1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:05,360 Recently I was playing golf with a guy and he asked me a great 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:07,560 question. He said, what is the toughest 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,360 sermon to preach? My response was simple. 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,360 The one I'm not living when there is a gap between my life 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,600 and the truth of God's Word, where I'm still wrestling and 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:21,640 trying to bring my life into line with it. 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,520 That sermon is a tough sermon to preach. 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,960 The second toughest sermon to preach is the when there is a 9 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,560 gap between where people are and the biblical standard or the 10 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:39,480 biblical truth that people just can't even fathom one day living 11 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:42,320 in alignment to God's word. It's like if somebody were to 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,720 say, Clayton, I just visualize one day you running marathons. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,880 I'm like, no, that ain't going to happen. 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,920 I don't see myself. Just just shoot me now. 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,760 I I'm not running the third hardest sermon to preach is the 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:02,480 one where nobody agrees with you or is even remotely interested 17 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:09,000 in making the change. There is a real possibility that 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,880 today I'm going to check all three boxes. 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:17,240 I want to welcome all of you guys joining all of our 20 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,160 different locations online and inside. 21 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:23,360 And I also want to welcome those of you who are new here. 22 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,360 And I want to encourage you to swing out to the new here booth 23 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,880 in all of our lobbies at the end of the service. 24 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,640 And I also want to tell you, please come back next week 25 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,800 because today's message is going to be a bit of a deviation from 26 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,600 normal sermons. I also want to celebrate you 27 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,960 guys may remember many of you guys helped us do this. 28 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:48,680 We launched Vine Co Counseling Company in January and they just 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,240 crossed their 100th client. Would you give them a big round 30 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,240 of applause? Super thankful for that 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,880 ministry. We've been hiring additional 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,760 counselors. We have AI think a six week 33 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,960 waiting list. The ministry is doing wonderful. 34 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,720 And I received more texts, phone calls, emails with people 35 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,240 saying, hey, you did a merch drop when you launched it. 36 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,120 We missed it. We want it. 37 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,320 And so I was like, you know what, we're going to wait till 38 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,320 they cross a big milestone and they did. 39 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,480 So today there is a merch drop available. 40 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,040 If you take advantage of the QR code, you can, Full disclosure, 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,120 you can get all the stuff that we had the previous time plus a 42 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,280 couple updated looks if you're interested in that. 43 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,920 And it's super expensive. The reason it's super expensive 44 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,160 is because we're taking all the profits and we're reinvesting it 45 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,520 into Vineco to help people who need help but maybe can't afford 46 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,200 it. And so if you want to be a part 47 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,880 of joining us in that, we would love to have you join us. 48 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:51,080 We are in a sermon series called Not Just Another Day. 49 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,440 We are taking a hard look at what it means to raise kids in a 50 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:00,080 way that honors God. And each day we have with our 51 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,680 kids is not just another day, but a day for us to prepare them 52 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:11,160 for life and more importantly, for life in Christ. 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:18,040 We learned an uncomfortable truth in Week 1. 75% of the time 54 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:24,040 that we will spend with our kids in our lifetime will be spent by 55 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,120 age 12. Raise your hands if you have 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:34,680 kids over the age of 12. We are managing the remaining 57 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,480 25%. We looked at a couple key 58 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,200 passages of Scripture. The first one is Proverbs 22 59 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,520 verse 6. Start children off on the way 60 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,520 they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it. 61 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,960 Start children off train children is the English language 62 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:56,560 trying to unpack the Hebrew word hanok which means to dedicate, 63 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:05,160 to train, to narrow the focus. How do we hanok our kids, train 64 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,520 them, narrow their focus for life and life with Christ? 65 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:13,280 Well, the Bible actually gives us some insight into this 66 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,800 because this is what God says in Deuteronomy chapter 6. 67 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:22,200 Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1 Love the Lord your 68 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,520 God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your 69 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,880 strength. These commandments that I give 70 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,640 you today are to be on your hearts. 71 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,960 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at 72 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,880 home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when 73 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,040 you get up. Tie them as symbols on your 74 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,360 hands and bind them on your foreheads. 