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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from his word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
So thank you all for being here.

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Seriously, on a cold, wintry 
night, I think we'll be safe 

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getting home a little wet. 
Y'all be careful after 

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Snowmageddon and hope that 
everybody has survived. 

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Well, I, as I shared this 
morning and our staff devotion, 

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I do feel like it's important 
for me as an official citizen of

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Nashville, NC, to offer a 
sincere apology to the citizens 

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of Rocky Mount for accusing you 
of stealing our water. 

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But that's a whole nother story.
You either know exactly what I'm

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talking about or or not. 
But we're still, I think, 

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boiling. 
We're still boiling, right? 

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Yeah, yeah. 
So I'm used to that. 

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Feel like I'm on one of my 
trips, so that's good. 

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But anyway, glad you're here. 
And so and also for those of you

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who are listening online, we 
obviously this was recorded 

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during a winter time experience.
So hope you got a hand out. 

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This is a very important lesson,
one of my favorites, I think. 

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And so let's dive into that. 
So basically, let's just talk 

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for a moment about where we've 
come from. 

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If you haven't been here, you 
haven't been listening. 

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Either way, we've been walking 
through what does it mean to 

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engage the Bible in a perhaps a 
little deeper way or more 

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thorough way anyway. 
And we've talked about 

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preparation that included both 
God preparing the Bible for us 

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and we talked about how we got 
our Bible. 

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But it also includes me being 
spiritually prepared to receive 

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the revelation that God wants to
give me through His Word. 

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I was in a great conversation 
earlier today about Old 

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Testament prophecy and how that 
compares to now the way we 

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receive revelation from the 
Word. 

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And, and so God has given us 
this word for us to have to 

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teach us and to show us. 
And so we need to be ready to 

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receive that. 
So we need to be walking with 

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him. 
We need to be praying to him, 

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asking him. 
Help me to understand your word.

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Show me from your word today 
what I'm supposed to get out of 

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this. 
Some of us who have been 

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believers for a minute or two 
and have read the whole book 

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more than once, when you go back
again, it's like, I want, you 

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know, what's the new thing or 
what's the old thing I need to 

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be reminded of. 
And both of those are valuable. 

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And so that preparation is 
really important. 

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Then we, we talked about 
observation. 

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What does the text say? 
And we walked through some 

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questions to ask. 
And so you need to go back and 

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listen to that. 
If you missed that, then last 

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time we talked about an 
interpretation. 

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So what does the text mean? 
And we walked through some 

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principles for that, but now 
we're on application and now 

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we're asking the question, what 
does this text mean to me or, or

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as I like to say, So what? 
And so how, how does this affect

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me? 
How should my life change 

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because of what God says in this
particular passage? 

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And, and so this is where we we 
see the end result to some 

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degree. 
We have one more session next 

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time that we're going to talk 
about. 

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That's very important as well. 
How am I going to share this 

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with some of the people? 
But in other words, how should 

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my life change? 
Howard Hendricks, who's a well 

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known writer, author, professor,
teacher in the area of Bible 

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teaching, reading and and 
Christian education. 

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He says the Bible was not given 
to make us more intelligent, to 

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make us more intelligent 
sinners, but to change our 

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lives. 
And so when we read the Bible, 

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we don't want to just read it 
like a textbook. 

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I was actually talking to a 
seminary student a couple of 

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days ago yesterday, yesterday, 3
weeks ago yesterday, and we were

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talking about the struggle. 
I actually have a lecture that I

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used to give at Southern 
Seminary in Louisville, KY, and 

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the lecture was the hypocrisy of
teaching seminary students how 

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to have a personal quiet time 
because they can find themselves

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in an Old Testament class or a 
New Testament class or a book 

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study where they've got to read,
you know, they're reading 1000 

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pages a week with all their 
classes, including the Bible. 

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And the Bible just becomes kind 
of like a textbook instead of of

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God's Word. 
So we've got to be careful that 

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even in the midst of that kind 
of reading or study, we're still

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drawing from it what we're 
supposed to. 

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And so the, the Bible does 
demand a response. 

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It's a supernatural thing. 
And God expects us to not only 

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understand the Bible, but to 
live by the Bible. 

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We'll read some verses about 
that in a minute. 

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So the goal is not to make us 
just more knowledgeable. 

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We want to learn, we want to be 
educated. 

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We want to, we want to learn 
those things. 

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But but actually it's to make us
more holy. 

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How can I be closer to God 
because of His word? 

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A few passages that you probably
know. 

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You may not know these reference
references, but when you hear me

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read the passage you'll you'll 
remember them. 

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Joshua 18 The book of the law 
shall not depart from your 

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mouth, but you shall meditate on
it day and night, so that you 

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may be careful to do according 
to all that is written in it, 

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For then you will make your way 
prosperous, and then you will 

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have good success. 
Not just because I meditate on 

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it, but also because I am 
careful to do according to what 

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is written in it. 
James One says, But be doers of 

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the word and not hearers only, 
deceiving yourselves. 

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For if anyone is a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he's like a

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man who looks intently at his 
natural face in a mirror, for he

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looks at himself and goes away, 
and it once forgets what he was 

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like. 
But the one who looks into the 

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perfect law, the law of liberty,
and perseveres, being no being, 

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no hearer who forgets, but a 
doer who acts, he will be 

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blessed in his doing so. 
It's pretty direct there. 

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We actually deceive ourselves 
when we think that all we need 

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to do is is hear and not 
actually act upon it. 

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And so, you know, that would be 
true of a lesson or a sermon or 

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a Bible reading as well. 
Anytime the word of God is is a 

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is a part of that. 
Don't just listen, don't just 

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hear, but actually act upon it. 
Romans 213 says, for it is not 

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the hearers of the law who are 
righteous before God, but the 

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doers of the law who will be 
justified. 

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So you see in various passages 
we could read more. 

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There's one in the Psalms that 
we might add, the Lord is my 

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portion. 
I promise to keep your words. 

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And of course, Psalm 119, the 
whole, the whole Psalm could be 

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read about applying and living 
out the word of God. 

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So, so we recognize that this is
more than just a book to read 

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this. 
These are more than just lessons

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to hear one ear and out the 
other that we actually need to 

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apply them. 
They need to have they need to 

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change us. 
They need to have impact upon 

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us. 
They need to have influence upon

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us in some way or the other. 
And so it's interesting then as 

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we begin to think about the 
Bible and how do we apply it. 

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We're going to look at some 
fairly significant principles 

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tonight. 
But the Bible is timely, but 

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it's also timeless. 
In other words, it was written, 

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as we've been talking about over
the previous sessions. 

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It was written in a specific 
time for specific people, often 

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for specific purposes, but it 
also still was written for us. 

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And that's part of the, the 
wonderful life of the word of 

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God is living and active in the 
sense that it can apply to 

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somebody 2000 years ago, but it 
also still applies to us today 

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or 2000 years from now. 
If the Lord were to tarry that 

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long, which would surprise me 
greatly. 

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And if I'm still around 2000 
years from now, I'm going to be 

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a little irritated. 
So, but I don't think that's 

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likely. 
So, so, so the Holy Spirit then 

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can make it intensely personal 
for us if we are well prepared. 

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But that's a big if. 
In other words, the Holy Spirit 

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will help me understand the 
Bible. 

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The Holy Spirit will help me 
apply the Bible, but that's only

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if I'm walking in accordance 
with him. 

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That's where that preparation 
part still comes in very 

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strongly. 
So it's very, very important for

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us that we're, we're preparing 
ourselves to actually receive 

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the word of God in that way. 
So, so we don't want to ever 

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forget the best practices, 
principles and questions that 

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we've already studied. 
Don't just take this session. 

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If you're listening online, go 
back and listen to the other 

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sessions about preparation, 
observation and interpretation. 

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And I'm also going to be 
recording another podcast 

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tomorrow. 
So it'll be interesting to see 

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when it goes out. 
I, I've done one with Alan 

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Mosley already on how best to 
study the Old Testament. 

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I actually have Doctor Chuck 
Quarles going to be on a podcast

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with me tomorrow to talk about 
the New Testament. 

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And Doctor Quarles is a research
professor and expert in Bible 

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translation in the New 
Testament. 

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He in, in my opinion, he would 
be one of the top experts on 

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translation right now, probably 
at least in Southern Baptist 

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life. 
And so very knowledgeable man 

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who also has I think TikTok or 
YouTube videos of him throwing 

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axes. 
So there you go. 

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Because you needed to know that.
So watch out for those podcasts 

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that supplement we've already 
done with Doctor Aiken, we've 

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got Doctor Mose, they've got 
Doctor Quarles. 

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I've also done one with Dylan 
here. 

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And so just make sure that 
you're you're listening to all 

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these things that are really 
supplement a lot of what we're 

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talking about in these sessions 
together. 

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So, so let's talk about these 
levels of application because 

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this might not be something you 
think about. 

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You might in here. 
You know, those of you who are 

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coming to these sessions, you 
are, many of you are established

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believers with established 
spiritual disciplines in your 

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life. 
But the new believer and often 

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the more immature believer 
doesn't, doesn't think about 

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both of these application 
levels. 

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And they're really important. 
I won't spend a lot of time on 

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one of them, but if they are 
important because we need to 

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work through both of these, but 
many don't, many just skip to 

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the individual application. 
And that's a real mistake 

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because you've got to recognize 
when you read this Bible, you 

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look at this whole Bible, much 
of what is written here is 

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applying to the people of God as
a body, as a group. 

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There's a corporate application 
that I don't want you to ignore.

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And so when you, when you're 
thinking about what does this 

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scripture mean to me, and we're 
going to talk about that and how

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to do that, We also need to be 
asking the question of how does 

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this apply to all of us 
together? 

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How does it, how does this apply
to us as a church? 

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How does, how does this apply to
us as a body? 

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And that's important because 
sometimes the application will 

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affect this as an entire body. 
Especially think about you're 

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studying, say, First Corinthians
12 through 14 spiritual gift 

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conversations, a lot of 
spiritual gift conversations in 

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those passages. 
And so you're thinking about, 

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well, this isn't just about me 
learning about my spiritual 

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gift. 
This isn't just about what how 

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special I am in God's Kingdom. 
It's also about how this 

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spiritual gift affects the body 
and how it affects the whole. 

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And so throughout, whether it's 
Old Testament or New Testament, 

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you're going to see passages to 
where you know, the sin of 

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somebody doesn't just affect 
them, it affects the whole 

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nation. 
Think of, think of what happened

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to him at AI after Jericho or, 
or you see some of the judgement

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of the prophets. 
It's not just about individuals,

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it's about an entire nations. 
And so think about that 

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corporate side as well. 
It's often harder for some 

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people, especially in a culture 
like ours where we're marked by 

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such individualistic autonomy, 
which means that we like being 

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us. 
Some other cultures are much 

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more corporately community 
driven and that would be a 

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common concept for them to think
about. 

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How's this going to affect my 
whole village? 

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How's this going to affect my 
whole group of people? 

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Sometimes in our culture it's a 
little harder. 

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So maybe not for those here 
because you are all incredibly 

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mature and spiritual and 
spiritual, but for others it 

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might be a problem. 
So always remember, this takes 

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00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,240
us back. 
Everything connects, believe it 

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00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:58,200
or not, building an old train 
back when we were talking about 

231
00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:03,120
our theological triage months 
ago and we were talking about 

232
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what are primary doctrines, what
are secondary doctrines, and 

233
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what are tertiary doctrines and 
how important they are. 

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00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,000
There are some some things that 
are worth dying upon, heels upon

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which we would die. 
And then there are also issues 

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00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,640
that we can disagree but still 
maintain unity and show grace to

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one another. 
And this begins to apply as I'm 

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applying this verse to my life. 
And you're going to see this a 

239
00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,760
lot more in a moment that that 
the way I think it ought to be 

240
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,880
applied. 
I might want to project that on 

241
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:29,840
you and force you to apply it 
that same way. 

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And sometimes that's right. 
It's primary. 

243
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We we all should be doing the 
primaries. 

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But there's some tertiary things
to where I I don't think you 

245
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,520
ought to to wear tennis shoes in
church. 

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00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:44,120
And so I don't think you know 
that. 

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How come he didn't have a coat 
and tie on, you know, and I'll 

248
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,760
be glad to explain that to you 
up close and personal anytime 

249
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,800
you want to ask that question. 
But but, but you know, or 

250
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whatever it is. 
So you get down into some of 

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these layers, but for some they 
elevate them to primary. 

252
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We've talked about that in the 
past. 

253
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But to think about that because 
that theology not only carries 

254
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over into our actions, but 
actually often determines our 

255
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,760
action. 
And so personal preference 

256
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versus the harmony of the body, 
where's that balance in terms of

257
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:16,400
no, no, this is a primary 
doctrine. 

258
00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,640
We we have to believe this, this
is a command of scripture versus

259
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this is much more of a 
preference or, or an opinion. 

260
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,360
And so to work through that. 
And so I may not like the way 

261
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,440
somebody looks or acts, but is 
it non biblical or is it 

262
00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,480
personal? 
Is it cultural or is it a 

263
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,440
traditional bias, right. 
And this becomes really 

264
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important. 
So be aware of the influence of 

265
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these traditions versus honest 
application based on good 

266
00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,200
exegetical information like we 
talked about in interpretation. 

