WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.740 --> 00:00:09.740 Elation Church. This week we're starting a brand 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:14.439 new series. And that series title is, You Can 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:18.600 Hear God. Look at the person beside you and tell 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.219 them that. Say, you can hear God. You can hear 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:27.399 God. You know, we live in a culture that people 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:29.100 think the preacher is the only one that can hear 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:32.000 God. We want the preacher to hear God and then 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.140 tell us what God said. Kind of like the Old Testament 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:37.840 where the children of Israel on the way to the 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.479 promised land, they decided they didn't want 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:43.259 God to speak to them after the Mount Sinai experience. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:45.880 They didn't want God speaking to them. We want 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.359 God to speak to Moses and then Moses tell us 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:55.619 what he said. But you can hear God. You can hear 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:59.560 God. And sometimes when we talk to people about 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.359 hearing God and what is God saying, multiple 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.219 people have said, well, that's just not the relationship 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:09.500 that I have with God. I don't really hear from 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:13.319 Him. I don't really understand what you're talking 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:16.680 about. That's not my experience is hearing from 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:22.680 God. Well, God spoke to me this morning. On the 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:28.849 way here, I can't tell you how tired I am. You 00:01:28.849 --> 00:01:31.909 know, eight hours in the airport, flying into 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:37.989 MCO after midnight, going to bed, sleeping possibly 00:01:37.989 --> 00:01:40.849 three hours, two hours and 45 minutes. And I 00:01:40.849 --> 00:01:46.010 woke up, and my left calf was in a hard cramp. 00:01:46.650 --> 00:01:49.090 I must have rocked too much in the rocking chair 00:01:49.090 --> 00:01:53.010 at Buffalo. My back, the middle of my back was 00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:58.819 in a hard cramp at 4 .20 this morning. And I 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:00.480 got up out of bed, and I'm trying to stretch 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:05.739 it out, and finally get it stretched out, go 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:07.640 lay back down in bed. I didn't even look and 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.560 see what time it is, and I'll tell you how I 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.840 know what time it was, because as soon as I lay 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:14.840 back down, my alarm went off and says, time to 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:18.479 get up and get ready for church. And out of my 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:24.120 mouth said, no! So I laid there another 10, 15 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:27.280 minutes, and then got up and got ready. Like 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.219 I said, God spoke to me on the way because I 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:33.180 needed something, right? Does anybody go through 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:37.960 times where you just need something? Let me tell 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:43.199 you how he spoke to me. As I left from picking 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.379 up the trailer and started getting closer and 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.500 closer to the school, all of a sudden there was 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:52.680 a thick fog. Jeffrey even said when he got here, 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:56.469 he said, what's up with the fog? And what did 00:02:56.469 --> 00:03:03.129 I tell you? It was for me. God put a fog right 00:03:03.129 --> 00:03:08.409 around this school just for me today. Because 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:10.889 I'll never forget being at Myrtle Beach in the 00:03:10.889 --> 00:03:13.750 middle of the night walking out on that ramp 00:03:13.750 --> 00:03:15.949 over the dune right beside the indoor pool and 00:03:15.949 --> 00:03:17.750 it was so foggy I couldn't see my hand in front 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:20.069 of my face. Middle of the night. One of the most... 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:29.560 Devastating days of my life. Again, and I looked 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:31.979 at a map before we went to bed and said, are 00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:37.139 we going to be missionaries in Canada or missionaries 00:03:37.139 --> 00:03:40.759 in Mexico? And it's funny now, but it wasn't 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.819 funny then. I mean, we pulled out that big paper 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:47.379 atlas and we're like, we're done. You know, either 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:49.680 that or I'm going to be a prison minister. But 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:55.379 God met me. God told me to go out there. I walked 00:03:55.379 --> 00:03:57.900 out there, and he asked me a question. He said, 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:03.199 where's the ocean? I said, it's right there. 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:07.300 I mean, I'm talking out loud. If people just 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:09.639 saw me, they'd think I'm, you know, a little 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:14.780 hoo -hoo. I said, it's right there. I'll never 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:16.740 forget it. God said, how do you know it's there? 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:22.560 I said, well, I can hear it. I can feel the breeze. 00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:27.519 And the biggest reason I know it's there is because 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:31.360 I've stood here before. I've been here before. 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:40.040 And I know it's right there. And God said, in 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:42.379 a still small voice on the inside of me, I'm 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:44.379 not telling you I heard it with my ears, but 00:04:44.379 --> 00:04:46.939 it was louder than hearing it with my ears. He 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:57.079 said, I am here. I went back to the motorhome, 00:04:57.220 --> 00:05:00.139 fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 00:05:00.220 --> 00:05:02.339 I'd been tossing and turning up until that time. 00:05:03.300 --> 00:05:09.600 And I woke up to a telephone call. Here's what 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.000 the person on the other end of the phone said. 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.060 God told me to call you this morning and ask 00:05:14.060 --> 00:05:25.620 you if you needed anything. I was like... This 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:28.220 was the first big God conference, right after 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:34.800 the first. And it's like, I was too embarrassed 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:39.540 to tell him what I needed. And here's what he 00:05:39.540 --> 00:05:42.420 said, and I'm glad he said it. He said, well, 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.100 if you're not going to tell me what you need, 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:49.860 I'm going to hang up. And because I did what 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:52.779 God told me to do, he said, if you can't tell 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:54.600 me what you need, I can't help you. And then 00:05:54.600 --> 00:06:00.459 I told him, it was more money than I borrowed 00:06:00.459 --> 00:06:07.199 to build our first house. And within an hour, 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:13.000 it was wired to our account in Alabama at that 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:18.740 time. Plus another $1 ,000 so that we could eat 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:23.689 for the month of January. And it wasn't a loan. 00:06:23.870 --> 00:06:33.569 It was a gift. Over $50 ,000. But God spoke to 00:06:33.569 --> 00:06:39.449 me today. I was tired. I don't want to stand 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:41.990 up here and complain because I'm blessed. I really 00:06:41.990 --> 00:06:43.589 thought I was going to spend the night in the 00:06:43.589 --> 00:06:46.810 airport after the fourth cancellation in Buffalo. 