1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,240 It's good to see you. If we haven't met, my name is 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:03,440 Cole. I'm the lead pastor here. 3 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,800 I've only got 25 minutes to preach, so I'm going to, I'm 4 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:08,880 going to jump. If you know me, you know there's 5 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,160 a challenge for me, so I'm going to, I'm going to jump right into 6 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:13,280 it. If you've got a Bible, go ahead 7 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,720 and get that open to the book of Titus that's in the New 8 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:17,520 Testament. We're going to be in just a 9 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,240 couple verses in chapter 2. There should be an index on the 10 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,240 inside of your Bible. If you don't have one, that's 11 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:25,120 OK. We'll have all the relevant 12 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,560 Scripture verses on the screen for you so that you don't miss 13 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,640 them. We are on like week 7, maybe 14 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,680 week 8 in the book of Titus. And this morning is going to be 15 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,120 a doozy. I want to talk about, I don't 16 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,160 know how much I'm be able to hit, but I want to talk about 17 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:42,120 neurology. I want to talk about data. 18 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,760 I want to talk about statistics, and I also want to talk about 19 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:54,200 the two indomitable desires that are planted in every male heart. 20 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:59,120 They are in every male heart. You can ignore them, You can 21 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,720 bury them, but these two desires are planted within every male 22 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:06,080 heart. I'll give you the first one at 23 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,000 the beginning of the sermon. I'll hide the second one until 24 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,840 the end of the sermon. I was I was at Mars Cafe earlier 25 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,240 this week on Wednesday getting ready to prep my sermon. 26 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,680 I pulled into the parking lot ready to drink my cold brew. 27 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,400 As I pulled into the parking lot, I, I put my car in in, in 28 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,160 break. I, I responded to a couple text 29 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,640 messages on my phone and, and then suddenly as I was 30 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,640 responding to a text message, I hear on my car door. 31 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,440 It was like a horror movie. I like, I look like I look right 32 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,680 next to me and there's this kids face. 33 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,200 He's probably like a 10 year old. 34 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,680 He's got these big doughy eyes. His face is pressed up against 35 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,600 my window like this. So there's a, there's a knock. 36 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,120 I look and this kids face is pressed up against my window. 37 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,000 So I roll down my window and say, hey, what's up? 38 00:01:58,080 --> 00:01:59,640 Because how do you start that conversation? 39 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,920 And he says, is there anything that I can do to earn 5 or 10 40 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,680 bucks? And I say why? 41 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:11,280 And he's like, my mom's birthday is coming up and I want to buy 42 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:13,040 her something nice. And I was like, I would be a 43 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:14,760 terrible human being if I said no. 44 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:17,520 I was like, here's the deal, bro. 45 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:18,880 I don't have any cash on me right now. 46 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,040 I'm going to this coffee shop. Are you comfortable following me 47 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:23,840 into this coffee shop? It's a public space. 48 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:25,840 I'll give you the cash there. He's like, yeah, totally. 49 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:26,760 I'm like, all right, let's do it, bro. 50 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,520 And so he follows me into the coffee shop. 51 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,440 I'm like, hey, grab yourself a Coke or whatever you want. 52 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,800 He grabs himself a bottle of Coke, and I'm like, hey, Malik, 53 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,160 can you put ten extra bucks on this and just give me, you know, 54 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,160 $10 in cash? He's like, yeah, so here's that. 55 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,280 I was like, ah, bro, I would give you 10 bucks if in 10 56 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,760 minutes you can tell me what the meaning of life is at that table 57 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:49,960 over there. He's like, all right, let's do 58 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:51,800 it. It's like, the most cool thing 59 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,640 ever. And so he comes in and he sits 60 00:02:54,640 --> 00:02:57,560 down and I'm like, all right, dude, like what's your pitch, 61 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,000 man? What's the meet coach me? 62 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,960 What's the meaning of life? And his answer was it was great. 63 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,760 He was like, I think the meaning of life is to be successful. 64 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,120 I'm like, tell me more about that. 65 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,880 He's like, I think that you should become really good at 66 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,480 something in life so that you can love your family and you can 67 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,040 pay all of your bills. It was a fantastic answer. 68 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,800 And so we just kind of kept on talking and I was like, OK, 69 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,480 ma'am, outside of pursuing the meaning of life, what do you do 70 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,520 for fun? And he's like, I like making 71 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,600 money. I was like, I was like, you've 72 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,280 made that abundantly clear this morning. 