1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,760 Hello, Han, Welcome to Amen podcast. 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:05,560 I'm Lokelani. And today Alex is taking us into 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,760 a brand new series called Stressless. 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,880 And it's all about conquering anxiety by looking at the book 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,480 of Philippians. Today we're beginning with 6 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:17,960 verses one and two. I'll read those in just a 7 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,040 moment. And here is what is wild about 8 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,640 this letter Paul is writing from prison chains on his wrist. 9 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,880 No idea if he's getting out. And the tone of this whole book 10 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,439 is joy. He's not panicked, he's not 11 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,280 rattled, but he's calm. Alex is going to walk us through 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,240 why, and it comes down to three things. 13 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,440 His master, his mission, and his manner. 14 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,240 If you've ever felt blindsided by how broken the world is or 15 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,800 shocked by suffering that came out of nowhere, this episode is 16 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,960 going to meet you right there. And before we jump in, if this 17 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,960 ministry has blessed you, please hit the like button. 18 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,120 Subscribe, leave us a rating and review on Spotify or Apple 19 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,720 podcast. And it this is just a great way 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:08,840 to help this podcast reach more people. 21 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,040 And so if you'd like to support financially, that's another way 22 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:18,240 that truly keeps this podcast going, you can visit 23 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,640 amenpodcast.com and also find out more about what we do on 24 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,880 that website. All righty and. 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,520 We definitely need it 'cause we have another baby coming soon in 26 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:33,600 a week now, baby #7 our third girl, 4 boys. 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,760 This will be our third girl. And so Venmo is probably the 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:38,400 easiest way if you guys want to do that. 29 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,720 But oh, there's study guides in the description of the last 30 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,600 three episodes, including this episode, something we've been 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,320 doing now. You can go to aymanpodcastcom, 32 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,760 or you can go to the description of this video and click on the 33 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,120 link to our Google Docs folder. That's open for anybody who 34 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,520 wants a study guide to go along with each lesson. 35 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,720 That's a good time to jump in now because we're starting a new 36 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,880 series and also the House Church podcast will be going through a 37 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,320 different book. But if you need another podcast 38 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,880 to listen to throughout the week, we only post once a week 39 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,160 on Amen Podcast. And it's because we have another 40 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,920 podcast called House Church. So if you want to listen to our 41 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:17,000 sermons from house church in our garage, go to house Church 42 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,360 podcast available everywhere. And with that said, we love you. 43 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:25,680 Let's jump in. Let's do it, Paul and Timothy, 44 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,480 servants of Christ Jesus. To all the Saints in Christ who 45 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,680 are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons, grace to 46 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,840 you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 47 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,440 Christ. Amen. 48 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,400 When was the last time you were surprised? 49 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:43,840 Like really surprised, Maybe even shocked. 50 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,320 I remember when I was in high school, my friends and my mom 51 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,480 and my auntie set up a surprise birthday party for my 16th 52 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:55,600 birthday at a little pizza shop in downtown Homewood, AL called 53 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,120 New York Pizza. And I remember the shop because 54 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,080 they had these Navy blue shirts that were like these vintage 55 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:07,360 Navy blue T-shirts with this white font on it that said New 56 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,560 York Pizza and always used to see people wearing them. 57 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:12,920 And I thought they were cool shirts and then we'd go there 58 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:14,240 every once in a while with our friends. 59 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,400 But I remember walking into this pizza shop and it just like 60 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,760 every pizza shop that I can think of, it's like really dark 61 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,560 on the inside. And I remember all my friends 62 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:25,880 being there. And I was really genuinely 63 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,480 shocked. My friends were acting weird all 64 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,120 day. It was a Saturday, but I just 65 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,720 sometimes we acted weird so but I was, I remember being so 66 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,120 surprised. And some people don't like 67 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,240 surprises. You may not like surprises 68 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,560 because there is a little bit of anxiety that comes with a 69 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,560 surprise, but in our book today and, and Philippians through 70 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,000 this series, we're going to see that anxiety is not bad. 71 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,040 It's when anxiety turns into worry that it, that it becomes 72 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:51,920 bad. If you have anxiety about 73 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,800 anything, it's because you are concerned and you should be 74 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:56,520 concerned. Like when I walked into New York 75 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,800 Pizza, I was concerned about my own safety because I I walked in 76 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,200 and everyone that I know and love is in this room. 77 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,280 So is this an intervention? What's happening in high school? 78 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,360 I certainly needed an intervention, but that's beside 79 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,800 the point. Anxiety is good. 80 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,520 God gives you a brain that can respond to things with the right 81 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,760 levels of cortisol and stuff so that you are safe. 82 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:21,399 But when that turns into trusting in ourselves, that's a 83 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:22,680 problem. So we're going to learn in this 84 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,440 series to not trust in ourselves, to trust in God to 85 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,360 live stress less. Anxiety is can be good, but 86 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,800 stress can turn into evil, turn into worry. 87 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,400 And so let's look at this today. We're talking about being 88 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,480 unsurprised by looking at the very first 2 verses of 89 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:40,920 Philippians. And this is simply a greeting. 90 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,440 It's a greeting that Paul is giving to the church in 91 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,920 Philippi. This is a church that he planted 92 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,520 12 years earlier before writing this letter. 93 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:52,920 And he's writing this letter from prison. 94 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:54,960 How did he get to prison, you might be asking? 95 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:59,720 Well, in Acts chapter 16, it tells us exactly how he and 96 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:05,600 Silas come to this Macedonian city Philippi, which has been 97 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,760 conquered and turned into a Roman colony. 98 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,360 So it's a very much part of Rome. 99 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,840 And in Rome there is something called synchronization 100 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:19,160 happening, which means they would sync up all different 101 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,200 types of cultures and religions into one. 102 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:27,440 And with that, there was one Oracle in this city, the city of 103 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,560 Philippi, and it was a little girl, an Oracle as someone that 104 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,080 can talk to the other realm on your behalf. 105 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:34,800 And that's exactly what she would do. 106 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:39,080 She was possessed by demons and her masters who owned her would 107 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:44,360 use this demon possession to fortune tell or to they were. 108 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:46,440 She was essentially their crystal ball. 109 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,480 She would talk to the other realm to know how to please 110 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,240 these Pagan gods that they worshipped. 111 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,600 And people would pay a lot of money for to have their fortune 112 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,120 told by this little girl. But this little girl, safe to 113 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,920 say she was miserable. She was ruled by the master of 114 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:04,800 Satan. And so Paul and Silas come in 115 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,240 preaching the good news was the good news that there is one God 116 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,480 and one Savior, the only wise God, our Savior, Jesus Christ, 117 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,400 to him be glory, majesty, dominion and power forever. 