267
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This is why all these things 
need to be together. 

268
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,200
Don't separate, don't isolate 
them. 

269
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:58,240
They flow 1 into the next if 
I've done good I exegesis and 

270
00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,640
not isages, and I've actually 
pulled from the text so that I 

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00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:07,120
can honestly, honestly 
understand the difference 

272
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between what this might be my 
tradition. 

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I mean, some traditions are 
good. 

274
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,080
Don't get me wrong. 
Not every tradition is bad. 

275
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Sometimes things are traditions 
because they were good things. 

276
00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:15,680
They're still good things. 
They're biblical things. 

277
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,520
They're supposed to be good. 
And then sometimes traditions 

278
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,920
can get in the way. 
So be careful because we have 

279
00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,840
always done it that way does not
necessarily mean it was the 

280
00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,960
biblical way or should it be the
way for today or for tomorrow. 

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00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:31,800
That's hard for people in 
church. 

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00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,040
You may not agree with me right 
now, but I promise you that my 

283
00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,080
life experience with a lot of 
churches, it's a problem in 

284
00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,360
churches and people will get 
angry and people will be upset. 

285
00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,120
People will leave, people will 
divide, people will split, 

286
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,000
people will cause disharmony 
because that's not the way we've

287
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,200
ever done it before. 
And so we need to be careful 

288
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:55,920
about our judgment of those 
things. 

289
00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,600
So it might be, might not be, 
which is why a famous motto that

290
00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:05,200
our staff knows well, assessment
never ends because we're always 

291
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,880
assessing why are we doing what 
we're doing and how we're doing 

292
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,040
it. 
But Jesus had to deal with this.

293
00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,360
You remember Jesus and the 
religious leaders kind of went 

294
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:19,800
head to An easy, well known 
passage of the traditions of men

295
00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,040
versus the obedience to God is 
in Mark seven. 

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00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,240
Let me just read some of this to
you. 

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00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,280
Now when the Pharisees gathered 
to him with some of the scribes 

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who had come from Jerusalem, 
they saw that some of his 

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00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,160
disciples ate with hands that 
were defiled. 

300
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,920
That is unwashed. 
For the Pharisees and all the 

301
00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,120
Jews do not eat unless they wash
their hands properly holding to 

302
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,040
the traditions of the elders. 
And when they come from the 

303
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,200
marketplace, they do not eat 
unless they wash. 

304
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,280
And there are many other 
traditions that they observe, 

305
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,440
such as the washing of cups and 
pots and copper vessels and 

306
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:52,680
dining couches. 
And the Pharisees and the 

307
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,320
scribes asked him, why do your 
disciples not walk according to 

308
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,920
the tradition of the elders, but
eat with defiled hands? 

309
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,400
And he said to him, well did. 
And he said to them, well did 

310
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,280
Isaiah prophecy of you 
hypocrites? 

311
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,560
I was like Jesus subtlety as it 
is written. 

312
00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,600
This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far 

313
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,520
from me. 
In vain do they worship me, 

314
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:14,960
teaching his doctrines, the 
commandments of men. 

315
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:18,280
You leave the commandment of God
and hold to the tradition of 

316
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,440
men. 
And he said to them, you have a 

317
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,120
fine way of rejecting the 
commandment of God in order to 

318
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,600
establish your own tradition. 
And then he gives an example of 

319
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,640
honoring your parents and what 
not. 

320
00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,960
Then in verse 13, he says, thus 
making void the word of God by 

321
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,440
your traditions that you've 
handed down and many such things

322
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,040
you do. 
So we've got to be careful that 

323
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,920
that traditions don't get in the
way. 

324
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,520
And part of my part of my 
personal struggle, I think at 

325
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,360
this point in life is I've been 
so many places and I've seen so 

326
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,880
many churches that have 
different forms and different 

327
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:58,800
ways and different methods and 
different styles that it would 

328
00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,240
be hard for me to do not 
recognize that there's a great 

329
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,800
diversity in this thing called 
the church in many ways, and God

330
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,000
still blesses it. 
Again, I'm not talking about 

331
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,280
primary theological issues. 
I'm talking about secondary and 

332
00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:17,200
tertiary and also what we would 
call forms of church and not 

333
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,760
necessarily the theology. 
So let us make sure we're 

334
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,079
focusing on the primaries and 
we're gracious with one another 

335
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,920
on some of the others, because 
I'll be honest, I, it's seminary

336
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:28,319
life. 
I would often tell people in 

337
00:17:28,319 --> 00:17:31,600
leadership classes, you know, 
you're probably not going to 

338
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,280
fight over real theology. 
You're going to fight over 

339
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,360
perceptions of theology. 
And so you're going to have more

340
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,760
fights about whether or not you 
ought to have one of those sets 

341
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:43,560
in your, in your sanctuary or 
not, or whether where's the 

342
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,040
organ? 
What happened to the organ? 

343
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,120
You know, and, and why aren't we
singing blank And that, and I 

344
00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:52,880
promise you, it's, it's funny, 
I've had to say this in church 

345
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,200
life where there were fights 
going on, people will say, why 

346
00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,400
aren't we singing blank? 
And I promise you as many people

347
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,440
are thinking of another blank 
than the blank. 

348
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:03,360
You're thinking of blankety 
blank. 

349
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,080
You know what I mean? 
They really are. 

350
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,160
Why aren't we singing something 
over here? 

351
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,400
And I'm telling you, just as 
many people are talking about 

352
00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,560
singing something over here, and
it's amazing how we don't 

353
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:17,520
recognize that there are 
actually other people in 

354
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,960
congregations who have 
legitimate opinions that might 

355
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,440
be the opposite of ours. 
And so sometimes that's hard. 

356
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,080
That's hard for human beings in 
in general. 

357
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,160
So then you go to the personal 
application, which is where 

358
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:31,680
we'll spend most of our time, 
obviously. 

359
00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,680
So how does this apply to me 
individually? 

360
00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,200
So the scripture must be the 
basis of our faith and practice,

361
00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,840
obviously, but we need to be 
careful. 

362
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,520
And I'm going to go off on a 
little tangent for a moment. 

363
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,360
I'm looking for a soapbox for a 
second. 

364
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,520
And some of you might not like 
what I'm about to talk about 

365
00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,480
because some of you are probably
guilty of it. 

366
00:18:52,840 --> 00:19:00,360
So get ready. 
You OK, So where are your toes? 

367
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,760
No, none of you all. 
Not the spiritual elite people 

368
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:10,240
on Wednesday night. 
But we need to be careful, very 

369
00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:15,200
careful about claiming God told 
you to do something. 

370
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,320
Now I'm going to talk about both
sides of this in a minute. 

371
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,600
Just wanted to pause for 
dramatic effect. 

372
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:30,440
So throughout the centuries, 
many have claimed God told them 

373
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:36,520
to do things that were neither 
biblical nor helpful, but they 

374
00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,080
hyper spiritualized the 
conversation and blame the Holy 

375
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,440
Spirit and God for something 
that they've manifested in their

376
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,400
own minds, frankly. 
And we need to be really careful

377
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,320
about this. 
I'm not saying that hopefully 

378
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,040
God does say something to you. 
What God will tell you though, 

379
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,880
should be borne out scripturally
as well as however else you 

380
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,280
think you're receiving it. 
And it should bring glory to him

381
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,400
and not you. 
And so I I've had people come to

382
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,080
me here. 
Who say, well, God told me to 

383
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,440
come tell you this and I'm like,
well, let's just see whether 

384
00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:16,920
that's true or not. 
You know, now sometimes it is 

385
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,640
and and there's no question. 
And so we all use that language,

386
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,200
don't you? 
I feel like God showed, told me 

387
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:22,640
something. 
I felt like God spoke to my 

388
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,560
heart and led me to do things. 
So, so there's a side of this 

389
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,840
that's absolutely valid and 
wonderful and sensitive to the 

390
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,360
Holy Spirit and how we actually 
know how to make decisions, how 

391
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:32,880
we do things. 
That's obviously not what I'm 

392
00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,040
talking about God speaking to 
you. 

393
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,920
And special revelation is also 
how it cults and other religious

394
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:41,800
groups have started. 
Thank you, Joseph Smith. 

395
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:47,680
And So what God tells you must 
be borne out in his word, and it

396
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,600
must also edify the body. 
And so it must be consistent 

397
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:54,520
with everything else He does and
has said. 

398
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:59,880
So what I refer to as prayer 
projections cannot be different 

399
00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,160
than the word of God because 
some of them become much more 

400
00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,080
like a prosperity gospel 
perspective than they do a 

401
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,760
biblical perspective. 
And people want to manifest 

402
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,800
things. 
I'm going to manifest this in my

403
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:13,920
life. 
You hear that on TV all the 

404
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:15,960
time. 
Now I've manifested this to take

405
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,480
place. 
I'm embracing a spirit of, of 

406
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,560
gratitude and I'm manifesting. 
I'm manifesting happiness in my 

407
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,360
life. 
You can't manifest anything you 

408
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:29,400
don't manifest. 
God manifests OK, and you 

409
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,880
receive what He gives you and 
you seek His manifestations. 

410
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,280
Don't create your own. 
So God does that. 

411
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:40,480
So trusting God's word, which 
will be consistent and God's 

412
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,720
word is always going to be 
consistent with God's will and 

413
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,280
vice versa, they will not 
contradict one another. 

414
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,240
God will bring about what 
matches both of those and what 

415
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,400
brings Him great glory, what 
will bless you, but will also 

416
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,040
edify the body. 
And so I will speak strongly 

417
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,480
about trying to isolate yourself
from the body. 

418
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,720
There's nothing in this Bible 
that says that's right. 

419
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,160
Everything is written in the 
context of local church and 

420
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,080
community. 
And so we need to learn some 

421
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,520
some specific principles. 
I can't say that word. 

422
00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,680
If I ever talked to you about 
how much I used to stutter as a 

423
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:18,160
kid, part of my life story, I 
still stutter. 

424
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,320
I just hide it more. 
I should sing more. 

425
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:22,560
That way I could hide my 
stutter. 

426
00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:28,200
But principles of application, 
some of these things you may 

427
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,600
have never heard before, some of
these things you might have 

428
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,240
thought about before, been 
exposed to. 

429
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,160
But let's let's talk about these
for a moment. 

430
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,640
The first one is what we would 
call the prescriptive versus the

431
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:44,120
descriptive principle. 
So these are really important. 

432
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:48,440
I walk through these categories 
with almost every church I've 

433
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,400
ever worked with in consultation
or pastoral life or seminary 

434
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,120
life or whatever. 
So hundreds of churches where 

435
00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:57,520
I'm asking them, how are you 
making decisions? 

436
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,120
How do you actually decide 
things as a church? 

437
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,200
How are you interpreting the 
Bible and applying it to help 

438
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,760
you make decisions? 
These principles help give a 

439
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,120
matrix. 
This is often called a 

440
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,640
hermeneutic of ministry. 
I appreciate Aubrey Malfours, 

441
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,480
Dr. Aubrey Malfours who taught 
at Dallas Theological Seminary 

442
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,240
for many, many years. 
He was a Southern Baptist, 

443
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,600
taught at a non Southern 
Baptist, but a wonderful 

444
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,880
evangelical seminary. 
DTS died a few years ago, had 

445
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,920
the privilege of serving on a 
board with Doctor Malfours. 

446
00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:29,160
He probably wrote 30 books and 
he wrote a lot about this in a 

447
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,600
book that I always appreciated. 
But here's the here's the 

448
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:34,920
prescriptive versus descriptive 
principle. 

449
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,360
Is there a command for a certain
action in the Bible, or is it a 

450
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:43,480
description of a behaviour 
that's not enough to help you 

451
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,480
understand? 
Let me keep going then. 

452
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:51,000
Is there also a subsequent 
explicit teaching that supports 

453
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,320
the principle? 
In other words, this isn't the 

454
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,160
only place you find it. 
There's other teaching that 

455
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,240
supports it. 
And so are these commands that 

456
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:05,440
transfer from culture to culture
with little or no alteration, or

457
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:12,680
are these commands that embody 
timeless principles that that 

458
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,120
find varying expressions in 
different cultures? 

459
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:18,040
So in other words, is this 
command actually going to going 

460
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,640
to fit in one place in time or 
does it fit across time? 

461
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:26,240
And what's interesting about 
these, what's interesting about 

462
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,400
this is that different things 
happened and still happened in 

463
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:35,400
different churches, but there 
are also divine commands that 

464
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:39,360
apply to all the churches. 
And so we've got to sort this 

465
00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:41,080
out. 
Is this prescriptive? 

466
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,400
Is this just a descript or this 
is a command? 

467
00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,520
It's a prescription. 
You have to do this. 

468
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,880
This is something you must do. 
Or is it just descriptive? 

469
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,360
This is just a description. 
I'm going to give you some 

470
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,280
examples. 
Don't worry, they'll help you. 

471
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,240
Robert Plummer, I mentioned his 
book last week. 

472
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:03,400
Great guy, he says this, beware 
of deceitful human hearts that 

473
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,440
would use hermeneutical 
principles to rationalize 

474
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,840
disobedience to Scripture. 
And that happens. 