73 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,880 I was like, OK, apart from making money, dude, what do you 74 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,520 like to do? And he's like, I like 75 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:38,440 basketball. I was like, are you any good at 76 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,160 it? He's like, yes, I'm great at it. 77 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,320 I'm really, I don't know how to dribble and I don't know how to 78 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:49,400 shoot. But I was like, I'm not a 79 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:50,960 basketball player. I don't know if you can tell by 80 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,480 my height, not a basketball player that's like 99% of 81 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,440 basketball. He's like, I don't know how to 82 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,520 dribble, I don't know how to shoot, but I'm really good. 83 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:04,040 Apart from those two things. I was like, I, I bet, I bet. 84 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,040 And so we, we kept on talking and we talked, I talked about 85 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,600 God and do you believe in God? And it was just a really fun 10 86 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,440 minute conversation and I gave him a high 5 and 10 bucks and he 87 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,120 went on his way. But the reason why I bring that 88 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:21,760 that story up to you is because that was the best part of my 89 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,240 day. I have a dream job, I have a 90 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,040 dream family. I love preparing sermons. 91 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,520 I love counseling you guys. I love making strategy, 92 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,520 strategic decisions for the local church, right? 93 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,160 It was a great day. I went home afterwards and ate a 94 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,040 great dinner with my family, but preparing the sermon, doing the 95 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,120 rest of my work that day, the dinner I had, the baseball game 96 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,120 that the Seattle Mariners won that night, none of those things 97 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:55,360 were as fun or as rewarding or as meaningful to me as those 10 98 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,360 minutes I had with that kid in the coffee shop. 99 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,120 That is what that is. One of the two indominal desires 100 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:07,400 that are planted in every male heart, In every male heart, is 101 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:14,120 this desire, this muscle to be a father figure. 102 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,320 Important statement, then, important qualification. 103 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:23,280 Here's the important statement. If you do not grow into the role 104 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:28,160 of spiritual father or father figure, if you do not exercise 105 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:35,320 that muscle as a man, there will always, always, always be a hole 106 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,720 in your life. Neurologically, there will also 107 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,360 be a hole in your brain. I'll talk more about that later. 108 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,880 You were made to be a spiritual father. 109 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,080 Important qualification. You do not need to be a 110 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,960 biological father to be a spiritual father. 111 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:57,400 In fact, some of the most important father figures in 112 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,800 human history were not biological fathers. 113 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,040 The apostle Paul, he wrote Titus not a biological father. 114 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,320 He's going to exhort Titus to be a spiritual father. 115 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,440 Titus is not a biological father. 116 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:18,280 Jesus not a biological father. And yet all of these men were 117 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:22,480 extraordinary spiritual fathers to many. 118 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,720 You don't need to be a biological father to be a 119 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,600 spiritual father. And also you can be a biological 120 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,400 father and fail at your role of being a spiritual father. 121 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,000 And Paul knows that. And that's why Paul says to 122 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,240 Titus, kind of the resident church planter, pastor in the 123 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,400 island of Crete, He says, hey, be a spiritual father and invest 124 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,480 in the next generation. That's what he says. 125 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,080 He doesn't phrase it exactly like that. 126 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,040 Why don't you stand for the reading of the Word of God, and 127 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:07,000 we'll hear Paul's real words. Paul singling out all of these, 128 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,160 these people groups. He's spoken to older men, he's 129 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,200 spoken to older women investing in younger women. 130 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,040 And this morning he's going to focus on the younger men in the 131 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,880 church. And so ladies, last week I 132 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,320 preached a long sermon about older women investing in younger 133 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,680 women. If you missed that, go back and 134 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:27,720 listen to that. I think it will bless you. 135 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,920 So I am going to focus specifically on what this text 136 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,400 is, which is Paul exhorting Titus to be a spiritual father 137 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,040 to the next generation of young men. 138 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,560 Ladies, that doesn't mean that there's nothing in this sermon 139 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,320 for you. What you need to do is you need 140 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,680 to practice what's called creative listening, creative 141 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:46,680 lives. Holy Spirit, what do you want me 142 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,720 to learn from this? OK, I, I'm not a spiritual 143 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,240 father. I'm not a spiritual son. 144 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,800 What, what about this is applicable to my life? 145 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,440 You get it, Creative listening. But here's the text. 146 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,480 He says likewise so that the same way that older women should 147 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:07,680 invest in younger women is the likewise likewise urge. 148 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:15,200 This is urgent urge the younger men to be self controlled. 