75 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:50,360 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. 76 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,880 Six years ago, I did a sermon called It's Just the Phase where 77 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,640 I talked about device usage and social media. 78 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,840 Three years ago, I preached A sermon called Glowing 79 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,480 Rectangles. Two years ago I preached on a 80 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:12,920 sermon series called Reclaim on the addiction that was happening 81 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,440 to social media. I keep preaching on this issue 82 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:25,320 because I believe this is the single greatest issue facing the 83 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,840 family. It is robbing us of time with 84 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:37,000 the Lord, and it is robbing us of time for the Lord, and it is 85 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,040 robbing us of the precious time that we need to have with our 86 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:45,040 family if we are going to hanak them. 87 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,840 It is destroying the relational fabric of your family and it is 88 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:55,840 rotting the minds of our kids. And I know some of you might be 89 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,640 going. We kind of like having a, you 90 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,560 know, Clayton, you're young, you're fun. 91 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,080 But I need you to know I'm not just young and fun because 92 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,960 recently I became a grandparent. Look at that. 93 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,520 That is baby genera. Yeah. 94 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:18,760 This guy is a grandpa at 42. Let me tell you how this went 95 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:24,120 down. I had to take my oldest son to 96 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,520 the junior high and drop him off at school. 97 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:34,720 Then I had to go back home to get my youngest son and take him 98 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:41,040 to the elementary school before I could go to the hospital to 99 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:45,880 see my grandkid. I am in every phase of life 100 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,120 right now. Kennedy and her husband had 101 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:55,160 genera on February 10th, 2 days after my birthday, and we could 102 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,760 not be more thrilled. If there was a magazine for 103 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:03,480 Sexiest Grandpa Alive, I think I'd be the George Clooney of 104 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,440 grandparents. OK, now I have never done this 105 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:15,840 before, but I am going to ask and recommend every single one 106 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:22,560 of you to read a book written by an atheist. 107 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,840 It is called The Anxious Generation. 108 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:31,160 Pull out your phones. Please take a picture of this 109 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,320 book. I can't. 110 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,160 If you are a in the medical profession, if you are in the 111 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:42,960 school system, if you are a grandparent, a parent, you need 112 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:48,960 to read this book. I've instructed everybody who 113 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:54,600 works on staff at the crossing to read this book. 114 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,880 Now a couple of things. One, there are some things I 115 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,600 disagree with in the book. He has an overemphasis of 116 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,600 evolution. His statements about porn that 117 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,560 like parents might want to determine how much porn they 118 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:14,320 have their kids watch is ridiculous because the Christian 119 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:18,360 answer for how much porn should your kids consume is this much 120 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,520 0%. But even though he is an 121 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:27,280 atheist, he devotes an entire chapter to spiritual matters 122 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:32,000 because as an atheist he acknowledges that there is a 123 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,880 hole in the human heart that cannot be filled by things of 124 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,559 this world. His main claim in the book Now 125 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:46,520 he is a doctor of the social sciences and his his main claim 126 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,720 in the book is that we have shifted from a play based 127 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:58,480 childhood to a phone based childhood and it has resulted in 128 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:06,360 two huge problems and that is our kids are overprotected in 129 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:14,120 the real world and not protected enough in the digital world. 130 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:21,240 Our kids are overprotected in the real world, under protected 131 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,360 in the digital world. There's no way for me to unpack 132 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,800 all of this in the sermon, which is why you need to read the 133 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,440 book. High schoolers, I want you to 134 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,440 read this book because I need you to know what is happening to 135 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,160 you. College kids, you need to read 136 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,640 this book because you need to know what kind of world you're 137 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:45,000 going to live in. If you don't have kids yet, you 138 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,200 need to start thinking about this decisions you are going to 139 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,200 make with your kids before you have them so you don't have to 140 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:57,600 undo what parents of kids are going to have to undo. 141 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,200 Parents, you need to read this book because you need to make 142 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:07,680 adjustments quickly and I don't want the pendulum to swing. 143 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,840 So you need to read the book, have some conversations and 144 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,240 develop a strategy. Grandparents, you need to know 145 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,360 what has happened to your kids and your grandkids. 