1 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:10,950 Good morning, good morning. This is a great, this is a great 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,590 Sunday. I love that in the first year 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,630 that we've been here, there are so many first Sundays of new 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:18,110 things that we get to experience. 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,670 And today is one of those days. So I'm I'm pumped to be here and 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,440 to celebrate with our grads and to see all of the blood. 7 00:00:25,450 --> 00:00:27,730 They're stacked right there. I don't know if you've come and 8 00:00:27,740 --> 00:00:29,840 checked them out yet, but the blankets are there, they're 9 00:00:29,850 --> 00:00:34,110 waiting, they're ready for you. And so it is, it's a wonderful 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,250 day. So welcome, if you are new, if 11 00:00:36,260 --> 00:00:38,740 you're visiting, if you are a guest, I love that you would 12 00:00:38,750 --> 00:00:42,480 show up on a day like today because in so many different 13 00:00:42,490 --> 00:00:44,360 ways. I think you get to see a little 14 00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:48,260 bit about who we are as a church and what is important. 15 00:00:48,270 --> 00:00:51,380 And there's cake. That's always a good day to show 16 00:00:51,390 --> 00:00:53,660 up. It's like the most ice. 17 00:00:53,990 --> 00:00:56,620 I say. It's like the most Presbyterian 18 00:00:56,630 --> 00:01:01,740 thing we do is have big slab cakes at the end of important 19 00:01:01,750 --> 00:01:03,860 Sundays like this. But it is, this is a great day. 20 00:01:03,870 --> 00:01:07,700 And it is a day that we get to pray for and bless and send our 21 00:01:07,710 --> 00:01:11,940 grads off onto their next whatever it is into work into 22 00:01:11,950 --> 00:01:14,790 school. We just love that we get to do 23 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,590 that and we will celebrate communion today. 24 00:01:17,660 --> 00:01:21,150 And right now what we're going to do is if you're brand new to 25 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,170 church, open up the Bible, read for a little bit to pray 26 00:01:24,180 --> 00:01:28,650 together and spend some time reflecting on on Jesus's 27 00:01:28,660 --> 00:01:32,050 teaching. So we are in Luke chapter 6. 28 00:01:32,130 --> 00:01:37,430 And eventually it'll be up on the board behind me here up on 29 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,710 the overheads. But what I want to do is just 30 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,490 kind of slow us down prey. And then read through this these 31 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:48,190 verses together, verse 43. If you do want to follow along 32 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,920 chapter 6, verse 43 through to the end of the chapter and we'll 33 00:01:52,930 --> 00:01:55,060 get into some of this. But what you need to know if you 34 00:01:55,070 --> 00:02:00,400 are flying in new to where we have been is something called 35 00:02:00,410 --> 00:02:03,440 the sermon on the plane. This is Jesus's teaching about 36 00:02:03,450 --> 00:02:07,500 life inside the Kingdom and these verses wrap up that 37 00:02:07,510 --> 00:02:10,000 teaching. So we've spent now a month 38 00:02:10,009 --> 00:02:14,460 looking at various teachings on what Jesus invites us into and 39 00:02:14,470 --> 00:02:18,390 what he challenges us toward as the church as followers of Jesus 40 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,160 together as a community and here this kind of this wraps it all 41 00:02:22,170 --> 00:02:23,460 up. We are going to get to a point 42 00:02:23,470 --> 00:02:26,840 where he finally says, OK, now go and do you spend enough time 43 00:02:26,850 --> 00:02:30,620 sitting and listening here and now go and kind of get after it 44 00:02:30,630 --> 00:02:32,900 is is how it ends. But let me pray. 45 00:02:33,410 --> 00:02:37,020 I want to read these verses for us, and then we'll work our way 46 00:02:37,030 --> 00:02:40,610 through. God, thanks for your love and 47 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:43,470 for your grace. Thanks that you're with us, and 48 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:47,290 we're grateful that you have something for each one of us, 49 00:02:47,300 --> 00:02:50,480 whether we are brand new to the Bible and Jesus, to who you are 50 00:02:50,490 --> 00:02:54,850 and to your teaching, whether we have been around for what might 51 00:02:54,860 --> 00:02:58,010 be 30, forty, 50-60 years and beyond. 52 00:02:58,020 --> 00:03:02,590 God thinks that you are one who continues to reveal these new 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,710 things to us that stir our hearts and our minds toward you 54 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,810 and toward action in the world. God, I pray that that's what you 55 00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:12,410 would do today for us as a church, as a community. 56 00:03:12,740 --> 00:03:15,980 Would you remind us what life is all about? 57 00:03:16,290 --> 00:03:17,920 So as we read this, speak to us now. 58 00:03:17,930 --> 00:03:21,160 We need you to do it. Pray these things in Jesus your 59 00:03:21,170 --> 00:03:27,540 strong name, man. So Luke 6 starting at 43, says, 60 00:03:27,550 --> 00:03:32,840 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree 61 00:03:32,850 --> 00:03:36,780 bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its 62 00:03:36,790 --> 00:03:39,460 fruit. For figs are not gathered from 63 00:03:39,470 --> 00:03:43,200 thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a Bramble Bush. 64 00:03:43,250 --> 00:03:46,800 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces 65 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:51,900 good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil. 66 00:03:52,130 --> 00:03:55,200 For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 67 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,460 Why do you call me Lord? Lord, and do not and and not do? 68 00:04:00,470 --> 00:04:05,990 Sorry what I tell you, Everyone who comes to me and hears my 69 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,730 words and does them, I will show you what he is like. 70 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,130 He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the 71 00:04:13,140 --> 00:04:16,110 foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the 72 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,930 stream broke against that house and could not shake it because 73 00:04:19,940 --> 00:04:23,730 it had been well built. But the one who hears and does 74 00:04:23,740 --> 00:04:26,830 not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground 75 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:30,110 without a foundation. When the stream broke against 76 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:36,430 it, immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great. 