1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,960 Good evening, everybody. Oh, that was so polite. 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:06,840 Good job. Well, thank you guys for coming 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,440 out tonight. I can't tell if this is more 4 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:11,760 people than we normally have on a Wednesday or if just because 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,040 you guys had the boundary ropes to squish you guys all in 6 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:15,680 closer, but I like it. That's good. 7 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:18,960 Quick shout out to anybody watching online. 8 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,400 Hello. I know Josh and Mary Jo are 9 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,680 there. So Josh, hope they gave you the 10 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,360 good meds. Also, I know my mom and her 11 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,360 friend Judy are watching. Hi, Mom. 12 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:31,640 So yes and thank you to ready to go. 13 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,040 There you are. Pastor Blake, you're usually 14 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,440 over there. I'm muscle memory trained to 15 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,160 point you over there. But anyways, thank you for 16 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:44,040 sharing the pulpit with me. As you did mention since I am 17 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,040 your wife, it's probably in your long term benefits that you did 18 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,760 do this. So, but all the same, thank you 19 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:56,480 anyway. So some of you have known me for 20 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:58,840 a good little while. Some of you, I'm just now 21 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,760 starting to get to know a little bit better. 22 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,560 And some of you are like, who's that chick? 23 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,040 And that's also a question I ask myself often. 24 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,040 But I am the worship leader here. 25 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:15,240 I've been a member of the worship team in some capacity or 26 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,480 another for about 15 years, but I've actually been like fully in 27 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,040 charge for about 7 months now. My predecessor was Pastor Anna 28 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,920 who just recently moved back to Indiana and I'm still a little 29 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,280 bitter about it. It's fine, but quit clapping. 30 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,880 But seeing as how you know, Blake just did a sermon about 31 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,760 bitterness, I'm. I'm working on it. 32 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,080 I'm working on it, but one of the things that I do get often 33 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,000 that Blake just mentioned a second ago is that people who 34 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,840 don't know me, they will sometimes tell me later on, 35 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,840 they're like, we were really intimidating when I first met 36 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,160 you. And so to see me, I'm obviously 37 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:01,600 of the of the caucus variety. According to my 23andMe, I 38 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,720 mostly come from a lot of the British Isles. 39 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,640 Big, 38% Scottish. Yay. 40 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:14,920 I'm actually a descendant of Shrek, but there is a, there is 41 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,680 a solid 10% of me that is Italian. 42 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,200 So it just so happened that all of the Italian got concentrated 43 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,760 right here. So you see me on Sunday, I'm 44 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,280 here, I'm smiling. You see me out in the in the 45 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:29,760 wild. And this is usually how I am. 46 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:40,640 Hold on. He said that's what I look like 47 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:43,320 when I met him, but that's just my relaxed face. 48 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,920 I promise I am not mean I'm actually, I consider myself to 49 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:53,600 be a reasonably tolerable human being, but I was just trying to 50 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,840 put everybody at ease because even though I think we do, I do 51 00:02:57,840 --> 00:02:59,920 have something that I genuinely want to share that I think we 52 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:02,640 all need to hear. I do also like to laugh and pick 53 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,880 and and cut up and you can ask Tom Hines. 54 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,320 We go, we go back and forth all the time. 55 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,320 We we keep each other sharp, don't we, Tom? 56 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,680 Yeah. So and as comfortable as I am 57 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,240 leading worship up here, I don't typically look for opportunities 58 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,160 to preacher to speak or, you know, do anything. 59 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:26,320 And not even really, because I'm not like afraid to get up in 60 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:27,960 front of people. I've had to get up in front of 61 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,120 people for a long time. I know that I talk too fast. 62 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,640 I know that I'll stumble over my words. 63 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,000 I will most likely put, you know, word sentence wrong order 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:44,280 of the that was funnier than some of y'all caught. 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,680 But I'm really just not a fan of standing up here like you said, 66 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,560 just unless I feel like I really just have something that I need 67 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,920 to say. And so 2 Sundays ago, I had a 68 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:02,880 Sunday morning off off from leading worship because one of 69 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,520 the many things that Pastor Anna did add to our team that was a 70 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,440 huge benefit was we try to make sure that everybody on the team 71 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,240 gets at least one Sunday off where they can just sit in the 72 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,000 congregation, just allow the Lord to minister to them. 73 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,800 They don't have any other obligations. 74 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,680 And so it just so happened that this was my my Sabbath Sunday. 75 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,800 And so as I was singing and keeping in mind that because I 76 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,600 am the like overall person in charge of worship, it is 77 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:40,000 sometimes hard to turn off the, the in charge mode of of it all. 78 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,680 And so so I'm standing there, you know, I've got my eyes 79 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,600 closed and my hands are out and I'm worshipping, although kind 80 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:51,520 of given the occasional make sure everybody's all right, OK, 81 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,240 close them again, back to worship, back to singing and 82 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,440 keeping an eye. And I was standing just right 83 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:07,680 over here where my wonderful mother Shelly is sitting. 84 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:12,120 Well, Blake's mom, but my bestie, we watched Gilmore 85 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,600 together. But so I was standing right 86 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,800 there and it was just like I very clearly heard the Lord just 87 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,360 say, talk to them about when you're not feeling it. 88 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,000 OK? Not knowing really what that 89 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,400 meant fully, but just knowing, OK, that is, that didn't come 90 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,960 from me. So that must have been from you, 91 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,520 Lord. And so I'm going to kind of pull 92 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,800 back the curtain a little bit of what happens here on this side 93 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:45,600 of things. Because I will say, if you look 94 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,880 out here, especially at the number that we have tonight, 95 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,440 there's a lot more of you out here than there ever are up here 96 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:55,040 of us on any given service. And so it may surprise you to 97 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,680 know that there are many a Sunday and many a Wednesday 98 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:03,280 where some of us are up here to sing or to play or to do both. 99 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,280 And we are we just don't really feel anything. 