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This is ERC Sundays, the 
messages at Emmaus Rd. 

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Church in DeWitt, Iowa. 
ERC is a Church of people 

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striving to grow in Jesus and 
make him known to others through

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our faith, words and actions. 
Find out more about our church 

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at emmausrdonline.org. 
Here's this week's message. 

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Well, welcome to the weekend 
between holidays. 

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It's there's a, there's a pretty
logical reason why we moved to 1

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service in between this weekend 
because there's so there's so 

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many people traveling and kind 
of going everywhere. 

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And maybe you're one of those 
people who's currently traveling

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and that's why you're here. 
If so, welcome. 

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It's good to be with you this 
morning, and I hope that the 

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community that God is building 
here in the message of God's 

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Word, both through song and 
through His Word, I hope that is

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uplifting to you and effective 
to work in and through your 

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heart. 
Well, I'll tell you what, we are

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coming to the end of another 
year very soon. 

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It will be New Year's Eve and 
then New Year's Day, and we've 

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made another full lap around the
sun. 

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Yay. 
OK, OK, Well, it's fine. 

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I don't. 
I don't. 

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Yeah. 
Well, here's an aside. 

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I don't get as excited about New
Year's Eve as I used to. 

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I think it's because I'm in my 
mid 40s now and I'm just like, 

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well, here we go again. 
Here we go. 

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Anyway, that's not in my notes. 
Great start. 

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Anyway. 
Yeah, as we, as we make a lot 

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another lap around the sun. 
I do think this though, and I 

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tend to think this way every 
year and it's kind of, and it 

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kind of goes like this after, as
we end one year and as we start 

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another year, do I feel like I'm
better off than when I started 

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the year? 
Have I, have I gained, have I 

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lost? 
Where am I at in my life? 

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Now? 
If you ask yourself a similar 

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question, really what comes out 
of that question is it depends 

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on what you're measuring by, 
right? 

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So if you're a person who 
measures, am I better or worse 

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off by your finances, if that's 
your first line of measurement, 

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then you'll go, well, did I get 
a raise? 

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Did I move up in my job? 
Did I pay off debt? 

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What what does that look like 
from end of year or beginning of

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year to end of year? 
Maybe I am doing better off, 

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maybe I'm doing worse off. 
I don't know. 

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You could measure that by career
status. 

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So did I get the promotion that 
I was really hoping for? 

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Did I, did I raise in status at 
my job or did I lose a job or, 

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or any of those kinds of things?
You could look at your living 

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situation. 
I know for me, Lord willing, 

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next year at this time, maybe 
I'll feel better about my living

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situation. 
You know, as we attempt to move 

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into a bigger space at some 
point. 

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We'll see. 
I don't know, you could look at 

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your relationships. 
You could say, well, I started 

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off the year single, but now, ha
ha, here we go. 

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Or maybe you're like, well, I 
started off the year with this 

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and not so much. 
And you might still go, yes, I 

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don't know, maybe not. 
You can look at your health. 

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I do think that again, as I 
continue to get a little bit 

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older, that is not something I 
rely on to get better and better

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every single year. 
Not that you give up, but at 

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some point you're like, man, the
knees just do not do what they 

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used to and all that kind of 
stuff. 

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Or another tool of measurement 
you could use is your faith. 

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You could say, what is my 
relationship like with my Lord 

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now versus at the beginning of 
the year? 

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Is it better? 
Is it worse? 

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Have I paid more attention to 
that? 

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Have I put that as a premium in 
my life? 

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Well, here's the thing. 
What you decide to measure with,

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ultimately, that's the thing 
that you care about most. 

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So as I was talking through 
those things, if you're like, 

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yeah, I'm absolutely measuring 
the betterment of my life in the

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past year through money, well, 
guess what? 

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I would tell you that that's 
what you care about the most, 

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right? 
It's just the most obvious thing

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that you think about first and 
foremost. 

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So it would lead us to believe 
that depending on how I answer 

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that question, that's honestly 
what I'm really worshiping right

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now. 
That's what I'm worshiping. 

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That's where my head is at. 
That's where my heart is AT. 