77 00:04:38,180 --> 00:04:43,100 So we have two images or two analogies, 2 stories to wrap up 78 00:04:43,110 --> 00:04:46,740 Jesus sermon on the plane. So on the one hand, we get this 79 00:04:46,750 --> 00:04:50,180 image of a tree and its fruit. The second image, the house and 80 00:04:50,190 --> 00:04:52,900 its foundation. And really what I want us to 81 00:04:52,910 --> 00:04:55,270 hear and especially for those of us who've been working our way 82 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:57,900 through all the way through the sermon on the plane and maybe 83 00:04:57,910 --> 00:04:59,990 longer all the way through this Gospel of Luke. 84 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,540 And for those of you who I know been coming out on Wednesday to 85 00:05:02,550 --> 00:05:06,140 Bible study like this serves as the conclusion. 86 00:05:06,150 --> 00:05:09,320 The final point to Jesus is teaching about life inside the 87 00:05:09,330 --> 00:05:11,800 Kingdom of God. Jesus is going to continue to 88 00:05:11,810 --> 00:05:13,850 teach about what life is like outside the Kingdom. 89 00:05:13,860 --> 00:05:17,130 He is going to continue to live it out, to show it, demonstrate 90 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,110 through healings and miracles. He is going to clash with 91 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,990 religious teachers and other people. 92 00:05:23,220 --> 00:05:26,630 All of it is going to continue to unfold what the Kingdom looks 93 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,630 like. But this really wraps up this, 94 00:05:29,700 --> 00:05:33,870 this teaching that we call the sermon on the plane and the 95 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,410 sermon on the plane, What we've been focusing on through this 96 00:05:36,420 --> 00:05:41,250 whole month is living in alignment with God's Kingdom. 97 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:44,600 What does it look like to live inside of God's Kingdom? 98 00:05:44,610 --> 00:05:48,840 What does it look like to live on the way as you go, aligning 99 00:05:49,020 --> 00:05:53,860 all of the areas of your life with the Kingdom of God, all of 100 00:05:53,870 --> 00:05:55,540 it. Not compartmentalizing, not 101 00:05:55,550 --> 00:05:59,830 leaving some pieces out because I'd rather keep this, you know, 102 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:03,430 over here and I'd rather keep my church life over here and 103 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,950 looking at together, What does it look like as a whole 104 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,050 integrated life, not disintegrated like we talked 105 00:06:11,060 --> 00:06:14,520 about last week, integrated into the Kingdom of God. 106 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,750 One of the things that we have said from the beginning of this 107 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,810 series is that living inside of alignment with God's Kingdom 108 00:06:22,820 --> 00:06:27,710 will put you at odds with other kingdoms and alternate kings. 109 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,870 And I don't know if you felt that over these last few weeks 110 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,660 that some of the things that Jesus challenges us toward 111 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,310 starts to feel like it impinges or encroaches on other areas, 112 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,630 other kingdoms, other kings, other things that try to 113 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:47,600 influence your life. God's Kingdom clashes, and it 114 00:06:47,610 --> 00:06:52,170 clashes with our kingdoms, with my Kingdom, like so many times. 115 00:06:52,660 --> 00:06:57,150 Our wants, our desire is what we would rather prioritize and 116 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:02,520 elevate and what we would even begin to worship is confronted 117 00:07:02,530 --> 00:07:06,450 by God's Kingdom. Mark Sayers, and I've quoted him 118 00:07:06,460 --> 00:07:10,090 before, he puts it like this. He says we can tend to once the 119 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:15,950 Kingdom, all of the goodness of life inside the Kingdom without 120 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,960 the king. Secularism. 121 00:07:18,970 --> 00:07:23,980 I think our cultural moment, the driving ethos and Canada today 122 00:07:24,070 --> 00:07:27,460 will take that a step further and actually declare that you 123 00:07:27,470 --> 00:07:32,670 are your own king, of your own Kingdom, and that the best thing 124 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,270 you can do is to be true to yourself. 125 00:07:37,740 --> 00:07:42,750 Jesus though says you were made for more then worshipping 126 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,680 yourself and simply living to serve your own passions. 127 00:07:48,830 --> 00:07:51,510 And So what have we seen? We've seen Jesus declare blessed 128 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,760 are you who are upside down, And it's a little confusing. 129 00:07:54,770 --> 00:08:00,250 Poor blessed are you who are poor, who are hungry, who mourn, 130 00:08:00,260 --> 00:08:03,650 who are excluded, who are hated. He says on account of me, on 131 00:08:03,660 --> 00:08:07,470 account of Jesus. And he's challenged us to live a 132 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,250 little bit upside down, to love our enemies and to pray for 133 00:08:11,260 --> 00:08:14,330 those who hate us. To lend without expecting 134 00:08:14,340 --> 00:08:17,630 anything in return, expecting to even be repaid. 135 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:19,970 To forgive. Not only to forgive, but to give 136 00:08:19,980 --> 00:08:24,900 an extra measure of grace, He says, go further. 137 00:08:25,130 --> 00:08:30,560 Be generous to live so generously, he says, that 138 00:08:30,570 --> 00:08:33,679 actually it can't really be measured accurately anyway. 139 00:08:34,770 --> 00:08:37,299 Live authentically with integrity. 140 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:43,110 Follow Jesus as the only teacher and master the King of God's 141 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:46,690 Kingdom. All of that we see wrapped up 142 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,420 today. So we continue reading or read 143 00:08:50,430 --> 00:08:55,400 again. For no good tree bears bad 144 00:08:55,450 --> 00:08:59,230 fruit. No good tree bears bad fruit and 145 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,560 organ does a bad tree bear good fruit. 146 00:09:02,570 --> 00:09:07,900 For each tree is known by its own fruit. 