WEBVTT

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Hey guys, this is Tracy. If at any time you'd

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like to connect with HCV, go to hcv .church forward

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slash connect. If you feel called to give, go

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to hcv .church forward slash give. And if at

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any time you feel called to make a change in

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your life, text change me to 970 -00. Enjoy the

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message. As you can see, the message today is

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going to be a little bit different. Pastor Chris

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is off graduating one of his daughters, so he

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asked me if I would handle the message this week.

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He asked me a couple weeks ago, and I knew that

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I had a really heavy lift. So we had the community

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choir, which was amazing. We had full band worship,

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a brand new song to debut. We live recorded that

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song this morning. And so I knew that I would

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probably maybe need just a little bit of help.

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So I called on my two best friends in the entire

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world. And I just wanted to just kind of take

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a minute before we get into the message just

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to honor these two and also use it as a teaching

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moment for you guys as well. These two, Carl

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and Sam, are without a doubt my best friends

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in the whole world. We talk every single day

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probably. I don't think there's really a day

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that goes by without us texting or talking. I

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got to thinking a lot about... how Jesus came

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into the world and the way that he started his

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ministry. And something kind of like a light

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bulb came on to me a couple years ago, and I

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realized that when Jesus came into this world,

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he didn't disciple the world. He came for the

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world. His message was for the world. The gospel

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was for the world. He died on the cross for the

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world. But when he came physically, he didn't

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wrap his arms around every person that was living

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on earth at that time. No, he chose 12. And within

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those 12, he had three that in his moments of

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deepest despair, the night before he was crucified

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in the garden, he brought these three with him.

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When he went and raised the young girl back to

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life, he brought these three. He took them down

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to a river, and he just invested a little bit

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more time into these three disciples. And I got

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to thinking about how in our life, I think we

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like think it's like a status thing. Like the

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more people we call our friends, the more followers

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we have on social media, the more likes we get

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on the post. We try, we emphasize quality instead

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of quantity. And over the past couple of years,

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I've really started to just shrink my circle.

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And I've seen a lot of fruit from that. I just

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want to thank you two for being. Those two guys

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in my life who, outside of my beautiful wife

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who knows, you know, my deepest, darkest secrets

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and is, you know, she's obviously my best friend.

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You two are there for me in a friendship realm.

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And it's good to have you two in my life, and

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I'm thankful for you. We call ourselves the Iron

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Boys. Not because we think we're, like, super

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rugged. Sam's pretty rugged and tough. But we

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like the verse in the Bible. as iron sharpens

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iron, so one friend sharpens another friend.

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We exist in this friendship to sharpen each other.

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We have a text group that we call the Iron Boys.

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I just want to encourage you that if you do not

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have people like this in your life, start searching

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because it can really make a huge difference

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when you're going through some tough times. Even

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when you're going through the good times, you

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want someone there to celebrate with you. You

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want someone there to help pick you up when you

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fall down. We do a lot of spiritual and biblical

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stuff. Like we're constantly asking each other,

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hey, what do you think about this? What do you

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think about that? How do you interpret this scripture?

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Hey, I'm dealing with this situation. How would

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you approach it? So just wanted to emphasize

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before we get started today, the importance of

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having a close circle that you can invest in.

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So that's your first homework assignment. Get

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people in your circle that you trust. All right,

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before we get going, Chris wanted me to mention

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this. We have 27 people signed up for the bed

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builds and our goal is 50. Okay, so anyone under

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12, can sign up with a parent, and anyone 12

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and over can serve alone, and they do count towards

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your SSL hours for school, okay? So please partner

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with us. It's an amazing ministry, and we'd really

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love to bless those that are on the receiving

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end of this. So as we continue in our text -to

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-talk series today, we are going with a more

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conversational style. I want to preface this

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message by saying we did not spend a lot of time

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together. We did not spend hours scripting out.

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Okay, Carl, you start with this, and I'll say

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this, and then we'll kick it to Sam. We're feeling

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a little bit vulnerable up here today. We had

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a great time first service. We all left. We were

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like, man, that was really cool. We hope it's

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well received again. But we wanted this message

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today to be very organic, to be very authentic,

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and just for you guys to kind of see how we live

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our lives every single day. And so I just want

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to let you know that this wasn't anything prescriptive.

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When I say, hey, Carl, what do you think about

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that? Or Sam, we didn't plan this. And so we

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hope that it's well received by you guys. But

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as we continue in our Text to Talk series, we're

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going to be talking about a word that when I

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say it, sometimes it can feel a little heavy.

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So everyone take a deep breath. Here we go. Today,

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we're going to be talking about the word holiness.

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Holiness, okay? When we hear the word holiness,

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I think oftentimes our minds can go to thinking

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about something that's ultra -religious or very

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rule -based. We immediately correlate the word

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holiness, what I believe, into a person that's

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this ultra -Christian that's perfect in every

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way. But in reality, holiness is not that, and

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it's so much more beautiful than that. So before

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I give what I think it... is. I'll start with

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you, Carl. What do you think of the word holiness

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and what it means to you? Is it cool if we do

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a deep dive into scripture? I want to ask that

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question first. Is that cool with you guys? Okay.

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All right. So when we think about holiness, some

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of the first things that maybe come into your

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mind might be principles like perfection or purity.

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And these are elements of holiness, but they're

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not really the best definition. When we look

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at the Old Testament, the Hebrew word that we

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use that's defined or that is translated into

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the word holiness is the word kodesh. And kodesh

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simply means to be set apart. When we look at

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the biblical narrative, we see this theme of

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God constantly choosing his people and calling

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them to live set apart. So in the Old Testament,

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we see it in the life of Noah. who was called

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to be set apart as an instrument of salvation

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for the creation that would survive the flood.

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We see it in the life of Abraham, where Abraham

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was called out of the land of his fathers so

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that God could bless him and make him into a

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great nation. And we see it in God's relationship

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with the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel

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was called to be set apart from the other nations

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that were in the promised land. The way in which

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God called Israel to be set apart was through

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the laws and the commands that he gave to Moses.

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And there's this really interesting passage of

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scripture that exists in Exodus 29. And in this

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set of scripture, God is giving Moses the instructions

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on how to carry out worship within the tabernacle.

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And he says this. He says, so I will consecrate

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Kodesh, the tent of meeting, and the altar, and

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will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me

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as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites

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and be their God. They will know that I am the

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Lord their God who brought them out of Egypt

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so that I might dwell among them. And so right

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away we see that underneath the principle of

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holiness, or being set apart is this relational

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aspect that God longs to dwell with his people

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and to be known by his people. We know from the

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redemptive work of Christ that God's spirit doesn't

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just dwell in one segment of the temple, but

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now it dwells in each of us. First Corinthians

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3 .16 says, do you not know that you are God's

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temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? And

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so to understand how this principle of holiness

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translates from the Old Testament to the New

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Testament, which we now live in, we need to look

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at the Greek word for holiness. And that word

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is hagios. And hagios means to be set apart exclusively

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for God. Now I'm going to read through just a

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couple of verses from... the New Testament that

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are going to give us some context into what the

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New Testament authors meant when they were talking

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about Hagios. 1 Peter chapter 1. As obedient

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children, do not conform to the evil desires

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you had when you lived in ignorance. But just

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as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all

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you do. For it is written, be Hagios, be holy,

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because I am holy. Romans chapter 12. Therefore,

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I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of

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God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living

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sacrifice. Hagios, holy and pleasing to God.

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This is your true and proper worship. In 1 Peter

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chapter 2. But you are a chosen people, a royal...

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priesthood, a hagios nation, God's special possession,

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that you may declare the praises of him who called

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you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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And so right off the bat, we see here that this

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idea of holiness, this idea of being set apart,

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it impacts our mind, our body, our spirit, our

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identity, our sense of purpose. And as we're

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reading through these verses, there are two questions

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that begin to formulate in my mind. The first

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question is, we're called to be set apart as

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followers of Christ. So what are we called to

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be set apart from? And the second question is,

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what are we called to be set apart for? And I

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think we're going to drill down on this some

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more as we have this talk. But just to summarize

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it, I believe that we're called to be set apart

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from the ways of the world that run in contrast

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to the ways of God. And we're called to be set

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apart for a deep and intimate relationship with

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the God of the universe. Yeah, and I want to

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expand on that real quick because I think with

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the way that the world is trending, It's never

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been more important for us to be set apart from

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the world. I don't know if life will perpetually

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get more and more difficult, but at least my

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interpretation of just the way the world is trending

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is it has never been more important than it is

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right now for us to stand our ground in our faith

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and in our beliefs. Because so many things that

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the world is promoting, I find... unfortunately,

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sometimes Christians accepting that lifestyle.