100 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,120 And we've got this cool little machine back there. 101 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,120 It's normally sitting right there by the drum kit and it 102 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:20,440 plays everything that we need. So it will it will play a little 103 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,400 metronome in her ear. So you see this with our little 104 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,320 headphones in and the whole time we're here at this. 105 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,560 And then we also have a little robotic voice in our ear who she 106 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,240 tells us what to do and where to go next. 107 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,960 So because I'll also tell you this, you could sing a song 100 108 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,720 times and you know every single word by heart. 109 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,800 You could do it any other time. And as soon as you stand up to 110 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:44,920 lead it on a Sunday morning, every single word just 111 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:46,720 completely evaporates from your memory. 112 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,680 Hence our confidence monitor in the back that gives us the 113 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,880 words. But also if we're not sure, like 114 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,680 we sometimes you get super into it and you're like, how many 115 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:00,560 times did I sing the bridge Now, Was that 7 or was that eight? 116 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,560 I don't remember. So we actually have a little 117 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,240 voice in her ear and we named her Jessica. 118 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:12,080 And Jessica will tell you Chorus 234, Bridge 234. 119 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,960 So I mean, she she will tell us everything that we need to do. 120 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,920 And I will also say we did name her Jessica before we actually 121 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,400 had a real Jessica who is here on the worship team. 122 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,680 So robot Jessica came first, human Jessica came after, but we 123 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,120 do prefer human Jessica. I will just say that. 124 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,320 So you know, we'll get up here, we'll hit play on the machine. 125 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:42,600 We'll go through, we'll do our thing and you know, we'll we'll 126 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,680 pull up all the energy to get those high notes and we'll hit 127 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,800 them and we'll get to the points in the song where like you can 128 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,200 feel that like the bass is like shaking everything and you're 129 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:53,840 just like, oh, this is the good part. 130 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,840 And then we'll bring everything back down. 131 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,400 We'll close it in prayer. We'll give the ever so subtle 132 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,760 like to Blake over there to let him know that he can come up. 133 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,080 And then we just walked back to our seats and we just were full 134 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,400 numb. And we're just we're now feeling 135 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,280 it. And there was a night of worship 136 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,680 not too long ago where I was planning and putting the set 137 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,240 list together because all of the leaders that we have on our 138 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,560 worship team, we've got a like a rotating team of leaders. 139 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,440 Everybody like we pray over the list of what we're supposed to 140 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,800 do. It's not just a, hey, this is my 141 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:32,799 favorite or hey, these two sound cool together. 142 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,480 We, we try to be very intentional and let the Lord 143 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,760 lead us in what we're doing. So I'm trying to get this, you 144 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,520 know, this set list together of what we're supposed to sing. 145 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,320 And as I'm doing it, I'm just like, I'm getting more and more 146 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,640 pumped. I'm getting excited because 147 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,640 like, I can hear how this song ends and how we could just like 148 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,840 lead right into this next song. And then we could like move this 149 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,640 thing over here and we could switch these around and just all 150 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,040 these different, like, cool things that were just like 151 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:02,760 running through my brain so fast. 152 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,840 And anybody who's familiar with music and things like that, you 153 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,920 have people who are very fluent in music and then you have some 154 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:13,840 of us who are just conversational. 155 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,800 I can get the general gist to you. 156 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,520 But if you start talking to me about, Oh yeah, you just move up 157 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,880 the 5th and then you, you know, beam the mothership or whatever. 158 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:26,200 I don't know what any of that means. 159 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,200 So I'm just like, when actually you can ask Dennis, a lot of 160 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:33,560 times I'll give him drum instructions. 161 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:36,360 And it sounds something like, no, I don't want like, da, da, 162 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,840 da, da, da, da, da, da, da. And he, but he knows what I 163 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:40,760 mean. He's amazing. 164 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:43,200 He's so good. So I'm just kind of 165 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,280 conversational in it. So as I'm hearing these things 166 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,080 and putting these things together, I could definitely 167 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,240 tell that this was this was not of my own skill. 168 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,680 I was like, I'm, I know I'm not that good. 169 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,600 So clearly I had to be the Lord. So I was getting so excited. 170 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,640 I was super, I was ready. I was talking to the team about 171 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:00,760 it. I was getting everybody else 172 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,400 kind of hyped up about it. And then we we got to the 173 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,840 Wednesday night and everything happened. 174 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,760 I mean, like it just all went exactly as I had heard it all go 175 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,880 in my brain. Everything went beautifully and 176 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,600 everything just came to a close and I just I didn't feel a 177 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,280 single thing. I knew I had been obedient in 178 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,640 the planning. I followed through with 179 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,520 everything that he had planned. But even during like the power 180 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:34,600 songs, just all like that warm fuzzy, it just it wasn't it 181 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,640 wasn't there. So, So what do you do? 182 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,480 How do we respond when the God of the universe who once felt 183 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:48,640 like he was just like right here, now feels like, I mean, 184 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,920 he's just he's anywhere. But what do we do when we're not 185 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,400 feeling it? So my first recommendation is 186 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,840 that we need to ask ourselves some some self reflective 187 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,040 questions. Then the first one is going to 188 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:06,840 be, where is my focus really? Where is it actually move 189 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:07,440 through that? Thank you. 190 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,880 So many of us have heard the saying, well, how many of you 191 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:13,960 guys have heard, you know, what you focus on is what will grow 192 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,440 or some variation of that? OK, two people. 193 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,880 Awesome, thank you. So that's the thing. 