1 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,200 Oh, crossing family. It is so good to be back with 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,080 you this weekend. We are in a series called 50 for 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,000 50 where we are spending 50 minutes a day for the next 50 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:20,280 days asking God to move us, change us and use us like never 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,680 before. And there are two main 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,240 scriptures that are kind of guiding us on this journey. 7 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,120 Mark chapter 12. One of the teachers of the law 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,480 came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:33,880 them a good answer. He asked him that he's asking 10 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:38,600 Jesus of all the commandments, which is the most important. 11 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,760 This was Jesus's answer, the most important one answer. 12 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,600 Jesus is this. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,120 God. The Lord is 1. 14 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,360 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,680 with all your mind, and with all your strength. 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:01,280 The 2nd is this. Love your neighbor as yourself. 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,280 There is no commandment greater than these. 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,800 And then the second big chunk of scripture that we're looking at 19 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,920 is Matthew 28. Then Jesus came to them and said 20 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,040 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 21 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,520 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 22 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,760 in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,360 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, 24 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:33,120 and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 25 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,840 We believe a great commitment to the great commandment and the 26 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,200 Great Commission will make for a great Church and will make for a 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,280 great life. I believe that there is nothing 28 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,000 greater that you and I can give our lives to accomplish than 29 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,080 this to love God and to love people. 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,400 In fact, our mission here as a church is to help people find an 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,120 intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 32 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,400 We desperately want to make this region where we live the hardest 33 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,240 place on planet Earth to get to hell from. 34 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,800 In order to do that, we realized that we need to make some 35 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,120 decisions and more importantly, we needed to make some 36 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:20,720 commitments. One of the phrases you're going 37 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,240 to hear over and over every single week, if you got one of 38 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:24,200 the books, you're going to see it. 39 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,600 Inside of the books as you're traveling along is this quote 40 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,360 from Steve Weatherford that had a major impact on me and our 41 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,120 staff. And he said this. 42 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,080 Amateurs make decisions based on their emotions. 43 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:43,520 Pros make decisions based on their commitments and we believe 44 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:49,440 that it is time for all of us to GoPro in the things that matter 45 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:53,440 the most. In loving God, in loving people 46 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,040 and making a difference in this world. 47 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,080 For Jesus, I'm so incredibly thankful. 48 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,920 Last weekend we had over 2655 of you go. 49 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:04,760 You know what, we're taking this ground. 50 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:06,960 We're going on this 50 for 50 journey. 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,440 I've been getting up early every single week this week, taking 52 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,600 our golden dummy on a walk to get my exercise in reading the 53 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,760 same chunks of scripture that you're reading. 54 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:19,040 We're almost all the way, depending on where you're at, 55 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:20,640 you're we're almost all the way through the book of Luke. 56 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:22,040 We're going to get into the book of Acts. 57 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:24,760 In fact, by the end of this journey, you'll have read almost 58 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,480 the entire New Testament. This is going to be a great 59 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,040 opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with the Lord. 60 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,840 And let me say this, there's some of you who maybe you didn't 61 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,280 get a book last week or you were thinking about it and you 62 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,240 decided not to. We still have 1300 books left at 63 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,320 our different locations, and I would rather you go on a journey 64 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,440 for 43 days then go on a journey for no days. 65 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:48,760 Is that a deal? All right. 66 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,600 That being said, I want to welcome all of you join in from 67 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,720 all of our different locations and those of you join in online 68 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,640 and inside. I am so thankful that we get to 69 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,600 be a part of this crossing family and I am thankful for 70 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,920 you. And I want you to know that each 71 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,000 week when I or each morning when I've been going on a walk, I 72 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,320 have been lifting you all up in prayer. 73 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,400 I love being a part of this church. 74 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,040 Give me a second. I'm still recovering and I love 75 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,120 seeing the life change that happens every single week. 76 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,160 Just seeing what God did in Kirkuk this past weekend or 77 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,079 what's happening at the inside and all of our different 78 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:24,120 locations. God is on the move at this 79 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,640 church, and I want him to be on the move in you. 80 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,840 I love seeing pictures and hearing stories of those of you 81 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:33,560 coming to the steps and praying and banging on Heaven's door. 82 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,120 And in fact, that's actually what I want to do real quick. 83 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,840 Can I just bang on Heaven's door with you and pray as we got to 84 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,000 start this message? Heavenly Father, you know where 85 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,680 every single person is right now on their spiritual journey. 