00:06:47.689 --> 00:06:50.810 I thought I was going to, not cancellation, delay. 00:06:52.269 --> 00:06:54.529 After they announced the fourth time that they 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:56.870 keep pushing the time back, and then I get an 00:06:56.870 --> 00:06:59.829 email saying, you better come through TSA before 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:03.709 nine because they close at nine. If you're waiting 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:06.509 to come for the flight and you're a local, you 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:09.089 better get here or you're going to miss the plane. 00:07:10.009 --> 00:07:12.250 So I was like, maybe I'm going to sleep in this 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:17.790 rocking chair. I'd already drop boxed the PowerPoint 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:20.649 so that Jeffrey could open it up and preach today. 00:07:21.389 --> 00:07:24.970 If I was still in Buffalo, I would have got another 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:30.490 plate of wings. If you saw those posts. Had a 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.329 lot of free time in the airport. Anyway. But 00:07:34.329 --> 00:07:38.629 every time I see a dense fog while I'm driving 00:07:38.629 --> 00:07:44.730 on Sunday morning, it's like, God's here. God's 00:07:44.730 --> 00:07:50.220 here. He's going to help me. He's where my help 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:54.079 comes from. And he just wanted to show me on 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.459 the way here because I was like, am I going to 00:07:56.459 --> 00:07:59.959 pass out while I'm preaching? Am I going to have 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:02.620 any energy? Am I going to be mumbling so much 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:04.300 that you can't even understand what I'm saying? 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:12.259 No. Am I going to crash and sleep all afternoon 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:18.329 until tomorrow morning? Yes. I'm full of energy 00:08:18.329 --> 00:08:21.990 right now. The Bible is filled. I don't know 00:08:21.990 --> 00:08:23.509 if you've ever looked at it this way, but the 00:08:23.509 --> 00:08:27.290 Bible is filled with stories of people who heard 00:08:27.290 --> 00:08:32.990 God. Just think about it. People who heard God. 00:08:35.370 --> 00:08:40.970 From the Garden of Eden to Abraham to Noah. I 00:08:40.970 --> 00:08:47.399 mean, it's a book filled with people. The stories 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:54.139 of people who heard God. 2 Timothy 3 .16 says 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:58.879 this. All Scripture. Somebody say all Scripture. 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:05.059 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:10.679 And if you look up the Greek word for inspiration, 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:12.600 I think that's what's coming up next. I'm not 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:19.240 even going to try to say it. I know, not because 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.100 I've studied Greek in depth, but I know that 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:24.679 theo means God. That's where we get theology, 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:34.840 right? Theo means God. And pneuma is wind or 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:42.519 breath or spirit. Okay? So it's like a compound 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.559 word. It has both of those words in this one 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:48.370 word. And instead of inspiration, the direct 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:53.490 translation is God -breathed. Everybody say God 00:09:53.490 --> 00:09:58.909 -breathed. So, this is telling us that Scripture 00:09:58.909 --> 00:10:04.029 originates directly from God as His spoken Word. 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:09.990 See, the Holy Spirit breathed the Word of God 00:10:09.990 --> 00:10:13.309 to the writers of the Word of God. The Word of 00:10:13.309 --> 00:10:17.710 God was spoken. So it could be written. So that 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:23.029 it could be spoken again. It's God breathed. 00:10:24.809 --> 00:10:30.549 God breathed. And think of it this way. The text 00:10:30.549 --> 00:10:35.690 comes from God exhaling his truth. It's not just 00:10:35.690 --> 00:10:41.070 a creative human spark. It's God exhaling his 00:10:41.070 --> 00:10:49.590 truth. The word of God. Everyone needs to hear 00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:56.269 God. You might be sitting here and saying, I 00:10:56.269 --> 00:10:58.190 don't hear God. I mean, I don't even know what 00:10:58.190 --> 00:11:03.789 you're talking about. I hear God. Really? Well, 00:11:03.830 --> 00:11:08.009 it's vital that you hear God. This is why we're 00:11:08.009 --> 00:11:10.029 doing this series, because so many people think 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:12.750 that they don't hear God or can't hear God. I 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:14.610 mean, if you're sitting there saying, well, I 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:16.750 hear Him all the time. Well, you're the exception. 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:23.769 It's vital that we hear God. And it should be 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:29.909 normal. It should be normal for a Christian to 00:11:29.909 --> 00:11:34.269 hear God. Now, we're going to talk about a lot 00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:37.929 of different ways that God speaks in this series. 00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:41.070 You know, we're going to help you out with that. 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:47.019 Because sometimes you might, you know, I could 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:49.600 drive into fog and I could miss it that it's 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.860 God speaking to me at a point when I really need 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:59.620 it. I'm telling you, with my hand up, God spoke 00:11:59.620 --> 00:12:03.320 to me today when I hit that dense fog just right 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:08.639 before I got here. And it was for me. It was 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.480 for me. Because I needed it today. It should 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:19.110 be normal. That we hear God. Some people think 00:12:19.110 --> 00:12:24.250 when God wrote the Bible, He quit speaking. It's 00:12:24.250 --> 00:12:27.049 like, that's it. He spoke everything He wanted 00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:32.509 to speak, and then He quit speaking. Well, Jeffrey 00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:37.669 and I wrote a book. We didn't quit talking. Of 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:40.169 course, our book is nothing like His book, because 00:12:40.169 --> 00:12:43.960 His book is perfect. It won't take you long to 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.379 probably find some errors in our book, not intentional. 00:12:49.580 --> 00:12:52.840 I mean, we tried to write it as best as we could, 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:58.480 but we didn't quit speaking. And, you know, our 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.080 first book was Faith Act, and I'm going to talk 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.220 about faith today. And I'm going to tell you 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:05.460 some things that I learned yesterday in the rocking 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:10.639 chair that I really didn't even know. I keep 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:15.700 speaking. I keep speaking. And I keep learning. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.399 How many of you know God doesn't need to learn 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:23.580 anything else? He's all -knowing. He got it perfectly 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:25.820 right the first time, but that doesn't mean He 00:13:25.820 --> 00:13:35.700 quit speaking. Romans 8, 14. Let's you know how 00:13:35.700 --> 00:13:38.000 vital one verse, I mean, there's a lot of verses 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:40.460 I could pick, but... One verse to let you know 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.720 how vital it is for you to hear God, and it needs 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.539 to be a normal thing. It says this, all who are 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:50.039 led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.399 Does anyone consider themselves a child of God 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:02.159 today? Well, because you are a child of God, 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:06.120 you can be, it's still up to you, you can be 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:11.019 led by the Spirit of God. And how are you going 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:15.259 to be led by the Spirit of God if you never hear 00:14:15.259 --> 00:14:23.240 the Spirit of God? How could you be? Let's look 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:25.860 at a familiar text probably. John 10 verses 1 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:29.399 through 5. This is Jesus talking. He says, I 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:33.799 tell you the truth. Anyone who sneaks over the 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:37.740 wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:43.019 the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber. 