194 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,600 So Pastor Blake actually recently kind of took that to 195 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,160 another level of a step where he was teaching and talking about 196 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,760 it, where he was saying he'd gotten the word about what you 197 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,000 magnify in your spirit, you'll multiply in your life. 198 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,680 And really just if you take that one statement alone and just 199 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,240 assess some different areas of your life, that alone would 200 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,440 probably just surprise you. The things that you are 201 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:50,600 actually, you know, multiplying in your life. 202 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,720 But I mean, every everybody has had the kind of day where you're 203 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,320 thinking about the conversation that maybe didn't go quite the 204 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,520 way that you wanted to. Like just you're like, you're 205 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:05,680 just you keep replaying and reliving it over and over in 206 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:07,160 your head. And why I should have said this 207 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,720 or I could have said that as if you already know what they would 208 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,720 have said in response to you had you said that. 209 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,560 It it's it's a trapped into it. And then, you know, we're 210 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,120 thinking about maybe how we look too much like does Mattville 211 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,320 look OK? Are people going to say anything 212 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,040 about it? Do they will they not like it? 213 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:28,320 Will they, you know, will they think a certain way where, you 214 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,400 know, we have these invisible checklists in our mind that are 215 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,400 just constantly running all the time. 216 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,480 And a lot of that is just, I mean, it's a soapbox for another 217 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:39,880 time. But just the hustle culture in 218 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,880 general is killing us. And we try to operate like the 219 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,680 machines that we surround ourselves with. 220 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,200 And the Lord never built us to be that way. 221 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:54,080 We aren't part of a power grid in the physical, but we can 222 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:55,880 connect to the ultimate power grid. 223 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:01,720 You see that other day. But because we are flawed and we 224 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,800 are only human, we just we let things get in the way. 225 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,080 We come back to church, especially on like a Wednesday, 226 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,040 like tonight would be like like the scene in the movie where 227 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,680 like they're down at half time and they're in the locker room 228 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:17,000 and the coach is getting them pumped and they're like, we 229 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:19,440 could do it. And so you leave from here and 230 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,840 you're like, yes, I can get through another rest of my week 231 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,360 until Sunday. And then you're going to wake up 232 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,120 on Thursday and it just, it's, it's all just going to come 233 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:33,360 flooding back. So I am a mom. 234 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:39,240 I have a nine year old and a 10 year old, which has truly, for 235 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,000 the most part been pretty awesome. 236 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,720 I don't know that I've really found a bad a bad age yet. 237 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,200 Each one is coming with its own unique challenges. 238 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,880 But overall, I'd say the positives outweigh the 239 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,200 negatives. I'm going to keep them for at 240 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:51,360 least another year's subscription. 241 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,480 We'll see. We'll reassess. 242 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,320 So that's just generally, you know, the filter that my life 243 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,000 primarily runs through these days. 244 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:08,960 And as soon as my eyes even, like, begin to open, the tasks 245 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:13,080 begin just populating one right after the other. 246 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:14,360 What's on the schedule for today? 247 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,840 Did my daughter remember to eat her breakfast? 248 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:19,000 Did my son remember to brush his teeth? 249 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:21,240 Whose turn is it for laundry day? 250 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,400 What do we have to do on the chore chart? 251 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,240 Are there any play dates on this calendar for today? 252 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:29,560 Does everybody have enough socks? 253 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:30,840 And does everybody have enough underwear? 254 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:33,880 OK, it's like a zillion degrees outside. 255 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,000 Please for the love. Does everyone have deodorant? 256 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,360 That is a must. But then here come the others, 257 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:44,240 OK? Are they getting enough 258 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,960 nutrition? Are they getting enough sleep? 259 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:49,520 Am I teaching them enough for home schooling? 260 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,200 Are they happy? What do they need? 261 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,600 Am I neglecting my husband because I'm so focused on my 262 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,560 children? Are there things that I can do 263 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,240 to help him carry the stress of his job? 264 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:05,720 And then in the midst of all of that, am I even taking care of 265 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,720 me? Do any of these questions sound 266 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,320 familiar? And that is truly probably just 267 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:19,840 in the millisecond between my eyelid being closed to open so. 268 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,520 But in all of those questions, do we know what was missing? 269 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:31,840 Jesus, instead of jumping to all of those things that I'm clearly 270 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,640 trying to do in my own strength, why don't I just stop and say, 271 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:37,240 Lord, what do you want me to do today? 272 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,360 How do you want me to support my family? 273 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:46,120 What do you want to teach me? Because as much as our souls 274 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,040 have that deep down feeling that we are connected to a God who 275 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,880 exists outside of time and He will be with us for all of 276 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,520 eternity, our attention spans about Yeah, big. 277 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,720 We actually had a lady one time tell Blake and myself that every 278 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,480 morning she asks the Lord if she should have tea or if she should 279 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:14,520 have coffee with her breakfast. And Heather has tea, personally, 280 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,320 I'm a coffee gal. But and I remember thinking, 281 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,120 walking away from that conversation just kind of like, 282 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,200 you know, just kind of being like, OK, like, well, I was a 283 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,120 little hyper spiritual, but, you know, whatever. 284 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,920 But now being older and wiser, I mean, I think she really just 285 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,240 truly had a heart to listen to what the Lord had for her. 286 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:41,560 And also, who am I to determine how spiritual somebody is? 287 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:48,120 That's so arrogant. So if you go to Romans 12/2, a 288 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,600 lot of you would know that that is Pastor Blake's favorite 289 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,240 scripture, and I'll read it to you if you don't have it handy. 290 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,280 But it says don't copy the behaviour and customs of this 291 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:03,040 world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing 292 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:08,800 the way you think. So coffee related humor 293 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,920 percolate on that for a second, changing the way you think, then 294 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,359 you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and 295 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,280 pleasing and perfect. But then keep going. 