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And you know, that can be, that 
can be tricky when we realize 

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that that's our measuring stick.
But I want to make the argument 

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today, I want to make the 
argument today that faith, our 

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relationship with the Lord is 
the ultimate measuring stick of 

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how we should be measuring our 
lives, our success, our peace, 

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our joy, our happiness, all 
those things that that is the 

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key thing that we need to 
continuously work on and work 

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through in order to live lives 
of joy and peace that go outside

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of our circumstances. 
Because here's the thing, Let's 

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say you're one of the people who
at least in your head, you 

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thought, yeah, my first tool of 
measurement is money. 

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Well, guess what? 
That's going to come and go 

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pretty quickly. 
And, and if you if gosh, it goes

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out of my bank account at 
lightning speed sometimes and 

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I'm like, where did that go? 
But, but it comes and goes so 

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quickly and it doesn't last 
forever. 

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We should use a measuring tool 
for our success and our and our 

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joy based on something that 
doesn't fade away, something 

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that doesn't break down, 
something that doesn't get old, 

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which is our relationship with 
the Lord. 

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That should be our ultimate 
measuring tool. 

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And so I, I would hope that all 
of our goals this year would be 

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to grow with God. 
I want to grow with God this 

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year in some way. 
And whether you're kind of new 

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to Christianity, whether you're 
not a Christian or all, or 

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you're 60 years old and you've 
been a Christian your entire 

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life, there's always room for 
further closeness and growth 

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with our Lord. 
And so here's what we need, 

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though. 
Here's what we need. 

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Growing with God requires 
obedience. 

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That is not a word that all of 
us like to hear. 

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If you are under 15, you 
probably hate that word right 

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now because your parents are 
calling you to be obedient all 

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the time and you're tired of it.
Well, I'll tell you with your 

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Heavenly Father, it's not any 
different. 

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We need to grow. 
If we're going to grow with God,

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we have to grow in obedience 
towards Him. 

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Well, what does that look like? 
At the end of Luke chapter 2, we

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get the only picture of Jesus 
between infancy and adulthood 

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and what Jesus shows us as a 
young man. 

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He's only 12 years old. 
He's a middle schooler, which is

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like my favorite age group to 
hang out with. 

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Honestly. 
You'll know that if you see me 

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on Wednesday nights. 
But Jesus is middle schooler, 

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but he still teaches us that 
what obedience to God looks 

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like. 
And it looks like obedience and 

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listening, obedience and asking 
questions and obedience in 

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submission. 
Some of us are better at some of

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those than others. 
But I think, like I said, young 

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Jesus, middle school Jesus gives
us a pretty clear picture of 

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that. 
So that's what we're going to 

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look at today. 
We're going to look at Jesus as 

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a middle schooler and see what 
comes from that. 

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That is Luke chapter 2. 
If you have your Bibles, you can

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open those up to Luke chapter 2.
It's towards the end of the 

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chapter. 
It starts in verse 41 and it 

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goes through 52. 
Or you can take it on the screen

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or there's Bibles nearby or open
up your Bible app. 

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That's awesome too. 
You can highlight some things 

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that maybe you didn't notice 
before, but Luke chapter 2 

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starting in verse 41. 
And we read this in Jesus name. 

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Now his parents went to 
Jerusalem every year at the 

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feast of the Passover. 
And when he was 12 years old 

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they went up according to 
custom. 

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And when the feast was ended 
they were returning. 

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The boy Jesus stayed behind in 
Jerusalem. 

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His parents did not know it, but
supposing him to be in the 

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group, they went a day's 
journey, but then began to 

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search for him among their 
relatives and acquaintances. 

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And when they did not find him, 
they returned to Jerusalem, 

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searching for him. 
After three days they found him 

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in the temple, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and 

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asking them questions. 
And all who heard him were 

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amazed at his understanding and 
his answers. 

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And when his parents saw him, 
they were astonished. 

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And his mother said to him, Son,
why have you treated us so? 

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Behold, your father and I have 
been searching for you in great 

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distress. 
And he said to them, Why were 

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you looking for me? 
Did you not know that I must be 

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in my Father's house? 
And they did not understand the 

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saying. 
He spoke to them. 

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And when he went, and he went 
down with them and came to 

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Nazareth, and he was submissive 
to them. 

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And his mother treasured up all 
these things in her heart. 

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And Jesus increased in wisdom, 
and in stature, and in favor 

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with God and with man. 
Here ends the reading of God's 

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Word. 
A little dry. 

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It's like it's winter or 
something. 