86 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:46,800 You know what they're wrestling with. 87 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,040 You know what they're struggling through, and you also know 88 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,800 exactly what they need to get through and God, I pray that you 89 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:58,960 would use this season of life and ministry in this church to 90 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,560 bring about a significant and lasting change in each and every 91 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,120 single one of us. We want it, God, We want to make 92 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:07,840 you proud. We want to make you happy. 93 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:09,400 And you're in my praying. Amen. 94 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:18,320 In 1992, Gary Chapman released a best seller called The Five Love 95 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:24,800 Languages and this was the tagline, The Secret to Love that 96 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,840 Lasts. And since everybody when they 97 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,160 get married kind of goes, I would like this thing to go 98 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,840 forever. It became a hit, and in his book 99 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:40,480 he identifies 5 love languages that all humans have. 100 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,280 Each of us experience love in different ways, but all of us 101 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,440 have a primary and a secondary love language. 102 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:57,640 The five love languages are words of affirmation, acts of 103 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:02,440 service, receiving gifts. Valentine's Day, anyone. 104 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,880 Quality time and physical touch. OK for just we'll do this for 105 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,080 just a quick second. For a show of hands, how many of 106 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,520 you would say the primary way that you feel love is when 107 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,320 people give you words of encouragement? 108 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,200 You're so pretty. You're so handsome. 109 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,160 You're so smart. You work so hard. 110 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:22,360 Raise your hand. OK. 111 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:23,800 A lot of guys will raise their hand here. 112 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,160 How about this one? You would say acts of service 113 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,240 when you do stuff for. OK, ladies. 114 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:30,480 We hear you. We hear you. 115 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,320 OK, shush it. All right. 116 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:35,360 How many of you? It's gift giving. 117 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,840 You're the expensive people among us, OK? 118 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,640 There's way less hands than there should be. 119 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,680 We know you K Black Friday. We we know you. 120 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,840 How many of you would say it's quality time if we could just 121 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,640 sit next? OK. 122 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:52,040 Yeah. Neither Jennifer and I. 123 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,680 Neither one of us. It's quality time. 124 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,080 It's like, no, that's not us. What am I, physical touch. 125 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,720 Hold my hand. Give me a back rub Other things. 126 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:02,760 Yeah, you. That's you. 127 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,160 OK, now let me. I kind of went through this and 128 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:07,400 a lot of you raised your hands. Men. 129 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,320 Did you notice that men or that women kind of have multiple love 130 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:12,800 languages. They kind of raise their hands 131 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,840 multiple times. And I'll also tell you this, 132 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,920 fellas, if you if you don't like the love language she has, 133 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,360 she'll change it. She'll change it. 134 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,320 In a couple months when she wants something different done 135 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,280 around the house, she'd be like, well, it was, it was words of 136 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,480 affirmation, but now it's home renovation and you'd be like, 137 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,080 well, I looked in the book and home renovation wasn't in there. 138 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:39,080 Now the reason why this book was so transformative is because you 139 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,720 can love somebody and you're trying to communicate to your 140 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:44,960 spouse. I love you so much. 141 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,880 I love you so much. And you speak in your primary, 142 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:58,400 but they only for the most part, receive love in their primary. 143 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,960 So if your primary way of communicating love to your wife 144 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:08,880 men is words of affirmation, you're saying I love you, I love 145 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,480 you, I love you. You're so beautiful. 146 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:12,080 You're so great. You're such a good cook. 147 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,440 You're way better than my mom. You're just showering words of 148 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,880 affirmation on her, and her way of receiving love is acts of 149 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,160 service. You know what your wife is 150 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,400 feeling every day? I wish my husband loved me. 151 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:30,520 And she goes, I just don't feel loved. 152 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,799 And then as the man you're going, I literally just told you 153 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,240 I loved you. I don't know. 154 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:46,200 I don't feel it. It didn't matter. 155 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:54,200 I I said it. Yeah, but the house is dirty. 156 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,280 OK? So you go out and you buy your 157 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,160 stuff from Target and you come home. 158 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:05,120 See. I love you. 159 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:14,240 But you didn't vacuum. So think about this. 160 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,280 You have two couples that desperately love each other, 161 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,040 that are trying to communicate how much they love each other 162 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:28,520 and it's not getting through. They don't feel it because they 163 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,880 love us back. And then you have the man going. 164 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,920 I've been trying to spend all my time trying to tell her how much 165 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:35,720 I love her, and she doesn't feel it. 166 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,920 But you know what? I don't feel like she loves me 167 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,080 either and our spouse is experiencing the exact same 168 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,360 frustration because they are doing work around the house. 169 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,240 They're trying to be helpful and yet we don't see it and we don't 170 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:51,440 care. You have two people desperately 171 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,320 trying to communicate how much they love each other because of 172 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:59,160 the love language barrier. They don't feel loved at all. 173 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,000 Some of you guys, you've heard my Que pasta story. 174 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,840 When I was going through high school, I I took three years of 175 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:11,040 Spanish and I got good grades because I was an athlete and I 176 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:15,280 really struggled putting together the Spanish language. 