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And just because we are taught by the world to

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accept and affirm and say that, okay, because

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it's okay here, then we must also be okay with

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it. And that's not what Jesus teaches. It's not

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what God's Word says. So as the world continues

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to spin faster and faster, and it becomes more

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of what I'll call blurred lines on what is right

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and wrong, it's so important for us to maintain

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a standard of holiness and understand what holiness

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is. Yeah, I would say that holiness, it's a responsibility

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of every follower of Christ to understand what

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God's word says about being set apart. And the

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responsibility of holiness, it can feel heavy.

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It requires both hands for us to carry it. In

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order for us to embrace what the world is doing,

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we have to first set down holiness. and then

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end up compromising. So I guess where I'm going

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with this is that in order for us to compromise,

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we have to first abandon our pursuit of holiness.

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Absolutely. And like I said before, I think a

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lot of us correlate the word holiness to a bunch

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of rules, a bunch of legalisms. But if we look

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at Colossians 2, 21 through 23, Paul's talking

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here and he says, don't handle, don't taste,

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don't touch. Then he says, such rules are mere

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human teachings about things that deteriorate

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as we use them. These rules may seem wise because

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they require strong devotion, self -denial, and

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severe bodily discipline, but they provide no

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help in conquering a person's evil desires. In

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other words, abstaining from a bunch of rules

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doesn't consequently make you holy. Holiness

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at its core is not about rules. It's not about...

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isolation. It's not about legalism. It's simply

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one thing. And I believe that's becoming more

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and more like Jesus every single day. That's

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what I believe. So in order to get into the teaching

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point of today, what we really want to do is

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kind of explain to you guys how we view the word

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holiness and how we can apply it to our everyday

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lives. And the first point today, we played off

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of the letter P. So everything will start with

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a P today. Holiness is is positional. Holiness

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is positional. When we declare that Jesus Christ

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is the Lord of our life, when we accept him as

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our Savior, when we believe in our heart, the

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Bible says we must believe in our heart and confess

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with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of our

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life. When we do that, we are immediately given

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a new position, right? As Chris would say, true

00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.149
or false? True, right? We are immediately given

00:14:10.149 --> 00:14:13.210
a new position when we say yes to Christ. Ephesians

00:14:13.210 --> 00:14:15.970
1, 3 through 5 says, Praise be to the God and

00:14:15.970 --> 00:14:18.889
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed

00:14:18.889 --> 00:14:22.789
us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual

00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:27.370
blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before

00:14:27.370 --> 00:14:29.990
the creation of the world to be holy and blameless.

00:14:30.029 --> 00:14:33.750
To be what? To be holy and blameless in his sight,

00:14:33.830 --> 00:14:39.309
in love. He predestined us for adoption to sonship.

00:14:39.870 --> 00:14:42.029
We're talking about position there, right? When

00:14:42.029 --> 00:14:44.649
you are adopted into sonship, you are given a

00:14:44.649 --> 00:14:48.730
new position in your life. In his eyes and what

00:14:48.730 --> 00:14:52.669
Carl just said, set apart. Holy is to be set

00:14:52.669 --> 00:14:54.970
apart. So just to reiterate, the moment that

00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:56.850
you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:00.480
you are given a new position. God is holy. And

00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.600
when you say yes to God, he therefore declares

00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:06.340
that you are holy, that you are meant for a holy

00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:11.340
pursuit of what he is. So Sam, I'll throw it

00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:12.980
to you. You haven't said anything yet. You need

00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:15.700
to pull your weight here this morning. What does

00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:18.159
holiness is positional mean to you? When you

00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:19.899
hear the word positional, what does that mean

00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:23.460
to you? Well, I think understanding that, just

00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:26.620
like what you said, when you... Call on Jesus

00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:34.960
and make him Lord over your life. You are positioned

00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:37.960
under him to be set apart, which is meant to

00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:41.779
be holy. And also understanding that we are only

00:15:41.779 --> 00:15:47.580
able to walk that because of what he did. So

00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:53.159
we have to remember that holiness is not up for

00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:56.100
debate. There's no opinion. Yours can't be different

00:15:56.100 --> 00:16:00.940
than mine. It's God. Jesus is set apart. The

00:16:00.940 --> 00:16:04.600
Holy Spirit is because he is God's Spirit. So

00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:07.700
understanding that holiness is positional means

00:16:07.700 --> 00:16:10.080
that when you put your faith in Jesus and walk

00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.399
with him, that you become holy under Jesus, and

00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.519
that is only through the death and resurrection

00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:20.139
of him and the blood that he shed for us. And

00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:23.820
you can walk out your life, you're resurrected

00:16:23.820 --> 00:16:27.720
with him, walking and striving for holiness and

00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:31.259
to be set apart, as we're called to as the bride

00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:35.899
of Christ. I'm glad we serve a God that when

00:16:35.899 --> 00:16:39.139
we say yes to him, he immediately moves us into

00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:41.320
this position. It's not, okay, thank you for

00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.799
saying yes to me. Now here's this 24 -point checklist

00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:45.559
that you have to achieve and check a bunch of

00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:49.600
boxes for God to then say, congratulations, now

00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.940
I will call you mine. The moment we say yes...

00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.500
Our past is forgotten. Our sins are gone. We

00:16:54.500 --> 00:16:56.200
have been forgiven. He gives us grace. He gives

00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.440
us mercy. He gives us love. He gives us acceptance

00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.480
right then and there in that moment. And that

00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.700
is the word. That's what I think of when I think

00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:04.859
of position. There's two things that I think

00:17:04.859 --> 00:17:07.180
of. Number one, God is in a position of being

00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:09.420
holy, right? He sits at the highest of highs.

00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:11.819
He's been holy since the beginning of time. He

00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:14.920
will be holy until the end of time. He is in

00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:16.839
a position of holiness. But I just think how

00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.700
cool is it that when we accept his son, the gift

00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.160
of his son as our savior, we are then given a

00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.079
position of holiness as well. I think that's

00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.740
just, it's humbling to me that he would love

00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:29.359
us that much to not make us jump through a bunch

00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.640
of hoops, but we become holy in that moment.

00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.799
When we choose to follow Christ, one of the phrases

00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:38.740
that we tend to use as a bit of Christianese

00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:42.279
is to say that I'm choosing to make Jesus my

00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:46.059
Lord and Savior. And I have found in my own personal

00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.400
life, maybe you can relate, that it's very easy

00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:52.809
for me to identify my need for a savior. I understand

00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.250
how dark I am, what my flesh struggles with,

00:17:56.390 --> 00:18:00.910
with the spirit, and I understand my need for

00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:04.950
a savior. I can see that clearly. What I think

00:18:04.950 --> 00:18:09.130
is a struggle is making Jesus the Lord of our

00:18:09.130 --> 00:18:11.269
life. That's what we tend to wrestle with. It's

00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:14.250
not seeing Jesus as savior. We recognize we need

00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:17.720
him as savior, but do we want him? as our lord

00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:19.859
do we want him to have the final authority and

00:18:19.859 --> 00:18:23.500
to show us what it means to be set apart that's

00:18:23.500 --> 00:18:25.200
really good and i think we should expand on that

00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.319
a bit so yes accepting jesus christ as your lord

00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:30.440
and savior you're right i think it's all we all

00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.440
know that we struggle we are in need of a savior

00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.339
and it's really easy to accept that gift it's

00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:37.660
really easy to say i'm a christian he's my savior

00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:41.500
but when we say he is lord that means indirectly,

00:18:41.539 --> 00:18:43.519
then we are bound by the principles in which

00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.380
the Bible instructs, right? Having Jesus as our

00:18:46.380 --> 00:18:50.000
Savior is something we receive, but having him

00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.279
as our Lord is something that it costs us something.

00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:54.799
Yeah, that's good. Sam, I think you said first

00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:56.720
service, something about the devil. Say that

00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:01.240
again. Yeah, so like making the, just expanding

00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:04.140
on what you said about Lord versus Savior, it's

00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:08.779
real easy for us to say that he's Savior and

00:19:08.779 --> 00:19:12.950
acknowledge that. And I forgot how I said it.

