WEBVTT 00:00:00.599 --> 00:00:03.700 We thank you, Lord, for your Holy Ghost. Where 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:07.620 would we be, Jesus? Without you, Lord, without 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:10.980 your love, without your power. Thank you, Jesus. 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:15.000 I praise you, God. I worship you. Hallelujah. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:19.260 Feels so good in this place. Hoping I don't mess 00:00:19.260 --> 00:00:23.239 it up, but I'm just thankful to be here, thankful 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:25.699 to be in God's presence once again. That's what 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:28.059 it's all about, just trying to be in His presence. 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.519 just trying to let Him work in us, work through 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:36.700 us, use us. That's what it's all about. And I'm 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:39.240 just thankful, thankful for my pastor and Sister 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:43.219 Linda for their continued support, their continued 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:46.439 love for me and my family. Thank you, church, 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:48.560 for your love and support. Thank you for praying 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.460 for my daughter. You will see her this weekend. 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:57.460 She will be back in church. Thank you. God's 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:02.170 been good. God has been good. If you will, turn 00:01:02.170 --> 00:01:08.769 your Bibles to Romans chapter five, verses 17 00:01:08.769 --> 00:01:15.829 through 19. Starting off in 17, for if by one 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:19.909 man's offense, death reigned by one, much more 00:01:19.909 --> 00:01:23.049 they which receive abundance of grace and of 00:01:23.049 --> 00:01:26.450 the gift of righteousness shall reign in life 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:31.459 by one. Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offense 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:35.540 of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.640 even so by the righteousness of one the free 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:43.719 gift came upon all men unto justification of 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:48.299 life. For as by one man's disobedience many were 00:01:48.299 --> 00:01:52.359 made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:57.099 many be made righteous. Let's ask the Lord to 00:01:57.099 --> 00:01:59.200 move in this place one more time. God, we thank 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.540 you, Lord, for your presence. We thank you for 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:04.540 your Holy Ghost. We thank you, God, for the access 00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:08.259 that we have unto you, unto your love, unto your 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:11.259 power, God. We pray, Jesus, that you would move 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:13.520 in this place, God, that, Lord, you would anoint 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:18.080 my words, anoint our hearts to receive what you 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.599 have for us tonight, God. I pray, do your work, 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:24.659 Jesus, in this place. Have your way, in Jesus' 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:29.479 name. Amen. I want to speak to you about the 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:35.460 power of choice. You can be seated. On May Day, 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:40.080 1915, Bill Drost was born at a farm on the rolling 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:43.099 hills of New Brunswick, Canada. His life would 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:46.319 be characterized by astounding miracles as he 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.639 fulfilled God's prophetic call as a missionary 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:54.189 in South America. When Bill was 10 years old 00:02:54.189 --> 00:02:56.569 his older sisters attended a revival meeting 00:02:56.569 --> 00:03:00.669 where Maddy Crawford Preached many responded 00:03:00.669 --> 00:03:04.330 to her preaching by repenting of their sins Bill's 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:08.669 parents though were troubled by it His mother 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:12.090 did not want her children to be led away with 00:03:12.090 --> 00:03:16.050 the error of the devil Five years later another 00:03:16.050 --> 00:03:18.469 spiritual stirring came into the area a group 00:03:18.469 --> 00:03:21.729 holding Bible meeting spoke of the Holy Ghost 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:25.990 An older friend of Bill's, named Bless, joined 00:03:25.990 --> 00:03:30.069 those people. Bless was a champion boxer, tall 00:03:30.069 --> 00:03:33.509 and powerful. But he went down to that altar 00:03:33.509 --> 00:03:38.009 and became a changed man. Bill's mother was furious 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:41.050 to learn her son had anything to do with Bless 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:43.949 and warned him never again to speak to the man. 00:03:45.310 --> 00:03:48.389 But Bill could not resist visiting a Bible meeting 00:03:48.389 --> 00:03:50.710 he discovered while riding his bicycle one night. 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:53.819 He marveled at the testimonies he heard, the 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:57.120 songs they sang, and the spontaneous worship. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:03:59.979 When he told his mother he had been to the meeting, 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.099 she was stunned and said, if you ever go back 00:04:03.099 --> 00:04:07.219 there, it will be over my dead body. I now forbid 00:04:07.219 --> 00:04:10.099 you to go, and I never want to hear you mention 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:13.479 those holy rollers again. You know they are of 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:18.339 the devil. They have deceived you. Perplexed. 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:21.959 Bill knelt by his bed that night, and with tears 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:26.699 he prayed, Oh God, show me what to do. If these 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:29.480 people are of the devil, they should be told. 