1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,480 Well, good morning Crossing church. 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,520 How are you doing? OK, so we gotta do something 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:09,240 right now and everybody stand back up. 4 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,320 I know you just got comfortable. Everybody stand back up. 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,320 You need to at least high 5-5 other people because you are 6 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,200 here today. Every other location do the same 7 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:32,200 thing. You can sit back down when you 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,560 get done with that. You are awesome. 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,880 You're awesome. I mean I was looking at first 10 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,000 service. I'm like, you know what was it 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,600 going to look like A small group? 12 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:47,200 They did a, they did, they did account we had 547 at the the 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,640 48th St. location just for first service. 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,040 And so it's like, you know, I mean, that's pretty awesome. 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,120 You know, that people won't want to be together. 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:58,440 They want to hear the word of the Lord. 17 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,120 They want to be with the people of the Lord. 18 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:01,640 They want to be changed by the Lord. 19 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,519 And just So what? It's 15 below 0. 20 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:08,680 Who cares? I want to welcome everyone 21 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,240 that's joining from all of our locations. 22 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,120 Thankful for you. If you're insider online, we're 23 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,960 thankful for you as well. And I'm excited about this 24 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:23,880 series because it comes from a book called Creatures of Habit 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,640 and it was written by Steve Poe and Steve and Sandy Poe are 26 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,240 friends of Allison and mine and I I got to know him. 27 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,440 Oh, I think it's probably been 10 years ago and he is just one 28 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:40,400 of these guys, OK. He went to a a church that was 29 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,560 struggling through the death of their senior minister in on the 30 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,280 north side of Indianapolis. And that's a really hard thing 31 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,000 to to step into that role a man who was loved and passed away 32 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:01,440 cancer and Steve did that. And that church now is I believe 33 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:06,280 the largest Church of any kind in the state of Indiana and has 34 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,120 just done an incredible job at Northview Church. 35 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,320 But it's not because of the growth. 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,440 When I first started hanging around with Steve, he's, you 37 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:22,440 know, Jesus called one of his disciples, behold a man in whom 38 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,320 there is no guile. He is that guy. 39 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,400 Have you ever been around people and it's just like you know that 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,080 your spiritual IQ goes up when you're around them not because 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,040 of what they know, but just because of who they are and how 42 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,160 they live their out their life for Jesus Christ. 43 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,720 And he's going to be here in the 5th week, the final week of this 44 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,200 series. And I really hope you don't miss 45 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,080 that. Just an incredible, incredible 46 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:55,160 man of God. So we're in that book and we're 47 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,760 talking about habits. And one of the things he says in 48 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:03,480 the book is 4040%. And that's at a minimum 40% of 49 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:07,560 everything we do comes directly from habits. 50 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,080 Now we have good habits and we have bad habits, right? 51 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:18,640 But when we allow a bad behavior to become a habit, it actually 52 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,760 it becomes a stronghold. It's a biblical word, a 53 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,680 stronghold in our lives like it. It's something that has high 54 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,400 walls that are very thick and they're very hard to get rid of. 55 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,000 We get a bad habit that becomes a spiritual stronghold. 56 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,320 It it can really become a besetting sin. 57 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:42,800 And I would imagine there's many of you that have those that that 58 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,720 you recognize them and and you'll come to church and maybe 59 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,200 you'll even come forward, get down on your knees, you'll pray 60 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,080 and you'll say God, you know what you and you know and it 61 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,160 just keeps. It's like this nagging thing 62 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,160 that just keeps working on you because that's what it is. 63 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,680 It's a spiritual stronghold that comes out of a habit. 64 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,080 Pamela Meyer in her book Lie Spotting, which by the way is a 65 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,200 very unnerving book because what she teaches you in that book is 66 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,920 how to spot it when people are lying to you. 67 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,360 And I I don't know if I I'd rather probably not know that 68 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,360 you know, because that's just a little unsettling. 69 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,960 But in her book she says that you are lied to somewhere 70 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:33,720 between 10 and 200 times a day. I I was, I heard, I read that 71 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,120 and I went I I don't even know if I know that many people to to 72 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,040 be lied to that much. And then, you know, I took out 73 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:45,720 my phone and if I get on Instagram or Facebook and I just 74 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,800 do this a few times, Oh yeah, I'm racking up the lies, right. 75 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,760 Because people are lying on on social media constantly. 