00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:18.089
It was something like knowing Jesus is the Savior,

00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:21.650
the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Son of God,

00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:26.130
is the same thing that Lucifer does without making

00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:29.890
him Lord. So the devil knows that Jesus is who

00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:32.609
he is. And think about the demons in the Bible

00:19:32.609 --> 00:19:36.799
in the New Testament when Jesus came. When he

00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.160
came, I believe, and Matthew talks about all

00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:42.539
the Gospels, and the demon -possessed men approached

00:19:42.539 --> 00:19:45.440
him. So all these people are having a hard time

00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.220
acknowledging that he is the Messiah. And they're

00:19:48.220 --> 00:19:49.980
like, I don't know, you might be Beelzebub, or

00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:53.039
you cast a demon out on the Sabbath, and they're

00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.779
questioning him. But then the actual demons come

00:19:55.779 --> 00:19:58.420
up and say, what are you doing here, Son of God,

00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:02.039
the Most High? They know exactly who he is. So

00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:06.190
the devil knows. who Jesus is. He just does not

00:20:06.190 --> 00:20:09.109
make him Lord over his life. And that was a sobering

00:20:09.109 --> 00:20:11.250
thought to me because when you said that, again,

00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:13.190
this unscripted in the first service, a little

00:20:13.190 --> 00:20:15.450
bit more scripted now since it was impactful

00:20:15.450 --> 00:20:17.410
to me. When you said that, it was a sobering

00:20:17.410 --> 00:20:20.829
thought because I wonder how many of us have

00:20:20.829 --> 00:20:23.630
that same mentality, that we know that he's our

00:20:23.630 --> 00:20:25.349
Savior, we claim him as our Savior, but when

00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:29.210
it comes to making him Lord, we're like, I'm

00:20:29.210 --> 00:20:32.140
good. I'm good. I'm going to say... That I'm

00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:33.680
his, but I don't want to do the things that I'm

00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:35.420
instructed to do because it costs, like you said,

00:20:35.500 --> 00:20:38.980
it costs us something. So that's good. Thought

00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.420
number two today, and this is probably my favorite

00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:43.359
point of the day. So number one, holiness is

00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:48.160
positional. Number two, holiness is a pursuit,

00:20:48.359 --> 00:20:51.380
all right? It is a daily, relentless pursuit.

00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:54.059
Holiness is often perceived, as I mentioned before,

00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.680
as a list of don't dos, right? Thou shall not

00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:58.920
do this. Don't do this. But in reality, it's

00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.339
actually a pursuit of things that we need. to

00:21:01.339 --> 00:21:04.440
do. It's a race that we will never finish, right?

00:21:04.539 --> 00:21:06.579
There's no finish line. There's no checkered

00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.680
flag waiting on us, waving, say, congratulations,

00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:11.279
Carl, Sam, you have made it to the destination

00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:13.279
of holiness. We will never get there because

00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.859
only God is completely and utterly and perfectly

00:21:15.859 --> 00:21:18.940
holy, and we are not that. But it's a race that

00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:20.819
we need to run and that we need to run well.

00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:24.079
Hebrews 12, 12 through 14 says, therefore, lift

00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.680
your drooping hands and strengthen your weak

00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.819
knees and make straight paths for your feet.

00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.000
Sam, you and I talk about verses in the Bible

00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.200
that scare us. This is one that scares me. And

00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:50.400
for the holiness without which no one will see

00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.640
the Lord. Therefore, if you want to see the Lord,

00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:56.200
you better be striving for holiness. So I'll

00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:00.880
open up for a question again. How do you pursue

00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:04.819
holiness in your everyday walk? Sam, we'll start

00:22:04.819 --> 00:22:07.380
with you. I'll say what I say at first service.

00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:13.559
Number one is reading the Bible, waking up, choosing

00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:17.740
to read the Bible. Whether you can't physically

00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:20.660
take time in the morning, if you have a job that

00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:25.380
really stresses time as far as 4 or 5 a .m. commutes,

00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:28.859
get the Bible app. Let it read itself to you.

00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:32.640
And also, mind you, we're up here talking about

00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:36.420
things that we do to encourage, but we're also,

00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.000
we do this with each other in the text. I want

00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:42.220
to specify this service. We are not perfect.

00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.240
We're not talking like we figured it out. There's

00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:47.700
days that I don't do these things. Most days

00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:52.720
I struggle. It's a war within myself to take

00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:55.839
time, read the Bible. But I think hearing from

00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:59.579
God's word, The word is living and starting your

00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:03.119
day with that. Carl gave me advice weeks ago

00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:06.160
about and challenged me to really pursue it,

00:23:06.180 --> 00:23:08.980
make time for it. And I started taking my Bible

00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.519
to work and trying to make time because in between

00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:16.279
breaks, it's really easy just to scroll on your

00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:18.859
phone and you can put your phone down and just

00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:22.579
open the Bible. And I would say worship, worship

00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:25.059
music. I love rock and roll music. I started

00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:27.980
playing guitar because I love 70s and 60s rock

00:23:27.980 --> 00:23:31.599
and roll and blues, but it's not edifying. Worship

00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.039
is. So in my tattoo shop, people who have gotten

00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.059
tattooed by me know that I play worship music

00:23:37.059 --> 00:23:40.680
99 % of the time, even if it gets on my nerves

00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.839
because it's repetitive, the same songs, because

00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:48.400
it edifies my soul. Can I say something about

00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:51.460
your first book, Read the Bible? No. Well, I'm

00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:54.869
going to. This is how he is in normal life, too.

00:23:56.450 --> 00:23:59.309
I think that reading the Bible is something that,

00:23:59.349 --> 00:24:02.130
I think some Christians do a good job, but I

00:24:02.130 --> 00:24:04.490
know I'm not perfect at it. I struggle with it

00:24:04.490 --> 00:24:06.750
as well. And what I've learned and what I believe

00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:09.630
is the reason why many of us do not read the

00:24:09.630 --> 00:24:12.730
Bible enough is because we don't want to give

00:24:12.730 --> 00:24:16.230
up our comfortability and our convenience to

00:24:16.230 --> 00:24:18.890
do it. And what I mean by that, I know, here's

00:24:18.890 --> 00:24:20.730
some oohs, because I'm in that camp, too. What

00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:23.680
I mean by that is, Getting up 15 minutes earlier

00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.660
is not convenient for us. We really like to sleep.

00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:29.059
Our head on the pillow, our body underneath the

00:24:29.059 --> 00:24:31.059
blankets, it feels really good. And to think

00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:34.319
about changing that alarm from 6 .15 to 6 a .m.,

00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:38.160
it's painful, right? But that is an example of

00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:40.599
putting down convenience and putting down our

00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:42.680
comfortability, right? Instead of coming home

00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:46.000
after work and feeding the kids and cleaning

00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.660
up and then wanting to sit down and watch TV

00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.920
or watch a show or watch a movie. How many times

00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:52.819
do we say, nope, I'm going to give God another

00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:55.460
15 or 20 minutes? And what that is is it's denying

00:24:55.460 --> 00:24:57.519
our flesh. It's denying our comfortability and

00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.220
our convenience and saying, God, in this moment,

00:24:59.319 --> 00:25:02.519
I'm going to put you at the top. And listen,

00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:05.059
guys, I say that saying that I'm not perfect

00:25:05.059 --> 00:25:06.519
at this either. There's plenty of days where

00:25:06.519 --> 00:25:09.160
I don't read as much as I should, but I believe

00:25:09.160 --> 00:25:10.579
that the number one thing that keeps us from

00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:12.859
reading the Bible is because we just simply don't

00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:15.000
make time for it because we give in to our comfortability

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.440
and our convenience. For me in my life, I would

00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:21.619
say the way that I pursue holiness is, number

00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:23.779
one, the same thing. I try to get in the Word

00:25:23.779 --> 00:25:26.940
daily. But my buddy Jax, I get up really early.

00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:30.039
I work down in Frederick. So I have a decent

00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:31.900
drive from where we live in West Virginia. And

00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:34.019
he gets up early with me, and we have our little

00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:35.920
time in the morning. And then every morning he

00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:37.539
wants to call me and he wants to read to me,

00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:40.599
whether it's a Lionel Messi book or one of his

00:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.880
Bible stories books. And for the longest time,

00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:45.000
he would call me like 10 minutes after I left

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:46.819
the house, and he would read to me for a good

00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:49.720
30, 35 minutes. At the beginning of this year,

00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:51.940
as you guys know, I really started to draw a

00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:53.799
line in the sand for myself and say, no, I want

00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:56.220
to be a better husband for my wife, Katie. I

00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:57.579
want to be a better father. I want to be a better

00:25:57.579 --> 00:25:59.099
worship pastor. I want to be a better pastor

00:25:59.099 --> 00:26:00.720
here at the church. I want to really pursue holiness.