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:48.679 But the one who enters through the gate is the 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:53.340 shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:58.580 gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:04.539 and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:11.240 and leads them out. After he has gathered his 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:17.059 own flock, he walks ahead of them. And they follow 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:23.460 him because they know his voice. Look at the 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:25.639 person beside you and remind them that you're 00:15:25.639 --> 00:15:31.379 a sheep. And sheep know the voice of the shepherd. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:36.779 It says they won't follow a stranger. They will 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:40.899 run from him. Because they don't know his voice. 00:15:42.139 --> 00:15:44.799 Now, to understand what's taking place here, 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:48.340 there were times when shepherds would take their 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:52.720 sheep and put them in a sheep fold. Now, this 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.019 sheep fold could be for a lot of different shepherds 00:15:56.019 --> 00:15:58.679 and a lot of different flocks. But they would 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:03.200 put them in this big gated area. And what Jesus 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:05.659 is saying is, you know, when the shepherd comes, 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:08.600 the gatekeeper opens it up. And he just starts 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:11.860 talking to his sheep. And even though they might 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:14.720 be three or four different flocks in the sheepfold, 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:20.100 his sheep are going to follow him because they 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:26.779 know his voice. And God gave me a beautiful picture 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:30.539 of this in Romania. I think it's been a while 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:33.440 since I've shared this story. This is not my 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.919 picture, but it reminds me of my picture. because 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:39.799 my camera would be very blurry, because this 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:45.659 had been a long time ago. All right? So, we were 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:49.440 in Romania. We were in a church van going to 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:55.340 the women's prison to speak. And on the way, 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:58.440 I mean, I was just talking with someone who was 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.840 on the mission trip with me, and the driver, 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:02.960 we couldn't communicate with him at all anyway. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.579 I mean, he knew no English. and there was no 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:08.720 translator. We're just in the van. We're headed 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.500 to the women's prison. All of a sudden, he brakes 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:16.779 really hard, and he starts blowing the horn because 00:17:16.779 --> 00:17:25.359 across the road was more sheep than this. He's 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.339 up on them. I mean, just right on them, blowing 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:31.440 the horn. And guess what the sheep were doing? 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:41.799 That's what the sheep were doing. They weren't 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:45.940 going to move out of the road. They were frightened. 00:17:46.259 --> 00:17:51.180 They didn't know what to do. They were just moving 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:53.700 around and trying not to be the closest one to 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:57.059 the van. But they weren't getting out of the 00:17:57.059 --> 00:18:01.160 road. I looked over. Let's see what side I was 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.579 on. I looked over to my right at the side window 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:08.190 of the van. And there were more sheep, and they 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:11.369 were in a lady's front yard. Now, most people 00:18:11.369 --> 00:18:15.150 in Romania don't cut grass. They don't plant 00:18:15.150 --> 00:18:20.210 flowers. You know, coming out of communism and 00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.269 everything, they're just happy to not be in a 00:18:22.269 --> 00:18:26.390 concrete block or a concrete, poured concrete, 00:18:26.490 --> 00:18:28.990 you know, four -story, five -story apartment 00:18:28.990 --> 00:18:33.529 building. So she had her own little place, and 00:18:33.529 --> 00:18:39.759 she had flowers. Those sheep were all in her 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:46.700 yard. She had a broom. She's swinging the broom 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:50.240 at the sheep that are in her yard. Guess what 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:55.660 the sheep are doing? They weren't leaving her 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:59.759 yard. They were just trying to not be the closest 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:06.599 one to the broom. We sat there a while. broom 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.079 swinging, horn blowing. Sheep aren't going anywhere. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:16.259 All of a sudden, a man walked from the side of 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:19.900 the house. He wasn't whistling. He wasn't screaming. 00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:25.279 He just walked beside the house. I could see 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.220 his mouth moving. He wasn't talking loud enough. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.299 I mean, we had the windows open. He wasn't talking 00:19:29.299 --> 00:19:32.839 loud enough for me to even hear him. He's just 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:37.690 calmly talking and walking. And as he walked 00:19:37.690 --> 00:19:41.390 through the yard and into the street and across 00:19:41.390 --> 00:19:44.470 the street, every one of those sheep followed 00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:52.329 him. Isn't that what Jesus just said? And I was 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:54.269 just blessed to have sheep blocking the road 00:19:54.269 --> 00:19:58.529 one day. Because I knew nothing about sheep. 00:20:00.029 --> 00:20:05.329 But I learned a lot that day. Because when trouble 00:20:05.329 --> 00:20:09.289 came, When danger came, they didn't know what 00:20:09.289 --> 00:20:14.609 to do. Hello? Come on, somebody. Does anybody 00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:16.769 ever have trouble coming your way? Or danger 00:20:16.769 --> 00:20:19.750 coming your way? That's when you need to hear 00:20:19.750 --> 00:20:23.950 the voice of the shepherd. You need to hear him. 00:20:24.970 --> 00:20:28.990 And you need to quit doing this. What if, what 00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:30.890 if, what if? Oh my, oh my, oh my. What am I going 00:20:30.890 --> 00:20:31.970 to do? What am I going to do? What am I going 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:44.779 to do? Need to be still. Don't go to God last 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:49.980 when it seems like there's no hope. Run to God 00:20:49.980 --> 00:21:01.700 first. Hear from Him. Follow Him. He's going 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:06.640 to take you to still water and green pasture. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:10.200 Woo, this ain't even in my notes. I'm preaching 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:16.920 myself happy right now. It's important to hear 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:23.640 him. It's vital to hear him. It should be very 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:31.839 normal that we hear. Everyone can hear God. Listen, 00:21:31.940 --> 00:21:34.960 if Jesus said, my sheep, hear my voice, my sheep, 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:38.029 recognize my voice, my sheep. Know my voice, 00:21:38.069 --> 00:21:43.069 my sheep. Follow my voice. If we're sheep, we 00:21:43.069 --> 00:21:48.670 can hear him. If we're not hearing him, listen, 00:21:48.849 --> 00:21:54.329 it's not his fault because he's speaking, leading, 00:21:54.569 --> 00:22:02.430 guiding, directing. He's speaking. It's just 00:22:02.430 --> 00:22:13.150 that it might be. That we don't value our need 00:22:13.150 --> 00:22:18.769 for hearing Him in every situation. It might 00:22:18.769 --> 00:22:23.630 be that we run everywhere except to Him to try 00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:28.430 to figure out a way out, a way of escape. We 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:31.890 run everywhere else. Consult everybody else. 00:22:33.470 --> 00:22:37.440 And then we get to the point where, well... I've 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.599 tried everything. I guess all I got now is to 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:47.640 pray. Why? Look to the person beside you and 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:54.940 say, why? Why? Why would we do that? He knows 00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.500 everything about everything. You might think 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:03.440 He only knows spiritual things, but He knows 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:11.079 everything about everything. Somebody smile. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:20.880 Everyone needs to hear God. We need it. We need 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:28.700 to realize that. And we need to hear Him. He's 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:31.880 not going to just, like a parent, if a child's 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:33.619 doing something wrong, sometimes a parent will 00:23:33.619 --> 00:23:35.220 come up and just like slap you on the back of 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:41.279 the head and say, hey. He's not wanting to slap 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:43.220 you on the back of the head. You've got to want 00:23:43.220 --> 00:23:49.859 to hear from Him, to hear Him. But He's not going 00:23:49.859 --> 00:23:56.200 to hold back. And it might not be on your microwave 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:01.640 drive -through timeline. Okay, God, I'll give 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:09.980 you 37 seconds. Speak to me. If we really value, 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:20.160 you know, time's not going to matter. Because 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.619 the most important thing is to hear Him. A lot 00:24:23.619 --> 00:24:25.759 of times we ask Him and we don't expect Him to 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.000 answer because we're already figuring out how 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.160 we're going to figure it out even while we're 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:35.859 asking Him. Come on, somebody. We need to hear 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:40.069 God. And this is what we're going to focus on 00:24:40.069 --> 00:24:43.569 today, on the first lesson out of the gate, the 00:24:43.569 --> 00:24:49.390 first message. If you are a Christian, you have 00:24:49.390 --> 00:24:54.049 heard God. So it shouldn't be foreign to you, 00:24:54.109 --> 00:24:59.210 because you've heard Him. Maybe you didn't recognize 00:24:59.210 --> 00:25:02.009 that it was Him that was speaking to you. Maybe 00:25:02.009 --> 00:25:06.710 you thought it was the preacher or a teacher 00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:12.289 at church. Maybe you thought that it was somebody 00:25:12.289 --> 00:25:18.430 else. But if you're a Christian, you've heard 00:25:18.430 --> 00:25:25.309 God. You've heard Him. If you're just a religious 00:25:25.309 --> 00:25:27.890 church person and you're not a Christian, you 00:25:27.890 --> 00:25:34.349 might not have ever heard Him. Ephesians 2, 8, 00:25:34.369 --> 00:25:38.450 9. Very familiar verses. For it is by grace. 00:25:38.529 --> 00:25:43.930 Everybody say grace. You know, people say that 00:25:43.930 --> 00:25:51.009 grace is the unmerited favor of God. I've expanded 00:25:51.009 --> 00:25:56.450 that definition to call grace this. Grace is 00:25:56.450 --> 00:26:01.029 God's acts and activity of kindness and favor 00:26:01.029 --> 00:26:09.140 towards us. Jesus did so much. He has completed 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:14.240 so much. Made so much available to us. Grace 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:18.339 is His acts of kindness and favor towards us. 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:22.160 Not that we earned it. Not that we deserved it. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.099 Even while we were yet sinners, Christ died for 00:26:28.099 --> 00:26:34.819 us. I mean, He acted in grace for us. Even though 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:40.119 we were just totally... Unaware. We weren't even 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:43.519 born. And he did acts of kindness and favor towards 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:49.700 you before you were ever born. So it's by God's 00:26:49.700 --> 00:26:57.140 grace that you have been saved. But it says this, 00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:05.180 through faith. So God did everything necessary 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:10.299 for you to be saved. But only people who respond 00:27:10.299 --> 00:27:16.259 in faith to His grace invitation and His grace 00:27:16.259 --> 00:27:19.759 gift of eternal life and forgiveness, only people 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:27.119 who come to Him in faith receive it. Because 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:32.900 we're saved by grace through faith. And this 00:27:32.900 --> 00:27:37.420 is not from yourselves. It's a gift of God. So 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:39.880 that's even telling us that God has something 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:44.400 to do with this faith that we can receive His 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.380 grace gift with. He has something to do with 00:27:48.380 --> 00:27:54.359 it. It's not just you. It's a gift of God. Not 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:57.559 by works. You can't be good enough. You can't 00:27:57.559 --> 00:28:01.720 keep enough rules to be born again, to be saved. 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:04.859 Because if you could, it says, you might boast 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:11.319 about it. Boy, I'm such a good person. God's 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.819 so proud of me because look what I did. And look 00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:25.000 what I didn't do. I'm a good person. Good people 00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:31.240 don't go to heaven. Because none of us are good 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:33.799 enough. None of us are perfect. Good people do 00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:38.180 not go to heaven. If that's in the back of your 00:28:38.180 --> 00:28:42.799 mind, just erase it. Because it's not by anyone's 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:46.960 works so that they could boast about it. Is that 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:50.900 what the Bible says or not? Thank you. One person. 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:56.819 So if God has something to do with our faith, 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:00.559 For us to be able to receive His grace gift, 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:04.119 we're talking about salvation, but hey, every 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:12.660 one of His promises are grace gifts. So what 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:14.900 does God have to do with it? This is what I learned 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:17.240 at the rocking chair yesterday. I've been so 00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:19.480 excited to share this with anybody, somebody. 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:23.519 I mean, you know, it just wasn't a roach crawling 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:28.369 by. I couldn't tell. At the airport, I never 00:29:28.369 --> 00:29:32.809 saw. And if you've been around the Galatian church, 00:29:32.869 --> 00:29:34.309 you've heard this verse before. If you've been 00:29:34.309 --> 00:29:36.750 around me, you've heard this verse before. Romans 00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:42.670 10, 17 says this. So then faith, faith comes 00:29:42.670 --> 00:29:50.650 by hearing. So you're not going to have any faith, 00:29:50.750 --> 00:29:54.329 the God kind of faith, unless you hear something. 