1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,280 Oh, I want to welcome those of you joining at all of our 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,880 different locations, those of you watching online and inside, 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:10,840 and a very special welcome to those of you who are here for 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,640 the first time or the first time in a long time. 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,080 I really believe this. I believe that today could be a 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,320 significant moment in your faith journey. 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,200 Now, before we get to that, I want to make you aware of a 8 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,640 couple things that I think will be important to you. 9 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:29,200 One, camp registration is open today. 10 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,439 That's exactly, exactly right. So if you hop in the app, you'll 11 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:34,840 find that that in the 4U section. 12 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,720 So if this is a perfect time, our church has grown, which is a 13 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,080 great thing. And there's only so many beds at 14 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,800 camp. So you want to sign your kid up 15 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,880 early and you will save if you do so. 16 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,720 Second thing is there might be some of you are going, you know 17 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,600 what, I want to help send kids to camp. 18 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:51,840 There are two ways for you to do that. 19 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,640 One is through the in your corner golf outing at the 20 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,360 registration for that is in the app. 21 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,520 We use the funds from that golf outing to help support camp. 22 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,040 They'll be for them across this region and your participation 23 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,680 will make a difference and to those of you who are interested 24 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,040 in providing scholarships for camp you're going I'm not going 25 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,080 to golf. I love Jesus but and I love 26 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,000 kids, but I don't love golf. You can just participate with us 27 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,520 and creating a scholarship in every bit will help. 28 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:20,600 Our goal is simple. We want to make sure that every 29 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,480 kid who wants to go to camp will be able to go to camp. 30 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,120 And for anybody who is looking for maybe a stretch goal in 31 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,200 their generosity, you could join Jennifer and me. 32 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,960 We totaled it up. We're going to have 9 camps this 33 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:35,960 summer for our kids, which is ridiculous. 34 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,000 And to send one kid to each of those camps would be 1900 or no 35 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,400 $18190.00. And so if you're interested in 36 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:45,560 taking that step alongside Jennifer and I, you can do that. 37 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,000 You can find all of that information on your device in 38 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,360 the app and it will point you in all the directions that you need 39 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,120 to go. Now, one of the things that I've 40 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,360 noticed in my years of ministry in this region, sitting across 41 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,080 the table from hundreds of you, I've noticed a pattern. 42 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,320 There is almost always a question of faith that needs to 43 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,199 be answered before a step of obedience is taken. 44 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,720 And that is why I am so glad that you are here today. 45 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,840 You see, God is not afraid of your questions, and neither are 46 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:17,920 we. In fact, we believe that God and 47 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:21,920 His Word not only welcome every question, but have answers to 48 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,400 every major question about life and about faith. 49 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,440 And just to kind of give you some context, every single one 50 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,200 of our weekend services has been unique. 51 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:34,440 There are a bunch of questions that we've been getting through 52 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,320 over the course of our weekend services. 53 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,840 So if you didn't hear the answer to the question that might be 54 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,880 rattled around in your brain when we post the services 55 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,320 online, feel free to watch all of them and it'll help you get 56 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,680 catch caught up. But to help you take your next 57 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,400 step of faith, we have invited Doctor Sean McDowell to part 58 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,760 with us this weekend. Doctor Sean McDowell has devoted 59 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,080 his career to help bring truth to the next generation. 60 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,280 As a college professor, a high school teacher, prolific author, 61 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,920 he has exceptional insights into the prevailing culture and 62 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:08,040 imparts his observations to educators, pastors, parents and 63 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,640 students alike. He is currently an Associate 64 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:14,840 Professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University, 65 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,560 the largest and top ranked graduate program of its kind in 66 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:21,640 the world. As a part time high school 67 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:24,920 teacher, Sean was awarded Educator of the Year in his 68 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:26,960 hometown. He is a highly sought after 69 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,240 speaker, which is why we were so thankful we were able to get him 70 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,680 to come here. He's spoken to various camps, 71 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,520 churches, universities worldwide, is a frequent guest 72 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,720 on radio and television shows. He's a best selling author and 73 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,160 has written and Co written over 20 books. 