296 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,400 Next, verse 3 because of the privilege and authority God has 297 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,960 given me. I give each of you this warning. 298 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,520 Don't think you are better than you really are. 299 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:30,440 Really, you could just stop there. 300 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,480 Some of us knew that reminder sometimes, but it does keep 301 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,880 going. So be honest in your evaluation 302 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:44,120 of yourselves. We can delude ourselves so well. 303 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,120 We are really, really good at convincing ourselves that 304 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:51,520 something is not the way it is. So be honest in your evaluation 305 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,840 of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has 306 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,840 given us. And that doesn't mean that you 307 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,520 should now, you know, just think so poorly of yourself that 308 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:07,520 you're just, oh, I'm the worst. I don't, I'm not worthy because 309 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:08,880 I mean, we're not, none of us are. 310 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,920 But if you're just in that extreme, you're, you're still 311 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:16,640 just thinking about yourself. So we have to die to ourselves 312 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:21,280 daily because the flesh, which isn't just like our physical 313 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,840 body, like our arms, legs and you know, toes and fingers, But 314 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:30,040 that also includes the things that happen in our mind, the 315 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,560 thoughts that we think our flesh, all of it will try to 316 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,760 take back control every single time. 317 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,640 So if you'll head over to Ephesians in chapter 4, we'll 318 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:40,640 hang out there a little bit longer. 319 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:45,800 You won't have to flip too much. So in Ephesians chapter 4, we 320 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,800 have Paul who also wrote Romans. He's now writing to a church and 321 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,040 he's dispensing some instructions. 322 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,440 And a lot of Paul's writing, it wasn't just about his own 323 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,240 personal experience with the Lord, but it was also things 324 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,520 that were going to help other churches that were spread out 325 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,120 kind of all over the place. So they were handling problems. 326 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,320 They were setting up doctrine, they were having to be corrected 327 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:13,000 if necessary. And his letter to the Ephesians 328 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,800 was one that he sent while he was on house arrest. 329 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,640 So the church in Ephesus, it had a mixture of people who had been 330 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,920 raised in the Jewish tradition, and then it had those who had 331 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,800 not, which would probably be the majority, but not all of us in 332 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,440 this room, the Gentiles, A Gentiles. 333 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,520 So they were having a hard time getting along. 334 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,840 And I know that's probably really difficult to imagine that 335 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:41,920 there would be people inside of a church who have differing 336 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:43,400 opinions and don't get along well. 337 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,320 But just for the sake of, you know, of the Scripture, try to 338 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:55,120 imagine it as best you can. So here's where here's where we 339 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,360 get started going down to verse 21. 340 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,000 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that 341 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,200 comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your 342 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,960 former way of life. Hold right there before we keep 343 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,920 going. Throw off your old sinful 344 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,040 nature. That's not just a casual, you 345 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,000 know, fold it up nicely and set it down or just kind of. 346 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,000 Let it drop to the ground, throw off like that. 347 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,400 That is an action that we are taking there. 348 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,880 So just keep in mind on that. They're off your old sinful 349 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,080 nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust 350 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,000 and deception. Deception. 351 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,120 The problem with deception is that we don't always know that 352 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:44,840 we are deceived. Otherwise it wouldn't be 353 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,000 deception. So the next verse says instead, 354 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,240 let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 355 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:57,520 Put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous 356 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,120 and holy. So are we seeing a pattern there 357 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,960 right here? It will trap you so fast and you 358 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,880 don't even see it coming. So did you guys know that God 359 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,320 isn't actually worried about anything? 360 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:19,880 And I know that it is easier said than done. 361 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,960 You know, people, people, I mean, we even teach it like in 362 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,880 song form to kids, you know, do not be anxious about anything. 363 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,440 But in everything with prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving. 364 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,920 And I mean, we can sit there and we can quote it all day long. 365 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,920 And it's easier said than done. I know that. 366 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,280 I know that you can't just slap a scripture Band-Aid on 367 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:43,720 something and make it work. I know, but it doesn't mean that 368 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,560 we we can't worry about everything, but we also can't 369 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,080 get apathetic and just not care about anything at all. 370 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:53,960 But when we actually really put trusting the Lord into practice, 371 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,760 you'll start to notice that slowly but surely, that little 372 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,080 worry meter, it will start to dwindle. 373 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,240 And there are things that we just have to let go of 374 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:06,920 sometimes. And I'm not saying that as a 375 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,280 judgement on anybody because that is a lesson that I'm also 376 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,840 learning in real time about the things that I need to relinquish 377 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,880 and things that I still things that I do need to hold on and 378 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,160 things that I don't. That'll probably be a lifelong 379 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:25,480 journey for me. And I know that I will let I 380 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:26,760 know. I will let my mind get in the 381 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,760 way of things. I will overthink something to 382 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,400 death. In fact, I have thought about 383 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,960 things so much, this isn't even really like a negative example. 