146 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,160 Now we all see it. We all know that there's 147 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,680 something wrong in us and in our kids and in the world around us, 148 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,960 and that we spend way too much time on our phones. 149 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:36,320 However, until I read this book, I did not realize how bad it had 150 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,240 become. So for the first time ever, I 151 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:44,280 get to preach a very similar sermon with a whole lot of 152 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,320 evidence. Let's start off here, Figure 16. 153 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,400 Now you guys are going to go, it's hard to read this great by 154 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:52,880 the book. Everything's in there. 155 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,120 This is the communication technology adoption. 156 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,960 This is how radio entered the United States. 157 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,360 This is how color TV made its way into the United States. 158 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,440 This is the personal computer. This is the Internet. 159 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:10,640 And that purple bar right there, it's going to show up in almost 160 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,560 all of the slides. I'm going to show you. 161 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,040 This purple bar represents the introduction of two things, 162 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:23,800 social media and the smartphone. And I want you to see what has 163 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:29,840 happened since that purple bar and during that purple bar. 164 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:34,240 And again, that purple bar represents the introduction of 165 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:42,360 the smartphone and social media. Let's start off with figure 11. 166 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,840 This is major depression among teens. 167 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,720 You will notice it started to skyrocket since the introduction 168 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,880 of two things. For those of you who are paying 169 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:57,000 attention, social media and the smartphone. 170 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,800 For girls, depression is up 145%. 171 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:09,200 For boys, it is 161%. It's on the rise. 172 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,400 It's skyrocketing. You may have noticed over the 173 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:16,400 last couple of years, news agencies have gone out of their 174 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,560 way to highlight what has been happening on college campuses. 175 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:25,240 They have been talking about how they have the woke mind virus, 176 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,200 how they're crazy, they need safe spaces. 177 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,800 They can't handle conflict. They've been talking about all 178 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,160 of this. You want to know why? 179 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,880 Because college kids are messed up right now. 180 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:43,520 Let me show you why. Schizophrenia is up 67%, 181 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:50,320 Substance abuse is up 33%, Anorexia is up 100%, Bipolar 182 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:57,680 disease is up 57%, ADHD is up 72%, Depression is up 106%, 183 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,520 Anxiety is up 134%. And where did the climb start? 184 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:08,960 With the introduction of the smartphone and social media, and 185 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:14,360 it's not just kids, it's happening to us as well. 186 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:18,160 Look at this one. This is anxiety prevalence by 187 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,320 age. For let's start at the top. 188 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:27,120 For ages 18 to 25, it's up 139%. Ages 26 through 34, it's up 189 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:32,240 103%. Ages 35 through 49 it's up 52%. 190 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:37,120 The only age group that has seen a decline is the 50 plus crowd. 191 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,800 Where's the 50 plus crowd at? Don't applaud. 192 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:42,440 They just don't know their password. 193 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,200 We know you. We know how you operate. 194 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:48,840 Can you get me logged on? My dad? 195 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,720 I love him. He has about 50 Gmail emails. 196 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:53,880 Because we can't get into it. All right? 197 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,240 The only reason you're doing fine is because you can't log on 198 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,040 and haven't figured out Face ID. Listen to me. 199 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:08,440 Why am I telling you all this? Parents and your kids are both 200 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,200 dealing with an increased level of anxiety. 201 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:18,600 If you are a grandparent, your grandkids are not living in the 202 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:23,600 same level of sanity in the home as you gave your kids because 203 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:30,400 your kids are dealing with more anxiety than ever before. 204 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,640 Our minds are being turned to mush. 205 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:41,400 Our emotions can't keep up. How bad is it? 206 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,640 I just want to talk for just a second to the girl dads, I know 207 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,080 you've got a bookmark and a hat and probably a shirt or 208 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,920 something and a sticker. Let me just let me just talk to 209 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,040 you right now. Social media is the worst thing 210 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:54,280 that could happen to your daughter. 211 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:57,600 Let me show you a couple figures. 212 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:02,200 This is emergency room visits for self harm For boys, it's 213 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:08,680 we've seen a 48% increase in girls, it's 188% increase. 214 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,120 Look at look at this, it was on the decline in girls. 215 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,960 And then you notice the huge uptick. 