WEBVTT 00:00:14.609 --> 00:00:18.309 Welcome back to Pursuing Jesus. This is episode 00:00:18.309 --> 00:00:23.050 31. We are your hosts, Ben Smith and... Hi guys, 00:00:23.170 --> 00:00:29.190 I'm Sean. He's going through some things. I just 00:00:29.190 --> 00:00:31.510 felt like you were going like... I was like, 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:37.140 what is the exact opposite thing I can do? Hi, 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:40.600 guys. Hi, guys. Oh, my goodness. Thank you for 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.340 that. That's great, dude. And they have no idea, 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.880 though, but why you were doing your little thing. 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:46.740 I was just bouncing up and down. He was rocking 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:49.020 out. I was dancing in my chair to your little 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:51.500 theme music. It was reminiscent of his days in 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:54.600 the club, in the club. True, because my feet 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:59.159 didn't move then either. You're not inclined 00:00:59.159 --> 00:01:01.380 to choreography, are you, Jonathan? No, not at 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:03.840 all. I love to move. That was one of the funniest 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.730 things. like post VBS a couple of weeks ago, 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:08.349 people were like, you were really getting into 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:09.849 the dancing and stuff like you actually like 00:01:09.849 --> 00:01:12.290 we're fun. And I was like, number one, ouch. 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:15.629 And number two, dude, I love to dance like, like, 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:17.709 you know, not, not to go against my Baptist cultural 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:20.890 roots, but it is in the Bible. So I, I had to 00:01:20.890 --> 00:01:25.030 warm up to dancing. I was, I did. I was not a 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:28.209 dancer, did not like dancing. Mainly I was very 00:01:28.209 --> 00:01:31.790 self -conscious and I felt, I mean, and you have 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:36.620 to just not care. To be a fun dancer. Who cares 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:38.500 if you're good? Just to have fun. Just if you 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:39.760 want to have fun on the dance floor, you have 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:42.099 to not care. I cared for way too long about what 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:44.879 people thought of me. I'm talking about even 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.700 in my marriage, and I regret that. I regret that. 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:52.840 But I remember it's the last couple times, though. 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:55.219 I've been willing to go out there. I remember 00:01:55.219 --> 00:01:57.640 the first time I really had fun in a public dance 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:00.079 floor, like really had fun, was only a couple 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:03.019 years ago. Really? Yeah, so we have a student 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:06.909 here. uh, Lila who had her quinceanera and miles 00:02:06.909 --> 00:02:09.409 was a part of it. So we got invited. Nice. Such 00:02:09.409 --> 00:02:13.550 a fun party. Um, but they had a dance floor and 00:02:13.550 --> 00:02:15.430 like after the whole ceremony, just people, I 00:02:15.430 --> 00:02:16.849 just went out there and just had fun and dance. 00:02:17.030 --> 00:02:18.990 I love that. Why wasn't I doing this earlier 00:02:18.990 --> 00:02:21.210 in my life? Well, I mean, but like that, it's 00:02:21.210 --> 00:02:23.949 such a perspective shift from like, everybody's 00:02:23.949 --> 00:02:25.810 looking at me too. Yeah. Everybody's looking 00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:27.229 at everybody. That's kind of just the thing. 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:30.289 Exactly. It really, like, I feel like it's best 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:32.610 said in the words of the prophet, Miley Cyrus. 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:35.759 You put your hands up. They're playing that song. 00:02:36.020 --> 00:02:39.460 The butterflies fly away. Not in your head, like, 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:42.340 yeah. Move in your hips, like, yeah. You put 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:44.439 your hands up. They're playing your song. You 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:49.379 know it'll be okay. Yeah. It's a party in the 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:51.120 USA. I was wondering how long you were going 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:52.680 to go with that one. Of course. You just kept 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:56.400 going and going and going. But, yeah, that is 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:58.879 definitely, like, I don't like to think of, like, 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.900 regrets in my life. But, like, you know, like, 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:04.020 that's like a... I'm like, man, why couldn't 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.120 I have been more fun with that? Hindsight's 40 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:10.419 -40. It sure is. Yeah. Speaking of hindsight. 00:03:10.699 --> 00:03:12.659 Hindsight. And probably singing and dancing, 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.979 too. It's a nice little tie together. So this 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:19.460 is your first check -in on the PJ podcast. Wow. 00:03:20.259 --> 00:03:24.319 After Central Kids Camp. How was that? Just give 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.240 them a 30 -second, like, how we got here. 30 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.120 seconds. And then tell us what happened. So I 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:33.199 was at camp last week. Correct. With our fourth 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:34.719 through sixth graders. Fourth through sixth. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:40.599 And we had a blast. We took 14 kids. I had four 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:43.199 guys in my room, and I just had fourth and fifth 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:45.819 graders, incidentally, in my room. But, man, 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.280 we just had a blast. It was so much fun. And 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:51.840 so this camp, it's unlike anything we do with 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.419 student ministry. Because, I mean, during the 00:03:55.419 --> 00:03:57.759 day, they've got things called tracks. where 00:03:57.759 --> 00:03:59.460 first thing in the morning, there's a hype -up 00:03:59.460 --> 00:04:01.800 worship rally where they play games, and there's 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:04.580 songs, and they're dancing. And then they go 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:07.060 do a Bible study with their Bible group leader. 