147 00:09:07,950 --> 00:09:11,700 And one of the things that I hope that you begin to do and I 148 00:09:11,710 --> 00:09:14,540 hope we begin to do as a church, and this is not in my manuscript 149 00:09:14,550 --> 00:09:19,320 and this is an in doing this is helpful because you get to see 150 00:09:19,330 --> 00:09:20,780 it. I'm a really visual learner, so 151 00:09:20,790 --> 00:09:23,540 it actually helps me as well, selfishly a little bit. 152 00:09:23,590 --> 00:09:25,760 But one of the things I hope that it encourages you to do is 153 00:09:25,850 --> 00:09:28,530 actually write some of this down inside your own Bible. 154 00:09:28,900 --> 00:09:31,170 Each tree is known by its own fruit. 155 00:09:31,180 --> 00:09:34,350 That's a great one to highlight for figs are not gathered from 156 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,430 thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a Bramble Bush. 157 00:09:37,500 --> 00:09:43,270 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces 158 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,870 good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil. 159 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:53,030 For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 160 00:09:54,390 --> 00:09:57,380 Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but this is a 161 00:09:57,390 --> 00:10:00,860 grapefruit tree. This this is a grapefruit tree. 162 00:10:00,910 --> 00:10:03,720 And you would know that if you came around to this side. 163 00:10:03,770 --> 00:10:08,480 It says grapefruit on it. That's about the only way you 164 00:10:08,490 --> 00:10:10,660 would be able to tell it's a grapefruit. 165 00:10:10,670 --> 00:10:13,010 You know, it's a grapefruit tree and I understand probably there 166 00:10:13,020 --> 00:10:17,750 are some of you here who might be able to identify this as a 167 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,210 grapefruit tree if you looked closely. 168 00:10:21,130 --> 00:10:23,630 I'm not one of them. I had to double check, but we 169 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,820 got a fig tree outside and a grapefruit tree and all they 170 00:10:26,830 --> 00:10:29,080 listen. I'm glad it says grapefruit 171 00:10:29,090 --> 00:10:31,060 because they could be the same one. 172 00:10:31,070 --> 00:10:32,940 To me. There isn't about the same state 173 00:10:32,950 --> 00:10:36,260 of health as well. It needs two people. 174 00:10:36,270 --> 00:10:38,180 I had two people today. I was bringing this in this 175 00:10:38,190 --> 00:10:40,530 morning ahead of time, like most of you were not here yet. 176 00:10:40,540 --> 00:10:42,670 I had two people say that tree needs prayer. 177 00:10:44,740 --> 00:10:46,770 Two separate people, different ends of the building. 178 00:10:46,780 --> 00:10:48,310 It does. It absolutely does. 179 00:10:49,660 --> 00:10:53,300 It is not bearing fruit. Not only is it not bearing bad 180 00:10:53,310 --> 00:10:55,100 fruit, it's just not bearing fruit, period. 181 00:10:55,110 --> 00:10:57,320 Which, you know, yeah, part of the point. 182 00:10:58,690 --> 00:11:00,390 But here's the thing. This could be, I could tell you 183 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,680 this is an orange tree or a lemon tree. 184 00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:07,270 I could tell you it's an orange or lemon tree. 185 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,660 And probably there's very little way for you to tell right now 186 00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:13,920 because it's not bearing any fruit. 187 00:11:15,910 --> 00:11:19,420 And hopefully eventually one day, if it's healthy and we ever 188 00:11:19,430 --> 00:11:22,240 get out of this perpetual kind of like never, you know, never 189 00:11:22,250 --> 00:11:26,930 spring, only fall kind of weather it might get enough sun 190 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,000 to begin to grow and eventually it'll bear fruit. 191 00:11:30,010 --> 00:11:35,940 This is a great fruit tree and we will know that when it bears 192 00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:41,090 grapefruit. I can't turn it into something 193 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,350 that it's not. It will bear fruit or it won't 194 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,650 bear fruit, that's for sure, based on its health and how well 195 00:11:46,660 --> 00:11:48,250 we take care of it and how much sun he gets. 196 00:11:48,340 --> 00:11:53,640 But it's only ever, at best, gonna produce grapefruits. 197 00:11:54,260 --> 00:11:57,380 That's all it will produce. Don't get me started on broccoli 198 00:11:57,390 --> 00:11:59,420 and cauliflower and Brussels sprouts and kale and cabbage, 199 00:11:59,430 --> 00:12:01,490 because apparently they're all somehow the same plant. 200 00:12:02,350 --> 00:12:04,260 We're not gonna talk about that. You get the point. 201 00:12:05,940 --> 00:12:10,190 A fig won't bear the fruit of a grapefruit tree. 202 00:12:11,430 --> 00:12:13,990 It isn't going to, like, spontaneously change into 203 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:15,770 something that it isn't. It's not going to just 204 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:17,310 miraculously change. Equally. 205 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,950 Like no matter how hard I try and water it and tend for it and 206 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,530 care for it and give it food, like there's no amount of 207 00:12:23,540 --> 00:12:27,000 selective breeding or training or watering or magic plant food 208 00:12:27,010 --> 00:12:32,490 that I can put onto this tree to turn it into something that it's 209 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:38,610 not, to make it bear fruit that it is not designed to bear. 210 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:50,790 And Jesus says for each tree is known by its own fruit, each 211 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:56,970 tree is known by its own fruit. The fruit, Jesus says, betrays 212 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,000 the tree. Good or bad, healthy or rotten, 213 00:13:01,010 --> 00:13:07,280 edible or poisonous, little or big, the fruit allows you to 214 00:13:07,290 --> 00:13:12,510 know. The tree and what you produce 215 00:13:12,780 --> 00:13:19,230 allows you to clearly see and know who and what you are, the 216 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,970 state of your heart. Now, I don't know about you, but 217 00:13:23,980 --> 00:13:27,530 I immediately read these lines and I begin asking questions. 218 00:13:27,540 --> 00:13:30,970 And they're good questions, but they can be a little bit 219 00:13:30,980 --> 00:13:34,400 misleading at points. What fruit am I bearing? 220 00:13:35,870 --> 00:13:40,380 How do I bear good fruit and and what is a good tree and what is 221 00:13:40,390 --> 00:13:42,980 bad fruit anyways? What does it mean to bear bad 222 00:13:42,990 --> 00:13:46,300 fruit and how about good fruit? What does that look like and how 223 00:13:46,310 --> 00:13:48,620 do I see it in my own life? Where do I see it? 224 00:13:48,630 --> 00:13:52,180 How can I know I'm producing good fruit and not bad fruit? 