00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:02.799
And one of the things that I was convicted on

00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.640
is I'm not in the Word enough. And so I told

00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.980
Jax, and this hurt me to tell my own son. I said,

00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.019
hey, buddy. I said, Daddy needs at least 15 to

00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:15.279
20 minutes. of me listening to the audio book

00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:19.160
of the Bible in the Bible app. And at first he

00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:21.339
was like bummed. He's like, oh man, that's like

00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:22.680
my time to read to you. I said, well, I'm not

00:26:22.680 --> 00:26:24.480
telling you that we can't do it. I'm just saying

00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:26.960
for the first 15 or 20 minutes, I'm going to

00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:29.099
choose to be in the Bible reading the word because

00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:30.900
I have a goal to finish the Bible this year.

00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:33.900
And I said, and when I'm done, I'll shoot mommy

00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:36.240
a text on her phone and that's when you can call

00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:39.119
me. And so it was hard for me to do that because

00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.700
I felt On one hand, I thought I was taking away

00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:45.039
a moment of father and son bonding. But at the

00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:48.140
same time, I'm still providing him 15 or 20 minutes

00:26:48.140 --> 00:26:51.160
to read to me. But what I am doing in that moment

00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:53.900
is not only am I pursuing holiness by being in

00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:56.359
the word, but I'm also giving my son an example

00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.799
that, hey, buddy, I love you with all my heart,

00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.460
but my daddy, big daddy God, comes before you

00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:05.960
in my life. And I know that that feels hard to

00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:08.599
say here on earth. It's like, oh, how do you

00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:11.880
deny your son? I'm trying to exemplify to him

00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:13.500
that as much as I love him, as much as I want

00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:15.920
him to read to me, I'm giving God my first and

00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:18.440
my best. Carl, I'm going to ask you, you shared

00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:20.059
something with me a couple months ago that has

00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:23.859
really impacted the way that I handle my ministry,

00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:26.720
the way that I handle my wife and my kids. Can

00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:29.359
you give me the pyramid of Ps is what I call

00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:31.599
it? Yeah, the four Ps of priority. So this is

00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:34.799
something that I heard from David Jeremiah years

00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:37.329
ago, and it's really... helped give me a proper

00:27:37.329 --> 00:27:41.210
perspective in my own life. But oftentimes what

00:27:41.210 --> 00:27:43.289
we deal with, what we struggle with in our lives

00:27:43.289 --> 00:27:46.589
isn't having the right pieces, it's having them

00:27:46.589 --> 00:27:49.950
in the wrong order. And so the four P's of priority

00:27:49.950 --> 00:27:53.210
are I'm a person and my relationship with God

00:27:53.210 --> 00:27:56.950
must come first. If you're married, I'm a partner

00:27:56.950 --> 00:28:00.009
and my relationship with my spouse is the most

00:28:00.009 --> 00:28:03.190
important earthly physical relationship I will

00:28:03.190 --> 00:28:06.769
have. I'm a partner, I'm sorry, I'm a parent

00:28:06.769 --> 00:28:09.809
third, so my relationship with my kids comes

00:28:09.809 --> 00:28:13.670
after my relationship with my spouse, and I'm

00:28:13.670 --> 00:28:17.410
a professional or a pastor fourth, and that must

00:28:17.410 --> 00:28:20.890
come last. And oftentimes, again, the trouble

00:28:20.890 --> 00:28:23.230
that we get into with our lives is when we try

00:28:23.230 --> 00:28:26.049
to make our jobs more important than our relationships

00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:28.730
with our spouses, or we make our kids more important

00:28:28.730 --> 00:28:31.230
than our time with God, or we find excuses to

00:28:31.230 --> 00:28:34.940
reorganize those. that list we have to have them

00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:37.220
in the right order otherwise we're not going

00:28:37.220 --> 00:28:39.380
to be effective in each of those arenas yeah

00:28:39.380 --> 00:28:41.220
and i think that directly ties into our message

00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.460
day on holiness it's it's really easy for us

00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:45.059
to want to spend the most time with our spouse

00:28:45.059 --> 00:28:47.720
or our kids or or our job our jobs are like what

00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:49.579
we pride ourselves in how much money do we make

00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:51.539
what's my career title and so many times those

00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:54.680
three things can actually like take the place

00:28:54.680 --> 00:28:57.240
of god's throne and if you're doing that holiness

00:28:57.240 --> 00:28:59.000
is going to be really hard to achieve because

00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:00.559
you're not giving god your first you're not giving

00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.230
him your best you're not committed So thank you

00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:04.829
for sharing that. That was really good for me

00:29:04.829 --> 00:29:07.589
to help realign some things in my life on the

00:29:07.589 --> 00:29:10.529
daily. I want to add really quickly to that,

00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:13.750
too, about you said about your job. It's really

00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:17.450
hard for us to find time to read, to pray and

00:29:17.450 --> 00:29:21.190
like spend time with God to pursue that. But

00:29:21.190 --> 00:29:25.130
quickly imagine if spending time with God was

00:29:25.130 --> 00:29:27.230
not an option, just like not an option not to

00:29:27.230 --> 00:29:30.109
pay your mortgage or your rent. the consequence

00:29:30.109 --> 00:29:32.869
of that would be you would be homeless. You have

00:29:32.869 --> 00:29:35.369
to go to work to pay your rent or mortgage or

00:29:35.369 --> 00:29:37.829
your car note or all these things. You have to

00:29:37.829 --> 00:29:40.750
eat or you'll die. So if we could put that, speaking

00:29:40.750 --> 00:29:43.950
to myself, in the same severity of, if I don't

00:29:43.950 --> 00:29:46.549
do this, I'm going to be disconnected from something,

00:29:46.710 --> 00:29:49.869
which is God, the most important thing. But how

00:29:49.869 --> 00:29:52.089
easy it is for us to put those things in front

00:29:52.089 --> 00:29:54.589
of God, but that should be our number one priority.

00:29:56.109 --> 00:29:58.950
We live in... a day and age of unprecedented

00:29:58.950 --> 00:30:02.549
visibility in how we spend our time. The saying,

00:30:02.630 --> 00:30:05.369
I think, used to be, show me a man's wallet and

00:30:05.369 --> 00:30:07.630
then I'll show you his heart. Because it used

00:30:07.630 --> 00:30:09.349
to be we can kind of track what our priorities

00:30:09.349 --> 00:30:11.109
are based on where we spend money. But now I

00:30:11.109 --> 00:30:13.450
would say, show me your iPhone and I can show

00:30:13.450 --> 00:30:16.589
you your heart. Because when you open the iPhone,

00:30:16.710 --> 00:30:18.589
you can look and see how much time you spend

00:30:18.589 --> 00:30:21.789
on each individual app. And I'd be willing to

00:30:21.789 --> 00:30:23.769
bet that for most of us, the Bible app probably

00:30:23.769 --> 00:30:27.279
doesn't even make the top 10. We have things

00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:29.759
like social media and texting and calling. And,

00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.119
of course, we have to be professionals. We have

00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:35.200
to do work. But at the same time, the amount

00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.099
of time that we allocate to the Bible, I fear

00:30:38.099 --> 00:30:42.960
it's so anemic compared to what it should be

00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:45.920
that it drives us into a position where God just

00:30:45.920 --> 00:30:48.079
gets the leftovers. He gets kind of what's left

00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:50.319
in our schedule, not the best or the first of

00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:52.769
what we have to offer. Yeah, I agree. So for

00:30:52.769 --> 00:30:54.390
me, I agree, Sam. I think reading the Bible is

00:30:54.390 --> 00:30:56.190
number one. Number two for me is I've learned

00:30:56.190 --> 00:31:00.549
to be disgusted with my sin. And I think that

00:31:00.549 --> 00:31:02.609
as you pursue holiness, as you pursue God's heart,

00:31:02.650 --> 00:31:05.250
as you pursue God's best, you realize that there

00:31:05.250 --> 00:31:07.490
is no tolerance for anything that's not of Him.