76 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,560 Look at the person next to you. No. 77 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:00,840 So don't do that. Forget that. 78 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,280 And, you know, they can be kind of little innocuous ways where 79 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,400 they can be very serious. Like, do you like my new 80 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,680 haircut? How do I look in these jeans? 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:17,520 What did you do when you went out on the date? 82 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,520 How did that scratch get on the car? 83 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:28,080 What happened to the cookies? It's really an unfortunate part 84 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,680 of our human reality. You know, even a child will cry. 85 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,800 A little child, like a baby, will cry and then stop crying 86 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,160 long enough to hear and listen if anyone is paying attention to 87 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:47,200 them, and then start crying again, like maybe they're really 88 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,320 not in distress. They just want to lie and make 89 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,360 you think they are. Or even a grandchild. 90 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,160 I won't say it's my grandchild standing next to red crayon 91 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,680 marks on the wall and holding a red crayon saying I didn't do 92 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,440 that. We lie about everything. 93 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,320 We lie about big things and little things, and some of our 94 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,440 lies can have monumental effects. 95 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,640 Think of all the people who trusted Lehman Brothers for 96 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:21,080 their retirement. Think about the people that 97 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,560 thought that they were really in a get rich quick scheme with 98 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,520 Bernie Madoff or more recently Sam Bankman Freed. 99 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,480 And all you have to do is watch even media. 100 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,000 You see all of the diversity of narratives about the Hamas, 101 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,760 Israel war and how people are lining up. 102 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,520 Who's telling the truth, who's reflecting the truth. 103 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:53,280 Former president of Harvard University Claudine Gay tried to 104 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,480 clean up a response that she made to anti-Semitism, an 105 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,840 accusation of anti-Semitism on campus. 106 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:05,080 And the the what she was trying to clean up was when she said to 107 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,600 the congressional committee, it all depends on the context. 108 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,680 Later on when she tried to clean it up, she said, well, that did 109 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,480 not reflect, quote UN quote her truth. 110 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,880 Have you heard people say that her truth, my truth, your truth? 111 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,800 Did we forget that there's just truth? 112 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,320 It isn't your version of it or my version of it. 113 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:37,520 It's just truth. Our culture is full of 114 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,880 conspiracy theories, right? The funny thing is, a lot of 115 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,280 them end up being proven to be true. 116 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,440 The Babylon B, which is a parody. 117 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:55,200 A parody site, A parody outlet. They like to make up fake news 118 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,760 stories, you know, that are supposed to be funny, to poke 119 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,480 fun at. People like The Onion. 120 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,360 They do that. And Seth Dillon, who's the CEO 121 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,720 of that satire site, said in March of 2023 that over 100 of 122 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,560 their jokes turned out to actually be true. 123 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,320 As I've already pointed out, social media has very little 124 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,200 relationship with the truth. And that would probably include 125 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,560 some of the posts that we post as well, you know, You know some 126 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:28,240 of those people you're actually are friends with some of those 127 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,840 people not just like fake friends but like real friends. 128 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,760 And you'll see them post something about themselves. 129 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,039 Like you have this really nice family shot. 130 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:40,600 You know, you got the husband and the wife, get the kids, you 131 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,919 know they're on the beach. They're really nice restaurant. 132 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:45,080 They're doing something like that, you know, everything's 133 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:50,880 just great and except and they have some caption that about how 134 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,000 great everything is except for, you know, them, you know, what's 135 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,120 actually going on in their life. Does that ever happened? 136 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,120 When you're like, how could they post that? 137 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,440 It's ridiculous. And think about all the ones 138 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,120 that you're looking at that you really don't know and how much 139 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,480 of that embellishment and ridiculousness is on there. 140 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,760 But it actually does have an effect on you because you start 141 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,080 wondering like, why isn't my life as happy as theirs? 142 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,160 This, or at least it looks that way. 143 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,440 Maybe it's because you're not actually experiencing the truth. 144 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,800 In that same book, Life Spotting, Pamela Meyer says 145 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,800 we're all against lying, but covertly we're for it. 146 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,840 So what are we left with? We're left with a culture that's 147 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,360 virtually without trust anymore. And it doesn't matter if we're 148 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,320 talking about politicians or pastors or the police or the 149 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,960 price of gas or higher education or health care or the news media 150 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,080 or mass marketing or marriage or civil rights or the Bill of 151 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:58,240 Rights or equal justice under the law. 152 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,600 We just don't have trust anymore. 