1 00:00:03,100 --> 00:00:05,900 Awesome, awesome job. How are you guys doing today, 2 00:00:05,900 --> 00:00:09,800 doing? Alright, so good to be the house 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,700 of the Lord with the people of the Lord and to be able to 4 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:17,300 worship God. And and unlike the people of 5 00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:20,200 Ukraine, not worried about about bombs going to be dropped on 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,300 you. The think about what they're 7 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:24,200 dealing with that's been occupying. 8 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,800 A lot of my mind is have been doing that with yours as well 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:29,800 and I just want to take a moment. 10 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,400 Before we get any farther to just pray for the people of 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,400 Ukraine, particularly for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ 12 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,800 in Ukraine. You know, there's Revival that's 13 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,700 been going on for quite a while in Ukraine with regards to just 14 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:46,500 faith in the Lord. And, you know, that's being 15 00:00:46,500 --> 00:00:50,500 tried and it's amazing how they've been standing up against 16 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,200 these, you know, overwhelming odds. 17 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,300 And I just want to pray that God would be with those brothers and 18 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:57,700 sisters. Would you bow your heads with me 19 00:00:57,700 --> 00:00:59,900 and just take a moment Heavenly Father and Jesus? 20 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,099 This name I pray that you would protect our Brothers and Sisters 21 00:01:05,099 --> 00:01:07,800 in Christ and Ukraine right now that you would watch over there 22 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,800 and they would feel your presence around them here in 23 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,700 America. We cannot imagine what they're 24 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:20,400 dealing with right now but we can see a lot of this on social 25 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:26,500 media and in the news and I just pray father that you would watch 26 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,600 over the people of Ukraine right now and that they would feel our 27 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,100 presence. Prayers because I think our 28 00:01:31,100 --> 00:01:33,300 prayers have a lot to do with what's going on. 29 00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:38,900 Help them Father to resist. And help them to be strong in 30 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:41,300 your power. And your might, I pray in Jesus 31 00:01:41,300 --> 00:01:43,100 name. Amen. 32 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,100 I want to welcome all of our campuses that are joining with 33 00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:51,500 us today, all across the region. Everyone that's inside everyone, 34 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:55,000 that's on line. So thankful for each and every 35 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:01,800 one of you and I know that we lose people to death the go on 36 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,800 to glory and I don't usually talk about them but I want to 37 00:02:05,808 --> 00:02:09,300 talk about one today because Because this man had a lot to do 38 00:02:09,300 --> 00:02:14,300 with with who we are as a church and he was a guy who went 39 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,800 relatively unnoticed by so many. But he's the first man that 40 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,800 greeted me. When I came here to try out to 41 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,700 be the pastor of this church is name is Bill Hall. 42 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:33,200 He passed away two days ago, the age of 94 and Bill was the 43 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,100 quintessential greeter. He was the most awesome greeter 44 00:02:36,100 --> 00:02:38,300 and have to tell you, even though a lot of you at other 45 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:42,300 locations, don't know who I'm talking about, a lot of our 46 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:45,300 personality in our culture was defined by that guy. 47 00:02:45,700 --> 00:02:48,900 How everybody is welcome. Everybody is greeted. 48 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:51,600 Everybody is cared for it. I remember him wearing his green 49 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:56,000 jacket and just looking to be that first guy, that said hi to 50 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,800 somebody else. And I just I just can't imagine 51 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,200 what it's like for him to be in glory with his wife or a wiener 52 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:05,700 right now. Pretty awesome. 53 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:07,900 Awesome thing. He was a guy Delivered communion 54 00:03:07,900 --> 00:03:10,600 to homebound people. He did so much. 55 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:19,000 And, you know, every one of you has the opportunity to be a 56 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:23,200 kingdom, shaper a kingdom changer, just like Bill Hall, 57 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:28,000 and I pray that God would put that on your heart will earn a 58 00:03:28,008 --> 00:03:31,900 sermon series called better. Clayton kicked it off last week 59 00:03:31,900 --> 00:03:36,100 and and I'm continuing that talking about the foundation of 60 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:39,200 being better, Of winning in your home. 61 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:41,400 How many of you are familiar with this? 62 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,000 It's called Jenga. How many of you play Jenga 63 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,600 before? Yeah. 64 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:53,200 So this is what Ginga is. It's a stacks of blocks three 65 00:03:53,200 --> 00:04:00,700 wide three across and on up. And what you do in this game is 66 00:04:00,700 --> 00:04:05,100 you look for that block? That is susceptible to movement. 67 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:14,400 And oh, there's one. and when it's your turn, You try to take 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,899 it out without disturbing the rest of the block. 69 00:04:18,899 --> 00:04:22,800 So it is relatively stable when it begins, but as we start 70 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,900 removing blocks, it becomes less and less stable. 71 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:29,300 That's the way it works in. Then, you know, the person that 72 00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:34,100 it falls on is the one that loses the game of of Ginga. 73 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,200 Well, what if you are able to like do the opposite of that, 74 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,600 instead of starting from stability and moving to Already. 75 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:47,100 You started with instability and try to create stability. 