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:32.399 Lord, whatever scripture you give me, it will 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.319 help me. He dropped his finger on his open Bible, 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:39.319 and it fell on this very verse. Oh, clap your 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:43.439 hands, all ye people, shout unto God with the 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.560 voice of triumph. Stunned, Bill said, Oh God, 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:52.680 that's just what those people were doing. They 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:56.279 clapped their hands. As he slept, Bill had a 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:58.699 vivid dream. He saw Jesus coming from glory in 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:02.800 a sky ablaze with beautiful light. He saw the 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.379 faces of people he recognized. They were actually 00:05:05.379 --> 00:05:07.939 the people he had seen at the Bible meeting. 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:12.220 They were rising to meet Jesus in the air, their 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:17.050 faces filled with great joy. Oh God, take me, 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:19.709 Bill cried out, awaking and jumping from his 00:05:19.709 --> 00:05:23.050 bed. He was on his way to discovering what God 00:05:23.050 --> 00:05:27.790 had done to make it possible for him to experience 00:05:27.790 --> 00:05:36.269 eternal life. Humans, as hopefully we all are, 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:41.310 were created as living souls. And the creation 00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:44.459 accounts In the first two chapters of Genesis, 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:47.379 focus on the creation of people from different 00:05:47.379 --> 00:05:50.319 perspectives. The first, which is found in Genesis 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:54.519 1, 26 through 29, reveals both male and female 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:58.759 are created in the image of God, both sharing 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:02.220 equal blessings and responsibilities. The second 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:05.819 account located in Genesis chapter two emphasizes 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:09.040 the material and immaterial aspects of human 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.240 existence. Physically, Humans are made from the 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:17.680 earth. Their immaterial component springs from 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:23.600 the breath of life, from the very nostrils that 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:27.779 the Lord breathed into. These two accounts, they 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:30.899 offer no hint of sinfulness. Instead, humans 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:35.060 are portrayed as positive, hopeful. Humans are 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:37.980 more intimately related to their creator than 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:40.939 any other created thing. The Bible tells us that 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:45.339 God personally breathe into their nostrils. The 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:48.000 result is the image of God, right? We're created 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.279 in the image of God. But to be made in God's 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.500 image includes the fact that people possess the 00:06:54.500 --> 00:06:59.120 power of choice. And since God has the freedom 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:04.480 to choose, so do humans. Since this is so, God 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.939 warned Adam to avoid the thing that would destroy 00:07:07.939 --> 00:07:13.410 him. And we see that. In Genesis 2, 16 and 17, 00:07:13.889 --> 00:07:16.750 where it says, Yahweh God commanded the man saying, 00:07:17.250 --> 00:07:20.110 you may freely eat of every tree of the garden, 00:07:20.829 --> 00:07:23.110 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge 00:07:23.110 --> 00:07:26.209 of good and evil, for in the day that you eat 00:07:26.209 --> 00:07:32.189 of it, you will surely die. So all seems good, 00:07:32.389 --> 00:07:35.970 right? God's creating things, Adam's naming them, 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:40.610 life's moving right along. But then God decides 00:07:40.610 --> 00:07:44.209 it's not good for Adam to be alone and makes 00:07:44.209 --> 00:07:48.350 him help me The next thing you know Eve is being 00:07:48.350 --> 00:07:51.029 it's kind of weird like when you read the Read 00:07:51.029 --> 00:07:52.589 this in the Bible and you look at the account 00:07:52.589 --> 00:07:55.769 You don't really see a big time or if I should 00:07:55.769 --> 00:07:59.550 say a lapse of time The next thing you kind of 00:07:59.550 --> 00:08:02.449 really see or hear or read is that Eve is being 00:08:02.449 --> 00:08:05.490 beguiled by the serpent and They're both eating 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:09.360 fruit of the forbidden tree One minute, everything 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.379 seems all kitschy and pink, whatever, keen, peachy, 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:15.680 rosy, whatever you want to say. And the next 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:18.500 minute, they're being evicted out of the garden. 00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:28.439 Pretty crazy. Just an instant flip. And we read 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.980 this account. I just want to read the account 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:33.899 in Genesis 3, 1 to 6, where. where we see this 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:36.440 take place. It says, now the serpent was more 00:08:36.440 --> 00:08:39.039 subtle than any beast of the field, which the 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:41.419 Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.820 yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:47.279 tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:49.419 serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:52.279 of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:54.220 is in the midst of the garden, God had said, 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:56.840 ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch 00:08:56.840 --> 00:09:00.779 it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:04.080 woman, ye shall not surely die. For God doth 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.700 know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:09.559 eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God's, 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.559 knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:14.820 that the tree was good for food, and that it 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:18.000 was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.460 to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, 00:09:21.899 --> 00:09:25.960 and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:30.039 her, and he did eat. And it's funny in time, 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.620 like when you, like as a young person, And it 00:09:33.620 --> 00:09:35.960 was when I was young and a long time ago, so 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:38.279 forgive me. But, you know, I would sit there 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:42.580 and be like, Eve, man, why, like, she's to blame 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:45.259 for this, you know? Like, she had this fruit, 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:47.700 and then she gave it to the man, you know? It's 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:51.340 like, it seemed like Adam was doing fine. Why 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:53.820 did you have to give him a help meet that, you 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:56.259 know? But we have Marriage Matters this weekend. 