149 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,600 And then he says be a role model. 150 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,840 That's what this is about. He says, show yourself in all 151 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,560 respects to be a model of good works. 152 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,160 And in your teaching, show integrity, dignity and sound 153 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,200 speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put 154 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,200 to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 155 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,520 Invest in the next generation and be a role model. 156 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:46,520 Heavenly Father, would you breathe your breath of life into 157 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:52,560 the preaching this morning? All I have are words. 158 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,080 Words can't do squat without spirit. 159 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:03,000 So I ask that you would light each of these words on fire like 160 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,920 a dart, and that that flaming dart would Pierce the human 161 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,880 heart. That can only happen if you're 162 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:11,840 at work, Lord. So it's in the precious name of 163 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,280 Jesus that all God's people prayed. 164 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:15,160 Amen. You can have a seat. 165 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:24,080 Oh, hey, I'm not going to spend a lot of time explaining the 166 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:25,600 text. I usually do. 167 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,800 The text is pretty easy to understand. 168 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:30,240 OK? There's no surprising Greek 169 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,680 words hiding in here. There's no surprising meaning 170 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:36,080 that's hiding in here. Essentially, if you look at this 171 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,560 text, what Paul is saying is really simple. 172 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,560 He's saying invest in the next generation of young men and be a 173 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,480 role model to them. That's, that's what the text is 174 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,640 about, right, right. He's, he's saying urge the 175 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,880 younger men to be specifically, he's saying help them be self 176 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:53,920 controlled. Why? 177 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,440 Here's the reason I, I think why I think because every, every 178 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,440 place, every geography, every church, every nation builds its 179 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,880 own unique culture, a culture around young men and their 180 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:09,040 expectations for young men. The island of Crete is a 181 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,040 dumpster fire, right? There's like, if, if you've 182 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,840 studied it, if you've made one of those early sermons, you know 183 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,520 that there's some crazy stuff happening on island of Crete. 184 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,240 It's dominated by dishonest mercenary soldiers. 185 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,200 It's dominated by literal pirates who get their living by 186 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,120 stealing. That means that the expectations 187 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,280 on this island for young men are really low, right? 188 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,680 My guess is that on the island of Crete, if I had to guess, my 189 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,280 guess is that it would be kind of like a, well, you know, boys 190 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:40,240 will be boys type of culture, right? 191 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,080 And those types of cultures, boys will be boys. 192 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,760 What they do is they they tend to reinforce on helpful gender 193 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:53,320 norms of things like bullying and domineering and being sexual 194 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,360 predators and stealing and being thieves and being dishonest. 195 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:02,040 And what Paul is saying to Titus is don't have low expectations 196 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,360 for these men. Urge them to be better. 197 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,440 Urge them to be self controlled. Urge them to be like Jesus. 198 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:17,600 I know these men are pirates. God's real, he can change them. 199 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,680 You can have godly expectations for them. 200 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,480 Urge them to be self controlled. So of course, that's why Paul 201 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,480 says to Titus, invest in the next generation of men. 202 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,680 Why did he have to say that? Probably because it's not 203 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:39,440 happening. Why? 204 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:46,040 Why doesn't this happen then and and now? 205 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:51,400 Why is it so rare for older men to invest in younger men? 206 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,600 Where's the rub? I spent a lot of time this week. 207 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:59,720 This is probably a rare sermon that needs to be more common for 208 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,800 me, but it was rare because I probably spent more time praying 209 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,600 about the sermon than actually studying and preparing the 210 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,440 sermon, which should probably be more normal for me. 211 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,840 But as I, as I prayed and fasted over that question, why is, why 212 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:15,760 does this not happen in the church? 213 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,200 I do feel like the Lord gave me an answer. 214 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:20,240 Like I do feel like the Spirit gave me something. 215 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,560 And so I think there's something in here for you as as a man. 216 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,560 I think the reason why older men struggle to invest in younger 217 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,720 men and younger men struggle to have friendships with older men 218 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,920 is is simple. I think it's because most men 219 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:39,440 choose loneliness over awkwardness. 