76 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:49,600 I want you to think about it, like in Reverse. 77 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:55,800 So there's a guy named K and he's also known online as the 78 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,300 manga man. He's not the Ginga man because I 79 00:04:59,300 --> 00:05:03,300 would imagine that that is a protected, you know, trademark. 80 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:10,100 But he has set all sorts of World Records for stacking 81 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:12,600 jingle blocks on a single block. Talk. 82 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,000 And it's pretty amazing to see how many of you like to see what 83 00:05:17,100 --> 00:05:19,100 K actually does. Okay. 84 00:05:19,300 --> 00:05:21,700 Want to show you that? Check that out. 85 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,000 Okay, so this is a single block and he's got it on an angle with 86 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,600 the Ginga block underneath it. And he's a and, you know, some 87 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,700 of you might go are those glued together like it's that real, 88 00:05:36,300 --> 00:05:38,300 right? I gotta know if that's look at 89 00:05:38,300 --> 00:05:41,800 another one that he's done. Those are on a golf ball. 90 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,500 Do you see that? He's got those, the Jenga blocks 91 00:05:45,500 --> 00:05:47,600 on a golf ball? That's just nuts. 92 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:52,300 Here's another one. Look at the size of that one. 93 00:05:52,300 --> 00:05:54,400 Ginga block all the way up to the ceiling. 94 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,200 You had to remove a ceiling tile. 95 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:58,400 It's incredible. Okay, here's one. 96 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,200 Like looking down. I think like, this is like, 97 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,900 structurally, what he can do. I mean, just every kind that you 98 00:06:05,900 --> 00:06:08,900 can known to, man. I mean, he could actually make 99 00:06:08,900 --> 00:06:10,800 works of art. Look at this next one. 100 00:06:12,700 --> 00:06:16,200 Isn't that insane a single Jingle block and he's done that 101 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,800 off of it. Just incredible one more and 102 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,600 this is to Jingle blocks. So I'm looking at this and I'm 103 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,700 like, how did he do the sinner? How did he get that? 104 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,200 I mean, it's just absolutely amazing. 105 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:35,700 Well as I said, K holds the world record for stacking jingle 106 00:06:35,700 --> 00:06:38,200 blocks on the single Ginga block. 107 00:06:38,700 --> 00:06:42,900 And there is a Time Lapse video of him breaking, the world 108 00:06:42,900 --> 00:06:44,900 record. Would you like to see that? 109 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000 It's pretty awesome. Let's watch it together. 110 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,800 Here we go. So there's K and here he goes. 111 00:06:54,100 --> 00:06:56,600 It's me how you can see like this is what it looks like 112 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,600 vertically. And this actually kind of proves 113 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,500 that, you know, these are not glued together. 114 00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:05,900 He's actually doing this absolutely amazing. 115 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:09,900 So you can watch as this thing gets taller and bigger and 116 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:12,500 wider. It starts to want to move a 117 00:07:12,500 --> 00:07:15,300 little bit. See that him? 118 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:20,800 Oh, that's like, oh, it's crazy. And he just keeps running these 119 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,400 Ginga columns down. And he's going to get down to 120 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,800 the last six. There they are. 121 00:07:27,900 --> 00:07:31,400 And you can see him put them on the top over in the left-hand 122 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:37,800 corner. 1512 Ginga blocks off of a single Jingle Rock. 123 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,800 But what I want you to really see as what happens next ready. 124 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,900 Yeah. Didn't last long but it sure 125 00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:52,200 look good for a little while, right? 126 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:54,800 Hmm. You know, Jesus talked about 127 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,600 Towers in, Luke chapter 14. Look what he said. 128 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,700 He said, suppose one of you wants to build a tower, won't 129 00:08:01,700 --> 00:08:04,000 you first sit down and estimate the cost. 130 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,500 See, if you have enough money to complete it for. 131 00:08:07,500 --> 00:08:10,800 If you laid a foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone 132 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,000 who sees it will ridicule you saying this person began to 133 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:20,600 build and wasn't able To finish. When we use the term better in 134 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,800 this sermon series, it's not about building Towers. 135 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,600 It's about building relationships and there's an 136 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,400 order to building relationships and you know what? 137 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,700 I'm going to venture a guess, but it's an educated. 138 00:08:33,700 --> 00:08:37,500 Guess there's a number of people that are listening to me right 139 00:08:37,500 --> 00:08:42,500 now at all of our locations and online and inside And you can 140 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:46,300 really identify with the last part of that time, lapse video. 141 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:49,500 That you thought you had it all worked out. 142 00:08:49,500 --> 00:08:53,500 You thought that you could do a great relationship that you had 143 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:56,200 all of the tools, you had all the Savvy. 144 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,900 You had everything that was necessary to put that 145 00:08:58,900 --> 00:09:02,700 relationship together and for a while it was looking good, 146 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,700 right. And then the crash happened and 147 00:09:07,700 --> 00:09:12,000 Jesus says you know you try to build a tower but you need to 148 00:09:12,100 --> 00:09:16,200 think through it first. And probably building on a 149 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:22,500 single Ginga block is probably not a recipe for a long-lasting 150 00:09:23,500 --> 00:09:26,800 construction. It's actually a recipe for 151 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,700 disaster and some of you have done that. 152 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:34,600 Once some of you done it twice, Some of you have done it more 153 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:39,200 than you can count. And the reason that I'm bringing 154 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:44,300 that up today is I don't think that any of us want to fail. 155 00:09:44,300 --> 00:09:46,600 There's nobody that goes into a marriage. 