1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,880 Go ahead and turn your Bibles to John chapter 10. 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,760 And then I also have if you remind me, it's it's Chris here. 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,600 Lopes, is he? All right, all right, man, 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:10,600 you're getting a free book today. 5 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,680 Just so you know, just remind me, remind me about that. 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,640 OK, so all right, because last time I had these up here and 7 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:18,600 then I totally forgot. So. 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,680 All right, so hey, guys. All right, John chapter 10, the 9 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,360 title of the message. I was it's kind of playing 10 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:26,200 around with this. I was like, man, Lord, there's 11 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,960 so many different directions you could go with this, but I just 12 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,800 felt like the Lord put on my heart this, this phrase, the 13 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,280 cure for loneliness, the cure for loneliness as Jesus gives us 14 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,520 the abundant life. OK, so this is a very familiar 15 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,440 passages of many passages in the Gospel of John. 16 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,600 But this week as I was studying it, I just really felt like the 17 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,000 Lord put on my heart the cure for loneliness. 18 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,120 So if anybody is dealing with loneliness or anything like 19 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,000 that, this hopefully will be a cure for it because the Lord is 20 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,160 a Good Shepherd and he gives us the abundant life, which we're 21 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,280 going to unpack what that means. And so why don't we go ahead and 22 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,600 turn to John Chapter 1 says this truly, truly or another 23 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,480 translation says Amen, Amen. This is this is like a double 24 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,080 portion. This is everything that Jesus 25 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,080 said is true. Everything, all the red letters, 26 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:18,880 it's all true. Everything in the Bible, your 27 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,200 black letters is true. But he wants us to pay attention 28 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,400 to this even more. And then so he's saying this, 29 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,480 he's like, truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter by 30 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,440 the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs in up some 31 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,160 other way, he is a thief and a robber. 32 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,560 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 33 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,960 To him the door keeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, 34 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,600 and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 35 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,040 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them and the 36 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,840 sheep follow him because they know His voice. 37 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,440 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him 38 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,080 because they do not know the voice of strangers. 39 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:05,880 This is a figure of speech. Jesus spoke to them, but they 40 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,520 did not understand what those things were which he was been 41 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,280 saying to them. So he would speak to them in 42 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,240 parables. And I'll explain a little bit 43 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,880 why that is in a, in a little bit here. 44 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:21,400 But so Jesus said to them again, truly, I say to you, I am the 45 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,440 door of the sheep. All who came before me are 46 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,960 thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 47 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,720 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he 48 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,560 will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 49 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,240 The thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy, and that they 50 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,120 may have life and had it abundantly. 51 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,560 I'm the Good Shepherd, the good the the Good Shepherd lays down 52 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,320 his life for the sheep. And he who is a hired hand and 53 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,520 not a shepherd who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the 54 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,680 wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. 55 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,680 And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 56 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,560 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about 57 00:02:57,560 --> 00:02:59,800 the sheep. And I am the Good Shepherd, and 58 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,760 I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me. 59 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,160 I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 60 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,920 I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and I must bring 61 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:13,920 them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one 62 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:16,680 flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves 63 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,560 me, because I lay down my life so that I might take it up 64 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,800 again. No one has ever, no one has 65 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,880 taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative, 66 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,400 and I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to 67 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,360 take it up again. This is my commandment. 68 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,680 I I received from my father. And then a division occurred 69 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,480 again among the Jews because of these words. 70 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,960 Many of them were saying he has a demon and is insane. 71 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,480 Why do you listen to him? Others are saying these are not 72 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,800 the sayings of demon possessed. The demon cannot open the eyes 73 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,960 of the blind, can he? And at this time of the Feast of 74 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,080 Dedication took place at Jerusalem, It was winter, and 75 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:53,640 Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portugal of Solomon. 76 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:55,360 The Jews then gathered around him. 77 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,560 And we're saying to him, How long will you keep us in 78 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,840 suspense? If you are the Christ, just tell 79 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:01,680 us plainly. Jesus answered them. 80 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,800 I told you. And you do not believe the works 81 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,440 that I do in my Father's name. These testify of of me, but you 82 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,320 do not believe because you are not of my sheep. 83 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,200 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, 84 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,079 and I give them eternal life, and will never, and they will 85 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:19,000 never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 86 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,800 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no 87 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,160 one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 88 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,640 And and I and the Father are one. 89 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,720 So then the Jews picked up stones again to stone him, and 90 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,520 Jesus answered them. I showed you many works from the 91 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,000 Father. For which of these are you 92 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,200 stoning me? And the Jews answered him for a 93 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:39,960 good work. We do not stone you, but for 94 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,480 blasphemy, and because you are being, you being a man, make 95 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,840 yourself out to be God. And then Jesus answered them, 96 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,200 Has it not written in your law? I said, You are gods if you call 97 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:51,640 them gods. To who? 98 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,120 To whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be 99 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,240 broken. And you say of him whom the 100 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,680 Father sanctified and sent into the world, You are blasphemy, 101 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,560 because I said I am the Son of God. 102 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,720 If I do not do the works of my Father and do not believe me, 103 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,280 but if I do them, though you do not believe me, believe the 104 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,640 works. So that you may know and 105 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,160 understand that the Father is in me and I and the Father, 106 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,880 therefore, they were seeking to seize Him and they alluded the 107 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:20,680 grasp. We'll just stop there, all 108 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,120 right? Hey, so I got 3 simple points 109 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,240 this morning. I know that's a lot of passage 110 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,040 there. But He leads us, He speaks to 111 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,600 us, and He protects us. This is so when Jesus is giving 112 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,080 us the abundant life. The abundant life can be 113 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,560 unpacked in these ways. The reason why we find ourselves 114 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,960 very lonely is because we don't know the Savior, we don't know 115 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:42,360 God. This has nothing to do with like 116 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,720 interpersonal relationships has to do with the fact that if we 117 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,880 are known by God and we know God that we won't be lonely. 118 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,880 We we have someone, we have someone who leads us, we have 119 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,080 someone who speaks to us often, and we have someone who protects 120 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,120 us. If we have those three things, 121 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,400 we'll never be lonely. Amen. 122 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,040 We'll never be lonely even though other people may mistreat 123 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,800 us and all these other things, but we'll never be lonely 124 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,200 because we have a shepherd who cares for the sheep in these 125 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,480 three ways that we all long for. Like every human being on the 126 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:17,520 planet has a desire to be LED. Amen, We have a desire to be 127 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,400 LED. We have a desire for someone to 128 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,560 speak to us, right? There's a desire for 129 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,840 relationship and then there's also a desire for protection. 130 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,760 And so as we break down, he leads us. 131 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,840 Just notice that when Jesus is, is speaking here, he's not 132 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,600 pushing anybody. He's not beating the sheep. 