118 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,520 And he's the only name under heaven by which you can be 119 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,280 saved. Now that went against all their 120 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:22,480 Pagan religion. And then on top of that, to 121 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,040 solidify that Jesus is the only God. 122 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,120 What does Paul do? He cast out the demon, 123 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,120 essentially making her unable to fortune tell anymore and freeing 124 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,760 her from her evil master. And that, as you can probably 125 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,680 imagine, crushed their economy. It it, it crushed their power of 126 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,520 control that they had over her and over the people who are 127 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,360 fearful of this fortune telling. And these masters of hers got so 128 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:48,640 mad. These earthly masters of hers 129 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,000 got so mad. They took Paul and Silas, 130 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,000 chained them up and took them to the rulers that be and say, hey, 131 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,360 these guys are teaching things that are not lawful for Romans 132 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,400 to believe in. And so they threw them in jail. 133 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:04,760 And from this jail is where Paul writes this letter. 134 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,240 And in this letter, we're going to see one thing. 135 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:14,000 We don't have to live surprised by our circumstances. 136 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,120 Notice how calm Paul is in verse one. 137 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,720 How unsurprised he is Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ 138 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:22,960 Jesus. Now, why is Timothy mentioned 139 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:24,600 here? It's because Timothy was a part 140 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:26,640 of planting this church in Philippi, so they would have 141 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,520 known Timothy as well. And he's going to actually send 142 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,280 Philip or he's going to send Timothy to the Philippians 143 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,080 because Paul doesn't really know if he's going to get out. 144 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,000 But again, he doesn't start this letter the way he starts his 145 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:44,200 other letters talking about his accolades, talking about the 146 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,240 situation at hand. There's no urgency in Paul. 147 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,240 He just like, hey, guys, me and Timothy, you know, send you this 148 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,920 letter. We're servants of Christ now. 149 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,320 Interesting. He says servants, this word 150 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,400 servant, it means slave. That's a different slave word 151 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,120 from Acts 16 where it talks about this slave girl who was 152 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,800 possessed by a demon that they cast out different word. 153 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,760 And then here's why the word in Acts 16 talking about this girl 154 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:16,600 is a slave who doesn't have the ability to make decisions for 155 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,200 themselves. They are forced into slavery and 156 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,680 that's certainly what she was forced into the slavery of her 157 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,600 Master Satan. Paul uses this word servant to a 158 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,640 different Greek word to describe him and Timothy because they are 159 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,919 different types of slaves. They are willingly serving 160 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:35,039 Jesus. You remember in the Old 161 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:38,840 Testament, there is a type of slave who would nail their ear 162 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,919 to the doorpost of the home of their master to show them, even 163 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:45,280 though my time is up, even though I paid my debt by 164 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:46,680 serving, I don't want to leave you. 165 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,840 I want to stay with you. It's a dramatic way of saying, 166 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,240 please let me stay with you because you're a good master. 167 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,040 I willingly want to stay with you. 168 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:55,520 That is the heart of Paul and Timothy. 169 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,080 That is the the unsurprised by his circumstance. 170 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:01,400 He's in prison. He's being mistreated. 171 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,520 He's not surprised by that. He has so much calm, confidence 172 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,720 and beauty in his heart. And I want you to notice 173 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,040 something. It's coming from his master. 174 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,120 The reason why he's so unsurprised is because he's not 175 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,160 surprised by the evil of the world. 176 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,520 He's surprised by the goodness of his master. 177 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,320 Even in prison he has joy. Even in prison he has peace. 178 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,120 Why? His master is good. 179 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:26,400 Only those who are slaves to the good master can have this sort 180 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:32,200 of manner or disposition. OK, now he says to the Saints in 181 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,920 Christ Jesus. Now, I want you to notice also 182 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:41,160 that Paul isn't being weirdly optimistic, right? 183 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:43,520 He's not being like he's in a bad situation. 184 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,760 He doesn't actually know if he's going to get out of prison. 185 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:50,520 He might die in prison. He's also not being pessimistic, 186 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,400 right? He's not being like, this is all 187 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,600 going to end badly. This is everything's going to 188 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:56,360 be. I just got to, I got to expect 189 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,440 the unexpected plan for the worse and hope for the good. 190 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,280 That's not his heart. That's not what being 191 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,920 unsurprised is about. Because sometimes something will 192 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,520 happen to you in your life and you'll be like, well, I'm not 193 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,120 surprised. No, it's not about being overly 194 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:09,440 optimistic. It's not about being 195 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,200 pessimistic. It's about having confident hope 196 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:16,240 in someone other than yourself. If we are optimistic, we're 197 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,080 hoping in ourselves. If we're optimistic in the wrong 198 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,120 way, we're saying I'm going to find a way out of this. 199 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,400 If we're overly pessimistic, what we're saying is we're also 200 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,400 hoping in ourselves. If I have a negative outlook, 201 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,520 then I can prepare myself for the unexpected. 202 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:31,600 Either way, you're hoping in yourselves. 203 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,360 Being a person that is unsurprised by the world but 204 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,360 surprised by the beauty of our God is a person who has 205 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,000 confident hope in God and not themselves. 206 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,000 How can Paul have confident hope while he's in prison? 207 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,160 Maybe awaiting death? Because for the non believer 208 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:49,880 death is the worst thing that can happen to you. 209 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,200 But for the believer death is the best thing that can happen 210 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:54,800 to you. Because Jesus has conquered 211 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,720 death. So death is a promotion. 212 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,760 It just transports us into the presence of our God. 213 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,840 To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 214 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:08,080 So we need to be unsurprised because we know we have to 215 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:10,720 remember we have a good master, We know we have a good master. 216 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,520 And John 15 tells us, our master tells us bad things are going to 217 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,520 happen to you. The world is going to hate you. 218 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,880 There's one particular person in my life that I really love. 219 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,280 I really like being around them. I really like talking to them 220 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,280 and they hate me and I lose sleep on it at night because I 221 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:29,280 want them to like me, because I like them so much. 222 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:33,680 But Jesus promised us, listen, the world is going to hate you. 223 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,360 The world's going to hit you. And The thing is, before I 224 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,680 preached what I preached to this person, they love me. 225 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,680 It wasn't until I stood on business and what Scripture says 226 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:47,960 they started to hate me. And Jesus says in John 15, if 227 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,640 the world hates you, they hated me first. 228 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,160 If it hates your master, it'll hate you. 229 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,680 Don't be surprised by it. But here's the problem that we 230 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:00,040 run into. The problem we run into is the 231 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,760 mission that we're on. If we're on the wrong mission, 232 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,640 then we have the wrong master. If we're on the wrong mission, 233 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:08,600 we're not listening to the right master. 