156 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,500 I mean, I've done plenty of marriage counseling and, you 157 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:52,200 know, getting ready for a wedding and there's nobody, I've 158 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,100 never experienced a couple saying, we really want to have 159 00:09:55,100 --> 00:09:58,500 about a good 18, to 24 month run, and then we just want to 160 00:09:58,500 --> 00:10:04,200 blow apart. Everybody comes into the office 161 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,600 thinking thinking that they're going to be happy at forever 162 00:10:07,700 --> 00:10:12,300 ever after but that actually is not the reality. 163 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,300 They think they have it all figured out but maybe they 164 00:10:15,300 --> 00:10:18,900 don't. And there has to be a better way 165 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,600 to build relationships, and there has to be an order and how 166 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,800 we build relationships that honors God. 167 00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:31,100 And that's what I know that you want and together all of us 168 00:10:31,100 --> 00:10:34,600 together as a church, a body of Believers, that's what we want. 169 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,500 And all of our locations, there strengthen that when our 170 00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:42,600 relationships are sound, Now, there's a book called becoming 171 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,800 better together. It's a great book. 172 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,600 I would encourage anyone to read it. 173 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,600 That's newly. Married thinking about getting 174 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:53,800 married. The author's name is John Van 175 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:59,100 Epi PP building better together and he shares a truth about how 176 00:10:59,100 --> 00:11:04,400 relationships are built properly in the context of God's word. 177 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,400 What makes them stable and what makes them sustainable. 178 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,600 And I think all of us, want stable, Sustainable 179 00:11:11,700 --> 00:11:15,900 relationships not just in our marriages, but in all of our 180 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,700 relationships and our families, with our kids, with our parents 181 00:11:19,900 --> 00:11:24,800 and our workplaces, our Social Circles, we want to have great 182 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:29,000 relationships. And in this book, he refers to 183 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,800 something, he calls Ram or relationship attachment model. 184 00:11:34,500 --> 00:11:36,700 And I'm going to start out with that today because I think 185 00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:40,700 there's some really practical use for that that you That you 186 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:42,500 will have, I want, and I want you to evaluate. 187 00:11:42,500 --> 00:11:46,900 So I want you to think about you right now and your 188 00:11:46,900 --> 00:11:50,600 relationships. I want you to apply this 189 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,600 relationship attachment model to yourself. 190 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,800 Don't be thinking so much about the people around you. 191 00:11:55,900 --> 00:11:59,500 Now, there are five components that need to happen and they 192 00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:03,900 need to happen in a particular order for a solid relationship 193 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:06,900 to form. Okay, I'm going to give you 194 00:12:06,900 --> 00:12:09,100 those five and then I'm going to come back in to find them. 195 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:15,400 Here's number one to know. The first major component in a 196 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,300 relationship is to know. S is to trust. 197 00:12:20,900 --> 00:12:28,700 Third is to rely fourth is to commit and five is touch. 198 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,400 Now, I want to Define what is meant, by each one of those. 199 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,200 All right, so let's begin with no to know. 200 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,300 This is the result of you sharing your thoughts, share, in 201 00:12:41,300 --> 00:12:44,500 your dreams. Sharing your feelings, and your 202 00:12:44,500 --> 00:12:48,600 experiences and it needs to happen day after day. 203 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,700 There needs to be time, set aside every day in relationships 204 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,400 to be able to share those things with each other regular time. 205 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:01,300 See this is Not talking about communication. 206 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,100 But as talking about the quality of communication, it's not like, 207 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:07,500 you know, here's what the weather is going to be today. 208 00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:10,700 And what are we having for breakfast and who won the last 209 00:13:10,700 --> 00:13:13,000 game, or what? Anything like that. 210 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,300 It's about quality communication. 211 00:13:16,700 --> 00:13:19,700 Do you have quality Communication in your 212 00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:23,000 relationships? In all of them, not just 213 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:27,800 marriage relationships, but all relationships and is it 214 00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:31,500 communication that's happening regularly, because if it's not 215 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:35,700 listen, circumstances change in relationships and that right? 216 00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:40,800 Like, these are the rules that you establish, but things happen 217 00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:42,800 and you can't be like in a marriage. 218 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:44,900 You can't say I told her I loved her when I got married and if I 219 00:13:44,908 --> 00:13:46,300 change my mind, I'll let her know. 220 00:13:47,300 --> 00:13:52,800 It has to be regular. Regular, because, circumstances 221 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,100 change. And you have to stay up with 222 00:13:54,100 --> 00:13:57,900 each other. And without proper knowledge 223 00:13:57,900 --> 00:14:00,700 that comes from constant communication, you know what's 224 00:14:00,700 --> 00:14:03,500 going to happen? Distance is going to form in 225 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:05,800 that relationship and then that's going to effect the next 226 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,000 four components that we're going to talk about. 