384 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,360 But just last night at practice I was telling Andrew something 385 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,240 and I asked him right after I said it, I said, did I text that 386 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,840 to you already? And he said no. 387 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:49,520 And I said I kept thinking about texting it to you so much that I 388 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,160 actually thought that maybe I had. 389 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,280 So I know I overthink. I know that I am impatient when 390 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,040 it comes to waiting on the Lord. I don't even like to wait in 391 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:01,280 line at the store. I will do a grocery pick up so 392 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,200 much faster then I will go and wait in the line. 393 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,920 I don't want to do it. So I know that I have days where 394 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,920 I just, I just don't feel it and I just have to go through the 395 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,960 motions. But we don't have to live like 396 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,760 that. We can just be so caught up in 397 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,840 doing what we think that the Lord wants us to do that we 398 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,000 can't even recognize that he didn't ask us. 399 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,400 So that would lead me to our next reflection question, which 400 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:35,080 is who are you doing it for? And really, so this one might 401 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:40,280 step on some toes because we all like to think that we are doing 402 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,520 the right things for the right reasons. 403 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,080 But then when you realize that maybe you've done something for 404 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:52,280 the wrong reasons, how do you now gracefully back out and not 405 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,480 let someone think that, you know, maybe your commitment to 406 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,280 the Lord or your commitment to your church is just maybe not as 407 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,160 solid as they thought. How do you face a group of 408 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,000 people that, you know, you think that they view you in one way 409 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,560 and you're you're going to like, take a really big risk in 410 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:13,160 disappointing them? You know, this is just the way 411 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:14,880 that we know that we've always done it this way. 412 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,360 Or what will they think? What will they say? 413 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,440 Well, I become the the subject of the very next gossip session. 414 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,480 And I mean, the truthful answer to that last question is, yeah, 415 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,720 probably. But hopefully this is something 416 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:34,680 that will give you a little bit of freedom and you can, you can 417 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:39,560 jot this in your notes. One thing, we tell it to people 418 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:40,880 all the time. We tell it to our kids all the 419 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,600 time. You cannot control what people 420 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:47,840 think or what people do. You have absolutely no control 421 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,440 over that. So go ahead and just give that 422 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,760 one up. But the second one, which I 423 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,640 personally love and quote often is other people's opinion of you 424 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:02,280 is none of your business. So I like to think of it as 425 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,880 ladies, when we put our hair up like in a claw, clip the back of 426 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,600 our head and what it looks like, that's none of my business. 427 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:16,320 That's in God's hands now. I don't see it and what's 428 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,240 happening back there. It's just, it is what it is. 429 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,400 It's none of my business. So that doesn't mean that, 430 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,800 again, you don't pendulum swing and then just become, you know, 431 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,360 a total, you know, Jack wagon who ignores people's feelings 432 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,960 and just become inconsiderate and just do, well, I'll do 433 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,160 whatever I want. And the people who say, well, it 434 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:39,800 doesn't matter what I do as long as it's not hurting anybody. 435 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:44,040 Well, if that is you or if that's somebody that you know, 436 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,400 I'll go ahead and lay this one on you. 437 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,960 The somebody that it's hurting is you. 438 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,520 And you are somebody who was also important. 439 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,840 So that argument doesn't really hold. 440 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,520 So in the areas that we are serving the Lord, why do we do 441 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,680 it? And that could be whether it's 442 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,400 in a church building or in some kind of, you know, exterior 443 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,840 outreach or even like your personal ministry that you're 444 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,360 involved in. What's our why? 445 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:18,920 Is it because we feel bad saying no? 446 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:21,440 Oh, I know. Nobody's ever suffered from 447 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,680 that. Is it because we think it looks 448 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:29,480 really good when we participate? Is it to gain a measure of 449 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,640 leadership so that we can have some influence? 450 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,080 Is it escape? Is it to escape what's happening 451 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,960 at home? Is it because we assume it's 452 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,920 just what we're supposed to do? And those are those are real 453 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:47,640 questions that we have to ask ourselves. 454 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,640 A couple of years ago, I was in charge of the Ladies Ministry, 455 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:55,640 which is now head by. It's headed up by Miss Melinda 456 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,880 McElroy and she is doing an amazing job with it. 457 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:03,400 And unashamedly, I'm going to plug the ladies encounter. 458 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:05,120 If you haven't signed up yet, you should do so. 459 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:07,640 It's our annual conference. It's awesome. 460 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,760 But so I was leading the latest ministry and we're doing monthly 461 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,000 meetings, we're trying out new stuff and we're branching out, 462 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,040 getting different ideas. And I had another lady who was a 463 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,200 part of it come to me. And she said, would it be OK if 464 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:28,720 I held a Bible study? And I said, yeah, that would be 465 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,920 awesome. And I told her, I said I 466 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,800 probably won't be able to go to it, But But yeah, if you want to 467 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,360 do it and you feel led to do so, go for it. 468 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,880 I love it. And that wasn't because I don't 469 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,920 like Bible studies. I love Bible studies. 470 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:45,280 It doesn't because I don't like her. 471 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:50,000 I love her. I just already had so many other 472 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,480 things on my plate and she didn't need me to like approve 473 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,000 of what she was teaching. I know her. 474 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,000 I know her character. I had full confidence that she 475 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,120 was going to be dispensing what the Lord was having her 476 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:04,120 dispense. And so whereas I could have 477 00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:08,520 tried to force that into my schedule and sacrifice the time 478 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:12,000 with my family, who is my primary ministry, just because 479 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,400 it looks good for the head of ladies ministry to be there. 480 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,800 Or I could announce that it's getting started, encourage other 481 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,840 people to go and spend time with my husband and my kids. 482 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:29,880 On the surface, a Bible study doesn't look like a bad thing. 