133 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,640 He's not pushing them or driving them. 134 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,480 He goes before them like that Antioch song that we sing often. 135 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,920 He goes before us. That's who he is. 136 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,200 That's who Jesus is. He can't be anything else. 137 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,040 He leads us. It's it's very much goes back to 138 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:48,680 if you know, the Psalm 23, right? 139 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,520 Everyone, maybe some of you have memorized that the Lord is my 140 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,240 shepherd. I shall not want, right? 141 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,720 If he is my shepherd, I don't want anything else because he 142 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,560 leads me. He leads me aware to to open 143 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:01,800 pastures. What does that mean? 144 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,680 He feeds us, right? All right, It's, it's not that, 145 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,200 hey, as believers, we're eating grass that doesn't satisfy, 146 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:09,560 right? We're talking about when you 147 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,880 come to the House of God, when you come in and out of the fold. 148 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:14,960 He feeds us. He feeds us what? 149 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,920 The word of God, he feeds us, He gives us truth, He speaks life 150 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,360 over us, all those things. So, and then not only that, but 151 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,160 he protects us, right? Even though I walk through the 152 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:25,680 valley of shadow death, how many know? 153 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,800 It's a good thing when you're going through a trial to know 154 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,840 that Jesus, it goes before you in the trial, but then he also 155 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,400 brings you in, right? We don't like going in, but we 156 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,400 do like to know and that he goes before us. 157 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,680 He actually sees the trial before we actually enter into 158 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:43,240 it. It's good. 159 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,160 Maybe just pause for a second and think about that. 160 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:52,480 All right, so hey, there's three things under the heading of He 161 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:58,960 leads us. He leads us to himself, He leads 162 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,320 us to be a part of his family, and he leads us to our purpose 163 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,600 and missions. That's the way God leads us. 164 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,160 It's very important when you think about it, he gives us, he 165 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,640 leads us to himself first. He shows us how to enter the 166 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,200 abundant life. He is actually the door. 167 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,360 So in the, in the 1st century, if you go there, there, like 168 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:22,880 whether it's a stone fold or a, a, a, a, a brush fold, right? 169 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,920 I mean, up in the high country. So whether it, whatever it is, 170 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:28,360 there's no door. There's, it's not like you open 171 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,040 up a door to a house. That's not what Jesus is talking 172 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,039 about. There is actually no door there. 173 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,840 So it would just be like stone and stone and in the middle of 174 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,039 being an opening in and what Jesus is saying twice he's 175 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,680 saying that I'm the door. I literally am the door. 176 00:08:44,680 --> 00:08:48,680 I like I as a shepherd. He would he would lay down at 177 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:52,560 the doorway and making sure no bad guys come in, right? 178 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:57,760 No, which would be wolves or or maybe a, you know, somebody else 179 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,360 that was just a thief that would jump over. 180 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,840 He'd have to jump over the fence because if he went through the 181 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,080 door, Jesus would snatch him, right? 182 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,760 Or the the shepherd would snatch him with his staff, right? 183 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,480 And So what Jesus is saying is if you want the abundant life, 184 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,480 you have to go through me. There's no other way. 185 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:23,120 You can't you can't work your way up, you know, over the over 186 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,400 the Stonewall, right? Jesus didn't say he's a wall 187 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,440 that we have to work to over to overcome like to he lets us 188 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:32,480 through the door by going through him. 189 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,280 So let me let me help you out with what this means. 190 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,920 John 14-6 says he's the way, the truth and the life. 191 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,680 Do you want the abundant life? Everybody in this world wants 192 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,360 the abundant life. It's just the, the everybody, 193 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,640 I'm talking every soul on the planet wants the abundant life. 194 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:54,840 Americans, do they just call it the American dream? 195 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:01,200 People in the Middle East, do they call that what Islam? 196 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,680 People in the Buddhist world want that. 197 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:09,160 They call it Buddhism, right? People all over the world, 198 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,000 people in, in, in India and South Asia, they call it 199 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,280 Hinduism. That to them is the abundant 200 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,240 life. Or maybe just let's go around 201 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,800 the world, Let's go look at South America, right? 202 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,320 South America, what do they want? 203 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,480 They want the abundant life. But to them it is a wall. 204 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,520 Why? Because it's works righteousness 205 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,240 to get over the wall and into the fold. 206 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,440 And so Mother Teresa says this Mother Teresa did great things. 207 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,680 I'm not, I'm not trying to pick up Mother Teresa here, but I 208 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,560 just want you to know what she said. 209 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:44,400 I'm not here to change anyone to Christianity. 210 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,440 My goal is that a Buddhist becomes a better Buddhist, that 211 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,400 a Muslim becomes a better Muslim, and all paths lead to 212 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:58,240 their own way. There's not 14 or 15 doors right 213 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,160 to the abundant life. There's only one and the Jesus 214 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,280 in his love and his mercy says I'm the door, come through me. 215 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,840 If you want to get into this fold and experience the 216 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,160 pastures, the green pastures and experience the word of God, 217 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:16,560 truth and it experience the love of God, then you've got to go 218 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:20,480 through me and so Jesus is not a way. 219 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,920 Do you know what, like I remember when I was in Philippi 220 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,800 and I was kind of picture what it was like to be there in 221 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,320 Greece and in in Philippi. And so you know that Paul wrote 222 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,520 to the Philippians while he's under house arrest, but he had 223 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,040 been there in Acts 16. He actually planted that church, 224 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,160 right? And we saw the jail and we saw 225 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,440 some other things and there was a point where we went to the 226 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,960 agora, which was like the marketplace. 227 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,440 And so we're kind of like just pretending like to reenact that 228 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,280 thing just to see like what it was like. 229 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,120 And I remember when when Paul told the, you know, the slave 230 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:57,040 girl just shut up, you know, like, like, stop it in Jesus 231 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,800 name, get up. And I always thought, man, it's 232 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,200 because she's annoying and Paul's annoyed. 233 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,120 And that could have been. But what what was really going 234 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:12,680 on there has to do with this passage she was proclaiming in 235 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:18,720 your Bibles, in your English translation, it says that most 236 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,520 high God you're the way like he's saying you're the way. 237 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:24,640 But actually in, in your, in your Bible, in the, in, in the 238 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:30,280 original translation, it's a way that the most high God, like 239 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:36,480 Jesus is a way to God. He's just a way and a way. 240 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,400 Like I remember when I was at Moody and I was like, it was in 241 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,480 little India and, and off of I forgot what street that was 242 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,040 Devon Street, I think. But I remember being, being 243 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,080 there with Nicole and we're, you know, sharing the gospel with so 244 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,480 many different Indians, you know, and Hindus and and they 245 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,760 would agree with me. Jesus is a way, yes, I mean, and 246 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:57,800 most of us are like, Oh, that, that's a very pleasant 247 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,840 conversation. It's not because they're like, 248 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:10,440 well, also 360 million gods also, no, no, no, no, not 365 249 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:20,880 million ways into the fold. One way, one way. 250 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:29,760 And notice it's not a door. Jesus is not a door look to be 251 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:34,600 exclusive like this. This is not popular. 252 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,400 Try going into your workplace tomorrow. 253 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,320 Just experiment. Go into your workplace tomorrow. 254 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,360 Go to your family member that is, you know, very pluralistic 255 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:50,400 and like everybody is happy and everybody goes their own way and 256 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:51,640 everybody's going to go to heaven. 257 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:58,080 OK, Go to them tomorrow and tell them that there's only one way 258 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,200 to heaven and every other religion is bogus. 