00:29:57.319 --> 00:30:01.819 So that means something has to be spoken so that 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:06.480 you can hear. Are you with me? Boy, some of you 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:10.180 are looking like that. Faith comes by hearing 00:30:10.180 --> 00:30:17.319 and hearing by the Word of God. That little word 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:19.140 and, I don't know if you can tell, it's white. 00:30:19.180 --> 00:30:20.339 It's a little bit brighter than all the other 00:30:20.339 --> 00:30:24.779 words. Who in their right mind would sit down 00:30:24.779 --> 00:30:29.549 in a rocking chair in Buffalo and look up and 00:30:29.549 --> 00:30:38.849 in the Greek. I guess me. See, I've heard it 00:30:38.849 --> 00:30:41.150 like this. Faith comes by hearing and hearing. 00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:43.390 That just means that we've got to hear it and 00:30:43.390 --> 00:30:45.450 not only hear it once, but we've got to hear 00:30:45.450 --> 00:30:47.809 it again and we've got to hear it again and we've 00:30:47.809 --> 00:30:49.549 got to hear it again and we've got to hear it 00:30:49.549 --> 00:30:52.210 again and faith is coming because we're hearing 00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:56.150 it again and again and again and I'm cool with 00:30:56.150 --> 00:31:01.880 that. I'm cool with that. But that little word 00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:06.880 and, the Greek word is only D -E. It's like D 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:12.960 -E -H is how you pronounce it. And listen what 00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:19.740 I found in Thayer's Greek lexicon. This word, 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:26.410 when it's joined, to terms which are repeated. 00:31:27.930 --> 00:31:32.190 Are you with me? Hearing and hearing. So you 00:31:32.190 --> 00:31:37.150 got the same term twice with this little word 00:31:37.150 --> 00:31:41.509 right between it. Hearing and hearing. When it's 00:31:41.509 --> 00:31:48.430 between two terms which are repeated, it brings 00:31:48.430 --> 00:31:53.559 emphasis and I'll just go ahead and read what 00:31:53.559 --> 00:31:56.119 Thayer said, even though it's not the way I talk. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:00.920 It is joined to terms which are repeated with 00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:04.920 a certain emphasis and with such additions as 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:08.680 tend to explain and establish them more exactly. 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:15.839 I'm going to put it in Dean's words. It's like 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:20.140 faith comes by hearing, but just in case you 00:32:20.140 --> 00:32:23.259 don't know what I'm talking about. I'm going 00:32:23.259 --> 00:32:34.339 to explain for you. I'm just thinking. Let me 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:43.299 explain to you. Lucille Ball is from Jamestown, 00:32:43.380 --> 00:32:46.079 New York, which is where I was. I did not go 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:54.279 to the Lucy Museum. Let me explain to you. This 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:58.900 word between hearing and hearing is saying, wait 00:32:58.900 --> 00:33:02.500 a minute, I don't want you to just interpret 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:04.819 the word hearing however you want to interpret 00:33:04.819 --> 00:33:11.660 it. I want to give you some explanation and I 00:33:11.660 --> 00:33:15.480 want to establish what I'm talking about more 00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:20.519 exactly. I don't want to leave it open to just 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:24.710 whatever, whoo, hearing. I don't want to just 00:33:24.710 --> 00:33:29.190 leave it open. And all that's just in that little 00:33:29.190 --> 00:33:33.450 word, and. It's like, how have I missed that? 00:33:34.269 --> 00:33:36.230 For, I don't know how long I've been preaching, 00:33:36.349 --> 00:33:43.730 since 92? How have I missed it? Because I didn't 00:33:43.730 --> 00:33:46.869 think that little word, and, was important enough 00:33:46.869 --> 00:33:50.329 to look up in the Greek and study it out and 00:33:50.329 --> 00:33:58.390 say, wow! It's like. Let me explain to you. Faith 00:33:58.390 --> 00:34:02.009 comes by hearing. And this is the kind of hearing 00:34:02.009 --> 00:34:05.349 that faith is going to come from. The faith that 00:34:05.349 --> 00:34:07.950 pleases God. Because without faith, it's impossible 00:34:07.950 --> 00:34:10.429 to please God. Without the God kind of faith, 00:34:10.570 --> 00:34:15.190 right? So the God kind of faith that comes by 00:34:15.190 --> 00:34:23.429 hearing is by hearing by the Word of God. So 00:34:23.429 --> 00:34:30.510 do you see how important it is to hear God? Come 00:34:30.510 --> 00:34:35.349 on. Because if you don't hear God, if your relationship 00:34:35.349 --> 00:34:40.329 with God isn't like that, then you're not pleasing 00:34:40.329 --> 00:34:45.630 God. You've got to hear Him. You might say, wait 00:34:45.630 --> 00:34:47.250 a minute, that just means reading your Bible. 00:34:49.429 --> 00:34:51.230 Well, the first time I read this verse, that's 00:34:51.230 --> 00:34:55.000 what I thought. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing 00:34:55.000 --> 00:35:02.059 by reading your Bible. Let me explain to you. 00:35:05.039 --> 00:35:09.860 Word. There are different words in English, in 00:35:09.860 --> 00:35:14.980 our English Bibles that are translated. Word 00:35:14.980 --> 00:35:21.619 in English. But you got logos. I can't remember 00:35:21.619 --> 00:35:23.579 the third one right now, but one of them is rhema. 00:35:23.699 --> 00:35:27.900 Everybody say rhema. So it's a specific kind 00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:34.480 of word. A lot of times we just read our Bible 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:37.079 and we are not listening for God to speak because 00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:40.699 we want to intellectually, with our human intellect, 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:43.880 figure out what God is saying. And wouldn't it 00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:45.699 make a whole lot more sense while we're reading 00:35:45.699 --> 00:35:48.539 the Bible to say, hey God, you wrote this, so 00:35:48.539 --> 00:35:51.329 why don't... Why don't you interpret it for me 00:35:51.329 --> 00:36:06.050 and let me hear what you said? I had this thought 00:36:06.050 --> 00:36:12.230 this week. And it's like, wait a minute. If everyone... 00:36:14.480 --> 00:36:18.860 wanted to hear God on what a Bible verse said, 00:36:19.099 --> 00:36:26.500 we would all be in unity. Now we're all going 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:32.360 to fight. Well, my translation is from God. Yours 00:36:32.360 --> 00:36:36.940 is not. I mean, just think about all the denominations, 00:36:36.940 --> 00:36:40.639 all the different denominations. Listen, if we 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:43.840 all had the Holy Spirit interpreting the Word 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:46.960 of God correctly, rightly dividing the truth, 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:53.280 there wouldn't be a bunch of denominations. That 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:59.400 was just like... How much does God talk about 00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:02.840 unity? God's not bringing up division. He's bringing 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:06.699 unity. So if we've got His Word on His Word, 00:37:06.860 --> 00:37:11.809 then we've got unity. I spent a lot of years 00:37:11.809 --> 00:37:15.469 of my life never even having that thought occur 00:37:15.469 --> 00:37:26.130 to me. Faith comes by hearing. And hearing by 00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:34.610 the spoken word. Utterance. Hearing by the spoken 00:37:34.610 --> 00:37:39.090 word. And there, I found this in Helps Word Studies. 00:37:40.170 --> 00:37:45.789 Thayer said, rhema is a spoken word made by the 00:37:45.789 --> 00:37:53.510 living voice. I love that. Spoken word made by 00:37:53.510 --> 00:37:58.829 the living voice. And when you just read this 00:37:58.829 --> 00:38:01.030 verse, you would think, okay, the living voice 00:38:01.030 --> 00:38:05.489 of God. So it must be theos, like I talked about 00:38:05.489 --> 00:38:08.809 a minute ago, because it's translated God. Guess 00:38:08.809 --> 00:38:15.699 what? It's not. The Greek word here is Christos. 00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:25.599 Christ is not Jesus' name. It's not his proper 00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:28.800 name. It's not like his name is, his first name 00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:33.920 is Lord and his second name is Jesus and his 00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:41.800 third name is Christ. Like Elisha, James, Forrest. 00:38:41.900 --> 00:38:44.619 I mean, he's going to have three. My grandbaby's 00:38:44.619 --> 00:38:49.400 going to have three names. But the first one 00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:52.199 and the last one are titles. Jesus is his name. 00:38:54.739 --> 00:38:58.360 Lord is his relationship with his followers. 