225 00:13:52,190 --> 00:13:58,710 Am I good or am I bad? Where is there sin in my life? 226 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,610 How can I overcome it? How can I stop doing the thing 227 00:14:01,620 --> 00:14:05,250 that I no longer want to do but somehow always find myself 228 00:14:05,300 --> 00:14:09,650 returning to? And I think what ends up 229 00:14:09,660 --> 00:14:18,210 happening is that at best we think that the input determines 230 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:24,690 the output. Like if I maybe if I read my 231 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:27,840 Bible enough, like is that is that good fruit? 232 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:35,270 If I go to church enough, if I pray enough times or the right 233 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,890 words in the right way at the right time, if I listen to only 234 00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:41,990 good music, how? If I only watch good movies and 235 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,750 TV shows like all that I consume, if everything that I 236 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,860 input into my life is good, then then maybe I will be good. 237 00:14:48,940 --> 00:14:53,190 Also. If I consume enough good things, 238 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,850 surely then I eventually will be like those things. 239 00:14:56,860 --> 00:15:00,720 I will be good. And yes, what you put in 240 00:15:00,730 --> 00:15:03,620 matters. What you input into your life 241 00:15:03,630 --> 00:15:05,320 matters. Anybody who's accidentally put 242 00:15:05,330 --> 00:15:09,900 diesel into a gasoline vehicle will tell you that it matters. 243 00:15:10,030 --> 00:15:15,120 The input matters, but the problem I think that we can have 244 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,140 and I, I think we, Christian or not, inside the church, 245 00:15:21,150 --> 00:15:24,560 wrestling with faith, doubt, wondering about any of it, all 246 00:15:24,570 --> 00:15:28,560 of it, all of us, is that we can put all our emphasis on the 247 00:15:28,570 --> 00:15:33,810 fruit, good or bad, Everything becomes about the fruit. 248 00:15:33,820 --> 00:15:36,440 Am I producing good fruit or am I producing bad fruit? 249 00:15:36,490 --> 00:15:39,940 How do I stop the bad fruit? How do I focus on it enough to 250 00:15:39,950 --> 00:15:42,740 get it out of my life? And how do I just begin doing 251 00:15:42,750 --> 00:15:44,880 good things? And maybe even as I'm going to 252 00:15:44,890 --> 00:15:47,640 take that bad thing and I will stop and I'm going to replace it 253 00:15:47,650 --> 00:15:52,600 with a good thing and I go look, great things to think about and 254 00:15:52,670 --> 00:15:55,500 do. But the problem with it, Jesus 255 00:15:55,510 --> 00:16:00,050 says, I think, is this. You're only focusing still on 256 00:16:00,060 --> 00:16:06,500 external things, the good and the bad that you do, and not 257 00:16:06,510 --> 00:16:11,150 getting at the heart of who you really are. 258 00:16:14,190 --> 00:16:18,290 The problem when we emphasize the fruit is that we never get 259 00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:22,670 to the deeper heart work that Jesus wants to do in our lives. 260 00:16:23,510 --> 00:16:26,720 All our energy becomes focused on what is external. 261 00:16:26,830 --> 00:16:29,940 And Jesus says no. Actually, the problem is 262 00:16:30,150 --> 00:16:35,070 internal. It's inside, and no amount of 263 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,750 outside work is going to transform what is going on 264 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,450 inside your heart and your mind and your soul. 265 00:16:43,450 --> 00:16:46,780 You can call it behavior modification or like Country 266 00:16:46,790 --> 00:16:50,980 Club, Christianity or legalism. Some people could just call it 267 00:16:50,990 --> 00:16:54,420 religion. Dallas Willard calls it the 268 00:16:54,430 --> 00:17:01,190 Gospel of Sin management, right? How can I manage my sin enough 269 00:17:02,300 --> 00:17:07,349 to feel good about who I am? The gospel is reduced to only 270 00:17:07,390 --> 00:17:10,839 stopping me from sinning. That's the gospel of sin 271 00:17:10,849 --> 00:17:13,440 management. When the gospel, when who Jesus 272 00:17:13,450 --> 00:17:17,160 is, the cross, death, resurrection, all of it is only 273 00:17:17,170 --> 00:17:20,819 ever about stopping you from doing what you ought not to do. 274 00:17:21,750 --> 00:17:26,079 And when it becomes that, it falls so short of explaining all 275 00:17:26,089 --> 00:17:30,440 of life inside the Kingdom. Because again, humanity's 276 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:32,380 problem is not external, it's internal. 277 00:17:32,390 --> 00:17:36,160 No amount of input is going to change what is inside to you, 278 00:17:36,170 --> 00:17:39,850 who you are. That requires a change of heart. 279 00:17:45,170 --> 00:17:48,530 Crispy, bad fruit and a bad fruit. 280 00:17:48,540 --> 00:17:52,100 Anyways, we'll get there. Just as good as out of the good 281 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:57,600 treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of 282 00:17:57,610 --> 00:18:04,060 his evil treasure produces evil. This word is is fantastic. 283 00:18:04,070 --> 00:18:07,530 This is in Greek is thesaurus. It's the same word that we use 284 00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:12,200 for a thesaurus because it is a treasury of words. 285 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:18,350 It is a storehouse of words and what Jesus really is saying is 286 00:18:18,900 --> 00:18:21,010 think treasury, think storehouse. 287 00:18:21,020 --> 00:18:24,030 Think of the the place you store away what is most important. 288 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:25,990 I don't know who thought words were most important, but maybe 289 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,080 they are. It's the the place where you 290 00:18:30,090 --> 00:18:35,910 keep your treasure. What is most important to you? 291 00:18:37,330 --> 00:18:39,000 And so I think one of the questions that you need to ask 292 00:18:39,010 --> 00:18:41,620 of yourself and that I need to ask of myself and even for us as 293 00:18:41,630 --> 00:18:45,080 a church, is, is Christianity just a behavior modification 294 00:18:45,090 --> 00:18:47,110 program for you? Is it just about making you a 295 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:51,260 better person or is it something that you are learning to 296 00:18:51,270 --> 00:18:55,450 treasure? Is Jesus someone who just simply 297 00:18:55,460 --> 00:18:58,370 makes you a better person and makes you feel better about who 298 00:18:58,380 --> 00:19:01,950 you are and what one of my profs and and Connie's props and 299 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,830 seminary called moralistic therapeutic deism. 