475
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,160
It's a truth you can make the 
Bible say about anything you 

476
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,320
want it to say. 
You can find a piece over here 

477
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,240
or a piece over here and don't 
match it. 

478
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,200
Don't take it out of context. 
And you can you can proof text 

479
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,120
your life just about all you 
want, which is why we have to be

480
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,480
better than that. 
And so let me let me give you a 

481
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,640
couple of examples in Acts 
chapter 2, which we studied 

482
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,040
months ago. 
Just listen to Acts 246. 

483
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,240
And day by day attending the 
temple together and breaking 

484
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,120
bread in their homes, they 
receive their food with glad and

485
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:47,160
generous hearts. 
Or Acts 311 goes on a little 

486
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,440
further while he clung to Peter 
and John. 

487
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,040
This is the person that was 
healed. 

488
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,480
All the people, utterly 
astounded, ran together to them 

489
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,240
in the portico called Solomon. 
So they were gathering at the 

490
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,680
temple. 
So does that mean that it's 

491
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,080
wrong for us to have this 
building? 

492
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,160
So is it wrong for us to have a 
building to meet in because the 

493
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:11,520
early church didn't have a 
building? 

494
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,760
The other church met in homes, 
they met in catacombs, they met 

495
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:16,680
in caves, they met wherever they
could. 

496
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,080
Here they're still meeting at 
the temple because persecution 

497
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:24,040
hadn't broken out yet. 
So is it wrong for us to have a 

498
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:27,320
place to meet? 
Let me give you a better one. 

499
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,720
Romans 1616. 
Greet one another with a holy 

500
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,240
kiss. 
All the churches of Christ greet

501
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,960
you. 
Did you all sin when you walked 

502
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,240
in? 
I didn't see you all kissing on 

503
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,000
each other. 
So in other words, is this, is 

504
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,760
this prescriptive? 
I must greet you. 

505
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,480
Now, listen, this, I kid you 
not, I know of a church that did

506
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:56,280
an entire study on the biblical 
proper way to greet one another.

507
00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:59,880
You think I'm boring? 
Listen, it was a study. 

508
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,160
So we're not wholly kissing each
other. 

509
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,200
So what does that mean? 
How would we, how would we apply

510
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,360
that today in our world? 
What does that mean? 

511
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,240
Anybody have any clue? 
Any suggestion? 

512
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,320
Joyful toward one another. 
Sure glad to see you. 

513
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,720
Honestly glad to see you. 
We might shake hands, we might 

514
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,320
hug. 
There might even be a physical 

515
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,520
touch like that. 
But it was more than that. 

516
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,520
This whole, you know, you got to
think of a Middle Eastern 

517
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:34,920
culture. 
They're kissing each other on 

518
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,680
the cheek. 
It was a very common, every time

519
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:39,160
you greeted somebody, you would 
do that. 

520
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,720
It was common, common 
hospitality and courtesy. 

521
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,280
So some of these things are 
prescriptive and some of these 

522
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,800
things are just descriptive, 
right? 

523
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:50,480
So how do we tell the 
difference? 

524
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:52,760
Well, one of the ways you tell 
the difference is watch for 

525
00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,400
imperatives. 
In other words, command verbs. 

526
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,320
So example, when you go to the 
Great Commission verses in 

527
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:02,320
Matthew 28 and you look at 
verses 19 and 20, it says go. 

528
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,640
Therefore these are imperative 
commands. 

529
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:10,640
Go, disciple, baptize, teach. 
So there's not a lot of 

530
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,560
suggestion that that's not for 
everybody. 

531
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:17,360
That's for everybody, right? 
Or you think of a Hebrews 10/25.

532
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,280
You shall not give up meeting 
with one another. 

533
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,320
Some of them are in the habit of
doing you. 

534
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,240
You should be in church. 
You should be a part of a body. 

535
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:27,680
You should be part of a 
community. 

536
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,720
You shouldn't isolate yourself. 
These these are imperative 

537
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:32,880
commands that would translate 
beyond culture. 

538
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,760
They would translate beyond the 
time and apply it a timeless 

539
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,200
way. 
Or Second, Timothy 42 says we 

540
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:40,680
should be able to teach the 
word. 

541
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,040
And so there's these imperative 
verbs. 

542
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:44,680
Always watch those. 
You can see them in English. 

543
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:46,640
You don't need the original 
language for them. 

544
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,280
The translations are really good
about carrying them out because 

545
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,320
some of these things are going 
to be more descriptive of 

546
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,680
something that happened at a 
certain time, certain place in a

547
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,200
certain way. 
But there may be a very, very 

548
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,360
strong principle that comes out 
of it that actually applies to 

549
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,600
us today. 
We'll see a little more of that 

550
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,720
later. 
Perhaps an easier one is the 

551
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,680
negative versus positive 
principle. 

552
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:13,760
And this is an issue of, of 
presence or absence. 

553
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,800
And this is tricky for some 
people. 

554
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,400
If you saw this, 1/2 of this, 
you might say, oh, that's right.

555
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,600
When in fact it's not. 
And so the, the negative issue 

556
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,560
says this, that if it's not 
found in the Bible, we can't do 

557
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,920
it. 
And that sounds right, doesn't 

558
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:32,320
it? 
If it's not found in the Bible, 

559
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,080
we can't do it. 
And I mean that. 

560
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,680
That makes sense to me mentally.
It makes sense to me 

561
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,400
cognitively. 
If it ain't in the Bible, it 

562
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:42,200
ain't right. 
We ain't going to do it right. 

563
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,560
But we also have to ask 
ourselves, is it legitimate if 

564
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,040
it's not found in the Bible? 
So the negative argues that if 

565
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:52,720
it's not found there, we can't 
do it. 

566
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,720
The positive side of this states
that the church is free to 

567
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,400
pursue practices that are not 
necessarily found in the Bible 

568
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,760
as long as they're not 
prohibited by clear teaching of 

569
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,040
Scripture. 
See, and this gets tricky 

570
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:13,800
because I know of groups that 
are stuck in time and some of 

571
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,920
their doctrine and some of their
practice are stuck in time. 

572
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,280
I, I have friends, and I don't 
mean any offense because these 

573
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,160
are friends. 
I believe they're going to be in

574
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,880
heaven with us. 
They might be surprised I'm 

575
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,760
there, but I think I they're 
going to be there. 

576
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:28,920
I have friends who come from a 
certain tradition that don't 

577
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,680
believe that any musical 
instrumentation is allowed. 

578
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:36,680
They would only sing acapella or
Acapulco, as we would say back 

579
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,680
home. 
And the reason they don't 

580
00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,080
believe musical instruments are 
allowed is because they don't 

581
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:47,000
find them in the New Testament. 
And it doesn't matter how, you 

582
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:48,840
know, I can go back to the Old 
Testament. 

583
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,040
I can even go to the Book of 
Revelation, but I can go back to

584
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:52,360
the Old Testament and I can find
this. 

585
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:54,640
That's not good enough because 
they also have animal sacrifice.

586
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,440
So we're going to sacrifice 
animals, too. 

587
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:58,000
I mean, this is actual 
conversation. 

588
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,160
I'm quoting an actual 
conversation now. 

589
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,560
I always find it fascinating 
because they have buildings, air

590
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:08,560
conditioning, you know, 
microphones, padded seats, 

591
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:20,040
tennis shoes. 
So but buildings, you know, 

592
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,080
buildings aren't in the Bible 
like that. 

593
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,320
Budgets aren't really in the 
Bible like we would have them 

594
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,760
today. 
Ministry schedules, again, using

595
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,280
technology, you know, you're not
obviously that's not in the 

596
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:33,400
Bible. 
They didn't know what a 

597
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,680
microphone was. 
So we shouldn't use these. 

598
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,960
So is it negative or positive? 
How are you making group 

599
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,760
decisions as a church, which is 
something I dealt with a lot, 

600
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,120
but also, how does this apply to
you personally? 

601
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,160
Aubrey Malfours in his book 
Writes Common Sense, tells us 

602
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,480
that some, if not most of the 
practices of the New Testament 

603
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,000
church aren't even mentioned in 
Scripture. 

604
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,320
We're told what's so important. 
We're told what we needed to 

605
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:07,280
know. 
We don't know every single thing

606
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,080
when they're, when they're in 
their homes, what did they eat? 

607
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:10,560
How did they eat? 
When did they eat? 

608
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:14,520
We don't, you know that. 
Then you have the pattern versus

609
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,720
principal approach. 
And I felt like these are little

610
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,560
redundant, but the pattern 
argues that the practices or 

611
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,520
patterns of the apostles and the
early church are universal and 

612
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,240
binding on all congregations. 
Now run into this. 

613
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,000
It's called patternism. 
There's actually a name for it, 

614
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:35,080
patternism, and it assumes that 
we're that all of these churches

615
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,720
and that all of these apostles 
and that everything they did and

616
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:42,080
the early church was consistent.
And that's just not true at all.

617
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,640
The church at Ephesus and the 
church at Corinth were very 

618
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,520
different. 
The church at Rome was very 

619
00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,920
different than they were. 
The way they practice, where 

620
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,320
they met, how they met, when 
they met, all very inconsistent,

621
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,520
all very different. 
The way they had their polity 

622
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,840
structures, the way they made 
decisions, they're all 

623
00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,760
different. 
And so we can, you know, I hear 

624
00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:01,480
we want to be like the early 
church. 

625
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,600
Well, you are. 
You fight over food, you fight 

626
00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:07,800
over money. 
So but but but the. 

627
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,760
Thought that there's only one 
kind of church at all times. 

628
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,120
Is is that's fiction? 
It's fiction. 

629
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,160
I once had a APHD student. 
Now you'd think they're pretty 

630
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,520
smart. 
I've known a lot of dumb smart 

631
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,440
people in my life. 
And this PhD student, I just, I 

632
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:25,800
was forced to humble him because
he had been taught by a 

633
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,640
professor who I know well who 
did not teach the right thing. 

634
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,000
That all you know there's only 
one way to have church and I 

635
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,520
began to describe to him the 
global church around the world 

636
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,880
that I knew about and so we 
listen listen I I could take you

637
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,160
to church you wouldn't have a 
chair you'd sit on a rug and. 

638
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,920
Men would be on one side and. 
Women would be on the other and 

639
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,720
and you couldn't even touch. 
You couldn't touch one another. 

640
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,360
Teresa and I got in trouble one 
time for holding hands in the 

641
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,600
wrong place, and it's hard. 
To get me away from. 

642
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,680
Her SO. 
You couldn't even. 

643
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,200
You couldn't touch each other. 
You couldn't do that. 

644
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,760
There there'd be a a divider 
between you kind of like a 

645
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,240
mosque because guess what 
background they were coming out 

646
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,560
of. 
See, I'm in churches to where, 

647
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:14,360
listen, tonight is nothing, you 
know, because we didn't have a 

648
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:16,080
prayer list. 
I got more time tonight. 

649
00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:19,760
So I'm going to talk for, you 
know, longer than some of you 

650
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,239
wish I would. 
Man, I'm in services 4. 

651
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,239
And a half five hours long 
there's get. 

652
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:27,440
Started. 
I mean, they've walked. 

653
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,639
Miles to get there they got 10 
choirs that are going to sing 

654
00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:33,120
and they've all practiced their 
choreography they're dancing and

655
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,760
they're singing and so. 
And you you don't like? 

656
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,360
Those you listen don't go to 
some places where I go because I

657
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,159
mean, they got a, they got a 
whole orchestra of just drums. 

658
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,719
One of the greatest skillful 
instrumentalist I have ever met.

659
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:48,400
Some of you in here 
instrumentalist, because I see 

660
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,120
you here. 
But listen, one of the most 

661
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:52,880
talented instrumentalist I ever 
know was probably a 12 year old 

662
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,199
kid who played a flywheel off a 
truck, off a truck. 

663
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,640
He they had it taken a piece of 
this truck off and he played it 

664
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,720
like a drum and a cymbal. 
And that was one of the most 

665
00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:07,880
talented things I'd ever heard. 
You don't know how to dance. 

666
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:13,440
Some of those. 
Churches won't work and and not 

667
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:18,440
just one sermon. 
I've been sermon #3 before so. 

668
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:20,880
You know they saved the. 
The best for the last, for the 

669
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:27,320
last or something. 
So, so which early church are 

670
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,960
you going to follow? 
Is it Rome, Ephesus, Colossae? 

671
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,880
Which one is it? 
Because they, they, they all did

672
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,040
different things. 
So the principal approach then 

673
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,520
argues that the church is 
obligated to follow only the 

674
00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,800
principles, not necessarily the 
patterns and practices of the 

675
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:47,520
early church. 
So we have to determine if the 

676
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,800
author's intent for including a 
particular Apostolic Church 

677
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,320
practice in the biblical account
was to establish a precedent 

678
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,120
that applies to all of us or 
not. 

679
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,520
Does it become a principle the 
the practice that's described? 

680
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,040
Does that then become a 
principle that we have to live 

681
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,280
out in our own lives or not? 
And these are some of the 

682
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,120
questions, some of the things 
we're working through. 

683
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,800
Our ecclesiology is also going 
to be formed from this. 