00:38:58.519 --> 00:39:01.539 He is Lord. He is master. He is boss. He's the 00:39:01.539 --> 00:39:09.760 one in charge. It's a title. Lord. Jesus. Christ 00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:18.519 is a title. It means the anointed one. The empowered 00:39:18.519 --> 00:39:23.280 one. He's anointed with God. He's empowered by 00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:27.880 God. He is God, but he's empowered by God. So 00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:32.400 the literal translation here is by hearing the 00:39:32.400 --> 00:39:42.030 spoken word or utterance, We could say that is 00:39:42.030 --> 00:39:49.590 empowered or anointed by God. It's transliterated 00:39:49.590 --> 00:39:53.550 Christ. Christ, we also take that to mean Messiah. 00:39:55.630 --> 00:39:58.750 But the literal translation is the empowered 00:39:58.750 --> 00:40:05.750 one, the anointed one. So let's get this straight. 00:40:07.409 --> 00:40:13.630 All faith. All faiths. Including saving faith. 00:40:14.989 --> 00:40:18.070 Because I know if you're a Christian, you have 00:40:18.070 --> 00:40:22.889 heard Him. So, the faith to become a Christian, 00:40:22.969 --> 00:40:28.650 to receive God's grace gift, it came from hearing 00:40:28.650 --> 00:40:34.190 an utterance, a spoken, anointed, empowered word 00:40:34.190 --> 00:40:42.880 from the living voice of God. Can I get three 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:46.239 people to smile? Can I get one person to say 00:40:46.239 --> 00:40:50.760 hallelujah? All right. I'll read this again. 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:54.940 All faith. And this is how we please God every 00:40:54.940 --> 00:40:58.539 day. Without faith, it's impossible to please 00:40:58.539 --> 00:41:05.699 God, the Bible says. Believing. Well, hearing. 00:41:07.139 --> 00:41:09.400 Hearing the spoken, anointed, empowered word 00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:12.809 from the living voice of God. Hearing it. Then 00:41:12.809 --> 00:41:17.289 wholeheartedly believing what he said and then 00:41:17.289 --> 00:41:24.110 acting on it. Because faith without works, faith 00:41:24.110 --> 00:41:28.369 without action is not even real faith. It's dead. 00:41:30.030 --> 00:41:34.750 Are you with me? Because y 'all are just locked 00:41:34.750 --> 00:41:39.769 in hard today. Take another fight or a flight. 00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:54.019 See, we need to hear God. We need to have a word 00:41:54.019 --> 00:41:57.920 that becomes alive in us. A word that becomes 00:41:57.920 --> 00:42:02.039 now in us. A word that is personal to us. A word 00:42:02.039 --> 00:42:05.099 that brings clarity and direction. And it has 00:42:05.099 --> 00:42:18.269 an invitation to respond in faith. Does anyone 00:42:18.269 --> 00:42:22.369 read your Bible? I'll pause there to see if anyone's 00:42:22.369 --> 00:42:25.610 reading their Bible. But does anyone read their 00:42:25.610 --> 00:42:28.829 Bible? And you might be reading something that 00:42:28.829 --> 00:42:30.530 you've read before, something that you might 00:42:30.530 --> 00:42:35.050 be familiar with, and then all of a sudden, it's 00:42:35.050 --> 00:42:40.150 like, boom! It's like, I've never seen this before. 00:42:43.210 --> 00:42:52.889 Wow! Let me go tell somebody about it. That's 00:42:52.889 --> 00:42:57.710 what kind of word that faith comes from, that 00:42:57.710 --> 00:42:59.949 faith is built on, that it's established from. 00:43:01.409 --> 00:43:07.630 It's like, yes, I hear you. All of a sudden, 00:43:07.650 --> 00:43:09.929 the written word becomes a living word, and it's 00:43:09.929 --> 00:43:22.139 like, I'm just, yes. That's God speaking to you. 00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:27.300 That's the Holy Spirit bringing, breathing life 00:43:27.300 --> 00:43:30.300 into the written word where it becomes a living 00:43:30.300 --> 00:43:32.920 word. It becomes a now word. It becomes a personal 00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:46.559 word. Hallelujah. So let's talk about it. So 00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:49.500 if we take hold of God's grace gift of salvation 00:43:49.500 --> 00:43:52.480 and all of His other grace gifts, if we take 00:43:52.480 --> 00:43:56.480 hold of them by faith, let's apply what I've 00:43:56.480 --> 00:44:03.780 been talking about to the gospel. Because in 00:44:03.780 --> 00:44:08.480 one form or another, you heard that everybody 00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:10.880 has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 00:44:10.980 --> 00:44:14.570 We've all missed it. Look at the person beside 00:44:14.570 --> 00:44:18.710 you and tell them, you missed it. I've only met 00:44:18.710 --> 00:44:20.849 one person that told me they were perfect, but 00:44:20.849 --> 00:44:22.789 when they told me that, they lied so they weren't 00:44:22.789 --> 00:44:29.449 perfect anymore. Because I believe the Bible 00:44:29.449 --> 00:44:32.050 is true, and I believe that woman was a liar 00:44:32.050 --> 00:44:34.070 that told me that she was perfect. She never 00:44:34.070 --> 00:44:38.469 sinned. She's in her 80s. She's like, I've never 00:44:38.469 --> 00:44:44.730 sinned my whole life. I said, you just did. I 00:44:44.730 --> 00:44:51.309 wasn't putting up with that junk. You just sin 00:44:51.309 --> 00:44:53.769 in multiple ways. There's pride. There's lying. 00:44:54.690 --> 00:45:00.130 You just committed more than one. I'm backing 00:45:00.130 --> 00:45:04.489 up. Might be a lightning coming. I've lived a 00:45:04.489 --> 00:45:09.949 perfect life. I've never sinned. Right. The Bible 00:45:09.949 --> 00:45:11.469 says all have sinned and fallen short of the 00:45:11.469 --> 00:45:16.980 glory of God. Can you remember a time in your 00:45:16.980 --> 00:45:24.980 life where you came to the realization that you 00:45:24.980 --> 00:45:31.099 were guilty in the presence of a holy God? That 00:45:31.099 --> 00:45:34.800 you were a sinner? We don't ever need to get 00:45:34.800 --> 00:45:38.659 completely away from that point. Put it in a 00:45:38.659 --> 00:45:41.059 rear view mirror so far that we don't even think 00:45:41.059 --> 00:45:44.619 about it anymore. We all have sinned and fallen 00:45:44.619 --> 00:45:48.800 short of the glory of God. And I remember that 00:45:48.800 --> 00:45:51.420 Friday morning at Vacation Bible School in Buffalo, 00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:59.380 South Carolina. I remember feeling and experiencing 00:45:59.380 --> 00:46:04.699 the weight of my sin. Now, my dad was talking 00:46:04.699 --> 00:46:10.059 because he was the preacher. I didn't fully understand. 00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:15.179 That it was God speaking to me. But all of a 00:46:15.179 --> 00:46:18.079 sudden, it became personal and real. See, I'd 00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:19.900 grown up listening to my dad. This wasn't the 00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:22.400 first time he said that all have sinned and fallen 00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:24.440 short of the glory of God. I mean, I'd heard 00:46:24.440 --> 00:46:28.179 it with my ears so many times, but it had never 00:46:28.179 --> 00:46:32.380 become personal to Dean. A now word for Dean. 00:46:33.500 --> 00:46:41.880 Are you with me? I'm a sinner. I messed up. I'm 00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:50.300 guilty. Romans 6 .23 says this, the wages of 00:46:50.300 --> 00:47:00.760 sin is death. The wages of sin is death. I didn't 00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:02.420 understand what a wage was, but I understood 00:47:02.420 --> 00:47:05.260 what a paycheck was, even though I never had 00:47:05.260 --> 00:47:08.519 one at that age. But I knew what a paycheck was. 00:47:09.289 --> 00:47:14.710 You work for something, and you get paid. I'd 00:47:14.710 --> 00:47:18.789 had a few agreements, even though I didn't get 00:47:18.789 --> 00:47:23.389 paid to do my chores. But every once in a while, 00:47:23.530 --> 00:47:30.949 if I could hold a paintbrush and help my dad 00:47:30.949 --> 00:47:33.050 and my brother paint, all of a sudden, even though 00:47:33.050 --> 00:47:36.110 I was nine years old, I got a little piece of 00:47:36.110 --> 00:47:38.760 a paycheck. It wasn't much. I obviously did way 00:47:38.760 --> 00:47:41.780 more work than I got paid for at nine years old. 00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:47.219 But I understood that. Somebody says, if you 00:47:47.219 --> 00:48:00.059 do this, then I will pay you this. Well, I'll 00:48:00.059 --> 00:48:05.860 never forget. I'm a sinner, and not only have 00:48:05.860 --> 00:48:17.480 I messed up, I deserve. Stay focused. She's fine. 00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:22.159 She's fine. I'm not asking you to take her out. 00:48:22.260 --> 00:48:25.699 She's fine. We just have to learn how to be focused. 00:48:27.420 --> 00:48:30.579 Because if we're going to hear from God, we're 00:48:30.579 --> 00:48:34.219 going to have to learn to be focused. Because 00:48:34.219 --> 00:48:35.980 there's always going to be something to try to 00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:41.519 distract you to keep you from hearing God. Always. 