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Yeah, some of you were quite 
soggy coming in. 

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But anyway, here's the thing. 
What we're listening to and what

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we're listening for really 
matters. 

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Let me share a short story with 
you to illustrate that point. 

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There are two friends walking 
down the street in New York 

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City, and it's busy and there's 
cars and there's honking, 

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there's traffic and there's just
people all over the sidewalk. 

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It is just humanity on steroids,
right? 

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That's New York City if you've 
never been there. 

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But one of the friends, he 
stops, he stops all of a sudden 

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and he looks at the other one. 
He says, did you hear that? 

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The other friend is like, what? 
The honking or the people or the

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traffic or the noises or the 
alarms or what are you talking 

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about? 
And he said the chirping. 

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Did you hear the chirping? 
The other friend looks at him 

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like he has 2 heads because in 
the middle of New York City, why

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would you hear chirping? 
So the first friend, he goes 

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over to some bushes and he just 
pulls them back a little bit 

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that are next to the sidewalk 
and there's a cricket in there 

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just chirping away. 
And the friend is like, why or 

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how would you have heard that 
amongst everything else going 

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on? 
And so the first friend goes, 

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I'll show you, watch this gets 
into his little pocket. 

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He's got a handful of change and
he drops it on the cement. 

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Everybody around them stops and 
they look and he's like, see, 

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you can be trained to listen for
certain things. 

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In our world, we are trained to 
listen for the wrong things. 

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I was trained to listen for 
nature. 

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And his friend was kind of 
amazed. 

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Well, consider then this young 
Jesus, just 12 years old, and 

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consider what he was listening 
to and what he was listening for

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in this scene. 1st, just Jesus 
is listening to experts. 

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I'll describe the scene for you 
a little bit. 

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So what happens is during this 
time of year, what would happen 

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for about 3 days typically, is 
that the Sanhedrin would get 

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together in kind of an open 
forum conversation. 

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So you could think about maybe 
modern day, there's a bunch of 

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experts sitting along a table 
and there's an audience and 

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they're interacting with each 
other and with the audience and 

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all that kind of stuff. 
And the Sanhedrin, of course, is

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made-up of of the top dogs of 
the scribes and the Pharisees 

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and the Sadducees. 
So these are all the smartest 

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people of the day. 
And so they're experts in their 

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field and they're having these 
conversations again, open forum 

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where people can interact. 
And that's interesting because 

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Jesus, with his new found 
freedom, he is broken away from 

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his parents and he's in the the 
city that at least at that time,

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probably never really slept. 
He, he had all this freedom to 

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go do whatever he wanted. 
He could run around the city, 

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you could get in trouble. 
He could do all this kind of 

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stuff. 
But no, what does he decide to 

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do? 
He decides to stay in his 

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father's house in the temple. 
And he listens and he engages 

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with the thing that is most 
important to him, which is 

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speaking and, and hearing and 
listening about faith and about 

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God and all that he has 
commanded for us. 

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So that's Jesus, you know, 
perfect kid. 

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But, but here's the thing, we 
have to examine what Jesus is 

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listening for then because he's 
listening to experts, he's 

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engaging with that. 
That's fine. 

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But what is he listening for? 
He is listening for 

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understanding. 
He's listening for 

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understanding. 
And we know that because he asks

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questions. 
We'll get to the whole question 

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thing in a minute, but he asks 
questions and, and the point of 

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him listening for understanding 
means that he listens with a, a 

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highly critical ear. 
Do you do that? 

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Do you listen with a critical 
ear to the things that are being

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said around you? 
Because he is listening for 

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God's truth. 
He is listening for the word of 

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God, which is always true and 
right and good. 

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And so when he's not hearing 
that, what is he doing? 

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He's asking questions because 
that's what they did. 

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That's how they engaged in these
big forum conversations often 

243
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times. 
And it's kind of interesting the

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rabbi's, they would do that very
thing instead of answering your 

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question in this open forum, 
they would ask you a question 

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back. 
And that's how Jesus is engaging

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with them. 
He's, he's filtering these 

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things out as he's engaging with
the crowd and as he's engaging 

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with the forum. 
And so I want to be very 

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practical here because I don't 
want to leave it 2000 years ago.