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:08.960 And then they go do rec time, and they're winning 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.800 points and stuff. And then after lunch, they 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:13.699 do track time. And so whatever they signed up 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:15.379 for, like we had kids that signed up for soccer 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:18.939 and basketball, weird science. Weird science. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.139 They made slime and Play -Doh and all kinds. 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:26.319 They had fun. Dude. So there's sports tracks, 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:28.259 but then there's other tracks too. There was 00:04:28.259 --> 00:04:30.379 one that a couple of girls of ours were in called 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:34.560 No Boys Allowed. And I think from what they were 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.009 saying, it was like... They provided like nail 00:04:37.009 --> 00:04:39.670 polish and stuff and they just, they hung out 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:43.189 and, and did girly. Wow. No boys allowed is crazy. 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:45.290 They did all kinds of fun stuff. Like, you know, 00:04:45.310 --> 00:04:46.810 they asked for adult leaders to kind of help 00:04:46.810 --> 00:04:48.389 out sometimes with some of these. So I was like, 00:04:48.410 --> 00:04:51.949 can I go help out with that one? Just to be, 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:54.850 just to disrupt everything. Cause that's my motto. 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:59.129 But anyways, so to keep myself occupied, uh, 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:02.279 mentally and just to do something. crazy on this 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.339 trip. Uh, yeah, myself and a guy named Scott 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:07.839 that went with us, an adult leader, we decide, 00:05:07.899 --> 00:05:10.360 and this is, it's a, the origin story of this 00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:13.579 is so vague. We are still not a hundred percent 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:16.240 sure exactly how this challenge began. Okay. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.560 All we know is it was a challenge that was set 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.079 and we answered the call. And the challenge was 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.920 every single meal while we were at camp breakfast, 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:27.519 lunch, and dinner, we would have to turn that 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:32.199 meal into tacos and tacos. So Picture this. In 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.839 our brains, we're going to camp. So we're thinking 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.779 we're going to have to turn chicken nuggets and 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:41.779 french fries into tacos at least five times. 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:46.040 And it was just going to be frozen fried food 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.220 and crappy cheeseburgers and all this kind of 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.779 stuff. But that's not what it was. So we went 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:55.439 to Ridgecrest. And Ridgecrest is an incredible 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.519 retreat center out in the mountains of North 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:00.850 Carolina, right outside of Black Mountain. Dude, 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:05.370 they served incredible food. Really? Night one, 00:06:05.449 --> 00:06:09.610 they served brisket. Whoa. Night one. What? Yeah. 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:12.769 So y 'all had brisket tacos. We had brisket tacos. 00:06:13.170 --> 00:06:16.870 We set the bar high and they were delicious. 00:06:16.930 --> 00:06:20.790 Of course they were. So, I mean, really, it wasn't 00:06:20.790 --> 00:06:24.089 much of a challenge because the challenge was 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:26.709 not overeating. Like that was the challenge. 00:06:26.810 --> 00:06:30.579 Dang. Because it was such good food. we had french 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:33.759 fries one meal and so and they were waffle fries 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:36.100 so they were like really good fries okay so at 00:06:36.100 --> 00:06:37.740 that point it's like it's a feature it's not 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:40.259 a bug so like i mean every i mean so yeah there 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:42.199 was some weird tacos we made there was you know 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:44.019 they gave you options right and so i chose not 00:06:44.019 --> 00:06:45.660 to pick up this item so i didn't have to put 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:48.160 it in a taco fair but scott was like no i'm gonna 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.079 do it and i'm proud of him for that but corn 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:54.660 dog He had a corn dog taco. And so he was at 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:56.680 least wise enough to take the stick out. Okay, 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.639 good. Very good. And then just slapped the corn 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:04.939 dog on a soft taco shell. And yeah, too much 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:06.519 breading. Yeah, that one's a little weird. So 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:08.759 I will tell you the most interesting one. Okay. 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:12.240 So like the one that surprised me the most. The 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.300 one that surprised me the most was meatballs. 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:19.459 What? Yeah. So like it makes me next time I go 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:21.839 to Subway. Usually I don't order a meatball sub, 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:24.240 but this really makes me want to order a meatball 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:27.800 wrap now. Because it was really good. We had 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:31.779 meatballs, extra sauce, Parmesan, and we threw 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:35.360 some banana peppers on there. And man, it was 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.860 delish. You're going to get some weird looks, 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:42.699 dude. It was so good. It was so good. So if you're 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:45.160 interested in this journey, for whatever reason, 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:47.439 I don't know why you were, I made the dumb decision 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:53.070 to... to record this process all week long. And 00:07:53.070 --> 00:07:56.769 so I have a TikTok. I had a total of three videos 00:07:56.769 --> 00:08:00.790 on my TikTok before last week. And then every 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.550 single meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:06.569 put it on the TikTok saying what it was, showing 00:08:06.569 --> 00:08:08.550 us eating it. And so if you're interested and 00:08:08.550 --> 00:08:10.050 you want to see all the different tacos we ate, 00:08:10.129 --> 00:08:12.449 I don't know how to find my TikTok. I have no 00:08:12.449 --> 00:08:14.209 idea what my handle is because I don't care. 00:08:14.410 --> 00:08:17.269 But it's on there. Go look for it. And the reason 00:08:17.269 --> 00:08:19.170 I'm talking like this too is because literally 00:08:19.170 --> 00:08:21.370 about halfway through the week, I looked at Scott 00:08:21.370 --> 00:08:24.449 and was like, why did I set this precedent? Why 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:27.370 did I start recording every single meal? I am, 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:30.569 I could never be in a social media influencer. 