153 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,240 And it's because we have real difficulty seeing through the 154 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,280 lens of truth. And why is that? 155 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,280 Isn't it because of all the lying that has saturated us in 156 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,560 both big ways and small ways? And where did that come from? 157 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,280 Well, you're not going to like the answer. 158 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,880 Steve Post says in his book that lying needs to be at the very 159 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:40,280 top of the list of bad habits, and biblically, he's absolutely 160 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:42,800 right. Do you know how far you have to 161 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,800 go in your Bible to to reach an epic lie? 162 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:54,680 Page 3, Page 3 right after God says everything is very good. 163 00:10:55,240 --> 00:11:00,360 Page three we read about it. Genesis chapter 3 verses one to 164 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:01,920 five. Now the serpent. 165 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:07,640 And we all know if you don't know, this is the devil is more 166 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,640 crafty than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had 167 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,760 made. And said to the woman. 168 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:21,440 Eve, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the 169 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,600 garden? The woman said to the serpent. 170 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,840 We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 171 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,720 you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of 172 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,680 the garden and you must not touch it or you'll die. 173 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:44,320 You will certainly not die, the serpent told said to the woman. 174 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,400 For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be 175 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:53,760 opened and you'll become like God, knowing good and evil. 176 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,880 This was the first lie recorded that was ever told and Satan 177 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,160 told it to Eve. Now this is how that lie was 178 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,240 formed. First thing he did was he 179 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:18,040 planted a question in her mind. Did God really say right? 180 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:23,040 And then he told her the lie was you won't, you won't die. 181 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,560 But death, the word death in the original language is thanatos, 182 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:33,600 which means separation. And the moment she ate of that 183 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,160 fruit, she was separated from God, right? 184 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,680 Death entered the world as a result, but she was separated 185 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,920 from God in that moment, and then he wrapped that lie in a 186 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,640 deception of truth or a perversion of truth. 187 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,280 What God really knows is that if you eat of this tree, you'll 188 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,640 become just like him. You'll know the difference 189 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,960 between good and evil. The the the problem with that is 190 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:03,760 they already were just like him. They were made in the image of 191 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,800 God, right? They were the children of God. 192 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,320 And when they broke that law, they didn't become more like 193 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:22,810 God, they became less like him. And what was the response? 194 00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:29,610 Most of us have heard the story. If she ate of the fruit, she 195 00:13:29,610 --> 00:13:32,410 gave it to her husband, Adam. He ate of the fruit, right? 196 00:13:32,690 --> 00:13:35,290 And immediately the Bible says they knew they were naked. 197 00:13:36,650 --> 00:13:41,530 And what did they do? Bible says that they gathered 198 00:13:42,170 --> 00:13:46,160 fig leaves and they wove them together in such a way to make a 199 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:50,600 covering for themselves because they were ashamed of their 200 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,280 nakedness and they wanted to hide their nakedness. 201 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,360 And then they found a place in the garden where they thought 202 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:02,440 they could hide from God. And isn't that our immediate 203 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,760 response? When we lie? 204 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,440 We want to hide. As a matter of fact, our lying 205 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:12,200 is a form of hiding. Why? 206 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,520 Because the truth is just too dangerous. 207 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:21,320 It's just too damaging. A singer and songwriter named 208 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,840 Mike Guglio Muchi wrote and performed a song for Hillsong 209 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:30,640 Records called You're My Healer, and it is an incredibly 210 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,800 beautiful song. We've sung it at the crossing 211 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:38,160 many times. It became a hit among churches 212 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,240 and believers, and part of that came from the writer's testimony 213 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,840 that went along with the song when he performed it. 214 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:53,080 You see, he had terminal cancer and he wrote the song out of his 215 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,200 cancer experience. As a matter of fact, often times 216 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:00,000 when he would perform, he would be wearing a cannula so that he 217 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,120 could have oxygen while he performed the song. 218 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,360 Only problem was that his cancer was completely fabricated. 219 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,600 He didn't have cancer at all. He wasn't even sick and he knew 220 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:20,360 it and he developed that lie to try and make the song popular. 221 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:25,520 He even deceived his own wife and family with his diagnosis 222 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,320 and they would drop him off at the hospital for non existent 223 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:35,160 cancer treatments. Now that's just one story, but 224 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:40,600 there are countless stories of the infamy of liars. 