684
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,960
And unfortunately, 
unfortunately, there are a lot 

685
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:19,240
of people in church life now. 
I really do appreciate, 

686
00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:20,960
seriously, I appreciate 
Inglewood and the fact that you 

687
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:22,520
all have worked through this a 
lot. 

688
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,680
I'm sure that some of you have 
some hang ups with what happens 

689
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,600
here. 
The music's too loud or the 

690
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,320
seats aren't right or something.
But you know, I don't want to 

691
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,720
hear it so. 
But over the years I've been in 

692
00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:35,800
places. 
Where they haven't been 

693
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,960
resolved, you know, and people 
are arguing over little things 

694
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:43,200
that really aren't the primary 
things at all. 

695
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:47,240
But, but, but I also know some 
people and I refer to them as 

696
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:50,480
Baptist Amish. 
And no, no disrespect to the 

697
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:55,360
Amish, but the Amish have zeroed
in on a specific German time 

698
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,080
frame basically. 
And so they live at a from a 

699
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,040
certain time frame. 
It's fascinating, you know the 

700
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:05,680
way, you know the how the Amish 
are no zippers and and so 

701
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,160
they've kind of landed on that 
and that's the right way to live

702
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,440
and that's the only way to live 
according to a very specific 

703
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,080
time frame that comes out of a 
Germanic, sometimes Dutch 

704
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,480
background. 
And I. 

705
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:23,240
Know Baptists that way that I 
call them the Baptist Amish and 

706
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:24,640
they don't realize that in 
order. 

707
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,760
To reach A next generation, in 
order to keep reaching 

708
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,040
generations, in order to reach a
lost world, you're going to have

709
00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,360
to recognize that that's just 
foreign. 

710
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:39,400
That's just foreign to entire 
generations if you want to reach

711
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,440
them. 
So we've got to figure out what 

712
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,360
the balance is. 
So you have purposes or 

713
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,040
principles. 
They're like the train tracks. 

714
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:49,680
There are certain principles 
that are timeless. 

715
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,440
They're unchanging. 
They're non negotiable primaries

716
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:56,120
that are based on scripture and 
our mandates for all the 

717
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:58,040
churches to pursue if all for 
all time. 

718
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:00,360
For us, for them, for all of us.
There are certain things we got 

719
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,800
to do. 
We got to pray, we got to share 

720
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,440
the gospel, we got to worship. 
We got to make disciples for 

721
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:06,120
things that we have, we have to 
do. 

722
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:08,720
The seven essentials are a good 
example. 

723
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:11,520
And then there are. 
Practices or. 

724
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:13,880
Forms that's kind of like the 
train building much more 

725
00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,360
specific much more contextual 
some of those will be timely 

726
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:19,920
some of those might change some 
of those are negotiable some of 

727
00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,040
those are cultural they're not 
absolutes then they fulfill 

728
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,120
certain functions so the way we 
do things the fact that we have 

729
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:30,600
a midweek service is a practice 
there's nothing in the Bible 

730
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:34,200
that says we should have church 
on Wednesday night and so 

731
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:35,280
that's. 
A practice. 

732
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:39,520
Our ministry schedules are 
practices that we put into place

733
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,000
that that work for us in this 
moment, in this time. 

734
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,040
It doesn't mean that some point 
that couldn't change. 

735
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:46,440
We've already changed some of 
them. 

736
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,120
When I first got here, what the 
midweek was compared to what the

737
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:50,640
midweek is now is very 
different. 

738
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:55,560
That was a change, and I 
appreciate the fact that you all

739
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,160
have pretended like it was all 
OK. 

740
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:04,360
Thank you. 
So let's talk about then some. 

741
00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:08,400
Application so here we go let's 
do some exercise now for most of

742
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:12,000
our time here so I want us to 
take an example passage now I 

743
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,080
didn't list it on the paper I 
have one I'll give it to you but

744
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:18,000
I also thought well maybe you're
in the middle of a study and you

745
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:23,520
want to actually use your own 
that's fine if not Romans 12 so 

746
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,760
if you have a Bible turn. 
The Old Romans 12. 

747
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:29,600
I could have picked anything, 
this is fairly. 

748
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:33,840
I'm going to. 
Start preaching out of Romans 

749
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:39,240
soon. 
Been looking ahead Romans 

750
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:43,320
chapter 12. 
At least three, probably major 

751
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:49,080
sections, if not more, but at 
least a few major sections here.

752
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:56,000
About Romans. 12 And so as you 
think about Romans 12 and you're

753
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,840
looking at Romans 12, here are a
series of questions. 

754
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:04,400
How should my life change as a 
result of the truths in Romans 

755
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,280
chapter 12? 
Or if you have another passage, 

756
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,640
that's fine. 
And then here are some. 

757
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,880
Basic application questions, 
several of them that are listed 

758
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,440
here for you. 
Now you've just got to think 

759
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,080
about if you put this whole 
thing together, you put the 

760
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:22,120
preparation section together 
along with the observation 

761
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:25,440
section together along with the 
interpretation section together 

762
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,760
along with this application 
session together. 

763
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,520
You recognize that I am 
suggesting to you that a 5 

764
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:34,640
minute personal Bible study is 
probably not adequate that 

765
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:35,840
you're going. 
To need more time than. 

766
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,320
That so you're going to have to 
figure out how do I carve out 

767
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,640
the time that I need to work 
through as much of this as I can

768
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,400
in order to get the most out of 
God's Word? 

769
00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:50,080
It's amazing. 
I've, I, again, I've shared this

770
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,200
sort of with you before, but 
sometimes I'll have a group of 

771
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,880
pastors and I'll be talking to 
them and they'll talk about how 

772
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:58,400
they don't have time for 
something, something important. 

773
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:00,200
I don't have time for that. 
I'm going to have to, how am I 

774
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,000
going to get make time for that 
or whatever. 

775
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:06,400
And then I will make them fill 
out a week long 5 minute time 

776
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,560
chart. 
Here's what. 

777
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,240
I did every 5. 
Minutes for a week and I bet you

778
00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:17,200
anything I can find hours of 
fascinating times on screens and

779
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:22,360
on social media and on various 
podcasts, etcetera. 

780
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,080
And so we got it. 
We just we got to make a 

781
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:26,720
decision. 
Who are we going to be? 

782
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:28,640
We say we're a people of the 
book. 

783
00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:32,000
We say we're a people who love 
the book, but do we actually 

784
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,840
show that by the amount of time 
we spend in the book? 

785
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:38,080
And so this is going to take a 
few minutes. 

786
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:40,880
So when you begin to walk 
through that, I just want you to

787
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:42,480
so, so here's what I'm going to 
do. 

788
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:46,400
Let's do it this way. 
So verses say all the way, 

789
00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,040
verses one through 6 could be a 
section. 

790
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:53,880
All right, so those of you on 
over here, this aisle right here

791
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,280
over you all look at verses one 
through 6. 

792
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:57,720
Get ready. 
I'm going to look for some 

793
00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:00,720
volunteer answers a minute. 
Those of you in the middle, you 

794
00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:04,080
all look at did I say 6? 
I meant I meant not 6. 

795
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,440
I meant 2, just one and two. 
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, 

796
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,240
sorry. 
Just verses 1 and 2. 

797
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,160
Easy, easy, easy. 
Short passage. 

798
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:13,080
Lots there. 
Verses 1 and 2, middle section. 

799
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:18,120
Verses 3 through 8 right here in
the middle, You all over here. 

800
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,960
Verses 9 through 21. 
Don't worry, some of those 

801
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:29,280
verses are short. 9 through 21. 
Just take a look, read it for a 

802
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:31,840
minute, then start skimming 
through these questions. 

803
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,240
See what you can pick out. 
We obviously we don't have time 

804
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:38,400
to do them all, but let's just 
talk for a few minutes. 

805
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,280
Let's alley some things. 
I'll be quiet now, believe it or

806
00:42:43,280 --> 00:43:17,800
not. 
I know group three would not be.

807
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,960
Done yet you just keep working. 
Group One over here verses one 

808
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,440
and two shorter section. 
Talk to me a little bit. 

809
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,640
Which one of those questions 
might have hopped out at one of 

810
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,480
you going to speak loudly? 
I'll have to repeat it for 

811
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,320
people listening online. 
Which one of those questions 

812
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:36,920
might have popped out at you 
that you said this? 

813
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:38,040
This rings true. 
Yep. 

814
00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:51,360
And what do you say? 
That's good. 

815
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:53,800
So the very first. 
Question, what must I do? 

816
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,080
So I've got to got to got to 
reject the world's value system 

817
00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,240
and I've got to offer myself my 
body as a living sacrifice. 

818
00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:01,840
I've got to be who God wants me 
to be. 

819
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:03,320
It's very good. 
Anybody else have one? 

820
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:04,600
Any one of those questions will 
work. 

821
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,560
I'm going to be more specific 
but these other groups because 

822
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:09,520
they have more verses real 
loudly for me. 

823
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:16,760
OK, say that again. 
OK, what is it? 

824
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:28,480
Yeah, that's good. 
So there's no doubt there's. 

825
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:31,160
An imperative there. 
So is there a command here? 

826
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,880
Yeah, there's a command here. 
Do not be conformed to this 

827
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,440
world, but be this other way 
instead. 

828
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:40,920
And so you see these imperative 
command words and you recognize 

829
00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:43,640
most of the time when you see a 
command verb, unless it's in the

830
00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,480
context of a story where he's 
telling you, you know, go fetch 

831
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,040
a, a, a horse or, or, you know, 
go take a, you know, grab the 

832
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,000
spear. 
But in these, these teaching 

833
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:53,760
passages, you see those command 
verbs. 

834
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:55,320
That's usually something you got
to stick with. 

835
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:57,200
Who it somebody else had 
something back here. 

836
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,120
Yep. 
What is it? 

837
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:08,400
Yeah, I promise to claim. 
That God's will is pleasing that

838
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:09,960
perfect. 
The other thing that basically 

839
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:12,320
says that we can, we can 
understand that we can prove it 

840
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:15,720
if we offer ourselves this way. 
This is often a passage I would 

841
00:45:15,720 --> 00:45:17,640
go to when somebody says I'm 
trying to fill out figure out 

842
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:20,120
God's will for my life. 
Well, here's step one. 

843
00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:23,600
Are you offering yourself 
completely to him so that you're

844
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,200
ready to receive from him what 
his will really is? 

845
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,840
You know that that's that's when
God might actually speak to you 

846
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:31,920
in an authentic, genuine 
biblical way. 

847
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:34,400
So do that. 
Very good. 

848
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:36,040
All right, let's go to the 
middle group. 

849
00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:38,880
You all have more passages 
Verses 3 through whenever it was

850
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:40,600
done. 
I can't remember verse 9, verse 

851
00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:43,680
8, verse 8. 
So do some other ones. 

852
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:47,480
How about anybody have a a 
prayer to repeat or a a 

853
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:49,760
condition to meet or in some of 
these other questions? 

854
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:51,200
Anybody have anything? 
What do you got in the middle 

855
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:52,440
section? 
Yep, I got What must I? 

856
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:55,600
Believe OK good fellowship It's 
it's it's. 

857
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:59,080
A partnership not necessarily 
changeship. 

858
00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:02,040
It's a partnership. 
That's great. 

859
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:05,040
So what must I believe? 
And he talked about that 

860
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:10,760
partnership of working together,
not just not just not just the 

861
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:12,520
relationship, but actually what 
we do together. 

862
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:15,240
That's good. 
You have to think of him. 

863
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,400
Yep. 
So, so an example to follow that

864
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,320
idea of humility, not to think 
of myself too highly. 

865
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:27,840
That's good. 
Anybody, anybody else further 

866
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,040
back or the back looking back 
and looking back. 

867
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:33,520
Yeah. 
Sin to avoid. 

868
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:35,600
What's the sin to avoid? 
Pride. 

869
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:36,760
Yeah, that's right. 
So. 

870
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:40,000
So obviously you can answer more
than one question, often with 

871
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,000
the same phrase or or verse, 
right. 

872
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:51,200
Yeah. 
The church body has different. 

873
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:56,600
Yeah. 
So this idea of using your gifts

874
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,640
for the body, these different 
pieces, this example to follow. 

875
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:03,200
Yeah. 
Or a challenge to fate. 

876
00:47:03,200 --> 00:47:05,640
Yeah. 
Yeah, I mean, some of these same

877
00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:06,320
things. 
That's right. 

878
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,400
It could very well be the 
challenge that you're facing. 

879
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,320
But see, that's the whole idea. 
So in other words, you know, and

880
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:12,520
that's what's going to happen in
it. 

881
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:15,240
I'm going to be reading through 
this isn't my problem. 

882
00:47:15,240 --> 00:47:17,160
This, this passage is speaking 
to something. 

883
00:47:17,320 --> 00:47:20,240
I got this one, I got this one 
under control. 

884
00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:25,560
The next verse there, there's 
where I'm there's where I need 

885
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:28,400
to, I need to pay attention. 
This is what I'm challenged. 