227 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,500 So, knowing one, another regardless of the relationship 228 00:14:12,500 --> 00:14:19,900 is critical to do first. Second comes Trust, Now trust is 229 00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:24,500 more than just keeping promises or vows it's this feeling you 230 00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:28,700 get a feeling of confidence and a feeling of security isn't that 231 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:32,600 what trust is when you have confidence and Security in that 232 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,500 relation relationship and it's flowing out of what you think 233 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:39,400 about? Who you are in that relationship 234 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:46,700 with Because knowledge and that repeated knowledge and that 235 00:14:46,700 --> 00:14:51,200 sharing that comes from, knowing one another has developed this 236 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,000 thing called trust. Now, trust doesn't come from, 237 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,200 just what, you know, it comes from how you think about what 238 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,100 you know, Right? Because now you're 239 00:15:01,100 --> 00:15:04,200 contextualizing that knowledge and you're actually saying, I 240 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,000 think I can lean into this person. 241 00:15:07,700 --> 00:15:11,300 I think I can get closer. I think I can become more 242 00:15:11,300 --> 00:15:15,000 vulnerable to this person. This is all happening in your 243 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,600 heart and head, right? But eventually the relationship 244 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,100 goes from knowledge to trust to the third one, which is reliance 245 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,700 to rely. To rely refers to the way we 246 00:15:27,700 --> 00:15:30,900 actually depend on each other to meet each. 247 00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:35,400 Other's needs and wants to fulfill life's responsibilities 248 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:40,000 to love to play together to make our experiences in life 249 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:44,100 memorable. To understand the difference 250 00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:48,000 between trust and Reliance. Trust is more about what you 251 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,200 think and Reliance is more about what you actually do. 252 00:15:52,500 --> 00:15:56,300 There has to come a time when it moves from just head and heart 253 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:01,100 to hands and feet, right? And you're actually walking it 254 00:16:01,100 --> 00:16:04,000 out. Number four in this, five 255 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,600 components is to commit. To commit. 256 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,200 Now, I think some of us, we may immediately go to the whole 257 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:15,300 vows, you make it an altar, like, in front of a Preacher, 258 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,100 when you have your wedding ceremony, because I think, you 259 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:22,500 know, that's tangible to us. But there's actually more than 260 00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:24,200 that. And what we're talking about. 261 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:30,300 Vows I'm a, this might not be a traditional looking church, but 262 00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:32,900 there are some areas where I stay pretty traditional and this 263 00:16:32,900 --> 00:16:35,900 is one of them because when people get married today they 264 00:16:35,900 --> 00:16:40,300 like to Write their own value. That vows to each other and I 265 00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:45,800 have Read those vows and I've had people repeat those vows and 266 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,900 if you can see what I'm actually thinking, I am inserting my 267 00:16:48,900 --> 00:16:56,100 finger and throwing up. Because I know it's your thing, 268 00:16:57,100 --> 00:17:00,700 you know and you kind of have your words and that kind of okay 269 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,099 but yes, some of them are just flaky. 270 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,500 Okay? So yeah I love you in the 271 00:17:06,500 --> 00:17:10,400 sunshine and I love you in the rain and you know and you got to 272 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,400 find something that rhymes with rain like pain anyway. 273 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:21,099 And I'll let people do their own vows, but they don't get to not 274 00:17:21,099 --> 00:17:25,500 do the traditional vows and the reason that I make them do 275 00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:28,099 traditional vows is there are two reasons for that. 276 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:33,900 Number one, is you're not basing your commitment off of anything 277 00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:38,000 that your spouse does. Did you know that when you read 278 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,500 the traditional vows all it's saying, all you're committing to 279 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:46,700 is what you will do. That's why it says better or 280 00:17:46,700 --> 00:17:50,100 worse. Some of you are gone. 281 00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:52,700 Yeah, I've experienced better but I have definitely 282 00:17:52,700 --> 00:17:56,600 experienced worse, right? Richer or poorer. 283 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,400 You know, when did I have to inherit that credit card debt or 284 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,000 that school debt? When think about that? 285 00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:11,400 Sickness or in health. I just never thought we would 286 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,500 have one of one of the two of us on permanent disability. 287 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,500 All your promising is what you will do. 288 00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:25,500 You're taking an oath right? Second reason that those valves 289 00:18:25,500 --> 00:18:28,500 are very important to me is it's like everybody else that attends 290 00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:30,300 your wedding. They get married over again. 291 00:18:31,500 --> 00:18:34,400 Because they remember when they said those vows and they're kind 292 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,800 of elbowing each other. Most of them are not looking 293 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,200 lovingly and longingly into each other's eyes. 294 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:41,900 It's usually like an elbow to the ribs. 295 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:44,400 Remember that? Remember, you promised that? 296 00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:48,900 Yeah, so those valves are important and they are. 297 00:18:48,900 --> 00:18:52,300 It's actually the first of three commitments, you make okay in 298 00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:55,600 relationships, you make three. The first one is to promise and 299 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:01,000 that's what this is to promise, but I want you to see in Greater 300 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,900 detail what commitment is because after promise is 301 00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:10,600 priority, You are priority means it means that that relationship 302 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,700 is so important to you. That it isn't just one thing in 303 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:18,300 your list of things to do, it doesn't get pigeonholed but it 304 00:19:18,300 --> 00:19:22,300 becomes a priority like all the other things in your life, end 305 00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:25,600 up being determined by that first priority. 