WEBVTT

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Let me ask you something. How many of you are

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still following your New Year's resolutions?

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Okay, okay, we got a few and we gotta laugh.

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Okay, good. How many of you had to modify the

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New Year's resolutions a little bit there? Okay,

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okay, we got one over there. Okay, that's honest.

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Okay, how many of you completely gave up on the

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New Year's resolutions? Okay, good. And how many

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of you just think that they're stupid? Okay.

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All right. That's the rest of y 'all. Okay. Good.

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There you go. There you go. Okay. Now, we're

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awake. You are among friends. All right. Now,

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I'm going to tell you this, y 'all. I did get

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to lose the Germany five, those five pounds that

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I managed to find with all of the schnitzel and

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the good brews. I know, right? Yay. The rest

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of what I was planning to lose is still there,

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though. So, see, that's the thing is that that

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part worked, but... That does not mean that this

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trip and everything else, that everything else

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has magically fallen into place. You see, taking

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a chance for vacation and being able to step

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away and enjoy the time, this can be good. I

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know I felt a reset, a space to breathe, space

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to step back, space to see things just a little

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more clearly. But it didn't turn me into a different

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person. It didn't erase all the old habits. It

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didn't fix everything. It just gave me some fresh

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eyes. And I think that that's where many of us

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are right now. As we are looking forward into

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2026, many of us are still struggling with how

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we see ourselves. Because for many of us, we

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are still measuring progress. We're still wondering

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whether we're moving forward or if we're quietly

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falling behind. We're still trying to figure

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out whether God's grace is something that we

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rest in or something we feel we need to catch

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up with Somewhere along the way in our life.

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We we face the fact that habits will slip Motivation

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fades the follow -through does not last Failure

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starts whispering a familiar message that maybe

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Maybe all these ideas you have where you want

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to be, maybe this just isn't who you are. But

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scripture tells us a very different story about

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who you are. Isaiah says, before I was born,

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the Lord called me. Before your efforts, before

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your obedience, before your success, but also

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before your failures. God did not wait to see

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how you were going to turn out. He did not discover

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your weaknesses later and then be like, You know,

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I'm going to reconsider my plans for you. He

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knew you fully, even in the womb, your limits

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and your strengths. He knew the ways that you

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would stumble, and yet still, He called you to

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be His own. And for purposes that we don't even

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know yet. Who we are and where we are going has

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been known by God long before we could even imagine.

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And that does not mean that our lives are scripted

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in some way that are supposed to control us like

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machines, that's not what Scripture speaks. What

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it does tell us is that God sees more than just

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the moment we're standing in, and still chooses

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to work through us. He knows where we hesitate.

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He knows where we resist, and He knows where

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we fail. And even with that knowledge, God prepares

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lives and futures that make room for exactly

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who we are. See, Isaiah was not written to people

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who had it all together. It was spoken to exiled

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people. Israel was called to follow the Lord,

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to trust Him, to be shaped by His Word, but as

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a whole, they did not. They chased other gods.

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They relied on their own strength. They ignored

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justice and doing what was right in God's eyes.

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They forgot mercy and showing fellow human beings

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grace. See, the exile they were in, it was not

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an accident. They had earned it. And yet within

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their 70 -year failure and even more, there was

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a remnant. people who endured, people who still

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prayed, people who still remembered the promises.

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There were those who still desired to follow

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after God. And yet, even that remnant, they were

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not ready. They were wounded. Hurt on the inside.

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They were bitter about the situation that they

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were in so often. And they were tired of feeling

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rejected. You are the people of God, and yet

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here we are, taken away from our home. Unsure

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whether they even had a place in the world anymore

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at all. And their faithfulness, it was not enough

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to bring them home because their endurance was

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not going to earn a return to Judah. Isaiah makes

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this clear. They're not restored because they

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are ready. They are restored because God is gracious.

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God does not say, well, now you've learned your

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lesson. He says, I have not forgotten you. He

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says, I have formed you. He says, I will bring

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you back. Their return is an act of mercy. It's

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not a reward. Because a reward would mean that

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they had earned it. See, that's why Isaiah is

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turning our attention not just to Israel, not

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just the remnant, but to the servant. Israel

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failed to live its calling fully. Even the faithful

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remnant fell short. So God sends one who will

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embody Israel's calling perfectly. Before you

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leave the exile to get over here, I am telling

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you there will be one who will be there that

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will be my servant. The servant listens when

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others do not. The servant trusts when others

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turn away. The servant becomes a light not only

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for Israel, but for the nations. It's not about

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replacing Israel. It's about fulfilling what

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Israel could not complete on its own. And this

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is where the church needs to be honest with itself.