300 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,410 This idea that it just, it makes Christianity makes you a better 301 00:19:08,420 --> 00:19:13,630 person, it makes you moral, it makes you do good so you can 302 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:15,080 feel good. It's therapeutic. 303 00:19:15,090 --> 00:19:16,870 It makes you feel good about yourself. 304 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,310 D As in belief in God, Is Christianity something that you 305 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:26,190 come to because you realize deep inside of who you are that that 306 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:27,960 there are some things that you're wrestling out and there 307 00:19:27,970 --> 00:19:30,270 are some pieces that you are actually feeling kind of guilty 308 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,270 about and maybe even a little ashamed of. 309 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,340 You know that there's something that you need fixed. 310 00:19:34,350 --> 00:19:37,030 You come to Jesus and and you feel a little better about 311 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,510 yourself on on Sunday and then go back and do the same thing on 312 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,650 Monday. That's moralistic therapeutic 313 00:19:41,660 --> 00:19:42,980 deism. I'm going to feel good about 314 00:19:42,990 --> 00:19:47,710 myself so I can continue doing the things I know I shouldn't 315 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,250 do. Or have you learned to treasure 316 00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:56,990 Jesus and to treasure life inside the Kingdom because it is 317 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,000 valuable and life giving, not just for you? 318 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,560 But through you, for others around you, is it something that 319 00:20:04,570 --> 00:20:06,630 you have embraced? Has your heart, your thoughts, 320 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,690 your feelings, your emotions to all of it? 321 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,030 Has it been impacted by who Jesus is and by the life that He 322 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,540 invites you to live? It's a treasure of this person's 323 00:20:16,550 --> 00:20:20,410 heart. So again, that word heart is not 324 00:20:20,420 --> 00:20:23,110 just like the thump, thump, thump keep you alive, pump blood 325 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:28,990 through your body kind of heart. This is all of your life. 326 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,320 This is your thoughts, your emotions, your feelings, your 327 00:20:34,330 --> 00:20:39,730 desire, your will, all of it. The invitation to life inside 328 00:20:39,740 --> 00:20:43,290 the Kingdom is to allow Jesus to capture all of it. 329 00:20:43,620 --> 00:20:46,040 All of your thoughts, all of your feelings, your emotions, 330 00:20:46,050 --> 00:20:50,890 your desire, everything about who you are, the centre of your 331 00:20:50,900 --> 00:20:55,350 being, your core, your soul, your spirit, all of these words 332 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,090 that we've developed to try to capture who God has created you, 333 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,730 human being to be. Has God gotten ahold of it all? 334 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,730 And have you learned? Are you learning to treasure 335 00:21:08,870 --> 00:21:11,210 that God has gotten ahold of it all. 336 00:21:12,450 --> 00:21:15,660 In another conversation that Jesus has, he actually has with 337 00:21:15,670 --> 00:21:20,270 a rich young man that says this rich man comes to Jesus and he 338 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:25,280 calls Jesus a good teacher. And Jesus's response is is 339 00:21:25,290 --> 00:21:26,960 great. He says, why do you call me 340 00:21:26,970 --> 00:21:30,020 good? No one is good except God alone. 341 00:21:30,780 --> 00:21:35,020 No one is good. And then Jesus says, listen, 342 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:38,120 like this this guy comes, he said, what must I do to inherit 343 00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:40,160 eternal life? This is this is the question 344 00:21:40,170 --> 00:21:43,850 that this man comes to Jesus with Jesus answers, says, well, 345 00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:46,570 listen, you know the the commandments, so you know the 346 00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:48,680 committee, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, 347 00:21:48,690 --> 00:21:51,290 do not bear false witness. Don't defraud on your father and 348 00:21:51,300 --> 00:21:52,750 mother. And then the rich man who turns 349 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,240 to Jesus says, great, check, check, check, check, check. 350 00:21:56,250 --> 00:22:00,430 I've done them all, I've accomplished everything it says. 351 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,090 What else must I do? Is there something that I still 352 00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:06,550 lack? Feel pretty good about himself 353 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,490 at this moment. And Jesus looks at him and he 354 00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:14,460 says, yeah, you, you're missing out on one thing. 355 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,420 He says go and sell all that you have and give to the poor. 356 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:27,440 And then he says you will have treasure in heaven, Come follow 357 00:22:27,490 --> 00:22:30,040 me. That's the invitation that Jesus 358 00:22:30,050 --> 00:22:33,780 gives to this rich man. And the guy goes away sad, 359 00:22:33,790 --> 00:22:38,360 actually says sorrowful, like stricken with grief because he 360 00:22:38,370 --> 00:22:42,640 had a lot of things. And we don't hear again from 361 00:22:42,650 --> 00:22:43,800 this guy. We don't know what happens to 362 00:22:43,810 --> 00:22:45,340 him. Does he sell everything? 363 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:46,720 Does he not? We don't know. 364 00:22:47,090 --> 00:22:49,720 But he goes away sad. Jesus doesn't. 365 00:22:49,730 --> 00:22:51,500 He's not giving him another box to check. 366 00:22:51,510 --> 00:22:53,820 He's not saying literally just listen, go. 367 00:22:53,830 --> 00:22:55,660 I mean, I think he is literally saying go and sell everything. 