00:38:42.539 --> 00:38:45.340 what can I be thankful for today, God? What can 00:38:45.340 --> 00:38:47.500 I be thankful for? If one thing, Jesus loves 00:38:47.500 --> 00:38:49.500 you. That's one thing you can be thankful for. 00:38:49.579 --> 00:38:52.380 Jesus loves you, right? We need to shift our 00:38:52.380 --> 00:38:55.139 mindset, right? Okay, my clothes don't match. 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:57.820 Okay, I gained 10 pounds. Whatever, Jesus loves 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:00.420 me. It doesn't matter. In the light of eternity, 00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:02.380 it doesn't matter what it says on the scales. 00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:04.039 It doesn't matter what it says at the doctors. 00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:07.380 It doesn't matter whatever. Jesus loves me, and 00:39:07.380 --> 00:39:09.099 I'm going to spend eternity with him in heaven, 00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:11.059 and God's given me these kids, and they're a 00:39:11.059 --> 00:39:13.219 blessing, and I'm going to learn myself and my 00:39:13.219 --> 00:39:16.480 character through them, right? Or my family won't 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.800 speak to me, but that's okay because I can pray 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:22.860 for that, right? Point seven is clothe yourself 00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:26.650 in love and live in peace. Clothe yourself in 00:39:26.650 --> 00:39:29.789 love and live in peace. Colossians 3, 14 and 00:39:29.789 --> 00:39:32.250 15 says, above all, clothe yourself with love, 00:39:32.329 --> 00:39:36.250 which binds us together in perfect harmony, and 00:39:36.250 --> 00:39:38.590 let that peace that comes from Christ rule in 00:39:38.590 --> 00:39:41.269 your hearts. For as members of one body, you 00:39:41.269 --> 00:39:44.429 are called to live in peace and always be thankful. 00:39:46.030 --> 00:39:49.329 And if I had to, I read this article and it said, 00:39:49.369 --> 00:39:52.550 if you could sum up Christ -like character in 00:39:52.550 --> 00:39:56.659 one word, there would be no competition. It'd 00:39:56.659 --> 00:40:03.059 be love. We have to clothe ourselves in love. 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:09.380 Love is the litmus test if you're a Christian. 00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:11.579 You know what the litmus test is? People, if 00:40:11.579 --> 00:40:14.420 you were in science class in the 90s, right? 00:40:14.539 --> 00:40:16.760 The litmus test, you put it into a thing of a 00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:19.039 solution and you know if it was an acid or a 00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:23.119 base, right? The litmus test in our life is love. 00:40:23.769 --> 00:40:28.070 If we not have love, who are we? We're just a 00:40:28.070 --> 00:40:33.250 sounding gong. We're just a crazy person. We're 00:40:33.250 --> 00:40:34.949 just preaching our thing to the choir. We're 00:40:34.949 --> 00:40:36.690 just telling people how bad they are. They don't 00:40:36.690 --> 00:40:39.750 need to know that. They already know they're 00:40:39.750 --> 00:40:44.809 broken. We need to love them. Am I becoming more 00:40:44.809 --> 00:40:49.170 loving in my life? Not am I more biblically educated 00:40:49.170 --> 00:40:51.489 and not am I practicing more spiritual distance. 00:40:51.610 --> 00:40:54.690 Am I more involved in church? Is my bank account 00:40:54.690 --> 00:40:58.590 higher? These are all good things. It's good 00:40:58.590 --> 00:41:00.469 to be responsible with your finances. It's good 00:41:00.469 --> 00:41:03.210 to take care of your stuff, right? It's good 00:41:03.210 --> 00:41:05.750 to come to the services of the church. But the 00:41:05.750 --> 00:41:08.429 most important thing, it says, Matthew 22, 37 00:41:08.429 --> 00:41:10.690 through 40 says, Jesus replied, you must love 00:41:10.690 --> 00:41:14.050 the Lord your God with all your heart, with all 00:41:14.050 --> 00:41:15.710 your soul, and with all your mind. This is the 00:41:15.710 --> 00:41:19.719 first and greatest. The second is equally important. 