225 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,640 Now, my father, he taught me a lot of priceless things when I 226 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:49,040 was growing up, and he would put them in little phrases or axioms 227 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,720 so I would remember them. But one of his all time greats 228 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,280 was this. A man is only as good as his 229 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:01,600 word. If his word isn't any good, he 230 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,680 isn't any good. And I've kept that my whole 231 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:08,240 life. And I just lied to you. 232 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,480 Although that's a great thing to believe and to strive for, I 233 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:22,920 can't say that I have kept what my father taught me or I'd be 234 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,320 lying. Lying has a lot of forms, 235 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,360 doesn't it? It might be deception, where we 236 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,680 really emphasize the things that we want people to believe. 237 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,840 We really de emphasize the things we want people to not 238 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,600 believe or to not think about. And so we distort the truth. 239 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,240 That's still a lie. Or it might be gossip, right? 240 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,480 You might have a story that you want to tell about somebody, but 241 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,080 it's a game of telephone, and by the time it gets to the 20th 242 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,720 person, it's nothing like what was originally and originally. 243 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,720 It may have been wrong. So that lie compounds itself as 244 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:00,320 it goes through those generations. 245 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,720 You've experienced that I'm sure as well. 246 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:07,880 It might be cheating. It might be whatever you do, 247 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,960 like on a test, or what you might plagiarize. 248 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,480 It might be to your employer where you're lying about, like 249 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,240 the hours that you worked. It might be to the government. 250 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:21,359 When you talk about how many tax, how much tax you owe might 251 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:27,040 be flattery or exaggeration, or sometimes even silence might be 252 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,880 a promise that you made that you just failed to keep. 253 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:36,320 You see, we can lie in a number of ways and there are plenty of 254 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,600 different motives for it. But as we all know, lies 255 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:46,840 imprison us, and usually the result is telling more lies to 256 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:51,080 cover the initial lies. And that just increases our 257 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:55,120 sentence before God. You know, Jesus taught about 258 00:17:55,120 --> 00:18:01,360 lying and he actually connected it to a form of slavery because 259 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:05,080 it does imprison us. Look what it says in John 832. 260 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,360 Jesus said these words, beautiful words. 261 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,880 You will know the truth. You notice he doesn't say his 262 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:16,560 truth. The truth and the truth will set 263 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,840 you free. He said that in the context of 264 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:24,520 enslavement, and when you read the rest of the scripture around 265 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,280 it and the people that were listening to Jesus at that time, 266 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,880 they were believers. These weren't the scribes and 267 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:32,840 the Pharisees trying to catch him in something. 268 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,200 They were legitimately wanting him to teach them and look at 269 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,560 their response when he says this verse 33, they answered him. 270 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:47,960 We are Abraham's descendants and we have never been slaves of 271 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,840 anyone. How can you say that we shall be 272 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:57,320 set free? Boy, they have a bad memory. 273 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,880 What about the 400 years that they were enslaved in bondage in 274 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:09,320 Egypt, where Moses had to come right, and God used Moses to 275 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,760 deliver the nation of Israel? Forget that. 276 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,960 Did they? Forget the Roman occupation that 277 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:18,200 they were under right then? And how many things they 278 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:25,040 couldn't do because of that? And maybe this helps us to 279 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:30,760 understand the worst of all. The lies, the most insidious of 280 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,280 lies. And those are the lies we tell 281 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:41,680 ourselves. Maybe it's because the truth is 282 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:47,120 harder to hear. You remember the scene, Jack 283 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,400 Nicholson. You want the truth. 284 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:56,560 You can't handle the truth well. Jesus is about to give him a 285 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:02,120 really strong dose of truth in verse 43 and 44. 286 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,040 Why is my language not clear to you? 287 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,600 Because you are unable to hear what I say. 288 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,400 Here's a great way to grow a church. 289 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:19,720 You belong to your father, the devil. 290 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,720 That isn't going to win friends and influence people. 291 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:26,920 Your father is the is Satan himself. 292 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,080 These are people who believed in Jesus. 293 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,080 You want to carry out your father's desires? 294 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,240 Wow. Not only are you saying that my 295 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,360 my father's the devil, but you're saying I'm doing his 296 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:42,000 bidding. I'm doing what he wants me to 297 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,360 do. He was a murderer from the 298 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:45,920 beginning. Is that him calling us 299 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,040 murderers, not holding to the truth? 300 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:54,160 For there's no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his 301 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:59,320 native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 302 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:05,320 Wow. Well, now we know where lying 303 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,720 comes from. We can trace it all the way back 304 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,840 to that first lie in the garden. So maybe you're going. 