259 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,640 See how that goes. Let me know if you don't have a 260 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,880 job. We'll pray for you because you 261 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,680 might lose it. You might lose a friend, family 262 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,720 might cut you off. I don't know. 263 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,960 It's what the Bible says. Every now and then we we 264 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,680 probably need to read the Bible and find out that Jesus is the 265 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,080 only way. It's probably good for our soul 266 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:29,920 because this is actually what we believe. 267 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,800 If you're hearing new this morning, all the excitement and 268 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:42,040 the fun and the life comes because Jesus gave that to us, 269 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,240 because we acknowledge that he's the only way. 270 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,040 He's the only way into that fold. 271 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:50,200 Do you understand that? It didn't come any other way. 272 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,040 If you got it some other way, it won't last. 273 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,200 It will not last because excitement can come and go, but 274 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:03,400 true abundant life, which is by the way, above and beyond, and 275 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,640 the abundant life is not eternity, although I mean that 276 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:09,120 of course, that's the abundant life. 277 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,520 I mean, like, but Jesus is talking about the abundant life 278 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,840 here and now. That's what he's talking about. 279 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,800 We'll get to a little bit more of that in a little bit. 280 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,440 OK #2. He leads us to be a part of his 281 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:21,960 family. That's amazing. 282 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,400 I mean, he leads us not only to salvation. 283 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,680 He's the door. He literally is salvation, but 284 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,280 he leads us into a family. And I, I love this. 285 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,480 There is a in, in not New Orleans, I keep saying New 286 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,720 Orleans, but Baton Rouge. But OK, so in Louisiana, but 287 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,080 there was a, there was a guy, there's an Army chaplain. 288 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,040 He was a chaplain for 25 years. He's right. 289 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,120 If you guys remember, he was, he was wearing the, the pink shirt. 290 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,160 He was jacked up. He looked like a Sergeant, like, 291 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,440 you know, like, I mean, the dude gave me a word and grabbed me on 292 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,240 my arm and I was like, that hurt afterwards. 293 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,200 And he's like, I just want to let you know, son, you know that 294 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,040 everybody in your church brings a Bible. 295 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,200 That's amazing. Like how in the world does that 296 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,880 happen, especially in our day, the technology and everything 297 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:08,080 else. But like, I've watched your 298 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,840 people, like everyone's bringing a Bible to church. 299 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,200 That's amazing. That's incredible. 300 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,960 I'm like, yes, it is. He's like, don't ever let that 301 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,880 go. Like just, I'm going to check 302 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,000 out next year. Like he's probably like a spy. 303 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,680 He's probably in here right now. Actually, he's probably making 304 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,160 sure, like everybody has their Bible. 305 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:30,000 No, but it's just it's it, it it was a by way of encouragement. 306 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,160 He's like, man, your people have found Jesus to be the shepherd. 307 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,200 And when, when you when you gather together, right, one of 308 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,760 the benefits of being belonging to right the family of God, one 309 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:45,480 of the benefits is that we get the goods. 310 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,800 And like, when you want to grow, you actually have a desire to 311 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,640 grow and open up your Bible and read it and learn. 312 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:55,240 And so when you're bringing your Bible, it's not just some 313 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:59,600 religious thing, but you're like, Hey, I, you know, I, I, I, 314 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,240 I want to, I want to know what you're saying. 315 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,000 I, I want to follow along. I want to make sure like you're 316 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,359 good Bereans, you know, like Acts, what is it 17? 317 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:09,240 You know, the, you know, there's, you're good Bereans, 318 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,079 meaning that like you actually want to make sure I'm saying the 319 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,599 right stuff. Like we all have the same Bible, 320 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:15,920 right? Might be a little bit different, 321 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,960 like translation or something, but I want you to be able to 322 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,760 follow along and say, OK, that's where he got that from. 323 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:25,599 Because look, if you're not going to be a good student of 324 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:29,600 the word, then something else is going to pull your attention. 325 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,040 You have to know the word. I, I've told you this over and 326 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:40,080 over and over again. I share the same stories all the 327 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,280 time. I but I love, I love when Jesus 328 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,280 said he says that like he just told them, I'm the door, I'm the 329 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:48,760 door, I'm the door, I'm the shepherd. 330 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,360 And then in verse 7, he says, so Jesus said to them again, if 331 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,360 you, if you're a good student of the word, he's he's saying this 332 00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,040 again. How many guys need to hear it 333 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:05,360 again? Only like 2 people need to hear 334 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:06,200 it again. Amen. 335 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,640 Yeah, there you go. Honest man, right? 336 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,440 Massa Miliano, very nice. He's honest. 337 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,040 Otherwise you get Rossello won't let you. 338 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:21,960 We'll let that go at lunchtime. Alright? 339 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,240 OK, so here's the deal guys. You need to hear it again and 340 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,800 again and again. When I was a freshman in 341 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:32,040 college, I first got saved like 2 months into college. 342 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,440 I read my Bible, no joke, over and over and over again. 343 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,960 Like three times. The New Testament probably in 344 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,440 about 3-4 months, man. Why? 345 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,840 Because I wished that someone had told me this back when I was 346 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:54,040 16, back when I was lost. I was reading this stuff and I'm 347 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,200 like, you've got to be kidding me. 348 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:01,600 This is gold. Like, I actually experienced 349 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,880 what the psalmist said. I'm like, it's one thing to be 350 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,000 like, your word is sweeter than honey, blah, blah, blah, blah, 351 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,920 blah, blah. But you actually really taste 352 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:14,560 something sweeter in the world. What does it say? 353 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:17,000 It tastes sweet, goes in, it's bitter. 354 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,640 Do you love the word? Because loving the word shows, 355 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:33,600 proves, validates whatever else you that you are actually his 356 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:36,320 like. If you don't love the word, then 357 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,560 I would be very concerned. If you're just kind of like 358 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,400 flipping through pages and the more, hey, someone's going to 359 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,760 ask me a discipleship, you're a college student, you know, 360 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:50,600 someone's going to ask me. No one needed to ask me if I'm 361 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,280 reading the word. It was so natural. 362 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,480 It was so it was so like, OK, like this is innate. 363 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,840 Like I wake up, I spend time with God because it is natural. 364 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,880 Is it hard at times? You sleep, you snooze, whatever. 365 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,240 Yes, of course. You're you're you're tired. 366 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:07,400 I get it. You stayed up late. 367 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,680 I mean, that's a natural. But do you love the word when 368 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,840 you're reading it to you? You're like, man, this is so 369 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,760 good. This is so good. 370 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,440 Like that is a benefit of being inside the fold. 371 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,160 And then there's no way, no way you can get in. 372 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,520 There's no way you can get in without going through Jesus. 373 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,640 Amen. OK, so I, I want to, I want to 374 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:31,680 just share a few stories of what it means to be a part of the 375 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:34,360 family. OK, This is, you know, there's 376 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:36,480 so many benefits. And what he's saying is like 377 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:40,480 once you go in, like through the door, there's a sense of 378 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,320 freedom. And I want to, I, I want to 379 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,520 share this with somebody that, you know, like the only you find 380 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,560 life by going through the narrow door. 381 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,080 That's the narrow Rd. leads to life. 382 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:52,120 The wide Rd. leads to death, right? 383 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:55,080 It's so opposite. Everybody's going, right? 384 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,480 Everybody's like, everybody's going like the majority of the 385 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,360 people around you are going the wide path. 386 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:05,480 But here's here, here's what the Lord gave me one time 387 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:10,560 revelation. If you go in narrow, you come 388 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,720 out free. The idea is this like you, you 389 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,240 got to go in like there's a narrow way, meaning he's the 390 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,760 only way. It cuts out all other religions 391 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,440 and it seems so exclusive, so narrow. 