220 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,160 Those are the two choices, either loneliness or 221 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,400 awkwardness, right? If you want to have these type 222 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,440 of relationships and friendships, you're going to 223 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,320 have to endure some level of awkwardness. 224 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,800 There's always a level of awkwardness to starting these 225 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:56,960 types of discipleship relationships because they 226 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,840 always start the same way. It almost always starts with a 227 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,160 younger man's life falling apart, which it doesn't have to, 228 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,280 and then him saying, hey, dude, you're one step ahead of me. 229 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,400 You're 2 steps ahead of me, you're 3 steps ahead of me. 230 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,200 I've got to be honest with you, I suck at being a husband. 231 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,080 I don't know how to do it. I don't know how to be a good 232 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:17,440 dad. I thought I was going to be a 233 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,800 good dad and I'm not. I can't stop watching porn. 234 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,960 How do you invest your money? I don't know how to be a 235 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,320 Christian, right? If you're going to embrace that 236 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,680 type of honesty, you're going to have to endure some level of 237 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:31,200 awkwardness. And some dudes are like, no, I 238 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:33,440 don't want to do it. I would rather just rot in 239 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,200 private. It's a lot of men just they 240 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,680 choose loneliness over awkwardness. 241 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,160 And if you don't want to invest in the men at your local church 242 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,960 as a man, that's fine. You're welcome. 243 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,120 We love you still show up on Sunday mornings, worship with 244 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:52,720 us. Seriously. 245 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,160 I mean that that's great, but you are. 246 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,320 You're not just rejecting awkwardness. 247 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:03,800 I need you to know that you are also choosing loneliness, and 248 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,800 there's always a price to pay for this. 249 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,800 Like one of the things I've said, and I think it's wrong, 250 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,640 not that it's wrong, I just don't think it's true enough. 251 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,720 One of the things I've said in the past is the church needs 252 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:22,360 good men right along the the yearly men's gathering we do is 253 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:27,880 called Iowa Needs Good Dudes. Yeah, Heck yeah. 254 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,680 Heck yeah, bro, Iowa needs good dudes. 255 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,480 And it's not that that's wrong, it's just that it's not true 256 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,080 enough. Like, the more that I've thought 257 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,240 about that sentiment, I would take it one step farther. 258 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,040 I'm not positive that what the church needs are good men. 259 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,400 We have Jesus, Amen. What the church needs are men 260 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,480 who at least want to become good. 261 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:59,200 If that's there, if the desire is there, if the hunger is 262 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,560 there, if the want is there, like I just, I want to become a 263 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,040 good man. Everything else tends to fall in 264 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,040 place. And if it doesn't, everything 265 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,400 else just tends to go to hell in a handbasket. 266 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:20,720 Like I didn't recognize how much of A threat a bored man is to 267 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,080 his family and his church until I became a pastor. 268 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,320 I wish you could. I wish you could be a family on 269 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,920 the wall in some of these conversations as as a as a 270 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:33,240 pastor there, I have had moments where women have reached out to 271 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:38,840 me and they've said my marriage is it is falling apart. 272 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,600 I am miserable right now. We need help. 273 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,360 We need help. And I've reached out to the man 274 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,520 like his wife feels like she's on fire, fire. 275 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,440 And I've reached out to the man, he's been like, Nah, I don't 276 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:04,280 want help. Men would rather some men would 277 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,400 rather drag their whole family into hell than just admit that 278 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,320 they need help. And if that's you, if you're not 279 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:17,040 self controlled, if if your marriage is not flourishing, you 280 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,280 don't know how to follow Jesus. I am pleading with you. 281 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,920 I'm begging brother, I will wash your feet. 282 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,120 I will get down to my hands and knees, Then I will kiss your 283 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,360 feet. Please don't be that guy. 284 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,920 Be the guy who at least has the want to be a good man who at 285 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,520 least can embrace the awkwardness and say, hey dude, 286 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:38,240 you're like one step ahead of me. 287 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,160 I know you're not perfect at this, but I see you at church 288 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,200 and it seems like you're kind of crushing it at marriage. 289 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,280 It seems like you're doing a good job as as a dad. 290 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,080 I will buy you coffee. Can we hang out? 291 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,800 That's how it's done. It's actually not complicated. 