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Good morning, my name is Daniel.
It is Memorial Day weekend, if 

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you didn't know. 
It is a season or holiday in our

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country where we pause 
momentarily to remember people 

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that have given their lives to 
protect the liberties and the 

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freedoms that we get to enjoy 
every single day. 

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And so as you BBQ those hot dogs
tomorrow, remember that there's 

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a a bigger reason and purpose 
for the holiday in 1944. 

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The invasion of Normandy had 
actually been an ongoing 

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planning process for quite a few
years. 

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And they got to the window for 
D-Day when they were going to 

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invade into France and the 
weather turned catastrophic. 

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And the chief meteorologist for 
Eisenhower said there's about a 

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36 hour window between these two
storm fronts, and you may be 

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able to get the invasion force 
over to France in time. 

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But if you're wrong and the 
window closes, thousands of 

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soldiers are going to drown on 
the way over. 

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But if you wait and you don't 
go, more than likely the 

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surprise of the invasion will 
get out and it will no longer be

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a secret, and they'll know 
you're coming. 

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And so Eisenhower sits with that
decision for hours by himself, 

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and he decides to send the 
invasion force. 

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And what's remarkable is right 
after he sends it, he writes a 

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second letter that he he doesn't
end up releasing. 

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And it's a letter in which he 
takes full responsibility and 

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blame for the failure of the 
invasion in case it doesn't 

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work. 
It actually says if any blame or

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fault attaches to the attempt, 
it is mine alone. 

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He has to make a call with 
incomplete information under 

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impossible pressure, and he owns
all of the potential failure in 

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advance. 
Now we know it worked because 

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we're speaking English, not 
German. 

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Our passage today in the book of
James is about this concept of 

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wisdom. 
Wisdom is the application of 

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knowledge. 
And, and, and that story is, is 

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our passage sort of wrapped up 
in a military uniform? 

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Wisdom is more than just having 
the right information or the 

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right facts or the right 
knowledge. 

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It's, it's seen clearly when 
everyone else is panicking. 

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It's making the right decision 
when it's hard to see the right 

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decision. 
It's seen past the moment or 

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the, the emotions or even the 
temporal. 

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In fact, we're, we're going to 
look today at a concept called 

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biblical wisdom. 
And, and our big idea, if you 

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get nothing else out of today is
this biblical wisdom is seeing 

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earthly things with eternal 
eyes, seeing earthly things with

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eternal eyes. 
So we're going to pick up in 

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James chapter one, verse 5. 
I'm going to spend this is 

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probably going to be the most 
practical service you've ever 

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been to at church since we're 
going to spend part of our time 

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going through this passage and 
we're going to spend about half 

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of our time actually doing what 
we read here. 

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You guys sound super excited for
class participation time. 

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So I didn't wait until it's July
and it's 110. 

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So you should be you should be 
excited. 

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Last week, Pastor Vance covered 
verses one through 4 and that 

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was if you didn't have an 
opportunity to hear that, I 

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would go find it on YouTube and 
listen to it. 

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It was it was that good. 
We're going to pick it up in 

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verse 5. 
It says this, If any of you 

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lacks wisdom, let him ask God 
who gives generously to all 

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without reproach, and it will be
given him. 

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But let him ask in faith with no
doubting. 

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For the one who doubts is like a
wave of the sea that is driven 

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and tossed by the wind. 
For that person must not suppose

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that he will receive anything 
from the Lord. 

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He is a double minded man, 
unstable in all his ways. 

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Now this is a continuation of 
the thought from last week. 

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Last week, James starts this out
by saying we should consider the

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trials and the suffering that we
go through as joy because God is

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changing us and transforming us 
through this process. 

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And then we get into this. 
Ask wisdom. 

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Why? 
Because you're, you and I are 

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going to need a lot of wisdom to
do that. 

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You know, everybody wants 
wisdom. 

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Everybody actually wants like 
what? 

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Wisdom is not just more 
information. 

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We have access to more 
information right now, in 2026, 

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than any any culture has ever 
had access to in history. 