305 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,240 Hey, if you hadn't noticed, Jerry, it's 9° below 0 outside, 306 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,560 and I came to church looking for a little hope. 307 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:27,760 Man. Could you help me out here just 308 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,640 a little bit? Give a guy a break. 309 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:34,160 All I've heard at this point is that lying is a big problem. 310 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,800 It's the root of why there's no trust in this world. 311 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,440 I'm guilty of it. We're all guilty of it. 312 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,840 We lie to each other. We lie to ourselves. 313 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,000 And that means that our father is the devil. 314 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:55,960 Well, happy New Year. Now go back to John 832, because 315 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,040 this is the point of what Jesus is saying. 316 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:06,720 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 317 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:15,800 He sees us imprisoned, enslaved to all of these habits and 318 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,480 strongholds in our lives of which lying is a part. 319 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,440 And he wants us to be set free. And he's willing to pay the 320 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,160 price so that we might be set free. 321 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:34,160 You see, lies enslave us, but truth sets us free, not. 322 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:39,840 Your truth has no power. My truth has no power, but the 323 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:46,880 truth does. That's why Jesus came to set us 324 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,880 free. Now he teaches us about this a 325 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,880 little bit later in John 14, same book, a little bit later. 326 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:58,120 And the setting is this. Jesus is celebrating Passover 327 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,560 with his disciples. It's the last Passover that 328 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,480 they're going to celebrate together, because within 24 329 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,440 hours Jesus will have died on the cross. 330 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,480 OK? And they're in the upper room in 331 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:14,160 Jerusalem and they've, they've set up this Passover meal. 332 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,720 And then Jesus begins to teach and he changes the meaning of 333 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,400 the emblems that they're that they're eating and drinking. 334 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,400 When he says, this bread is my body broken for you do this in 335 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,920 remembrance of me. This cup is the new covenant in 336 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,040 my blood. Drink. 337 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,760 All of it. It's shed for many for the 338 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:38,960 remission of sin, You know, he says this to them. 339 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,600 And then you know he he has these beautiful words that go 340 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,760 along with it. Let not your heart be troubled. 341 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,560 You believe in God. Believe also in me, my father's 342 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,240 house, or many mansions. If it weren't so, I would have 343 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,640 told you I go to prepare a place for you. 344 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,880 And if I go to prepare a place for you, I'll come again receive 345 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,520 you to myself. That where I am, there you may 346 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,680 be also where I go, where I go, you know, in the way you know. 347 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:10,480 And Thomas said, hold on, Jesus, we don't know where you're 348 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,840 going. And how can we know the way? 349 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:22,440 Totally confused. And then we read John 14-6. 350 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:28,240 Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 351 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:33,280 No one comes to the Father except through me. 352 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,080 Jesus doesn't come to show us the way. 353 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:43,440 He is the way. Jesus doesn't come to teach us 354 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:44,960 the truth. He is the truth. 355 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,960 Jesus doesn't come to help us find a new life. 356 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:59,160 He is life. He's identified Jesus. 357 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,520 And when we are in Jesus, we are in these things. 358 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,800 First of all, Jesus is the way. The way to where? 359 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,840 The way to where? The way to heaven. 360 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,160 The way to the Father. The way to eternity. 361 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,520 The way to salvation. The way that leads me away from 362 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,160 all that I am and all that I've done into all that He has 363 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,800 prepared for me. The fact that He has adopted me 364 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,320 away from the slavery of my sin and the other strongholds of my 365 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:36,440 life and all the things that I have done to myself. 366 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,680 He is the way. He's the truth. 367 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,280 He gives me an unfiltered understanding of reality so that 368 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,560 I know who I am, what this world is, what eternity holds. 369 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,840 He answers my deepest questions. Who am I? 370 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,280 Where did I come from? Where am I going? 371 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,840 And by the way, everybody that's trying to tell you something 372 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:08,240 else is just selling you something because he's the truth 373 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:15,560 and Jesus is life. He shows me my place in this 374 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,680 world. He fills me with meaning and 375 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,400 purpose. He shows me that he designed an 376 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,920 upper story for my life, that he wants me to walk in and he has 377 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,360 overcome death to give me eternal life with him. 378 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,680 So my answer is not running away from lying. 