886
00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:30,760
This is what I'm not doing. 
This is what I need to learn to 

887
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:32,800
do. 
And so as you're generating 

888
00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:35,680
through in all of these 
sessions, these series of 

889
00:47:35,680 --> 00:47:39,680
questions that you're walking 
through to help you to think 

890
00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:44,800
through, to think through what 
it is that I need to do or how I

891
00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:48,440
need to change is part of it. 
What do I need to confront in my

892
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:50,720
life? 
And the more I'm doing that, the

893
00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:54,320
more the word becomes alive, the
more this becomes fascinating 

894
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:56,840
for me. 
It also slows me down. 

895
00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:00,160
In other words, this is again, 
and I'm not again, I'm not 

896
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:03,000
knocking reading through the 
Bible, but this just slows me 

897
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:06,080
down and the number of verses 
that I'm trying to walk through 

898
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:11,720
on a daily basis to where I'm 
chewing on the meat a little 

899
00:48:11,720 --> 00:48:14,920
more perhaps. 
All right, we may come back, but

900
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:17,080
let's go over here to the Group 
3 because you had the longer 

901
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:18,600
section. 
Thank you all for taking the 

902
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:20,960
hard work, but I knew the A 
students could handle it. 

903
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:24,880
So. 
Don't get mad. 

904
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,720
Wow. 
Disgruntlement. 

905
00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:30,400
All right. 
Anything over here from? 

906
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:34,600
Verses 9 through whatever it was
100 and 621 what must. 

907
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:37,760
I believe it's not about. 
Me. 

908
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:39,600
What must I believe? 
It's not about me. 

909
00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:40,800
It's pretty good lesson, isn't 
it? 

910
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:44,520
When we need in our culture, 
what must I do? 

911
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:45,760
What must? 
I do what is it all? 

912
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:48,040
About love, All about love. 
It's good. 

913
00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:50,000
My life change in 1921 makes you
reflect. 

914
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:56,600
On am I really being like, yeah,
that's good, so. 

915
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,160
The so the entire about what? 
What must change in my life? 

916
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:02,720
You you read that entire passage
and it makes you reflect on am I

917
00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:05,520
really this person or not? 
That's good. 

918
00:49:05,680 --> 00:49:06,760
Yeah, it's very good. 
A. 

919
00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:13,880
Challenge to face, never avenge.
Yourself. 

920
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:15,120
That's hard, yeah. 
A challenge to face. 

921
00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:16,800
Say that louder. 
For everybody to hear it. 

922
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:20,600
Never. 
Avenge yourself. 

923
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:24,440
Yeah, Never avenge yourself. 
The reason I yeah, the the 

924
00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:27,240
reason I'm making you say it 
again is just listen to Sunday 

925
00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:32,440
morning. 
So coming up, Yeah, dovetails 

926
00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:36,840
right into Nehemiah. 
Nehemiah had a had a spirit 

927
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:40,440
about him that was hard. 
Frankly, it's difficult to 

928
00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:45,320
emulate because he was attacked.
He was blatantly attacked, but 

929
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:48,320
he left it up to God. 
It's pretty amazing. 

930
00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,240
Anybody else? 
Anybody else? 

931
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:53,040
Across the whole room now. 
Let me just come back. 

932
00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:55,440
Any other thing from your 
passage or any other part of 

933
00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,600
Romans 12 or you, are you in 
another passage altogether, You 

934
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:05,560
over in something else? 
Yeah, that's right. 

935
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:08,360
Yeah. 
And that's important. 

936
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:10,680
So a condition to meet here. 
You got to remember, in Romans 

937
00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:14,560
12, who's he writing to? 
Who's he writing Romans 12 to? 

938
00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:17,320
Yeah, the church at Rome. 
And it's important. 

939
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:21,600
It's the church at Rome. 
And so often times we we neglect

940
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:25,440
the context of a passage. 
This is for believers. 

941
00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:28,880
This is not for non believers. 
And your theology can really get

942
00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:31,320
messed up that way. 
Kind of like a James problem 

943
00:50:31,600 --> 00:50:33,960
when you talk about faith 
without works is dead. 

944
00:50:34,520 --> 00:50:37,640
If that's if that's actually 
written to non believers and you

945
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:40,000
get into almost a works 
righteousness mode. 

946
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:41,560
But that's not who James is 
writing to. 

947
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:43,520
He's writing to people who are 
already saved. 

948
00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:47,040
And so the issue here is not how
are you saved, but what do you 

949
00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:49,360
do after you're saved. 
And that becomes really 

950
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:51,080
important. 
So those context elements that 

951
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:53,080
we've talked about in previous 
sessions come into play all 

952
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:54,840
along to help you answer these 
questions. 

953
00:50:56,040 --> 00:50:57,440
Anybody else? 
With any of it, we're ready. 

954
00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:03,990
To get 100. 
Percent 6 it says having them 

955
00:51:04,910 --> 00:51:07,390
different gifts different 
according to the grace that are 

956
00:51:07,510 --> 00:51:08,150
given to. 
Us. 

957
00:51:08,670 --> 00:51:10,390
Yeah, that means 100%. 
Of us. 

958
00:51:11,470 --> 00:51:13,710
Have been given a. 
Gift yeah, and we're. 

959
00:51:14,070 --> 00:51:16,510
Commanded to use. 
Them I don't have any money, 

960
00:51:16,510 --> 00:51:19,320
Doug, but. 
I'll so if you didn't hear that 

961
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,720
in the back he was talking about
that the the way that it was 

962
00:51:22,720 --> 00:51:25,880
verse 6 is that what it was. 
It talks about that we all have 

963
00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:28,760
gifts given to us as the Holy 
Spirit determines that. 

964
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:34,360
So 100% of us, this is the quote
100% of us have this giftedness 

965
00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:37,120
that we're supposed to use. 
Now you're keying in on maybe 

966
00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:41,960
why I think the way I do. 
I don't believe you are are 

967
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:45,000
supposed to be a part of the 
body and not function. 

968
00:51:45,000 --> 00:51:49,840
That didn't even make any sense.
So when I was in college, I was 

969
00:51:49,840 --> 00:51:51,600
going to share this story later,
but I'll do it now. 

970
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:55,720
So when I was in college, I was 
playing basketball and, and, and

971
00:51:55,720 --> 00:51:58,400
a guy, I took a charge. 
A guy runs into me, those who 

972
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:00,680
don't know anything about 
basketball, a guy runs into me 

973
00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:03,160
real hard. 
And, and it shouldn't have 

974
00:52:03,160 --> 00:52:06,840
really hurt me, but it did. 
And suddenly my arm was killing 

975
00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:10,640
me and, and I had I had a broke,
I broke my arm. 

976
00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:13,240
And yet it really shouldn't have
broken my arm. 

977
00:52:13,240 --> 00:52:16,480
It wasn't that hard. 
And so a friend of mine takes me

978
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:19,600
to the hospital and I'm man, 
I'm, I've, I've broken, I've 

979
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:22,280
broken part of my testimony, 
which by the way, is going to 

980
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:26,360
come up after Easter. 
I've broken 15 bones in my body 

981
00:52:26,360 --> 00:52:31,360
at least. 
And not in not in any accident, 

982
00:52:31,720 --> 00:52:36,760
not no car accidents, no falling
off cliffs, just behavior. 

983
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:42,400
So, but my arm gets broken right
here and I go to the hospital 

984
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:46,960
and I'm in the emergency room 
and, and suddenly the doctors 

985
00:52:46,960 --> 00:52:49,440
come out with this really 
horrified look on their face 

986
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:57,800
and, and, and I had a massive 
tumor in my, in the bone of my 

987
00:52:57,800 --> 00:52:59,920
arm, which made it like an 
eggshell. 

988
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:02,760
They told me later I could have 
bumped into somebody in a 

989
00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:04,080
hallway that would have broken 
my arm. 

990
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:06,880
It was just that fragile. 
And they thought I had bone 

991
00:53:06,880 --> 00:53:10,000
cancer. 
And so they took X-rays, in fact

992
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:14,440
my X-rays of my arm for years 
because my brother told me that 

993
00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:17,760
my for years were on file at the
Oklahoma University Medical 

994
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:22,000
School is the best example of an
X-ray of a large cell benign 

995
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,080
tumor. 
So fortunately. 

996
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:25,640
It was benign. 
You know, I went through this 

997
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:30,880
bone cancer scare, but and they 
said I could probably have this 

998
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:33,240
someplace else too. 
So, you know, if I just fall 

999
00:53:33,240 --> 00:53:36,360
down one day, then, you know, 
just shoot me in the head. 

1000
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:41,880
It'd be good. 
But but So what they did was, 

1001
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:44,680
you know, this is back in the 
1980s something or other when 

1002
00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:46,880
some of you don't know anything 
about that time frame. 

1003
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:51,920
And I was in a cast from right 
here to right here like this and

1004
00:53:51,920 --> 00:53:55,640
I'm right-handed. 
I went through finals like this.

1005
00:53:56,160 --> 00:54:00,560
I'll never forget writing long 
papers with my two fingers and 

1006
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:02,640
was in a sling and was like this
for weeks. 

1007
00:54:03,760 --> 00:54:07,280
And some of you have obviously 
been in a cast before and some 

1008
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:10,440
of you have had parts of your 
body immobilized, etcetera. 

1009
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:13,400
Well, you know, after several 
weeks like that, when they 

1010
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:18,840
finally take that cast off, the 
word is what the medical word 

1011
00:54:19,240 --> 00:54:21,520
atrophy, right? 
So you have mass. 

1012
00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:25,160
I mean, this arm was half the 
size of this arm and just 

1013
00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:27,840
shriveled up. 
And the first time, the first 

1014
00:54:27,840 --> 00:54:32,880
time we did this number, oh, 
man, how about scream like, you 

1015
00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:40,160
know, and it was just useless. 
Well, that's how I see people in

1016
00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:43,520
the church who aren't doing what
they're supposed to be doing. 

1017
00:54:44,440 --> 00:54:47,080
I mean, I just do it. 
They're like this. 

1018
00:54:47,080 --> 00:54:51,000
They're just frozen in place, 
atrophying, getting weaker and 

1019
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:53,320
weaker and weaker. 
So it's not just the fact that 

1020
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:57,160
I'm somehow, somehow. 
Trying to manipulate. 

1021
00:54:57,160 --> 00:55:00,880
You into helping us do stuff. 
It's because this is horrible 

1022
00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:04,840
for you. 
Atrophy's bad for you. 

1023
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:08,120
And so you'd have a gift, you 
have a calling, you have a 

1024
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:11,480
usefulness in the church. 
Use it, live it out. 100% 

1025
00:55:11,480 --> 00:55:13,120
participation. 
Thank you, Doug, for the 

1026
00:55:13,120 --> 00:55:16,520
softball. 
And so we recognize that these 

1027
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:18,920
are things we ought to do or 
we're just going to shrivel up 

1028
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:21,440
and church after church, after 
church after church. 

1029
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:22,640
I'm going to talk about it 
Sunday morning. 

1030
00:55:22,640 --> 00:55:26,640
Some more are just shriveling up
thousands. 

1031
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:27,600
Will shut their doors. 
This. 

1032
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:30,960
Year Thousands of churches will 
shut their doors this year for 

1033
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:32,640
one of the first times in recent
history. 

1034
00:55:32,640 --> 00:55:35,120
We're not planting and starting 
enough churches to keep up with 

1035
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:39,120
the closures. 
And so there there will be. 

1036
00:55:39,120 --> 00:55:42,480
Somewhere between 70 and 100 
churches who shut their doors 

1037
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:46,200
this week for the final time in 
the United States of America 

1038
00:55:47,160 --> 00:55:49,440
just shrivel up and die. 
Well, what? 

1039
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:51,440
Listen. 
The church isn't just this. 

1040
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:55,320
The church is the people who. 
Atrophied. 

1041
00:55:56,600 --> 00:55:59,560
For one reason or another, some 
a lot of reasons for that. 

1042
00:56:00,360 --> 00:56:02,160
And so thank you. 
Thank you, Thank you. 

1043
00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:03,720
A first of all, I'm preaching to
a choir. 

1044
00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:04,880
Thank you for being here at 
midweek. 

1045
00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:06,760
I'm serious about that. 
Thank you all very much for 

1046
00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:10,440
being here on a cold, rainy, 
maybe snowy night at midweek. 

1047
00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:12,160
For those listening online, 
shame on you. 

1048
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:13,360
You should have been here. 
No, I'm kidding. 

1049
00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:15,200
We're just glad you're 
listening. 

1050
00:56:15,640 --> 00:56:18,040
I understand completely why 
people wouldn't come tonight. 

1051
00:56:18,040 --> 00:56:21,960
Frankly, I would and so 
appreciative of those who 

1052
00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:24,160
listened later because you 
couldn't be you're working and 

1053
00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:26,840
you're serving in our choirs and
our children's ministry. 

1054
00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:31,000
Thank you so much. 
But but seriously, and for those

1055
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:33,720
of you who are in in connect 
groups and and working through 

1056
00:56:33,720 --> 00:56:35,320
those core issues, thank you 
very much. 

1057
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:38,960
So it's very, very important. 
So, so we see this atrophy that 

1058
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:42,520
takes place when we're not 
active in Romans 12 tells us a 

1059
00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:44,000
lot. 
So just think, we've been in one

1060
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:47,320
chapter here for several minutes
now, you know, and we haven't 

1061
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:48,600
even scratched all the 
questions. 