292 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,520 You just have to endure the awkwardness of making it right. 293 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,200 And here's about probably as practical as I'm going to get 294 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,320 this morning. If I think there's 2 levels of 295 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,080 men investing in men at the local church. 296 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:05,520 There's a formal level and there's an informal level. 297 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,440 Let's walk through the formal level really quickly. 298 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,920 If if you're in a place where you have an extra hour or hour 299 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,599 and a half of time to invest in the next generation of men in a 300 00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:17,720 formal discipleship relationship, I've got three 301 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:19,839 things I want to say to you. Here's the first thing. 302 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:25,880 If you're a spiritual father, do not overlook the men in this 303 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,800 church who are just one step behind you. 304 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,200 They seem like peers to you. I think you'd be amazed at how 305 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,520 many men who are one step behind you because of us being such a 306 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,280 young church would look to you as a spiritual father. 307 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,400 Don't overlook them. Second, if you're like on the 308 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,400 bottom 50th percentile in terms of age in our church, as a man, 309 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,280 what I would say to you is the second point, which is as a 310 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:55,320 spiritual son, do not despise and don't overlook the man who's 311 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,320 just one step ahead of you. You don't need a man in your in 312 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,000 his 60s or 70s, even though everybody does. 313 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,920 Like here's the thing, you like Kent, Kent Young and Carl 314 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,960 Maxwell, those guys, those guys are lottery tickets that we 315 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,840 didn't even have to scratch. And the thing about being a 316 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,880 young church and having men like that is that everybody wants to 317 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,720 be best friends with them. Everybody like all the dudes in 318 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:20,320 our church is like, dude, I want to be like Carl. 319 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,920 I want to be like Kent. And the thing about a sermon 320 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,400 like this is I don't want to, like, fill their entire 321 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,160 calendars and have everybody be like, hey, can we be best 322 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:31,000 friends now, Carl? It can't, even though I know you 323 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,520 want that to be true. What? 324 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,080 That would be great. But also, you would be amazed at 325 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,280 how much wisdom a man who's one step ahead of you has. 326 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,920 And so like, like if you're in your 20s and you're single, a 327 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,560 young man who is married without kids can be a spiritual father 328 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,560 to you. If you are young and married and 329 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,680 have kids, a person who's young and married and has one or two 330 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,400 kids more than you can be a spiritual father to you, right? 331 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,840 Those are the first two points. The Third Point is this. 332 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,920 If this if you're going to invest in the next generation of 333 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,600 men or if you're going to be invested in by the generation 334 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:14,600 before you, the key is for both men to have the posture of 335 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,040 learners or to say a different way. 336 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:24,680 Don't try to impress each other. The the bond, the friendship. 337 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,080 It will not take if you sit down with an older man and try to 338 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,960 impress him. The best way is to take the 339 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,320 posture of a learner and to just be like, OK, I'm going to come 340 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,680 with some questions and I'm going to be the learner. 341 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,280 If you can do that, you'll create kind of a formal 342 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,120 discipleship relationship that's intergenerational. 343 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:47,960 Are you guys with me? Feels hot in here right now. 344 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,120 Maybe that's the spirit. Let's keep pressing. 345 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,160 There's also this informal level though, where if you're you're 346 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,160 hearing what I'm saying and you're like, yeah, yeah, bro, 347 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,600 that all sounds good. I don't have the time to invest 348 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:00,680 in that type of relationship. That's OK. 349 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:03,560 I hope it's a season and not a lifetime commitment. 350 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:06,440 But if you're if you're there, you're like, I don't have the 351 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,240 time to give to that. I totally understand. 352 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,200 My advice to you is simple. Take the Sunday gathering and 353 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,640 reimagine it. As Western Christians, we've 354 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,400 been taught to believe that the Sunday gathering, it's for me. 355 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:22,240 I want to come. And I want my needs to be met 356 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,000 and that always leads to dissatisfaction. 357 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,320 Just a heads up. If you can reconceptualize it by 358 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,600 thinking OK, this is our grandchildren's church and start 359 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,320 to think 1-2 generations deep, then you can show up to church 360 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:41,200 and think, OK, this is for me to invest in other men in my 361 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,240 church. Let me tell you 3 things you can 362 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,640 do to cultivate that type of spiritual father aura in the 363 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:53,960 church #1 if you're an older man at the Sunday gathering, I want 364 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,800 you to notice a young man who is crushing it. 365 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,720 It can be at anything, right? It could be at parenting. 