177 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,360 And this was at a time when when you talk to people you'd say 178 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:22,080 what's up my dog, which so kind of tells you late 90s, early 179 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,920 2000s. And I was doing some mission 180 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:30,240 work down in Tulsa and we would be in a Spanish speaking area of 181 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,120 Tulsa. And I would get out of my car 182 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,880 and gas stations and I would go que pasa MI pero PERO. 183 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,360 And I would get out and I'd see a bunch of Spanish speakers and 184 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,240 I'd be like que Paso, MI pero. And I would, you know, be me. 185 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:51,200 And then about a year later I was at A at my college and I sat 186 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,920 across the table from Mario and I said que Paso MI pero. 187 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,760 And he goes, what? And I said que Paso MI pero. 188 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,360 What's up my dog? He goes dog is pero. 189 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,400 You'll want to roll the R What you have been saying is what is 190 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:11,400 up my conjunction word. But so I had been getting out of 191 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,240 the car in downtown Tulsa going what is on my butt? 192 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,200 You a dumbass star. What is on my butt? 193 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,880 I was trying to communicate. I'm really happy to see you. 194 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,600 What I was communicating is I am a scary white man. 195 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,480 OK? That is no bueno. 196 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,440 OK? Not a mucho and no mucho. 197 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:36,600 OK, there is a big difference. When there is a language issue, 198 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,120 it is really hard to communicate how much you love them. 199 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:45,440 And Gary Chapman urges his readers to learn to communicate 200 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,240 in the primary love language of their spouse. 201 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,840 So, men, if your wife's love language is acts of service and 202 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,600 you want to show her that you love her, you want your wife to 203 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:02,800 feel loved. Get a Dyson and get to work 204 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,880 ladies. If your husband's love language 205 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:13,400 is words of affirmation, get a dictionary and a thesaurus and 206 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,240 get to work. Because if you want to have a 207 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,160 healthy marriage and your kids have a love language and your 208 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,800 boss has a love language and your Co workers have a love 209 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:24,200 language. And if you want to communicate 210 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,000 that you love people, you need to learn to speak in the 211 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,000 language in the primary and secondary love language of your 212 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:31,920 spouse, of the people that you care about. 213 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,880 The question for every person who has an intimate, personal 214 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,880 relationship with Jesus Christ should be this. 215 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:50,880 How do I love God? Back all of us before starting 216 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,840 our relationship with Jesus. Wrestle with How could God love 217 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:55,840 us? How After we hear the good news 218 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:58,680 of what Jesus Christ has done on our behalf, we realize that he 219 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:01,920 loved us when we were messed up and we were broken and something 220 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:08,120 stirs in our hearts and we desire to love God back. 221 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:15,440 But the question is how do we love him back? 222 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:24,920 Does God have a love language? The bottom line is this. 223 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,040 Heaven is not a place for people that God loves. 224 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:34,040 God loves everybody. God loves all the people in 225 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,000 heaven. God loves all the people in 226 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,880 hell. The difference between those who 227 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,200 are in heaven and those who are in hell is not whether or not 228 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:49,520 God loves them, it's whether or not they love God. 229 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,280 Because heaven is not a place for people who love God back, 230 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:56,280 and hell is not a place for those that don't. 231 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,960 Heaven and hell are full of people that God loves. 232 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,320 The difference between those two places is one group of people 233 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,240 chose to love God back and the other didn't. 234 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:13,040 And did you know God has a love language? 235 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:20,640 Hear me carefully. God receives love through 236 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,440 obedience. Now before I go too much further 237 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:25,880 in the sermon, I want to say a couple things. 238 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:31,000 One, I don't want this to turn into a works based sermon. 239 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,560 And if you're brand new to The Crossing or and you're brand new 240 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,720 to your faith, none of this is going to make sense to you for 241 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:37,600 like the next, you know, couple minutes. 242 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:39,520 But for those who've been following Jesus for a long time, 243 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,360 I want to make sure that this doesn't get twisted in your 244 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,160 head. I don't want you to turn this 245 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:47,200 sermon into a checklist. While James says that faith in 246 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,400 God that is not accompanied by works is dead and a meaningless 247 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:56,040 faith, we are not saved because of what we have done. 248 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,560 We are saved because of what Jesus Christ has done on the 249 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:05,400 cross on our behalf and our acceptance and receiving of that 250 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:10,000 work in our life. Secondly, you can be obedient to 251 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:15,800 Jesus and you can be obedient to God and still not love God. 252 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,240 Parents, you know this. Can your kids be obedient and 253 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,320 unloving at the exact same time? Go clean your room. 254 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,560 OK? Are they communicating how much 255 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,880 they love you? No, they're communicating how 256 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,560 much They're like their mother, right? 