00:48:42.860 --> 00:48:53.199 Hello? But I'm like, I deserve death. I deserve 00:48:53.199 --> 00:48:57.300 spiritual death. I mean, I'm guilty. And there's 00:48:57.300 --> 00:49:04.019 a paycheck that I have worked for in my failure 00:49:04.019 --> 00:49:07.920 to live perfectly. I deserve a paycheck, and 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:10.340 that paycheck... is spiritual death, and that's 00:49:10.340 --> 00:49:12.719 being separated from God. That's like not being 00:49:12.719 --> 00:49:15.619 able to go to heaven. I will be eternally separated 00:49:15.619 --> 00:49:29.340 from God. I'm like... I had... I had been scared 00:49:29.340 --> 00:49:33.460 of that before. I don't know if I've shared it 00:49:33.460 --> 00:49:36.780 with everybody, but we had this drama team come 00:49:36.780 --> 00:49:42.679 to our church. And the choir loft became heaven. 00:49:43.980 --> 00:49:51.599 And the vestibule in the back became hell. And 00:49:51.599 --> 00:49:56.139 it was a play. And it was like people were living 00:49:56.139 --> 00:50:01.960 their lives. And it's like, you know, somebody 00:50:01.960 --> 00:50:04.239 dressed up like a demon would come grab them 00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:06.260 and drag them into hell while they're screaming. 00:50:09.449 --> 00:50:11.469 And then we'd find out about somebody else's 00:50:11.469 --> 00:50:14.590 life. And then they would take them to the choir 00:50:14.590 --> 00:50:21.050 loft and put them on a white robe. And I'm sitting 00:50:21.050 --> 00:50:25.469 there and I'm not a Christian. I sure was scared. 00:50:25.670 --> 00:50:27.710 I was scared of hell and I was scared of that 00:50:27.710 --> 00:50:33.909 devil. And to top it all off, at the end of it, 00:50:35.119 --> 00:50:37.460 They came and grabbed my dad, took him to heaven. 00:50:37.599 --> 00:50:39.619 Came and grabbed my mom, took her to heaven. 00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:44.059 Came and grabbed my sisters. Both my sisters 00:50:44.059 --> 00:50:47.059 took them to heaven. Came and grabbed my brother, 00:50:47.199 --> 00:50:49.300 even though he was lost as a goose, lost as a 00:50:49.300 --> 00:50:51.099 ball in high weeds at this point in his life. 00:50:51.420 --> 00:50:53.239 But he had been baptized and he was a member 00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:55.119 of the church, but he was lost as lost could 00:50:55.119 --> 00:50:59.260 be. They grabbed him and took him to heaven and 00:50:59.260 --> 00:51:12.159 left me sitting there. I was scared. But we're 00:51:12.159 --> 00:51:18.860 not saved by grace through fear. God was not 00:51:18.860 --> 00:51:28.800 speaking to me, but I was afraid. One night I 00:51:28.800 --> 00:51:35.429 took JT to a church. What was it called? Do you 00:51:35.429 --> 00:51:40.369 remember? Judgment House. And all the students 00:51:40.369 --> 00:51:44.369 had to fill out a card. And at this point, J 00:51:44.369 --> 00:51:46.570 .T. was not a Christian, so he didn't put that 00:51:46.570 --> 00:51:50.449 he was. And then we're standing at the judgment 00:51:50.449 --> 00:51:52.750 seat of Christ, and God's on the throne, and 00:51:52.750 --> 00:51:58.610 he's like, he calls out J .T. I'm like, that 00:51:58.610 --> 00:52:03.949 ain't right. Filled out that card before it started. 00:52:06.050 --> 00:52:11.730 And he's like, JT. I apologized to him on the 00:52:11.730 --> 00:52:18.170 way home. Because you're not saved by grace through 00:52:18.170 --> 00:52:23.809 fear. I apologized. Kind of the same thing I 00:52:23.809 --> 00:52:25.989 went through. Except maybe even a little more 00:52:25.989 --> 00:52:31.190 dramatic for me. You punched a demon the next 00:52:31.190 --> 00:52:34.309 time you went? That's good. Demons deserve to 00:52:34.309 --> 00:52:42.809 be hit. The wages of sin is death. Boy, I realized 00:52:42.809 --> 00:52:47.449 that I was a sinner and I deserved to be separated 00:52:47.449 --> 00:52:51.510 from God forever. But this time, instead of fear, 00:52:51.690 --> 00:53:05.269 I was hearing God. It was real to me. Why? Because 00:53:05.269 --> 00:53:10.989 it was the voice of God. Sometimes you might 00:53:10.989 --> 00:53:13.449 think it's me talking to you, but it could be 00:53:13.449 --> 00:53:26.309 the voice of God talking to you. But then that 00:53:26.309 --> 00:53:33.389 verse goes on. I love this. The wages of sin 00:53:33.389 --> 00:53:36.650 is death. Now that left me in a low place. I 00:53:36.650 --> 00:53:39.150 was a sinner. I deserved to be separated from 00:53:39.150 --> 00:53:45.230 God. Left me in a low place. That was some bad 00:53:45.230 --> 00:53:47.769 news. Everybody say bad news. But then I heard 00:53:47.769 --> 00:53:58.469 some good news. But the gift of God is eternal 00:53:58.469 --> 00:54:03.690 life. In Jesus Christ our Lord. Or in Christ 00:54:03.690 --> 00:54:11.570 Jesus our Lord. It became real. I deserve to 00:54:11.570 --> 00:54:14.210 be separated from God. I'm a sinner, but hey, 00:54:14.389 --> 00:54:19.170 God has a gift for me. He's offering me a gift. 00:54:19.349 --> 00:54:22.630 He's offering me eternal life, not eternal death. 00:54:22.750 --> 00:54:25.230 He's offering me eternal life. He's offering 00:54:25.230 --> 00:54:33.460 me forgiveness. And it all, comes through Jesus. 00:54:36.559 --> 00:54:42.099 I'll never forget how alive that came to me. 00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:48.360 This word just, it was personal. It was for me. 00:54:48.460 --> 00:54:59.630 It was for now. Romans 10, 8 and 10. 8 through 00:54:59.630 --> 00:55:01.550 10, and I think we're looking at another verse. 00:55:03.070 --> 00:55:09.050 It says this, the word is near you. The word 00:55:09.050 --> 00:55:16.610 is near you. It's in your mouth, and it's in 00:55:16.610 --> 00:55:21.949 your heart. That is the word of faith we preach. 00:55:25.889 --> 00:55:31.219 So it... It's not only what you hear. It moves 00:55:31.219 --> 00:55:33.059 into your heart and then it moves out of your 00:55:33.059 --> 00:55:38.820 mouth. In agreement. In action. In corresponding 00:55:38.820 --> 00:55:43.900 action to the faith that comes. That's the word 00:55:43.900 --> 00:55:46.219 of faith we preach. Listen, that if you confess. 00:55:47.800 --> 00:55:51.320 Everybody say speak. If you confess with your 00:55:51.320 --> 00:55:57.610 mouth the Lord Jesus. and believe in your heart 00:55:57.610 --> 00:56:02.369 that God has raised Him from the dead, you will 00:56:02.369 --> 00:56:15.690 be saved. This word comes alive. Comes alive. 00:56:18.809 --> 00:56:22.469 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness. 00:56:24.650 --> 00:56:28.730 Just like Abraham, righteousness comes by faith, 00:56:28.730 --> 00:56:33.769 through believing. Not by doing, but by believing. 00:56:34.090 --> 00:56:37.849 We are clothed in the righteousness of God in 00:56:37.849 --> 00:56:40.909 Christ Jesus when we are Christians. You can't 00:56:40.909 --> 00:56:44.130 ever grow in righteousness. You are clothed in 00:56:44.130 --> 00:56:46.489 Jesus' righteousness, and there's nothing you 00:56:46.489 --> 00:56:52.110 are able to add to that. If so, you would be 00:56:52.110 --> 00:56:57.159 God. With the heart one believes unto righteousness, 00:56:57.460 --> 00:57:02.099 and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 00:57:03.500 --> 00:57:08.579 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall 00:57:08.579 --> 00:57:18.539 be saved. That was a word for me for now. It's 00:57:18.539 --> 00:57:22.900 like, if I call on the name of the Lord, If I 00:57:22.900 --> 00:57:25.659 surrender my life to Jesus as Lord and Master, 00:57:25.820 --> 00:57:28.579 if I give myself to Him, all that I am, all that 00:57:28.579 --> 00:57:30.760 I have, and tell Him I want to live for Him and 00:57:30.760 --> 00:57:39.039 follow Him, that's what I have to do. That's 00:57:39.039 --> 00:57:43.000 what the Rhema Christos says, the anointed, empowered 00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:46.940 Word from God, but it has to become that. It's 00:57:46.940 --> 00:57:48.780 not just hearing it with your ears, because I 00:57:48.780 --> 00:57:52.489 heard it with my ears so many times. Who heard 00:57:52.489 --> 00:57:55.989 it with their ears so many times before it became 00:57:55.989 --> 00:57:58.469 a living word in your heart that you responded 00:57:58.469 --> 00:58:10.949 to? Am I the only one? So it rose up in my heart. 00:58:10.989 --> 00:58:14.989 If I believe in Jesus, that He is God, that He 00:58:14.989 --> 00:58:17.309 died for my sins, that He rose from the grave, 00:58:17.409 --> 00:58:23.869 and if I confess Him as my Lord, I'll be saved. 00:58:23.969 --> 00:58:32.849 I'll be right with God. I'll be righteous. Somebody 00:58:32.849 --> 00:58:38.710 smile. Church ought to be the happiest place 00:58:38.710 --> 00:58:43.489 in America today. Happiest place. Hey, they say 00:58:43.489 --> 00:58:45.429 that the happiest place on earth is down the 00:58:45.429 --> 00:58:48.550 road, but it should be right here on Sunday morning. 