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But those are just facts. 
Those aren't necessarily wisdom.

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Wisdom is the application of 
that. 

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There's an old adage that says 
knowledge is knowing that 

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technically a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing not to put it 

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in a fruit salad. 
Let's here, let's, let's take an

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informal survey. 
How many of us here would like 

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to make the best decision 
possible at every moment and 

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every choice of our life? 
Now most of you raise your 

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hands. 
The rest of you, you are either 

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really wise or I'm already 
boring you. 

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I'm just go with wise. 
We're going to talk about a 

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specific type of wisdom today, 
biblical wisdom, the idea of 

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seeing earthly things through 
eternal eyes. 

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And this is a kind of wisdom 
that you and I, every person was

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born without it because the 
Bible says that we were born 

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spiritually blind, because we 
were born under the curse of 

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sin. 
When we were born and as we were

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growing, we had an inability to 
see spiritual things. 

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We had an inability to see like 
God sees. 

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So none of us naturally sees 
what's happening around us in 

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spiritual ways. 
We don't share the mind or the 

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eyes of God. 
It takes help, it takes 

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transformation, it takes 
training. 

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So let's talk about three things
that biblical wisdom has. 

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You can even call these the 
three tests of biblical wisdom 

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to know if this is biblical or 
not. 

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Here's the first. 
It's extremely practical. 

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Why is biblicalism extremely 
practical? 

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Well, well, wisdom in every 
sense of the word is about the 

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application of information or 
the application of knowledge, 

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but even more so biblically. 
Think about in verse 5 when when

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James says, if you lack wisdom, 
it comes right after this idea 

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that we're going to look at 
trials and suffering in our life

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and we're going to count it as 
joy. 

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See, wisdom is more than common 
sense because common sense 

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doesn't tell you to look at 
suffering and call it joy. 

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Common sense says we should 
avoid that. 

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We should avoid suffering as 
much as possible. 

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Instead, James says no, no, 
there's a there's a greater 

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purpose behind the trials that 
you're going through. 

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In fact, the Greek word that he 
uses here for wisdom is the word

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Sophia. 
Sophia is a Greek word that is 

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is an all-encompassing type of 
wisdom and they have other words

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with with with narrow meanings 
that could have been used and 

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are used in other parts of 
Scripture but not here. 

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There's a word for knowledge 
called gnosis and we actually 

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see it used throughout the New 
Testament, but not when it comes

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to wisdom. 
There's a word called phrenosis 

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that means cleverness, but 
that's not used here either. 

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Sophia is the all-encompassing 
word used in Greek for wisdom to

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know how to live rightly. 
Everyone would would love to be 

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able to live rightly. 
So it's it's very practical 

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biblical wisdom. 
If you've ever read Proverbs, 

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it's very practical. 
Secondly, it's divine. 

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It's divine. 
Now what do I mean by divine? 

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We'll see. 
Biblical wisdom is so much more 

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than just common sense. 
It can't stop at common sense 

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because human wisdom won't tell 
you to count suffering as joy. 

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There's a level of wisdom that 
exceeds human understanding. 

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And then what James says is you 
can get it, you can have it, God

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will give it to you. 
That's good news because like 

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every 3rd social media post is 
someone trying to tell you that 

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they have something that you 
need and all you have to do is 

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comment to get some access to 
some super secret wisdom. 

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The Bible says, no, you don't 
actually have to comment on that

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Twitter post. 
You actually have to ask God for

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it. 
Here's the third and this is 

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this is really critical. 
And as you begin to see this, 

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you'll begin to see what the 
Bible means by biblical wisdom. 

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The third is this. 
It's actually Christ like. 

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Biblical wisdom is actually 
Christ, like now twice in the 

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Bible, both in the First 
Corinthians. 

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Scripture will call Christ the 
wisdom of God, the Sophia of 

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God, almost like a noun. 
Look at First Corinthians 124 

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put on the screen. 
It says this, but to those who 

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are called both Jews and Greeks,
Christ, the power of God and the

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Sophia of God, the wisdom of 
God. 