257 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:35,680 Go. Come on. 258 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,000 OK, just a couple jokes. She's not here. 259 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,640 Your kids can obey you, but their hearts can be far from 260 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,440 you. Jesus, over and over again picks 261 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,560 a theological fight with religious elites because they 262 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,560 were doing the right things with the wrong motives and the wrong 263 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:58,480 heart. That being said, over and over 264 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:04,600 and over again in scripture Jesus connects love and 265 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,280 obedience to his message to his followers. 266 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,600 Don't believe me? Let me take you on a little 267 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:16,920 journey, John 14. If you love me, keep my 268 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,520 commands. Later on in verses 23 and 24 it 269 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,560 says this. Jesus replied, Anyone who loves 270 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,760 me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them and we 271 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,840 will come to them and make our home with them. 272 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,800 Excuse me. Anyone who does not love me will 273 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,400 not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my 274 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:39,800 own. They belong to the Father who 275 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,000 sent me. So if your life is not being 276 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:48,680 obedient to God, you are sending a clear message you don't love 277 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:50,880 Him. Look what it says in First John 278 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:52,960 chapter 5, verse 3. In fact. 279 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,840 This is love for God. This is how he receives love to 280 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,760 keep his commands. Some of you might be going, I 281 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:02,560 don't believe you. I need one more verse. 282 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,800 OK, second John chapter one, verse five. 283 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,680 I am not writing you a new command, but one we have had 284 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:13,160 from the beginning. I ask that we love one another 285 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,359 and this is love. He's going to describe what love 286 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:18,040 is. Guess what? 287 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:24,119 It is that we walk in obedience to His commands. 288 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,119 In fact, at the very beginning of the message I read to you 289 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,920 from Matthew chapter 28, when he says we're supposed to go out 290 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,360 and make disciples and check what shows up inside of there. 291 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:34,600 Look what it says. Verse 19. 292 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,280 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 293 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,600 in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 294 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,840 Guess what's on the next page And teaching them to obey 295 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,560 everything. I have commended you. 296 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:54,520 So how do we love God? By being obedient. 297 00:17:55,440 --> 00:18:00,160 Obedient to what? To His commands, His words? 298 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,680 His teachings. Now where do you and I find His 299 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,800 commands, His words, His teachings? 300 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:13,920 We find it in the Bible. So a person who wants to love 301 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:18,160 God back will be engaged with the Bible. 302 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:27,560 The single greatest discipline for spiritual growth is Bible 303 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:33,240 engagement. Hear me, if you want to grow 304 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:39,960 spiritually, the number one thing that will help you do it 305 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,280 is regularly engaging in the Bible. 306 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:50,440 The problem is that study after study shows that people who 307 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,880 identify as Christians are not prioritizing engaging with the 308 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,760 Scriptures. This is what a recent survey 309 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,440 said, that 45% of people who call themselves a Christian 310 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,400 spend time in the Bible once a week. 311 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,840 It gets worse. 12% of people who call themselves Christians 312 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:17,120 engage in the Bible once or twice a month, 9% of people who 313 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,800 call themselves Christians spend time reading the Bible several 314 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:26,800 times a year, and 33% of people who call themselves Christians 315 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,760 seldom never engage in the Bible. 316 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,840 If God receives love through obedience, how can a person 317 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,160 possibly be obedient to a thing that they don't know? 318 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,440 This means that a large swath of people who call themselves 319 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:50,360 Christians are not engaging in scripture and are not loving God 320 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,280 back. And just so you know, by age 321 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:57,600 demographic, those engaging the most in scripture are those 322 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:02,600 between the ages of 30 and 49, which makes total sense to me 323 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:04,920 because they're dealing with teenagers and they're trying to 324 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,880 figure out how to cast out a demon, right. 325 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,320 They're telling we have got to find the demon spells. 326 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,440 OK, now I will tell you this as a word of encouragement. 18 to 327 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:21,640 29 year olds are at 15% and those who are 65 plus are at 328 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,120 23%. For at least one time a week and 329 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:29,480 in the category of once or twice a month or several times a year, 330 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,560 the 18 to 29 year olds are beating the 65 plus crowd. 331 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,720 So let me say this. This should give you some hope 332 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,640 for the future, because the younger generation is more 333 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,920 spiritually attuned than the older generation, at least based 334 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,440 on that statistic. So we got to keep prioritizing 335 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,120 those who are younger than us. The crazy thing is, scientific 336 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:56,520 studies are starting to report that reading the Bible is check 337 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:58,480 this out. Good for you. 338 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,440 For instance, if you were to list the problems facing the 339 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,960 world today, I wonder what problems you would put on the 340 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,440 list. Would you put loneliness, 341 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:17,400 bitterness, Anger. Self esteem, Self harm? 342 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,320 There was a massive study done on over 200,000 people between 343 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:28,560 the ages of eight and 80, and they divided them up and they 344 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,120 started to watch them over a period of time. 345 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,240 After day one and day two, they didn't notice hardly any 346 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,000 difference between the two groups of people. 