392 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,040 It's like, oh, it's like almost frustrating because you grew up 393 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,800 in a pluralistic society. So like you're going through 394 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,320 that door, right? And but you come out and it's 395 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:34,800 free. It's like it's, it's, it's, it's 396 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,440 amazing. There's just so much room to 397 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,400 grow and, and roam and, and create and create businesses and 398 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,200 create, write songs and all this other stuff. 399 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,800 It's amazing. Like have you found that to be 400 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:45,600 true? Have you found the life in God 401 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,560 to be so incredible? Once you're like, it's hard, 402 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,960 it's like, OK, I have to repent of my sins and I have to say no 403 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,520 to the world. But once I'm in Whoo, it's 404 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,640 amazing. There's so much, so much 405 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:02,320 excitement, right? But then the other way, right? 406 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,840 It's like, man, dude, you look like that. 407 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:06,840 You're a loser. You're going into the narrow 408 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:07,400 door. What? 409 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,160 I mean, that's so ridiculous. It's so archaic. 410 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,160 I'm going this way and you, you're, you're going in with a 411 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,480 wide, the wide path. It looks so free and so awesome, 412 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,920 but you come out narrow. You come out and it's 413 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,680 restricting because sin leads to bondage all the time. 414 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:28,320 You understand, opposite. It's so good, man. 415 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,360 He's like, oh, this little narrow door. 416 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,680 That's how I have to come in. Yes, because you have no idea 417 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,680 what's on the other side. Amazing, amazing. 418 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:42,280 OK, so 2 girls came a couple weeks ago from Seattle and they 419 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,000 were sitting over there and I and, and they were, they were 420 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,000 just like, man, you know, this, they, they, they, they wanted to 421 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,240 meet me afterwards. They came in from a like a 422 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,200 women's conference and they were just like, this is so awesome. 423 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,480 Like what's so awesome, the amount of people that pray for 424 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,720 one another, you'd think we're at an encounter night. 425 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,040 Well, pretty much that's what Sunday mornings are like. 426 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,840 You encounter God and you you encounter God in different ways. 427 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,000 And, and whether it's through worship or people praying for 428 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,680 you or you praying for other people, it's amazing. 429 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,360 She's like, man, we lost all of that during COVID. 430 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,200 How in the world you guys keep that culture? 431 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:17,560 I was like, I don't know, it's just the Lord. 432 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:25,800 It's amazing. He leads us. 433 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:34,240 Well, pretty awesome, isn't it? Yeah. 434 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,400 He leads us into green pastures. Does that mean your life's going 435 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,760 to go amazing, Like, all the time? 436 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:51,840 Ask them for bones. Yeah, it doesn't. 437 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,840 It's very costly. It's costly to live this life 438 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,240 behind the scenes is very costly. 439 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,400 It's hard. But if you ask them, I think 440 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,680 they would probably say I have the abundant life. 441 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,840 Why? Because it's nothing to do with 442 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,160 circumstances. It's everything to do with what 443 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:14,040 God gave you, which is salvation and a family that is never going 444 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,680 to be taken away from you. Amen. 445 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,560 All right, so I, I want to also share there's, I don't know if 446 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,520 Michaela's here or not, but there is her husband's here. 447 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:28,360 Where's Michaela at? I don't know somewhere. 448 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,120 OK, so she, she texted me on the way home. 449 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,520 I got this text on the way home from Baton Rouge. 450 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,480 She just say, hey, I want to send you this. 451 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,920 There's a girl named Holly. She was, she worked with the 452 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:41,760 kids ministry. If you remember her, she has a 453 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,480 17 year old son. This is what she wrote. 454 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,120 She wrote to Michaela. She said this, my 17 year old 455 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:50,320 son last night was the best church experience he's ever had. 456 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:54,120 Thank you all for being obedient to the call that the Lord gave 457 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,600 you to come here. Isn't that worth it? 458 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,960 It's probably worth it just for that 117 year old. 459 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,120 I mean, we did a lot of stuff. It's amazing. 460 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,040 But for that dude, I don't even know him. 461 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,840 I never met him, but I'm thankful. 462 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,800 I'm thankful, yes, for the call to go to Baton Rouge. 463 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,520 That's amazing. I mean, he he calls us to go to 464 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:12,920 Baton Rouge. That's he calls us to go 465 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,200 everywhere he calls. I mean, just think of the 466 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,360 stories are going to come out of this summer, but going to seven 467 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,720 locations, it's amazing. And then just all the, all the 468 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,120 evangelism that we do throughout the week and on campus, we just, 469 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:27,280 that we just, he gives us this abundant life, which is himself 470 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,240 and his family. And I know that it's not just 471 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,440 because of teachings and this and that, although, yes, but it 472 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,400 was just the people just just being family. 473 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,240 I mean, I could, Ella was saying that, that, that, that people 474 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,960 were coming up there and saying, man, what a prayer culture, like 475 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,600 y'all carry this prayer culture. I we, we don't do any of that. 476 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:49,920 I mean, we do a little bit of that, but it's just amazing the 477 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,640 prayer culture, the family, the, the, the excitement. 478 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,200 I mean, people were coming. I mean, there, our nights were 479 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:57,960 ending super late. Wednesday night was this 480 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,840 encounter night where we were brought all the the people from 481 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,800 from evangelism and Antioch, Baton Rouge and Antioch Orlando 482 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:05,600 all come together. It was just this powerful, 483 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:10,800 amazing time together that just seeing the the the family 484 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,680 interact and love one another is amazing. 485 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:19,480 And then I have I have well, I'll say that till till later, 486 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,240 but OK, so then he leads us to our purpose. 487 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:25,160 He leads us to our mission. And so Jesus is saying here, 488 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,640 like if you, as you go through this again, the abundant life, 489 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,200 he's talking about obeying the Father. 490 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,640 He's talking about like that having this relationship with 491 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,000 God. That's his purpose. 492 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,400 Like every remember John five, he says everything that the 493 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,560 father does, I do. There's this a dynamic 494 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,280 relationship. So here's the deal. 495 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,200 If you have a relationship with God, you'll do what he says. 496 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:47,040 That's it. I mean, clearly, right. 497 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,280 You did an interesting, I'll show you something in 498 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:51,440 Revelation, Revelation 2 and three. 499 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,600 I really, really, really, really want to go to Turkey one day and 500 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,800 see all the, all the churches, the Revelation churches. 501 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,280 But here's here's the deal. Do you know what each one has in 502 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,880 common? Do you know? 503 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:06,720 Some of you do, some of you don't. 504 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,960 He says this in all 7 churches. I know your works. 505 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:12,200 I know your works. I know your works. 506 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:13,400 I know your works. I know your works. 507 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:14,640 I know your works. I know your works. 508 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:18,560 Did I get 7? It doesn't say. 509 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:20,240 I know your faith. I know your heart. 510 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:21,720 I know your heart. I know your heart. 511 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,320 What does it say? I know your works. 512 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,040 Huh. Sounds like works. 513 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:34,520 Righteousness. No. 514 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:40,280 These people are already saved and Jesus is saying, look, I 515 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:47,320 know your works good and bad, but out of the overflow of 516 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:52,480 relationship with God equals living out the purposes and the 517 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,960 plans that he has for you. It means actually sharing the 518 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,720 gospel, making disciples, being obedient to everything God's 519 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,080 called us to do. We do it perfectly. 520 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:01,840 No, no, that's not what this is about. 521 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:03,600 It's just proving and showing you. 522 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,000 He doesn't say, oh, I know your heart is fine. 523 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,560 You don't have to do it. You're like, at least you wanted 524 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,320 to. You wanted to like he's not 525 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,800 going to say like, OK, guys, I know like you. 526 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:17,280 I've called you to make disciples of all nations. 527 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:20,560 Hey, hey, buddy. I know you wanted to, so it's 528 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:21,440 cool. It's fine. 529 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,720 No problem. Now, did you do it or not? 530 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:29,320 Did you do it or not do it? Big difference. 