368 00:22:55,670 --> 00:22:59,580 He's not saying just go and sell everything and then check you've 369 00:22:59,590 --> 00:23:03,250 checked the box. Now he says go sell everything, 370 00:23:03,260 --> 00:23:07,640 give it away, abandon all and come follow me. 371 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,570 So this guy, he knows the commandments, he knows the 372 00:23:11,580 --> 00:23:16,220 external fruit, right? He he knows what he ought to do, 373 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,350 but Jesus says sell all that you have treasure the things of 374 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:25,250 heaven and come and follow me and the rich guy, I think he 375 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:27,730 goes away sad, not because he had too much stuff to sell, but 376 00:23:27,740 --> 00:23:30,350 because he wanted that I said that easy answer. 377 00:23:30,500 --> 00:23:33,030 He wanted Jesus to tell him that final check box. 378 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,960 He's like, once you get this, you're in check everything go 379 00:23:35,970 --> 00:23:38,510 back to living your life the way you want. 380 00:23:38,980 --> 00:23:43,850 Jesus says, listen, no amount of good input or good output is 381 00:23:43,860 --> 00:23:46,130 going to change your heart. Only Jesus can change your 382 00:23:46,140 --> 00:23:48,230 heart. He says essentially this, this 383 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:49,820 rich young man, your heart is not good. 384 00:23:50,940 --> 00:23:52,730 You don't treasure the things that I treasure. 385 00:23:52,740 --> 00:23:54,530 You don't treasure the things of the Kingdom. 386 00:23:57,390 --> 00:24:02,930 Only Jesus can change what's going on inside your life. 387 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,960 And the question I think that we need to ask ourselves is, are 388 00:24:06,970 --> 00:24:12,060 we, Am I willing to leave everything behind and follow 389 00:24:12,070 --> 00:24:17,880 Jesus because I am learning to love him and treasure life 390 00:24:17,890 --> 00:24:21,100 inside the Kingdom? Not because it makes me a better 391 00:24:21,110 --> 00:24:23,640 person. Not because your spouse drag you 392 00:24:23,650 --> 00:24:25,860 to church. Not because of what you can 393 00:24:25,870 --> 00:24:28,790 gain. Not so that you can feel better 394 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,400 about yourself and the decisions that you make. 395 00:24:32,190 --> 00:24:35,020 Find forgiveness, but then continue to do the same things 396 00:24:35,030 --> 00:24:39,630 over and over again because because you have been caught, 397 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:44,780 your heart has been captured by who Jesus is in Psalm 1. 398 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:51,660 And we began this series, this short study on the sermon on the 399 00:24:51,670 --> 00:24:56,730 plane, by reading from Psalm 1. Psalm One says this, Blessed is 400 00:24:56,740 --> 00:25:00,750 the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in 401 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:04,130 the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers, 402 00:25:04,140 --> 00:25:08,530 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. 403 00:25:08,540 --> 00:25:13,190 Do you delight in who God is and life inside the Kingdom, who 404 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:14,590 meditates on his latte and night? 405 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:16,930 That person, and this is what I want you to see, is like a tree 406 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:24,580 planted by streams of water. This word planted actually means 407 00:25:24,590 --> 00:25:30,640 transplanted, and we've looked at this word before. 408 00:25:33,630 --> 00:25:40,990 It's not just that this tree luckily landed beside the stream 409 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,830 of flowing water. This is a tree that has been 410 00:25:43,900 --> 00:25:49,690 uprooted from the soil, the rock, the dirt, the muck, the 411 00:25:49,700 --> 00:25:53,950 stuff of life that's preventing it to live, and has been 412 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,380 rerouted, repotted, transplanted, set down 413 00:25:57,390 --> 00:26:03,360 intentionally beside the source of life, the streams of water. 414 00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:09,090 That tree is going to yield its fruit in season, and its leaf is 415 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:11,210 not going to wither. And whatever it does, it's going 416 00:26:11,220 --> 00:26:14,300 to prosper. And to your right says that's 417 00:26:14,310 --> 00:26:17,420 the work that God needs to do in your life. 418 00:26:17,530 --> 00:26:20,020 That's the work that needs to happen inside of your heart and 419 00:26:20,030 --> 00:26:22,740 your soul and your mind, all of who you are. 420 00:26:22,820 --> 00:26:32,140 You need to be transplanted, uprooted, and then placed down 421 00:26:32,570 --> 00:26:35,880 beside the source of life, inside of life in the Kingdom 422 00:26:35,890 --> 00:26:41,990 with Jesus says no amount of hard work, no amount of good is 423 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,400 going to change the fact that grapes don't grow on 424 00:26:44,410 --> 00:26:46,880 thornbushes. You won't find oranges on 425 00:26:46,890 --> 00:26:48,980 hostas. And to your right says you need 426 00:26:48,990 --> 00:26:54,550 a complete change of heart. And that's the work that God 427 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,970 needs to do in your life and in my life to transplant, pick you 428 00:26:57,980 --> 00:27:01,990 up, take you out of the rock and place you down away from the 429 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,250 unworkable dead soil and into next to flowing streams of 430 00:27:07,260 --> 00:27:09,720 water. Jesus elsewhere. 431 00:27:09,730 --> 00:27:12,050 And I realize now we're like dangerously close to mixing 432 00:27:12,060 --> 00:27:15,150 metaphors in another place. Puts it like this. 433 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:18,070 He says abide in me. This is Jesus's invitation. 434 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,150 Abide in me and allow me to abide in you. 435 00:27:21,220 --> 00:27:24,330 As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in 436 00:27:24,340 --> 00:27:26,810 the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 437 00:27:27,590 --> 00:27:29,700 I am the vine, you are the branches. 438 00:27:29,770 --> 00:27:34,160 Whoever abides in me and I in Him, He is the one who bears 439 00:27:34,170 --> 00:27:36,230 much fruit. Apart from me, Jesus says, you 440 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:42,740 can do nothing. Abide, Jesus says in me, rest 441 00:27:42,750 --> 00:27:48,480 in, enjoy, celebrate, drink deeply from the well that is 442 00:27:48,490 --> 00:27:53,690 Jesus's presence and you will bear good fruit. 