216 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,320 It's in the purple part. And just a reminder, the purple 217 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,200 part of that graph is the introduction of social media and 218 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,600 the smartphone. If this is not bad enough, it's 219 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:36,600 impacting suicide rates as well. Figure 1/5 For girls, it's up 220 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:40,960 167%. For boys, it's up 91%. 221 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:42,760 But look at what happened in boys. 222 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,280 We were doing the best we had ever done and then it 223 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:54,240 skyrocketed. Our kids are way too connected 224 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:59,520 in the virtual world and they keep trying to measure up, but 225 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,800 every time they hop on social media, they are bombarded with 226 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,440 their social standing. How many friends compared to 227 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:09,400 other people? How many followers compared to 228 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,640 other people? How many likes? 229 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,040 How good is their life compared to other people? 230 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,920 How nice are their outfits compared to other people? 231 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,960 How do they look compared to other people? 232 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,160 And when it comes to looks, girls are getting decimated. 233 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,640 It used to be hard enough for a girl when she was going through 234 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,480 her teen years to look in the mirror and navigate the changes 235 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,360 that were happening. But now they hop on social media 236 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,960 and they see a altered version of everybody else. 237 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:44,960 How did the social media companies navigate this? 238 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,280 They gave them filters. And so now you can take a normal 239 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,280 beautiful girl and you can add filters that make them look 240 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,480 unrealistic. This is figure 6/4. 241 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,760 This is a girl who did this. This is in the book. 242 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,920 This bottom right hand corner is her real self. 243 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,880 And then it just shows you the levels to the left. 244 00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,800 On the bottom left is 1 filter up. 245 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,480 But if you want to go a little bit further, you can go upper 246 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,720 right hand corner. And then if you want to go all 247 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,359 the way and do the Angelina Jolie, you can do the upper left 248 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,400 hand corner. And so a girl can manufacture 249 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,760 what she looks like. So that way she looks like 250 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:31,320 somebody that's is a somebody. Why does this matter? 251 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,040 Because since they've been under protected in the digital world 252 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,840 and overprotected online, they're having a harder time 253 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:44,960 going out in public because who they actually look like does not 254 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:47,640 look like how they have presented themselves. 255 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:50,840 And so there's now an increase in the medical profession, 256 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,640 specifically where plastic surgery is concerned as teens 257 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,920 are trying to get cosmetic surgery to look like their 258 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:05,920 profile. Add to this the constant 259 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,200 connectivity. We all or many of us take 260 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,400 advantage of Life 360, which is great. 261 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,960 It allows you to know if your kids are actually at the house 262 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,800 that they said they were going to be at and or how fast are 263 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,680 they driving or for my family, how fast am I driving? 264 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,920 It's been great. But it's also brought this other 265 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,880 thing into the world, which is now your kids know where all 266 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,560 their friends are and what happens when their friends get 267 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,800 together at a friend's house and they're not invited and they 268 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:39,720 feel left out. So to combat this, some kids 269 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,640 will just turn off their location services. 270 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,520 And so a kid is sitting at home on their phone and all of a 271 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,120 sudden all their friends can't be found. 272 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,200 And they have to wonder, where's everybody at and why wasn't I 273 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,120 included? We didn't have to navigate this 274 00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:59,400 when I was growing up because if my friends were hanging out with 275 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,440 some of my friends, I didn't know I was drinking out of the 276 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,800 water hose hoping mom would make some kool-aid and let me in 277 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:12,360 because it's hot out here. We lived in a different time. 278 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,160 Imagine having your best friends live across the street from you 279 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,640 and constantly seeing other people's cars in their driveway 280 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,960 and you not getting the invite. You wouldn't think in terms of 281 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,440 whether or not you were good friends or not if they lived 282 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,320 across town because when they invited you over, you would just 283 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:37,320 go over and have a good time. But if you are constantly aware 284 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,200 of all the other people that they were having over, you would 285 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,800 wonder why they didn't invite you. 286 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,240 Your kids during their most vulnerable season of life are 287 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:49,840 being bombarded with way too much information. 