531 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,680 What's the difference? Something that you just feel, 532 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:36,880 something you actually do, it's a big deal. 533 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:43,200 OK, So I know it's not a lot, but we were only there for three 534 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,720 or four days at least the actual part of outreach. 535 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,960 But 271 gospel seats now they might not see them like a lot. 536 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,360 And I don't even know if that's a final count. 537 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,960 That is just what you guys put on the the drive. 538 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,320 But 25 nations reached and six people baptized. 539 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,040 That's amazing. Like that's, that's, I mean, 540 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:08,360 that's, that is a result of 150 people stepping out and saying, 541 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,120 hey, I'm going on mission with, with God. 542 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,080 I'm, I'm want to do the things of God. 543 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:18,160 I want to live those things out. Eli and Ronnie met a girl who is 544 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,440 going to UCF. Isn't that crazy? 545 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:23,680 She's just visiting friends and this girl's like, I'm a freshman 546 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,400 at UCF. This is kind of weird. 547 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,200 I'm here in at LSU. I'm a freshman at UCF, but I 548 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,480 meet UCF people. She's like how I want to check 549 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:33,560 you guys out at some point. That's amazing. 550 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:39,720 Nathan for the Met met a guy, but he was really sweet about 551 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,720 this is this person wanted to know if God was real and as I 552 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:44,360 read this testimony and heard it. 553 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,160 It was cool to just hear that it was the first time he was saying 554 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,480 this kid was saying it's the first time that any evangelist 555 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,720 who was sharing the gospel with him had listened to him because 556 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:57,680 the rest of them would just talk at him the whole time. 557 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,840 Do you think that person knew got to experience that God's 558 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,680 real of course, because Jesus not only speaks to me. 559 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:12,560 He listens. He listens and then Mr. Kim let 560 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,920 someone at Jesus and I guess the kid, they found out as they were 561 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,040 talking and getting to know one another, which is a really 562 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,760 important thing in evangelism to get to know the people because 563 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,440 you could use a lot of that material to segues to the 564 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,480 gospel. Don't be so quick to get into 565 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,280 the cross. Get there quickly after you find 566 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,080 out who they are and what their needs are. 567 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,520 But as you're as you're talking, as they were talking to each 568 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,400 other, they found out they were from the same hometown again. 569 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,800 What are the chances of that? It's just God putting these 570 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,960 pieces providentially together to open up people's hearts to 571 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,360 hear the gospel. And then Natalia and Andrew, two 572 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:48,680 guys, came to our encounter night. 573 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,080 Then they brought a friend. And then it was funny because 574 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:55,640 afterwards, as usually it gets a little wild in a good way, but 575 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,560 they're, they started doing the Congo line. 576 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,560 And then, yeah, I just start, it just happens. 577 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:01,960 It's like, how does this happen? We're all worshipping the Lord. 578 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,800 And then some goofball hears let's do the Congo line. 579 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,440 And then they just, you know, like, and then it's usually like 580 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,360 I'm always stuck like somewhere in the, in the, in the beginning 581 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,240 of it. And then Jonathan, like Jabo, he 582 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,080 just like puts me in the baby and I'm like awkwardly going 583 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:21,000 like this, you know, but but it was just it was just so much 584 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,560 that dude, the new guy like got in the line. 585 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,280 He's probably like, this is church. 586 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,960 Yes, this is church. This is how we do it around 587 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:31,760 here. But yeah, OK. 588 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,240 And then he also got like, there's if you saw at the end of 589 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,760 the video, there's this big picture of like Baton Rouge and 590 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:38,400 Orlando and everybody and then new people. 591 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:39,600 And then he just got in the line. 592 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,040 And then later on, he texted Andrew and just said, hey, man, 593 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:44,680 I'm just so thankful for that nightmare. 594 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,560 I want to get connected to ENIAC Baton Rouge, Amen. 595 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,640 So we just pray that in. Let's just pray that the Lord 596 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,040 would use that. All right, So the first one is 597 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:53,880 he leads us. Second one, he speaks to us. 598 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,480 So it says here that the sheep know his voice and not only know 599 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:00,160 his voice, but he calls them out by name. 600 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,600 Have you ever heard like the Lord just call you by name? 601 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,320 You're about to say something, do something dumb maybe. 602 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,920 And it's just like real simple. It's like Jessica, right? 603 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,960 Maybe not right? You hear his do you hear his 604 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,360 voice? Can you tell the the sheep are 605 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,240 even able to, to, to tell like if the sheep are all together 606 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,120 and they mix with other with another fold. 607 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:29,680 And then the shepherd stands up and says, Hey, it's time to go. 608 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,800 And he calls each one by name because each, each, each one 609 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,640 would have like a nickname and he they would know that like a 610 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,920 dog, like you know, you, you, you, you know, a Buster or 611 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:40,720 whatever. I can't think of any other ones 612 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,840 for some reason. Bella. 613 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,960 I grew up with like 18 Bellas. It's because my family were, you 614 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,960 know, they're Italian. Bella 1, Bella 2 Bella 3 Bella 4 615 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,640 So weird. But but anyways, Chihuahuas and 616 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,080 good, good shepherds. Yeah, good shepherds golden, but 617 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:58,360 German shepherds, not good shepherds. 618 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:00,120 Golden shepherds. No. 619 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,320 What am I saying? I'm like a dog lover. 620 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:08,440 But but anyways, so but each one would have a name and not only 621 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,400 that, but they would be, it would be they have, they would 622 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,640 have an accent like the, the the shepherd would even have a 623 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,880 certain accent and would be able to call them, you know, do you, 624 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,880 you have to discern there's a lot of voices in your head from 625 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,080 the world. Ton of voices. 626 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:23,400 I mean a lot of voices that you get. 627 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,200 I mean, you're hearing your mom talk, you're hearing your wife. 628 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:28,760 You're hearing that's usually the loudest. 629 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,920 No, I'm just kidding. But then you hear, you hear a 630 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,560 lot of different voices, right? Someone told me that the the 631 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:37,520 closest voice to the Holy Spirit is your wife. 632 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:39,080 And then it goes on from there, right. 633 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,720 It's true. Your mom might be up there, you 634 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:44,520 know, towards the top, right. Right. 635 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:45,160 Or so. Yeah. 636 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,080 So just curious, where's Alessandro? 637 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,680 Do you hear your mom's voice in your head ever. 638 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:52,640 All the time? Yeah. 639 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,640 Well, I want for homework, I want you to discern the Lord's 640 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,520 voice. Yeah. 641 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,920 OK. So but that it, it he even an 642 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,920 accent, they would understand and the the sheep would, even 643 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:07,200 though they'd be all mixed, right? 644 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,400 And they're, these are sheep, they're not human beings. 645 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,560 They would follow their shepherd. 646 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:17,280 Every single one of them would follow them back to the fold, to 647 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:18,400 the pasture. Amen. 648 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,400 And so it's so important that you know, and what this is 649 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,719 pointing to is that he knows us and we should know him. 650 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,520 What it points to is that the most important thing on the 651 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,520 planet is making sure that you have a tight relationship with 652 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,440 God. Everything else secondary, 653 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:42,360 right? So just I'll share this. 654 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,320 I thought this was good that I love these. 655 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,679 I love the what happens on these trips because I know people are 656 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:50,760 praying at home. I know people are praying there 657 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,800 in Baton Rouge. And so when we several months 658 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:58,960 ago, Renato, he he he's from, where are you from? 659 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,360 Honduras, Honduras, All right, Amen. 660 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,240 But he, he asked, he asked me to pray for him. 661 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:08,760 And I said, sure, I'll pray for you. 662 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,920 He's like, hey, I, I came to UCF to play soccer and, and I, I 663 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,200 have really bad shin splints. And so I, he's like, I can't 664 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,160 play. And so I, I, I start praying for 665 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,680 him. I, I, we came up empty. 