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What should we take from that? 
What should we do with Jesus's 

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example as a 12 year old? 
What we can, what can we learn 

253
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from that? 
Well, first, Jesus is teaching 

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us to seek out wisdom and not 
and not just waste time with 

255
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mere opinion, but truly seek the
wisdom that comes from God's 

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00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,480
word. 
Now, if you go out to a little 

257
00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,400
bulletin board out there, 
there's this, there's this paper

258
00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,720
printed out, and it's all about 
our statistics as a church from 

259
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,640
the Bible app from about 
September until mid-december. 

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You know what we hit on that 
app, Not all of you use it. 

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00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:13,800
That's OK. 
Sometimes some of you just read 

262
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,200
your paper Bibles, you like that
better. 

263
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:21,880
But on that app, we hit I think 
7154 daily check insurance in 

264
00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,680
less than four months. 
So that tells me something. 

265
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,080
And it should tell us 
collectively something that 

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00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,720
there is a sense of longing, a 
sense of wanting to hear an 

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00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:37,440
expert word among us. 
Now, my goal, and it's a, it's a

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00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,480
personal goal for all of us. 
If you're using that app to read

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00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,800
your Bible, my goal would that 
would be that next year in 2026,

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we hit 30,000 days checked in. 
Now, if you do the math on this,

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you're like, we're shorts. 
We're only like 22,000 days. 

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If we, if we followed the, if we
followed the math of what we did

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this year, I think we can hit 
30,000 days checked into the 

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Bible. 
And I think we can do that if we

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start putting our faith 1st and 
we start listening to and 

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listening for expert words 
rather than listening to the 

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noise around us all the time. 
Because here's the thing just 

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like Jesus listened to the 
experts of his day with a 

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00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,440
critical ear for the truth, we 
can do the same thing. 

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00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,600
We can train ourselves to listen
for the truth, to be sensitive 

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00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,920
to it so that we know when the 
real article is present. 

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00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,320
Because I know for sure, and and
you probably feel this too, that

283
00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:39,400
we are on a daily basis just 
absolutely bombarded with 

284
00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:44,440
pundits from social media or, or
political pundits or even 

285
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,040
religious pundits, and they're 
bombarding us every single day. 

286
00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,960
How are you filtering that? 
Ask yourself that question. 

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00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:52,880
Are you filtering at all? 
Are you just taking it in 

288
00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,400
blindly? 
I would encourage you to stop 

289
00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,360
and think critically. 
How am I listening to, how am I 

290
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,440
engaging this content that I'm 
receiving because it's all 

291
00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:05,320
coming in, but do I have the 
right filter for it? 

292
00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,360
Well, we get the right filter 
for it when we listen to the 

293
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,320
Word of God. 
Then we can do what's really 

294
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,040
important. 
We can start asking the right 

295
00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:18,080
questions. 
And that leads us to that second

296
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,080
point. 
Let me read verses 46 and 47 

297
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,640
again. 
After three days, they found him

298
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,040
in the temple, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and 

299
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,600
asking them questions. 
And all who heard him were 

300
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:37,880
amazed at his understanding and 
his answers now stimulating 

301
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,440
profound thinking. 
It absolutely starts with asking

302
00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,360
questions. 
That's how that works. 

303
00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:44,880
Let me give you a little example
of that. 

304
00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:50,280
And there's a book that CS Lewis
wrote a long time ago and it's 

305
00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,000
called The Screw Tape Letters. 
OK, the, the point of the Screw 

306
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:58,400
Tape Letters is that there is a 
senior devil advising a junior 

307
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,840
devil on how to interact with 
his human subject. 

308
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,240
Interesting, right? 
Well, the very first advice that

309
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,560
you'll find in the 1st chapter 
from Screw Tape, that's his 

310
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,319
name. 
The senior devil Screw Tape 

311
00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:15,160
tells him this is how you 
interact best with your human, 

312
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,160
your human little little guy 
that you're working with. 

313
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,440
You keep him busy. 
You keep him real busy. 

314
00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,640
Don't give him time to think. 
Don't give him time to ask 

315
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,520
questions. 
Instead, you want him focused on

316
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:29,680
the right now, what's in front 
of me, the next thing, Check 

317
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,320
this box, Check this box. 
You're moving at 1000 miles an 

318
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:34,680
hour every single day of your 
life because you got to get all 

319
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,240
the things done all the time and
you got to make everybody happy 

320
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,720
all the time. 
And the senior devil advises 

321
00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,280
him, if you can do that with 
him, if you can keep him moving 

322
00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,520
and always thinking about just 
what's directly in front of him,

323
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,840
he'll never stop to ask 
questions because he'll always 

324
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,240
just be moving towards the next 
thing. 