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:58.039 I'll be straightened out. It'll be all good. 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:01.950 But, you know, I think... But when you really 00:10:01.950 --> 00:10:04.750 look at it and you look at this closely, there 00:10:04.750 --> 00:10:11.149 was choice involved, okay? So as a man, we can't 00:10:11.149 --> 00:10:15.309 blame Eve because it says she gave. I didn't 00:10:15.309 --> 00:10:17.850 have to take it. Adam didn't have to take it, 00:10:18.110 --> 00:10:21.549 but he chose to do it. So you see choice here 00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:23.710 for both of them. Same thing for Eve. She didn't 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:26.769 have to take it, but she listened to the devil 00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:30.509 and she took out of her choice. It wasn't forced 00:10:30.509 --> 00:10:34.169 upon them. And so they both exercised their freedom 00:10:34.169 --> 00:10:38.730 of choice or power of choice to disregard the 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:42.750 warning from God and both suffered the consequence, 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:48.970 death. And I'll be honest with you, again, in 00:10:48.970 --> 00:10:51.029 my younger, maybe ignorant, I don't know what 00:10:51.029 --> 00:10:53.049 you want to say, but I always looked at that 00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:55.669 death being physical. Yeah, that's why they're 00:10:55.669 --> 00:10:57.190 going to die, you know, because now, because 00:10:57.190 --> 00:10:59.919 they did that. But it wasn't about a physical 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:05.299 death it was about a spiritual death and That 00:11:05.299 --> 00:11:08.139 happened immediately and we know it wasn't physical 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:10.259 because we know they went on to live for years 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:14.240 and have children so I Just didn't it took a 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.279 long time for me to connect with that, but I'm 00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:20.340 good And so when we look at that there was an 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.799 immediate separation There was a great divide 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:28.110 that was caused and so much so that they went 00:11:28.110 --> 00:11:30.149 missing from their daily walk with the Lord. 00:11:30.230 --> 00:11:33.629 The Bible tells us, you know, it's like, well, 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:36.610 I'll just read it in chapter three, Genesis seven 00:11:36.610 --> 00:11:38.389 through nine. It says, and the eyes of them both 00:11:38.389 --> 00:11:41.110 were opened and they knew that they were naked 00:11:41.110 --> 00:11:44.190 and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 00:11:44.190 --> 00:11:46.610 aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord 00:11:46.610 --> 00:11:49.210 walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 00:11:49.389 --> 00:11:52.809 And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the 00:11:52.809 --> 00:11:56.009 presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of 00:11:56.009 --> 00:11:59.580 the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:04.899 and said unto him, where art thou? See, so when 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:08.700 you can take from that something that there was 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:13.720 definitely time that was probably spent between 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:18.960 the Lord and Adam, and there was time. And all 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.379 of a sudden, because they did this thing that 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:25.860 was disobedient, now there was a separation. 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:29.100 But the interesting thing is that when you look 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:34.080 at this, God was still coming. God was still 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.200 looking. He wasn't the one that separated from 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.379 them. He's not the one that backed away. It was 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:43.700 them that went and hid themselves. And it's interesting 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:45.799 to see, because this was done a long time ago, 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:49.039 right? Adam and Eve was a long time ago. But 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.500 it's interesting because we do the same thing 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.750 today. We let a sin creep in. and immediately 00:12:55.750 --> 00:12:58.970 we feel a separation from the Lord. I mean, let's 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:01.450 be honest. I do something wrong and I can feel 00:13:01.450 --> 00:13:04.070 like, man, I'm not, I feel even scared to come 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:06.250 walk into church sometimes. I feel like I don't 00:13:06.250 --> 00:13:08.629 deserve to be sitting here, God. I don't, you 00:13:08.629 --> 00:13:10.190 know, I did something I shouldn't have done. 00:13:10.289 --> 00:13:12.190 You know, those are the feelings we sometimes 00:13:12.190 --> 00:13:15.190 feel. And so if we allow it, sometimes we'll 00:13:15.190 --> 00:13:18.230 want to run and hide. We'll want to walk away 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:20.049 from the presence of God instead of turning to 00:13:20.049 --> 00:13:21.730 the presence of God because we feel like we don't 00:13:21.730 --> 00:13:28.750 deserve to be in the presence of God. And what 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:33.250 happens sometimes is it's a choice, right? We've 00:13:33.250 --> 00:13:36.070 made a choice. Maybe it was a bad choice, but 00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:38.990 there's always an opportunity to make a right 00:13:38.990 --> 00:13:41.750 choice. There's always an opportunity to correct 00:13:41.750 --> 00:13:45.309 that choice that was made. And if we don't, we 00:13:45.309 --> 00:13:49.929 have to be careful because when we make a choice 00:13:49.929 --> 00:13:55.309 to allow ourselves to do something that we shouldn't, 00:13:55.450 --> 00:13:59.159 we open up an appetite. for something that we 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:02.500 never knew before, but now we feel like we can't 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:08.100 do without. And that's scary. I mean, I'm just 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:09.659 talking to honest opening. Let's think about 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:14.700 it. Like, honestly, sin is bad. We know that. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.840 But it doesn't mean sin isn't pleasurable. It 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:21.620 doesn't mean that it's not pleasure to be found 00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:24.620 in sin. And that's a scary thing, because our 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:28.480 flesh gets like a... gets attracted to it our 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:32.059 flesh can can can be appealed to do some wrong 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:35.980 because well it's you know it feels good you 00:14:35.980 --> 00:14:39.679 know it it tastes good it really can't be that 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:43.240 bad for me right but just that little bit of 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:45.340 allowing something to creep in before you know 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:49.860 it it can become this great divide that separation 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:52.379 can become bigger and bigger and become this 00:14:52.379 --> 00:14:58.559 great divide that now we can't return from But 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:02.340 thank God by the obedience of one shall many 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:07.399 be made righteous Biblical references to death 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:12.080 are always about a kind of separation death is 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:15.879 not about the end of existence because every 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:20.519 person will exist forever and Even that statement 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.620 scares me if I'd be honest with you sometimes 00:15:24.049 --> 00:15:29.289 Because every person will exist forever. And 00:15:29.289 --> 00:15:34.389 where is your forever gonna be? The question 00:15:34.389 --> 00:15:38.750 is where will we exist? Where do we want to exist? 00:15:39.950 --> 00:15:44.090 And are we using the power of choice to help 00:15:44.090 --> 00:15:49.289 us get where we want to go? The Garden of Eden 00:15:49.289 --> 00:15:54.690 contained many trees, but only two had special 00:15:54.690 --> 00:15:58.350 significance. The tree of life was there to provide 00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:01.190 an opportunity for Adam and Eve to live forever. 00:16:02.429 --> 00:16:05.370 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave 00:16:05.370 --> 00:16:08.210 them an opportunity to exercise their freedom 00:16:08.210 --> 00:16:16.450 of choice. So why would God plant a tree that 00:16:16.450 --> 00:16:18.370 he didn't want them to eat from in the garden? 00:16:19.950 --> 00:16:24.360 Why would he do that? Because it had to be a 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:30.259 choice. God wanted them to choose him over the 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:34.600 forbidden fruit. He loved them and wanted them 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:39.259 to love him in return. Not a forced love, not 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:44.039 a robotic type of love, but if it was like that 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:47.460 it means nothing. It's only real and it's only 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:50.659 meaningful when you have the power of choice 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:54.710 that's involved. And this just goes to show you 00:16:54.710 --> 00:16:57.889 that the true human nature or what the true human 00:16:57.889 --> 00:17:00.909 nature of man is Because think about it. There 00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:08.329 were plenty of trees in the garden So there's 00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:12.509 just one tree Just one tree and the interesting 00:17:12.509 --> 00:17:14.289 the interesting thing is when you go back to 00:17:14.289 --> 00:17:18.789 it. He never said Don't eat at the tree of life 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:22.980 God said don't either the tree of knowledge I 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.519 could not. So why not pick from the tree of life? 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:30.480 But it also goes to tell you that man and human 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.880 nature kind of wants that forbidden thing. The 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:36.599 thing you tell me I shouldn't do is kind of what 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:39.400 I want to do. The thing you tell me that I can't 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:40.900 think about, I mean, it's like with kids, right? 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.180 You tell them, no, don't do that. They do that. 00:17:44.099 --> 00:17:46.279 So it's like, I don't know why I wasn't just 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.359 smart. Hey, why don't you do that? Maybe they 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:52.299 wouldn't have done it. You know, like. But anyway, 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:54.400 it's like but that's human nature, right? So 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.660 it's like you see this, you know, they had plenty 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:00.480 of options I'm sure the fruit was just as good 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.160 on this tree as it was in this tree and then 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.660 this tree in this tree They had all the options 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:11.319 in the world But it was the woman you gave me 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:15.619 Lord, that's why I did it but it was a snake 00:18:15.619 --> 00:18:20.289 that tricked us Maybe there's a truth to some 00:18:20.289 --> 00:18:24.390 of those statements, but Adam, you had the power 00:18:24.390 --> 00:18:31.130 of choice. You had the power of choice. We find 00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:34.009 excuses and ways to justify the things we do, 00:18:34.329 --> 00:18:37.849 the choices we make, but in the end, it's truly 00:18:37.849 --> 00:18:44.950 our choice. And 1 Corinthians 10 13 says this, 00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:48.730 there hath no temptation taken you but such as 00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:53.049 is common to man but God is faithful who will 00:18:53.049 --> 00:18:55.710 not suffer you to be tempted above that you are 00:18:55.710 --> 00:18:59.390 able but will with the temptation also make a 00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:03.509 way to escape that you may be able to bear it 00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:10.730 I want to read this part again who will not suffer 00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:16.230 you to be tempted above that you are able But 00:19:16.230 --> 00:19:21.109 will, with the temptation, also make a way to 00:19:21.109 --> 00:19:27.289 escape? With every temptation, help provide a 00:19:27.289 --> 00:19:32.529 way. But will we be looking for it? Are we looking 00:19:32.529 --> 00:19:35.529 for that