347 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,880 But on day three something started to change. 348 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,880 They broke people into two separate groups, those who were 349 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,960 Bible engaged and those who were not. 350 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,680 They considered a Bible engaged person, somebody who was 351 00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:00,600 interacting with the Bible, the word of God, at least four times 352 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:06,040 a week. And here is what they found of 353 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,880 the people who were Bible engaged. 354 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:17,000 Loneliness dropped 30%, Bitterness dropped 43%, Anger 355 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,480 dropped 32%. Alcoholism dropped 42%. 356 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:27,520 Porn consumption dropped 60%. Self harm dropped 30%, 357 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:34,680 Connectedness rose 30%, and self esteem rose 30%. 358 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,920 That when you start to engage in scripture regularly at least 359 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:45,880 four times a week, it starts to rewire you for the good. 360 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,920 There's an old adage that all of our staff could testify, and 361 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,600 this is it. A Bible that is falling apart 362 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,080 usually belongs to a person whose life isn't. 363 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,800 We could save ourselves a lot of time on the counseling side here 364 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,480 at our church if somebody said, hey, my whole life's falling 365 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,680 apart. If we were to just say, have you 366 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,560 been reading your Bible regularly because the science 367 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,360 will back it up, that the more time you spend in the Bible. 368 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,200 Now I'm not saying listen to me, don't say hey I'm going through 369 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,000 a tough time. I'm not saying pray more, read 370 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,960 more. I'm just saying a lot of us. 371 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:23,680 It's kind of like man, I'm really hungry. 372 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,480 I just don't feel good. Eat something that a lot of us 373 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,920 were neglecting the very thing that God wanted to use to 374 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,160 empower us and direct us. And when you neglect those two 375 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:40,240 things, you can expect your life to kind of, you know, fall 376 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:42,960 apart. If the second greatest 377 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,520 commandment is to love our neighbor, think of how a drop in 378 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,720 bitterness, anger, and an increase in connectedness and 379 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,560 self esteem would help us to accomplish this. 380 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,680 There might be some of you who are reading the Bible, and it's 381 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,600 confusing at times, coming to view. 382 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:57,960 You've read the Bible and it's confusing. 383 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,200 Just so you know, my hands up. It is even in the stuff we were 384 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,560 reading this week, I was like, man, I got to circle back on 385 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,360 that one. I agree with you completely. 386 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,040 I just want you to know that confusion and difficulty have 387 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,640 never stopped you in the past. And it shouldn't. 388 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,880 It hasn't stopped you before and it shouldn't stop you now. 389 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,480 For instance. Men, just look at me for a 390 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:21,640 second. Don't look around. 391 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:22,800 Just look at me. It's safe. 392 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,120 Do you understand everything there is to know about women? 393 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:30,640 No. Just shake your head like this. 394 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:36,040 Shake your eyes. Do you understand them? 395 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:38,720 No. You don't stand a chance. 396 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,840 But are you thankful for them? Are you learning what you can 397 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:44,640 learn about them so that way you don't do it again. 398 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,080 Yeah. You're married to somebody who's 399 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,400 incredibly confusing and difficult to understand, and you 400 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,960 keep doing it. So just because you bump into 401 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,480 something in the Bible that doesn't make sense to you, just 402 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,920 keep keep your head down and keep moving on. 403 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:01,960 You want to know why? Because the same thing should be 404 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:06,160 true when it comes to God. Hear me, the Bible tells us that 405 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,440 God weighs are higher than our ways. 406 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,280 The Bible tells that there's a way that seems right to man, but 407 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,360 in the end it leads to destruction. 408 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:17,560 It kind of makes sense to me that there are going to be times 409 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,480 when God isn't going to make sense to me. 410 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:22,680 Does that make sense? Have you ever tried to explain 411 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,520 stuff to your kids and you're just, like, you're just too dumb 412 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,120 to understand what we're talking about? 413 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,560 Like, they ask you questions and you're trying to answer them. 414 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,600 And then you're just like, like my son the other day was like, 415 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,760 so when we come to a stop sign and there's no lights, how does 416 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:40,120 everybody know when they're supposed to go? 417 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,040 And I go, it's easy. The one on the right goes, He's 418 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,320 like, OK, but what if two cars come and they're facing each 419 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,440 other? I don't know. 420 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,160 He goes, what happens when four cars all get there at the exact 421 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:59,800 same time? I don't know. 422 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,560 Whoever has the bigger truck, I guess us. 423 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,040 That's who I'm going because I'm impatient, right? 424 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,320 You'll be like, it'll just make sense. 425 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,120 It just doesn't happen. There's someone looking at their 426 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:11,840 phone, so that's always you just kind of go around them. 427 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,520 Hear me? God is perfect and I'm a Sinner. 428 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,360 He's all knowing. And I forget where I put my 429 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,480 keys. But the other thing I'll tell 430 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,760 you is that time is one of the greatest teachers. 