234 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,520 Look at Paul's mission and the end of verse one of Philippians 235 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:14,560 1. He says to the Saints, his 236 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:19,680 mission is to write to the set apart holy ones in Philippi, the 237 00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:25,640 church that he planted and the overseers and the deacons, the 238 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,640 overseers and the deacons. Now, why does he make two 239 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,080 groups? Aren't the overseers and the 240 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,800 deacons also a part of the Saints? 241 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,640 Yes, of course. But he separates them to say, 242 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,960 listen, I'm writing to all of you guys to encourage you even 243 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,560 in my situation because you guys have a hard situation too. 244 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,520 Paul was in prison. The Philippians were in 245 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:47,600 pressure. The pressure from the outside 246 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,960 world, the Pagan world was pressuring them. 247 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,880 Paul is trying to encourage them. 248 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,840 That's his mission. But he separates the overseers 249 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:58,280 and the deacons because those were the leaders of the church. 250 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:01,760 An overseer is like an elder or a leader or a pastor. 251 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:03,400 We'll see that in the book of Timothy. 252 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:09,560 But a Deacon, like for example, Phoebe in Romans chapter 16, is 253 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:13,960 a servant of the church. Diaconos, a servant of the 254 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:15,360 church, could be a man, could be a woman. 255 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:20,760 Overseers were typically male in the Bible because a lot of the 256 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,720 leadership was male, because a lot of the the pressure and the 257 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,440 roles needed to be masculine roles because of the way that 258 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,560 God made men and the way that God made women to complement 259 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:36,360 each other in ministry. And so Phoebe is a great example 260 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,240 of a Deacon. It's a high leadership position 261 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:40,680 in the church and she was a great servant of the church. 262 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,120 But there's also some male deacons as well. 263 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,960 So he's writing to them to say, listen guys, if you guys don't 264 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,560 get the mission, the rest of the church, the other Saints and 265 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:50,600 Philippi are not going to get it. 266 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,960 If you don't grasp the fact that even in our pressure, even in 267 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,800 our prisons, we can have joy and confident hope in our God. 268 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,160 If you don't get that, the rest of the church is not going to 269 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:01,880 get it. If you don't live out that way. 270 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,040 If you are surprised by evil, surprised by the world, then the 271 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,000 rest of your church is going to be surprised by evil and 272 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,960 surprised by the world. But if you are surprised only by 273 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:15,840 the goodness of our God, CS Lewis has a book called 274 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,160 Surprised by Joy. If that is you, the other 275 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:21,920 church, the rest of the church will get it, but the leaders 276 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,400 have to get it first. So this is his mission, and he's 277 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:26,800 not going to teeter off this mission. 278 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:36,760 So what is your mission? What mission are you on? 279 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,360 Whose mission are you on? Because your mission reveals 280 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,040 your master. Whatever your life is about 281 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,320 whatever your mission is, it reveals your master. 282 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,720 We just watched this documentary about this girl named Mariah 283 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:53,760 Wilson, who was a a bike rider, a cyclist, and she her whole 284 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,160 life was about biking. Her whole life was about making 285 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,760 her a name for herself in the cycling community and and she 286 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:05,000 ends up getting in a relationship, technically an 287 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,280 unfaithful relationship with this male cyclist who was very 288 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,680 successful as well. And because they're kind of 289 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,560 sneaking around the man's ex-girlfriend or current 290 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:15,880 girlfriend, depending on how you look at it. 291 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,280 She came and she killed Mariah. It's very tragic, very evil for 292 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,720 her to take life into her own hands and take vengeance upon 293 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,160 her in this way and take away her life, take away her future, 294 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,040 take a daughter away from her parents, a sister away from her 295 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:32,000 brother. It was very evil for her to do 296 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:38,320 this, but the whole situation is a situation of I wonder if her 297 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:43,040 life would look different if she wasn't pursuing this idol of 298 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,480 becoming a cyclist. And cycling is not bad, 299 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,000 exercising not bad. But your mission reveals your 300 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,640 master, Your mission reveals your master. 301 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,680 Whatever mission you're on, you're mastered by that mission. 302 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:00,080 If your mission is to be a cyclist and your master is the 303 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,280 idolatry of looking like this beautiful, great, powerful 304 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,960 cyclist, if your if your mission is to be, if your mission is to 305 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,120 be a very successful ministry leader, then your master may not 306 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,880 be Christ. Your master may be acceptance, 307 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,760 accolades, people worshiping you, pride. 308 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,920 You see what I'm saying? And if our if our mission is 309 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,480 anything aside from the mission of glorifying our God and being 310 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,760 satisfied in him that our master is evil, our master is Satan, 311 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,680 our master is not Christ. So what mission are you on? 312 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,400 What are you living for? Paul sets out in the very first 313 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,160 verse what his mission is in this letter. 314 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:44,320 Make no distraction. Make no other distinction. 315 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:48,520 Make no confusion of what His mission is. 316 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,320 We know what His mission is to encourage the Saints. 317 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,320 Jesus is Saints in Philippi. Now how do we do it? 318 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:57,600 How do we have the right mission? 319 00:16:57,880 --> 00:16:59,840 How do we become unsurprised by the world? 320 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,320 How do we constantly, everyday remember who our Master is and 321 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,960 how good He is, even in the midst of our prisons, even in 322 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,440 the midst of our pressures? Let's look at the last verse 323 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,079 that we're going to study today, Philippians chapter one, verse 324 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:15,319 2. Grace to you and peace from our 325 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:17,839 God, our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. 326 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:24,119 Grace, undeserved kindness, undeserved gift to you, and 327 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,359 peace. Peace with who? 328 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,880 With God, which only comes from God. 329 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:35,920 Peace with God comes from God. You can't have peace with God 330 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:41,760 from anything you can do. Make no mistake, you can't do 331 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:43,480 anything to make yourself peaceful with God. 332 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,480 Peace with God comes from one place, God. 333 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:52,400 God has to make you in a place of peace and make Him make you 334 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,680 right with Him. He's already everything that's 335 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:56,520 right. We are everything that's wrong. 336 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,600 The problem in the world today is you're looking at it. 337 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:02,760 It's me. The problem in the world today 338 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,360 is you and the sin that we have in our hearts and the only way 339 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,680 we could be made right with God, only we could have peace with 340 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,800 God, is if God himself has a plan to save us. 341 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,160 And thank God in Christ Jesus that before he made anything, He 342 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,920 had a plan, before he made the entire universe. 