way out? Are we looking for that help? 00:19:35.950 --> 00:19:38.890 Are we looking for that escape? Or are we wanting 00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:42.200 to dwell in that? It's pretty powerful when you 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:44.079 think about that because we sit there and say 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:49.619 well, I just couldn't resist the temptation Maybe 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:55.680 so but I'm you had a choice I'm sure you had 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:58.839 another option you had something else that you 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:04.859 could have decided to do and It tells us straight 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:07.180 that he we sit there say but I just can't say 00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:09.799 I couldn't take it I couldn't stand it. I just 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:14.339 couldn't deal with it. It was too much. I'm just 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:17.420 reading the Word of God. He won't suffer you 00:20:17.420 --> 00:20:21.240 to be tempted above that you are able. He'll 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:28.220 provide a way of escape. So, look, we're gonna 00:20:28.220 --> 00:20:30.319 fall. We're gonna make mistakes. I'm not saying 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:33.640 we're gonna live a perfect life. But we have 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.759 this Word of God that we can look to and that 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.309 we can trust. And no, God, you said, God, this 00:20:40.309 --> 00:20:42.890 feels too much for me. I feel like I can't handle 00:20:42.890 --> 00:20:46.690 it. But your word says that you won't tempt me 00:20:46.690 --> 00:20:50.089 above that I am able. Your word says you'll provide 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:53.250 an escape for me. Lord, I'm going to trust your 00:20:53.250 --> 00:20:56.130 word. I'm not going to let this overwhelm me. 00:20:56.309 --> 00:20:59.410 I'm not going to let it overcome me because you 00:20:59.410 --> 00:21:02.049 overcame the world. I can overcome what I'm going 00:21:02.049 --> 00:21:06.690 through right now. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. We 00:21:06.690 --> 00:21:11.130 thank you Jesus, we trust you Lord. So it was 00:21:11.130 --> 00:21:14.230 after their sin that they were exiled from the 00:21:14.230 --> 00:21:18.170 Garden of Eden and cherubims were sent to guard 00:21:18.170 --> 00:21:22.269 the tree of life so that Adam and Eve would not 00:21:22.269 --> 00:21:25.390 eat of it and live forever in a fallen state. 00:21:26.609 --> 00:21:31.029 That shows you the love of God even when they 00:21:31.029 --> 00:21:34.680 weren't his first choice. And you know, and that's 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:36.680 the thing again, you go back and say, well, putting 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.059 cherubims and blocking it so they can't have 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:43.380 it, well, at that point, it would not have been 00:21:43.380 --> 00:21:44.980 any good for them. At that point, they were in 00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:47.660 a fallen state, would have been living forever 00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:51.960 like that. So God was looking out for them even 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:55.619 when they. didn't choose him first and it's the 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:58.799 same thing for us. God is continually looking 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:01.740 for us even when we mess up, even when we make 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.980 mistakes, even when we don't put him first. He's 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:08.539 still there. He doesn't go away. He's not walking 00:22:08.539 --> 00:22:11.299 away from us. He's not turning his back on us. 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:15.099 He's there no matter what to continue to love 00:22:15.099 --> 00:22:18.059 us and hope that we would turn back and love 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:23.430 him. The connection between sin and death is 00:22:23.430 --> 00:22:29.309 seen in Romans 6, 23. I might have messed that 00:22:29.309 --> 00:22:31.170 up when I gave that to you guys, sorry if I did. 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:35.430 But it says, for the wages of sin is death. This 00:22:35.430 --> 00:22:38.430 is not a reference to physical death, but it's 00:22:38.430 --> 00:22:42.690 a separation from fellowship with God as experienced 00:22:42.690 --> 00:22:49.559 by Adam and Eve. And in Romans five, Paul explains 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:54.039 in a carefully worded argument the negative Impact 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:58.539 universal impact of Adam's sin and verse 12 says 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:03.160 it this way wherefore as by one man sin entered 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:07.559 into the world and Death by sin and so death 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:13.539 passed upon all men for that all have sinned 00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:17.859 So That's exactly you know we sit there and say 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:21.039 look and I know I know we love our babies I know 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:25.160 you know and They they're so innocent when they're 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.380 born and there's absolute truth to that but unfortunately 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:33.980 even those babies are born into sin You know 00:23:33.980 --> 00:23:37.440 and then so It's just it's just what happened. 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:41.400 That was the result That was a result and so 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:44.440 an interesting thing is too It's almost like, 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:46.700 okay, you look at that and say, well, automatically 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:50.119 these poor, precious ones are born into sin, 00:23:50.619 --> 00:23:53.539 are born into this almost like separation of 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:56.839 life with God. But you know, that's where I think 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:58.599 the church comes in. That's where good parents 00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.079 come in. And that's where we can show them how 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:03.460 to have a relationship with the Lord and show 00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:06.259 them how God loves them and how they can turn 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:10.740 their lives to Him and have salvation and have, 00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:15.519 you know, a life with God. And so the consequence 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:19.839 of sin upon humanity was universal. It's not 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:22.440 a reference to physical, as I said, but it's 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:24.640 more of a reference to separation from fellowship. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:29.960 And Paul goes on to say in Romans 3 and 23, for 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:33.559 all have sinned and come short of the glory of 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:36.920 God. You know, we hear these scriptures time 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:39.380 and time again. You know, we read the word of 00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:43.259 God, or we hear it spoken in church, but... We 00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:45.819 really have to do our due diligence to look at 00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:49.200 scripture and really understand it. Even that 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:51.799 one, as simple as it seems, when you look at 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:58.380 how it's grammatically written, it says, not 00:24:58.380 --> 00:25:03.920 only has every person sinned in the past, right? 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:06.279 Because it says, for all have sinned, which would 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.240 be a past tense, but all continually to fall 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:12.539 short of God's glorious. at least revelation. 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:16.880 So there will be a continuation of falling, right? 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.700 Continuation of falling short. No matter how 00:25:20.700 --> 00:25:25.480 great the greatest man of God is, there's gonna 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:27.880 be times when he falls. There's gonna be times 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:32.180 where he messes up. And that's just the way it 00:25:32.180 --> 00:25:35.930 is. But thank God we have a God that's made a 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:39.049 way for us to find forgiveness, right? That's 00:25:39.049 --> 00:25:41.690 made a way for us to find a way to be with him 00:25:41.690 --> 00:25:47.410 eternally. Thank you, Jesus. And so this is why 00:25:47.410 --> 00:25:50.009 the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from 00:25:50.009 --> 00:25:53.769 sin as we walk in the light with our faith in 00:25:53.769 --> 00:25:57.829 Jesus Christ, and that's found in 1 John. Since 00:25:57.829 --> 00:26:01.509 sin is universal, all people need a savior. And 00:26:01.509 --> 00:26:06.950 Paul discusses this truth in Romans and in Galatians. 00:26:07.609 --> 00:26:11.029 And in Galatians 3, 22, we read where it says, 00:26:11.569 --> 00:26:14.910 but the scripture hath concluded all under sin 00:26:14.910 --> 00:26:18.430 that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might 00:26:18.430 --> 00:26:23.869 be given to them that believe. Even before Jesus' 00:26:24.130 --> 00:26:27.809 birth, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph 00:26:27.809 --> 00:26:32.559 in a dream informing him of the name to be given 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.420 to Mary's son, and the reason for that name. 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:40.640 And we see that in Matthew 1 .21. It says, and 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.420 she shall bring forth a son, and there shall 00:26:43.420 --> 00:26:47.519 call his name, and thou shall call his name Jesus, 00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:51.180 for he shall save his people from their sins. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:55.440 Literally the name Jesus means Yahweh, Savior, 00:26:56.019 --> 00:27:03.890 or Jehovah, Savior. He shall save First Corinthians 00:27:03.890 --> 00:27:08.509 15 45 reads and so it is written the first man 00:27:08.509 --> 00:27:12.609 Adam was made a living soul The last Adam was 00:27:12.609 --> 00:27:16.150 made a quickening spirit So, you know, we're 00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:20.769 obviously See the first natural man was Adam 00:27:20.769 --> 00:27:28.640 And then we see what Jesus did And the last Adam 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:34.559 was made was made a quickening spirit, whereas 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.380 Jesus, like Adam, was a living soul. Jesus was 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:41.099 more than that. He was a quickening, life -giving 00:27:41.099 --> 00:27:48.680 spirit. And so we're given a great gift. You 00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:52.819 know, we're given that life -giving, that quickening 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:55.500 that we will be taken up with him when that time 00:27:55.500 --> 00:27:59.559 comes. And so take a look at Romans 6 .23 with 00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:01.140 me again. I know we've read that before. For 00:28:01.140 --> 00:28:06.720 the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:10.019 is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:18.420 Notice the contrast here, wages and gift. We 00:28:18.420 --> 00:28:22.440 earn wages by the work that we do. We don't earn 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:30.569 gifts. It's a gift that we've been given. We 00:28:30.569 --> 00:28:33.670 can't earn it. There's nothing I can do to buy 00:28:33.670 --> 00:28:36.210 what we have found. There's nothing that I can 00:28:36.210 --> 00:28:40.150 do to purchase this. There's nothing. No money 00:28:40.150 --> 00:28:42.690 can do it. And that's what's so awesome about 00:28:42.690 --> 00:28:45.289 it, because you can't put a price tag on it. 00:28:45.910 --> 00:28:49.650 It's invaluable, but yet it's accessible to everybody. 00:28:52.009 --> 00:28:54.690 And so notice also the contrast between death 00:28:54.690 --> 00:28:58.529 and eternal life. The consequence of sinful behavior 00:28:58.529 --> 00:29:01.529 is basically, like I've been saying, separation 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:07.150 from fellowship with God. Eternal life is life 00:29:07.150 --> 00:29:11.430 forever in God's presence, which is a gift from 00:29:11.430 --> 00:29:16.529 God. And as Peter said on the Day of Pentecost, 00:29:16.670 --> 00:29:23.269 the Holy Ghost is a gift. It's a gift. We can't 00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:27.930 do anything to, like I said, buy it. There's 00:29:27.930 --> 00:29:33.990 really no money in the world, but it's about 00:29:33.990 --> 00:29:37.490 knowing Jesus Christ. It's about coming to know 00:29:37.490 --> 00:29:50.079 Him and allowing Him to move in our lives. When 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:54.559 we look at, musicians can make their way forward. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:59.619 When we look at this, like we look at, like say 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:02.000 Bill Dross in the beginning that I was reading 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:07.200 about his life, he was facing a lot of opposition, 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.880 obviously, with the things that I said about 00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:13.160 his parents not feeling good about it, his mom 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:17.319 telling him over my dead body, and those people 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:19.700 are the devil. I forbid you to talk to him, all 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:22.019 that stuff that I was talking about. There was 00:30:22.019 --> 00:30:25.579 obviously some great opposition. And I would 00:30:25.579 --> 00:30:28.000 look at it as he really had a choice to make. 