00:31:07.990 --> 00:31:10.730
And I want you guys to take a minute right now

00:31:10.730 --> 00:31:13.029
and search your own hearts because this was hard

00:31:13.029 --> 00:31:15.349
for me to do when I kind of drew my line in the

00:31:15.349 --> 00:31:17.630
sand. And here's what I believe. I believe that

00:31:17.630 --> 00:31:20.789
all of us... have an area of sin in our life

00:31:20.789 --> 00:31:23.170
that we just let hang out. We just let it be

00:31:23.170 --> 00:31:25.829
there because it's not that bad. It's not causing

00:31:25.829 --> 00:31:29.769
me to go downhill that fast. But when you decide

00:31:29.769 --> 00:31:33.589
to be holy, when you decide to pursue holiness,

00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:37.170
you get to a point where there's no margin for

00:31:37.170 --> 00:31:39.910
error in your pursuit. You cannot become holy

00:31:39.910 --> 00:31:42.250
if you're allowing yourself to be subjected to

00:31:42.250 --> 00:31:44.829
this one sin that you keep giving into. And Carl,

00:31:44.890 --> 00:31:47.950
you gave the analogy. um a couple a couple uh

00:31:47.950 --> 00:31:50.829
months back that i really liked you said being

00:31:50.829 --> 00:31:53.430
disgusted with your sin looks like this for those

00:31:53.430 --> 00:31:55.630
of us who are parents imagine when your kid you

00:31:55.630 --> 00:31:57.789
know uh did their business in their diaper and

00:31:57.789 --> 00:31:59.869
you had a dirty diaper what do you do you like

00:31:59.869 --> 00:32:01.970
you put that thing in the diaper genie or in

00:32:01.970 --> 00:32:04.109
some of those whatever mama things whatever they're

00:32:04.109 --> 00:32:05.789
called and that seals it up tight so that you

00:32:05.789 --> 00:32:08.210
can't smell it what would it look like if instead

00:32:08.210 --> 00:32:10.890
of doing all that what if we just took that diaper

00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:12.950
and just threw it on the kitchen island and just

00:32:12.950 --> 00:32:15.970
let it sit there Right? Exactly. We laugh, right?

00:32:16.049 --> 00:32:18.410
We laugh because it sounds repulsive. We know

00:32:18.410 --> 00:32:21.069
that in a couple minutes, not only is the kitchen,

00:32:21.170 --> 00:32:22.809
but then the living room, and then the family

00:32:22.809 --> 00:32:24.609
room, and then the study, and then the bedroom,

00:32:24.750 --> 00:32:27.430
everything is going to start to stink really

00:32:27.430 --> 00:32:30.609
bad. And we wouldn't even want to be in the same

00:32:30.609 --> 00:32:35.089
house as this one thing. But we look at our sin

00:32:35.089 --> 00:32:37.490
as no different. We allow ourselves to have the

00:32:37.490 --> 00:32:40.230
dirty diaper of whatever it is in our lives,

00:32:40.309 --> 00:32:43.099
and we allow it to sit there. and permeate every

00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:45.619
part of our being. And while we can put nose

00:32:45.619 --> 00:32:47.680
plugs on or put an air freshener in the electrical

00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:50.700
outlet, all you're doing is masking the real

00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:54.880
issue. To get rid of that repulsive thing in

00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:57.500
your house, you have to take out the trash. And

00:32:57.500 --> 00:33:00.880
I believe so many of us allow trash to be stored

00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:03.940
and kept in our lives, and we don't want to get

00:33:03.940 --> 00:33:05.799
rid of it because it's uncomfortable to do so.

00:33:05.859 --> 00:33:08.359
It's hard. It makes us give in. It makes us...

00:33:08.569 --> 00:33:10.769
It makes us say no to something that brings us

00:33:10.769 --> 00:33:13.789
earthly pleasure. So today I ask you to search

00:33:13.789 --> 00:33:16.869
your heart for that thing that you need to take

00:33:16.869 --> 00:33:20.670
out. Because in order to pursue holiness, I guarantee

00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:21.970
you there's an area of your life that you need

00:33:21.970 --> 00:33:24.250
to be better in. Two things that I want to say

00:33:24.250 --> 00:33:25.650
real quick that I did not say first service,

00:33:25.730 --> 00:33:29.569
don't tell them. Two areas that I've also been

00:33:29.569 --> 00:33:32.390
trying to do better in. The Bible constantly

00:33:32.390 --> 00:33:35.250
talks about praying and fasting. And I've always

00:33:35.250 --> 00:33:39.089
been a prayer, but my prayers often, look like

00:33:39.089 --> 00:33:41.769
a prayer that if everything was answered, I would

00:33:41.769 --> 00:33:45.250
not need God in my life at all. And I was convicted

00:33:45.250 --> 00:33:47.369
of that. And what I mean by that is I ask him

00:33:47.369 --> 00:33:49.529
for health. I ask him for prosperity. I ask him

00:33:49.529 --> 00:33:51.410
to bless my wife. I ask him to bless my kids.

00:33:51.490 --> 00:33:53.470
I ask him to bless this ministry. I ask him to

00:33:53.470 --> 00:33:54.950
keep me safe. And those are all great things

00:33:54.950 --> 00:33:58.569
to pray. But if I would get everything that I'm

00:33:58.569 --> 00:34:00.049
asking for in my prayer life, I wouldn't need

00:34:00.049 --> 00:34:02.309
God at all. Because I'm praying for what I want.

00:34:02.410 --> 00:34:04.029
I'm praying for the things that I need. But in

00:34:04.029 --> 00:34:05.609
reality, I believe we need to pray more like,

00:34:05.710 --> 00:34:07.430
God, let you be glorified in this situation.

00:34:07.930 --> 00:34:09.570
I'm going through something at work right now.

00:34:09.590 --> 00:34:11.570
I don't know what it's going to be like. I don't

00:34:11.570 --> 00:34:13.230
want to pray for a new job. I don't want to pray

00:34:13.230 --> 00:34:14.789
for a new opportunity. I don't want to pray for

00:34:14.789 --> 00:34:17.769
more money. Because maybe I'm supposed to endure

00:34:17.769 --> 00:34:19.750
this pain right now for this season. Because

00:34:19.750 --> 00:34:21.630
when I come out on the other side, I'm going

00:34:21.630 --> 00:34:23.170
to be able to help somebody in a couple months

00:34:23.170 --> 00:34:24.949
that's going through the exact same thing. So

00:34:24.949 --> 00:34:26.909
my prayer life has changed from, God, give me

00:34:26.909 --> 00:34:29.289
all of these things, to Let me just hear what

00:34:29.289 --> 00:34:31.369
you have to say. Let me just listen to you. And

00:34:31.369 --> 00:34:33.489
I've also been fasting. And I know like in the

00:34:33.489 --> 00:34:34.829
spiritual world, not supposed to tell anybody,

00:34:34.889 --> 00:34:37.849
but I'm fasting more for like physical health.

00:34:37.909 --> 00:34:39.889
And I'm not doing anything crazy like 14 days

00:34:39.889 --> 00:34:41.809
or something, but I'm just taking a couple of

00:34:41.809 --> 00:34:43.869
days a week to withhold certain things that I

00:34:43.869 --> 00:34:47.070
love. And I've really noticed that number one,

00:34:47.110 --> 00:34:49.409
not only do I physically feel better, I have

00:34:49.409 --> 00:34:51.650
better mental clarity. But in those moments where

00:34:51.650 --> 00:34:54.429
I should be eating lunch at work, I decided to

00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:55.989
just kind of walk around our campus. And I just

00:34:55.989 --> 00:34:58.610
give God those 15 minutes to say, Speak to me,

00:34:58.630 --> 00:35:01.949
God. So reading the Word, dealing with my sin,

00:35:02.030 --> 00:35:04.030
being disgusted by it, and praying and fasting

00:35:04.030 --> 00:35:06.570
have been my four keys to being holy. So Carl,

00:35:06.630 --> 00:35:10.070
what about you? Absolutely. Before I get into

00:35:10.070 --> 00:35:12.510
kind of the daily disciplines that I follow,

00:35:12.570 --> 00:35:15.909
I want to paint a picture for you. So suppose

00:35:15.909 --> 00:35:20.449
Katie has been spending the last two weeks on

00:35:20.449 --> 00:35:26.469
Pinterest. Accurate. True. And she's been looking

00:35:26.469 --> 00:35:29.820
at... backyard garden design. She wants to get

00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:32.099
into gardening. Even more accurate. Okay. So

00:35:32.099 --> 00:35:34.980
she comes to you, she says, Rhett, I want to

00:35:34.980 --> 00:35:37.599
start a small garden. I want, I just need like

00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:39.360
eight foot by eight foot square in the backyard.

00:35:39.539 --> 00:35:41.860
Can you make it happen for me? And you channel

00:35:41.860 --> 00:35:46.739
your inner Wesley and you say, as you wish. So

00:35:46.739 --> 00:35:49.860
you go out, you take the tiller out, you go to

00:35:49.860 --> 00:35:51.440
this little eight by eight, you mark it off,

00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.940
you set it apart, this eight by eight square

00:35:54.940 --> 00:36:00.070
and you till it up. And then you stop. What's

00:36:00.070 --> 00:36:05.289
going to pop up there? Weeds. Yes. Good answer.