343 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,520 His plan A was to send his Son to die on a cross so that you 344 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,160 could be saved and made right with God, knowing you'd blow it, 345 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,440 knowing you'd eat the apple, knowing that you'd make 346 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,200 mistakes. He already had a plan to save 347 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,600 you. You were saved and set apart way 348 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,480 before you were even born. It's called election 349 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:37,720 predestination. It's called a sovereign and 350 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:43,080 supreme God. So our Father and the Lord Jesus 351 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,680 Christ, from the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Father proceed 352 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,240 the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God fills our hearts with two 353 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,720 things that we see right here. Many things with two things we 354 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,200 see here in verse 2, grace and peace. 355 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,280 I want to summarize these things into one word, kindness. 356 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,320 Kindness. Matthew Chapter 11, verse 28 357 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:06,280 through 30. Jesus says, come to me, all who 358 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,480 are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for my yoke 359 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,640 is easy and my burden is light. That word easy, it means 360 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:19,600 kindness. It's a word that means not 361 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,120 wanting for you to experience discomfort. 362 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,120 Do you know that your Father is so kind? 363 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,600 He doesn't want you to experience discomfort. 364 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,800 He's so beautiful. He's so loving and gentle and 365 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,760 lowly towards you. He doesn't want you to 366 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,600 experience discomfort. Well, Alex, what about 367 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,640 suffering? If he, if he allows suffering to 368 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,680 happen in your life, it's because there's a greater 369 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:47,080 discomfort that will come to you if you don't go through the 370 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,080 suffering. You see what I'm saying? 371 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,640 So you might allow some physical pain, some emotional hardship. 372 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,120 Why? To keep you from a greater 373 00:19:55,120 --> 00:20:01,400 discomfort, IE hell, eternal separation from him or. 374 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,000 Any hellish tendencies or behaviors or circumstances in 375 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,280 this life as well? There's greater discomfort he 376 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,800 doesn't want you to experience. So for example, my kids were 377 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,320 outside climbing a plumeria tree. 378 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,600 Plumeria trees are very fragile trees, but very fragrant and 379 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,040 beautiful flowers come from them. 380 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,280 So I told them, get down from the plumeria tree and go climb 381 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,360 the pull up and dip bar that your uncle's made for us in the 382 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:29,200 backyard. But the pull up bar is like 10 383 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:30,520 feet tall, so they didn't want to climb it. 384 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,320 And so I told the oldest who's 10 years old, and I know that 385 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,880 this is very safe because I've done it before and there's 386 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,880 plenty of footholds and hand holds and he'll be fine. 387 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,800 So I said, I want you to climb the top of the pull up bars. 388 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:43,040 I don't want to. It's too scary. 389 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,440 It's too high. I'm like, you can do it, Just do 390 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,880 it. He does it and he sits up there 391 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:48,920 for like 10 minutes and I was like, you want to get down? 392 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,160 He's like, no, I like it up here. 393 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,400 So I wanted him to go through some uncomfortableness. 394 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,640 Why? Because there's a greater 395 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,680 discomfort that might not that he would experience if he 396 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,800 doesn't do this. Meaning he might not ever catch 397 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,080 a big wave, he might not ever try something new. 398 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,560 He might not ever learn that this this little bit of anxiety 399 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,800 that makes me concerned about my safety. 400 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:14,760 Sometimes I have to push that aside. 401 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,280 Sometimes I'm going to be, I'm going to be reeling in a really 402 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,640 big fish and I'm going to think that maybe this fish will pull 403 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,320 me out the boat and that anxiety that comes from that, that 404 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:23,960 little bit of uncomfortable feeling. 405 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:28,560 If we just give into that, then we never will. 406 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,120 We have the discomfort later of not catching the fish, of not 407 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:34,560 ever trying something new. I'm not ever climbing to a new 408 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:35,680 height. You see what I'm saying? 409 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,840 So a good father. I'm not saying that I'm a good 410 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:39,320 father. I'm actually a terrible father 411 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,840 at times and I'm not kind. I realized through this study 412 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,600 that I'm not. I really struggle with kindness. 413 00:21:46,360 --> 00:21:48,080 In fact, I think the opposite is true. 414 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,840 I think that sometimes I want people to experience discomfort 415 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,440 instead of saying I want to do everything in my power to keep 416 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,200 discomfort from a person. Maybe it's like a controlling 417 00:21:58,200 --> 00:21:59,760 thing. Maybe it's like a fearful thing. 418 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:03,280 Maybe I have this skewed idea that discomfort is how people 419 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,240 need to learn, how people need to be sanctified. 420 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,200 But Jesus is telling us it's actually through knowing that 421 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,080 your Father's heart is that you. He doesn't want discomfort for 422 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,320 you that sanctifies you. It's His grace that draws you 423 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,960 towards repentance. So I'm learning from this, but a 424 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:24,080 good father is a father who will allow a little bit of 425 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,480 uncomfortable feeling so that to save you from greater discomfort 426 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,840 in the future. And that is our Father. 427 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,040 That's what Paul knows. Paul who is definitely not 428 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,720 comfortable sitting in fetters, in prison and in Rome. 429 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,480 He knows this is only temporary, that these present troubles are 430 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,640 not able to be compared to the future glory that we have in 431 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,800 Christ Jesus. And my Father doesn't want 432 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,920 greater discomfort for me. And he knows that about his 433 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,600 Master. And because he knows he has a 434 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:00,680 good master, your Master determines your manner. 435 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,560 The reason why Paul is able to be unsurprised by the world and 436 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,800 yet constantly rejoicing and being surprised by the joy he 437 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,960 has in God is because he has a new manner. 438 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,400 Where'd he get the new manner? From trying harder. 439 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,160 Wishful thinking, positive self talk. 440 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,800 No manifestation. No, he gets this new manner from 441 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,280 this new master he has. He's not mastered by the law, 442 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,520 he's not mastered by Satan. He's not mastered by his own 443 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,680 flesh. He's not being forced to serve 444 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,960 this master. He's been given a new heart, a 445 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:36,600 heart of flesh, not a heart of stone. 446 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,240 And because he has this new master, he has a new manner. 447 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,320 I think about this last thought. The manner of the girl that was 448 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:50,600 a slave to her demonic forces was a dark and gloomy manner. 449 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:55,560 Why? Because of her Master Paul, who 450 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,920 is in prison, has a joyful and confident and peaceful manner. 451 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,000 How? He has a better master. 452 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,200 He has a good master. So you see, the Master 453 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:09,680 determines your manner. Do you have this new manner of 454 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:10,800 life? Do you have this new heart? 455 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,600 Do you have this new way of seeing yourself and seeing life? 456 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:18,160 If you know you have peace with God, from God because of God, 457 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,720 then that will absolutely change your manner. 458 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,040 What? How do we know that Jesus took 459 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,400 your prison? Jesus took your prison there in 460 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,760 a way. In a way, Jesus experienced like 461 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:40,000 a surprising shock at how evil, how much evil was poured, like 462 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,200 how much evil was poured out, how much wrath was poured out 463 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,800 because of the evil that he stood in our evil. 464 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,280 It's all the way that he stretched, the sweating drops of 465 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,000 blood, the way that he is screaming out, my God, my God, 466 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,520 why have you forsaken me? It's almost as if he is 467 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:00,240 surprised by how much wrath is poured, being poured on him in 468 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,880 this prison of our own suffering on the cross for those three 469 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,920 hours on the cross. He was on the cross for longer. 