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:36.640 And it was awesome that he made a choice to ask 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:40.980 God what he should do. He made a choice to look 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:45.359 at what the word of God says and realize, man, 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:47.900 that lines up with what those people are doing. 00:30:49.230 --> 00:30:53.410 And that's, I think I was gonna say, that onus 00:30:53.410 --> 00:30:58.049 is on us too, to know the word of God. And when 00:30:58.049 --> 00:30:59.869 we're going through situations and we're going 00:30:59.869 --> 00:31:03.809 through things, it's on us. The choices that 00:31:03.809 --> 00:31:06.930 we make, the thing that we decide to do when 00:31:06.930 --> 00:31:10.549 the challenges come, when the struggles are hitting 00:31:10.549 --> 00:31:15.490 us hard, it's our choice. It's that power of 00:31:15.490 --> 00:31:19.640 choice. What are we gonna do? things the world 00:31:19.640 --> 00:31:24.819 does? Am I gonna act or react the way the world 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:28.880 does? Or am I gonna say, God, I don't know what 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.660 to do, but I'm gonna look to you to help me out. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:35.720 I'm gonna look to your word to see what it says. 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:38.980 God, I'm gonna look for you to give me some encouragement, 00:31:39.700 --> 00:31:41.680 to show me the way, to show me what I should 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:44.700 do, because that's what's gonna lead us to the 00:31:44.700 --> 00:31:49.779 right choice. I was having a conversation with 00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:53.039 my son just last night about how amazed I am 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:57.119 by people who choose to be different than what 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:00.980 they've grown up around. They don't let the surroundings 00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:05.660 or environment they lived in dictate who they 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:10.160 are or who they're gonna be. And that's pretty 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:12.970 powerful to do that. Because I mean, let's be 00:32:12.970 --> 00:32:16.009 honest, you know, I know even me right now this 00:32:16.009 --> 00:32:17.710 day. There's sometimes things I do and I'm like 00:32:17.710 --> 00:32:22.329 man That's because my dad did that you know, 00:32:22.470 --> 00:32:25.150 that's cuz my mom did that whatever it may be 00:32:25.150 --> 00:32:27.869 and You know, it's funny when you have children 00:32:27.869 --> 00:32:30.130 you have kids. I think something happened even 00:32:30.130 --> 00:32:33.210 last night. My wife's like That's you right there. 00:32:33.230 --> 00:32:35.809 That's you You know, it's pointing at something 00:32:35.809 --> 00:32:38.309 Jake was doing but you know, it's just it's funny 00:32:38.309 --> 00:32:40.109 That's you know what we're around is kind of 00:32:40.109 --> 00:32:44.309 sometimes what we'll do But I think that's why 00:32:44.309 --> 00:32:48.509 we have to really believe in the power of choice. 00:32:48.730 --> 00:32:53.430 I mean, obviously, it's the power of the Holy 00:32:53.430 --> 00:32:56.450 Ghost that worketh in me, that worketh in you. 00:32:57.589 --> 00:33:00.410 But we still choose whether we're going to listen 00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:03.730 to it or not. We still choose as to whether I'm 00:33:03.730 --> 00:33:07.450 going to really read this word or not. We choose 00:33:07.450 --> 00:33:10.859 whether I'm going to pray today or not. I'm gonna 00:33:10.859 --> 00:33:14.119 have some relationship with God today or not. 00:33:14.180 --> 00:33:23.059 That's power of choice. That's on us. And I do 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:27.720 really applaud those that have found a way to 00:33:27.720 --> 00:33:33.079 step out from what they have always known. And 00:33:33.079 --> 00:33:34.680 it was funny, because even having a conversation 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:38.200 with my daughter the other day, and she was like, 00:33:38.279 --> 00:33:41.329 man, I... I wonder what it would be like, because 00:33:41.329 --> 00:33:43.670 thankfully for her, this is all she's ever known. 00:33:45.390 --> 00:33:49.450 And she was like, I wonder what it's like for 00:33:49.450 --> 00:33:54.230 people to walk in to church, never having any 00:33:54.230 --> 00:33:57.650 experience, never having any exposure to it. 00:33:58.069 --> 00:34:00.910 What does it feel like for them? And I was like, 00:34:00.990 --> 00:34:04.410 I know it's kind of, and I'm not, don't take 00:34:04.410 --> 00:34:06.369 this wrong. I said, it's almost like we could 00:34:06.369 --> 00:34:09.769 be desensitized to how... Great the power of 00:34:09.769 --> 00:34:12.309 God is when we walk into this sanctuary We can 00:34:12.309 --> 00:34:14.670 always be desensitized to because we just take 00:34:14.670 --> 00:34:17.170 it for granted we experience it week in and week 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:21.090 out You know and there's people that have never 00:34:21.090 --> 00:34:23.369 Experienced this and I don't keep me to keep 00:34:23.369 --> 00:34:26.929 going back to my own experiences, but even just 00:34:26.929 --> 00:34:29.250 today I was speaking to one of my co -workers 00:34:29.250 --> 00:34:33.960 who had come to one of our concerts and It's 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:36.699 kind of cool because now there's been such an 00:34:36.699 --> 00:34:39.179 openness now with some of my co -workers about 00:34:39.179 --> 00:34:42.420 just speaking about God. Even the situation with 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:44.699 Bella was amazing as I was telling about things 00:34:44.699 --> 00:34:46.760 that were going on and just some of the little 00:34:46.760 --> 00:34:48.960 miracles that we were having and some of them 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:50.820 were sitting like as I'm telling them it one 00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:53.199 girl's tearing another girl's like oh my goodness 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:56.840 my arms are like goosebumps all over like you 00:34:56.840 --> 00:34:59.780 know it's so cool and I thank God for that I 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:02.519 thank God for the for the privilege and the opportunity 00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:04.360 to be able to speak to them but the one young 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:09.460 man I was talking to today was like saying to 00:35:09.460 --> 00:35:11.380 me hey he's like he actually brought it up he 00:35:11.380 --> 00:35:14.179 said hey he's like I must be on the same algorithm 00:35:14.179 --> 00:35:17.340 or whatever because he's like a reel from your 00:35:17.340 --> 00:35:20.000 church came up with my thing it's like your pastor 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.239 like You know, is that what you call him, pastor, 00:35:22.420 --> 00:35:24.800 minister? I was like, yeah, pastor's good. And 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:28.000 he was like, yeah, he was standing in the snow 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:30.159 or something, and he was talking about some other 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:33.320 guy. And he's like, it was kind of cool. It was 00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:38.619 kind of funny. He's like, I've never, like even 00:35:38.619 --> 00:35:43.539 coming to the concert, I've never saw ministers 00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:48.420 or pastors act like that. Everything I knew was 00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:52.659 always so serious, he said. It was almost unrelatable. 