288 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,000 He summarized that what has basically happened is we have 289 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,960 moved from a play based childhood to a phone based 290 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:05,440 childhood and the atheist Dr. backed by science makes this 291 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:13,040 claim that it is destroying our kids mentally, relationally and 292 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:20,040 spiritually. And the worst part is the social 293 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:24,680 media companies know they are doing this. 294 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,040 Francis Hagen participated in something called the Facebook 295 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:35,280 Files where they got access to internal documents that were 296 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:40,480 used at Facebook and it proved that not only did they know that 297 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:45,640 they were doing this to our kids and to us, they are desperately 298 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:52,080 trying to get better at it. One particular training focused 299 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,560 on the neuroscience of teenagers, and it walked them 300 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,840 through the points of vulnerability during the 301 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:05,200 maturation process of a teenage kid, and then it gave 302 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:12,440 recommendations on how app developers could exploit them to 303 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,400 keep them on the platform as long as possible. 304 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,960 Here's a screenshot of the training Girl. 305 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,160 Dads, I want you to ask yourself this question. 306 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,160 How would you feel if that was your daughter in the middle of 307 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,600 the screen and during the most vulnerable season of her life? 308 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:40,960 This company was trying to figure out ways to exploit her 309 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,880 vulnerability. How do they do this? 310 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,400 They do this through something called the hook model. 311 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,360 This is the hook model trigger action, variable, reward and 312 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:54,720 investment. Here is the trigger. 313 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,360 It starts external. All of my friends have social 314 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:01,120 media. All of my friends have a 315 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:03,960 smartphone. And so you feel pressure and 316 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:09,040 your kid feels pressure to join the same social media platform. 317 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,560 Then they give you, that's the action. 318 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:14,080 Then they give you some kind of reward. 319 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,920 You feel good. You're finally in the circle. 320 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,120 Then they get you to make an investment. 321 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,040 The investment's relatively small. 322 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:27,320 Set up your own username, set up your profile pic, maybe like a 323 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:31,960 couple posts, maybe create some own content on your own. 324 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:36,000 Then they get another external trigger. 325 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:41,080 They send you a notification. Something just happened, and so 326 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:45,080 you pull your phone out, you hear the alert on your watch or 327 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,960 you feel it buzz in your pocket and you pull it out and you open 328 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:50,400 it. That's the action. 329 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:53,680 And then while you're on there, you get a reward. 330 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,800 Somebody liked your post. Somebody said happy birthday to 331 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,120 you. And they keep giving you some 332 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,560 reward every so often. Then they get you to keep making 333 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,520 investment on time. More posts, you upload, more 334 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,960 content you like, more of other people's things. 335 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:16,280 And then it becomes an internal trigger where you, without being 336 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,360 prompted, you want to know, did someone look at your photo? 337 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,680 You want to know if somebody liked your post, you want to 338 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,600 know what somebody else is doing with their life. 339 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:30,240 And so you keep pulling it up and we do it non-stop. 340 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,640 We do it in the bathroom, when we're on the toilet, at the 341 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:39,240 stoplight, in the line of the drive through, in the car, at 342 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:43,440 the dinner table. I drive a black Ram of 1500 and 343 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,120 I honk. And all you suckers out there 344 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,440 who are holding up traffic at the stoplight because a red 345 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,360 stoplight is enough time. You can't handle not looking at 346 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:59,080 your phone in the drive through. You can't go from waiting to 347 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,760 order to ordering to picking up your food without picking up the 348 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:07,440 phone and wanting to know how are we this addicted? 349 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:12,400 I'll tell you the hook model. And the most important part of 350 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,280 the hook model is the variable reward. 351 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,360 This was one of the key discoveries of behavioral 352 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:26,960 psychology, that it is best not to reward a behavior every time, 353 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:33,400 because if you don't, you can create addiction. 