470 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,160 But the three hours of suffering, the three hours of 471 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,360 separation from the Father, which is a mystery. 472 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:14,840 How did the how did the Son of God separate? 473 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,200 How did the Father separate himself from the Son while still 474 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,240 being part of the Trinity intact? 475 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,160 How did that happen? It's a mystery, but it happened 476 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,360 there. When Steve Jobs died, his last 477 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,200 words were wow. And it could have been wow. 478 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:35,640 He could have, you know, pulled a thief on the cross and got 479 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:41,200 saved in his last moments. Or he could have also been 480 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,520 surprised by looking into hell. He can see the separation of the 481 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,440 father, and maybe that was a wow thing. 482 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,080 Someone who was so great at designing some of them, so great 483 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,240 at building things, creating things, who wanted people to say 484 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:54,600 wow. When he looked at his products, 485 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:59,760 he his last words were wow. Oh wow. 486 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,920 And we see that kind of response of Jesus on the cross, but in a 487 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,520 much greater, infinitely greater way. 488 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:11,040 He's looking into the wrath of God, and it's almost as if he is 489 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,720 surprised by it. He's late as he's not. 490 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,520 He's late as he's completely God, completely man. 491 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,280 But he's not tapping into his deity in the incarnation. 492 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:25,440 He just walking in complete trust in the Father, the God 493 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:30,120 man, 100% God, 100% man. And so as he looks into the 494 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:32,720 wrath, it's my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 495 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,800 He was in that place instead of you. 496 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:36,960 He was in that place instead of Paul. 497 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,680 And so if Jesus took that for him, This is why Paul is able to 498 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,080 have this new manner. He sees how much his master 499 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,840 loves him. He sees how kind his master is 500 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:47,640 towards him. And so there's no place he will 501 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,880 not go for his master willingly because he loves his master in 502 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,360 this new heart that he has. So don't be surprised by the 503 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:00,880 world, but not in a pessimistic way, not an overly optimistic 504 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,680 way, but don't be surprised by the world. 505 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,680 Be surprised by the goodness of your God and the peace that 506 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,160 passes. All understanding will guard 507 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,120 your heart in Christ Jesus until he comes to get us. 508 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,640 Amen. Let's pray. 509 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,800 Father, we thank you for the transformation that you've taken 510 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:24,160 us from constantly being at the mercy of this evil world and our 511 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,120 evil Master to being saved and transformed, given a new Master 512 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,560 and given a new heart. And to God, we pray that you 513 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:34,400 would remind us constantly that our Master is good no matter 514 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,120 what we go through. And we look forward to seeing 515 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,480 Paul and encourage the Philippian church with that as 516 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,320 well. And your name we pray, Amen. 517 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:49,480 So I was thinking of a question, and it would be how has God 518 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:54,200 transformed you into someone unsurprised by the world? 519 00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:58,880 Unsurprised by the world? How has God transformed you into 520 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,680 being somewhat unsurprised by the world? 521 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:04,960 Yes, this is that is our question for today. 522 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,040 This is the part of the episode called After the Amen where we 523 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:11,800 want to give you a chance to respond and apply this message 524 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,960 to your life. So how is God making you someone 525 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,480 unsurprised by the world? I'll answer 1st and then it's 526 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:26,080 your turn, I think. I guess what's on my mind right 527 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:31,800 now is just I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and we've had a baby at 528 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:33,520 this point. Like I've given birth at this 529 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:37,200 point in pregnancy. I've also given birth a little a 530 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,600 few days after my due date. So there's no telling when this 531 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,320 girl's going to come. She's going to come when she 532 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,240 wants. But I'm definitely in that frame 533 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,480 of mind of like preparing for childbirth, preparing for labor, 534 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:54,680 wondering what it'll be like. Each one has been different and 535 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:59,840 in the manner of pain and just the experience, a lot of them 536 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:03,760 have been similar, but also, but each one is definitely unique. 537 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:16,200 And I think one thing that like, just helps me in this time of 538 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:22,760 preparing for labor is, is that is like being unsurprised by 539 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,080 what will come during the birthing process. 540 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:32,440 Like, this is like, this is like what? 541 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,720 Like this is natural. This is normal. 542 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,080 This is a part of it. And because of the fall, there 543 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,400 is going to be a level and a manner of pain. 544 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,200 And so I don't have to try to think of every little thing I 545 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,640 can do to make everything go as blissful as possible. 546 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,720 And I also don't have to like worry about when it's going to 547 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,680 happen or how it's going to happen because like ultimately 548 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,560 the Lord is the gift giver of life. 549 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:03,880 Like there's definitely things that we do to create a baby, but 550 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,040 he's the one who forms it. He's the one who allows 551 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,880 everything to miraculously happen together to grow a baby 552 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:19,640 and bring it to term and allow the body to do what it does to 553 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,480 prepare for the baby to be born as well. 554 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:30,560 And so I don't have to be surprised with with whatever the 555 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,000 outcome of this pregnancy is like the Lord will see us 556 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,680 through in any way. And I think that's just always 557 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,680 been my like source of comfort and peace. 558 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:46,600 I don't know how I'd like be able to bear children and birth 559 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,040 them without truly like, without being a believer, without truly 560 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,800 comprehending the gospel and understanding what he's done for 561 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:57,560 us and the suffering that he's done for us. 562 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:02,200 And that I love that. Like there is so much joy after 563 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:09,720 and after having my first I, I can go into each birthing 564 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,520 process with joy because I experienced the joy of going 565 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:18,480 through the pain and the suffering of Labor and then the 566 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,160 almost instantaneous joy that comes once the baby's out. 567 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,800 It's almost like for me personally, thankfully like that 568 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:31,400 I was in no pain. I was just like all the 569 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:36,040 oxytocin, all the endorphins are flowing and I'm just so excited 570 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:42,600 to hold my baby and be done with the painful part of bringing him 571 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:47,080 or her into the world. And so I really have found that 572 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,640 my place of peace, like Alex was saying, like God, like brings 573 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,680 you into a place of peace and is motherhood. 574 00:31:54,680 --> 00:32:00,360 And that it's not that my mission in life is motherhood 575 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:02,280 because that could definitely become an idol. 576 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:05,880 And that happens within Christianity or without 577 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:07,920 Christianity. We see so many good moms that 578 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,840 are not Christians, but that's because that's their God. 579 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:13,720 And that can even come into Christianity. 