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And then you turn to chapter 2 
and it says, Paul says we speak 

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a wisdom not of this age, but 
God's secret Sophia hidden 

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before time, decreed for our 
glory. 

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Jesus is what it looks like to 
live as a human with the 

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complete wisdom Sophia of God. 
To live life with God's mind and

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God's eyes and God's 
perspective, to be able to see 

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earth the way God sees earth is 
what Jesus was doing. 

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Yes, the Sunday school answer. 
Jesus is the answer in Sunday 

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school. 
If you never know what the 

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answer is, just go with Jesus. 
And you're right, like 90% of 

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the time. 
It's because Jesus is the wisdom

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of God. 
And so if you and I want to have

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real wisdom, actual biblical 
wisdom, the idea, the 

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understanding of how to live 
rightly, how to choose well, how

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to understand what God would 
look like as he looks at the 

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earth and how he would see us, 
then we would need to live like 

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Jesus. 
In fact, what we need to do is 

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we need to live like heaven is 
real and Jesus is coming again. 

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That's really what the Bible 
begins to press into you and I 

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about when it talks about wisdom
is, is to go beyond an 

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intellectual knowledge of God 
that every day and all the time,

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in every decision, in every 
reaction, in all of our 

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emotions, heaven is real. 
God is powerful and good, and 

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this world is broken and this 
life is a vapour. 

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And Jesus is coming again to 
judge the living and the dead, 

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and all of us will answer to 
him. 

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So Christ is our model. 
If you want to understand what 

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it looks like to live on earth 
with an eternal mind, we look at

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the life of Jesus because 
wisdom, biblical wisdom, is 

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seeing these earthly things with
eternal eyes. 

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You know, all of Scripture, 
especially Proverbs, Proverbs is

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the book of wisdom. 
All of Scripture says that 

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wisdom begins with the fear of 
God. 

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That is a perspective of God, 
that he's real and that he's 

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powerful. 
And that's the starting point. 

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And if you believe that, like 
truly believe that, it actually 

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begins a path where we begin to 
be able to see like God. 

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You and I can't be God. 
That's actually where it all 

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went wrong back in Genesis when 
Adam and Eve decided they wanted

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to be God. 
We can't be God. 

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But the Bible says we can begin 
to see like God. 

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We can be able to share His 
perspective of earthly things, 

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and that's really the key for 
us. 

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Seeing like God leads to living 
like Jesus. 

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I want to say that again. 
Seeing like God leads to living 

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like Jesus, And living like 
Christ develops in us the 

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ability to see right from wrong.
You see, everybody wants wisdom,

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but wanting it is not the same 
as having it. 

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James 5 tells us how to get it. 
If any of you lacks wisdom, let 

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him ask God. 
You know what I don't read there

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at all is like? 
Make sure you get into a really 

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good university. 
Nope, not there. 

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Make sure you get a certain 
number of Instagram. 

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Nope, not there. 
Let him ask God. 

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Listen, church, sometimes I get 
frustrated with myself when I'm 

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dealing with the problem because
the Bible makes it so clear. 

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Ask God. 
You know what I spend more time 

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doing? 
Thinking about the problem. 

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You know, I spent a lot more 
time thinking about the problem 

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that I do asking God. 
That's a little weird, how much 

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time I can spend talking about 
the problem, thinking about the 

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problem, telling other people 
about the problem. 

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But then there's this whole ask 
God part. 

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I ask God, ask him out loud, ask
him silently, ask Him in 

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writing, ask him in a small 
group, ask him in a prayer 

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group, ask him in a prayer 
request, ask him in the 

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corporate environment, ask him 
on Facebook for all I care. 

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Just ask him. 
We spend so much time thinking 

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about the problem, talking about
the problem, and failing to ask 

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God about it. 
Because God gives generously, 

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without strings attached. 
That's what the Bible tells us. 

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How do you ask God? 
There's a very specific way to 

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ask God this here. 
In these verses, it's actually 

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the opposite. 
What we're going to get is we 

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get 3 verses as a warning of how
not to ask God. 