366 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,280 It can be at husbanding. It can be at worshipping. 367 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,760 Maybe the bar is so low that you saw a guy tie his shoes. 368 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,840 That brings me to step #2 tell him he's crushing it. 369 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,960 Brother, I saw you tie your shoes. 370 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:20,480 I thought you were going to stop. 371 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,280 And then you double nodded them. You're crushing it. 372 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,560 You'd be amazed at how little encouragement young men need 373 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:29,200 from the older generation of men. 374 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,800 I'm joking. Maybe keep it somewhere in the 375 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,280 realm of I saw you crushing it as a as a Christian or, or 376 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,360 whatever it is. You would be amazed at how 377 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:43,320 hungry young men are to hear that from men who are like one 378 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,280 or two steps ahead of them. And here's the third step. 379 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,160 This is how you seal the deal. After you tell them that they're 380 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,880 crushing it, I want you to reach out your hand, put it on their 381 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,280 left shoulder, and then pray over them, preferably a prayer 382 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:02,240 of gratitude. And if you do that 52 Sundays a 383 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:07,280 year, you will become a spiritual father in the church. 384 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,680 And the degree to which you can do this and invest in the men 385 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,440 around you is the degree to which you will enjoy the church 386 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:21,800 or despise the church. If you do not do this, you will 387 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:27,160 be bored in church. It doesn't matter how good the 388 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,760 worship is, it doesn't matter how many church events there 389 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,040 are, It doesn't matter how good the preaching is. 390 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:40,160 Whatever, if you are not actively investing in the men 391 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:43,720 around you as a man in church, you're just going to be bored. 392 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:50,640 It's like God has built it into your brain. 393 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,600 Like there was a there was a study done in 2020 called, I 394 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,880 can't remember what it was. It was people transitioning into 395 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,000 parenthood and they discovered something amazing, which is they 396 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,120 discovered that there's literally something that they 397 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:06,440 called dad brain. That dad brain literally exists. 398 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,480 What they discovered through through a neurological stance 399 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,960 scan of men transitioning into fatherhood was that there's 400 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,960 actually this nest of neurons. It's not gigantic. 401 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,160 It's not like half of your brain or like 25% of your brain. 402 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,040 It's, it's relatively small, but there's this nest of neurons in 403 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:23,160 your brain. Can you picture this? 404 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,000 There's this nest of neurons in your brain as a man that is 405 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,560 inactive. It's dormant, it's asleep, and 406 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:32,920 there's only one thing that activates it. 407 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,480 Can you guess what? Becoming a dad. 408 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,840 When you become a dad, that nest of neurons that was dormant, it 409 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,520 lights up, it comes to life, it wakes up. 410 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,360 And they discovered that you don't need to be a biological 411 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,840 father in order to activate that part of your brain. 412 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:52,640 If you are actively investing in younger men to any degree, that 413 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,480 part of your brain can and will light up. 414 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,280 And so I'm not trying to be mean when I say this. 415 00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,480 I don't mean this in a mean spirited way whatsoever. 416 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,920 I'm just saying like neurologically, as a man, if you 417 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:07,640 are not investing in other men, there will be a hole in your 418 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,360 brain. Just a you won't there will it 419 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,120 will feel like there's something missing in your life because 420 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:19,640 there is. And that's why Paul says Titus 421 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:31,920 be a spiritual father. Oh boy, 1113, OK, I'm going to 422 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:33,520 do it. There was pandemonium. 423 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,280 There was chaos. There was people screaming and 424 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:41,880 yelling at each other in the year 1912 as the Titanic began 425 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,760 to sink. But as the Titanic was sinking 426 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,600 into the icy cold waters, there was a man named Daniel Buckley 427 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,120 who made his way to one of the 20 lifeboats. 428 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,600 There were only 20 lifeboats, famously, right? 429 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,600 There were famously not enough lifeboats on the unsinkable 430 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,640 Titanic. And Daniel Buckley found his way 431 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,520 all the way on to lifeboat #13 they all filled up. 432 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,080 And there were still hundreds of people left on the Titanic. 