306 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,000 That happens first. That's number one. 307 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,600 And I especially in our marriages, that needs to be 308 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,500 understood. Third, one in this isn't in our 309 00:19:39,500 --> 00:19:43,100 world, today is super critical, and that's presence. 310 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:47,700 Promise priority in presence presence. 311 00:19:47,700 --> 00:19:53,400 Is this is that you're going to stay true to your, to your 312 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,800 promise. And you're going to stay true to 313 00:19:55,808 --> 00:19:58,700 your priority. And presence means you're 314 00:19:58,700 --> 00:20:02,200 carrying your partner in your heart with you, wherever you go. 315 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,400 Wherever you are just as if they were there. 316 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,800 You think about it? How many things would we give 317 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:14,300 ourselves permission to do? When we are not with our spouse 318 00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:17,200 that we would never ever do if they were standing right there? 319 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:27,000 If you practice presents. Like they are there right there 320 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,000 in that moment, even if they're not in that moment that there 321 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:32,300 with you, it's going to change your behavior. 322 00:20:33,300 --> 00:20:36,500 You're not going to be riding yourselves permission slips and 323 00:20:36,500 --> 00:20:39,400 that's really good for your relationship. 324 00:20:40,300 --> 00:20:45,400 Right to know to trust to rely to commit and the fifth one 325 00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:50,200 touch touch. Now, of course, you know, our 326 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,900 minds are going to go to romance and affection and intimacy 327 00:20:52,900 --> 00:20:56,600 that's expressed through touch, but it doesn't just have to be 328 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:00,700 in a marital relationship. I performed a funeral yesterday, 329 00:21:00,700 --> 00:21:04,000 we went to the committal I was talking to the funeral director 330 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,200 on the way there and we were talking about the impact of 331 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:13,100 covid on funerals and you know, we tithe of course. 332 00:21:13,100 --> 00:21:16,000 I think about it in my context, I think about it in the church 333 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,300 context. But can you imagine being a 334 00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:22,400 funeral director and saying you can pick 10 people? 335 00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:28,700 To go to the, to the funeral, but no one else can go and you 336 00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:31,400 have to stay apart from each other and you have to wear a 337 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:37,200 mask, when what needs to happen, because there's verbal 338 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,800 communication. And then there's nonverbal 339 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,200 communication, and you can say whatever you want to say. 340 00:21:43,500 --> 00:21:46,000 But you know what? There are times in life, when it 341 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:50,400 isn't about words that you just need to have somebody put their 342 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,000 arms around you and hold you while you're rich. 343 00:21:54,300 --> 00:21:57,300 Because of the grief that you're feeling, you know, you 344 00:21:57,300 --> 00:22:00,200 connecting with me. There touch is a really 345 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:05,100 important part of relationships, and particularly obviously, in a 346 00:22:05,108 --> 00:22:07,200 marriage relationship. Check this out. 347 00:22:07,700 --> 00:22:12,400 God hired hardwired you this way because there are chemicals that 348 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:17,400 your body produces hormone Ali. That with touch are released 349 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,800 into your bloodstream, through into your system, like oxytocin, 350 00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:25,000 dopamine vasopressin, and when they get released into your 351 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,000 bloodstream, they are actually designed to hardwire you for 352 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:36,000 permanent bonding to that person, that's serious stuff. 353 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,700 Now, hang on with me because now it's going to get real. 354 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,200 These components that I just mentioned are in order. 355 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:48,400 And each one has a slider look at this right here. 356 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,300 Okay. So you know think of a like a 357 00:22:51,300 --> 00:22:54,000 tech control board to have back here, they have these sliders, 358 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,500 you know, volume up volume down, right. 359 00:22:57,500 --> 00:23:00,700 And so you have no trust rely. Commit touch. 360 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,500 I wonder if you're here with your spouse. 361 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:10,700 If you're here with your fiance. If you're here, was somebody in 362 00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:15,100 that kind of a relationship. I wonder if both of you were to 363 00:23:15,100 --> 00:23:22,300 do this. like as a little Test and you didn't do. 364 00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:24,700 Like, you didn't do yours. You did theirs. 365 00:23:25,900 --> 00:23:30,000 And then you exchange papers. Where would you be on the no 366 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,700 scale? How much attention are you 367 00:23:32,700 --> 00:23:33,900 painted at? Where would you be on? 368 00:23:33,900 --> 00:23:35,700 Trust, where would you be on rely? 369 00:23:35,700 --> 00:23:37,700 Where would you be on? Commit, where would you be on 370 00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:39,100 touch? Huh? 371 00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:43,000 When I ask you a question? When it comes to romantic 372 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,500 relationships and marital relationships, where do you 373 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:53,900 think most relationships begin? Honestly today. 