379 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:38,840 It's running the truth. And by the way, running the 380 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:44,120 truth is running to Jesus. It's embracing the freedom that 381 00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:47,160 only he can give me. And it's walking with him on the 382 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,800 shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. Now some of you are going, what? 383 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:56,040 What does that mean, walking on the shoreline to see a Galilee? 384 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:59,960 Well, why don't you, along with me, think of probably one of the 385 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:04,680 most epic lies that was ever perpetrated, and it was by a man 386 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:10,440 named Simon Peter. Because when Jesus was done with 387 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,840 that Last Supper, that communion, they went down to the 388 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,160 garden of Gethsemane and they prayed. 389 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,760 And Jesus stood awful ways and he was praying by himself. 390 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,240 And the others went to sleep and soldiers came to arrest Jesus in 391 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,640 the middle of the night. You you may remember this. 392 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:29,880 And and Jesus was arrested and a lot of the disciples scattered. 393 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,160 But Simon Peter followed along. And when they took him to the 394 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,080 House of the high priest Caiaphas, Simon Peter was in the 395 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:38,960 courtyard. And somebody looked at Simon 396 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,480 Peter in the fire light and recognized him. 397 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,680 And he said, aren't you one of his disciples? 398 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:47,120 And what did he do? He lied. 399 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,400 I I don't know. I don't know him. 400 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:56,080 Someone else noticed him and called him out for the same 401 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:57,400 thing. He goes, I tell you, I don't. 402 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:04,840 I don't know him lied again. And then someone else called him 403 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,680 out, and the Bible says that this time he was so incensed 404 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,440 that he cursed when he said it. I do not know him. 405 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,120 And you know what he did after that? 406 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,840 He hid. Sound familiar? 407 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:27,640 Went out and wept. Bitterly lied. 408 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,560 We call it denial, but it was just lying. 409 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,440 But maybe you recall, after Jesus had paid his debt, and my 410 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,480 debt and your debt on the cross, and then rose from the dead to 411 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:47,400 prove that he had power over death, Simon Peter after a while 412 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,840 decided to go back to the sea of Galley, back to his fishing 413 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,840 business. And one morning after they 414 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,920 hadn't caught anything, someone yells from the shore, as the 415 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,000 dawn was breaking, they cast your Nets on the other side of 416 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,640 the boat, which is something Jesus said at the very beginning 417 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,880 of his relationship with Simon Peter. 418 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,080 And they did. And there were so many fish that 419 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,520 they could hardly take in the catch. 420 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,960 And Simon Peter comes to the shore, and they had breakfast 421 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,520 with all of them together. And then Jesus said, Simon, we 422 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,840 need to take a walk. And they took a walk on the 423 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:31,240 shore of the Sea of Galilee. And when they did, Jesus didn't 424 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,600 call him Peter. That was what he renamed him to. 425 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:35,360 He called him Simon. And matter of fact, he said, 426 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,560 Simon, son of John, do you love me? 427 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,960 Use the word Agapeo, which means the ultimate self sacrificial 428 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,360 love. And Simon answers him, Lord, you 429 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,720 know I love you. But he uses the word filet O in 430 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:51,600 the Greek, which means brotherly love. 431 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:57,400 It's a lower kind of love. And Jesus said feed my sheep. 432 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,800 Simon's son of John do you love me, says it again. 433 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:08,080 Agapeo. Simon Peter says, Lord, I do 434 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:13,240 love you. Phileo lower kind of love feed 435 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,720 my lambs. Jesus says third time Jesus says 436 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,000 Simon son of John do you love me this time? 437 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,000 Jesus says Phileo, brotherly love. 438 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,960 The Bible says that Simon Peter was hurt, cut to his heart 439 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,520 because Jesus asked him the third time because he knew what 440 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,400 was going on, right? He knew that he denied him. 441 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:35,960 He knew that he lied three times. 442 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,200 And this was the third time Jesus asked. 443 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,800 But he also knew that Jesus used the different term, the lower 444 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,440 term. Phileo, do you love me? 445 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,920 And he said, Lord, you know all things. 446 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,480 You know that I love you feed my sheep. 447 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:01,360 You know what I love about that is that comes from an old 448 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:06,480 quartet song I used to sing. He came down to my level when I 449 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,160 couldn't get up to his. With a strong arm, he lifted me 450 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:20,440 up to know what living is. You see, I'm just like Simon 451 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:22,520 Peter. So are you. 452 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,240 And what we need is a walk on the shoreline of the Sea of 453 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,960 Galilee. What we need is a little quality 454 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,960 time with Jesus. And let me tell you what that 455 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:36,760 looks like. It starts with owning it. 456 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,040 Own it. Don't let that lie that you've 457 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:47,000 let saturate in your own that you tell yourself have dominance 458 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:48,560 inside of you. Acknowledge it. 459 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,760 It means an intellectual understanding without 460 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,560 rationalizing. It's the first beatitude of the 461 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,840 beatitudes that Jesus talked about in Matthew chapter 5. 