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And in that is actually the 
inverse, the secret of what it 

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looks like to ask God. 
We have to ask in faith without 

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doubt. 
We have to ask in faith without 

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doubt. 
Now to ask God in faith without 

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doubt is a three-part A3 part 
process. 

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We're going to make this really 
simple today. 

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So if you're writing this down, 
it looks like this. 

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Asking for wisdom involves 
seeking sensitivity and 

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swapping. 
Seeking sensitivity and 

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00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:05,080
swapping. 
I'm Baptist. 

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Of course they all start with 
the same letter. 

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00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,200
I'm almost legally required to 
do that. 

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That's a pastor joke. 
Seeking sensitivity and 

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swapping. 
What is seeking mean? 

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If you want wisdom from God, we 
have to ask Him, which means we 

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need to proactively pursue God's
presence and His answer. 

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So, so, so you don't flippantly 
ask God. 

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Asking God the creator of the 
universe is not like walking by 

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a wishing fountain and flipping 
a coin in and throwing a little 

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00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,640
wisher wishing on a falling 
star. 

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What if one of those Disney 
things is it is pursuing, it's 

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pressing into seeking God's 
face, seeking God's presence in 

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a passionate and and persistent 
way. 

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We are pursuing and that 
requires real faith. 

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Listen to me when I say like we 
are, we are. 

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We're putting real heart and 
effort into pursuing God. 

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Like, I talk to young men about 
this all the time when they're 

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struggling with initiative and 
discipline. 

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I'm like, listen, if there was a
really, really attractive young 

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lady that you're interested in, 
I wouldn't have to motivate you.

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Amen. 
And all I'm saying is maybe you 

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could pray at the level that you
keep blowing up her DMS, 

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pursuing God's presence with all
of your heart because you can't,

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you can't seek what you don't 
believe in because you won't put

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your full heart into it. 
If God is just some concept out 

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00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:44,160
there, you're not going to press
into pursuing his presence. 

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It's like having a ladder. 
If you if you think that that 

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ladder is shaky and you're not 
sure that any of those rungs is 

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going to hold you, you're not 
climbing the ladder. 

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You have to believe, you have to
have some confidence in that 

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ladder to climb all the way to 
the top, because there's a risk 

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if we're going to pursue God's 
wisdom, it will be with our 

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00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,319
whole life. 
And to do that, you must believe

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00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,640
that he is good. 
This is actually the way the 

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00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,079
Bible describes it in Hebrews 
11/6. 

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It says, and without faith, it 
is impossible to please him. 

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For whoever would draw near to 
God must believe that He exists 

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00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,640
and that he rewards those who 
seek him. 

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00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:33,320
To please God, you must draw 
near, and to draw near you must 

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00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:38,080
believe you want to seek God. 
If you want to ask Him for 

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00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,280
wisdom without doubt, you're 
going to have to believe that 

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nothing is more important or 
impactful in this world than 

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00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,200
drawing near to God. 
And the God that you're drawing 

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near to is not some some 
distant, abstract concept. 

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He is the God who came to us and
wrapped himself in flesh as 

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Jesus Christ. 
That's who you're seeking 

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00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,120
because Jesus is the wisdom of 
God. 

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00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,160
In my life when I have faced, I 
have faced some impossible 

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00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,200
decisions like impossible 
situations, moments of of my 

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00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,000
leadership or in my career or 
conflict. 

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00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:22,320
What were the choice in front of
me had massive implications as a

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00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:27,520
pastor, as a dad, as a husband. 
And in those moments, what I 

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00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,040
needed was not more information.
I needed wisdom. 

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00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,720
In the past three months, I've 
spent more time than I've ever 

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00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,120
spent in my life praying because
that's how you get wisdom. 

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00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:45,680
So you ask God, our entire 
leadership philosophy in this 

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00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:52,160
church reflects this. 
Our leadership philosophy in 

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00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,200
this church is not, hey, we're 
smart enough, we'll figure it 

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00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,800
out. 
We are not, It's not, hey, we've

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00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,640
been here before, we know 
exactly what to do. 