666 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:22,680 We just said, OK, well, we're just going to keep praying. 667 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,000 We're going to trust that the Lord is, is going to kill you. 668 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,480 And so a couple months later, we're in Baton Rouge and Mrs. 669 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,720 Kim got to pray for him And and then they play this game 670 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,520 afterwards and he's like, it's kind of have to like hop around 671 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,560 or whatever, you know, just a college game and to start off 672 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,240 our morning times and he's like, wow, I just, I don't feel any 673 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:44,400 pain. That's crazy. 674 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:45,920 But he's like, you know, I'm just going to test it. 675 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,840 And that's a good thing too. You know, as we, as we pray for 676 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,240 one another, we know that God heals. 677 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:52,960 We're going to pray for one another and we just know that we 678 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,000 need to test those things. We need to verify. 679 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:56,880 We're not just going to be like, because it's so, so easy to be 680 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,040 like, all right, easy. You know, then the next day he's 681 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,280 like, actually, they still hurt. So we don't want that. 682 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,840 So we just said, OK, well, what do you need to do to verify 683 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:05,320 that? And so he said, hey, I would, 684 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,280 I'd love to go outside. And so I, I went out and I took 685 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,520 one other guy with me and I just watched him run back and forth. 686 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:14,600 He's like, what do you want me to run? 687 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,360 I don't know, I, I don't know. You're a soccer player. 688 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,840 You run faster than it was just just run back and forth. 689 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:24,040 So, so he did, he's like he and he and he, he, he's like, it's 690 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,160 amazing that he broke down. He just, he got down on the 691 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:32,840 grass and I took a picture of it just so you know, but he's 692 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,080 weeping. He's like, this is crazy, you 693 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:36,200 know, like I love his art, you know? 694 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,560 And then he's like, but we have to do one more test because 695 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:41,960 tomorrow I it's it's, it was night time. 696 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:43,800 We're just about to have team time. 697 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:45,360 We're like, oh, it'd be cool. Just like share, you know. 698 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,560 And then it's like, OK, well, let's just go one more test. 699 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,120 I'm like, yes, all right, let's do one more test because I could 700 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,320 wake up tomorrow with a lot of pain just because I just ran. 701 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:55,960 And so all right, so let's just do that. 702 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,920 So I, I went and found him in the morning and I was like, OK, 703 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,840 what's the deal? Like are you healed or not? 704 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,080 He's like, and he just starts breaking down crying and he's 705 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,200 worshipping the Lord. He's like, you're not going to 706 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,000 believe this. I am totally healed, totally 707 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,360 healed. But cool thing, but the whole 708 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,480 point of this is that just how God leads us and how he speaks 709 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:20,320 to us at the same time. I got a text message from Robin 710 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,280 and Robin was saying, hey, I really feel strongly about this. 711 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:26,320 I just want to submit it, but I feel strongly that God wants to 712 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:30,960 release healing in Baton Rouge, and it's just cool to see how 713 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:34,040 God sets that up. It doesn't always work that way, 714 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:35,720 right? And we want to be humble. 715 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:37,240 We want to verify miracles and all those things. 716 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,080 I mean, it's great. And that's not what we live for. 717 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,640 We don't want to be one of those churches that gets kind of kooky 718 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:42,840 about that. And it all becomes about the 719 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:44,520 miracle and all this stuff. That's awesome. 720 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,560 I mean, praise God. Like we're just actually 721 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,800 believing that he will play for the first team, right? 722 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:53,760 The team A at UCF and be able to give God glory, That'd be 723 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,200 amazing. That'd be awesome. 724 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,080 If it doesn't happen, that's OK. He you just got to experience 725 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,160 God and we all did as well. We all did. 726 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:09,600 And his voice is so the the sub point of this is his voice is 727 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:11,480 heard by his sheep. Second is his. 728 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,800 His voice points to a better way. 729 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,360 It points to a better way. He's always pointing us to a 730 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,320 better way, isn't he? And what I mean by that is that 731 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,480 believers have to recognize that his ways are better. 732 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:26,520 Do you remember? So what I taught Ed in, in Baton 733 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,040 Rouge, I taught him. So there was 4 points. 734 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:30,480 I was just about walking with God. 735 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,480 I just felt like this theme on my heart is like, hey, we need 736 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,080 to learn how to walk with God. That is the most important thing 737 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:37,360 that we can do. And I went through the 738 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,960 scriptures and showed how many people walk with God, Enoch walk 739 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,840 with God, Noah walk without Abraham, walk with God. 740 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,320 And, and then we went, there's four, there's 4 main points or 4 741 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,880 main sessions. The first one is that we we are 742 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,720 meant to walk with God in humility. 743 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,160 That was from Luke 5, right? That Peter experienced this 744 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:59,320 miraculous provision of fish, but then he got down. 745 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:01,840 He says that the kindness of God led him to repentance and we're 746 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,120 going to walk with God. He really said, look, because 747 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,880 you, you obeyed because you obeyed simply because you're a 748 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:08,440 man of humility. I'm going to use you now 749 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,640 powerfully says that was the first one. 750 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:14,240 Second one was that we're going to walk with God by faith. 751 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,000 And that's what we're talking about here that that in Hebrews 752 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:22,080 11, you know, the hall of faith Moses was was a man that was a 753 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:24,320 broken man, right? He he talked to God face to 754 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:25,560 face. He got to experience the 755 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:27,000 miracles of God and all these things. 756 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:31,440 But it's said that the reason why God could use him is because 757 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:35,160 he rejected the world and the passing pleasures of sin. 758 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,400 And so God always leads us away from sin. 759 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,600 And so his voice always leads us away from pride, away from sin, 760 00:39:44,640 --> 00:39:46,560 Amen. That's what he does in our life. 761 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,760 And the third one is, and we'll get to here in a second, but the 762 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:57,240 we're we're called to walk with God in in integrity, walking 763 00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:59,000 with God in integrity. So we did a guy's night. 764 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,400 We just kind of and that was one of the more powerful nights. 765 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:06,400 And and then fourthly, that God's called us to walk with him 766 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,840 in love. But John 1010 the enemy wants. 767 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:18,000 To RIP us off with the lie that sin satisfies even more than 768 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,800 God. He rips us off. 769 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,040 He's a thief. He comes and steals his abundant 770 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:26,280 life. He's trying to steal this 771 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:27,920 abundant life, which he can't take. 772 00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:31,080 But we can give it to him temporarily, right? 773 00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:36,280 How many know that sin it? It wouldn't be temptation if 774 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:40,720 there was no temporary pleasure in it, right? 775 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,760 It wouldn't be. How many of you guys are 776 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:48,280 attempted to just eat poison Anybody. 777 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,520 No, like on your breakfast, on your eggs. 778 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,400 I just people are like, what did you just put on my eggs? 779 00:40:57,720 --> 00:41:02,880 Well, I put poison on it. What? 780 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,640 And and I eat my eggs that doesn't have poison on it. 781 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:10,680 And then I'm like, we eat. I made them for you, you crazy. 782 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:17,520 Nobody's tempted to eat that. It's silly, but no one's tempted 783 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,000 to do that. It's only temptation. 784 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,800 God, that the say this, the enemy knows exactly your weak 785 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,080 points. And he he says, hey, look, just 786 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:29,240 take it, it just just take it just just a little bit, just a 787 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:30,320 little bit. Not, not a lot. 788 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,440 Don't, don't do a lot, just a little bit because he knows if 789 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:34,280 you do a little bit, you'll take a lot later. 790 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:39,560 You want to end up destroying your life and his voice says his 791 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,280 ways are better. His ways are better. 