00:08:30.629 --> 00:08:33.549 Cause I just don't care. You just, I just don't 00:08:33.549 --> 00:08:35.950 care, but I started, so I had to finish. So I 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:37.990 did get every single meal. Did you become like 00:08:37.990 --> 00:08:40.370 a little local celebrity for the kid? Like where 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:42.250 did the kids see this and like approach you? 00:08:42.289 --> 00:08:44.350 Like, like, Oh, I got to go see Sean and Scott. 00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:47.649 They're the taco guys. Um, so within our kids, 00:08:47.750 --> 00:08:49.450 we had a couple of that. We had a little bit, 00:08:49.470 --> 00:08:51.789 like they'd come in, like be interested. We did 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:53.789 get, some of the summer staff involved. In fact, 00:08:53.809 --> 00:08:56.710 even the director of the camp. We were talking 00:08:56.710 --> 00:08:59.429 with the director of the camp, and finally, the 00:08:59.429 --> 00:09:03.149 last day, last meal, breakfast, she finally came 00:09:03.149 --> 00:09:04.509 and ate a taco with us. You know what? That's 00:09:04.509 --> 00:09:07.490 good. That's good. Well, you know, Sean, I can't 00:09:07.490 --> 00:09:13.139 help but be reminded. So our text today. is really 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:15.539 centered around an encounter of somebody becoming 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:18.480 known for something and people wanting to approach 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:22.019 them, wanting access to this famous person. And 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:25.440 then we see that famous person's response, right? 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:28.740 I mean, it's a stretch, but yeah, we'll to go 00:09:28.740 --> 00:09:31.200 with it. I'm working on it. Okay, listen, well, 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.580 you're talking about putting food in taco shells. 00:09:33.659 --> 00:09:36.279 How on earth am I going to get this to land? 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.379 So I was thinking you were going to go with because 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:41.279 he uses a grain of wheat as an example in his. 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:42.740 So I didn't know if you were going to do something 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:46.820 with wheat being turned into taco shells. I thought 00:09:46.820 --> 00:09:48.419 maybe you're going to go that route. No, I'm 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:50.720 a corn taco guy. I know I enjoy when I'm eating 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.200 like street tacos. Dude, you got to go corn. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.600 You got to go corn every tradition. If I'm if 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.840 I'm doing tradition, Traditional tacos, corn 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.679 taco every time. If it's white people taco night, 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:04.259 we're going flour. We should get into our text. 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:06.279 Because you know we could talk about tacos forever. 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:10.340 I'm not the one with a taco emblazoned on my 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:12.120 left thigh. Hey, can I say one more thing? Sure. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:14.139 You know what's really funny? What? Is that, 00:10:14.259 --> 00:10:16.759 so we had that, I ate tacos every day for five 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:20.500 days. Yeah. So 15 tacos or 15 meals worth of 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:25.799 tacos at least, probably more. Guess what? Which 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:27.360 I'm setting it up, so it's not going to be much 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:29.519 of a guess, but guess when I came home and I 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.539 had dinner that night, do you know what I had 00:10:31.539 --> 00:10:33.860 for dinner that night at my house? Did you have 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:36.879 tacos? I had tacos. Did Tiffany do it intentionally? 00:10:37.019 --> 00:10:40.340 No. It was a leftover night. I could have chosen 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:45.799 many different options. I chose tacos. Wow. That's 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:50.830 really something, Sean. I deserve the brand that 00:10:50.830 --> 00:10:55.149 I gave myself. True facts. So John 12, 20 through 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:59.330 26. I think this is August 4th. Smooth transition. 00:10:59.350 --> 00:11:01.210 It is August 4th. So Sean, do you want to read 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:03.470 our text for today? You know what? I would love 00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:06.230 to, because this is such an interesting passage, 00:11:06.350 --> 00:11:07.870 right? Because this is one of those times where 00:11:07.870 --> 00:11:12.970 people want to talk to Jesus, and then Jesus 00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:15.570 responds and just... Like it feels like it's 00:11:15.570 --> 00:11:17.409 out of left field. Well, and he gives a speech. 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:21.210 Yes. Like, like the next, uh, like the next. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:24.100 Five days of reading or a continuation of what 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:25.679 starts here. Oh my gosh, yeah. But we, I mean, 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:27.940 and I was, as we were kind of preparing for this 00:11:27.940 --> 00:11:30.559 podcast, I was looking like, man, we could really 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:33.019 cover days worth and just really look, I was 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:35.360 like, man, let's zero in on this beginning part 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:38.080 because there's so much interesting stuff in 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:40.139 just the very beginning of what he says. Yes. 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:42.679 And I think there's a lot of application that 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.019 we can give to our pursuers. And so, yeah, let 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:49.000 me just read August 4th. And so I'm reading from 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:50.870 the CSB. You can have a different translation, 00:11:51.070 --> 00:11:53.669 but as best you can, follow along with me. Here's 00:11:53.669 --> 00:11:56.789 what it says. Now, some Greeks were among those 00:11:56.789 --> 00:11:58.870 who went up to worship at the festival, so they 00:11:58.870 --> 00:12:02.269 came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, 00:12:02.350 --> 00:12:05.570 and requested of him, Sir, we want to see Jesus. 