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00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:05,160
We do not. 
Our leadership philosophy is 

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00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,960
let's get on our knees and beg 
the God of the universe to show 

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00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,360
up and show us what he's doing 
because he said he will. 

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00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:14,960
And when he shows up, let's do 
what he says. 

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00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:19,920
So. 
So when I'm when I'm begging God

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00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,280
in the middle of the night for 
understanding about the chaos 

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00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:30,000
that's going around me. 
When in this past season when 

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00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,440
the ache inside me is giving me 
insomnia. 

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00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,480
I don't know if you've ever been
there where you cannot sleep and

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00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:38,240
you're just sitting in bed and 
you feel like you're living out 

311
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:45,280
Psalm 42 where your tears have 
been your food day and night and

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00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,480
you are screaming out to God. 
You are. 

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00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,640
It's like, it's like getting to 
the top rung of the ladder and 

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00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,040
you're leaning on God, knowing 
that either he holds or 

315
00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:58,920
everything comes tumbling down 
and you're going to be broken. 

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00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:04,560
That's what it looks like to 
seek God with all your heart, to

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00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:10,880
be desperate for his presence. 
It reminds me there's an ancient

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00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,600
proverb of a young man that goes
to an old wise man and he says 

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00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,840
how do I get wisdom? 
And the old man grabs the young 

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00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,280
guy by the back of the head, 
drags him over the river and 

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00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:23,960
shoves his head under the water 
and holds him there for 30 

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00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,040
seconds. 
And he's thrashing around and he

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00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,000
pulls him back up. 
And the young guy's looking at 

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00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,280
him. 
He's like, what did you? 

325
00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,000
And he goes, listen, when you 
want wisdom as badly as you 

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00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:33,760
wanted air right now, you'll 
find it. 

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00:20:40,150 --> 00:20:43,430
In this last season, I have 
sought God like He is oxygen 

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00:20:44,990 --> 00:20:50,680
because he's life. 
So we seek. 

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00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,280
And then secondly, we have to be
sensitive. 

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00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,920
You have to pay attention when 
the Holy Spirit speaks through 

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00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,680
the Word, through prayer, 
through circumstances, through 

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00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:10,760
his people, the church. 
And you won't be sensitive to 

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00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,200
something you don't think is 
real. 

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00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:18,040
That's why you have to believe 
God is at work all around you 

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00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:23,480
right now. 
Church have taken the time to 

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00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,480
seek him and listen, we're about
to practice this in just a 

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00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,240
moment. 
It reminds me of a man is 

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00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,600
trapped on his roof during a 
flood and he's crying out to 

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00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,000
God. 
The God would sit angels to save

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00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:40,560
him And a guy comes floating by 
on a log and he looks at him. 

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00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,640
He says, hey, I think this will 
hold both of us. 

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00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:44,480
Why don't you get on here? 
He's like no, no. 

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00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:48,560
And the guy floats on by and 
then a family comes by this 

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00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,000
little rubber boat with a bunch 
of food in it. 

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00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,040
And they go, hey, we'll, we'll 
make space for you. 

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00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:53,200
We. 
And he's like, no, no, I'm 

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00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,240
waiting on God. 
So they move on. 

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00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,640
And then a helicopter comes and 
he waves them off. 

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00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,920
He hasn't want to be rescued. 
He ends up dying in the flood 

350
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,640
and he drowns. 
He goes to heaven and he's angry

351
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:03,840
at God. 
He's like, why didn't you? 

352
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,960
Why didn't you send your angels?
I was praying. 

353
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,400
And he's like, well, why do I 
have to send more than three? 

354
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,240
Gods that work all around us all
the time, but we're too busy to 

355
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,120
pay attention, got our nose 
stuck in our phone. 

356
00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:21,680
We're thinking about our 
problems. 

357
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,560
We're worrying about something 
we don't need to be worrying 

358
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,760
about. 
So we seek and then we're 

359
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,240
sensitive. 
Where is God moving? 

360
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:37,080
Where is he leading me? 
That's why one of the one of the

361
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:42,920
best ways to start your prayers 
is to open up your Bible. 