580 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,280 And we can be more focused on being the perfect mother or 581 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:22,200 being the ideal mom that everyone looks up to and be 582 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,960 relying on our own strength and miss the the power source or the 583 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,680 the mission of needing to point others to Christ through our 584 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:34,440 motherhood. And so I feel like that this is 585 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,640 the season, this is where God has asked me to glorify him the 586 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:39,000 most. Like Alex was saying, like 587 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,080 that's our mission is to glorify and be satisfied in him and God 588 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:48,360 and Christ sacrifice and the the area that that is on display the 589 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,760 most in my life, and there's definitely other areas as well, 590 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,840 but is motherhood because that's the season I'm in. 591 00:32:55,840 --> 00:33:00,400 That's where the season that I'm in the thick of with one another 592 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,880 one coming #7 coming all-encompassing. 593 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:11,760 And it's so good. And yeah, I just think God is 594 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:17,800 making me more unsurprised by not only my personal experiences 595 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,040 in motherhood, but also in the world through motherhood. 596 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,280 That's His greatest way of sanctifying me and allowing me 597 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,040 to go through the pain and suffering, whether it's 598 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:29,280 childbirth or whether it's just hard moments in parenting. 599 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,240 Yeah, that's just the means in which he's doing it. 600 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:43,240 And when you keep showing up, when you don't try to choose 601 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:47,320 your own way and you just kind of surrender and allow him to 602 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,360 work through those seasons, especially in motherhood for me, 603 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:59,640 then you do like just have this. It does produce this joy that 604 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:05,160 you don't even have to try to muster up on your own in the 605 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,520 midst of suffering. You know, like you, he threw 606 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,040 these hard things. Continuing to do these hard 607 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:16,280 things, you eventually learn that he is faithful. 608 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:22,679 I think that we, we know that because he's proven that. 609 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,760 Like when we get saved like it, he's proven that. 610 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,880 But I think there's a lot of seasons where we have to or 611 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,120 early in our faith, we have to continue to remind ourself how 612 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:35,120 faithful he is and that he is who he says he is. 613 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,159 But it's when we continue to push through the hard times and 614 00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:44,719 not reject the suffering that he brings into our life that he 615 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:46,880 just produces it. This thing that you don't even 616 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,199 have to think about anymore. It's like kind of like it 617 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,199 becomes a part of your new nature through through his 618 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:54,440 sanctification. And that timing is different for 619 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,920 everyone, obviously. But yeah. 620 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:03,200 And so I think, yeah, I just, I want to be. 621 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:06,680 This is like convicting and encouraging to me as well, Like 622 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,920 to make sure that I am showing joy through my motherhood and 623 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,600 being authentic and real with the hard things as well, but not 624 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,080 whether that's towards my children or towards others. 625 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:22,080 Not allowing myself to display motherhood in a way that seems 626 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:28,840 like so such a drag or so hard that like there's no joy in it, 627 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,080 you know? And so this message was 628 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,880 definitely very encouraging for me. 629 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:43,320 That it was through pregnancy and, and birthing and motherhood 630 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:53,240 that God is creating this resilience and joy and reliance 631 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:56,400 on him and not being surprised by our circumstances. 632 00:35:57,240 --> 00:36:01,000 And I just think about how unremarkable that is in our 633 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:02,440 world. You know, like our world is 634 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,360 obsessed with spectacle and things that are like extravagant 635 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,640 and for the most part of the world doesn't see birth as 636 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:16,160 remarkable and extravagant. And but it is, you know, and we, 637 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:22,440 it's through the ordinary things of our life that God is 638 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:27,960 constantly changing us and maturing us and making us able 639 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,480 to just recognize how beautiful and good he is and to be 640 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,000 surprised by him and the joy that we have by him. 641 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:42,400 And yeah, I think that I was just walking by the, the crib in 642 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,240 our bedroom that we're getting ready for the baby. 643 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:48,240 And I just had this spurt of just like joy and dopamine just 644 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:52,240 hit me knowing that in a few weeks our little baby girl is 645 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:56,600 going to be in that. And I didn't always have that 646 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,600 like same kind of excitement, you know, it's taking me like 7 647 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,280 kids. I was always happy to bring a 648 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:06,960 kid into our lives, but this like happy, joyful anticipation 649 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,920 of bringing this other child in. Now that I've lost a lot of 650 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:12,280 selfishness, I still have a lot more to lose. 651 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:19,720 But I'm thinking less about myself and excited, more excited 652 00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:23,680 for this next baby and excited for the interruptions, you know, 653 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,560 and knowing I'm going to be interrupted in sleep, I'm going 654 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,400 to be interrupted in work, I'm going to be interrupted in 655 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,440 meals. I'm welcoming it Now is before 656 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:32,000 it's like, OK, I got to prepare myself for this. 657 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,200 It's going to be a lot of work. You know, that's not the type of 658 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,280 heart I want to have. You know, I want to have a heart 659 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:44,000 of, like you're saying, being transformed by this privilege 660 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,280 that we have to raise this kid. And I think what Lo Kehlani is 661 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,240 getting at is something that we need to take into every single 662 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:53,200 situation because like mowing your lawn, right? 663 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,600 That isn't, it's not a remarkable fun thing, but 664 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,000 there's like you get a lot of men, you get a lot of 665 00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:59,520 testosterone from mowing your lawn. 666 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:07,680 You can get dopamine from your phone, but it's a false, like 667 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:13,000 dirty kind of dopamine. You can also get it from fast 668 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,560 food, right? You it's dirty dopamine. 669 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:18,760 You can get healthy dopamine, though, from cooking food, 670 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:21,800 right? For thousands of years, people 671 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,120 were getting dopamine from just like getting the ingredients 672 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,400 together and heating up the fire and getting the stove and 673 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:29,840 finding a Flat Rock they can use as a cast iron. 674 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:33,480 They would get so much dopamine from that and it was enjoyable 675 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,760 to do it. But we shortcut it and go for 676 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,160 dirty dopamine. And we watched Nick Giovanni 677 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,240 cook something while we eat fast food watching his YouTube 678 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:43,960 channel, right? And you're still getting 679 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:45,600 dopamine, but it's dirty dopamine. 680 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:49,000 You're cheating yourself and you're flooding yourself with 681 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,280 this, with this filthy dopamine when you could get it the 682 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,840 healthy way. And I think of this looking at 683 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,960 the ordinary, unremarkable areas of our life, whether it's birth 684 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:04,280 and say, wait, no, this is remarkable, that I have these 685 00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:09,040 eggs that turn into babies and this human life, someone that's 686 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:15,280 going to spend eternity in a place is birth through this 687 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,440 birth canal. It's amazing that you're able to 688 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,240 take these ingredients from nature and put them together in 689 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:24,440 a pot and then make spaghetti. That is amazing. 690 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,160 We need to see these things as remarkable. 691 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:30,200 And don't let the world, you know, make you think that it's 692 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,800 mundane, you know, because there's a lot of change and a 693 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:37,400 lot of maturity that can happen in those areas. 