431 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,120 Think about what your first day was like on the new job, and 432 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:30,400 think about how much you intrinsically understand about 433 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,920 your place of employment. Now think of your hobby. 434 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,400 Do you remember when you first started? 435 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:38,160 Like, guys? Do you remember their first day 436 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,160 hunting? You're like eating Doritos. 437 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,080 You didn't know what to do, and you're like, trying to figure it 438 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,680 out. And now you have your favorite 439 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,960 brand of deer urine. Like, did you see that coming? 440 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,640 It just took time. Like over time you kind of 441 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:52,120 developed your rhythm and your routine. 442 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,680 And the same is true with God, that the more time you spend 443 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,240 with him, the more he will begin to make sense to you. 444 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:06,000 Time is a great teacher. And one of the reasons though, 445 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,080 that we have a hard time with the Bible is because if we were 446 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,920 to be honest with each other and we were to be honest with 447 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,720 ourselves, we haven't put in the time. 448 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,680 I need you to know that God is not purposely difficult. 449 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,040 God is a revealer. He wants to be known by you. 450 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,000 Look what he says in Matthew Chapter 7. 451 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,680 Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and 452 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:34,680 the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks, receives 453 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,440 and the one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks. 454 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:42,160 The door will be opened. If you want to live a 455 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:47,320 spiritually vibrant life, if you want to live a life that will 456 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:54,520 help you to make a difference. The Bible is a powerful tool in 457 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,720 the life of a believer. The Bible is one of the most 458 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:03,640 powerful tools you will have to live and experience the 459 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,600 Christian life. Let me just show you some of the 460 00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:08,200 ways that the Bible is going to be helpful to you. 461 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,880 The Bible is a guide. It's a guide for making 462 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,440 disciples, and it's a guide for training in godly living. 463 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,200 Look what it says in Second Timothy All Scripture Front to 464 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,320 back Genesis to Revelation. Is God breathed? 465 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:27,480 And is everybody say this word useful? 466 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:31,240 It's useful for what? For teaching, rebuking, 467 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:36,320 correcting, and training in righteousness so that the 468 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:40,640 servant of God may be everybody. Say this word thoroughly 469 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,280 equipped. For every good work. 470 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,800 The Bible makes you ready to do the good work that God has 471 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,480 called you to. Here's another one. 472 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:56,040 The Bible is a defense against sin. 473 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,040 How many of you have sinned? How many of you would like to 474 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,920 sin less if you didn't raise your hand there? 475 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:04,320 You sinned. So put your hand back up. 476 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:11,040 Hear me? The Bible helps you sin less. 477 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:15,360 Look what it says in Psalm 119. I have hidden your word in my 478 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:20,000 heart that I might not sin against you. 479 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,560 The Bible helps us to fight back against sin. 480 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:30,440 The Bible is a light in a Dark World. 481 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,440 Look what it says in Psalm 119 One O 5, Your Word. 482 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:40,280 This is the Bible is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 483 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:47,200 It gets better than that. The Bible is a weapon against 484 00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:51,280 the enemy. Satan is going to come to try to 485 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,200 destroy the things that God is trying to build up in your life. 486 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,560 And when Satan comes, there's something that he can't defeat. 487 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,920 Satan cannot defeat the word of God. 488 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,680 It is our weapon against the evil. 1 Ephesians chapter 6 489 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,600 shows us so much. Finally, be strong in the Lord 490 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,760 and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so 491 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,280 that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 492 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,520 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against 493 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,640 rulers, against authorities, against the powers of The Dark 494 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,960 World, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly 495 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,320 realms. Therefore, put on the full armor 496 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,920 of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to 497 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,680 stand your ground. And after you've done everything 498 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:38,120 to stand, stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around 499 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,160 your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and 500 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,680 with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the 501 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,960 gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up 502 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,080 the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the 503 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:56,480 flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and 504 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,720 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 505 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:04,920 Jesus is actually a perfect example of this. 506 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,040 Before he started his earthly ministry, Jesus goes off into 507 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:15,280 the desert and he fasts and he prays for 40 days and Satan is 508 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,080 tempting him. At the end of the 40 days, Satan 509 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,080 comes and he tempts him three more times. 510 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,400 And every time Satan tempt, tempted Jesus. 511 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,920 Do you know what Jesus did? He responded with scripture that 512 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,240 when Satan tempts you, if you have an arsenal, you have hidden 513 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,560 God's word in your heart. It will keep you from sin and it 514 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:43,560 will defend you against Satan. The Bible is a manual for life. 515 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,840 It covers how to navigate sex, handle money, choose friends, 516 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,880 navigate relational hurt, choose a spouse, raise kids, build and 517 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,320 maintain a good reputation and leave a powerful legacy. 