362
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:48,680
Begin to read the word of God. 
Let God start the conversation 

363
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,080
with his words because often 
times whoever starts the 

364
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,480
conversation directs it. 
So like God, direct your 

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00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,240
conversation. 
We don't inform God when we 

366
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,760
pray. 
We align ourselves to what God 

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00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,840
is already doing. 
So start in your Bible, then 

368
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,000
ask. 
That's not a technique. 

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00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,760
That's probably the most ancient
path there is to prayer. 

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00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,240
We seek. 
We're sensitive. 

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00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,280
And then third, we have to swap 
our priorities. 

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00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,040
You have to reorient when, when 
we begin to realize that God is 

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00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,480
moving, it's going to require us
to change some things in our 

374
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,120
lives. 
There's going to be some 

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00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,360
uncomfortability. 
When God speaks. 

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00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,080
We reorient our life to 
obedience. 

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00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:36,000
You know, I used to plan my 
entire summer vacation based on 

378
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,320
whenever, whenever we're going 
to have VBS at church, that's 

379
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,960
when I would go on vacation. 
You all have fun with those 

380
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,880
kids. 
Don't need me, I'm an adult 

381
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:50,440
ministry. 
And then we as elders begin to 

382
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:52,800
pray through what God was doing 
and where he was moving. 

383
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,200
And we begin to realize through 
our prayer and our prayer 

384
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,120
retreats and our fasting and our
leaders coming together, where 

385
00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:01,920
God was really moving was 
through kids in this 10 minute 

386
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:03,680
window. 
And then what we needed to do in

387
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,240
order to participate with God's 
work was do things through a 

388
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,120
kids camp. 
Which sounds foolish and silly 

389
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:16,080
and made me change my vacation. 
But when God moves, and we 

390
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,480
realize God's moving and it is 
our job to reorient around Him, 

391
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,640
not him to us, we make lousy 
gods. 

392
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,400
And so we asked, and we were 
paying attention. 

393
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,200
And then when God moved and 
meant we had to change, listen, 

394
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,360
I could have made plenty of 
excuses about why I didn't need 

395
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,480
to be here for a kids camp. 
Or I could actually see God's 

396
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,880
invitation and reorient my life 
around Him. 

397
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,160
And you can too. 
So we're going to transition 

398
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,560
into putting this into practice 
today. 

399
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,560
But before we do, I want to 
mention something. 

400
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:55,240
You can't ask God for wisdom the
way James is describing here in 

401
00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:01,320
chapter 1. 
If you've never entered into a 

402
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,800
relationship with God, the 
wisdom of God isn't a resource 

403
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,240
that you get to tap into like a 
Internet site. 

404
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,880
It's not an upgrade that you can
download. 

405
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,640
It's a person. 
Jesus Christ is the wisdom of 

406
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,240
God, and to have wisdom you have
to have him. 

407
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:24,880
So the question today is it, do 
you want to be wiser? 

408
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:27,640
The question is, do you know 
Jesus? 

409
00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,640
Because that's who wisdom is. 
Wisdom is seeing earthly things 

410
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,840
with eternal eyes. 
Now. 

411
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,400
Every single one of us born into
sin have done things that have 

412
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,240
separated us from God. 
The Bible calls that sin. 

413
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,520
And sin isn't just giant big 
things. 

414
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,080
It's just a pattern of living 
life like God doesn't exist. 

415
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,440
That's the double mindedness 
that James talked about earlier.

416
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,200
It's the root of the human 
condition. 

417
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,680
But because God is merciful, he 
didn't leave us there. 

418
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,440
A guy named Paul who once 
haunted Christians for sport 

419
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,040
before Jesus stopped him on a 
road wrote this in Romans 5/8. 

420
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,600
He said that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. 

421
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:32,320
Not once we clean ourselves up. 
Jesus died for you. 3 days later

422
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:37,840
he rose. 
Which means the death doesn't 

423
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:42,120
have the final word. 
There's a way back to God. 

424
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,080
And his invitation often starts 
with a prayer. 