74 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,000 He has a masters degree in both theology and philosophy and a 75 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,360 PhD from apologetics and worldview studies. 76 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,240 This guys tired folks. He's incredibly tired. 77 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,200 He is also the Co host for the Think Biblically podcast. 78 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,760 But most noteworthy, he is a dedicated husband and father. 79 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,520 He's been married to his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, 80 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,240 since 2000. He lives in beautiful Southern 81 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:06,320 California, where we're going to be launching one of our 82 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,680 locations so we can get out of this place. 83 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,480 Blink if you want to move. OK. 84 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,480 So would you guys please welcome Doctor Sean McDowell to the 85 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,120 stage? Thanks brother. 86 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,120 This has been a blast. That's fun. 87 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,360 So we've done. I think this is what is, is this 88 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:25,880 our fifth? Is this our fifth time this 89 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,560 weekend? 12344, yeah. 90 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,240 This is our fifth, isn't it? Did we do 4? 91 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:32,440 Week in Thursday, Thursday, Saturday. 92 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,360 Yeah, it's fine to teach math. We're a little mushy. 93 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,120 Now what I want to do is I want to tell you a little bit of why 94 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,800 this matters to me. I felt called to go into 95 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,520 ministry, and so I enrolled in Bible college. 96 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,400 But I still had some huge questions about faith. 97 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,120 And I was going, I got to get these dialed in if I'm going to 98 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,080 spend not just the rest of my life, but if I'm banking my 99 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,080 entire eternity on it. And so I enrolled in an 100 00:04:57,080 --> 00:04:59,280 apologetics class in Bible college. 101 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,640 And one of the very first books that I read was a book called 102 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,560 More Than a Carpenter, and it was written by his dad. 103 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,480 And so part of my faith journey was blessed by this family. 104 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,240 And now part of your faith journey will be blessed by this 105 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,400 family. Tell us a little bit about your 106 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:19,880 faith journey. Yeah, thanks. 107 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,520 So that book, more than a Carpenter, captures my father's 108 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:23,920 story. Some of you might recognize the 109 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,200 name Josh McDowell. My dad's written 150 books, 110 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,120 spoken to more young people live than anybody in world history 111 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,080 and college campuses. And that book, one of the 112 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,040 reasons I think it's like 30 million in print is because it 113 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,920 tells his dramatic story of having an alcoholic father 114 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,160 abuse. He experiences a kid, a sister 115 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,680 who took her own life, be challenged by Christians to 116 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,040 consider the claims of Christ, trying to disprove it but being 117 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,960 surprised by the evidence. And it turned his life upside 118 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,600 down that he was able to look his alcoholic father in the eyes 119 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,160 and say I love you and I forgive you. 120 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,000 That's the family I grew up in when the 90s in college. 121 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:05,920 I'm fishing around on this new technology of the time. 122 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,360 Maybe you've heard of it called the Internet. 123 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:14,360 Mid 90s and I come across this huge website dedicated to 124 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,280 arguing that Christianity is false and debunking my dad's 125 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,360 content. I sat there in the first time I 126 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,280 thought, Oh my goodness, I could be wrong. 127 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,560 I don't know how to answer this. To make a Long story short, I 128 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,960 went to my father and we were sitting down at like a table 129 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:32,200 like this. And I remember looking him in 130 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:34,840 the eyes. And I said, Dad, I want to know 131 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:38,400 it's true, but I'm not sure that I'm convinced Christianity's 132 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,400 true. He didn't hesitate looking in 133 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:41,760 the eyes. You go, son, I think that's 134 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:42,840 great. And it looked right down. 135 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,680 And I was like, did you hear what I just said? 136 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,720 I mean, imagine if your kids or grandkids said that to you, how 137 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,800 would you respond? He said, Son, you can't live on 138 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,240 my faith. You've got to seek after truth, 139 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,280 build your own convictions. If you follow truth, I'm 140 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,960 convinced you'll follow Jesus because Jesus is the truth. 