483 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,800 But for me at that particular time, having the things that the 484 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,600 Lord already entrusted me with stewarding, it would have been a 485 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,880 bad thing. And one of our core tenets here 486 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,640 is to discover purpose. It's right there on the wall. 487 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,000 And we really do, we really do believe that we want people to 488 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,240 unlock their giftings that the Lord has given them. 489 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,760 We want to set them up for success, and we want to help 490 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:57,720 people to pursue those things. And it could be, as you know, as 491 00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,920 easy and straightforward as helping out in our kids 492 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:02,240 ministry, serving back there in tech arts. 493 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,640 But it could also mean doing stuff with Jumpstart Prison 494 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,600 Ministry. It could be going on a mission 495 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,880 trip down to Guatemala, love Guatemala. 496 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,520 It doesn't have to necessarily be, you know, here on this these 497 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,680 premises, but it does need to be what he asked of you. 498 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,400 So we will all go through a season where it just feels like 499 00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:23,520 we are just running out of steam. 500 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,200 The things that the Lord calls us to, they will require a 501 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,840 measure of work, but the difference is that when we are 502 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,520 managing the time and the resources the way that He wants 503 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:39,160 us to, you'll find it sustains you a whole lot longer than when 504 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,160 you're just kind of trying on your own and spinning your 505 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,440 wheels. So I will tell you another 506 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,440 little story that hopefully will kind of drive this point home. 507 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,480 And I will tell you a story about when I had my first baby 508 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,160 and if you have not ever had a baby before and you would like 509 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,080 to know the full behind the scenes information of that 510 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:04,840 experience, you can talk to me one-on-one. 511 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,520 I will spare everybody the nitty gritty right now, but it was 512 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,480 first time experiencing going through labour and you have a 513 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,680 lot of people that are just constantly coming in and out of 514 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:21,040 the room and you're they're, they're asking you 100,000 515 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,000 questions and they are hooking you up to all these different 516 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,240 cords and machines and you've got this thing where it's all 517 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,960 wrapped around your belly. And I, I already have little 518 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:32,200 sausage fingers. OK. 519 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,360 And by the time I was giving birth, I was already like four 520 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,720 or five days past my due date. I was, I mean, y'all, I was 521 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:44,160 swole, I was full of all of the liquid. 522 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:48,880 So they could not even find like the veins in my hand to give me 523 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,960 the IV. They had to put it in my arm. 524 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,840 And if you've never held a baby, you should know having an IV 525 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,200 here is not ideal for holding a baby. 526 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:03,560 So it was just, it was something and it was just very 527 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,920 intimidating 'cause I didn't really know what to expect. 528 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:11,200 And the that particular evening that our daughter decided to 529 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,800 make her grand entrance. I don't know exactly how many 530 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,000 other women were giving birth that night, but I know there was 531 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,080 at least one. And let me tell you how I knew 532 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:27,440 y'all. She was hollering, screaming her 533 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,880 head off like she was being chased in a 90 horrors movie. 534 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,560 It. Oh my gosh. 535 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,920 So here I am hooked up to all this stuff. 536 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,360 I'm not even to the push part yet. 537 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,640 We're still like, we are still, like first inning, OK. 538 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,560 And so I'm just kind of like looking around. 539 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,360 And I asked one of the nurses. I was like, is she OK? 540 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,040 And she, you could tell she's been, you could tell she had 541 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,600 seen some things because she was just completely unfazed. 542 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,600 And she said, yeah, some women are screamers. 543 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:07,080 And then she told me, she said, and when it comes time, you can 544 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,680 make any noises that you want. We have heard it all. 545 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:18,560 So, OK, so when the time came for me to finally get to the 546 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,800 push part, at that point I had been in labour for a little over 547 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,880 30 hours. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 548 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,800 So I'm exhausted. I'm absolutely exhausted, y'all. 549 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,200 I'm so hungry. All they give you is those 550 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:35,040 stupid ice chips. I was so mad. 551 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,600 I Oh my God, I would have killed. 552 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:39,760 I would have strangled one of those nurses for a cheeseburger 553 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:41,120 in that moment. I really would have. 554 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:43,760 So, But now here, so here it comes. 555 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:45,640 They're like, all right, you're at 10. 556 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,080 Here it comes. When we say, when we say push, 557 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,080 you're going to push. And so I'm like, all right, I 558 00:32:53,080 --> 00:33:00,240 mean, I wasn't standing, but you know, I, yeah, I have heard that 559 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,240 that helps. But as, again, first timer, I 560 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,280 didn't know. So, so we come to the point and 561 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:09,120 I'm there and I'm like, all right, I've got my eyes like 562 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,880 fixed on this one little spot of the wall and they're telling me 563 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:13,760 they're getting ready to go. And so I'm like, all right, here 564 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,680 it comes. And so I go and I take a big old 565 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:22,960 breath and, and I didn't make a sound. 566 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,480 I knew my body was running on fumes. 567 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:31,400 I knew that all of my energy and all of my concentration had to 568 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,120 purely be focused on the job that I had to do. 569 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,520 And I knew that if I made any noise, if I started screaming, 570 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,160 that was going to take that little bit that I had left on 571 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,000 East and it was just going to drain it completely. 572 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:49,920 So I didn't, I didn't scream. I didn't really hardly make any 573 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:54,120 noise. I just breathed and I pushed and 574 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:59,760 I brushed and pushed and pushed. And after they told me that my 575 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:04,520 baby was 9 lbs, I understood why I had pushed and pushed and 576 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,400 pushed and pushed. But sometimes we get stuck on 577 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,960 all the things that we could be doing that we deplete the energy 578 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,360 that we needed to actually complete the original task. 579 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:20,679 My task in that moment, my mission to complete was safely 580 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:23,320 deliver. As one of my favourite Instagram 581 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,679 people says, who's a nurse to help them become an indoor cat 582 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:33,080 to an outdoor cat. That was my job was to get her 583 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,239 into this world come heck or high water. 