425
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:47,720
Not a perfect prayer or a 
polished prayer. 

426
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,680
Just desperate and honest, full 
of faith. 

427
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,840
And so if you're willing to 
surrender your life to God for 

428
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,520
the very first time today, I 
want to lead you in a prayer. 

429
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,720
Will you bow your head and close
your eyes with me? 

430
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,320
If that's you today, whether 
you're here, you're watching 

431
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:16,440
online, and you've realized that
God is calling you to salvation,

432
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:25,030
I want to invite you to respond.
Just simply repeat after me, 

433
00:27:25,030 --> 00:27:28,750
quietly, silently, however you'd
like this prayer. 

434
00:27:30,390 --> 00:27:40,200
God, I'm a Sinner and I believe 
Jesus died and rose again. 

435
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:47,520
I surrender everything to you. 
I want you to save me. 

436
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:56,080
If you said that prayer for the 
very first time, would you raise

437
00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:01,600
your hand for me to see? 
Thank you, thank you. 

438
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,640
You put your hands down in Jesus
name. 

439
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:06,840
Amen. 
Amen. 

440
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,000
If you just surrendered your 
life for the very first time, 

441
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:20,890
welcome to the family. 
All right, I mentioned we were 

442
00:28:20,890 --> 00:28:24,610
going to put this into practice 
today, so go ahead and stand up 

443
00:28:24,610 --> 00:28:26,290
and I'll give you some 
instructions for today. 

444
00:28:26,530 --> 00:28:30,610
If moments ago or maybe sometime
this week you surrendered your 

445
00:28:30,610 --> 00:28:33,330
life to Christ and you haven't 
told anybody about that yet, 

446
00:28:33,330 --> 00:28:35,770
there are tables in the back 
that say I raised my hand in 

447
00:28:35,770 --> 00:28:37,850
just a moment when we break up, 
we'd love for you to go back 

448
00:28:37,850 --> 00:28:39,760
there and share that with 
someone. 

449
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,880
We'd love to walk with you and 
talk about what comes next, what

450
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,000
it looks like to pursue Jesus. 
Now, hopefully you got a prayer 

451
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,720
card, a little prayer prompt 
card when you came in. 

452
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,040
If you did not get one, we have 
some more in the lobby. 

453
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:50,120
We'll try to run them out there 
to you. 

454
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:56,080
Here's what you're going to do. 
You're going to take one to four

455
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:57,080
people. 
How many? 

456
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,640
There we go. 
So when I see 12 of you, I'm 

457
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,920
going to know you can't count 1 
to 4. 

458
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,160
We want to stay small enough so 
you get a chance to actually 

459
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:11,800
pray one to four people and 
whether you we want you to walk 

460
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,960
the campus if you can, if you 
can't walk, we want you to just 

461
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,200
stay in here and pray or stay in
the lobby. 

462
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,960
If you're online, they're going 
to lead you in the chat on how 

463
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:23,160
to do that. 
You have 25 minutes. 

464
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,280
We put a bunch of instructions 
on that prayer prompt card. 

465
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,000
We're praying for some very 
specific things in this next 

466
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,400
season, for you, for your 
family, for church, for the 

467
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,440
gospel. 
We put about 9 different 

468
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,520
locations and we put a bunch of 
scripture prompts that start 

469
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,200
with Scripture so you can start 
with the word first. 

470
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,880
You have 25 minutes. 
We have a running clock. 

471
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,080
When you start hearing the band 
play the song, that's your cue 

472
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,560
that's been 25 minutes. 
You should come back in so we 

473
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:55,560
can close out our service. 
Your job is to ask God full of 

474
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,840
faith without doubt, and then be
sensitive to what he's going to 

475
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,520
begin to do in your life as he 
begins to speak to you about 

476
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,920
what he is doing, where he's at 
work. 

477
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,520
And that is an invitation for 
you to join him. 

478
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,320
So three very specific things. 
25 minutes, and then we'll meet 

479
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:17,640
back in here. 
Ready, set, go. 

480
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:18,040
All right.