141 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,320 And then he said, I love you no matter what. 142 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:05,840 And obviously I came full circle or wouldn't be here. 143 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:08,800 I helped my dad update that book, which is really special to 144 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,880 me, but I've dedicated my life to help Christians realize 145 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:17,200 there's answers if we're willing to seek them, and to help non 146 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,920 believers who are open to Christianity realize that 147 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,480 Christianity makes sense. Perfect. 148 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,680 So let's start off with a big question. 149 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,440 Now each of like I said, each of these are unique and we haven't 150 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:30,960 spent each ready. Let's go. 151 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:32,200 This will be fun. This is. 152 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,640 I'm reading through the cards. This one's going to be spicy. 153 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,480 Let's start here. Is there historical evidence for 154 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:43,040 Jesus Christ? Lots of people, you might say he 155 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:47,200 was a, you know, fact fiction. Is there any historical evidence 156 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,760 not just including the Bible? What's unique about Christianity 157 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,480 is it's rooted in the person of Jesus. 158 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,920 So Buddhism is about being enlightened, but who the 159 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,160 historical Buddha was is irrelevant. 160 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,200 Hinduism. There might be different gods 161 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,600 and prophets, but the identity of Krishna isn't relevant to 162 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,600 Hinduism. Muhammad was a prophet but 163 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,600 unlike Jesus, didn't claim to be God. 164 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,880 There are other prophets. Christianity is rooted in the 165 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:24,920 person of Jesus being born of a virgin, living a sinless life, 166 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,960 dying on the cross and raising on the third day. 167 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,440 So if Jesus isn't risen, Paul says in First Corinthians 15, 168 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,240 your faith is in vain. This is exactly the right 169 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,240 question. Is there historical evidence? 170 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,799 Well, it turns out there is. So for for Jesus, a few things. 171 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:47,480 We obviously have the Gospels. We have the other writings of 172 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,960 the New Testament. We have early church fathers 173 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,920 that come after the apostles one or two generations later. 174 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,600 And then we have ancient writers like Josephus, a Jew who writes 175 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,360 in the 90s, Tacitus of Roman who writes in the early 2nd century, 176 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,520 chronicling the life of Jesus, which by the way, is kind of 177 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,000 remarkable. Why Now? 178 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,120 Jesus is the most famous and influential person who's ever 179 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,640 lived. But at that time he had no 180 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,440 government power. He had no military position. 181 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:22,520 He probably travelled 100 a 150 miles in his lifetime. 182 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,240 He was not the kind of figure that people would pay attention 183 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,920 to in a obscure corner of the Roman Empire. 184 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,840 But we have tells the story that Jesus lived, compelling evidence 185 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:40,200 Jesus was crucified and then at least 21 arguments I'm aware of 186 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,040 that the tomb was empty. By the way, you know who 187 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,920 discovered the empty tomb and all the gospels, it's women. 188 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,040 Women's testimony was not considered as significant as a 189 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,040 man. So why would they invent a woman 190 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,720 discovering the empty tomb? That's one example. 191 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,680 Jesus lived, died tomb is empty in the way of all these early 192 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:04,920 claims of people who said they had seen the risen Jesus, the 193 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,120 women, the apostles, James who wasn't one of the 12. 194 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,960 We have Paul who wasn't one of the 12. 195 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,880 And then they're consistently willing to suffer and die for 196 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,400 the claim that they have seen the risen Lord. 197 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,760 That's why Acts 420 says we cannot stop speaking about what 198 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,520 we have seen and heard. We are witnesses to these 199 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,320 things. And then Paul says, or Peter 200 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:36,120 says in Acts 2, he says the Jesus was attested by miracles. 