374 00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:03,700 A lot of them start right here. Don't they? 375 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,000 All I'm saying is that explains a lot. 376 00:24:10,100 --> 00:24:14,100 Actually does we have all these chemicals then bonding us 377 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,900 without any of the components that we need? 378 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:20,800 All of these components are necessary for that relationship 379 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,600 to be stable and substantial. And we don't have those because 380 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,900 we released all of these chemicals into our body. 381 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,200 But permanently bonding to somebody, we don't even really 382 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:38,200 know. Some of you are going whoo why 383 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:43,100 didn't I come next week? Why I have to come this week? 384 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,900 And I'm just saying. How's that working out for you K 385 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:54,200 because you're not K? You think that you can build 386 00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:58,600 your relationship, starting with a one, Jenga block, and you'll 387 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,700 just figure out how to put all this stuff up on top and I'm 388 00:25:01,700 --> 00:25:06,000 telling you, that didn't work very well. 389 00:25:08,500 --> 00:25:10,300 So some of you are like, where's the door? 390 00:25:10,900 --> 00:25:12,800 Because now I'm just a, I came here to get a little 391 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:17,100 encouragement, you know, a little strength for the week and 392 00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:22,400 now I'm not feeling too good. So if you haven't done this, 393 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,700 right? And you're living in the reality 394 00:25:24,700 --> 00:25:27,000 of not doing it right? Are you doomed? 395 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,600 Not necessarily, but it's going to take a lot of work. 396 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,800 You're gonna have to pay some real attention to this. 397 00:25:37,300 --> 00:25:40,200 You're going to have to start moving these sliders where they 398 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:45,000 need to be, and some need to go down while others go up so that 399 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:50,400 you can build it, right. Get them in the right order. 400 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:54,600 Alice and I you know, we're building a marriage Retreat 401 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,900 Center at Camp, right? We're putting that together and 402 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:01,500 the walls and sticks are going up now and Alice and I are going 403 00:26:01,500 --> 00:26:03,900 to start doing marriage retreats in the fall. 404 00:26:03,900 --> 00:26:07,600 We're going to do it for all of our campuses and that's what 405 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:10,900 this Center is really all about and we're excited to see how it 406 00:26:10,900 --> 00:26:12,700 would strengthen marriages in our church. 407 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:15,100 Because if you have strong marriages in your church, that 408 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:17,700 goes a long way to having a strong church right? 409 00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:19,600 And and I know that's what you want. 410 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,200 We're all going to be in agreement there. 411 00:26:21,500 --> 00:26:25,700 It's what we want. And regardless of where you are 412 00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:29,600 in your relationships, you need to know which sliders need to be 413 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:34,100 moved up you and and, you know which ones may be need to be 414 00:26:34,100 --> 00:26:36,000 moved down. So that gives room for the 415 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,500 others to move up. but the real thing I want to share with you, 416 00:26:41,500 --> 00:26:44,100 The I said all that so I can say this moment. 417 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,500 Is that when it comes to starting it any relationship, 418 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,400 they all need to start in the right place. 419 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,100 Check this out and they all need to start in exactly the same 420 00:26:55,100 --> 00:26:58,100 place. It doesn't matter if you're 421 00:26:58,100 --> 00:27:01,800 single, if you're staying single, if you're engaged, if 422 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,800 you're married, if you're divorced, if you're a single 423 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:10,400 parent, we all have to start in exactly the same place. 424 00:27:10,900 --> 00:27:14,700 Look at Matthew 22 verses 34 to 40 here. 425 00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:17,900 That Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got 426 00:27:17,900 --> 00:27:22,000 together and one of them an expert in the law tested him 427 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,600 with this question teacher, which is the greatest 428 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,800 commandment in the law. What a question and Jesus 429 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,600 replied. Love the Lord, your God with all 430 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,200 your heart, with all your soul with all your mind. 431 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:40,300 This is the everybody say this word, say it one more time with 432 00:27:40,300 --> 00:27:44,600 with passion, this is the first and greatest. 433 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,400 Commandment. And the second is like it. 434 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,700 Love your neighbor as yourself, all the law and the prophets, 435 00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:55,600 hang on these two Commandments. Now, we've talked about this 436 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,500 commandment before. Many of you have heard this 437 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:02,600 before, but you know what, when usually discussed, it's titled 438 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:08,200 the greatest commandment Like, we'll talk about being Great 439 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,300 Commission, and great, commandment people. 440 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,600 So we think about the word great. 441 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,000 But you know what? We don't think about the word 442 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,300 first. What does it mean? 443 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:23,600 When when, when Jesus says, this is your first commandment, that 444 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:27,100 means it goes first. That means everything else in 445 00:28:27,100 --> 00:28:30,500 your life has to be built on. What comes first that it's 446 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:35,200 foundational to your life. This is foundational to your 447 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,700 marriage is foundational to your family. 448 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,100 It's foundational to your social relationships, is foundational 449 00:28:42,300 --> 00:28:44,800 to the way that you view the world. 450 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,600 No matter what we desire to do or have or achieve in this life, 451 00:28:49,700 --> 00:28:54,500 this has to come first because the stronger, the foundation, 452 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,600 the more stable whatever is built upon it. 453 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:01,800 Jesus said this in The Sermon, on the Mount, in Matthew 6:33, 454 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,400 but seek, there it is. Again, first, his kingdom and 455 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,300 his righteousness. And all these things will be 456 00:29:08,300 --> 00:29:14,600 given to you as well. This Foundation ensures that 457 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,200 those other things are going to come in life and they will come 458 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:21,400 in life, but they will have, what is necessary to withstand 459 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:27,100 the test of time and the tests of circumstance, how many of you 460 00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:29,800 remember last year is a big story last year. 461 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,900 In Miami of the Surfside condominium. 