792 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:47,840 First Chronicles 410 says this Jabez prayed God bless me indeed 793 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,920 and enlarge my border that you your hand might be with me and 794 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:56,640 listen to this that you would keep me from harm that it may 795 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:59,920 not pain me. I don't think I ever saw that 796 00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:02,600 because we just did the prayer Jabez that that long ago right. 797 00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,400 We just, if you remember that we just, we, we talked about that, 798 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:07,920 we prayed through it. But that last part is so good, 799 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:09,840 isn't it? Look at, listen, look at look, I 800 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:14,200 like you would keep me, just Lord, just keep me from what? 801 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,240 From harm that it may not pain me. 802 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:18,760 How many know that sin actually pains God? 803 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,200 But look at what it says here. What does sin also do? 804 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:33,800 Pains you, pains you, doesn't it? 805 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:39,840 And rightfully so thank God that you feel that, but how many know 806 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:45,840 you don't have to feel that if you hear the Lord's voice and 807 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,840 walk with him and I love this this little line here. 808 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:59,080 And so the Lord so the Lord answered his prayer at the guys 809 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:03,760 night. It was the girls did Nicole did 810 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:11,840 a great job too. I I wasn't there, but I heard it 811 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,200 was amazing. But for the guys night, it was 812 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:19,040 probably in my opinion, 14 years is probably the more powerful 813 00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:24,400 guys night I've ever been a part of and I don't I still I still 814 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:27,640 look. I was like, I don't know what 815 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:32,880 the, I, I don't, I don't know what the, what the ingredients 816 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:34,080 were. I don't, I don't, I don't, I 817 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:35,600 don't know like why that happened. 818 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:37,520 Why, why was that? I was going back was like, it's 819 00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,000 the teaching. It was at the prayer time. 820 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,360 Was it, it was just the Lord leading the whole thing the 821 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:47,560 entire night. But I think The X Factor was 822 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:52,960 vulnerability and humility and where guys, there was about 6 823 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:55,880 pods because I said, hey, who's really like really going through 824 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:57,160 it? I mean, we just need to pray for 825 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,600 you. So there were like 6 different 826 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,080 pods I guess of people all praying for somebody. 827 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:05,360 And then someone had a word again, just how God speaks to 828 00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,480 us. Someone had a word just said, 829 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:13,120 Hey, I really feel like we're supposed to hold up the arms of 830 00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:15,440 these men who are really struggling because they can't 831 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:19,880 hold their arms up themselves. And it's Acts 7 or Exodus 17, if 832 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:23,360 you remember Moses, right, was his arms are being held up for 833 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:27,200 the victory. And then Aaron and her were 834 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,480 holding him up. So I said, let's be Aaron and 835 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,960 her for from the Moses. OK, So we got around and it was 836 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:35,120 powerful. There was a Bartimaeus cry. 837 00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:36,520 Did you ever hear a Bartimaeus cry? 838 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:43,640 Lord help, help. And it's like, mostly you're 839 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:49,040 like, oh, that's so awkward. You like shrivel up inside. 840 00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:54,080 Do you know there was one person on that scene, blind barn 841 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:59,200 Emmaus, that didn't shrivel up? Jesus. 842 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:05,200 He was the only one in that whole circle scene that was 843 00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:10,800 actually attracted to that cry. It's because of that cry the man 844 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:21,800 was healed. Sometimes desperation, 845 00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:26,440 awkwardness, leads to the world's eyes, leads to healing, 846 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:33,200 leads to freedom. And that's what we got to 847 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:35,080 experience that night. It was powerful. 848 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,280 His voice always speaks His love. 849 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,000 It's the third part. His voice always speaks of His 850 00:45:41,000 --> 00:45:43,800 love. Jesus willingly died for us 851 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:45,920 because of love. Therefore we can trust Him. 852 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:53,440 You know, some people sadly go into ministry because it 853 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:55,800 benefits them, not because of love for souls. 854 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:02,160 Be careful of those people, they leave. 855 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,440 What does it say? Listen to this, I'm the Good 856 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:07,120 Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays his life 857 00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:11,360 down for the sheep. This is not a lift up man 858 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,400 moment. This is a lift up Jesus. 859 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:16,720 This is why we can trust and This is why we can trust his 860 00:46:16,720 --> 00:46:19,520 voice. Because of this he's saying I am 861 00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:21,960 the Good Shepherd. I am not like the hireling. 862 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:27,960 The hiring hireling leaves when things get tough, which is a 863 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:31,760 true test for a leader. When things get really hard, bye 864 00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:39,400 bye plan BS come in the desire to protect yourself, self 865 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:43,440 preservation, whatever it is, it's you have to protect 866 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:47,560 yourself because you were ultimately in it for yourself. 867 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,440 But Jesus is like when it gets hard and it got hard on every 868 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:56,680 page, it got hard on every page, didn't it? 869 00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:01,920 But he said, I'm not leaving because it's the real deal. 870 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:07,680 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who is not the owner 871 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:11,640 of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and 872 00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:14,760 flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 873 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,520 He flees because he's the hired hand and is not concerned about 874 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:20,640 the sheep. He says again and again and 875 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:24,840 again, I am the Good Shepherd and I know my own and my own 876 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:29,560 know me that good. He'll never leave you nor 877 00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,840 forsake you, no matter how hard it gets now, how much you bear 878 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:35,720 his shame. He's like, I'm not leaving. 879 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:38,600 Everybody else might, but not him. 880 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:44,440 Nicole got a word for one of the new girls. 881 00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:47,880 It was really sweet just on this understanding that he always 882 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:50,200 speaks his love. They were in a worship service, 883 00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:53,920 they were praying and they just, she just felt like, I don't 884 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:58,120 know, I got an image of her riding a horse and she was just 885 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:02,160 galloping over hurdles or whatever people do when they 886 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:03,120 ride horses. I don't know. 887 00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:07,560 I don't, I don't ride horses. But she's like, pause, how did 888 00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:08,760 you know? How did you know? 889 00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:12,800 Like, how did you know I ride horses like I, I didn't know 890 00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:14,560 that you're brand new. I don't know that I don't know 891 00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:17,320 your life. It's just the Lord the Lord puts 892 00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:20,520 on your heart is your prey, but it's not us. 893 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:22,720 It has nothing to do with us. Have you ever found yourself 894 00:48:22,720 --> 00:48:25,560 just speaking and the Lord's using you and he's like blessing 895 00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:27,120 the other person has nothing to do with you. 896 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,400 It's because Jesus wants to speak to you. 897 00:48:29,400 --> 00:48:32,320 He wants to get to their heart out of love. 898 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:35,480 Why? Because he wants them to be 899 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:37,840 known. He wants them to be known. 900 00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:39,680 Don't you ever just feel known by God? 901 00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:42,080 When you get prayed for? It's like, wow, how did you know 902 00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:45,160 that? And then lastly, his voice 903 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:50,600 speaks security, His sheep. We are his sheep forever. 904 00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:54,760 The shepherd never leaves his sheep ever. 905 00:48:56,440 --> 00:49:00,120 And as I love this, this, you know, I think somebody in the 906 00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:03,200 room, maybe a few, you know, who always keep Downing their 907 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:07,240 salvation. One thing I do know is that you 908 00:49:07,240 --> 00:49:08,720 will stray. Sheep stray. 909 00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:14,120 They stray because Jesus isn't forcing the sheep to do anything 910 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:19,000 If they stray. Listen, if they stray, it's for 911 00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:22,080 a season. And then he brings them back. 912 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:26,800 But you do not believe because you do not. 913 00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:30,400 You are not my sheep, he says, but my sheep hear my voice and I 914 00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:33,920 know them this verse 27 And they follow me, and I give them 915 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,880 eternal life and they will never perish. 916 00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:40,760 Underline, they will never perish, and no one will snatch 917 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:45,360 them out of his hand. No one, not one person, not 918 00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:49,600 anybody that, and not your enemy, not your parents, not 919 00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:53,520 anybody else on this planet, not even the devil himself will be 920 00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:54,960 able to snatch you from his hand. 921 00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:59,240 And no one will snatch them out of your hand ever. 922 00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:02,920 They were unable to. So what is he saying? 923 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:05,920 He's saying this. I I remember hearing this one 924 00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:09,080 time that eternal security is different than assurance. 