201 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,840 He's tested by wonders and signs, and you yourselves know 202 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,760 this is true minimally. That's a lot of confidence for 203 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,520 my witnesses to say these facts happen and you all know it's 204 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,760 true. I could keep going, but yes, 205 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,160 there is good evidence for the historical Jesus and the 206 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,560 resurrection. And in fact, I mean clean this 207 00:10:55,560 --> 00:11:01,080 up if you need to, but most his, almost all historians and truth 208 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:06,680 thinkers agree universally that Jesus was a real person who 209 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:09,640 lived on a real planet earth. The question is for them whether 210 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,440 or not he was divine. Really quickly, there's basic 211 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:16,680 facts around the person Jesus that he lived, that he died, he 212 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:21,000 was buried, tomb was empty. Paul claimed he saw the risen 213 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,320 Jesus. Apostles report beliefs they saw 214 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,240 the risen Jesus. There's widespread agreement 215 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,000 about these things. But there's only one explanation 216 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,760 that can account for all the facts that we know about 217 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,400 history, and it's that Jesus has actually risen from the grave. 218 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,800 So yes, there's historical agreement, but the question is, 219 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,320 is Jesus really God? Now? 220 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,720 It's getting personal, so there's incentive many times to 221 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,320 come up with other theories and explain it away. 222 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,240 OK, while you're talking, you brought up the Prophet Muhammad, 223 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:58,640 and you know what we would call him? 224 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:04,880 False prophet, But give us some key differences between 225 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,640 Christianity and Islam. Love it. 226 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,360 So let's start with some of the similarities. 227 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,960 Islam, Judaism, Christianity, monotheistic faiths. 228 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:20,080 We believe in one God who's a creator, and this creator has 229 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,080 spoken through different scriptures. 230 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,280 So we have much more in common with Islam than we do, say, 231 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:30,000 Buddhism or Hinduism or other Eastern faiths. 232 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:34,720 Where we differ is over the character of this God, how this 233 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,560 God has revealed himself, the means of salvation, and the 234 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:40,400 identity of Jesus. Which are all huge. 235 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,360 Things which are massive things. So of course Muslims have the 236 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,480 Quran, which I do not believe is historically accurate or 237 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,920 inspired. They reject that God is triune, 238 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,760 which the scriptures revealed that God has revealed himself 239 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,200 about. It's a faith that is rooted in 240 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,160 works. I mean, you have to ultimately 241 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,440 they say salvation is from Allah's decision of mercy, but 242 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,640 you are to work and follow the five pillars to earn your 243 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,120 salvation. In a sense, Jesus said in John 244 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:20,400 6, What work must I do? Believe, believe, believe in the 245 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,320 Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. 246 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,280 It is a free gift of grace. But the biggest difference comes 247 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:27,880 in. I was speaking at a conference 248 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,040 in Houston a number of years ago and I was riding in a cab and my 249 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,680 cab driver was a Muslim and he asked what I was doing. 250 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:38,680 I said, well, I just gave a talk on Jesus and he goes, oh, you're 251 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:40,160 Christian. He goes, that's wonderful 252 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:45,800 because we worship the same God. I responded back to him. 253 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,960 I played a little bit dumb. I said, oh, you think Jesus is 254 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,560 God? And he about crashed the car 255 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,480 because that's like the worst sin on Islam. 256 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:01,000 It's called shirk to associate anything with Allah, who is a 257 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,920 one person deity, you might say. And so Muslims often say we 258 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,920 worship the same God, but they'll reject the Trinity, 259 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:11,960 they'll reject that Jesus is the Messiah. 260 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,720 They'll reject that Jesus is divine. 261 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:18,520 And the evidence of Jesus claiming the divine is so early 262 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,320 and so overwhelming, it's really difficult to get around. 263 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:28,640 OK, so let's go a little bit more personal where, you know, 264 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,960 we're trying to get the people who attend the crossing to read 265 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,520 their Bible. And, you know, we tell them to 266 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,880 start in the New Testament. And but let's say someone goes, 267 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,240 you know what, I'm going to start in Genesis and they're 268 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,280 doing, you know, pretty good. And then all of a sudden they 269 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,240 get into some books, the Bible, where you start reading things 270 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:50,920 that are kind of difficult to wrap your mind around and more 271 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,320 importantly, really difficult to wrap your heart around. 