00:36:05.409 --> 00:36:07.110
Thank you. And her being mad that I didn't finish

00:36:07.110 --> 00:36:07.909
the project. Yeah, and her being mad at you.

00:36:09.530 --> 00:36:12.610
The goal of pursuing holiness is to understand

00:36:12.610 --> 00:36:15.329
that God has done the work to till the soil of

00:36:15.329 --> 00:36:18.309
our hearts so that he can create fruit in our

00:36:18.309 --> 00:36:22.409
lives. Our job is simply to tend the garden.

00:36:22.789 --> 00:36:25.530
The seed has been planted. He's in control of

00:36:25.530 --> 00:36:27.050
the weather. He's in control of the sun. He's

00:36:27.050 --> 00:36:29.110
in control of the temperature. Our job is just

00:36:29.110 --> 00:36:32.489
to tend the garden, to put a gate or a fence

00:36:32.489 --> 00:36:34.429
around it so that nothing can get in and damage

00:36:34.429 --> 00:36:37.170
it, to make sure we pull out the weeds that are

00:36:37.170 --> 00:36:38.730
there. Like you said, getting rid of the dirty

00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:40.309
diaper, pulling out the weeds, pulling out the

00:36:40.309 --> 00:36:42.829
sin in our life. We just need to tend the garden

00:36:42.829 --> 00:36:46.969
so that God can create fruit in our life. And

00:36:46.969 --> 00:36:49.469
that's how we end up with a harvest that comes

00:36:49.469 --> 00:36:53.460
from being set apart, being holy. For me personally,

00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:56.099
what that looks like, it's just a couple of simple

00:36:56.099 --> 00:36:58.760
disciplines that I follow on a regular basis.

00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.579
Not surprising that we kind of all are aligned

00:37:01.579 --> 00:37:05.800
in this. I spend time daily in God's Word. I

00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:08.000
don't just read God's Word, but I engage with

00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:10.300
it. I talk with these guys about my thoughts

00:37:10.300 --> 00:37:12.820
about Scripture or about the context. We have

00:37:12.820 --> 00:37:15.880
a lot of conversation about God's Word. Something

00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:18.320
more recently that I've started to do is set

00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:22.969
aside time each day to just sit quietly. in God's

00:37:22.969 --> 00:37:26.349
presence. And in doing that, I've started to

00:37:26.349 --> 00:37:30.769
recognize how busy my mind and my life is. And

00:37:30.769 --> 00:37:35.170
that when I stop to try to just give God these

00:37:35.170 --> 00:37:37.849
moments to give them to him in order to speak

00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:40.449
to me, that it really takes a lot of effort for

00:37:40.449 --> 00:37:43.869
me to just kind of shut down. But I can tell

00:37:43.869 --> 00:37:46.269
you that the fruit of that has been so incredibly

00:37:46.269 --> 00:37:48.869
edifying. To hear God's voice, to connect with

00:37:48.869 --> 00:37:52.280
him on a relational level has been amazing. And

00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:55.559
then also, so reading the Bible, giving time

00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:57.699
to just quietly sit in God's presence, and then

00:37:57.699 --> 00:38:01.699
praying, speaking to God, big prayer requests

00:38:01.699 --> 00:38:04.159
or small prayer requests, whether I'm going into

00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:07.260
a meeting or I'm, you know, maybe I'm going into

00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:09.239
a difficult conversation, praying for God to

00:38:09.239 --> 00:38:12.739
bless that time. And when you look at these things,

00:38:12.840 --> 00:38:16.219
it might feel a little bit ritualistic, but the

00:38:16.219 --> 00:38:19.559
reality is that these are just markers of a healthy

00:38:19.559 --> 00:38:24.539
relationship. talking, being present. And I think

00:38:24.539 --> 00:38:27.219
it's so important for us to understand what I

00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:29.579
said earlier, that there's a relational aspect

00:38:29.579 --> 00:38:33.300
to holiness. It's about being close to the heart

00:38:33.300 --> 00:38:35.280
of the Father. That's what we're really after,

00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:37.739
which that ties in great with our third point.

00:38:38.659 --> 00:38:44.300
Holiness values proximity over perfection. As

00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:47.760
I was looking through scripture, kind of preparing

00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:50.349
for this talk, there was... A person that stood

00:38:50.349 --> 00:38:52.230
out in scripture to my mind is somebody that

00:38:52.230 --> 00:38:54.489
had a close relationship with God. It's David.

00:38:54.690 --> 00:38:58.110
David is known as a man after God's heart. And

00:38:58.110 --> 00:39:00.949
later in David's life, he set about to build

00:39:00.949 --> 00:39:04.010
God a permanent dwelling place for his presence,

00:39:04.130 --> 00:39:07.250
which would be the temple. God showed up and

00:39:07.250 --> 00:39:10.269
said essentially to David, I love your vision.

00:39:10.630 --> 00:39:14.349
I love your concept. But you have too much blood

00:39:14.349 --> 00:39:16.349
on your hands. You're a mighty warrior. You cannot

00:39:16.349 --> 00:39:20.869
be the one to build my temple. that role is reserved

00:39:20.869 --> 00:39:26.369
for Solomon, your son. And so David gathers all

00:39:26.369 --> 00:39:28.489
of Israel, and he has this incredible moment

00:39:28.489 --> 00:39:30.710
where he passes on the torch to Solomon, and

00:39:30.710 --> 00:39:35.210
he says this in 1 Chronicles 28. So now with

00:39:35.210 --> 00:39:38.250
God as our witness, and in the sight of all Israel,

00:39:38.369 --> 00:39:41.070
the Lord's assembly, I give you this charge.

00:39:41.329 --> 00:39:45.570
Be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord

00:39:45.570 --> 00:39:47.929
your God, so that you may continue to possess

00:39:47.929 --> 00:39:51.079
this good land, and leave it to your children

00:39:51.079 --> 00:39:54.239
as a permanent inheritance. And Solomon, my son,

00:39:54.780 --> 00:39:58.820
learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately.

00:39:59.099 --> 00:40:02.860
Worship and serve him with your whole heart and

00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:05.480
a willing mind. And in this verse, we see this

00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:09.260
incredible intersection of obeying God's command

00:40:09.260 --> 00:40:13.380
and having this deep and intimate relationship

00:40:13.380 --> 00:40:16.500
with him. As I was meditating on the scripture,

00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:19.369
it caused me to think about my own relationships

00:40:19.369 --> 00:40:21.329
in my life. And I started to think about my relationship

00:40:21.329 --> 00:40:25.469
with my wife. So my wife and I met when we were

00:40:25.469 --> 00:40:28.170
17 years old. And from the moment that I met

00:40:28.170 --> 00:40:31.730
her, I was immediately fascinated by her. I wanted

00:40:31.730 --> 00:40:33.710
to know everything about her. I wanted to know

00:40:33.710 --> 00:40:36.650
what she liked. I wanted to know what she disliked.

00:40:37.349 --> 00:40:39.449
And over the years, I'd like to think that I've

00:40:39.449 --> 00:40:42.510
gotten to know her pretty well. For example,

00:40:42.690 --> 00:40:46.250
I know that she loves movies. I know that she

00:40:46.250 --> 00:40:50.039
is a huge fan of mid -90s chick flicks. She loves

00:40:50.039 --> 00:40:53.760
the Gilmore Girls. Not a huge fan of John Wick.

00:40:54.519 --> 00:40:58.800
She loves Smash Burgers, but probably wouldn't

00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:03.460
order lasagna off the menu. Not a morning person,

00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:07.119
but she will stay up late if there's chocolate

00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:11.139
cake involved. Even after all the years that

00:41:11.139 --> 00:41:13.679
we've been together, I'm still learning new things

00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:16.980
about her. For example, On Memorial Day weekend,

00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:19.920
we set about to go through our basement and get

00:41:19.920 --> 00:41:22.739
rid of some things. And in the process of doing

00:41:22.739 --> 00:41:26.500
that, I grabbed a hand of kids' DVDs that probably

00:41:26.500 --> 00:41:28.960
haven't seen the light of day in about 15 years.