462 00:29:32,900 --> 00:29:35,900 How many of you remember that? The Surfside condominium for 463 00:29:35,900 --> 00:29:39,300 those of you that don't remember, I'll just tell you 464 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:43,700 that there was a condominium Tower in Miami that Lapsed at 1 465 00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:47,900 a.m. in the morning. Killed 98 people. 466 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,500 And this is an animation of what happened. 467 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,600 This is what it looked like and then at 1:00 in the morning, the 468 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,700 center part fell. And then after it, the tower 469 00:30:00,700 --> 00:30:07,000 fell Now what was interesting about this tragedy is that the 470 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,300 tower was not particularly old, it wasn't under any major 471 00:30:12,300 --> 00:30:14,700 Renovations. They weren't doing any 472 00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:17,900 construction. It wasn't the victim of any 473 00:30:17,900 --> 00:30:22,400 storm or outside influence like that, like a natural disaster. 474 00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:25,300 There wasn't an earthquake. There wasn't like a gas 475 00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:28,400 explosion, there wasn't a terrorist attack, no one to 476 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,200 blame for that. It had stood for over 40 years. 477 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:40,500 And then it just fell down. And it took a while for 478 00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:44,300 investigators to understand and unravel the mystery of this 479 00:30:44,300 --> 00:30:48,000 tragedy. The problem went back to guess 480 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,600 where the beginning. The way that they had laid the 481 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,900 foundation, the way they had built off of that Foundation, 482 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,500 the shoddy workmanship, The Cutting of Corners, the 483 00:31:01,500 --> 00:31:06,000 disregard for how time affects a building and how nature affects 484 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,000 a building. And you know what? 485 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,600 There were plenty of warning signs, plenty of warning signs 486 00:31:11,700 --> 00:31:17,800 cracks in the condominium in the housing, cracks in the the 487 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,900 pillars that held up the building. 488 00:31:20,900 --> 00:31:26,300 Do you know how they solved it? Spackle and paint. 489 00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:33,500 More cracks more spackle, more paint, more cracks put a planter 490 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:38,800 down, they actually did this, they build concrete Planters and 491 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,300 put like foliage in those Planters. 492 00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:45,100 So people would not see the cracks that had formed. 493 00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:51,900 The thing is, the Surfside condominium was no Jenga game. 494 00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:57,800 It was a tragedy. And your marriage and your 495 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,300 family and your key relationships. 496 00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:02,400 They're not a game either, are they? 497 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,000 We have to understand the stakes are high. 498 00:32:08,100 --> 00:32:11,000 We have to start in the right place. 499 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,700 We need to put first things first, and that is our 500 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:18,500 relationship to God, our love for God, and one another. 501 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,100 We put those things in the right place, the right things, and 502 00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:27,000 then we build in the right order and only then, are we building 503 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,900 something that's going to withstand the test of time and 504 00:32:30,900 --> 00:32:32,400 all that this world can throw at it? 505 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,200 Because let me tell you, the world is throwing things. 506 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:42,100 Hey, your relationships. And you want to be ready for 507 00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:47,700 that. So, here's a moment. just a 508 00:32:47,700 --> 00:32:52,100 moment for all of us at all of our locations to get serious and 509 00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:56,100 say, hey, am I building on the right foundation? 510 00:32:57,300 --> 00:32:59,600 On the foundation of love and the Lord being an intimate 511 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,600 personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 512 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,600 Am I building it on a foundation? 513 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,400 That starts with loving the people that are around me, 514 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,700 doesn't end with it. Really starts that way. 515 00:33:14,500 --> 00:33:17,600 And am I doing relationships? The way God designed. 516 00:33:19,300 --> 00:33:23,400 To start in the right place. And build it up. 517 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:28,700 So that I don't end up looking like what K world record look 518 00:33:28,700 --> 00:33:33,200 like about 10 seconds after he achieved it? 519 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,200 I want you to think about that. As we move to a time of 520 00:33:38,208 --> 00:33:49,800 decision, I cannot tell you. Moment of transparency. 521 00:33:50,700 --> 00:33:55,600 You know, we've got new carpet and so we had to take all the 522 00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,600 chairs up and a lot of you here last week, s Service, you 523 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,800 stayed, and you helped and and got all the chairs out so that 524 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,000 all this carpet could go down and we put the chairs back. 525 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,000 And you know what? When these are carpet squares, 526 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,199 it's a whole lot easier to line up these chairs. 527 00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:15,000 Because you can use those squares to do that and then we 528 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,199 kind of reconfigured it and you'll notice that probably. 529 00:34:18,199 --> 00:34:20,000 Now you're a little closer than you were before. 530 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,100 Have you noticed that? And and all the chairs that were 531 00:34:23,100 --> 00:34:26,300 stacked up on the sidewalls. Now, they're almost all down 532 00:34:26,300 --> 00:34:32,800 here and I'm looking at and I'm seeing like a full half and so 533 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,300 thankful. I'm just so thankful. 