00:12:06.009 --> 00:12:08.950 Well, Philip went and told Andrew. Then Andrew 00:12:08.950 --> 00:12:12.029 and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus replied 00:12:12.029 --> 00:12:14.850 to them, The hour has come for the Son of Man 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:18.309 to be glorified. Truly I tell you, unless a grain 00:12:18.309 --> 00:12:21.470 of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:25.970 by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. 00:12:26.350 --> 00:12:28.610 The one who lives his life will lose it, and 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:30.850 the one who hates his life in this world will 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:34.950 keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, 00:12:35.049 --> 00:12:38.129 he must follow me where I am. There my servant 00:12:38.129 --> 00:12:41.570 also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father 00:12:41.570 --> 00:12:45.200 will honor him. There it is. There's our passage 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.200 that we're going to look at today. So like first 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.740 blush on this text, dude, like I love the almost 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:56.259 cartoonish intro. Yes. Like Greeks come to Philip. 00:12:56.460 --> 00:12:58.799 Philip comes to Andrew. Andrew comes to Jesus. 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:00.480 Jesus, we got some Greeks that want to talk to 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.340 you. Well, like it feels like a who's on first 00:13:03.340 --> 00:13:05.000 kind of deal. Like, hey, Philip, can we see him? 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:08.299 Andrew, should we get these? Let's ask Jesus, 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:10.840 you know? It's such a fun introduction. It really 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:13.460 is. So, but like, let's talk about these Greek 00:13:13.460 --> 00:13:15.539 dudes a little. Context of this passage, remember, 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:18.379 we're in Holy Week, which is like the week that 00:13:18.379 --> 00:13:21.720 Jesus was crucified. This is also Passover week. 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:25.200 So, the Jewish festival where they would celebrate. 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:27.649 you know, the deliverance from Egypt and how 00:13:27.649 --> 00:13:30.450 God passed over the sins of the people who were 00:13:30.450 --> 00:13:32.350 in Egypt, who had the blood at the post of the 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:35.090 doors. This is also near to the day of atonement 00:13:35.090 --> 00:13:37.250 where the high priest would go into the temple 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:41.029 and give, you know, give blood sacrifices for 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:44.730 the people of God. And so if the Greeks are here 00:13:44.730 --> 00:13:48.279 for the festival, It makes me wonder, were these 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:52.000 believing Greeks? Because we have records of, 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:54.000 I think they call them proselytes. We talked 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.500 about that in an earlier passage, where people 00:13:55.500 --> 00:13:58.100 from different ethnicities other than Judaism 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:01.240 would join the family of God and worship Yahweh 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:03.779 that way. Do you think that that's what's going 00:14:03.779 --> 00:14:06.570 on here? Yeah, I mean... There's one of two choices, 00:14:06.669 --> 00:14:08.590 I think, in this. And this is either they are 00:14:08.590 --> 00:14:11.490 ones that have been converted or they are extremely 00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:13.429 interested because, I mean, if they are seeking 00:14:13.429 --> 00:14:15.470 out Jesus. They showed up to Passover, number 00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:18.490 one. Exactly. And so they are absolutely interested, 00:14:18.629 --> 00:14:20.470 but I would lean definitely towards, I believe 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:23.590 that these are ones that are converts. Yeah. 00:14:23.649 --> 00:14:26.769 And so like they go to Philip and Philip goes 00:14:26.769 --> 00:14:30.129 to Andrew and then Andrew and Philip together 00:14:30.129 --> 00:14:35.549 go to Jesus. And Jesus straight up does not answer 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:38.200 their question. Not at all. Like, not at all, 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.179 not at all. The hour has come for the Son of 00:14:40.179 --> 00:14:42.720 Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:44.940 this is the ESV. Unless a grain of wheat falls 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:46.559 on the earth and dies, it remains alone. But 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.460 if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:50.500 his life loses it. Whoever hates his life in 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:54.039 the world will keep it for eternal life. And 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.480 I could see Philip and Andrew just kind of like 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.940 looking at each other like, so is that a yes 00:14:58.940 --> 00:15:04.919 or a no? But I mean, I feel like what Jesus is 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:07.269 saying here is like, They want to see me? They 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:11.350 want to see me? They're about to. Because the 00:15:11.350 --> 00:15:14.409 glorification of his name that he's talking about 00:15:14.409 --> 00:15:18.570 is his crucifixion. Yeah, so what he's referring 00:15:18.570 --> 00:15:20.409 to is, I mean, that's what he says. He says, 00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:24.080 the hour has come. I mean, it is about to happen. 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:26.159 And that's a theme throughout the book of John, 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:28.340 like where something will happen and Jesus will 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:30.320 say, my hour has not yet come. My hour has not 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.279 yet come. Like at the wedding at Cana, like his 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.279 first documented miracle in the book of John, 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.179 Mary's like, hey, Jesus, can you help these guys? 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.179 And he goes, my hour has not yet come. Which 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:44.360 is an interesting thing in and of itself. Like 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.720 Jesus is a single dude sitting at a wedding feast. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:51.299 And he says, my hour has not yet come. And I 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:56.080 wonder, what's going through his mind? So Jesus 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.220 never married on this earth. He didn't have a 00:15:59.220 --> 00:16:02.299 romantic relationship with anybody during his 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:06.039 time on earth. But the times that I have been 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.080 single at weddings, like before I married Maddie, 00:16:09.179 --> 00:16:12.600 there was something internal, at least in my 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:14.840 own heart. And this has definitely been like... 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:18.750 superimposing his thought process on Jesus. Dude, 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:21.549 when I've been single at a wedding, I have sat 00:16:21.549 --> 00:16:23.110 and looked and thought about my own wedding. 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:27.070 I wondered what that was like. I wondered what 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:29.450 the person was going to be like, who the woman 00:16:29.450 --> 00:16:31.549 was going to be standing across the aisle from 00:16:31.549 --> 00:16:34.789 me. Who's going to be in my wedding party? There's 00:16:34.789 --> 00:16:37.730 a longing that came with that for me. And I can't 00:16:37.730 --> 00:16:39.769 help but wonder when Jesus says that to Mary, 00:16:40.009 --> 00:16:43.049 like my time has not yet come, and now him saying, 00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:47.389 this is the hour. Like, Jesus is about to ransom 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:51.450 his bride. Like, the hour has come where he makes 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:55.590 a way for the people of God to have relationship 00:16:55.590 --> 00:16:58.549 with him. And so, like, this is actually a really 00:16:58.549 --> 00:17:00.970 weighty, weighty thing for him to say here. I 00:17:00.970 --> 00:17:04.130 agree. And so, you know, and that's why I said, 00:17:04.190 --> 00:17:06.910 like, on the surface level, he's not directly 00:17:06.910 --> 00:17:09.420 responding to the question, which... That's, 00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:12.019 I mean, that's Jesus, you know. His thought process 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:14.420 is so above all else. Classic Jesus. But I do 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.299 love, like, once he establishes, like, hey, the 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:21.180 hour has not, or the hour has come for the Son 00:17:21.180 --> 00:17:23.579 of Man to be glorified. And these times, he's 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:25.619 like, are you ready for this? It's kind of like 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:29.539 what we're seeing here. And I find the illustration, 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.940 it's almost like a mini parable he gives right 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:35.220 here. Really interesting. I really love what 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:38.660 he does here. And so he says, truly, I tell you, 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:42.519 unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:47.640 dies, it remains by itself. And so I'm picturing 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.000 this in my brain and I'm loving this visual because 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:52.440 it shows you like, okay, the idea that he's given 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.279 is that the grain of wheat, It could stay, you 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:59.079 know, it could be plucked off and stay grain 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:01.859 forever, right? It's the same idea of like, you 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:04.240 know, we have packages of seeds, right? Yeah. 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:07.019 And you can have those seeds and those seeds 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:13.059 could stay seeds forever. Or if they're willing 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:15.140 to die to themselves, because that's what has 00:18:15.140 --> 00:18:19.500 to happen in order for a tree, a. for something 00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:22.079 to come out of that seed, the seed has to go 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:24.400 away. It's essentially what Jesus is saying. 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:26.480 That seed is never seen again. Yeah, it's gone. 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:28.380 It's gone because then it produces something 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:32.440 new. And so what Jesus is saying is that truly, 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:34.039 I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.640 the ground and dies, it remains by itself. So 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:38.740 it's going to remain. Unless it does it, it's 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:42.819 going to remain in its original form. But if 00:18:42.819 --> 00:18:46.359 it dies... It produces much fruit. And so it 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:48.259 really reminds me. And then he goes in and he 00:18:48.259 --> 00:18:50.519 talks about, you know, he kind of explains it 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:52.500 a little bit. But when I first read that, I was 00:18:52.500 --> 00:18:57.180 like, it reminded me of who I once was. And like, 00:18:57.180 --> 00:19:03.079 I could have chosen to stay my old lost self. 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:05.599 But if I would have done that, if I would have 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.220 stayed as a grain of wheat of who I was, and 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:12.660 I would have not died to myself to follow Jesus. 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:17.049 I would have never experienced what it was to 00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:19.609 produce the fruit that Jesus has put into me. 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:23.230 Yeah. And just to put it in more practical terms, 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:27.789 when I think back to high school, Sean, and if 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:30.569 you would have told high school Sean where I'm 00:19:30.569 --> 00:19:33.049 sitting at today, there's no way I would have 00:19:33.049 --> 00:19:35.210 believed it. Right, yeah. Because my mindset 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:38.130 was so radically different. I was not following 00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:41.230 Jesus. I was following my own ways. I was not 00:19:41.230 --> 00:19:43.230 willing to die to myself. In fact, that was one 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:45.369 of my biggest issues. I had all these people 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:47.170 telling me, you need to change. You need to be 00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:49.390 different. You need to follow Jesus. And I was 00:19:49.390 --> 00:19:52.049 like, forget you. I'm not doing that. I'm going 00:19:52.049 --> 00:19:56.250 to live the lust of my heart, and I'm going to 00:19:56.250 --> 00:19:58.650 live for myself because myself is what's most 00:19:58.650 --> 00:20:02.950 important. And that's it. That's what Jesus is 00:20:02.950 --> 00:20:05.829 saying. Like, hey, I'm about to be glorified. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.279 And then he goes on. It's like the one who loves 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.759 his life will lose it. Will lose it. So, hey, 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:16.680 you want to stay in your old ways? You want to 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:19.160 hold on to that life that you think is so precious? 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:21.920 Guess what? It's not going to end well for you. 00:20:22.059 --> 00:20:24.240 Well, and so Jesus establishes the principle 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.779 here, right? The hours come for him to be glorified. 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:28.579 Then he gives an analogy to explain it in earthly 00:20:28.579 --> 00:20:31.799 terms. For the new thing to come, the old has 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:34.839 to die. And then he gives kind of the theological 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:38.059 backing for it in 25. Whoever loves his life 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:40.099 will lose it, and whoever hates his life in this 00:20:40.099 --> 00:20:44.380 world will keep it for eternal life. Now, it's 00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:47.180 important to recognize the words love and hate 00:20:47.180 --> 00:20:49.740 mean a little bit of different things to us than 00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:52.039 they do to the first -century Jewish audience. 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:54.759 You see it in Hebrews, this same love and hate 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:57.599 dynamic where it says God loved Jacob and hated 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:01.119 Esau. It's not like an actual love and hate emotionally 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:04.339 thing. It's a question of priorities. Yes. And 00:21:04.339 --> 00:21:06.640 he clarifies that, too, with the hate. Yeah. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:08.440 Because it's not just hates his life. It's hates 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.019 his life in this world. Yes. Yeah. And so he's 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:14.670 saying... the thing I am about to go through, 00:21:14.730 --> 00:21:17.549 like this glorification that Jesus is referring 00:21:17.549 --> 00:21:20.609 to that involves being publicly flogged and mocked 00:21:20.609 --> 00:21:23.230 and crucified and losing all of his friends and 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:26.549 all that stuff is part of the dying to self thing. 00:21:26.910 --> 00:21:30.769 And if, but here's the deal. If you love your 00:21:30.769 --> 00:21:33.549 life on this earth, you're not willing to undergo 00:21:33.549 --> 00:21:36.509 the process of crucifixion. Yeah. And physical 00:21:36.509 --> 00:21:39.869 crucifixion is not what Jesus asks of all of 00:21:39.869 --> 00:21:44.289 us, obviously, but he does say, if anyone would 00:21:44.289 --> 00:21:46.269 come after me, let him take up his cross and 00:21:46.269 --> 00:21:48.970 follow me. Yes. And I think we've all got our 00:21:48.970 --> 00:21:53.150 own unique crucifixion -level agonies that we 00:21:53.150 --> 00:21:55.430 wrestle with. Just based off of our own things 00:21:55.430 --> 00:21:58.710 that we need to die to personally. And for everyone, 00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:01.210 that's different. 100%. Right? We've got to look 00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:03.349 at the things that, what is the thing that you're 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:05.690 holding on to dearly? Because I think there's 00:22:05.690 --> 00:22:08.210 a lot of, there can be some things in different 00:22:08.210 --> 00:22:12.380 people's lives that, you have not been willing 00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:15.220 to give up for Jesus. Yeah. And that's the thing 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:17.960 that he's asking you to crucify. And, and it's 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:20.900 interesting. Like there's a real, there's a real 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:23.180 sense in which we put that on the cross. Jesus, 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:25.359 I lay this down. And there's a very real sense 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:28.539 where he helps you to do that as well. Oh, absolutely. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.579 Like, cause, cause, cause I, it could be easy 00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:33.549 to walk out of here being like, all right. I 00:22:33.549 --> 00:22:37.609 have to find the seven things that I am refusing 00:22:37.609 --> 00:22:38.950 to give up to give to God. It's like, no, no, 00:22:38.970 --> 00:22:41.789 no, no, no. He's going to show you. He's going 00:22:41.789 --> 00:22:43.569 to help you address those in his timing. And 00:22:43.569 --> 00:22:45.890 he's going to show you what crucifying those 00:22:45.890 --> 00:22:48.289 parts of your flesh. Well, and I truly believe 00:22:48.289 --> 00:22:52.650 too that that's what you're saying. I mean, it's 00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:55.029 not about like searching your heart because you're 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:56.170 not going to have to search your heart for these 00:22:56.170 --> 00:22:59.240 things. Sometimes. I think that a lot of these, 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.359 especially if the Holy Spirit is dealing with 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.859 you in these, you're going to realize that this 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:05.519 is something that you are placing over the Lord. 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:07.579 It might not be something you've admitted out 00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:11.220 loud, but you know that it is an idol in your 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:14.480 heart. Now, I do agree with you as well. There 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:17.759 could be times where we have mini idols, or miniature, 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:21.700 not mini, mini, M -I -N -I. We could have mini... 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:27.259 Not M -I -N -I -E, like Minnie Mouse? We could 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:32.140 have many. But there could be things that are 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:34.980 developing, and maybe we haven't realized that 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:36.619 this is going to be an issue yet. Blind spots. 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:40.180 But the Lord will show it to us. The Lord will 00:23:40.180 --> 00:23:42.400 absolutely show it to us. You know, one of the 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.880 things I was thinking about, like the metaphor 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:48.099 of the seed that Jesus is talking about, one 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:49.420 of the things that I was thinking about with 00:23:49.420 --> 00:23:55.640 the seed dying, multiplying great fruit, Practice 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:59.900 of dying to self is not just for individual spirituality. 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.200 This is one of the takeaways that I had for this. 