443 00:27:56,770 --> 00:28:00,670 To wrap up, Jesus says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do 444 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:05,630 not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and 445 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:10,430 hears my words here, God hears my words and does them. 446 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,110 I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a 447 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:16,010 house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock, and when 448 00:28:16,020 --> 00:28:19,260 a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not 449 00:28:19,270 --> 00:28:21,550 shake it because it had been well built. 450 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:27,470 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who 451 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,290 built a house on the ground without a foundation. 452 00:28:30,300 --> 00:28:34,620 When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the 453 00:28:34,630 --> 00:28:44,160 ruin of that house was great. Great was the ruin of their 454 00:28:44,170 --> 00:28:45,530 translations. Right? 455 00:28:46,460 --> 00:28:49,090 When Connie and I were first married, we lived in Beaverton, 456 00:28:49,100 --> 00:28:50,390 ON. Does anybody know where 457 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,390 Beaverton ON is? A couple of you think Yes, right 458 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,310 on. More specifically, we lived in 459 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:57,430 Lagoon City. Does anybody know where Lagoon 460 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,660 City is? Yes, OK, a couple right on 461 00:29:00,140 --> 00:29:02,330 Lagoon City. That should raise alarm bells 462 00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:05,350 because I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but 463 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:11,390 Ontario is not known for its lush, calm, soothing lagoons. 464 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:18,640 Not Lagoon City is a product of a hopefully bygone era where we 465 00:29:18,650 --> 00:29:21,610 thought it would be great to construct houses on top of Lake 466 00:29:21,620 --> 00:29:24,710 Ontario. Like not beside on top of on 467 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,450 stilts. Some of them Lake Ontario. 468 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:29,860 I don't think they do that anymore. 469 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,840 You can think Florida, but not alright. 470 00:29:35,850 --> 00:29:37,460 So one day we were living in this house. 471 00:29:37,470 --> 00:29:40,640 We're renting it and we were there for like we actually had 472 00:29:40,650 --> 00:29:42,540 the house less than your room Beaverton for a year. 473 00:29:43,010 --> 00:29:44,580 So we were just married. It was our first year of 474 00:29:44,590 --> 00:29:48,540 marriage. We hear this loud pop crack, 475 00:29:48,590 --> 00:29:53,130 flash fizz like that was the sound and then the power went 476 00:29:53,140 --> 00:29:56,700 out. That was it gone dark power was 477 00:29:56,710 --> 00:30:00,860 out this loud crack, pop, fizz, bang this like what do you do? 478 00:30:00,870 --> 00:30:03,240 So like I checked all the things that you're supposed to do 479 00:30:03,290 --> 00:30:05,700 planned outage. No, are there any storms? 480 00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:08,980 Look outside. No, no storms go down to the 481 00:30:08,990 --> 00:30:11,020 panel. Nothing was blown Great. 482 00:30:11,030 --> 00:30:13,560 That's not going to help at all. So couldn't reset any Breakers. 483 00:30:13,570 --> 00:30:16,780 Nothing like nothing was wrong, except everything was wrong. 484 00:30:16,850 --> 00:30:18,570 Finally, I went outside and like, I'm going to call the 485 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:22,160 landlord because I, I, I don't know what else to do, can't fix 486 00:30:22,170 --> 00:30:25,420 this and the power company won't deal with me because I don't own 487 00:30:25,430 --> 00:30:29,290 the place we're renting it. And so I walk outside and I kid 488 00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:36,650 you not, you could see that the house had sunk and the main 489 00:30:36,660 --> 00:30:39,180 power line that fed the house came through. 490 00:30:39,190 --> 00:30:43,920 The ground had ripped because the house had sunk enough 491 00:30:43,930 --> 00:30:46,180 because it was built on top of Lake Ontario. 492 00:30:47,950 --> 00:30:51,700 And so finally the like landlord is like, OK, I'll call the cut 493 00:30:51,710 --> 00:30:53,360 power company and then you can call the power company. 494 00:30:53,370 --> 00:30:54,960 I was on the phone finally with the power company. 495 00:30:54,970 --> 00:30:58,400 They would talk to me. And the craziest thing I've got 496 00:30:58,410 --> 00:31:01,260 like the landlord on the phone, I've got the power company on 497 00:31:01,270 --> 00:31:03,220 the phone. I've got the property manager on 498 00:31:03,230 --> 00:31:05,180 the phone and like, Oh, yeah, that happens. 499 00:31:07,710 --> 00:31:10,120 Like, this was a known problem in Lagoon City. 500 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,720 The houses are just slowly sinking into the lake. 501 00:31:12,730 --> 00:31:15,300 And that's something we all have to deal with eventually. 502 00:31:15,350 --> 00:31:20,560 Like, I didn't realize that they knew I wanted to read them. 503 00:31:20,620 --> 00:31:25,800 Haven't you heard about the one who doesn't do the thing and 504 00:31:25,810 --> 00:31:28,700 builds the house on the ground with no foundation? 505 00:31:28,710 --> 00:31:31,860 And the great is the ruin of that house. 506 00:31:32,830 --> 00:31:39,680 Like that's what it felt like. Jesus says, why do you call me 507 00:31:39,690 --> 00:31:42,670 Lord? Lord, whenever something's 508 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,000 repeated in the Bible, you need to pay attention to it. 509 00:31:45,010 --> 00:31:47,440 No exclamation marks, OK, in the Bible. 510 00:31:47,490 --> 00:31:50,620 So if things are repeated, just sit up a little bit. 511 00:31:50,750 --> 00:31:54,820 Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you. 512 00:31:54,830 --> 00:31:58,920 This is Jesus's final. This is like last thing He wants 513 00:31:58,930 --> 00:32:02,080 you to hear from this teaching, from this sermon on the plane. 514 00:32:02,150 --> 00:32:06,730 You have now heard it. Jesus says you've heard it. 515 00:32:06,790 --> 00:32:11,090 You can't say you haven't. Are you going to listen? 516 00:32:11,540 --> 00:32:14,550 Are you gonna embrace? Are you gonna absorb? 517 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:19,190 Are you going to do? Will it change the way you live, 518 00:32:20,710 --> 00:32:27,830 or will you hear it and listen and continue to do what you want 519 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,830 to do? Action matters to Jesus. 