433 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,960 So famously the officers went around enforcing the women and 434 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:15,520 children first rule, which you know, is existentially just, 435 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,520 it's right. There is something built into 436 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,040 your heart that's like, Yep, if anybody's going to die, it 437 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,800 should be men and not women or children. 438 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,680 You can even try and make an argument, but you need to be 439 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,120 motivated by another agenda if you want to disagree with that. 440 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:35,040 Like if you want to be like, you know, I actually think it should 441 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,600 be men and women 1st and children should drown on the 442 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,680 boats because because men and women, man, they're more 443 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,080 valuable to the workforce and the economy. 444 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:50,400 Dude, you don't mean that inside of every male heart, and this is 445 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,920 the second of the two indomitable desires inside of 446 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,880 every male heart. Inside of every male heart is a 447 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:04,800 desire to give up your life and sacrifice it so that other lives 448 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,200 can flourish and live. It's in there. 449 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:11,640 You can bury it, you can ignore it, but it will be to your own 450 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,600 peril. In fact, that's exactly what 451 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,160 Daniel Buckley did. He ignored that and he buried 452 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,920 that desire within his heart. He was on Lifeboat 13. 453 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,840 And as as the the guards went around from lifeboat to 454 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,360 lifeboat, forcibly removing the men sometimes from the lifeboats 455 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,120 on to the sinking ship, they eventually arrived at Lifeboat 456 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:35,960 13. And for Daniel Buckley, it hit 457 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:36,560 him. Uh oh. 458 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:42,600 These guys are about to forcibly remove me from this safe and dry 459 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,240 lifeboat, and they're about to place me onto a ship that is 460 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,560 going to sink to the bottom of the ocean where I breathe my 461 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:58,160 last breaths in frozen water. And so Daniel Buckley, he had an 462 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:05,760 idea. He was sitting next to a a 463 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:11,440 loving, thoughtful, generous woman and he decided that he 464 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,120 wanted to exploit her generosity. 465 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:19,320 And what he did was he convinced the woman that was sitting next 466 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:27,000 to him to give him her shawl. So he took the shawl, he 467 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,800 disguised himself as a woman and when the officers arrived at 468 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,720 lifeboat #13, he put his hands in his face and fake cried. 469 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,280 And it worked. And depending on whatever 470 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,680 historian you read, the numbers vary from historian to 471 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,200 historian. But based on whatever historian 472 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:57,800 you read that night, 150 to 175 women and children sunk and met 473 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,560 their deaths at the bottom of the ocean on the Titanic. 474 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:06,680 But not Daniel Buckley. He arrived safe to shore. 475 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:11,800 Why? Because he was wearing a shawl. 476 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,520 I'm only speaking to the men when I say this. 477 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,360 Please hear me. The obvious question that you 478 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:25,160 have to ask when you think about this story is are you wearing a 479 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:31,760 shawl? Man, there are too many men in 480 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:38,000 the modern church who are just way too comfortable being safe 481 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,640 and dry on the lifeboats while the next generation of 482 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,960 Christians drown on a sinking ship, making way too few 483 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,120 investments, encouraging way too little. 484 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:57,560 And I know that sounds dramatic. It's a Titanic analogy I've been 485 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,520 preaching for nine years. I've never used the Titanic 486 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,360 analogy. It's so dramatic. 487 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,840 The data supports it. You don't even need data. 488 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,480 You have the Scriptures. The scriptures are so clear. 489 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,480 Tell the next generation about the works of God from one 490 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,480 generation to the next. Titus, be a spiritual father. 491 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,720 You don't need data, but there's data. 492 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,640 Barna, Actually last year they did a landmark study where they 493 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,120 decided, let's see if we can find if there's any single 494 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,640 defining factor that differentiates people who grow 495 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,680 up in the church and abandon it later on in life and people who 496 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,400 grow up in church and keep the faith for their entire life. 497 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:39,640 And you know what they discovered? 498 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:42,520 They discovered there was, there was 1 defining factor. 499 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,320 You know what it wasn't? It was not denomination, 500 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,960 although that's important. It wasn't a youth ministry, 501 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:52,760 though. We'll need one of those. 502 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,920 It wasn't whether or not they played dodgeball, though I would 503 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,960 love to flatten some faces with some dodge balls in the future. 504 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,560 None of those things were the defining factor. 