00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:22.780 Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law 00:41:22.780 --> 00:41:25.000 and all the demands of the prophets are based 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:34.380 on these two commandments. Love. Right. Can everybody 00:41:34.380 --> 00:41:39.219 stand? I've touched on a lot of sensitive issues 00:41:39.219 --> 00:41:42.280 today. Might have hit your heart in certain ways. 00:41:42.559 --> 00:41:44.760 But we're just going to take a moment. We're 00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:48.940 just going to take a moment and pray. Okay? So 00:41:48.940 --> 00:41:52.960 what we're going to do is if there's one of those 00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:55.159 things I've talked about and God highlighted 00:41:55.159 --> 00:41:57.420 it to you, what you're going to do is I would 00:41:57.420 --> 00:41:59.760 like to, we're just going to, you can close your 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:01.659 eyes, you can just get in God's presence, but 00:42:01.659 --> 00:42:02.679 what we're going to do is we're just going to 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:04.300 turn our hands down and we're just going to lay 00:42:04.300 --> 00:42:06.960 those at the foot of the cross. We're going to 00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:09.699 lay those at God's feet. And I'm going to pray 00:42:09.699 --> 00:42:11.900 for you right now and you're going to fill in 00:42:11.900 --> 00:42:19.960 the blanks, right? Jesus, take This stuff. Take 00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:32.780 my anger. Take my rage. Take my resentment. Take 00:42:32.780 --> 00:42:38.619 my addictions. Whatever it is for you, God is 00:42:38.619 --> 00:42:41.880 highlighting for you. Just imagine yourself laying 00:42:41.880 --> 00:42:58.340 at the foot of the cross. And as you have time, 00:42:58.400 --> 00:43:00.519 you just turn over your hands as you feel a piece 00:43:00.519 --> 00:43:02.360 of laying that down. I'm just going to ask you 00:43:02.360 --> 00:43:05.900 to turn over your hands when you're ready to 00:43:05.900 --> 00:43:07.820 receive. And we're going to say, come Holy Spirit. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:20.699 I want to receive peace, compassion, humility, 00:43:21.079 --> 00:43:31.769 patience, kindness. Gentleness. And above all 00:43:31.769 --> 00:43:38.429 else, love. God, show me how much you love me. 00:43:42.809 --> 00:43:45.650 And if you've never received the love of God, 00:43:45.710 --> 00:43:48.630 if you've never felt that love, if you've never 00:43:48.630 --> 00:43:51.929 said, I want to strip off that old nature and 00:43:51.929 --> 00:43:56.469 I want to be named new, today is your day. We've 00:43:56.469 --> 00:44:02.539 been waiting for you. And if you choose to receive 00:44:02.539 --> 00:44:04.739 Jesus, if you choose to say, he is the son of 00:44:04.739 --> 00:44:07.000 God, I need Jesus in my life, you can repeat 00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:15.000 after me. I'm broken, full of doubt, shame, regret, 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:21.199 fear. Change me. I believe you're God's son. 00:44:22.699 --> 00:44:27.440 I believe you died just for me. Make me new. 00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:36.320 Set me free. I give you control of my life. In 00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:41.300 Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So if you said 00:44:41.300 --> 00:44:43.900 that prayer for the first time today, remember, 00:44:44.039 --> 00:44:46.780 text us. We want to reach out to you this week. 00:44:47.219 --> 00:44:50.880 People, we have Holy Spirit night tonight. Don't 00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:53.739 miss it. It's been great. God is showing up. 00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:56.780 We're getting transformed in his image. We have... 00:44:57.710 --> 00:45:00.409 The movie, the family movie at 3 o 'clock. Come 00:45:00.409 --> 00:45:04.050 back for that. I love you. Have a great week. 00:45:04.050 --> 00:45:06.989 And walk in peace. Walk in love. Thanks.