694 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,840 Paul is in a prison writing a letter that we're still reading 695 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:47,400 2000 years later, right. One of the most, if not, yeah, 696 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:52,040 one of the most popular letters of all time, The Bible being the 697 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,560 most best selling book of all time. 698 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,840 This letter we're reading 2000 years later, and it was written 699 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:01,920 in chains, guys, a very unremarkable place. 700 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,280 I mean the middle of the Coliseum in the 1st century, now 701 00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:07,240 in the middle of a Coliseum that that's a. 702 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:09,200 Beautiful, remarkable place, right? 703 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:10,840 Powerful. All these thousands of people 704 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:12,320 looking at you, cheering for you. 705 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:15,400 There's a live lion and you got to fight it off and people are 706 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:17,280 cheering. That's a remarkable place, 707 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,200 right? No, an even more remarkable 708 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:24,440 place is the prison that Paul is in innocently and writing these 709 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,320 beautiful words from the prison. So we have to just take this, 710 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:30,800 these lenses off these these weird lenses we have on and 711 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,760 start looking at the world as the truly remarkable world and 712 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,120 the circumstances that God has put you in and how he uses them. 713 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,280 That's. So bad, yeah. 714 00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:45,120 You hit it. Well, we love you guys. 715 00:40:45,120 --> 00:40:48,400 Thank you for being here with us and joining us on the side of 716 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,520 the road on our island. And we had a lot of people 717 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:55,600 honking. Yeah, we have maybe we have more 718 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:57,560 listeners out here on the West side of our island. 719 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:01,400 February 4. We love it out here. 720 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:03,680 Yeah, we love it out here. We also had one person that like 721 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:06,560 revved his engine twice right when he was driving by. 722 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,000 I don't think that guy like this. 723 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,640 No, it's OK. Comes with the territory, comes 724 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:15,640 with the following, the master. Anything else? 725 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:19,280 No, yeah, we're excited for the rest of this series. 726 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:24,440 I'm just to continue to dive in and show you how the crosses 727 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:30,000 secure to any and all anxiety and that yeah, we can have joy 728 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:31,880 now. It's not something we have to 729 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:36,720 wait for. Yeah, and just 'cause we haven't 730 00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:38,960 gone through this in a while, the kids names, right? 731 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:43,440 So there's Amos is the oldest Lion, August our first three 732 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:49,560 boys and then Lucy and then Luke and then Liv and then #7 We are 733 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,440 not set on a name yet, but right now we have more L names than A 734 00:41:53,440 --> 00:42:00,360 names. We have 2A names and then 32A 735 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,240 names. I would say 1A name. 736 00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,640 Yeah, 2A names and 4L names, right? 737 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,160 I don't know. We could probably there's a lot 738 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:12,720 of L and then we have like a few boy A names. 739 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,800 So that that was the dilemma. We have a lot of we're trying to 740 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,400 force an A because it's been a while and we do as and LS, if 741 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:24,120 you didn't know that. But yeah, I don't know. 742 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:26,480 We'll just have to see. You'll almost have to wait. 743 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,720 An L name. At this rate, yeah, At this 744 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,600 rate. But praying we have a that 745 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,440 number 8 is a boy, so we can do a boy a name. 746 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:39,240 But we'll see. But we're so excited like we've 747 00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:41,480 never had back-to-back girls. Yep. 748 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:47,520 And so that is exciting to see the dynamic of that awe. 749 00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:51,920 I mean, parenting is, you know, a sort of like a good prison. 750 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:54,400 You know, there's a lot that you, there's a lot Paul can do 751 00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:56,200 in prison, right? And I don't want to belittle his 752 00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,720 situation, but there's a lot you can't do as a parent. 753 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:04,080 You are, you know, chained to this responsibility of love and 754 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:08,240 taking care of your kids. But it is like no place we'd 755 00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:11,720 rather be than there, you know? And we have learned to love it. 756 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:13,120 We've learned to be more selfless. 757 00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:14,920 We've learned so much about Christ in it. 758 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:18,920 And we've also learned that these children are more God's 759 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:20,320 children than they are our children. 760 00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:23,840 They belong more to God than they belong to us. 761 00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:28,560 And if that is really true, then he will provide, you know, a man 762 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:31,320 who doesn't work, doesn't eat, so I have to work hard. 763 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,080 But everything that you see at the podcast, from the marketing 764 00:43:34,400 --> 00:43:40,360 to the filming to the editing to the podcast, to my channel, 765 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:42,880 everything you see, I've never had a manager. 766 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,360 I've never had like a videographer or an editor or 767 00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:50,080 anything. For the 88 years we've been 768 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:52,720 doing this, I've always eight years we've been doing video, 769 00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:55,200 six years we've been doing the podcast, I've been doing it all 770 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:59,800 myself. And so with working really hard 771 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:02,240 and also knowing that God is our provider. 772 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,440 If you're someone that wants to have kids one day and you just 773 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,640 like, I don't know how many I want to have or what it's going 774 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:10,640 to be like, I would suggest have as many as God will allow you to 775 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:12,560 have. Have more kids than you can 776 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,160 afford and God will make sure that you can afford it and God 777 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:19,000 will make sure he will provide but still work hard as well. 778 00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:21,880 That has been our story. I was just thinking about that 779 00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:23,240 too. It's funny that you said that 780 00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:30,240 because I was thinking about just like how these last few 781 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:34,520 when I found out I'm pregnant. Like for a second I'm like 782 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,440 surprised, but then it's like, well, this is what happens. 783 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:42,120 A + B = C or whatever, 2 plus two 1 + 1 = 2. 784 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,280 I don't know if that any of that makes sense, but you know what I 785 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:48,680 mean. And yeah. 786 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:54,120 And then like that thought quickly comes and like, truly, 787 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:58,600 for me personally, it's like every child that we've had, I've 788 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,680 wanted more. It hasn't been the opposite. 789 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:04,880 I don't know if it's my own personal or what, but. 790 00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:11,040 And I've also, I was just thinking recently or even just 791 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:15,120 right now, like how that that same thing is true for our 792 00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,680 children. Like I remember maybe a couple 793 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:21,960 of pregnancies back, like one of the older like was like you're 794 00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:24,000 pregnant again, like another baby. 795 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:29,840 And how having more children also if you're, you know, 796 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:33,120 obviously prioritizing it and not just like not being a good 797 00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,400 parent to your kids. So being intentional with with 798 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:42,440 each of your children's it, it helps like get selfishness out 799 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,600 of your kids too. Because in this one, like they 800 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:52,000 are just all so excited. And I'm seeing how God is using 801 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:56,200 just even adding more children to our family to get rid of like 802 00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:58,840 the sin and selfishness in some of our kids lives. 803 00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:03,240 And they're getting more excited to realize like life isn't all 804 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:08,160 about me, but I get to be a part of this really beautiful great 805 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,960 thing because they're all getting older, they're all 806 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,520 getting closer to each other. They're all like, because 807 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:16,440 they're homeschooled, they're like enjoying each other. 808 00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:17,920 You know, they all have their moments. 