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:06.440 Part of dying to ourselves is also how the church 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:11.099 functions. In a very real sense, if we all walk 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:14.000 in here with our own preferences, our own desires, 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.420 our own pet projects, and we refuse to die to 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:21.500 ourselves, around other believers, what you get 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:24.559 is a bunch of individual seeds in one bag that 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:28.460 don't grow. But if we are willing to die to ourselves 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:31.579 and let Christ be the one who sets that tempo, 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:33.799 like verse 26, if anybody serves me, he will 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:35.819 follow me. And where I am there, my servant will 00:24:35.819 --> 00:24:39.720 be also. Then he will grow us together. Like 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:42.000 I think it's Colossians 1, growing up into Christ 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:44.519 who is the head of the church. But so, dude, 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:46.299 dying to ourselves in community, I think, can 00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:48.400 be harder sometimes than dying to ourselves individually. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:52.940 I can definitely see that in times where, especially 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:57.960 in church, that it can be so easy to become selfish 00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:01.660 in how we want to worship God. And instead, the 00:25:01.660 --> 00:25:04.160 church is a place to serve. We are the bride 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:07.940 of Christ, and we are to be here to help others 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:13.819 grow and to serve our Lord. And there could be 00:25:13.819 --> 00:25:17.819 times that that can be difficult. I think it's 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:21.579 easy. to get in a church rut, you know, where 00:25:21.579 --> 00:25:25.160 we do the same thing every week. And if we're 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:29.720 not careful, church does become tradition very 00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:34.319 fast. You know, even just the getting up and 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:36.619 going, you know. And so that's something we have 00:25:36.619 --> 00:25:38.920 to guard our hearts about, about like, is this 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:40.759 something where I have truly died to myself? 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:44.940 Yeah. And I am willing to go out there and realize 00:25:44.940 --> 00:25:47.660 that I am here. The reason that I am at church 00:25:47.660 --> 00:25:52.420 is to glorify God and to bring others closer 00:25:52.420 --> 00:25:56.140 to him. Yeah, absolutely. And death to self is 00:25:56.140 --> 00:26:00.380 the beginning. If it dies, it bears much fruit. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:04.480 And I feel like that is definitely not a one 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:07.460 -time thing. Like, I'm not going to go out of 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:09.720 here and be like, Lord, show me all the idols 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:11.359 in my life so that I can die to myself. This 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.140 day, I'm dying to them all. Yes. Because, dude, 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.119 in the words of the prophet KB, your idols are 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.019 mimicking Jesus. You bury your sin in three days, 00:26:20.059 --> 00:26:24.740 it's back up again. Huh? Your idols are mimicking. 00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:26.140 I got it. I got it. I got it. Keep going. Keep 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:29.240 going. Like, I think that death to self is, I 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:31.660 mean, I think Jesus even says in the text we 00:26:31.660 --> 00:26:34.720 quoted earlier, take up your cross daily and 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.230 follow him. You know what shows so clearly when 00:26:38.230 --> 00:26:44.589 we're carrying our cross? Our weakness. Our inabilities 00:26:44.589 --> 00:26:49.029 to carry it well. I think about Jesus. A couple 00:26:49.029 --> 00:26:54.230 of days past our reading, we'll be into the passion 00:26:54.230 --> 00:26:56.930 narrative where he buckles under the weight of 00:26:56.930 --> 00:27:00.329 the wood on top of him. And I think that happens 00:27:00.329 --> 00:27:03.490 to us sometimes too, man. as we're carrying our 00:27:03.490 --> 00:27:05.910 cross, as we're doing the hard, heavy soul work 00:27:05.910 --> 00:27:09.670 of asking the Lord to kill that flesh in us, 00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:11.750 it can be really hard to carry that weight alone. 00:27:11.950 --> 00:27:13.690 And I think that's another reason for community 00:27:13.690 --> 00:27:18.230 in the church. The Lord is sufficient to kill 00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:21.009 the idols in my life, to allow me to die to myself. 00:27:21.349 --> 00:27:23.809 But as part of his design, he wants me to do 00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:25.880 that in the community. Oh, we are absolutely 00:27:25.880 --> 00:27:28.559 designed to be in community with each other, 00:27:28.660 --> 00:27:33.039 especially in the church. Yeah. I mean, we are 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.519 supposed to be here to share each other's burdens, 00:27:35.660 --> 00:27:40.359 to help each other through this journey. We can't 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:43.460 do it on our own. And even, I mean, is the church 00:27:43.460 --> 00:27:47.099 imperfect? 100%. Are there people in the church 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:49.359 that are going to do something to upset you? 00:27:49.710 --> 00:27:51.529 Guess what? We're all human. We're all flawed. 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:54.910 Absolutely. It's going to happen. And if it's 00:27:54.910 --> 00:27:57.029 already happened, I'm here to tell you it's going 00:27:57.029 --> 00:27:59.890 to happen again. That's what happens when you 00:27:59.890 --> 00:28:04.089 have flawed humans. However, we're all on this 00:28:04.089 --> 00:28:08.289 journey together from the top of the leadership 00:28:08.289 --> 00:28:10.950 to the one that just walked in the door. We're 00:28:10.950 --> 00:28:14.390 all in this journey together, and we are here 00:28:14.390 --> 00:28:17.650 to be community and to guide each other as much 00:28:17.650 --> 00:28:21.200 as we can. And so I think two takeaways that 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.380 I would love to give our people today and two 00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:26.099 takeaways that I found for myself in this text 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.660 is, first of all, just very in line with what 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:32.279 we're saying, what are the areas that God is 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:35.740 calling you to die to yourself? Take that time 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.880 this week, maybe even hit and pause after this 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:41.200 