272 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,600 And so let me let me ask you this way. 273 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:07,600 It appears in Scripture that God endorsed genocide, which seems 274 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,920 way out of character for God. And how do we wrap our minds 275 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,200 around that? OK, first thing I would do is I 276 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,800 would challenge the term genocide and exactly what it 277 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,880 means about wiping out a specific ethnic or racial group. 278 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,800 That is not what's taking place in the Bible. 279 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,280 There are some differences there. 280 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:33,080 Nonetheless, there's some pretty jarring commandments about the 281 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,120 Amalekites and the Canaanites and the Moabites that strike us 282 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,640 as like, wait a minute, this seems unjust. 283 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:44,360 Now into the earlier services. You asked me about suffering and 284 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:49,240 you asked me about evil. Often times people say why does 285 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,400 God allow evil? Why doesn't he act and stop it? 286 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:59,560 Friends, this is an example of God's seen egregious evil and 287 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,720 stopping it. So in some ways, you can't have 288 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,320 it both ways. You can't say God doesn't act 289 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:10,040 enough and God acts too much. Now, when we look at what we 290 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,280 know about the Amalekites and the Canaanites, I see kids in 291 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:15,800 here, so I'm not going to go into detail, but let's just say 292 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:21,640 the sexual perversion. Let's say the child sacrifice, 293 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:29,040 the wickedness that was there. At some point God is going to 294 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:34,200 come in and judge wickedness. That's what God does. 295 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,280 But don't miss how patient God actually was. 296 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:43,760 Genesis 1516, God is speaking Abraham and he says it's not 297 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:49,200 till 400 years that you inhabit the land when the sin of the 298 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:54,680 Amalekites has run its course. In other words, God knows the 299 00:16:54,680 --> 00:17:00,080 future, but he gave them every single chance century after 300 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,480 century after century. And I imagine he was sending 301 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:07,000 them prophets and words to repent, but they never did. 302 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,240 That's one piece to keep in mind. 303 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,160 The other thing that's really interesting is what when you 304 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,440 come to the story of Jericho, where God is like, wipe this 305 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:22,359 out, there's Rahab who lived there, and Rahab, when the spies 306 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:26,800 show up, she had heard the things that Israel had done. 307 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:32,360 They were aware of the God of Israel and what happens. 308 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:39,120 She was spared because of her fear for the God of Israel. 309 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:43,040 So in many of these circumstances, if the people 310 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,920 would flee, it wasn't you still had to chase them down and kill 311 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,880 them every time it was. We are purifying the land in a 312 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:54,080 sense because this is where the Messiah was going to come from. 313 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,440 Now, admittedly with this question, Clayton, this requires 314 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,840 so much more in packing, so much more discussion. 315 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,000 This is one of the most emotion filled and difficult questions. 316 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,760 I fully concede that. But we look at the patience that 317 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:12,560 God gave the people when we look at the level of evil and 318 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,920 wickedness that was there, when we look at the fact that God 319 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,480 would warn people and they could flee from him based on hearing 320 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,560 the stories, and we think about God saving the world through 321 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,360 that land, through his Messiah Jesus who was born there. 322 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,720 We can begin to piece together a response to this. 323 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:36,600 One last thing I would say is God can't murder. 324 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,720 By the way, God can kill, but he can't murder. 325 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,600 Why? Because God is the one who gives 326 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,160 us life. God is the one who gives us 327 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:51,560 breath. God is the one who made 328 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,920 everything. He doesn't owe you and me 329 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,400 another breath. He doesn't owe us that. 330 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:08,440 So if God is the giver of life, God can take life when he deems 331 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:12,320 right based on His sovereign plan. 332 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,640 That is a really, really good answer and I want to, I want you 333 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,720 to hold this intention. I would say there are no easy 334 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,680 answers that's right to these questions, to this particular 335 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,800 question, but there are good answers. 336 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:26,840 I kind of unpacked this a little bit earlier. 337 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,880 God is perfect in his love and His knowledge. 338 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,120 There is nobody who has ever existed that has been loved more 339 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,840 by anybody other than God. So when God was going about 340 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,280 that, he was still, he was still inside of his loving nature. 