925 00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:12,240 Everybody has eternal security, whether you believe it or not. 926 00:50:13,240 --> 00:50:15,960 Everybody has that. If you've placed your faith in 927 00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:19,320 Jesus, no one could be. No one can snatch you from that. 928 00:50:19,400 --> 00:50:22,800 You're eternally secure. But here's the difference. 929 00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:25,880 Assurance. Do you want that? 930 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:29,560 Assurance comes when we abide with Him. 931 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:35,880 You see, when we live in sin, we might have eternal security, but 932 00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:38,800 we won't feel it because we're not close to Him. 933 00:50:40,240 --> 00:50:42,360 Assurance is what God wants everyone to have. 934 00:50:42,720 --> 00:50:46,320 It's the joyful like I'm his, I'm his, I'm really his. 935 00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:50,040 But if you're living in sin and you're still a Christian, you 936 00:50:50,040 --> 00:50:53,200 don't get to shout that because you don't feel that because 937 00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:56,400 you're walking as and you're straying away from the Savior. 938 00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:02,080 But not only that, I would just want to say this, that you guys 939 00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:06,320 may not lose your salvation, but you may lose your passion for 940 00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:13,320 Jesus. You're like one of those people. 941 00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:14,840 You're like, oh, yeah. I just know what the word says. 942 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:16,960 I know what the word says. I know, you know, you know, you 943 00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:19,120 know. But do you feel his presence? 944 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:23,120 Do you do you walk with him in a way that is vibrant and 945 00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:26,640 passionate in the life? Guys, the abundant life is not 946 00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:29,240 heaven. The abundant life is here. 947 00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:31,240 Do you see that? It's here. 948 00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:34,800 And this is how you get that. You go through the door, he 949 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:37,800 brings you to himself, he brings you into his family and you get 950 00:51:37,800 --> 00:51:40,320 to experience the unity. He says there's sheep that you 951 00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:42,920 that that you don't know about. He's like, I have other sheep, 952 00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:44,600 which is not of this fault. What is he talking about? 953 00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:48,840 I mean, in context, he's talking about the Jews eventually 954 00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:51,240 gathering with the Gentiles, right? 955 00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:53,080 Which a lot of those people didn't like. 956 00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:56,440 But he's talking about Ephesians 2, broke the barrier between Jew 957 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,080 and Gentile and now they're slave and free, right? 958 00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:01,160 He's bringing everybody in under one roof. 959 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:02,360 But what is he talking about too? 960 00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:05,360 He's talking about the nations, He's talking about the nation's 961 00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:08,040 coming. One day he's going to gather all 962 00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:11,800 the nations that know him under one roof, under one place called 963 00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:14,160 heaven. That's amazing. 964 00:52:16,680 --> 00:52:19,760 And then lastly, he not only leads us and speaks to us and we 965 00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:22,400 can, we can close here, but he protects us. 966 00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:28,360 The thief tries to climb the fence, but Jesus is at the door. 967 00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:35,040 He protects this place. I remember, let me just share 968 00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:40,120 this that I, I mean, I've given so many messages on wolves. 969 00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:46,000 I don't think I need to do that again, but I just, I want you to 970 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:50,960 see something in the context of this amazing parable that Jesus 971 00:52:50,960 --> 00:53:00,600 shares about the Good Shepherd. He's, he's building something 972 00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:06,840 among us, like globally and locally, he's building his 973 00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:10,320 global church. And there are people who try to, 974 00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:14,760 of course, hurt that, right. And I, I remember when the, the 975 00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:18,440 six people were lining up to be baptized, I was like, well, you 976 00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:22,160 guys here, we're doing this in Pensacola Beach, FL. 977 00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:26,080 But there are other people who are being baptized on the beach 978 00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:29,480 and they have black hoods on their heads and they have a gun 979 00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:34,160 to the back of their skull. And because they committed to 980 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:36,520 Jesus, they would breathe their last. 981 00:53:39,080 --> 00:53:41,800 And every time we baptize, I want you to remember the 982 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:45,160 persecuted church because while we have freedom, at least at 983 00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:51,040 least right now, they don't. But they also are promised the 984 00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:54,120 abundant life because the abundant life is not promised to 985 00:53:54,120 --> 00:53:57,360 the to just Americans. It's like somehow they're fused 986 00:53:57,360 --> 00:54:01,320 together that what Jesus offers and the the the American dream. 987 00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:03,880 That's not what he's talking about somewhat the abundant life 988 00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:08,000 that person with a hood on their head has the abundant life they 989 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:11,120 get to it says blessed are those who are persecuted and even 990 00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:15,560 mistreat you and even kill you for my name for your names are 991 00:54:15,560 --> 00:54:18,200 written in the book of life. You have a blessing. 992 00:54:18,200 --> 00:54:21,600 They're blessed, they're more blessed than the American 993 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:24,160 Christian who is living for themselves and has Jesus on the 994 00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:28,160 side. The abundant life is today. 995 00:54:28,840 --> 00:54:34,560 Now the joy that you get to feel and experience of being in his 996 00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:40,160 family and knowing him. So when we were when we're all 997 00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:42,520 worshiping and praying, we had this moment. 998 00:54:42,520 --> 00:54:44,280 I don't know if we can do this here. 999 00:54:44,280 --> 00:54:48,720 It's my administrator said that it might be impossible. 1000 00:54:53,560 --> 00:54:55,960 I think it's still possible, but we'll see what happens. 1001 00:54:56,280 --> 00:55:00,000 But while we're there, we have about 150 of us or so. 1002 00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:02,600 And I just thought I had this word. 1003 00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:07,480 I felt like the Lord wanted to show us the generations. 1004 00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:11,040 So he sang that song Generations, You know, I forgot 1005 00:55:11,040 --> 00:55:13,080 the what's the lures, the blessing. 1006 00:55:13,080 --> 00:55:14,880 Sorry. Yeah, I renamed it The 1007 00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:22,600 Generations anyways, but so just I, I, so Nicole and I, we stood 1008 00:55:22,600 --> 00:55:25,240 up. We just brought everybody but 1009 00:55:25,240 --> 00:55:26,680 Judah, because Judah wasn't born yet. 1010 00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:31,520 So 2011, Ella was in diapers and the rest of them were pretty 1011 00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:33,520 small. And we just stood up in 2011. 1012 00:55:33,520 --> 00:55:36,880 That's when we started the church and then it was George 1013 00:55:36,880 --> 00:55:42,440 and who it was there in 2012. It was just George, just George, 1014 00:55:42,440 --> 00:55:46,480 just George represented 2012 and there's way more that represent 1015 00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:53,320 2012, but they didn't come and then 2014 and then 15161718. 1016 00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:56,680 And it was kind of cool. At one point you got to see this 1017 00:55:56,680 --> 00:56:00,240 like multiplication growth and the church. 1018 00:56:00,560 --> 00:56:03,720 It was just that little section of our church and you got to see 1019 00:56:03,720 --> 00:56:05,760 that. And we just said that, you know, 1020 00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:09,240 just that we sang the song, the just the, the, the blessings 1021 00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:12,760 from generation to generation. You know, just seeing people 1022 00:56:12,760 --> 00:56:16,800 come to Christ and like watching like man, we baptize you, you 1023 00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:18,960 share the gospel, you're bold. This is how you serve the 1024 00:56:18,960 --> 00:56:21,000 church. It was just beautiful to see all 1025 00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:23,160 that God was do is just a precious moment. 1026 00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:25,880 And then Edson, you know, just this, you know, people are 1027 00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:28,720 crying and said, and then Edson comes up to me and he says this, 1028 00:56:28,720 --> 00:56:32,200 he's like, This is why we protect. 1029 00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:39,280 This is why we protect, we protect this and Jesus is 1030 00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:44,400 ultimately the one who protects, yes, he gives us shepherds and 1031 00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:47,640 to shepherd the flock and that's part of their, their duty, 1032 00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:48,760 right? To feed the flock, lead the 1033 00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:51,040 flock, protect the flock. I mean, that's their duty to do 1034 00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:54,360 that is under shepherds, under shepherds. 1035 00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:58,520 But we have one Good Shepherd that says, I've started this 1036 00:56:58,520 --> 00:57:00,600 church and I will see it to completion. 1037 00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:04,200 Amen. That's who God says he is, Amen. 1038 00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:05,760 Some of you are like, are we going to do it? 1039 00:57:06,240 --> 00:57:10,840 Well, I don't know, probably not, but you can imagine it in 1040 00:57:10,840 --> 00:57:14,280 your mind. I'd love to. 1041 00:57:14,920 --> 00:57:16,880 It's just so hard with these chairs and stuff. 1042 00:57:18,440 --> 00:57:20,800 But it's just cool to see if you're part of this, if you're, 1043 00:57:20,800 --> 00:57:24,800 it was just cool to see also the 2026 people that just got here, 1044 00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:28,240 just got here and just seeing they were the front of it. 1045 00:57:28,240 --> 00:57:31,480 And I said, you guys don't let it end with you. 1046 00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:35,280 But then there's going to be there's going to be more. 1047 00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:40,480 The 27282930 whenever Jesus comes back, we want him to come 1048 00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:43,880 back soon. But we're just saying, Lord, we, 1049 00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:47,280 we want you to continue to do it again and again and again. 1050 00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:49,200 Would you do it again in the next generation? 1051 00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:53,720 He's a Good Shepherd, but he's not done with our fold. 1052 00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:56,800 He wants more to come in and that's what we're praying for. 1053 00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:00,920 So with this song just in your mind's eye, just thank the Lord 1054 00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:02,800 for this church. Thank the Lord for the Good 1055 00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:04,200 Shepherd. Thank the Lord that he brought 1056 00:58:04,200 --> 00:58:06,520 you, saved you. He saved, he brought you in, you 1057 00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:08,240 went through the door, He saved you. 1058 00:58:08,400 --> 00:58:11,440 He gave you a family and he gave you a purpose and a mission to 1059 00:58:11,440 --> 00:58:16,200 live for a He gave you a power to live out those commands that 1060 00:58:16,200 --> 00:58:18,560 Jesus gave us until the end. Amen. 1061 00:58:19,360 --> 00:58:20,720 Let's stand to our feet and let's worship.