354 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,320 The science backs this up, that if you reward somebody about one 355 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,880 out of every 10 times, sometimes a little more depending on the 356 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:48,200 person, sometimes a little less, you create the strongest, most 357 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:53,600 persistent behavior. They discovered this through 358 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,640 training rats. Here's what they would do. 359 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,200 They would train a rat that every time it pressed a bar, it 360 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:06,600 would get some food. If it pressed the bar, it would 361 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,480 get some food. Then they could take this rat 362 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,120 out of that environment. They could put in another place 363 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:15,560 with the same bar, and the rat would go over and it would touch 364 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,640 the bar. And the moment it saw the bar 365 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,440 and went to touch it, endorphins, dopamine would come 366 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,480 surging through the rat's body as it waited in anticipation for 367 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:26,920 the food. And it would get it. 368 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,280 And then the rat would touch the bar. 369 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:38,280 No food. Touch the bar, no food, and 370 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,440 you'd think that the rat would walk away, but no. 371 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:45,200 The more it pressed the bar and food didn't come, more 372 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,000 endorphins went surging through its body as it waited because it 373 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:54,240 knew at some point it would get the food. 374 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,520 And what happened with us is they took this. 375 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,600 If you've ever wondered how you spent a couple hours throughout 376 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:19,720 the course of the day scrolling. They are training us like rats. 377 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:27,200 Just keep scrolling and there's no off ramp. 378 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:35,080 In an app with a bottomless feed, there's no signal to stop 379 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:41,720 and so we just keep scrolling. How bad is it? 380 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:49,280 Tech company executives are simultaneously hiring 381 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:56,560 specialists to create algorithms to keep us scrolling while at 382 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:04,160 the same time sending their kids to schools that limit technology 383 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,760 and not allowing their kids to get on the very apps that they 384 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:14,360 are controlling. Why are companies doing this? 385 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:19,440 I want to quote here. Younger users are particularly 386 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:28,000 valuable because the habits that they form early often times 387 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:36,160 stick with them for life. So, companies need younger and 388 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:44,560 younger users to ensure robust future usage of their products. 389 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:51,280 They therefore view the loss of market share among younger users 390 00:27:51,280 --> 00:28:01,480 as an existential threat. It is as if social media 391 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:12,240 companies read Proverbs 22 verse 6 start children off on the way 392 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:17,400 they should go and even when they are old, they will not turn 393 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,400 from it. And so instead of our kids and 394 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:27,360 our lives being ha knocked to the Lord, we have been ha 395 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:32,720 knocked to a device. I actually want you to think 396 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:38,560 about device usage in your home and in your life and see how 397 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:43,400 well they're doing at living out Deuteronomy chapter 6. 398 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:50,720 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at 399 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:55,000 home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when 400 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,640 you get up. Tie them as symbols on your 401 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,640 hands and bind them on your foreheads. 402 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:05,720 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. 403 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,040 The average person, the first thing they do in the morning is 404 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,000 check their phone. What do they do when they're 405 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,360 driving along the road? They're on their phone. 406 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,080 What are we doing when we're eating at a restaurant or 407 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,280 somewhere, we're on our phone. When we're waiting in the 408 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,960 doctor's office, we're on our phone. 409 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,080 Social media companies and smartphones are robbing you of 410 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,040 the very precious and limited time you have with your kids. 411 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,720 And I know right now there are some of you who are going well, 412 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:45,480 our story will be different. Maybe I just wouldn't risk it. 413 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,040 I grew up living in a vet clinic, not like my dad worked 414 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:52,320 there and we showed up sometimes. 415 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:57,240 I actually lived in the vet clinic and my dad is like the 416 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:01,760 Liam Neeson of veterinarians. He has a very special set of 417 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,200 skills and people come from all over to have my dad take care of 418 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,760 their animals. And one time some people who 419 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:16,120 owned a circus brought their baby Cougars to my dad's clinic 420 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,200 and I actually got to take a a picture with them. 421 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,880 Look, look how cute that kid is. That is me holding a baby 422 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,200 cougar. We got to hold it for a while, 423 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:27,840 rock it. We even got to feed it for a 424 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:29,760 little bit. It was fantastic. 425 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,120 And then you know what happened? The cougar went home. 426 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,120 You want to know why? Because my dad's no dummy. 427 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,960 Baby Cougars don't stay babies. They get big. 428 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,760 You've probably seen the documentaries. 429 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:54,240 You know of the people who got a pet polar bear, They got a pet 430 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:58,960 grizzly, they got a pet lion, a pet tiger. 