341 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,320 OK, two, if a bad guy was trying to break into your house and do 342 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,080 bad things, you would issue, you would protect your family. 343 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,000 And So what he said earlier makes total sense. 344 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,880 He's saying you can't get mad at God for allowing all kinds of 345 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,920 evil, and then get mad at God when he wipes out evil. 346 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,200 Does that make sense? You guys got to hold. 347 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,480 You got to hold a little bit of that intention. 348 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:07,880 And here's the third thing I would put in there. 349 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:12,040 The Bible tells us that when that happened, no good people 350 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,000 died. The Bible says the wages of sin 351 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,720 is death. All of us have sinned. 352 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,400 So the issue that we're actually wrestling with is not why did 353 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,120 they live, but why does God through His grace allow us to 354 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:25,840 live? And that is because of the 355 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,880 person in the work of Jesus Christ that we are allowed to be 356 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,800 saved from our sins. So God was still operating 357 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,040 inside of his loving character. He was still operating inside of 358 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,440 his divine power. He was still doing a right and 359 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,560 righteous and just act even though it is hard for us to 360 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,640 swallow and navigate. All right. 361 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,640 Let's get into this. Let's stay, let's stay on theme. 362 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:51,320 So if God is perfect, why does the universe seem filled with 363 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,920 imperfections and chaos? OK, so a few things to say about 364 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,160 this. God is morally perfect. 365 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,040 When we say perfect, that's what we have to keep in mind. 366 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,160 He is holy and he is perfect in his moral character. 367 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,520 If God is going to make a physical world, there's going to 368 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,400 have to be some give and take between what he makes. 369 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:15,960 What? What do I mean by this? 370 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:21,120 If you said Sean, what's a perfect laptop, I would say, 371 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,960 well, what do you want that laptop for? 372 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,600 If you needed to edit videos, you might need a bigger screen. 373 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:33,000 To me, a perfect laptop is 1 I can work on in the plane if I'm 374 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,720 in the middle seat between two people. 375 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,920 So what do I need? If you're sitting between two 376 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,040 people that are built like me, you better hope it's a phone, 377 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,080 OK? I'm glad you said it, not me, 378 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,920 for a perfect is going to be smaller. 379 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,440 Now in some ways you say I want a bigger laptop. 380 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,080 It has more power, but bigger is also going to weigh more. 381 00:21:55,600 --> 00:22:00,120 So my point is when you make things physical in creation, 382 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:05,120 there's going to be some give and take required. 383 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:08,920 So I'm not sure what it even means to say a perfect laptop, a 384 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,680 perfect body, a perfect waterfall, like there's just 385 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,280 naturally give and take involved in creation. 386 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:21,600 Second thing is the reason things are broken and imperfect 387 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:26,120 is also because of the fall. Now this is not me just 388 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:29,640 inventing something. This is me going back to Genesis 389 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:35,160 chapter 3 taught in the Bible that God made creation and it's 390 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,480 good. He repeats on every day it's 391 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,360 good. But when sin creeps in, in 392 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:45,160 Genesis chapter 3, we are told in Romans 8 that even creation 393 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:49,600 groans because of this. So a lot of the brokenness in 394 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,880 the world, the brokenness in our bodies, the brokenness in 395 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,960 creation, the imperfections trace back to sin. 396 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,400 The third thing I would say is often what we think are 397 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,240 imperfections are not imperfections, and it can be 398 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,640 driven by a worldview. So a certain Darwinian 399 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:11,920 naturalistic world view assumes the world was cobbled together 400 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:16,320 accidentally without purpose. So they point towards a lot of 401 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,280 imperfections in the human body. And there used to be a thing 402 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,720 called junk DNA. The assumption was DNA in our 403 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,480 bodies came about through this purposeless natural process. 404 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,520 So we'd expect to see a lot of it not have a purpose, but 405 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:35,360 certain people motivated largely by what you might say a 406 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:38,160 judeo-christian or intelligent design approach that says, you 407 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,080 know what, I don't think DNA came by accident. 408 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,720 I think there's a designer, let's go find those purposes. 