1062
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:53,600
Think about how much there is. 
How how many? 

1063
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,800
Days how? 
Many weeks you could probably 

1064
00:56:55,800 --> 00:57:00,360
spend just in Romans 12 so when 
we get to. 

1065
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:02,400
That in my. 
Sermon series look forward to 

1066
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:06,200
the 22 sermons on Romans 12. 
No, it won't be on, but but to 

1067
00:57:06,200 --> 00:57:08,360
think about how how rich it is, 
right. 

1068
00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:11,400
And then the cool thing about it
is, is this is what I get out of

1069
00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:15,920
Romans 12 today, a year from now
or whenever it is, and I'm back 

1070
00:57:15,920 --> 00:57:18,400
in Romans 12 again. 
It'll just be amazing. 

1071
00:57:18,560 --> 00:57:21,680
One of the things that I do is I
journal not for anybody. 

1072
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:23,880
There's nothing worth anything 
in there except for my own 

1073
00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:25,200
thoughts. 
There's nothing spectacular. 

1074
00:57:25,200 --> 00:57:27,200
Nobody would ever read them and 
no reason to. 

1075
00:57:27,200 --> 00:57:31,160
But you think about what I said 
last time, what I might see this

1076
00:57:31,160 --> 00:57:35,160
time it's living in active. 
And that's the cool thing about 

1077
00:57:35,160 --> 00:57:37,200
God's word. 
Any other any other example 

1078
00:57:37,200 --> 00:57:38,480
before I move on to a couple 
things? 

1079
00:57:39,280 --> 00:57:42,760
I've got a passage I want to 
spend a couple minutes in, but 

1080
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:45,200
no rush. 
So what I want? 

1081
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:48,640
You to do I want. 
You to take these ideas home 

1082
00:57:48,640 --> 00:57:52,720
with you if you don't have any 
other passage to work through 

1083
00:57:53,080 --> 00:57:56,760
Romans 12. 
Now you think I'm going to 

1084
00:57:56,760 --> 00:57:58,920
forget? 
Don't mean that this doesn't 

1085
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:00,920
mean you don't want to come back
next time because we have 

1086
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,560
another session. 
But I am going to ask you about 

1087
00:58:03,560 --> 00:58:05,280
your homework next time we're 
together. 

1088
00:58:06,280 --> 00:58:09,600
And so Romans 12 is fine. 
Or whatever passage you might be

1089
00:58:09,600 --> 00:58:11,880
working through, use it in your 
quiet time. 

1090
00:58:11,880 --> 00:58:14,520
Answer some of these questions. 
Be ready for a few of you to 

1091
00:58:14,520 --> 00:58:16,800
share some some of those 
responses next time we're 

1092
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:18,200
together. 
OK, you all get it. 

1093
00:58:19,280 --> 00:58:21,360
All right. 
And I hope that you'll make this

1094
00:58:21,360 --> 00:58:23,080
a habit because that's what I 
need to talk about. 

1095
00:58:23,240 --> 00:58:29,320
Because application in its best 
form should lead to a consistent

1096
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:31,680
repetition. 
What we're trying to do is 

1097
00:58:31,680 --> 00:58:35,280
create habit. 
We call them spiritual 

1098
00:58:35,600 --> 00:58:39,360
disciplines for a reason. 
And So what we're looking for is

1099
00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:43,720
the these habits of discipline, 
these patterns of behavior, 

1100
00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:48,680
almost an addiction of sorts to 
where I can't not do this. 

1101
00:58:49,400 --> 00:58:53,680
I'm hungry for this. 
I feel bad when I don't do this.

1102
00:58:53,960 --> 00:58:57,320
I need this. 
I'm empty if I don't do this, 

1103
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:02,920
right? 
And so this addiction to the 

1104
00:59:02,920 --> 00:59:05,640
word of God, and not just to the
word of God, but to the actual 

1105
00:59:05,640 --> 00:59:07,840
study and application of the 
word. 

1106
00:59:07,920 --> 00:59:11,800
Because again, you and I both, 
and of course, coming out of an 

1107
00:59:11,800 --> 00:59:15,280
educational world that I have, I
know a lot of people who know a 

1108
00:59:15,280 --> 00:59:17,720
lot of things about things, but 
that doesn't necessarily mean 

1109
00:59:17,720 --> 00:59:21,200
they're living those things. 
And that happens in church life.

1110
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:24,080
I know people who go from study 
to study to study to study to 

1111
00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:26,440
study in the old days in 
Southern Baptist life. 

1112
00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:29,760
And this is the old days, some 
of you doesn't matter, but in 

1113
00:59:29,760 --> 00:59:32,960
the old days you used to used to
read these books and you could 

1114
00:59:32,960 --> 00:59:35,160
actually send them in and you 
can get a certificate. 

1115
00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:37,520
If I read a certain number of 
bit books, I could get a 

1116
00:59:37,520 --> 00:59:39,800
certificate for my discipleship 
training stuff. 

1117
00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:41,800
And then people would have these
certificates. 

1118
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:44,000
And because they had their 
certificates, I guess they were 

1119
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:47,320
disciples, you know, they'd. 
Read books, they'd gone. 

1120
00:59:47,320 --> 00:59:50,280
Through studies. 
But did that really mean 

1121
00:59:50,280 --> 00:59:52,360
anything? 
Did it change anything? 

1122
00:59:52,760 --> 00:59:55,320
So a lot of people there are 
spiritual sponges and they just 

1123
00:59:55,320 --> 00:59:57,680
keep sponging it and sponging it
and sponging it and getting 

1124
00:59:57,680 --> 01:00:00,360
fatter and fatter, but there's 
nothing going out of it. 

1125
01:00:00,560 --> 01:00:01,920
There's nothing being applied to
it. 

1126
01:00:01,920 --> 01:00:03,400
And we've got to be different 
here. 

1127
01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:05,040
That's what will make the 
difference. 

1128
01:00:05,040 --> 01:00:07,640
Two things are going to make the
difference at Inglewood in our 

1129
01:00:07,640 --> 01:00:13,680
future. 1 is that our testimony 
of life and word match and that 

1130
01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:17,240
people see that there's see a 
consistency in what we say we 

1131
01:00:17,240 --> 01:00:20,840
believe and how we live. 
That will make a difference 

1132
01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:23,640
because I promise you one of the
greatest problems in the United 

1133
01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:25,960
States of America toward 
Christianity or Christians. 

1134
01:00:27,360 --> 01:00:30,120
And so, and that's not a guess, 
that's a statistical study. 

1135
01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:33,000
I've been a part of studies 
where we talked to lost people 

1136
01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:36,040
in all 50 States and Canada for 
over 2 years and their biggest 

1137
01:00:36,040 --> 01:00:39,720
issue wasn't what we believed. 
The biggest issue is we said we 

1138
01:00:39,720 --> 01:00:42,640
believe stuff, but it didn't 
seem to change any way we lived.

1139
01:00:43,440 --> 01:00:48,080
That was the the hypocrisy. 
And so for us to be consistent, 

1140
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:52,280
that will make a huge difference
in this community for them to 

1141
01:00:52,280 --> 01:00:56,280
see that at Inglewood, we don't 
just talk a talk, we walk the 

1142
01:00:56,280 --> 01:00:58,560
walk, right? 
That'll be a big deal. 

1143
01:00:58,560 --> 01:01:01,560
And then the other part of it is
we actually share why? 

1144
01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:04,560
And and that's where we got to 
take the step. 

1145
01:01:04,560 --> 01:01:08,080
Of of getting to the gospel with
people to say here's why I 

1146
01:01:08,080 --> 01:01:10,520
believe what I believe and 
here's why I live the way I do. 

1147
01:01:10,520 --> 01:01:14,400
And This is why it makes such a 
difference in my life to where 

1148
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:19,200
I'm very different than I would 
be without Jesus, Aristotle of 

1149
01:01:19,200 --> 01:01:21,240
all people. 
I don't quote him as a 

1150
01:01:21,240 --> 01:01:25,720
theologian, but the philosopher 
said we are what we repeatedly 

1151
01:01:25,720 --> 01:01:28,640
do, excellence. 
Then is not an. 

1152
01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:34,920
Act excellence is a habit, and 
so there's a reason why I'm I'm 

1153
01:01:35,040 --> 01:01:38,360
I've written a couple of books 
and I'm writing two more right 

1154
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:40,080
now. 
All of them have the same title,

1155
01:01:40,080 --> 01:01:43,120
which is a little funny, but 
they're all called A New normal 

1156
01:01:43,120 --> 01:01:45,160
with subtitles. 
I have a new normal about 

1157
01:01:45,160 --> 01:01:47,080
revitalization. 
I got a new normal for small 

1158
01:01:47,080 --> 01:01:48,560
groups. 
The next one's a new normal for 

1159
01:01:48,560 --> 01:01:51,040
personal evangelism. 
The final one's going to be 1 on

1160
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:52,960
leadership. 
I might want, I might do a fifth

1161
01:01:52,960 --> 01:01:57,720
on missions one day, but I got a
team of people that work with me

1162
01:01:57,720 --> 01:01:59,080
on that. 
And so we're getting ready to 

1163
01:01:59,120 --> 01:02:02,280
try to finish the personal 
evangelism book next. 

1164
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:06,280
And basically it's more or less 
what I taught this fall with 

1165
01:02:06,280 --> 01:02:09,960
some added things to it. 
But I reason I write that is 

1166
01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:14,320
that it's the title. 
We've got to do things in a new 

1167
01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:17,200
way that become normal for most 
churches. 

1168
01:02:17,720 --> 01:02:20,000
You all don't have as far to go 
as a lot of churches do because 

1169
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:22,640
you are already healthier than a
lot of churches. 

1170
01:02:23,240 --> 01:02:26,280
And so for us to be able to take
those next new normal steps, 

1171
01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:28,880
that's normal. 
If you encounter somebody from 

1172
01:02:28,880 --> 01:02:30,800
Inglewood, it's normal to hear 
the gospel. 

1173
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:33,640
It's normal to be cared for. 
It's normal to be loved. 

1174
01:02:33,640 --> 01:02:37,320
It's normal to be invited, 
dragged, kidnapped and smuggled 

1175
01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:40,400
into connect groups. 
You know, they're going to make 

1176
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:45,080
you come and they want you here 
and and they think it's good. 

1177
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:48,080
They're they're they're actually
happy people who are enjoying 

1178
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:54,680
the thing called church right. 
And so these habits a new 

1179
01:02:54,680 --> 01:02:56,280
normal. 
So just recognize it. 

1180
01:02:56,360 --> 01:02:59,040
All right, I want to spend a 
couple minutes and we got a 

1181
01:02:59,040 --> 01:03:02,200
couple that's good. 
John 14 if you have a Bible, go 

1182
01:03:02,200 --> 01:03:04,680
ahead and turn to it. 
But I just want to spend a 

1183
01:03:04,680 --> 01:03:08,760
couple of minutes here before we
we finish up. 

1184
01:03:08,760 --> 01:03:10,000
But this will take a couple 
minutes. 

1185
01:03:10,440 --> 01:03:14,320
John 14 beginning in verse 21. 
This could be. 

1186
01:03:14,320 --> 01:03:16,320
The passage if you want to. 
Do this for your homework. 

1187
01:03:16,320 --> 01:03:18,160
That's fine. 
Pick a passage. 

1188
01:03:18,160 --> 01:03:21,200
Romans 12, John 14 will be good.
Any of the other ones I've I've 

1189
01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:23,680
shared on this paper or 
something your you might be 

1190
01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:26,440
working through, you might be in
the study and you're working 

1191
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:27,480
through something. 
Pick one of those. 

1192
01:03:27,480 --> 01:03:30,120
It's fine. 
I just want to watch you see the

1193
01:03:30,120 --> 01:03:34,080
exercise come next week ready to
share so you can all get A's. 

1194
01:03:35,840 --> 01:03:41,240
John, 1421. 
Whoever now notice that word, 

1195
01:03:42,320 --> 01:03:43,920
we're going to we're. 
Going to take this easy. 

1196
01:03:43,920 --> 01:03:45,080
OK, don't. 
I'm not. 

1197
01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:46,560
We're going to take this easy 
here. 

1198
01:03:47,000 --> 01:03:48,320
Whoever. 
Who does that mean? 

1199
01:03:49,040 --> 01:03:51,040
Whoever. 
Who? 

1200
01:03:51,160 --> 01:03:51,840
Yeah. 
Who, who? 

1201
01:03:51,920 --> 01:03:52,800
Who's? 
Whoever. 

1202
01:03:54,640 --> 01:04:01,720
Yeah, any of us. 
Me, you, anybody, who all of. 

1203
01:04:01,720 --> 01:04:04,720
US. 
Has my commandments all right so

1204
01:04:04,720 --> 01:04:07,200
that's important so we have them
what does that mean how would we

1205
01:04:07,200 --> 01:04:09,480
how would we translate that what
does it mean to have his 

1206
01:04:09,480 --> 01:04:13,800
commandments what does that mean
what does that mean I know them 

1207
01:04:13,840 --> 01:04:17,080
so I've got the knowledge now 
this is where a lot of folks are

1208
01:04:17,080 --> 01:04:19,840
in church life. 
Some of some of you have been 

1209
01:04:19,840 --> 01:04:23,960
Christians a long time you know 
the commandments you know these 

1210
01:04:23,960 --> 01:04:27,000
things I know the right thing to
do but I still don't do it 

1211
01:04:27,000 --> 01:04:29,600
Romans. 
Paul would talk to himself about

1212
01:04:29,600 --> 01:04:32,560
it so. 
I have them. 