809 00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:22,920 There's definitely fighting in tears and just discipline that 810 00:46:23,120 --> 00:46:26,000 has to happen 'cause they take things too far with each other. 811 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:32,000 But they also you, we really do see like this deep love that 812 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,440 they have for each other and they're each other's best 813 00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:35,840 friends. And they say that willingly. 814 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:38,320 And it's just this really beautiful thing. 815 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:42,000 And so it is not just like a benefit for the parents or 816 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,280 whatever. It is a benefit for the entire 817 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:48,920 family. Obviously, if you do it, you 818 00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:52,200 also need to do it right. You know, like don't just send 819 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:54,160 your don't have someone else raise your kids because then 820 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,080 yeah, of course there's going to be resentment and different 821 00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,240 things that your children are going to struggle with. 822 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:05,760 But if you are truly trying to raise them in the ward like we 823 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,520 have seen the fruit from it I guess is what I'm saying now. 824 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:13,360 Totally. I think that like, like Paul is 825 00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,920 just like preaching the good news and then he gets thrown in 826 00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:19,080 jail, you know, and like he was disturbing the peace he was 827 00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:20,960 making. He was going against what the 828 00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:24,480 culture was again, about. And you having kids, us having 829 00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:27,560 kids, we've made a lot of people mad even talking about this kind 830 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,840 of stuff because our culture is very selfish and our culture 831 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,520 wants to very much limit having kids at all or limit the amount 832 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:36,800 of kids. But we are one of the first 833 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:40,920 generations that have ever done that. 834 00:47:41,240 --> 00:47:43,960 For thousands of years, people were trying to have as many kids 835 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,560 as possible, like Jacob and Abraham and these guys, they 836 00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,440 weren't trying to limit the amount of life in their life, 837 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:50,760 right? But that's really what we're 838 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:52,880 doing. Each kid represents life. 839 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,880 And if we say along, we're going to have this many kids, like 840 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,960 that may be your decision, you know, and you'll have to like 841 00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,200 work that out with your faith and talk to God about that or 842 00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:03,960 whatever. But you're limiting life. 843 00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:07,040 There's no way around that. You know, if you are stopping 844 00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:10,320 yourself from being able to have a certain amount of kids, even 845 00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,600 if it's one life, even if it's just one more kid that it was in 846 00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:15,680 God's will for you to have. But you said no, I'd rather just 847 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:17,160 not. I'd rather just stick with two 848 00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,080 if that's fine. If that's you, that's I guess 849 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:22,840 between you and God. But what I am saying is you 850 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:26,240 cannot get around the fact that you are trying to limit life. 851 00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,240 And why would we do that? You know, that's what I think 852 00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:34,920 we've the place we've come to is it's affected our kids, you 853 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,320 know, they, they love life. They love to see life come into 854 00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:40,440 the world. Our church loves it because we 855 00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:42,480 talk about it so much. We've learned to love it. 856 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:44,640 And it's certainly been really joyful. 857 00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:46,560 And I think about us all sitting. 858 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:49,400 So I was a youth pastor, right, for a long time. 859 00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:52,760 And when you're in your 20s, it's really fun to be around 860 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:57,200 like the youth group and young people, you know, it's like it's 861 00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:58,880 fun. They're they got their own way 862 00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:01,840 of talking in their own terms. They're like full of life with 863 00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:04,720 dodgeball and eating pizza. They're fun. 864 00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:07,160 A lot of people in the church when they're in their 20s are 865 00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:08,320 like, I want to be a youth leader. 866 00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:11,160 That's awesome. And then it hit me, I'm going to 867 00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:13,800 have my own youth group. If I just keep having kids, 868 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:17,560 there's going to be a day where my table is going to be full of 869 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:21,160 my kids. Teenagers, like full grown 870 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,920 teenagers, young adults at my table that are my kids and I'm 871 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,360 going to be able to have deep conversations with them, Bible 872 00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:32,680 studies, play games with them, worship with them, my own kids. 873 00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:36,440 And so do I want to have a small nobody wants to have a small 874 00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:38,680 youth group. I was a youth pastor for a long 875 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:40,080 time. I want to have a big youth 876 00:49:40,080 --> 00:49:42,800 group. And I think of like all, I think 877 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:49,960 about having like 9 like, young adults at my table, my own kids 878 00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:51,240 and what that is going to be like. 879 00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:54,160 And especially if they like me, you know, if I do a decent job 880 00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:57,520 of being a good dad, if they like us and they want to hang 881 00:49:57,520 --> 00:49:59,920 out with us and bring their kids over. 882 00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:05,520 Like the amount of fullness to that life is incomparable. 883 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:08,840 Thanksgiving dinner with like, 27 people at your house and 884 00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:12,560 they're your physical family, grandkids, kids. 885 00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:14,440 And you guys are having a good time throwing a football, 886 00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:16,920 joking, you know, making cookies with each other. 887 00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:19,520 Like, there is. You can't put a number on that. 888 00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,560 You see what I'm saying? You cannot put. 889 00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:23,480 Why would you want to limit that? 890 00:50:23,720 --> 00:50:26,440 But we have to have. And that's so ordinary. 891 00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:28,800 It's so mundane. It's so normal for thousands of 892 00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:30,840 years. But we look at our world, looks 893 00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:35,240 at it as weird, you know? And so, yeah, just going against 894 00:50:35,240 --> 00:50:38,800 the culture. And there's so much joy to be 895 00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:42,360 had in that, you know? Amen. 896 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:43,560 I agree. Yep. 897 00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:46,160 Can you tell we're excited to bring this next review? 898 00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:48,680 Yeah, we're obviously kids up talking about it. 899 00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:51,480 That's probably why we wanted to film over here today because our 900 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:54,560 hospital that we have most of our kids at is just right down 901 00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:57,480 the road from here. So yeah, we love you guys. 902 00:50:57,480 --> 00:50:59,560 Thank you. We are so excited to start this 903 00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:03,440 series. Stress less, Stress less. 904 00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:06,280 How the cross is a cure for anxiety. 905 00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:08,720 Share it with a friend. This is the time to share a min 906 00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:10,080 podcast. If you have not shared with 907 00:51:10,080 --> 00:51:13,240 anyone, this is the time to put it on on the TV while your 908 00:51:13,240 --> 00:51:16,360 friend comes over or put it on your story or whatever. 909 00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:19,800 If you have not caught up with all the episodes, which we don't 910 00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:23,880 have a ton of episodes out like we have like probably about 250 911 00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:26,640 episodes out, it's still very doable. 912 00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:28,440 There's a girl at our church that's listening through all of 913 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:31,520 them from start to finish and she's almost done with it. 914 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:35,760 So it's definitely doable, but if you're like, you know what, 915 00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:38,400 it's too hard to get started at the beginning of all aim and 916 00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:41,160 podcasts. Now's this time to make it a 917 00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:44,920 part of your weekly regimen. Every Saturday, we're going to 918 00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:46,440 drop. We used to drop on Sundays, but 919 00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:49,320 now we're dropping on Saturdays. So it's ready to flow into 920 00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:51,160 Sunday. But we love you guys. 921 00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:53,160 Thanks for being here. God bless you and we'll see you 922 00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:55,320 the next one. Until then, go out and be the 923 00:51:55,320 --> 00:51:57,720 church. Probably say that again just in 924 00:51:57,720 --> 00:52:01,960 case the motorcycle cut it out. Until then, go out and be the 925 00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:02,520 church.