534 00:34:35,300 --> 00:34:37,800 I'm just so thankful to see the last service. 535 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:39,300 It was that way. There's not, it was that way. 536 00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:43,800 And I'm just that so exciting to see God doing that and you 537 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,699 cooperating with that and all of us together getting to learn 538 00:34:46,699 --> 00:34:49,400 from the Lord together. It's just great, but we're at 539 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:53,000 this point now. At this point. 540 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:58,700 With opportunity, you're here. You made the investment. 541 00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:01,300 You and made the investment to be here. 542 00:35:01,300 --> 00:35:03,800 Now, I want you to consider making the investment. 543 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:12,800 In the Lord, Jesus. Some of you have never come into 544 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,700 an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 545 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:20,300 Look how far you've come just to be here in this moment. 546 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,000 What if you step just a little further? 547 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:27,900 Me think about it where you're in a moment. 548 00:35:27,900 --> 00:35:32,500 We're going to be standing, you're going to be standing, you 549 00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:35,100 know, and if you've never made this decision, maybe you're 550 00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:37,500 skeptical, you still think your K. 551 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,100 You still think that you can like build your life off of one 552 00:35:40,100 --> 00:35:46,400 block you maybe this is challenge you. 553 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:50,200 Today I want you to calculate like there's going to be someone 554 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,500 standing right over there by the baptistry, want you to calculate 555 00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:55,500 wherever it is that you're sitting in our Auditorium right 556 00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:57,400 now. How many steps do you think it 557 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:02,400 is from where you are? Two over there. 558 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,000 And how hard would it be? For you to take those steps and 559 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:10,500 which steps would be the hardest? 560 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,500 Probably the first and the second, the third and the fourth 561 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:17,500 one, right? Because that's when you kind of 562 00:36:17,508 --> 00:36:24,300 just step out. The commitment is, you're moving 563 00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:27,600 forward in the commitment. How many of you are to the place 564 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:33,300 where you could say? I know enough about the Lord to 565 00:36:33,300 --> 00:36:34,900 know that he loves me and died for me? 566 00:36:37,900 --> 00:36:41,600 I can trust him. I want to rely on him. 567 00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:53,000 I want to commit to him. I wonder how many could just go 568 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,400 over there. And say I'm ready to make that 569 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:01,300 commitment. To you today. 570 00:37:01,900 --> 00:37:06,900 Lay that Foundation because its first Some of you today. 571 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,300 That foundations laid, it came first. 572 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,400 And some of you are thinking about it like you thought about 573 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,500 your wedding vows, you know, I told him I loved him when I 574 00:37:16,500 --> 00:37:22,000 accepted him and if I change my mind, I'll let him know. when 575 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:28,300 the truth is, Commitment to the Lord is more than just a 576 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:30,800 statement. You make it one time in your 577 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,000 life or the water that you're baptized it that one time in 578 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,600 your life, right? Because you practice priority 579 00:37:38,900 --> 00:37:43,200 And you practice presence. Right? 580 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:48,700 And some of us are like, I'm not doing too good on the presence. 581 00:37:48,700 --> 00:37:50,400 I'm not doing too good on the priority. 582 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,700 All good. Good, that you're here. 583 00:37:55,300 --> 00:37:59,900 Because what better way is there than that, just taking need to 584 00:37:59,900 --> 00:38:05,000 humble yourself to get low. And to tell the Lord, I want to 585 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,300 get that presence, right? When you get that priority, 586 00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:13,600 right? I want to keep my promise. the 587 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:17,500 last Services we've had people up here, we've had people to 3D, 588 00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:23,700 you know, and you still have to make that calculation. 589 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,600 From where you'll be staying. How many steps up here? 590 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,300 You walk up here and you get down on your knees for an 591 00:38:33,300 --> 00:38:41,400 audience of one. And he's ready, he's ready to 592 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:46,200 have that conversation with you. And you'll leave here. 593 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,400 Not with one Ginga block holding up your life. 594 00:38:51,300 --> 00:38:56,000 You'll leave here, feeling, God's Mighty hand. 595 00:38:57,500 --> 00:38:59,200 I encourage you to think about that. 596 00:38:59,700 --> 00:39:01,600 As you stand with me, would you stand? 597 00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:04,700 I'm going to pray, then, we're going to sing Heavenly Father 598 00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:06,800 and Jesus name. Would you? 599 00:39:06,808 --> 00:39:11,300 Please take this moment? pray father, that you would be 600 00:39:11,300 --> 00:39:17,400 Lord of this moment that father we wouldn't be So connected to 601 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:21,500 our own ego in our own Pride that we wouldn't just take a 602 00:39:21,508 --> 00:39:27,300 moment to be humble. To count the cost. and to make 603 00:39:27,300 --> 00:39:34,800 the commitment, you know, father that we mess up every married 604 00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:39,400 person in this room messes up. It'll happen today. 605 00:39:40,900 --> 00:39:45,900 But father continually Living in the promise. 606 00:39:46,700 --> 00:39:49,800 Living in the priority living in the presence when we fail 607 00:39:50,300 --> 00:39:53,500 failing forward. Getting back up, trusting you 608 00:39:53,500 --> 00:39:56,100 again. You're so faithful. 609 00:39:58,100 --> 00:40:03,500 And your love never fails. Father, take this moment and 610 00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:09,700 restore. Restore our souls in Jesus name, 611 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:11,100 amen.