462 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,840 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of 463 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,760 heaven. What does it mean to be poor in 464 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,560 spirit? To be spiritually poor? 465 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,520 To realize that you don't measure up spiritually. 466 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,680 Own it. But it's not enough to just know 467 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,680 that in your head, and that's why the 2nd Beatitude is blessed 468 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,800 are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 469 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,360 Because you're not just an intellectual person, you're an 470 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,200 emotional person too. You don't just think things, you 471 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,840 feel things right. And so we need to have an 472 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,600 emotional response to an intellectual understanding. 473 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,840 We need to repent of our sin, which means to have a godly 474 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,760 sorrow over that. That's what it means to own it. 475 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,360 And when you do that, you begin to experience your spiritual 476 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:50,920 freedom, and then it moves to practical reinforcement that 477 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:52,920 needs to be reinforced in your life. 478 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:56,560 When the stronghold comes down, you need to replace the bad 479 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:58,360 habits with the good habits, right? 480 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,440 Be honest with each other. Speak the truth, but speak it 481 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:05,240 with love and with grace. Make yourself accountable to 482 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:09,160 people. People that you trust that you 483 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,600 can show your dirty laundry to and they won't reject you for 484 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,960 it. Avoid situations that push you 485 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,760 back to the bad habit and embrace situations that 486 00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,000 reinforce the good habits. If you're a drunk and your way 487 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,240 home from work goes by three bars, find another way home. 488 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,400 Because I guarantee you Satan will have people out in the 489 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:38,000 parking lot going, hey, dude, come on right, Reinforce the 490 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,800 good ones. Avoid the bad ones. 491 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,160 And finally I want to close with this. 492 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,280 Celebrate the winds. How do I do that? 493 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,240 How do you celebrate the winds? Do you remember? 494 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:52,800 Some of you may? I preached A sermon quite a 495 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,960 while ago and I ended it by saying I, I, I take this 496 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,480 medicine. I call it my my 290 twos. 497 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,520 Do you remember my 290 twos? Maybe not. 498 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,480 If you don't, this will be great, because it'd be the first 499 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:13,800 time you heard it in Psalm 92, the first verse and the second 500 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:15,520 verse. It says it is good to praise the 501 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,440 Lord, to make music to your name almost high. 502 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,560 And then it says this to proclaim your love in the 503 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,080 morning and your faithfulness at night. 504 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,920 Those are my 290 twos, to proclaim your love in the 505 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,000 morning and your faithfulness at night. 506 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:42,679 What does it mean to proclaim his love in the morning before 507 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,080 you ever get out of bed? And I'd love to. 508 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,159 I'd love to tell you I do this every day, but if I did, I would 509 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:50,440 be lying. But to proclaim his love in the 510 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,239 morning means before you do anything else, before you goof 511 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,960 yourself up and anybody else up and make a mess of life and face 512 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,760 the challenges and all that you need to tell yourself. 513 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:05,320 God, no matter what, I know that you love me. 514 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,120 I absolutely know that you love me. 515 00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:10,680 I don't hope that you love me. I don't want you to. 516 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:15,080 I just know it's a fact. You love me. 517 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:17,680 And if I ever wondered about that, all I have to do is look 518 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:20,120 back at what your son Jesus did on the cross. 519 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,200 Because that's a perfect picture of the fact that you love me 520 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,600 even while I'm still a Sinner. Romans 5/8. 521 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,640 You love me and you love me today. 522 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:30,440 And I know no matter what I face today. 523 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,120 I know that you love me. That's going to make your day a 524 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:35,360 better day. I guarantee it. 525 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,360 But you don't know what that day is going to hold, right? 