1213
01:04:32,880 --> 01:04:35,800
I know him, I've studied him, 
I've studied him. 

1214
01:04:36,120 --> 01:04:37,960
I can't believe he's talking 
about it again. 

1215
01:04:38,520 --> 01:04:43,960
I've studied him. 
Has my commandments and keeps 

1216
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:45,520
them. 
So it's not an or. 

1217
01:04:47,200 --> 01:04:49,960
It's and every single word 
matters. 

1218
01:04:50,400 --> 01:04:55,560
And Kai and not not doesn't mean
that I get to do 1 and not the 

1219
01:04:55,560 --> 01:04:57,800
other. 
It doesn't mean that I can just 

1220
01:04:57,800 --> 01:05:00,240
come study. 
It doesn't mean I can just come 

1221
01:05:00,240 --> 01:05:01,880
learn. 
It doesn't mean I can just 

1222
01:05:01,880 --> 01:05:04,120
listen to the next sermon and 
say nice sermon, pastor. 

1223
01:05:04,200 --> 01:05:05,120
It can't. 
It doesn't matter. 

1224
01:05:05,120 --> 01:05:08,120
Doesn't work that way. 
OK. 

1225
01:05:08,800 --> 01:05:11,600
And. 
Keeps them. 

1226
01:05:12,680 --> 01:05:14,880
In other words, I'm doing 
something with this. 

1227
01:05:15,320 --> 01:05:18,680
I am applying this in my life. 
I am living them. 

1228
01:05:18,680 --> 01:05:20,840
I am obeying them. 
I am observing them. 

1229
01:05:20,840 --> 01:05:22,640
These are commandments. 
These, these are not 

1230
01:05:22,640 --> 01:05:24,360
suggestions. 
These are not. 

1231
01:05:24,600 --> 01:05:26,680
Now I don't have to wonder 
whether or not this applies to 

1232
01:05:26,680 --> 01:05:29,480
my life or not. 
These are commandments, you 

1233
01:05:29,480 --> 01:05:31,880
know, this isn't just some 
cultural description of 

1234
01:05:31,880 --> 01:05:34,080
something. 
This is a commandment. 

1235
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:42,280
And I keep them. 
He it is who loves me and not or

1236
01:05:43,240 --> 01:05:46,040
both. 
That's when you really show your

1237
01:05:46,040 --> 01:05:48,920
love. 
Not just that I'm studying you, 

1238
01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:50,600
Lord, now that's great. 
I'm glad you're doing it. 

1239
01:05:50,600 --> 01:05:52,040
I'd rather you do that than 
nothing. 

1240
01:05:52,040 --> 01:05:54,200
You come and learn. 
You come and sit and soak if you

1241
01:05:54,200 --> 01:05:56,040
have to, and you come keep 
learning. 

1242
01:05:56,200 --> 01:05:59,360
But it's the and that makes the 
difference. 

1243
01:05:59,360 --> 01:06:08,400
The Kai in Greek Kie or Kai 
Sorry, Kai, Kai it's and you're 

1244
01:06:08,400 --> 01:06:09,920
not just studying, you're doing 
this. 

1245
01:06:10,120 --> 01:06:11,800
You're the one who really loves 
me. 

1246
01:06:12,920 --> 01:06:15,080
You're the one that has agape 
for me. 

1247
01:06:16,960 --> 01:06:20,920
And he who loves me. 
Will be loved by my father and I

1248
01:06:20,920 --> 01:06:24,320
will love him and manifest 
myself to him. 

1249
01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:28,440
In other words, if you're that 
person now, don't just start. 

1250
01:06:28,440 --> 01:06:31,080
See though, you can't just start
with that second hand. 

1251
01:06:31,880 --> 01:06:34,440
And he who loves me will be 
loved by my Father, and I will 

1252
01:06:34,440 --> 01:06:35,880
love him and manifest myself to 
him. 

1253
01:06:35,880 --> 01:06:38,760
Now I'm not saying that he won't
love you because He'll love you.

1254
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:40,680
So that first part might still 
be true. 

1255
01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:43,040
And he who loves me will be 
loved by my Father, and I will 

1256
01:06:43,040 --> 01:06:44,920
love him, because God loves you 
no matter who you are. 

1257
01:06:46,080 --> 01:06:52,400
But to be, to be somebody where 
He manifests himself to you, He 

1258
01:06:52,400 --> 01:06:55,360
really does show you. 
He really does reveal to you. 

1259
01:06:55,520 --> 01:06:59,200
He really does speak to you. 
And you can say God said 

1260
01:06:59,200 --> 01:07:01,560
something to me accurately and 
biblically. 

1261
01:07:01,560 --> 01:07:06,520
It's because I've studied his 
commandments and I'm obeying his

1262
01:07:06,520 --> 01:07:09,880
commandments. 
You don't get to have Jesus as 

1263
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:12,880
Savior without Lord. 
There's nothing in the Bible 

1264
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:16,240
that says you get to do that. 
The word belief, the word faith 

1265
01:07:16,240 --> 01:07:19,880
indicates a trust and a 
dependency upon Christ. 

1266
01:07:20,160 --> 01:07:24,560
Lordships built in to salvation.
I hope it was explained to you 

1267
01:07:24,560 --> 01:07:26,880
that way. 
Then we have this. 

1268
01:07:26,880 --> 01:07:30,040
Illustration. 
Judas I mean, it's happening in 

1269
01:07:30,040 --> 01:07:31,800
real time, but Judas not 
Iscariot. 

1270
01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:36,160
So this isn't, this isn't Judas 
the bad guy, Judas not as 

1271
01:07:36,160 --> 01:07:39,600
Scariot said to him. 
Lord, how is it that You will 

1272
01:07:39,600 --> 01:07:42,360
manifest yourself to us and not 
to the world? 

1273
01:07:44,040 --> 01:07:45,960
So not everybody gets to see. 
Everything. 

1274
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:47,680
Not everybody gets all the 
revelation. 

1275
01:07:47,680 --> 01:07:50,280
Not everybody will understand 
exactly who he is. 

1276
01:07:50,280 --> 01:07:53,960
I mean this from the beginning. 
We've known this and Jesus 

1277
01:07:53,960 --> 01:08:01,600
answered him. 
If it's a big word, if anyone 

1278
01:08:01,600 --> 01:08:04,960
loves me, look at that next 
phrase. 

1279
01:08:06,360 --> 01:08:10,560
He will keep my word. 
In other words, if you really. 

1280
01:08:10,560 --> 01:08:12,240
Love me. 
He's just repeating what he just

1281
01:08:12,240 --> 01:08:15,400
said before in a different way. 
If anybody really thinks they 

1282
01:08:15,400 --> 01:08:18,960
love me, he's going to obey my 
word. 

1283
01:08:19,319 --> 01:08:22,040
He's going to live differently. 
He's going to be differently. 

1284
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:23,720
He's going to actually 
demonstrate this. 

1285
01:08:23,960 --> 01:08:27,560
And my father will love him, and
we will come to him and make our

1286
01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:29,840
home with him. 
That Trinitarian, incredible 

1287
01:08:29,840 --> 01:08:33,560
mystery there. 
And whoever does not love me, 

1288
01:08:34,120 --> 01:08:41,040
guess what does not? 
What obey or keep my words and 

1289
01:08:41,040 --> 01:08:42,359
the. 
Word that you hear is. 

1290
01:08:42,359 --> 01:08:46,399
Not mine, but the Father's who 
sent me in other. 

1291
01:08:46,399 --> 01:08:47,439
Words. 
There's real. 

1292
01:08:47,439 --> 01:08:49,840
Evidence here. 
I love Jesus. 

1293
01:08:49,840 --> 01:08:50,920
Really. 
OK. 

1294
01:08:52,279 --> 01:08:57,319
Your life ought to show it. 
Your life needs to show it. 

1295
01:08:58,240 --> 01:09:03,720
You need to demonstrate that 
this is a true statistic. 

1296
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:08,000
Most lost people in the United 
States of America. 

1297
01:09:08,160 --> 01:09:10,240
Now, there'd be certain parts of
the country that would be 

1298
01:09:10,240 --> 01:09:14,640
different than others, but as a 
totality, most lost people in 

1299
01:09:14,640 --> 01:09:18,200
the totality of the United 
States of America don't know 

1300
01:09:18,200 --> 01:09:21,359
anyone who identifies themselves
as a born again Christian. 

1301
01:09:23,560 --> 01:09:28,399
Now the other statistic is. 
They likely actually do. 

1302
01:09:30,560 --> 01:09:34,160
But they don't know it. 
So, in other words, the 

1303
01:09:34,160 --> 01:09:35,800
testimonies. 
Go something like this. 

1304
01:09:36,000 --> 01:09:39,080
I don't even know anybody who 
identifies themselves as a 

1305
01:09:39,080 --> 01:09:42,319
Christian now. 
I bet if you went. 

1306
01:09:42,319 --> 01:09:44,479
To their workplace or their 
neighborhood or even their 

1307
01:09:44,479 --> 01:09:46,359
family or somebody. 
And you did a survey of all 

1308
01:09:46,359 --> 01:09:47,840
those people. 
There would be multiple people 

1309
01:09:47,840 --> 01:09:50,960
who would claim the name 
Christian, but there's. 

1310
01:09:50,960 --> 01:09:52,240
No evidence. 
There's no fruit. 

1311
01:09:52,240 --> 01:09:55,800
There's no, there's no 
indication that I'm in love with

1312
01:09:55,920 --> 01:09:58,600
Jesus, right? 
Because they're too scared or 

1313
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:01,480
they're too apathetic or 
whatever. 

1314
01:10:01,520 --> 01:10:03,240
Whatever the cause is, there's a
million causes. 

1315
01:10:04,480 --> 01:10:09,040
And so we need to demonstrate 
this to others. 

1316
01:10:09,520 --> 01:10:12,760
So Augustine writes. 
Or Augustine if you're from 

1317
01:10:12,760 --> 01:10:16,880
South Carolina. 
If you believe what? 

1318
01:10:16,880 --> 01:10:21,360
You like in the gospel and 
reject what you do not like. 

1319
01:10:22,200 --> 01:10:25,920
It's not the gospel you believe,
but yourself. 

1320
01:10:27,920 --> 01:10:30,840
So in other words. 
You know, I like this part, so 

1321
01:10:30,840 --> 01:10:33,600
I'm going to do that, but I 
don't really like that part, so 

1322
01:10:33,600 --> 01:10:39,280
I'm not going to do that. 
Who's Who's the King? 

1323
01:10:40,520 --> 01:10:42,040
Who's making? 
The decisions on the. 

1324
01:10:42,040 --> 01:10:46,080
Throne of your life at that 
point see and so we recognize 

1325
01:10:46,080 --> 01:10:49,280
that this isn't a pick and 
choose Thomas Jeffersonian. 

1326
01:10:49,680 --> 01:10:51,680
I tore out the pages of my Bible
kind of thing. 

1327
01:10:52,640 --> 01:10:54,960
This is a totality of this word 
of God. 

1328
01:10:54,960 --> 01:10:58,080
So we need to study all of it. 
So part of the reason that we 

1329
01:10:58,080 --> 01:11:01,560
try to cover the whole council 
of God as a church, you need 

1330
01:11:01,560 --> 01:11:03,720
that diet. 
We need to see all these 

1331
01:11:03,720 --> 01:11:07,240
different pieces and how these 
different pieces move together 

1332
01:11:07,240 --> 01:11:10,840
in the Bible so that we can 
apply the the whole Bible, the 

1333
01:11:10,840 --> 01:11:13,880
whole council of God, not only 
in our. 

1334
01:11:13,880 --> 01:11:18,760
Minds, but in our. 
Lives and to live it out in such

1335
01:11:18,760 --> 01:11:26,000
a way that that it that it 
impacts other people you know my

1336
01:11:26,000 --> 01:11:30,000
friend Sam James he preached for
us for those of you who are 

1337
01:11:30,560 --> 01:11:32,560
members here and active here on 
Sundays. 

1338
01:11:33,320 --> 01:11:38,760
He's 93 years old legendary 
missionary and administrator of 

1339
01:11:38,760 --> 01:11:44,000
our international mission board 
for well over 50 years was in 

1340
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:46,240
Vietnam. 
He and I, he used to be my boss 

1341
01:11:46,240 --> 01:11:47,760
and then we've travelled 
together and then several 

1342
01:11:47,760 --> 01:11:54,120
projects together over the years
and, and when we were, when we 

1343
01:11:54,120 --> 01:11:58,040
were dedicating the seminary. 
I've told you part of this. 

1344
01:11:58,040 --> 01:12:00,280
Already, But when we were 
dedicating the seminary in 

1345
01:12:00,280 --> 01:12:04,560
Vietnam in what we would know as
Saigon, what is now Ho Chi Minh 

1346
01:12:04,560 --> 01:12:07,680
City, we had a. 
Packed house I have. 