431 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,080 There's people who have pet cobras. 432 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:06,520 You guys have all seen those people. 433 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,040 And then inevitably, the documentary ends. 434 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,560 Have you ever cried at the dude who got eaten by his chimpanzee? 435 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,400 No. You mean the tiger ate you? 436 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,360 I did not see that coming. Nope. 437 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,560 Nobody, nobody. And if you're, if you're one of 438 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,800 those people, we're going now. I mean, there's even the people 439 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:40,040 who are super well trained and they go in to the lion's den or 440 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:47,960 the lion and they got their stool and their whip and they do 441 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:53,320 it for a lot of years. Then eventually lion gets 442 00:31:53,320 --> 00:32:00,800 hungry. And you know why I don't ever 443 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,960 have to worry about being eaten by a tiger because I don't keep 444 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:10,800 any tigers at my house, right? You know, eventually it's going 445 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,160 to get them. There's nothing wrong with going 446 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,720 and seeing the lions and the tigers and the bears and the 447 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:20,160 chimpanzees and the gorillas at the zoo, but it's a completely 448 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:24,320 different matter when you establish no boundaries and 449 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:26,120 you're allowed to live in your house. 450 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,280 Hear me? We didn't know when we gave our 451 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:36,280 kids smartphones and social media what we were giving them. 452 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,960 We didn't know what we were doing when we hopped in the car 453 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,560 and gave them an iPad to keep them quiet for the road trip. 454 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:52,840 What we were doing, nobody did. But we do now, so we better do 455 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,920 something about it. Ephesians chapter 5 has this to 456 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,920 say. Be very careful then how you 457 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,920 live. Not as unwise but as wise, 458 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,360 making the most of every opportunity, because the days 459 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:18,000 are evil. I have 5 action steps that I 460 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,240 want to encourage you to take, and all five of these have been 461 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,120 approved by Jessica Ella Fritz, who overseas our counseling 462 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:28,160 department. So this is free counseling #1 463 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:35,520 read this book and make a plan. Don't swing the pendulum and go 464 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,640 home right after this and blow up stuff with your kids that 465 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,120 you're not going to follow through on. 466 00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:47,560 Read the book Make a plan #2 Set limits on phone usage. 467 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:54,920 Not in the bedroom, not in car rides, not at the dinner table, 468 00:33:55,160 --> 00:34:07,640 Not unlimited #3 Delete social media for 21 days. 469 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:16,639 I have already deleted mine. Don't hop on and go hey guys I'm 470 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:21,080 super awesome and I'm super mature so I'm signing off for 21 471 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:24,960 days. Bro don't just and don't log 472 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,159 out. I'm saying delete it off your 473 00:34:28,159 --> 00:34:32,199 phone. And for those of you who are 474 00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:34,840 like but what about my birthday? Happy birthday? 475 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,239 What about my anniversary? Oh awesome. 476 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:44,000 What about I'm hiding? I'm I'm liking all your 477 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:46,520 imaginary posts for the next 21 days. 478 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,920 You don't need it. Do it for 21 days. 479 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,960 High schoolers, look at this face. 480 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,960 I'm doing it with you 21 days. Parents, don't ask your kid to 481 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,480 do something that you're not doing. 482 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:02,880 Now I want you to hear me say this. 483 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:08,920 The next 14 days are going to suck in your home and it's fine. 484 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,920 You want to know why it's going to suck because you and your 485 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:17,320 kids are addicted. You are going to go through 486 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:23,000 withdrawal. The fact that some of you are 487 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:29,760 really nervous about doing this is a signal that it has gotten 488 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:36,280 out of hand. Number four, have no technology 489 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:41,680 nights as a family. No Netflix, no dude perfect on 490 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,600 YouTube. A technology free night where 491 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:51,120 you go on a walk, play pickleball, listen to nature, 492 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,560 make a meal and have your kids help. 493 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:59,800 I can't go into all the stuff about how our kids are under 494 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:04,400 protected or overprotected in the real world, but #5 is you 495 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:09,400 need to give your kids something hard to do because kids are the 496 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:14,560 phrase is anti fragile. That there is a part of failing 497 00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,680 and learning how to do hard things that is actually good for 498 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:22,800 their development. Do you know I'm going to go 499 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,560 along? Do you want to know why some of 500 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,480 you are looking at your kids and going, I have a really hard time 501 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,520 respecting them? It's because you're not giving 502 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,880 them anything to do that is respectable and your kids crave 503 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:39,880 your respect. Some of us, we swung the 504 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,720 pendulum so far from the hard life we got from our parents, 505 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,360 but we are hyper successful because of the hard life we got 506 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,200 from our parents. And then we thought because of 507 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,840 our success, we should shield kids from the very things and 508 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,040 tools that they are going to need in the future. 