518 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,040 How many of you have ever purchased IKEA furniture? 519 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:09,960 Yeah, if you haven't, don't. Anybody who's ever purchased 520 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:15,200 IKEA furniture knows that it takes you as much time to drive 521 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,680 all the way down to Saint Louis to pick it out as it does for 522 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,360 you to put it together in your house. 523 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:25,600 And the biggest idiots among us try to do it without the 524 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,560 instructions. Am I right? 525 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:33,960 I need you to hear me say this. You are more complicated than 526 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,920 IKEA furniture, and if you are trying to build your life 527 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:42,240 without a manual, you are going to build something you don't 528 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,800 want. But the Bible is so much more 529 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:48,760 than that. The Bible helps us deal with 530 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,560 worry, anxiety, identity, and eternity. 531 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,640 It's a mirror into our deepest pain, a window into our darkest 532 00:32:55,640 --> 00:33:01,160 sins, and a healing balm to our heart dish wounds beyond that. 533 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,520 The Bible is a love letter from God. 534 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:09,320 It tells us that we have been created by him, that we're not 535 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,160 an accident. It shows us how badly we've 536 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:16,080 messed up, but it shows us that there is a way out and a way 537 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,880 forward. For instance, can I just show 538 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:23,520 you some of my favorites? John 316 says for God still 539 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,080 loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that 540 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,360 whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal 541 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,920 life. If you believe in Jesus, there 542 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,480 is the hope of heaven that is available for every single one 543 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,240 of you. One of my all time favorites. 544 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,600 Romans, chapter 5, verse 8. But God demonstrates his own 545 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,440 love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ 546 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,160 died for us. Some of you, you know, somebody 547 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,280 who's thinking to themself, you know what, I got to get my life 548 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,000 together and then I can get my life with God. 549 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,280 You need to know this verse. They need to know this verse 550 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,040 that before you ever started to turn it around, when you were 551 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:06,560 still as jacked up as you could ever be, God paid the price on 552 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,400 your behalf for your sin. He loved you when you were at 553 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,040 your worst. When you were at your worst, God 554 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:13,280 was at his best. The verse that I was using to 555 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,760 talk to Jennifer when she was coming to faith in Jesus Christ 556 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:17,480 is like easily going to be a tattoo. 557 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,840 First one day. Second Corinthians 517. 558 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,880 The hope of the gospel is this. Therefore, if anyone is in 559 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,520 Christ, the new creation has come, the old is gone, the new 560 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:28,760 is here. When you come to faith in Christ 561 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:30,960 Jesus, he doesn't just make you different. 562 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,960 He makes you new. He gives you a new heart, a new 563 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:38,040 spirit, new desires and new priorities. 564 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:41,520 He gets rid of the old self that was covered in sin, and he 565 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,280 brings about something new. How does he do it, You ask? 566 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:47,120 If you're looking for a reason to fall in love with Jesus, look 567 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,040 what it says later on in verse 21. 568 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,800 God made him. That's Jesus, who had no sin to 569 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:57,400 be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness 570 00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,160 of God. How did he make you new? 571 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,880 He took all of what was messed up in you, and he placed it on 572 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:09,600 Jesus, and he took all that was right about Jesus and he placed 573 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:14,040 it on you. Psalm 23 tells us that even when 574 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,920 I walk through the darkest valley, I'm not alone. 575 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,920 He's with me to guide me and comfort me, and that he's 576 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:27,440 preparing a place for me. Romans 828 tells me that in all 577 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:34,560 things, God is working for the good of those who love Him, 578 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,320 who've been called according to his purpose. 579 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:44,760 What he's saying is if you love me, I never stop working for 580 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,960 your good. No matter how much you messed 581 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,760 up, no matter how dark the valley is, no matter how hard 582 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:58,800 the challenge is, God takes no smoke breaks and working for 583 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:06,680 your good, He takes no sick days working for your good, no lunch 584 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:11,320 breaks working for your good, he says. 585 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:17,800 If you love me, I can't wait to work to redeem all the things 586 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:22,280 that Satan's tried to take from you and break inside of you so I 587 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:30,080 can turn any situation around. We need Christians who are 588 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:35,480 engaged in the scripture so we can live a life in response to 589 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:39,760 God's love, so we can love God back and we can clearly 590 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:45,080 articulate the good News to people who desperately need it. 591 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:51,320 Let this be the end of a lack of Bible engagement in this church. 