520 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,380 It does. The way you live matters to 521 00:32:34,390 --> 00:32:36,200 Jesus. The way we live as a community, 522 00:32:36,210 --> 00:32:42,060 as a church, matters to Jesus, but the order of it matters more 523 00:32:42,780 --> 00:32:46,290 the way you live and follow. Yes, absolutely. 524 00:32:46,300 --> 00:32:49,580 This is Jesus's invitation. He says Come, follow me. 525 00:32:49,940 --> 00:32:53,270 Learn the way of the Kingdom. Allow Jesus to transform your 526 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,730 heart. Learn what it looks like to 527 00:32:55,740 --> 00:32:57,910 treasure the things of the Kingdom. 528 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:04,500 Learn what a new posture might be like toward others. 529 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:15,030 And then Jesus eventually does say go do the things, do the 530 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,730 work of the Kingdom, allow it to change the way you live. 531 00:33:17,740 --> 00:33:22,180 It's OK to live differently because of the teaching of Jesus 532 00:33:22,190 --> 00:33:23,800 that you've encountered, he says. 533 00:33:23,810 --> 00:33:28,940 Carry the culture of the Kingdom with you as you go, But go, 534 00:33:29,010 --> 00:33:30,610 there's a time, there's a season. 535 00:33:31,650 --> 00:33:35,020 Everybody's like you just, you know, your kids, they grow up. 536 00:33:35,030 --> 00:33:36,940 This is so they tell me they're growing up fast. 537 00:33:36,950 --> 00:33:38,840 Ours are growing fast. And then, you know, eventually 538 00:33:38,850 --> 00:33:43,310 there's like, there's a moment where you're like, go, go and 539 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,570 live your life. You've learned the things. 540 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,430 I'll be here, but it's time for you to actually start changing 541 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:55,260 the way you live. The questions you says isn't of 542 00:33:55,310 --> 00:33:58,580 whether or not there's gonna be storms in life or what those 543 00:33:58,590 --> 00:34:01,720 storms are going to be or how high does the flood rise? 544 00:34:01,730 --> 00:34:03,460 Or is it, you know, because of rain? 545 00:34:03,470 --> 00:34:07,500 Or is it a dam that bursts? Like, am I ready for the storm? 546 00:34:07,510 --> 00:34:09,460 Can I survive three days with no power? 547 00:34:09,469 --> 00:34:11,820 Or how about like a week of food, like, you know, have stuff 548 00:34:11,830 --> 00:34:13,639 stored away. The House doesn't really care 549 00:34:13,650 --> 00:34:18,389 what causes the storm, but the storm will come. 550 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:23,300 Life will happen. Rain, flash flood, dam bursts. 551 00:34:23,310 --> 00:34:27,570 The result is the same Jesus as if the foundation is bad if 552 00:34:27,580 --> 00:34:31,980 you've heard and not done. The result is the same. 553 00:34:31,989 --> 00:34:35,820 If the foundation is good, if you've heard and allowed it to 554 00:34:35,830 --> 00:34:38,280 transform your life and your heart and your mind and your 555 00:34:38,290 --> 00:34:42,449 soul, all of it, and then live differently because of it, you 556 00:34:42,460 --> 00:34:47,260 are building a house. You're building a life, and like 557 00:34:47,270 --> 00:34:49,420 students graduate in grade 12, you might not have had it all 558 00:34:49,429 --> 00:34:51,400 figured out yet. You're not supposed to have it 559 00:34:51,409 --> 00:34:55,880 all figured out yet, but you're building towards something. 560 00:34:56,889 --> 00:35:01,210 All of us are. And one day we're going to face 561 00:35:01,220 --> 00:35:04,590 a flood. One day you'll leave a legacy. 562 00:35:05,670 --> 00:35:07,380 One day you'll no longer be here. 563 00:35:07,430 --> 00:35:09,490 Maybe your kids, your grandkids will. 564 00:35:11,140 --> 00:35:15,010 One day it'll show whether you've built on a foundation or 565 00:35:15,020 --> 00:35:20,630 on no foundation. And so the choice you have is to 566 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:25,470 Orient it all, all of it, all of life around who Jesus is. 567 00:35:26,940 --> 00:35:31,410 Not because it's going to prevent storms, not because I 568 00:35:31,420 --> 00:35:34,090 can guarantee you that life from here on out, like it's going to 569 00:35:34,100 --> 00:35:36,240 be absolutely perfect all the way through. 570 00:35:36,250 --> 00:35:42,500 It won't be, but because you love Jesus and your heart's been 571 00:35:42,510 --> 00:35:46,740 captured by who He is, and you want to live your life aligned 572 00:35:47,110 --> 00:35:51,440 with His Kingdom, and you want to live your life toward others 573 00:35:52,180 --> 00:35:55,690 in the ways of the Kingdom, generously, with love and 574 00:35:55,700 --> 00:35:58,620 kindness and compassion. Grace overflowing. 575 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:07,650 Let's pray. God thanks for your love and for 576 00:36:07,660 --> 00:36:09,580 your grace and things that you do. 577 00:36:09,590 --> 00:36:13,880 Invite us to these places of surrender, these places of 578 00:36:13,890 --> 00:36:19,780 decision, these places where we do need to think, probably for 579 00:36:19,790 --> 00:36:23,240 longer than just a moment, about how we are choosing to live our 580 00:36:23,250 --> 00:36:26,990 lives. And so, yeah, I do pray that for 581 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,110 each of us here, you would allow us to do that. 582 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:35,690 I pray that you would remind us out of your love and generosity, 583 00:36:35,700 --> 00:36:39,840 your graciousness toward us. I pray that you would remind us 584 00:36:39,910 --> 00:36:43,040 of who you are and whose we are, that we belong to you. 585 00:36:43,050 --> 00:36:45,740 I pray that you would remind us that we're deeply loved and from 586 00:36:45,750 --> 00:36:47,580 that place too. God, I pray that you would 587 00:36:47,590 --> 00:36:53,820 convict us and challenge us and capture our hearts and our 588 00:36:53,830 --> 00:36:55,020 minds. Yeah. 589 00:36:55,030 --> 00:36:58,340 For the person here who's been wrestling with who you are and 590 00:36:58,350 --> 00:37:02,500 life inside the Kingdom or not, with faith and doubt, with a 591 00:37:02,510 --> 00:37:06,790 desire to believe or a desire not to believe, I do pray that 592 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:10,320 you would do the work that only you can do, which is to capture 593 00:37:10,330 --> 00:37:16,230 our hearts. Speak to us, have revealed to us 594 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:21,340 the fact that we need you and remind us that when we come, 595 00:37:21,350 --> 00:37:26,450 you're waiting. God, as we turn to celebrate 596 00:37:26,460 --> 00:37:31,660 communion in real, tangible, practical ways, taste and see, 597 00:37:32,050 --> 00:37:35,580 would you allow us to know your goodness and your grace today? 598 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:38,650 In Jesus name I pray. Oh man.