509 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:02,200 Give your kids something hard to do and let them rise to the 510 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:05,240 occasion. But you have to build that 511 00:37:05,240 --> 00:37:10,440 momentum over time. I do want to give a devo. 512 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:13,200 I'll do it at a different sermon. 513 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:16,680 So why this whole sermon? Let me tell you why I'm 514 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,720 preaching this whole sermon. One, I really, really love you. 515 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:25,320 It is one of my greatest honors to be one of the pastors at this 516 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:30,240 church. And I never thought that I would 517 00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:33,120 be recommending a book written by an atheist to you. 518 00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:38,560 But I've been preaching about this for years, and I finally 519 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:44,680 have the data to back it up. And if you do not make changes 520 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:51,120 soon, that cougar is going to grow up and it's going to get 521 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:55,840 hungry. And I don't want that to happen 522 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,800 to you. Why else am I preaching A 523 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,240 sermon? Because God sent Jesus to die on 524 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:06,240 the cross, not just to save you from hell, but to save you into 525 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:10,360 a relationship with Him. A life that Jesus himself 526 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:17,440 described as a life that is abundant and full, that is so 527 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:23,360 much more than doom scrolling and swiping and posting and 528 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:26,920 gaming. He saved you to more than that. 529 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:33,160 And He put so much inside of you for you to learn and grow and 530 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:40,400 discover and explore. You were made for more than the 531 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:43,000 life that you have been lured into. 532 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,840 And I don't want you to miss it. We're moving to a time of 533 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:55,160 decision. To those of you in here who do 534 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,640 not have an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, 535 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,640 I mean what I said you were made for more. 536 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,160 Life with Jesus is full and abundant. 537 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,400 It is inside of this relationship that you discover 538 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:17,800 purpose, meaning, joy and peace, which are the exact opposite of 539 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,480 what you've been experiencing on your device. 540 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:24,760 And when you come into a right relationship with Him, it can 541 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:30,200 change absolutely everything. And the good news is you can 542 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:34,520 start that relationship today in just a few moments. 543 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:36,600 The people around you are going to stand and sing, and some of 544 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:38,600 them are going to come to the steps and pray. 545 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:43,040 And I want to encourage you to walk right over there underneath 546 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,840 that screen next to the baptistery, and give one of the 547 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,040 people on our team an opportunity to talk with you 548 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:51,120 about the relationship with Jesus. 549 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:55,560 That changes everything. It is why we exist as a church, 550 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:00,880 to help people just like you find what we have found in Him. 551 00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,640 To those of you who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, 552 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:12,360 we were made for more. We were made to not just have 553 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,480 this relationship with Jesus Christ, but to experience it. 554 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:18,920 And so it's time that we step into the fullness of Him. 555 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:22,760 The Bible goes out of its way to talk about the condition of our 556 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:26,720 heart, and one of the things it says is above all else. 557 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:32,360 So there's a lot of things. But above all else, guard your 558 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:38,920 heart, for from out of it everything flows. 559 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:50,320 And sadly, we have not guarded our hearts nor the hearts of our 560 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:54,840 kids. And I think that should change. 561 00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:01,520 And I think it should change today that we finally give God 562 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:06,200 His rightful place in our lives. We start guarding our kids as 563 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,760 hearts and training them in the Lord. 564 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,960 So what I'm going to encourage you to do is to come up here. 565 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,400 Pray over the commitments that you think you're going to make. 566 00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:18,880 Pray over the conversations that you know that you need to have 567 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,400 so that you can chart a better path forward for you, for your 568 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,880 family, and for this region. Would you stand with me? 569 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:33,960 Heavenly Father, we need you. We need you more than we even 570 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:37,320 realize. And so, God, I'm asking that 571 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:42,600 you'd use this time right now in a significant way to bring about 572 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,160 a change that can only be brought about by your power and 573 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,960 your spirit. Help us. 574 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:50,360 Your name I pray. Amen.