00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:31.699
And I just was getting ready to put them on the

00:41:31.699 --> 00:41:35.039
Goodwill pile. I looked up and immediately recognized

00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:41.469
that I had done something terribly wrong. She

00:41:41.469 --> 00:41:43.849
looked at me with fire in her eyes and she said,

00:41:44.030 --> 00:41:51.630
you do not get rid of Thumbelina. Nearly a quarter

00:41:51.630 --> 00:41:54.349
of a century I have spent with this incredible

00:41:54.349 --> 00:41:57.070
woman and never once did I recognize her deep

00:41:57.070 --> 00:42:01.070
emotional connection to the mid -90s animated

00:42:01.070 --> 00:42:03.550
version of Thumbelina. Why am I telling you all

00:42:03.550 --> 00:42:06.530
this? I didn't get to know these things about

00:42:06.530 --> 00:42:09.550
my wife because I was scared of angering her.

00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:13.159
I didn't get to know these things because I wanted

00:42:13.159 --> 00:42:15.179
to win the perfect husband of the year award.

00:42:15.300 --> 00:42:17.940
I got to know these things because I wanted to

00:42:17.940 --> 00:42:20.360
have a deep and intimate connection with her,

00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:22.400
to go deeper and further with our relationship.

00:42:22.820 --> 00:42:24.619
And I think it's important to understand that

00:42:24.619 --> 00:42:27.539
as we pursue holiness, we need to understand

00:42:27.539 --> 00:42:31.539
that holiness values proximity over perfection.

00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:34.539
It's not about memorizing a list of rules and

00:42:34.539 --> 00:42:37.119
following them to a T. It's not about, you know,

00:42:37.449 --> 00:42:40.409
being scared of God, being angry with us. It's

00:42:40.409 --> 00:42:43.269
about pursuing the heart of the father, getting

00:42:43.269 --> 00:42:46.230
to know what pleases him and what displeases

00:42:46.230 --> 00:42:49.230
him. And you may be wondering, well, how do I

00:42:49.230 --> 00:42:51.869
know what pleases God and what displeases him?

00:42:51.949 --> 00:42:54.110
I'm going to give you two quick examples of scripture

00:42:54.110 --> 00:42:58.670
that tell us what God hates and what God likes.

00:42:58.710 --> 00:43:01.210
Proverbs 6 says, there are six things the Lord

00:43:01.210 --> 00:43:04.840
hates, no seven things he detests. haughty eyes,

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:07.460
a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent,

00:43:07.659 --> 00:43:10.260
a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do

00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:13.760
wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, and

00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:17.639
a person who sows discord in a family. Compare

00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:22.000
that with Psalm 15, which says, who may enter

00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:24.820
in your sanctuary, Lord, who may enter your presence

00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:28.300
on your holy hill, those who lead blameless lives.

00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.320
and do what is right, speaking the truth from

00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:34.260
sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or

00:43:34.260 --> 00:43:36.960
harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.

00:43:37.340 --> 00:43:40.940
Those who despise flagrant sinners honor the

00:43:40.940 --> 00:43:43.579
faithful followers of the Lord and keep their

00:43:43.579 --> 00:43:46.659
promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money

00:43:46.659 --> 00:43:49.440
without charging interest and who cannot be bribed

00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:52.800
to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand

00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:59.289
firm forever. God values. our relationship with

00:43:59.289 --> 00:44:03.010
him more than he values our intention to be perfect.

00:44:03.110 --> 00:44:05.230
We know that we will never be perfect. You've

00:44:05.230 --> 00:44:07.449
mentioned earlier, the only way we can be viewed

00:44:07.449 --> 00:44:10.449
holy is through the blood of Christ. Because

00:44:10.449 --> 00:44:13.210
of that, we have the freedom to have an incredibly

00:44:13.210 --> 00:44:17.070
deep relationship with God. That is so good.

00:44:17.849 --> 00:44:20.289
This good? You guys enjoying this? All right,

00:44:20.309 --> 00:44:22.230
good. Because that's our last point, so I just

00:44:22.230 --> 00:44:25.510
wanted to make sure. No, that's good. I think

00:44:25.510 --> 00:44:29.760
we've heard a lot of, times relationship over

00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:32.019
religion. And that's what I, when you said about

00:44:32.019 --> 00:44:35.179
proximity over perfection, a lot of times we

00:44:35.179 --> 00:44:37.059
look at God as this rule -based God that we need

00:44:37.059 --> 00:44:40.599
to do all these things to achieve his love, achieve

00:44:40.599 --> 00:44:44.059
his recognition, when in reality, he just wants

00:44:44.059 --> 00:44:46.000
our hearts. And that's the biggest thing that

00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.559
I can take away from holiness is that it's more

00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:51.300
about getting in the word, understanding what

00:44:51.300 --> 00:44:54.179
God's best looks like in your life, and daily

00:44:54.179 --> 00:44:57.699
pursuing that. Yeah, it's a bit of a circle because

00:44:57.699 --> 00:45:02.539
John says, if we love God, we will obey his commands.

00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:06.639
So the relationship is based on our ability to

00:45:06.639 --> 00:45:09.559
know God and to follow him. Yeah, and that's

00:45:09.559 --> 00:45:12.579
where the Lord and Savior comes in. To love him

00:45:12.579 --> 00:45:14.860
is to call him our Savior, but to obey him is

00:45:14.860 --> 00:45:18.989
to call him our Lord. Say that again. To love

00:45:18.989 --> 00:45:21.650
him is to call him our Savior, but to obey him

00:45:21.650 --> 00:45:23.849
is to call him our Lord. And it's really easy

00:45:23.849 --> 00:45:26.030
for us to say, God, we love you. We love you.

00:45:26.050 --> 00:45:28.690
We thank you. We are indebted to you. We love

00:45:28.690 --> 00:45:31.449
you, Jesus. But then to say obey, he might be

00:45:31.449 --> 00:45:33.250
calling us to do something that's really uncomfortable,

00:45:33.429 --> 00:45:37.170
like taking out the trash or changing a career,

00:45:37.309 --> 00:45:39.809
whatever it may be. And that's when I feel like

00:45:39.809 --> 00:45:42.369
we take a step back and we're like, ooh, that

00:45:42.369 --> 00:45:45.630
hurts me. That costs me something. I'm just going

00:45:45.630 --> 00:45:47.190
to stick here to the love, and maybe we'll get

00:45:47.190 --> 00:45:52.190
to the obey later. But don't forsake the need

00:45:52.190 --> 00:45:54.570
to obey your Lord, because when you do, there's

00:45:54.570 --> 00:45:57.849
so much fruit in that. God's definition of love

00:45:57.849 --> 00:46:02.210
is obedience. Yeah. And sometimes we think that

00:46:02.210 --> 00:46:04.889
his definition of love is purely affection. And

00:46:04.889 --> 00:46:08.030
it's right for us to have affection and feelings

00:46:08.030 --> 00:46:11.670
towards God, but really how we practically live

00:46:11.670 --> 00:46:14.139
that out is through our obedience. Yeah. That's

00:46:14.139 --> 00:46:16.239
good. Yeah, I want to add quickly, too. We've

00:46:16.239 --> 00:46:20.119
got to move on. All right, thank you, guys. About

00:46:20.119 --> 00:46:25.900
relationship over religion, and I agree with

00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:29.239
that 100%. That's like the biggest foundation

00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:33.059
of the Protestant church, of what separates from

00:46:33.059 --> 00:46:36.420
a lot of different other churches. But me and

00:46:36.420 --> 00:46:41.280
Carl talk about this a lot. Let's not forget

00:46:41.280 --> 00:46:45.170
that, like, You're not being religious. You're

00:46:45.170 --> 00:46:47.949
having discipline. You know what I mean? So,

00:46:48.010 --> 00:46:53.849
like, we have to make sure that we value relationship

00:46:53.849 --> 00:46:57.329
over religion 100%. But we can't just be, like,

00:46:57.349 --> 00:47:00.969
free nilly -willy and just expect to live in

00:47:00.969 --> 00:47:03.289
holiness. Because at that point, there's no effort.

00:47:03.489 --> 00:47:05.849
Absolutely. Katie and I love our kids too much

00:47:05.849 --> 00:47:08.170
to just allow them to always have joy in the

00:47:08.170 --> 00:47:11.409
house. If our goal was to just make them eternally

00:47:11.409 --> 00:47:15.639
happy. He'd be eating Nerds gummy ropes and chocolate

00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:16.800
milk for dinner every night. Whoa, whoa, whoa,

00:47:16.840 --> 00:47:18.659
whoa, whoa. What's wrong with that? Wait a second.

00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:21.659
Nerds is what makes you smart, right? Okay, okay.