526 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:45,320 So what do you do when it's the end of the day before you close 527 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:49,960 your eyes and go to sleep, to proclaim his love in the morning 528 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,600 and his faithfulness at night? You get to the end of that day. 529 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:56,880 You want to look back on that day. 530 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,240 All the challenges, all the failures, all the misses, all 531 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:02,840 the wins, all the glory, all the good stuff and all of it. 532 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:05,160 And you say, you know what, God, here we are. 533 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,960 We're still together. You've been faithful to me. 534 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,400 You didn't leave me. You didn't forsake me. 535 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:14,720 You're still here. You are still here. 536 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:18,000 And it'll celebrate those winds, the things that happened, that 537 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:23,960 that gave God glory that day. Because God is a faithful God. 538 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,800 And even when we're faithless, the Bible says he's faithful 539 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,880 because he cannot disown himself. 540 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:35,480 And I guarantee you it's going to make tomorrow a better day if 541 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:46,760 you ended this day with that 92. The question is what are you 542 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:51,680 going to do right now? We're moving to a time of 543 00:36:51,680 --> 00:37:02,160 decision. You know, I don't think that you 544 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:09,200 get up on a day where it's 15 or 16 below 0 and make the effort. 545 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:19,360 Hopefully your car started. But for whatever reason, you're 546 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,400 here. And I know some of you are 547 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,640 online right now and you said probably not a good idea for me 548 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:28,440 to get out. It's all right. 549 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,880 That's OK, because I'm glad you're hearing this. 550 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:44,200 That no matter what, our God loves us and is faithful to us. 551 00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:47,120 And Jesus is the perfect picture of that. 552 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:59,040 And I want you to hear me. You need Jesus, and I need 553 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:03,800 Jesus. I mean really bad. 554 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:16,800 Some of you have been trying to manage your life, control the 555 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,960 things that are strongholds in your life. 556 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:24,200 And if you were honest with yourself and not lying to 557 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,440 yourself, you'd have to honestly realize that you don't do a very 558 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,280 consistent job of that You really struggle with it. 559 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:39,680 And that's why we need a Savior. There's a scripture that says 560 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:46,000 come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 561 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:50,720 give you a rest. And I think that Jesus looks at 562 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:58,320 us and pities us because we're working so hard and we're trying 563 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:03,360 so hard and we fail over and over again. 564 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:10,080 And he wants you to understand that he did all the heavy 565 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:17,440 lifting when he died on that cross, that you don't need to 566 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:21,080 trust in yourself anymore. You need to just trust in him. 567 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:29,080 He's the way. And if you want life, real life, 568 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:35,240 he's life. So you need to respond to the 569 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:41,760 truth which has come to Jesus. And if you're here today and 570 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,880 you've never entered into an intimate, personal relationship 571 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:50,200 with Jesus, I'm not talking about going to church, Although 572 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,840 I'm really glad you're here. Here's an opportunity for you to 573 00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,400 come to Jesus. There's going to be somebody 574 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,560 right over there by that baptistry loved nothing more. 575 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:03,200 And to talk to you about what your next steps could be, Pray 576 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:07,360 with you and we sing in a moment. 577 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,080 Just go up there. Be vulnerable for a moment. 578 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:21,320 God won't disappoint you. Many of us here today have a 579 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,600 relationship with Jesus that we're thankful for and we rely 580 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:30,720 on. But that doesn't mean that you 581 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:35,200 don't try so often to sit in his seat. 582 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:39,800 You know what I mean? Like the throne of your life and 583 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,920 things get goofed up and you start trying to hold it all up 584 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:49,320 on your own and trying to manage all of the difficulty and you 585 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:54,280 just get exhausted. I remember one time somebody 586 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,280 said, why do you have people come up and get down on their 587 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:57,680 knees? Doesn't that humiliate them? 588 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:05,080 And I'm like, no, they're just kids going to their dad and 589 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:13,680 they're saying I need help and he gives it to them. 590 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:19,960 Why wouldn't we want that? Maybe you. 591 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,080 It may be somebody that you love and care for. 592 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:26,480 But whatever burden you might be carrying today, why don't you 593 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:27,960 bring it up to the Lord and let him have it? 594 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:32,560 Just let him have it. He'll hear that prayer. 595 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,080 Would you stand with me? Let's pray together. 596 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,480 Heavenly Father, in Jesus name, please, please. 597 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:46,400 I pray that you would that you would remove any stronghold 598 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:48,840 around our heart right now. Just so that we cannot. 599 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,360 Not vulnerable to me, not vulnerable to anybody in this 600 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:56,240 room, but vulnerable to just you, your presence, your Son, 601 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:59,080 Jesus, your Holy Spirit. Father, I pray that we'll just 602 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:03,720 be vulnerable enough to you right now to hear what it is 603 00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:15,940 that we need to hear that still small voice and then respond so 604 00:42:15,940 --> 00:42:21,240 that we can have rest. We can lay our burdens down. 605 00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:28,000 Trust in you, I pray, in Jesus name. 606 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:28,960 Amen.