podcast, and just asking the Lord, like, Holy 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.140 Spirit, will you show me the areas in my life 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:47.319 that you are calling me to be like this grain 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:50.380 of wheat? to fall to the earth and die? What 00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:53.559 is choking out my relationship with you? And 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:55.140 actually, I was talking to somebody about this 00:28:55.140 --> 00:28:59.960 passage earlier. And as a practical bit of advice 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:04.220 for those that are going through that, whatever 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:06.680 that thing is, when you've discovered what that 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:10.339 is, don't keep focusing on it. And what I mean 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:16.059 by that is, if you realize that you're struggling 00:29:16.059 --> 00:29:18.769 with something, right? And you keep on telling 00:29:18.769 --> 00:29:20.849 yourself, okay, don't do that, don't do that, 00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:22.349 don't do that, don't do that, don't do that, 00:29:22.390 --> 00:29:23.869 don't do that, don't do that. Well, guess what? 00:29:23.910 --> 00:29:25.190 You're still thinking about it all the time. 00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:29.930 Instead, focus on getting closer to Jesus. Because 00:29:29.930 --> 00:29:32.230 what happens is whatever that thing you're struggling 00:29:32.230 --> 00:29:34.349 with, it's good to recognize it, it's good to 00:29:34.349 --> 00:29:36.849 pinpoint it, and it is great to realize this 00:29:36.849 --> 00:29:39.569 is an area of struggle. We have to do that. After 00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:43.289 that step, we go back to Jesus. Because what 00:29:43.289 --> 00:29:47.099 happens is whatever that thing is, As you get 00:29:47.099 --> 00:29:49.220 closer to Jesus and you get closer in his word 00:29:49.220 --> 00:29:53.799 and the more that you abide in Jesus. the fruit 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:55.759 of the Spirit naturally comes. A hundred percent. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:58.119 And as the fruit of the Spirit naturally comes, 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:00.200 that's when you're going to see those areas in 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:02.259 your life shrink. Where if you keep on waking 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:04.440 up every morning and instead of focusing on Jesus, 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:05.940 you're saying, okay, today I'm not going to do 00:30:05.940 --> 00:30:07.240 this. Don't do this. Don't do this. Guess what? 00:30:07.299 --> 00:30:08.539 You're going to be thinking about it all day 00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:11.240 and you're going to struggle. Yeah. And I think 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:12.980 that's a very scriptural way to go about it. 00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:15.480 The Book of Romans, like, do not be conformed 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:17.839 to the ways of this world. but be transformed 00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:20.779 by the renewing of your mind. Or elsewhere, set 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:24.119 your mind on the things that are above where 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:26.099 Christ is. For to set your mind on the things 00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:30.759 of flesh is death. It takes it that intense, 00:30:30.900 --> 00:30:34.019 but to set your mind on Christ is life, and I 00:30:34.019 --> 00:30:37.140 think a life abundantly. And so the other thing 00:30:37.140 --> 00:30:38.660 that I wanted to point out to our people today 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:44.319 is this. If you see somebody around you, Like 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:47.579 a fellow brother or sister who is wrestling with 00:30:47.579 --> 00:30:50.940 that dying process, who you see struggling to 00:30:50.940 --> 00:30:54.480 bear their cross, help them carry it, man. Like 00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:56.779 we were not made to do this alone. And if you 00:30:56.779 --> 00:31:00.339 need some help carrying, take the courage through 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:02.759 the spirit to ask for help. Well, and that's 00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:03.980 one of the things I was going to say to follow 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.299 up with that is that, especially when we go to 00:31:07.299 --> 00:31:09.359 church, we're really good at putting on our happy 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:12.059 face. Cheese. How are you doing today? Oh, I'm 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:13.859 great. Living the dream. You're dying inside. 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.299 Straight up. And so, yes, we definitely, as ourselves, 00:31:18.460 --> 00:31:20.000 we need to be honest with other people when they 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.240 ask us that question. But at the same time, if 00:31:22.240 --> 00:31:24.119 we're genuine with the questions we ask people 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:26.079 and we're genuinely curious about the people 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:28.920 that we're around, we'll find out. 100%. So instead 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:31.380 of just doing the, oh, how are you doing this 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:33.200 morning? Why don't you ask some other questions 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:35.299 as well? And then the more questions you ask, 00:31:35.380 --> 00:31:36.680 the more you'll get to the heart of how someone's 00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:38.819 actually doing. And be willing to be brave with 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:41.880 safe people. Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:46.259 strange benediction for a podcast at the end, 00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:51.200 but I will say, you pursuers, go and die. Yeah, 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:53.920 I'll let you say that. It's a little intense, 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:58.900 isn't it? It is, but in the context of the podcast, 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:02.519 it makes sense. Yes, yes it does. It's been fun. 00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:09.059 I'm Ben Smith. I'm Sean Griffin, y 'all. I don't 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:10.519 know. I definitely can't replicate whatever I 00:32:10.519 --> 00:32:11.599 did in the beginning because I don't remember 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:13.960 what it was. Well, we'll have to edit that and 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.359 post it. I'll see you guys next week. All right. 00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:25.960 Love you guys. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Pursuing Jesus 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:29.400 is a ministry of Memorial Baptist Church in Norwood, 00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:30.039 North Carolina.