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We are called. We are marked by God. We are sent

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by Him into the world. And we regularly fail

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to live that calling fully. And that matters

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when we look at the disciples that Jesus calls,

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because these are not the confident, qualified

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candidates. Many of them, they were already passed

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over, okay? Because they were not chosen to follow

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a rabbi earlier in life, at the stage whenever

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they would have tried to study and to be prepared

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for a rabbi to let them follow after, they were

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rejected. Not the first cut. Not the first string.

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Not the obvious choices. And there are plenty

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of reasons, frankly, for them to believe that

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they were disqualified. There were tempers. There

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were insecurities. They had a lack of fancy words

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and political skills and how many of them did

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not have the money to convince a rabbi to let

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them study. But Jesus calls them anyway. Not

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because they're impressive. Not because they're

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ready for anything. Not because they have it

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all figured out. Each one of them, they have

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a part to play. Not alone, but together. None

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of them are interchangeable. You can't just switch

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one for another. Each one is necessary. And none

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of them are carried simply just by being close

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to the right group. Let me give you a picture.

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Imagine two grown men standing on a platform

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in Germany trying to figure out whether they're

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getting on the right monorail. The sign looks

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right. It's in German. It looks right. The map

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mostly makes sense. But one of them is overly

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confident while the other is not confident enough

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to say it with authority. So they hesitate. They

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second -guess. They question. And by the time

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that they almost agree, One of them is stepping

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onto the monorail while the other one misses

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it altogether. Clearly, I'm not talking about

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anybody that I know. It's ridiculous really.

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Both are capable adults, but neither fully trust

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what they're seeing or each other. But here's

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the thing. These are two different people with

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different strengths. One notices details, the

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other sees a big picture. One wants the certainty,

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the other is willing to move and adjust. And

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then just when you think you have it figured

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out and the next day begins, the roles reverse.

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And the other one wants certainty and the other

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and the first is willing to adjust. And instead

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of recognizing that those differences are meant

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to work together, they treat them like obstacles.

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They are not on the trip so that one of them

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could have it all figured out while the other

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one always has to follow. They were meant to

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see more clearly together. That's how God works

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so often with us. See, Jesus does not say, explain

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things to me correctly once you have it all figured

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out. Instead he says, come, follow me and see.

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to a community that needs one another to truly

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believe. Andrew and likely John are the ones

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that are listening to John the Baptist and they

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are prepared to notice that John is finally appointed

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to a Messiah. And when they do, what do they

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do? They tell the others. Andrew goes to his

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brother Simon. John goes off to tell James, which

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raises the question, would Peter and James have

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followed without Andrew and John first saying

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something? Peter and James needed Andrew and

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John to be ready. But Andrew and John would have

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the times when they would need Peter and James

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as well. Because they had businesses, families,

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responsibilities. Leaving all of this was not

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impulsive. There were these repeated encounters

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over and over and listening and seeing nets overflow

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and realizing this is from God. He is from God.

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You see faith, it grows in a relationship. See

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calling is awakened in a community. There are

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no elite followers who can be the perfect servant

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of the Lord alone. If you think you are the one

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to fulfill the place of the servant, I can guarantee

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you are wrong. Because so often people resist,

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we turn away, we reject what God has in mind

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even after giving their hearts over to God. Whatever

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you have accepted, God knows how much we will

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butcher the whole thing, but He doesn't reject

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us. He invites. See, you are baptized into God's

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kingdom not because you understand everything

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about it. You never will in this world, but because

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you are loved. Not because you'll never fail,

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but because failure does not have the final word.

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Most of us don't struggle with Isaiah's idea

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that God could call us before birth. That's not

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as big of an issue, though we spend a lot of

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time politicizing it more than hearing that it's

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calling more than anything else. But we do struggle

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with the idea that God could call us with water,

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wine, bread. Spoken forgiveness Because that

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would be too passive. It'd be too difficult to

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define to understand to control But scripture

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never separates the grace of God from whatever

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means he chooses to use for us Because God knows

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that speaking into the darkness We each need

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it in a different way Whether as a community

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or an individual you see Nothing about this life

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of faith works very well alone. Sorry, introverts.

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See, that's true of New Year's resolutions and

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it's true of faith. The church exists not to

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erase the individuality that we have, but to

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sustain us because we can't do it on our own.