584 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,440 And so because that had to be my priority. 585 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,520 So what? What is your priority? 586 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:50,000 What are you doing and who are you actually doing it for? 587 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:53,560 Which will bring me to the last point in tonight's message, 588 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:56,880 which isn't a question, it's just a general statement. 589 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:04,360 But it's not about you really. And it isn't when the worship 590 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,080 team, we come up here to lead the congregation, one of the 591 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,920 things that we are constantly praying is that that the people 592 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,280 who are out here that you guys wouldn't even remember who it 593 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:17,200 was that sang the song that day that you would just remember and 594 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:18,680 you would know the one that we're singing about. 595 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,640 And if you serve in kids ministry, it should not be 596 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,560 because you feel bad that we need kids workers, which I mean, 597 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,400 we do. Please, if you haven't 598 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,840 considered it, it shouldn't be because you just feel bad. 599 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,440 It should be because you have a heart and you have a desire 600 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,640 within you to see the next generation of Jesus. 601 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,680 If you volunteer in a soup kitchen or at a shelter or 602 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,560 something, it shouldn't be because people are going to look 603 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:44,840 at you and be like, oh, look at them. 604 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,760 They're so, they're so selfless. They're so nice. 605 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,120 It should, it should just be because in every single city out 606 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,560 there, there are people who are hungry and we have the ability 607 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,480 to feed them. And that's the example that 608 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,720 Jesus gave us, full stop. No other reason. 609 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,200 So we'll take a look real quick at a couple of guys who also 610 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:08,920 weren't feeling it. And you can jump over to Luke 24 611 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:11,280 and we'll talk about the walk to Emmaus. 612 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,760 We're going to start in verse 13, and I'll kind of give you 613 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,520 another running start here. So at the beginning of the 614 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,480 chapter, the tomb that Jesus has been in is discovered empty. 615 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:25,800 Yay, he's risen. Hooray. 616 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:31,600 And then you have the women. Yes, the women go and tell that 617 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:35,360 he has resurrected. And so all the people who were 618 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,760 followers of Jesus and all the people that had been there to 619 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:41,640 witness the execution there, everybody's still pretty deep in 620 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:44,960 their fields. They're really just overcome 621 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:46,880 with grief. And we meet these two gentlemen 622 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,560 who are walking and they're going from Emmaus to Jerusalem. 623 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:55,200 So verse 13, that day, 2 of Jesus followers were walking to 624 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:57,560 the village of Emmaus, 7 miles from Jerusalem. 625 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,680 As they walked along, they were talking about everything that 626 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,560 had happened. As they talked to discuss these 627 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,080 things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with him. 628 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,640 But God kept them from recognizing him. 629 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,960 So time out flag on the play. Why would God do that? 630 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:18,920 Why would he keep them from recognizing him? 631 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,960 So interesting. Let that let that roll around 632 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:27,720 for a second as we keep going. So verse 17, he asked them, what 633 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:30,160 are you discussing so intently as you walk along? 634 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,280 Which is funny to me. As if he doesn't know. 635 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:36,760 So they stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 636 00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,400 Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, You must be the only 637 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,720 person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that 638 00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:44,200 have happened there the last few days. 639 00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:48,360 What things? Jesus asked again. 640 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:52,320 Funny to me, the things that happened to Jesus, the man from 641 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,800 Nazareth. They said he was a prophet who 642 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,200 did powerful, powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in 643 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:00,120 the eyes of God and all the people. 644 00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:02,640 But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed 645 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,040 him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 646 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:08,880 We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. 647 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:10,680 This all happened three days ago. 648 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,760 Then some women from our group of his followers were at his 649 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,080 tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing 650 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,240 report. They said his body was missing 651 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:21,720 and they've seen angels who told them Jesus is alive. 652 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,120 Some of our men run out to sea and sure enough, his body was 653 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:26,720 gone, just as the women had said. 654 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,840 Then Jesus said to them, you foolish people, you find it so 655 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:33,960 hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the 656 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,480 Scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that 657 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,160 the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering 658 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,160 his glory? Then Jesus took them through the 659 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,080 writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from the 660 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,800 Scriptures the things concerning himself. 661 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:53,040 Again, funny to me. He said let me tell you about me 662 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,520 from me, but they don't know it's him. 663 00:38:57,440 --> 00:38:59,240 So by this time they were nearing Emmaus. 664 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,160 In the end of their journey, Jesus acted as if he was going 665 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,840 as if he were going on, but they begged him stay the night with 666 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,440 us since it's getting late. So he went home with them. 667 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,240 As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. 668 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:14,000 He broke it and gave it to them. Sound familiar? 669 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,160 Suddenly their eyes were open and they recognized him. 670 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,480 And in that moment he disappeared. 671 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:27,960 So if we did not have any others, this would already be 672 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:31,920 just a beautiful example of the fact that there is not a single 673 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:33,840 one of us who have any of this figured out. 674 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,880 Why would the resurrected Saviour walk right next to them 675 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,880 while the Father kept them from recognizing Him? 676 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:48,320 They didn't feel it. They didn't know that the 677 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,720 Messiah was walking right there with them and having a talk 678 00:39:51,720 --> 00:39:54,760 about Himself to them and then reteach what He had already been 679 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:58,280 teaching. So then they get home, they 680 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,040 break bread, God lifts the veil from their eyes and then poof, 681 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,160 then he actually does leave. So what is that about? 