00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:56.340 But he said, but I feel like the couple of times 00:35:56.340 --> 00:36:01.940 that I've seen your pastor now, it seems so relatable. 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:05.980 It seems like I can probably really learn from 00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:08.820 that. And so I said, you can, man. When you coming? 00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:13.639 You gotta come back. And so he said, I'm gonna 00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:17.079 come. And when they had come to the concert, 00:36:17.099 --> 00:36:21.119 they told me that their mother has... His girlfriend's 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.320 mother has been looking for a church. She lives 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:26.539 right here in Louisville. I'm like, we're close 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:28.460 enough, man. Come on, you gotta give it a try. 00:36:28.619 --> 00:36:30.860 So today's conversation, hopefully, they'll be 00:36:30.860 --> 00:36:35.260 coming to visit. But I'm just thankful that God 00:36:35.260 --> 00:36:38.860 is moving, God is working. And for many of us, 00:36:38.860 --> 00:36:41.360 we've known this saving message, this gospel 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:44.920 saving message for a long time. But to others, 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:48.599 it may be the first time. For others coming through 00:36:48.599 --> 00:36:50.139 that door maybe the first time that they ever 00:36:50.139 --> 00:36:52.980 walk into a place like this that they ever hear 00:36:52.980 --> 00:36:56.059 Of a God that wants such a relationship with 00:36:56.059 --> 00:36:58.519 them and that's what Andrew and I were talking 00:36:58.519 --> 00:37:01.500 about today I said man the difference is and 00:37:01.500 --> 00:37:05.260 I said I'm just Talking to you because I've been 00:37:05.260 --> 00:37:10.239 around it long enough. I did after I Made my 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:14.039 confirmation and Catholicism. So I lived enough 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:15.980 to take those kind of classes and be in that 00:37:15.980 --> 00:37:19.179 type of surrounding And I said, and that's what 00:37:19.179 --> 00:37:21.159 he was talking to me about. And I said, yeah. 00:37:21.780 --> 00:37:25.960 I said, but the difference that I've experienced 00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:29.139 is that this is not just something I go to and 00:37:29.139 --> 00:37:33.320 then walk away. This is something we live every 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:39.920 day. It's a relationship, a living relationship. 00:37:40.260 --> 00:37:42.019 And I said, that's the difference about what 00:37:42.019 --> 00:37:44.219 I believe. And I said, so it's something that 00:37:44.219 --> 00:37:46.880 becomes a part of your life. It's a way of living. 00:37:47.210 --> 00:37:51.210 And it's just so much more alive and real. I 00:37:51.210 --> 00:37:52.809 don't know how else to explain it to you right 00:37:52.809 --> 00:37:55.369 now, you know, but that's really what it is. 00:37:56.409 --> 00:38:00.670 So to those who may be here for the first time 00:38:00.670 --> 00:38:05.650 or listening online for the first time, there's 00:38:05.650 --> 00:38:08.050 something here for you. God has more for you. 00:38:08.070 --> 00:38:10.110 God wants to have relationship with you. God 00:38:10.110 --> 00:38:13.170 wants to give you the gift of His Holy Spirit. 00:38:13.449 --> 00:38:14.969 And for those of us that have been living in 00:38:14.969 --> 00:38:18.949 this thing for a long time, the choice is still 00:38:18.949 --> 00:38:22.070 ours to keep on living. The power of choice is 00:38:22.070 --> 00:38:25.030 still ours to keep on moving forward, to keep 00:38:25.030 --> 00:38:28.650 on doing what we know to do, and to keep choosing 00:38:28.650 --> 00:38:32.110 Him first, loving Him more than anyone else, 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:35.929 loving Him more than anything else, and putting 00:38:35.929 --> 00:38:41.150 Him first. Because let's be honest, when you're, 00:38:41.369 --> 00:38:46.380 how can I say it? Anything new sometimes becomes 00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:51.760 dull. You know? The new car becomes dull after 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:57.500 a while. The new motorcycle just becomes old 00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:00.239 after a while. You know? Things can just become... 00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:03.719 But we have to choose to not let this thing ever 00:39:03.719 --> 00:39:06.719 get old. To not let this thing ever fade. To 00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:10.059 not let this truth ever become irrelevant. Because 00:39:10.059 --> 00:39:13.780 this will save our life. Save our families and 00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:17.179 save those around us. If you'll stand with me, 00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:24.820 I want to invite you to this altar. The choice 00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:26.960 to be obedient to His word and to follow after 00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:30.000 Him, that's on us. The choice to be in complete 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.119 surrender, holding nothing back, that's on us. 00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:39.480 We've been given the power of choice. What choice? 00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:44.340 will you make God we thank you for your presence 00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:48.059 we thank you Jesus for your holy spirit God we 00:39:48.059 --> 00:39:50.179 thank you Lord that you've given us that power 00:39:50.179 --> 00:39:52.940 of choice we thank you Jesus that you made a 00:39:52.940 --> 00:39:56.840 way for us to have eternal life God we thank 00:39:56.840 --> 00:40:01.099 you Jesus that you've given yourself for us that 00:40:01.099 --> 00:40:04.940 we could find forgiveness Lord God we could find 00:40:13.230 --> 00:40:16.449 your precious spirit, that you've given us that 00:40:16.449 --> 00:40:17.829 quickening spirit.