592 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:56,160 Let this be the beginning of people who start loving him 593 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,200 back. We're moving to a time of 594 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:04,400 decision. If you stick around this church 595 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,920 for a long time, you're going to hear me say this like, over and 596 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:11,040 over and over and over again. But this is like one of the best 597 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:15,440 chunks of scripture that Jesus ever put together because it's 598 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:17,920 so stinking clear. This is what he says. 599 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,080 Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into 600 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:26,120 practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 601 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,600 The rain came down streams, rose, winds blew beating into 602 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:35,240 the house, but it didn't fall because it had its foundation on 603 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,000 the rock. But everyone who hears these 604 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:43,040 words of mine and doesn't put him into practice, it's like a 605 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,240 foolish man. I didn't call you a fool. 606 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:51,400 Jesus did build his house on the sand. 607 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,680 The rain came down and the streams rose and the winds blew 608 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,800 and beat against the house and it fell with a great crash. 609 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,880 The difference between Christians and non Christians. 610 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,280 The difference between people who love God and don't love God 611 00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:17,200 is not that one group goes through storms and one group 612 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:24,840 doesn't. If you get baptized today, it's 613 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:29,320 still going to rain. We own an umbrella and I'm a 614 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,200 pastor. It rains on me just like it 615 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:37,800 rains on you. The difference as Christians 616 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,040 know that they're going to be fine on the other side of the 617 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:43,520 storm. And those who aren't Christians, 618 00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:48,680 those who don't love God back, will get destroyed by the storm. 619 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:50,280 Hear me. Hear me. 620 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:54,800 Hear me, all of you. Tonight, you have heard the word 621 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:59,360 of the Lord, and some of you will go, all right. 622 00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:02,600 It's time for me to start reading my Bible and doing what 623 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:05,080 it says. And when the storms come, I got 624 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,680 good news for you. You won't be washed away. 625 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,080 You'll still be standing, and some of you have heard the exact 626 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,240 same sermon. You'll lift your hands just as 627 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:18,080 high in worship. You'll pray just as long at the 628 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:21,000 steps. But if you go home and we don't 629 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:24,800 put the word of God into practice, then help. 630 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,160 It's like this. It's like going out and buying 631 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:31,880 all new workout clothes and putting them in the dresser. 632 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:37,000 How many of you have ever gotten skinny by buying workout 633 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:42,080 clothes? Judging by the amount of workout 634 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,320 clothes I see women in all over Quincy, everybody shops in 635 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,080 workout clothes, but obviously, Nah, probably working out, 636 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,000 because if you could shop your waist skinny, we'd all be. 637 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:54,680 We'll get to that in a couple weeks. 638 00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:58,720 OK? Buying workout clothes doesn't 639 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:02,200 make you skinny. Watching people work out doesn't 640 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,720 make you skinny. Guess what does. 641 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:11,200 Work it out. Hey, look, I've got 7 Bibles in 642 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:14,280 my house and I'm still struggling. 643 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:21,320 Bible ownership is not faithfulness, but I've been 644 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:27,960 going to church for 30 years. Hearing my words and doing my 645 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:33,520 words are two different things. You could have heard the word 646 00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:40,440 for 50 years, but until you put it in your life and put it into 647 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:46,480 practice, it produces no fruit. If you're here today and you've 648 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:50,000 never started an intimate, personal relationship with 649 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:55,640 Jesus, I'm standing in front of you living proof that God's word 650 00:40:55,640 --> 00:41:01,320 is good, it's reliable, it's powerful, it's transformative, 651 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,640 and it will teach you that you're a Sinner but that God is 652 00:41:04,640 --> 00:41:07,480 a good savior. And those are if you don't take 653 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,600 my word for it, take the word of people who are in your row, 654 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:16,000 Taste and see that the Lord is good and you won't regret it. 655 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,120 And if you want to start that relationship, I would tell you, 656 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,120 don't put it off to the rest of you in this room. 657 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:26,680 To those of you who are Christians, God is not impressed 658 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:30,880 with your knowledge, but he is moved by your obedience. 659 00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,880 And if you want to love him back. 660 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,800 We need to become obedient people if we want to make a 661 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,080 change in the lives of the people we care about. 662 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:44,600 If we want to be a light in the darkness so that people can see 663 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:49,000 Christ, the world doesn't need more people who call themselves 664 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,040 Christians and needs people who are committed to loving God. 665 00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,600 Back to reading His word and doing what it says. 666 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,840 What I'm going to encourage you to do is would you spend some 667 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:02,760 time today? Maybe come up here you didn't 668 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,840 fill out a commitment card last week and you're going, you know 669 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,080 what? There's 43 days left in this 670 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,800 journey. I'm going on this journey. 671 00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:13,520 I'm going to see what God's going to do in my life over the 672 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:17,760 next 43 days as I commit 50 minutes a day for the next 43 673 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:21,160 days to allow God to bring about a change in my life. 674 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,480 Man, you need it. I need it. 675 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:26,800 And the people we love need it from us. 676 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,120 Would you stand with me, Heavenly Father, do a work in 677 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:35,400 this church all across this region, Bring about a change in 678 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,080 us that can only be brought about and sustained and 679 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:43,040 empowered by you. God, convict us of the areas 680 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,800 where we've been falling short, where we've been running, making 681 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:50,680 excuses. Stir in us a passion and a 682 00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:54,120 commitment for you and your ways and your name. 683 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:55,680 I pray. Amen.