409 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,120 Guess what they find? They find purposes for them. 410 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,560 So I'd caution people like tonsils. 411 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:54,720 In the past, they say take your tonsils out. 412 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:56,120 It's an imperfection, we don't need it. 413 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,160 And then later they go, oh, actually you needed that. 414 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,480 So with those three things, give and take in creation, the fall. 415 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,520 But then be careful assuming there's certain imperfections 416 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,880 wedded by a Darwinian worldview. We consistently find purposes 417 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,920 and reasons for things as we probe further, which is what we 418 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,600 would expect if there really is a designer. 419 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:23,120 Man, that's an incredible answer. 420 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:24,720 Would you guys give him a big round of applause? 421 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:29,560 Thank you so much. Jesus was hanging out with his 422 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,560 disciples ancestry of Philippi, which is kind of like the Lake 423 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:33,880 of the Ozarks of the Middle East. 424 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:36,880 And they're on a, you know, a mini hangout sesh. 425 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,080 And while he's there, he looks at them and he says, and who do 426 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,640 you say that I am? And in Matthew chapter 16, verse 427 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,120 14, we get their answer. They replied, some say John the 428 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:54,040 Baptist, others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of 429 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,200 the prophets. And there might be some of you 430 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,800 here today who you know, people who have a different view of 431 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,480 Jesus than you do. Some will say he's a fictional 432 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,240 character. Some will say he was a prophet. 433 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,560 Some will say he was a good, a good teacher, a great example 434 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,720 for us to look to. Some will say that he was a 435 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,840 charismatic leader. Others will say he was a 436 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:18,720 misunderstood 1st century Jew. But Jesus presses further. 437 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,800 He turns him and says, OK, but what about you? 438 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,680 Who do you say I am? And that is the question that 439 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,920 each of us have to wrestle through today. 440 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,080 Because the question you not have to answer is not what do 441 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,120 other people believe about Jesus, but what do I believe 442 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,000 about Jesus? What do you believe about Jesus? 443 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,920 When you die and you stand before God, he's not going to 444 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,440 ask you, what did your mom believe? 445 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,720 What did your dad believe? What did your neighbor believe? 446 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,680 But do you believe Simon Peter raises his hand, starts talking 447 00:25:55,680 --> 00:26:02,040 before he gets called on and he says you are the Christ, the Son 448 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,120 of the living God. And Peter's answer was the right 449 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,320 one. He realized that Jesus was the 450 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,680 Christ, the anointed one, the promised Messiah, God in the 451 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,880 flesh, who was going to deliver people from their sins and save 452 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,480 them from eternity without God. And you might be thinking, well, 453 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,160 yeah, sure. Easy for Peter to say he was 454 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,480 with Jesus. And I would say to you, yeah, he 455 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,800 was. And he died taking his 456 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,280 eyewitness testimony to the nations. 457 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,800 You see, when we talk about placing our faith in Jesus, it 458 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,000 is a step of faith, I'll grant you that. 459 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,280 But it is a reasoned faith. There are the eyewitness 460 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,280 accounts not just of his life, but also of his death and his 461 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:57,120 resurrection. In fact, Jesus appeared to over 462 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,120 500 people after his resurrection. 463 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,200 The biblical text can stand up to critics, and it can stand up 464 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,440 to skeptics. The evidence for the existence 465 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,400 of God not only stands up to scrutiny, but they deliver the 466 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,520 very best answers and the most reliable answers. 467 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,440 It is the best answer for the beginning of the universe, the 468 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,320 fine tuning of the universe, the laws of nature, and the 469 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,000 existence of objective moral values. 