505 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,320 The defining factor for kids who grew up in the church and 506 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,520 remained in the faith their entire lives was simple. 507 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:16,480 They had three to five adult believers who played significant 508 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:21,680 roles in their life and were open and honest about their own 509 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:26,520 struggles with the faith. That's what kept. 510 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,720 That's what God. I mean, God kept him. 511 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:33,360 God alone keeps people, but that's what he used, so the data 512 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,320 is clear. If you don't want to invest in 513 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,480 the next generation, say goodbye from your lifeboat. 514 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,320 Watch them sink, but they'll sink. 515 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,760 I know there's some awkwardness you like there's there's part of 516 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,160 you that's like, yeah, I know. But gosh, man, it just feels 517 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,360 sometimes so awkward to reach out and encourage a younger man 518 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,760 at church on Sunday. It just feels shawl. 519 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:00,760 I know. I just don't have a I got a busy 520 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,000 schedule. I just don't have a lot of time. 521 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,800 Shawl. Those are all shawls. 522 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,120 They're ways of avoiding responsibility and becoming 523 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,040 spiritual fathers in the church. Here's the way it works. 524 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:23,040 Men, Older men die and younger men get to flourish. 525 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:30,520 Older men sacrifice and younger men get to live, and that's how 526 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,360 you create a beautiful, beautiful, vibrant local church. 527 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,960 Spurgeon, of course, says it more powerfully than me. 528 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:45,560 The 19th century's preacher, Charles Spurgeon says, quote, if 529 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,000 the Lord does not speedily appear, there will come another 530 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,960 generation and another, and all these generations will be 531 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:56,640 tainted and injured. If we are not faithful to God 532 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,640 and his truth. Today we have come to a turning 533 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,920 point in the road. What's the turning point, 534 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:09,560 Charles? If we turn the right way, our 535 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,000 children and our children's children will go that way. 536 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:18,520 But if we turn the wrong way, generations yet unborn will 537 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:25,000 curse our names for having been unfaithful to God and to his 538 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,960 word. They'll show up at college 539 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:33,880 someday and their buddies will be like, what was it like 540 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:38,760 growing up in the church? And they'll say, I don't know, 541 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:40,040 man. I always just kind of felt like 542 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:44,360 I was a distraction there. It just never really felt like 543 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,280 the church was like really interested in me or that they 544 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:52,960 were passionate. I do have good news for you this 545 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,280 morning. Here's here's my good news for 546 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,560 you. My good news for you is simple. 547 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:05,480 Jesus did not wear a shawl. Jesus did not stay on his 548 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,400 lifeboat. That's the gospel. 549 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:14,520 Jesus was on the lifeboat in eternity, in heaven, in 550 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:20,200 paradise, apart from sin, apart from suffering, apart from pain, 551 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,840 in the perfect presence of the Father in the Spirit in the 552 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,080 heavenly realm. That's a lifeboat. 553 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:32,680 Did he stay on it? No, He incarnated himself. 554 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:38,000 He got off the lifeboat and placed himself on our sinking 555 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,280 ship. When the world went to hell 556 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,680 through sin and pain and suffering, and the ship started 557 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:51,440 to sink, Jesus took on flesh, came after us, lived the perfect 558 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:57,600 life, died in our place to take away all of our sins, to absorb 559 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:03,560 the wrath of God, and to give us his lifeboat to cover us in the 560 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,840 righteousness of God. So that by faith alone in 561 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,239 Christ, if you believe in Jesus, you get his lifeboat. 562 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,760 And that means that you're going to show up safe and secure at 563 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,520 heaven in new creation forever because of Jesus. 564 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:23,080 There are two indomitable desires in every male heart, the 565 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:27,840 desire to be a father figure and the desire to give up your life 566 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:32,400 so that others may flourish. Use both of those for the good 567 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:33,600 of your church. In the glory of God. 568 00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:35,840 Heavenly Father move in US powerfully. 569 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,679 For a lot of us it just means it. 570 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,000 Developing an informal friendship with the men at a 571 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,960 church where we are praying for them, encouraging them, lifting 572 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,159 them up before the throne of God and telling them that we love 573 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:52,920 them and we believe in them and that God's at work in them. 574 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,719 And so, Lord, in our world, that does take a miracle. 575 00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:00,360 So, Lord, would you do that? In the precious name of Jesus, 576 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:01,720 All God's people prayed.