00:47:22.860 --> 00:47:27.860
But our job is not to make them happy. Sorry,

00:47:27.860 --> 00:47:30.000
that was Smarties. Smarties is what makes you

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:32.719
smart. Whatever. Our job is not to just give

00:47:32.719 --> 00:47:34.440
them whatever they want and make them happy all

00:47:34.440 --> 00:47:36.900
the time. Our job is to love them enough to correct

00:47:36.900 --> 00:47:38.739
them and discipline them and lead them in the

00:47:38.739 --> 00:47:40.340
way, and that's the same as what God looks at

00:47:40.340 --> 00:47:42.739
us. He loves us too much to allow us to go and

00:47:42.739 --> 00:47:44.539
do all the things he wants, and he wants us to

00:47:44.539 --> 00:47:46.739
pursue holiness. Katie and I want Kenley and

00:47:46.739 --> 00:47:49.460
Jax to pursue a life of discipline, a life of

00:47:49.460 --> 00:47:51.099
good choices, because we know that there's fruit

00:47:51.099 --> 00:47:53.559
on the end. God doesn't want us to be holy just...

00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:55.659
to be holy. He wants us to do that because he

00:47:55.659 --> 00:47:57.659
knows that he is holy. He wants us to be like

00:47:57.659 --> 00:47:59.519
him, and he knows that he has so much to offer

00:47:59.519 --> 00:48:02.699
for us when we submit our lives to that. So that's

00:48:02.699 --> 00:48:04.880
good. All right, cool. So we just have one action

00:48:04.880 --> 00:48:06.340
step today. I'm going to ask that we all stand

00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:09.360
up together as we do this. Donnie, maybe you

00:48:09.360 --> 00:48:11.420
could play a little track or something to give

00:48:11.420 --> 00:48:17.059
some mood music in the house. So our action step

00:48:17.059 --> 00:48:20.239
today is simply this. And it's something that

00:48:20.239 --> 00:48:21.960
I believe collectively the three of us have kind

00:48:21.960 --> 00:48:23.820
of done, maybe more so this year than in the

00:48:23.820 --> 00:48:27.880
past. But the action step is to draw a line in

00:48:27.880 --> 00:48:31.280
the sand today. And what I mean by that is I

00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:33.079
hope that you've heard something up here today

00:48:33.079 --> 00:48:37.780
that one of the three of us has said in which

00:48:37.780 --> 00:48:40.920
you will make it your mission to leave here today

00:48:40.920 --> 00:48:43.619
wanting to pursue God's best for your life, wanting

00:48:43.619 --> 00:48:46.880
to pursue holiness. So I'm just going to take

00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:49.610
just a minute, and I'm going to pray. And then

00:48:49.610 --> 00:48:51.989
Carl's going to give the salvation prayer. As

00:48:51.989 --> 00:48:53.690
I'm praying, I'm going to ask that you search

00:48:53.690 --> 00:48:56.929
your heart and that you ask God to reveal an

00:48:56.929 --> 00:48:58.769
area of your life that you are not currently

00:48:58.769 --> 00:49:03.510
pursuing holiness in and that you can take tangible

00:49:03.510 --> 00:49:06.889
homework to go out of these doors today and work

00:49:06.889 --> 00:49:10.369
on over the next day, week, month, years. As

00:49:10.369 --> 00:49:12.670
I mentioned, guys, holiness is a pursuit. It's

00:49:12.670 --> 00:49:14.710
something that you need to crucify your flesh

00:49:14.710 --> 00:49:17.570
every day to get there. But we have to start.

00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:19.559
We have to realize that the most important place

00:49:19.559 --> 00:49:20.880
is to start, and that's what we're doing today.

00:49:20.920 --> 00:49:22.960
We're going to draw a line in the sand, and I

00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:24.639
want you to identify things in your life that

00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:26.460
you know you need to get better at. So God, I

00:49:26.460 --> 00:49:28.699
just pray in this moment you would speak to your

00:49:28.699 --> 00:49:32.559
children. God, I pray that you would speak to

00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:38.599
your sons. Speak to the men of this church. Speak

00:49:38.599 --> 00:49:42.659
to your daughters. Speak to the women of this

00:49:42.659 --> 00:49:46.340
church. Speak to the mom. Speak to the dad. Speak

00:49:46.340 --> 00:49:50.690
to the daughter or the son. Speak to the person,

00:49:50.769 --> 00:49:58.190
the parent, the partner, the pastor, the professional.

00:49:58.969 --> 00:50:01.150
God, I pray that you would reveal areas of our

00:50:01.150 --> 00:50:06.210
lives that we need to pursue you deeper, that

00:50:06.210 --> 00:50:13.429
we need to pursue you greater. Speak to us, Lord.

00:50:15.259 --> 00:50:16.980
And I'm going to ask Carl to lead us in our salvation

00:50:16.980 --> 00:50:18.599
prayer, something that we do every single week.

00:50:18.679 --> 00:50:21.000
So if you are not a believer in Jesus and you

00:50:21.000 --> 00:50:23.420
want to determine that today is the day, pray

00:50:23.420 --> 00:50:26.420
this prayer with us. Yeah, absolutely. Before

00:50:26.420 --> 00:50:28.019
I go into that, I just want to share something

00:50:28.019 --> 00:50:30.500
that God laid on my heart this morning. As I

00:50:30.500 --> 00:50:33.099
was praying before coming to the church this

00:50:33.099 --> 00:50:36.000
morning, I got the sense that there would be

00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:37.940
some people here this morning that struggle with

00:50:37.940 --> 00:50:43.320
the idea of stepping into their identity to become

00:50:43.320 --> 00:50:47.719
holy. to become a follower of Christ. And specifically

00:50:47.719 --> 00:50:49.400
the words that came to my mind were that there

00:50:49.400 --> 00:50:50.800
were people who were struggling with the wall

00:50:50.800 --> 00:50:54.340
of addiction and the wall of trauma. That there

00:50:54.340 --> 00:50:56.280
are two areas of your life that are maybe just

00:50:56.280 --> 00:50:59.860
keeping you from going deeper with Christ. And

00:50:59.860 --> 00:51:02.920
God laid these words in my heart. The accuser

00:51:02.920 --> 00:51:08.920
is working overtime, but my love is a shield.

00:51:09.360 --> 00:51:11.760
So I don't know if that's for you today. If you're

00:51:11.760 --> 00:51:14.320
struggling with something that It's fleshly if

00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:15.679
you're struggling with an addiction, if you're

00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:18.119
struggling with a health issue or trauma from

00:51:18.119 --> 00:51:20.719
your past. I just want to encourage you, after

00:51:20.719 --> 00:51:22.679
we get done praying, to come up and receive additional

00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:25.659
prayer and ministry. As you know, here at Hub

00:51:25.659 --> 00:51:27.360
City Vineyard, we say this prayer all together.

00:51:27.900 --> 00:51:32.019
If you join me in prayer. Jesus, I'm broken,

00:51:32.139 --> 00:51:39.559
full of doubt, shame, fear, regret. Without you,

00:51:39.679 --> 00:51:47.719
I'm lost. But today, I'm coming home. I believe

00:51:47.719 --> 00:51:53.699
you're God's son. I believe you died for me.

00:51:54.619 --> 00:52:01.300
I believe you rose again. Make me new. Set me

00:52:01.300 --> 00:52:06.219
free. Fill me with your spirit. Empower me to

00:52:06.219 --> 00:52:13.369
live set apart. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

00:52:13.369 --> 00:52:15.849
Amen. Amen. The words of knowledge for today,

00:52:15.889 --> 00:52:17.590
if you are struggling with any of these, kidney

00:52:17.590 --> 00:52:21.329
issues, left hip pain, numbness in legs worse

00:52:21.329 --> 00:52:24.610
than the lower part, left shoulder pain, ankle

00:52:24.610 --> 00:52:27.409
pain, or a compressed disc that's causing nerve

00:52:27.409 --> 00:52:29.090
issues, we'll have our prayer team up here at

00:52:29.090 --> 00:52:31.070
the front of the stage. You're welcome to come

00:52:31.070 --> 00:52:33.469
forward and receive prayer. Thank you guys for

00:52:33.469 --> 00:52:35.590
indulging us today. We start Summer Jams next

00:52:35.590 --> 00:52:37.969
week. God bless you. We love you. Have a wonderful

00:52:37.969 --> 00:52:43.079
rest of your Sunday. You were my lifeline. Yeah,

00:52:43.199 --> 00:52:47.760
don't cut off my lifetime. I was stuck up in

00:52:47.760 --> 00:52:49.860
that grind. Not knowing you gave your life for

00:52:49.860 --> 00:52:52.039
mine. You're the one turning water into wine.

00:52:52.119 --> 00:52:53.860
Please fix my heart and the things inside.