1347
01:12:07,680 --> 01:12:12,520
Photos of this. 
And I talked. 

1348
01:12:12,520 --> 01:12:15,080
To you about an American pastor 
who was in tears, who was 

1349
01:12:15,080 --> 01:12:16,840
listening to Sam. 
You may not remember that story,

1350
01:12:16,840 --> 01:12:19,160
but he was. 
He was so overwhelmed by Sam's 

1351
01:12:19,160 --> 01:12:22,040
passion that he was in tears 
sitting next to me in the Pew. 

1352
01:12:22,280 --> 01:12:25,200
What I didn't tell you was what 
one of the Vietnamese pastors 

1353
01:12:25,200 --> 01:12:29,840
told me later, who is bilingual,
and he just. 

1354
01:12:29,840 --> 01:12:33,680
He just said to. 
Me and, and, and he was the son.

1355
01:12:34,760 --> 01:12:38,600
So he was a leader of the 
convention and his father was 

1356
01:12:38,600 --> 01:12:40,280
the leader of the convention 
before him. 

1357
01:12:40,280 --> 01:12:43,720
And his father was a leader when
Sam was still active there. 

1358
01:12:44,560 --> 01:12:49,320
He was an older man. 
And and he was telling. 

1359
01:12:49,320 --> 01:12:52,840
Me, he goes. 
My whole life I've known Doctor 

1360
01:12:52,840 --> 01:12:56,280
Sam. 
My father knew Doctor Sam his 

1361
01:12:56,280 --> 01:12:58,440
whole life. 
His father eventually went 

1362
01:12:58,440 --> 01:13:01,160
blind. 
It's a long story, but godly man

1363
01:13:01,160 --> 01:13:03,160
who had to give his son, you 
know, son became the heir 

1364
01:13:03,160 --> 01:13:06,600
apparent, etcetera. 
And he said, all I heard my 

1365
01:13:06,600 --> 01:13:15,640
whole life was how much Sam 
loved the Vietnamese people and 

1366
01:13:15,640 --> 01:13:19,240
how much Sam loved Jesus. 
Heard that my whole life. 

1367
01:13:19,240 --> 01:13:20,320
That's all I heard over and 
over. 

1368
01:13:20,320 --> 01:13:23,520
And Doctor Sam loves the 
Vietnamese people and Doctor Sam

1369
01:13:23,520 --> 01:13:25,400
loves Jesus. 
Heard it, heard it, heard it, 

1370
01:13:25,400 --> 01:13:27,760
heard it, heard it. 
Kind of sick of it, heard it. 

1371
01:13:27,800 --> 01:13:32,320
He was telling me this story. 
Until I got to be the leader. 

1372
01:13:32,320 --> 01:13:34,440
And I was spending one-on-one 
time with Sam. 

1373
01:13:36,080 --> 01:13:39,200
And he looks at me and. 
Tears just start pouring out of 

1374
01:13:39,200 --> 01:13:42,400
his eyes. 
And he says. 

1375
01:13:43,520 --> 01:13:45,520
I don't know that I've ever met 
anybody. 

1376
01:13:47,480 --> 01:13:52,360
Who shows me? 
That he loves Jesus as much as 

1377
01:13:52,360 --> 01:13:55,880
Doctor Sam. 
And they have that kind of. 

1378
01:13:55,880 --> 01:13:59,000
Impact that kind of influence 
with people who are with you for

1379
01:13:59,000 --> 01:14:01,400
years. 
People who see you and they see 

1380
01:14:01,400 --> 01:14:03,920
you when you're tired and they 
see you when it's hard, They see

1381
01:14:03,920 --> 01:14:08,800
you when you're arrested. 
I don't know if I've ever met 

1382
01:14:08,800 --> 01:14:12,720
anybody. 
Who showed me that he loved. 

1383
01:14:12,720 --> 01:14:14,520
Jesus as much. 
As Doctor Sam. 

1384
01:14:16,920 --> 01:14:18,600
Oh, to have that kind of 
testimony. 

1385
01:14:19,400 --> 01:14:22,560
You know, to have that kind of 
testimony. 

1386
01:14:23,960 --> 01:14:28,120
So part of what we want to think
about is not just again, let's 

1387
01:14:28,120 --> 01:14:30,160
reflect for a moment. 
It's a very important I go back 

1388
01:14:30,160 --> 01:14:34,920
and make this connection, not 
just what does this mean to me, 

1389
01:14:36,440 --> 01:14:37,480
but. 
What does this? 

1390
01:14:37,480 --> 01:14:43,120
Mean to us? 
Because what you? 

1391
01:14:43,160 --> 01:14:49,200
Believe and how you live affects
me and it affects her and it 

1392
01:14:49,200 --> 01:14:52,800
affects him and it affects them 
and it affects the kids over 

1393
01:14:52,800 --> 01:14:53,840
here. 
It does. 

1394
01:14:53,920 --> 01:14:56,440
It affects all of us and you're 
like, no, I nobody cares about 

1395
01:14:56,440 --> 01:14:58,080
what? 
That's not how it works. 

1396
01:14:58,800 --> 01:15:03,160
We're connected. 
And whether or not you love and.

1397
01:15:03,160 --> 01:15:05,960
Trust in Jesus and you're not 
only studying His Word. 

1398
01:15:06,200 --> 01:15:08,480
Every single person ought to be 
in a connect group. 

1399
01:15:08,480 --> 01:15:10,040
What percentage ought to be in a
connect group? 

1400
01:15:11,000 --> 01:15:11,880
Everybody. 
And that's. 

1401
01:15:11,880 --> 01:15:13,680
Not because I'm. 
Trying to build up numbers in a 

1402
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:15,440
connect group. 
It's because you need to be in 

1403
01:15:15,440 --> 01:15:17,360
that community of Bible study 
together. 

1404
01:15:19,480 --> 01:15:22,840
Because as I've said. 
Before, it's not just the fact 

1405
01:15:23,120 --> 01:15:27,280
that you need that they need you
to be there. 

1406
01:15:28,040 --> 01:15:33,240
They need that they need to 
watch you listen. 

1407
01:15:33,240 --> 01:15:36,360
There's been no greater blessing
in my life in ministry, Whatever

1408
01:15:36,360 --> 01:15:38,360
the ministry was that God has 
led me to. 

1409
01:15:39,040 --> 01:15:41,960
There's been no greater blessing
in my life than to watch 

1410
01:15:42,160 --> 01:15:45,760
somebody go from zero to 100 
spiritually. 

1411
01:15:46,320 --> 01:15:49,440
Nothing is more encouraging. 
It has nothing to do with me. 

1412
01:15:49,680 --> 01:15:53,480
I'm just watching this person 
grow and grow and grow. 

1413
01:15:53,560 --> 01:15:56,080
Listen, there have been people 
that I've watched who then 

1414
01:15:56,080 --> 01:15:58,640
served with me in ministry and 
I've told them to their face 

1415
01:15:58,800 --> 01:16:01,080
I've said, listen, the whole 
reason I might have been born, 

1416
01:16:01,240 --> 01:16:03,920
the whole reason I might have 
been on this planet was to see 

1417
01:16:03,920 --> 01:16:07,200
you grow and to encourage you 
and to help send you out because

1418
01:16:07,200 --> 01:16:09,040
you're going to do far greater 
things than I ever do. 

1419
01:16:10,320 --> 01:16:17,640
It's amazing. 
It's not just about me, it's 

1420
01:16:17,640 --> 01:16:22,240
about us. 
So I pray that we'll become not 

1421
01:16:22,240 --> 01:16:26,600
only hearers of the Word, but 
that we will truly become doers 

1422
01:16:27,000 --> 01:16:31,160
of the Word, so that we can 
demonstrate not only the fact 

1423
01:16:31,160 --> 01:16:35,920
that we have His commandments. 
But we are keeping them. 

1424
01:16:36,680 --> 01:16:41,120
That's the testimony, that 
consistency, that truth in our 

1425
01:16:41,120 --> 01:16:42,680
life. 
That's what this world needs and

1426
01:16:42,680 --> 01:16:45,600
that's what we need. 
Nothing will encourage each 

1427
01:16:45,600 --> 01:16:49,600
other more than that on Sunday 
morning to see somebody 

1428
01:16:49,600 --> 01:16:53,120
worshipping God with their whole
heart, with passion. 

1429
01:16:53,680 --> 01:16:56,120
To be in a Bible study where 
people are really hungry, I 

1430
01:16:56,120 --> 01:16:58,960
mean, they're really diving in. 
The discussion is fantastic. 

1431
01:16:59,120 --> 01:17:00,720
The teachers, you know, they're 
good too. 

1432
01:17:00,800 --> 01:17:03,240
But the discussion that we're 
having with each other, it's 

1433
01:17:03,280 --> 01:17:11,080
fantastic, you know, and then 
you tolerate the preacher, but 

1434
01:17:11,320 --> 01:17:16,440
to recognize that together. 
He wants us to impact not only. 

1435
01:17:16,440 --> 01:17:21,160
US but them. 
So let's see what happens. 

1436
01:17:21,840 --> 01:17:23,520
Father, we thank you so much for
your word. 

1437
01:17:23,840 --> 01:17:27,880
I thank you, Father. 
That we're in this together. 

1438
01:17:29,160 --> 01:17:32,480
I thank you, Father, that 
there's there's no me, there's 

1439
01:17:32,480 --> 01:17:37,120
no one. 
Sometimes, you know, and I know 

1440
01:17:37,120 --> 01:17:39,040
Father, sometimes we're going 
through hard times and 

1441
01:17:39,040 --> 01:17:42,000
sometimes, Father, we feel 
buried by life and we can't 

1442
01:17:42,000 --> 01:17:43,840
really think about anything but 
that. 

1443
01:17:44,080 --> 01:17:46,440
I get it. 
And you know that you understand

1444
01:17:46,440 --> 01:17:48,560
that. 
And so there are moments when we

1445
01:17:48,560 --> 01:17:51,120
are really focused on just what 
we are going through. 

1446
01:17:51,120 --> 01:17:54,520
And sometimes I sometimes it's, 
that's just the season we're in.

1447
01:17:55,320 --> 01:17:59,560
But Father, I do pray that we'll
also feel the encouragement of 

1448
01:17:59,560 --> 01:18:02,760
the body, the help. 
Of your spirit. 

1449
01:18:03,760 --> 01:18:05,080
As we. 
As we. 

1450
01:18:05,440 --> 01:18:11,040
As we are revealed, we're 
revealed of who you are in your 

1451
01:18:11,040 --> 01:18:13,400
word. 
So help us to feed on it. 

1452
01:18:14,000 --> 01:18:16,960
Help us to seriously take some 
passages this next week and, and

1453
01:18:16,960 --> 01:18:18,200
work through some of these 
things. 

1454
01:18:18,320 --> 01:18:20,400
We can go all the way back to 
observation. 

1455
01:18:20,400 --> 01:18:21,960
We can work through all these 
steps. 

1456
01:18:22,520 --> 01:18:24,400
And then next week we're going 
to talk about it a little bit, 

1457
01:18:25,440 --> 01:18:27,480
not only about what does it mean
to us, but how are we going to 

1458
01:18:27,480 --> 01:18:30,600
share that with other people. 
And so, Father, bless us, 

1459
01:18:31,200 --> 01:18:35,240
please, Lord, I pray seriously 
that you'll keep us safe tonight

1460
01:18:35,240 --> 01:18:37,080
and keep everybody safe on the 
way home. 

1461
01:18:37,080 --> 01:18:41,000
I pray, Father, the weather will
not be severe tonight or 

1462
01:18:41,000 --> 01:18:43,600
tomorrow. 
And Father, thank you so much 

1463
01:18:43,600 --> 01:18:45,480
for those listening online. 
Thank you for those who are 

1464
01:18:45,480 --> 01:18:47,360
serving and all the other 
ministries. 

1465
01:18:48,120 --> 01:18:50,400
Instead of being in here with us
physically, they're listening 

1466
01:18:50,400 --> 01:18:52,440
now online. 
Thank you for your service. 

1467
01:18:52,440 --> 01:18:56,280
Thank you so much. 
And Father, I look forward to 

1468
01:18:56,280 --> 01:18:59,360
this coming Sunday. 
Father, the weather's supposed 

1469
01:18:59,360 --> 01:19:02,440
to be OK. 
I pray, Father, we'll celebrate 

1470
01:19:02,440 --> 01:19:04,800
baptism. 
We'll celebrate and welcome new 

1471
01:19:04,800 --> 01:19:06,720
members. 
We'll worship you. 

1472
01:19:06,920 --> 01:19:09,520
We'll learn from you. 
And Father, we'll go out to 

1473
01:19:09,520 --> 01:19:11,680
impact this world. 
Thank you, Father in Christ's 

1474
01:19:11,680 --> 01:19:16,280
name, Amen. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1475
01:19:16,280 --> 01:19:17,880
today. 
And I also hope that you'll go 

1476
01:19:17,880 --> 01:19:20,120
to 
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 

1477
01:19:20,120 --> 01:19:23,160
as well as our app and find many
other resources that will bless 

1478
01:19:23,160 --> 01:19:25,360
you and your families. 
Thank you once again.