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It's not about replacing your response. You are

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still called to respond, but to support each

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other as we do. To remind you who you are when

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you forget, because let's be honest, how often

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do we forget what God has called us to be? To

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speak hope when the discouragement takes over

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and we cannot see that we are God's child. In

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Isaiah, the people, he's speaking into the exile

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and God says, you're still known, you're still

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called, you're still part of my plan. The people

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cannot make themselves righteous. They cannot

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rescue themselves from exile. The king out of

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nowhere just decided to let them go. And that's

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the thing is that God speaks. I have called you.

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I have formed you. I have not forgotten you.

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And He grounds that promise in His servant. The

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one who will be faithful when Israel failed.

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The one who will be light for the nations. Even

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when God's people failed to be servants, the

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true servant does not fail. When I was a teacher,

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it was easy to become aware very quickly of how

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much I did not know. How often we would be doing

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a lesson and a student would come up and say,

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did you just learn this yesterday? And I'd be

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like, no, absolutely not. And they knew me well

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enough to enjoy the sarcasm because What was

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the point of pretending that I knew everything

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in advance? See, I did not go to school to be

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a teacher. I did not have the same training.

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I didn't know always how to prepare or how to

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plan. And there were plenty of moments where

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I felt behind before the day even started. But

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there was also a deep sense, a quiet conviction

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that for whatever reason I was meant to be there.

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to mentor the young men, to transform the math

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department, to lead the outdoors program, to

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share the gospel because the opportunity might

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come up. See, I was supposed to be a part of

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that community, and I was meant to be a blessing

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in that place, even though I didn't always see

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how. And there are frustrations, okay? There's

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ups and there's downs. There are days when I

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was wondering if I did any good at all, and the

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kids would be talking in class about which favorite

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teacher they wanted to speak at graduation, and

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you're just finding yourself wondering, does

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that list include me? Or am I just getting in

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the way? And in many ways, that experience mirrors

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what we see and live out in this faith community

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quite often. Am I just getting in the way? We

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do not always believe that You've got it figured

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out Okay, we're not expecting that all of your

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plans are fully formed and that everything's

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figured out that everything is cleaned up and

00:15:52.419 --> 00:15:54.580
settled We do not expect that you're gonna do

00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:58.779
it right all the time We do not expect you can

00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:01.039
handle everything exactly as you should that's

00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.419
never been the requirement But there are times

00:16:04.419 --> 00:16:08.080
when it does mean to slow down There are times

00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.240
when we do have to say this is not the moment

00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:16.950
this is not the place This is not the way, even

00:16:16.950 --> 00:16:20.730
without Baby Yoda. Not because there is no calling,

00:16:20.809 --> 00:16:22.970
not because there is no purpose, but because

00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:26.629
sometimes the calling may need time to be revealed

00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:30.070
for you. Maybe it needs to take shape differently

00:16:30.070 --> 00:16:33.850
than how you imagined. I mean, I see that in

00:16:33.850 --> 00:16:36.110
myself. I can look back and see all the support

00:16:36.110 --> 00:16:39.419
that I've needed. How much help that I've depended

00:16:39.419 --> 00:16:41.940
on, how the context needed to be in community,

00:16:42.259 --> 00:16:44.440
even during moments when I know I've resisted,

00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:48.620
I didn't want to hear it. People were still encouraging,

00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:52.340
walking alongside, helping me to stay grounded

00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:55.340
when I felt unsure. And that's what this community

00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:58.779
is meant to be about. Not because any one of

00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:00.960
us has it all together, not because we've got

00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:04.980
it figured out. The path was prepared before

00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:09.839
you were born. You do not see all of it yet You

00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.099
just don't but you do not walk it unloved or

00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:16.900
unnamed or alone Because grace is not a race

00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:19.339
that you run on your own It's a relay together

00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:22.019
and it is lived out in the middle of everything

00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:25.400
we do together and that tension between who we

00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:29.980
are Who we wish we were and who God says we already

00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:34.200
are is exactly where today meets us, but even

00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:37.369
as I may have been called in that community.

00:17:38.349 --> 00:17:40.950
I also knew that there was something bigger and

00:17:40.950 --> 00:17:44.529
deeper to move into. Because that's what all

00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:47.829
of us have. Because that's how Christ sends his

00:17:47.829 --> 00:17:52.789
people. It's not because we're complete or confident

00:17:52.789 --> 00:17:56.930
or mastering every path. It's because we're loved.

00:17:58.029 --> 00:18:01.750
We're not sent away from Christ. We're not like

00:18:01.750 --> 00:18:04.349
leaving Christ to go represent him to the world.