470 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,320 And that is before you count the countless lives that have been 471 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:34,760 changed, transformed, redeemed, repurposed, of which I am 1 and 472 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,720 millions across the globe. And you might be saying, yeah, 473 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,480 Clayton, but I don't know everything there is to know 474 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:42,880 about God. And I want you to hear me say I 475 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,200 get it. But I would tell you, you know 476 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,800 enough. Let me just talk to the fellows 477 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,480 for a second, fellas. How many of you know everything 478 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,120 there is to know about women? Raise your hand. 479 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,000 OK, Stay with me. But you knew enough to know you 480 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,480 wanted one. If you didn't raise your hand at 481 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,920 your weekend just got expensive, put your hand up, OK? 482 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,400 Even if you don't like her, be thankful she's next to you still 483 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:11,720 OK? I did not. 484 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,080 And I still do not know everything there is to know 485 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,200 about Jennifer. I just knew enough to know I 486 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,000 wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. 487 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,520 Can I be honest with you? It makes sense to me that a God 488 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,680 who created the world, put the stars in place, wrote the laws 489 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,480 of nature, moved the mountains to where it would be their home, 490 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,360 is big enough to hold the waters of the ocean in the palm of his 491 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:40,160 hand. Might be a little too big for me 492 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:45,200 to completely wrap my mind around, but I know enough. 493 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:48,680 I know enough to know that I need Him. 494 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:54,360 I know enough to know that I want Him, and I know enough to 495 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,920 know that I am lost without Him. What about you? 496 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:01,560 We're moving to a time of decision. 497 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,200 This is kind of a special moment for me because I'm getting an 498 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,080 opportunity to share this moment all across this region at all of 499 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,280 our campuses. And so I just want to take a 500 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,920 second. I want to talk to those of you 501 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,040 who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ yet. 502 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:22,320 I want you to hear me say this. God is not just great and He's 503 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,880 not just powerful and He's not just majestic and He's not just 504 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:33,040 mighty, He is also good. So good in fact, that He did not 505 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,920 make us get right so we could come to Him and said He came 506 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,480 down to make us right so we could be with Him. 507 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:46,400 Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says this, but God demonstrates His 508 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:52,240 own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, 509 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:58,000 Christ died for us. That means that salvation was 510 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:02,600 His idea. Making us right and holy and 511 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:07,520 pure was His idea. And when did He do this for us? 512 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:12,400 He moved on our behalf while we were still in our sin. 513 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,680 That is how good He is. Hear me. 514 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,800 He did this before you drew your first breath, before you 515 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,840 committed your first sin, before you rejected His Son and 516 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,760 abandoned His purpose that He had for you. 517 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:32,480 And He still did it anyway. That's how good He is. 518 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,360 And if you're here today and you've never started a right 519 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,680 relationship with Jesus, you're on the outside looking in. 520 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:40,440 I have a really good news for you. 521 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,400 You don't have to stay that way any longer in just a few moments 522 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,400 when the people around you stand and sing and some of them come 523 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,520 to the steps and pray. I want to encourage you to take 524 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,560 a courageous walk next to the Baptist St. each of our 525 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,000 locations and find somebody who's standing there and go. 526 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,400 I've got some questions or I want to start my relationship 527 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,320 with Jesus right now. If you're watching in the chat, 528 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,000 you can just say I need someone to talk to and they'll get in 529 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,000 touch with you. To the rest of you, to those of 530 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,640 you who know Jesus, you've already accepted him as your 531 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,880 personal Lord and Savior. I just want to pray this over 532 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:19,600 you, that may your faith in God would inspire you to greater 533 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,160 devotion, obedience, and participation in the mission of 534 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,560 His Kingdom. May it strengthen you in your 535 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,520 prayers and guide you through your darkest valleys. 536 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,000 Would you guys stand with me? Heavenly Father, we're just 537 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,760 asking you to do something in each and every single one of our 538 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:43,080 hearts in this moment right now. Speak to us, make it clear to us 539 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:44,960 the step that you want us to take. 540 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,360 God, show us who you want us to become. 541 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,040 Point to us, to the sin that we need to release, the step of 542 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,760 faith that we need to take. And then God, would you give us 543 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,400 the courage to take it. In your name I pray. 544 00:31:57,920 --> 00:31:58,280 Amen.