00:58:54.349 --> 00:59:00.190 I need to go on three hours of sleep again. So 00:59:00.190 --> 00:59:07.510 listen. If you were born again, you heard God. 00:59:10.230 --> 00:59:15.130 And He came alive on the inside of you. It wasn't 00:59:15.130 --> 00:59:17.250 like reading a textbook and saying, oh, okay, 00:59:17.309 --> 00:59:20.500 yeah. It wasn't like the preacher coming over 00:59:20.500 --> 00:59:22.380 to your house and saying, well, I'm going to 00:59:22.380 --> 00:59:24.460 read these verses and now I need you to repeat 00:59:24.460 --> 00:59:28.000 after me. And now, right after tonight, you're 00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:30.420 going to get baptized and join the church because 00:59:30.420 --> 00:59:32.500 you're about the age that you need to do that. 00:59:34.519 --> 00:59:43.679 That happens. Everybody that hits a certain age 00:59:43.679 --> 00:59:45.639 goes to this class and they tell them these verses 00:59:45.639 --> 00:59:48.199 and everybody repeats some prayer and everybody 00:59:48.199 --> 00:59:52.059 comes out saved and joins the church. Not unless 00:59:52.059 --> 00:59:56.260 they've heard the Rhema Christos they didn't. 01:00:02.099 --> 01:00:08.219 Faith comes by hearing. And hearing the voice 01:00:08.219 --> 01:00:17.679 of God. Speaking to your spirit. Salvation is 01:00:17.679 --> 01:00:29.099 not an intellectual exercise. Neither is receiving 01:00:29.099 --> 01:00:32.679 any other grace gift from God. It's not just 01:00:32.679 --> 01:00:37.519 a human intellectual exercise that I'm just going 01:00:37.519 --> 01:00:43.360 to... Put these Bible verses together and that's 01:00:43.360 --> 01:00:52.400 it. I heard each point of the Gospel. There was 01:00:52.400 --> 01:00:58.239 revelation. There's a revelation of sin. There's 01:00:58.239 --> 01:01:01.460 a revelation of the cross. There's a revelation 01:01:01.460 --> 01:01:06.940 of His resurrection. It became personal to me. 01:01:08.559 --> 01:01:18.619 A now word. An hour. And here's what this series 01:01:18.619 --> 01:01:20.800 is about. Salvation is not the end of hearing. 01:01:23.119 --> 01:01:27.059 It's not the end of hearing. It's not, oh, I'm 01:01:27.059 --> 01:01:29.679 glad I heard God that one time, and, you know, 01:01:29.800 --> 01:01:32.639 I'm just on my own until I get to heaven one 01:01:32.639 --> 01:01:34.780 day, and then maybe I'll hear Him talk again. 01:01:40.380 --> 01:01:43.300 Salvation is just the beginning of a relationship. 01:01:45.420 --> 01:01:48.280 And when you're in relationship with someone, 01:01:48.400 --> 01:01:51.400 you communicate with them. If there's no communication, 01:01:51.880 --> 01:02:00.500 there's no relationship. So salvation is the 01:02:00.500 --> 01:02:05.780 beginning. And it should continue. It must continue. 01:02:09.929 --> 01:02:18.710 We've got to hear Him. Got to hear Him. You can 01:02:18.710 --> 01:02:22.610 hear God. And if you're a Christian today, you 01:02:22.610 --> 01:02:27.590 have heard God. And like I said, you might not 01:02:27.590 --> 01:02:36.800 have realized that it was God. Becoming a Christian 01:02:36.800 --> 01:02:39.760 doesn't happen by osmosis. It's not like you 01:02:39.760 --> 01:02:42.880 do enough time in church and then all of a sudden 01:02:42.880 --> 01:02:47.099 Jesus just kind of slowly soaks in until you 01:02:47.099 --> 01:02:49.199 become a Christian. That's not the way it works. 01:02:52.199 --> 01:02:56.559 There has to be a moment and a time of faith 01:02:56.559 --> 01:03:00.219 that comes from hearing the anointed utterance 01:03:00.219 --> 01:03:04.719 of God and then you respond to that. That's when 01:03:04.719 --> 01:03:08.900 you're born again. If that hasn't happened, you're 01:03:08.900 --> 01:03:16.000 just religious. And you might say, well, I prayed 01:03:16.000 --> 01:03:18.800 with somebody. I repeated some words after somebody. 01:03:19.000 --> 01:03:22.579 I got dipped Dr. Sprinkle. I joined the church. 01:03:31.019 --> 01:03:39.579 I love you too much to not tell you that. I don't 01:03:39.579 --> 01:03:42.300 want anybody to look at me and say, why didn't 01:03:42.300 --> 01:03:48.039 you tell me? Why didn't you tell me? I told you. 01:03:52.900 --> 01:03:54.420 I want everybody back here, I'm going to close 01:03:54.420 --> 01:03:58.119 your eyes real quick. If you're here today and 01:03:58.119 --> 01:04:02.900 you would say, you know what, Dean? As you were 01:04:02.900 --> 01:04:09.880 talking, I experienced hearing the voice of God 01:04:09.880 --> 01:04:12.539 for the very first time. I know that you were 01:04:12.539 --> 01:04:14.659 reading Bible verses and you were talking about 01:04:14.659 --> 01:04:17.719 Greek words and all that kind of stuff. But all 01:04:17.719 --> 01:04:21.239 of a sudden on the inside of me, this rose up 01:04:21.239 --> 01:04:26.079 in a way that it never has before. And I look 01:04:26.079 --> 01:04:28.340 back over my life and I might have went through 01:04:28.340 --> 01:04:32.440 some motions at one point, but you know, I've 01:04:32.440 --> 01:04:34.599 never heard God. And you're telling me that if 01:04:34.599 --> 01:04:38.690 I'm saved, I've heard God. I've never heard Him. 01:04:39.150 --> 01:04:43.210 It's never come alive to me. I've never experienced 01:04:43.210 --> 01:04:51.829 conviction. I've never been compelled by God 01:04:51.829 --> 01:04:54.650 to say yes to His gift of eternal life. I can't 01:04:54.650 --> 01:04:58.349 look back and see that. I've just had some church 01:04:58.349 --> 01:05:07.519 experience and I thought that was enough. If 01:05:07.519 --> 01:05:17.000 that's you today, I want to tell you, and I pray 01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:21.039 that this would become a now word for you. Today 01:05:21.039 --> 01:05:29.280 is the day of salvation. It's always today. When 01:05:29.280 --> 01:05:33.179 God is speaking to you, it's always today. Today's 01:05:33.179 --> 01:05:39.500 the day of salvation. So if you're hearing, you'd 01:05:39.500 --> 01:05:41.159 say, Dean, you know, I look back over my life. 01:05:45.300 --> 01:05:47.559 Before today, I didn't understand what you were 01:05:47.559 --> 01:05:49.719 talking about, about the Word of God coming alive 01:05:49.719 --> 01:05:52.260 on the inside of me and it being mine and personal 01:05:52.260 --> 01:05:55.119 for me. But I experienced that. I experienced 01:05:55.119 --> 01:05:58.300 God speaking to my heart. If that's you and you 01:05:58.300 --> 01:06:02.739 would like to say yes and receive His grace gift 01:06:02.739 --> 01:06:05.300 of salvation, while nobody's looking around, 01:06:05.380 --> 01:06:06.940 would you raise your hand? Is that anybody in 01:06:06.940 --> 01:06:17.690 the room? Okay? Alright? Here's what I'm going 01:06:17.690 --> 01:06:23.349 to do. I'm going to lead you in a prayer. But 01:06:23.349 --> 01:06:32.190 please listen to me. Believing in Jesus, confessing 01:06:32.190 --> 01:06:35.110 Him as Lord is not about repeating words after 01:06:35.110 --> 01:06:39.030 somebody. Because we can teach birds to repeat 01:06:39.030 --> 01:06:44.809 words after somebody. But if you've heard the 01:06:44.809 --> 01:06:47.969 Word of God and you've heard the voice of God 01:06:47.969 --> 01:06:50.170 speaking to you, all I'm going to do is put what 01:06:50.170 --> 01:06:52.809 I've said into words and I want you to listen 01:06:52.809 --> 01:06:54.610 to those words and I don't even want you to pray 01:06:54.610 --> 01:06:57.690 it unless you say, yeah, that's what I want to 01:06:57.690 --> 01:07:05.639 say to God from my heart. So listen to the words 01:07:05.639 --> 01:07:07.079 of this prayer, and if it's what you want to 01:07:07.079 --> 01:07:12.760 say to God, say these words or something like 01:07:12.760 --> 01:07:17.099 them to God. Jesus, I believe you are the Son 01:07:17.099 --> 01:07:22.480 of God. I believe you died on the cross for me, 01:07:22.480 --> 01:07:30.699 in my place, for my sin. I believe you rose again 01:07:30.699 --> 01:07:36.199 from the grave. And I realize something today. 01:07:38.340 --> 01:07:41.039 I realize that I'm a sinner. I've messed up. 01:07:42.179 --> 01:07:46.599 I'm guilty. I stand before you, a holy God, I 01:07:46.599 --> 01:07:52.559 am guilty. And you spoke to my heart today, telling 01:07:52.559 --> 01:07:59.199 me that the paycheck that I deserve for my sin 01:07:59.199 --> 01:08:02.960 is to be separated from you. You've made that 01:08:02.960 --> 01:08:08.320 real in my heart. I don't want to be separated 01:08:08.320 --> 01:08:17.020 from you. I ask you to forgive me. I put my faith 01:08:17.020 --> 01:08:21.899 in you. I put my trust in you as my salvation. 01:08:23.800 --> 01:08:31.420 And Jesus, today, I confess you as my Lord. I 01:08:31.420 --> 01:08:40.239 surrender my life to you. I want to live for 01:08:40.239 --> 01:08:42.380 you. I want to know you. I want to follow you. 01:08:43.819 --> 01:08:47.340 I want you to lead me. I want to hear your voice. 01:08:50.720 --> 01:08:56.000 Jesus, thank you for giving me your gift of eternal 01:08:56.000 --> 01:09:03.619 life. Thank you for welcoming me into your family. 01:09:06.220 --> 01:09:10.539 Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit. To come 01:09:10.539 --> 01:09:15.960 and dwell and live on the inside of me. To comfort 01:09:15.960 --> 01:09:26.659 me. To guide me. To lead me. Thank you for your 01:09:26.659 --> 01:09:38.220 gift of eternal life. Over the years, Jeffrey 01:09:38.220 --> 01:09:40.079 and I have learned that the greatest battles 01:09:40.079 --> 01:09:43.300 we face are usually fought in our minds, but 01:09:43.300 --> 01:09:46.319 won with our mouths. When we've chosen to speak 01:09:46.319 --> 01:09:49.300 God's promises in the face of our fears, failures, 01:09:49.439 --> 01:09:52.300 and problems, we've seen God do what only He 01:09:52.300 --> 01:09:55.659 can do. This truth has changed our lives, and 01:09:55.659 --> 01:09:59.340 it's why we wrote Talk to Your Giants, to show 01:09:59.340 --> 01:10:01.640 you how to fight the good fight of faith, speak 01:10:01.640 --> 01:10:04.020 in agreement with God's Word, and discover the 01:10:04.020 --> 01:10:06.420 victory that comes when you stop talking about 01:10:06.420 --> 01:10:09.699 your giants and start talking to them order your 01:10:09.699 --> 01:10:12.399 copy of talk to your giants today on Amazon