00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:09.500
we are sent in Christ, carried by Him, shaped

00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.019
by His Spirit. That's the pattern for all of

00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:14.740
us. See, God calls us with our particular strengths

00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:17.539
and limitations and then places us in community

00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:21.619
where those differences actually matter. They

00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:25.119
aren't warts to be removed. We are each needed

00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.619
and none of us is meant to do this alone. The

00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:31.960
church has often struggled here. I'll be honest.

00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:35.380
Instead of saying, I see what you're seeing,

00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.900
how often we rush to, okay, I heard you, now

00:18:38.900 --> 00:18:42.440
let me explain why you're wrong. We are called

00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:44.940
to be the light of the world, but more often

00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:47.880
than we like to admit, we fall short. And even

00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:50.299
those who take faith seriously, the ones who

00:18:50.299 --> 00:18:52.779
read the Scriptures, the ones who pray, the ones

00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:55.059
who know that we are called to care for the widows,

00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:57.779
the orphans, the poor, the foreigner, the rejected,

00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:02.079
even we still stumble, we hesitate, we fail.

00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:07.119
We fear admitting our need for one another Yet

00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.480
even when God's people fail to serve as they

00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.759
should the true servant of the Lord does not

00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:15.940
Because Christ has already given himself fully

00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:19.519
and he remains faithful to us So maybe that's

00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.579
why God's mission for us feels so intimidating

00:19:21.579 --> 00:19:25.099
We feel we're being exposed. We're afraid to

00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:27.440
admit we need the same forgiveness as everyone

00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.359
else We're afraid of being labeled when the truth

00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.460
is simply that we are sinners, all of us living

00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:38.819
by grace alone. And maybe we're afraid because

00:19:38.819 --> 00:19:42.059
we imagine being sent to the world apart from

00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:45.940
Christ on our own strength. But that's not how

00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:49.740
the sending works. We are sent in Christ, carried

00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:53.039
by Him, forgiven by Him, shaped by His Spirit.

00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.920
We always have been. So over this last year,

00:19:56.940 --> 00:19:59.640
whether it's been challenges, new efforts, simply

00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:03.069
facing your limits, All of us are getting a little

00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:06.769
older. Many of us have felt uncertain about the

00:20:06.769 --> 00:20:09.130
next step. But even if you're taking something

00:20:09.130 --> 00:20:12.730
silly and mundane as going to the gym, you wouldn't

00:20:12.730 --> 00:20:16.170
stop at the door and ask whether you belong to

00:20:16.170 --> 00:20:18.549
be there. And if that's what you did, go in.

00:20:19.349 --> 00:20:23.130
You got the membership for a reason. But we show

00:20:23.130 --> 00:20:26.609
up and we see what happens next. We don't assume

00:20:26.609 --> 00:20:29.630
we're disqualified before we even begin. We take

00:20:29.630 --> 00:20:31.829
what's in front of us and we learn as we go.

00:20:32.369 --> 00:20:35.569
And that's our calling in faith. Because even

00:20:35.569 --> 00:20:38.130
when others may see our flaws and they will see

00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:43.009
our flaws, even when those who know us best know

00:20:43.009 --> 00:20:45.829
how imperfect we are, we step into the calling

00:20:45.829 --> 00:20:48.589
that God has placed before us. Because our place

00:20:48.589 --> 00:20:51.049
in the body of Christ was never earned by having

00:20:51.049 --> 00:20:54.549
it all together. We belong because Christ is

00:20:54.549 --> 00:20:57.190
faithful. We are included because He is perfect

00:20:57.190 --> 00:21:00.509
and He has loved us enough to claim us as his

00:21:00.509 --> 00:21:05.309
own. So maybe the resolution before us is not

00:21:05.309 --> 00:21:08.690
to figure everything out, but to admit that we

00:21:08.690 --> 00:21:12.430
never do. To trust that grace is already at work

00:21:12.430 --> 00:21:15.309
and to allow our lives, our community, our calling

00:21:15.309 --> 00:21:18.349
to be shaped not by confidence in ourselves,

00:21:19.230 --> 00:21:22.410
but by Christ Jesus who calls and sustains and

00:21:22.410 --> 00:21:26.029
sends us in his name. So instead of resolving

00:21:26.029 --> 00:21:29.079
to have it all figured out, Maybe we resolve

00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.700
to admit that we don't Because grace is not to

00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:36.480
be run on our own The path was prepared before

00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.380
you were born You don't see all of it yet But

00:21:40.380 --> 00:21:45.880
you do not go unnamed Unloved or alone and the

00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:51.019
God who called you has not stopped calling you

00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:52.200
Thanks be to God