682 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,760 If you think for a second that you can figure out and you can 683 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:12,400 predict when God is going to move in your life, you are 684 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,120 sorely mistaken. The men from Emmaus were focused 685 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,000 on their sadness and the reality of what their eyes had seen. 686 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:24,160 But feelings are fleeting. The warm fuzzy moment. 687 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:25,760 It cannot be the thing that we chase. 688 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,960 The recognition and the appreciation can't be the thing 689 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:32,560 that we chase. On the days when our minds are 690 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,240 cluttered and our body feels numb, he's still there. 691 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:39,600 So what makes you think that he's so one-dimensional that 692 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:40,960 he's always going to show up for you? 693 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:46,000 In the same way, we serve a God whose physical form is not here. 694 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,760 So sometimes it's, it's hard for us to always, you know, connect 695 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:51,280 and recognize that he is with us. 696 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:55,040 But faith is believing even when your eyes tell you otherwise, 697 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,760 when your mind tries to tell you otherwise, when your 698 00:40:57,760 --> 00:40:59,680 circumstances try to tell you otherwise. 699 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:05,440 So I'll bring it all back around to that night of worship that I 700 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:10,200 just felt empty. I walk off the stage and usually 701 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:12,960 we'll kind of gather in this little side room over here for 702 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,280 just a few minutes. You know, we got to put our our 703 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:20,120 microphones and our stuff away. And most everybody else was 704 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,040 like, whoa, like, yeah, it was great. 705 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,120 It was so awesome. And I turned and I looked at 706 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,560 Anna and I said, I don't feel anything. 707 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,240 And for those of you who do know her, you'll probably hear her 708 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:36,280 voice in your head as I say that where she looked at me and she's 709 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:38,000 kind of shaking her head. That's OK. 710 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,200 And so we chatted for a few minutes and she encouraged me 711 00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:46,680 and she asked me some questions to and I felt a little bit 712 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,720 better, but I was just, I was just still, I was just really 713 00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:54,680 disappointed. And to be fully transparent, I 714 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,720 was disappointed because God didn't show up the way that I 715 00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:01,320 wanted Him to. And it sounds really ugly when 716 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,080 you say it out loud, but that is the truth. 717 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,400 I have put God in a box and limited what I thought my 718 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:12,960 experience should look like. And do you all Remember Me 719 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,200 earlier saying about how there's a lot more out here of you than 720 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:21,200 there are up here? Well, realizing that in that 721 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:26,080 whole hour that I was singing and leading, not once did I even 722 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,920 think about anybody that it was just going to be a blessing to 723 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,120 how I could be interceding for people in that moment. 724 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:39,480 I got so focused on chasing a feeling for me that I neglected 725 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,080 to focus on my Saviour who called me to serve here in the 726 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:47,520 1st place. So there are going to be days 727 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,280 when you're not feeling it, but you take those days and you just 728 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:54,960 let them be a day. You recalibrate, you 729 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,640 recalculate, and don't always expect things to just be the 730 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,080 same way. We've said it all the time that 731 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,880 God, who never changes, changes everything that He touches. 732 00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:08,120 So when God does move in your life and you feel Him again, 733 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,400 don't assume that it's always going to still be that one way. 734 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,440 As we grow and we continue to chase Him, our experiences will 735 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:19,440 shift the fire that burns deep, deep down in our souls. 736 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:22,000 It will continue just to get hotter. 737 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:25,080 It's not about putting on a show. 738 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:27,000 It's not about the church culture. 739 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:30,000 It's not it's not ever even been about us. 740 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:35,600 And Philippians 314 says I press on to reach the end of the race 741 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:38,280 and receive the heavenly prize for which God through Christ 742 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:43,840 Jesus is calling us. You stay focused, you put your 743 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:50,120 eye on the wall and eventually you will keep going exactly 744 00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:52,520 where you're supposed to be, exactly where you're supposed to 745 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,320 go. And I promise you, there will be 746 00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:57,640 a great reward at the end of that finish line. 747 00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,720 And you will have a lot of encouragement and high fives 748 00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:02,600 also along the way. Just don't expect one at every 749 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:07,080 single mile marker. So if you all just pray with me 750 00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:15,920 real quick, Lauren, we love you and Lord, we just, we recognize 751 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:20,680 that it's not about us. I thank you, Lord, that you are 752 00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:24,280 so good to us that you don't just do things in one way. 753 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:27,400 You have so many different ways that you speak to us, so many 754 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:28,680 different ways that you lead us, Lord. 755 00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:32,000 And so I would pray that just every single, every single 756 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,880 person who is here to hear this, that they would keep their 757 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,520 hearts and their ears and everything just open so that 758 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,000 they can hear you clearly and know that they're doing what 759 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:44,560 they're supposed to do because you've asked it at them. 760 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:52,320 And Lord, I just help ask you to help us to be humble and that 761 00:44:52,560 --> 00:44:58,160 think of ourselves better than we actually are and that you 762 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:00,520 would just be with us and walk with us. 763 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,760 Help us remember that the days that we don't feel it is just 764 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,200 another day and that your nurse, your mercies will be new the 765 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:10,600 next morning. And we just thank you Lord, and 766 00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,000 we praise you in Jesus name, Amen. 767 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:23,040 Amen. All right. 8:00 on the dot. 768 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,840 All right, well, this concludes your Wednesday night service. 769 00:45:29,560 --> 00:45:33,120 If you have children, don't forget them or we'll feed them 770 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,920 candy. Youth may still have a few 771 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:39,520 minutes. Youth may still have a few 772 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:42,960 minutes before they're done. So if you have a youth, you can 773 00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:44,880 just hang out in the cafe and wait for them, I reckon. 774 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,920 Otherwise, we'll see you Sunday. Bye.