325
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,160
It's an incredible, it's an 
incredible little book. 

326
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:56,480
I would encourage you all to 
read it. 

327
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:02,280
But here's the thing, Jesus does
the exact opposite. 

328
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,480
Think about it. 
He's in middle school, he's 12 

329
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,960
years old and and he's lost and 
he doesn't panic. 

330
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,480
He doesn't get freaked out. 
He doesn't go searching for his 

331
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,200
parents and get more lost in the
city. 

332
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,480
No, he goes straight to his 
father's house and he starts to 

333
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,800
engage in the word of God and he
starts to ask questions. 

334
00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,000
The Lutheran Study Bible, it's 
it gives us this picture of 

335
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:28,720
what's going on, and here's what
it says. 

336
00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:32,640
In order to stimulate more 
profound thinking, the rabbi's 

337
00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,280
often responded to people's 
questions by posing their own 

338
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,840
questions. 
Already as a child, Jesus was 

339
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,720
able to engage the best 
religious minds in that way. 

340
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,480
You see, what they're pointing 
out is that by being steeped in 

341
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,840
God's Word, Jesus was able to 
ask and answer profound 

342
00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:55,200
questions, questions that move 
people beyond the daily grind of

343
00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,920
have to do this, want to do 
this, and on and on and on. 

344
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,520
Those questions sparked 
something and everybody around 

345
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:06,240
him, it sparked the idea, What 
if there's more? 

346
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,520
What if there's more to this 
life than just checking the next

347
00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,720
box and doing the next thing? 
What if there's more? 

348
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,000
What if God has a higher calling
on my life? 

349
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,160
We just sang that song. 
I was made for more. 

350
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,480
That song is not about being 
egotistical. 

351
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,880
Look how special I am. 
No, that song is about God is 

352
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:28,560
asking you to ask the right 
questions, to start asking 

353
00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,840
society around you. 
Is this really what I'm called 

354
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,360
to do? 
Is this is what the world tells 

355
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,760
me I have to get done? 
Is that really the right way? 

356
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,760
Let's start asking the question.
It's been said that the devil, 

357
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:45,000
if he can't make you bad, he can
make you busy, right? 

358
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,200
You've probably heard that if he
can't make you bad, he'll make 

359
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,320
you busy. 
And I absolutely believe that 

360
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,600
saying, because we can get so 
busy that we never stop to 

361
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:57,280
question all the priorities that
the world is thrown at me. 

362
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,160
All the things that social media
and other things are saying, you

363
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,760
have to do this to be happy. 
You have to do this to live a 

364
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:04,000
full life. 
You have to go there. 

365
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,760
You have to see that. 
Are they right? 

366
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,760
Are they right or is there 
something more? 

367
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,640
Should I be questioning that? 
I absolutely should Because 

368
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,600
friends, we have to be. 
And this is the big point of 

369
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,400
this. 
We have to be obedient and 

370
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,520
slowing down. 
We have to be obedient and 

371
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,320
slowing down because otherwise 
you know what's going to happen.

372
00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,880
Maybe you'll be sitting here 
next year at this same time and 

373
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,280
you'll go, man, that went by 
fast. 

374
00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,760
I don't even know what happened 
in 2026. 

375
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,600
It went by so fast. 
I was so busy, you know, 

376
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,320
running, running on the on the, 
on the rabbit wheel that I 

377
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,680
didn't even stop to question if 
my life was being lived out the 

378
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,960
way that God is asking me to and
lived out the way that God says.

379
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,280
As I live that way, as I live 
with him and his word and as I 

380
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,200
live with people in his 
community, man, I can really 

381
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,040
grow and I can and I can change 
you and I can do some things for

382
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,200
you that you never saw coming. 
I don't want to get to the end 

383
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,800
of 2026 and wonder, did I not 
question everything that was 

384
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,040
thrown in front of me? 
I learned a great lesson from a 

385
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,800
professor at the seminary. 
His name was Doctor Eugene Beau.

386
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:23,120
And you would ask him a question
and he would rarely ever give 

387
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,080
you a straight answer, which was
frustrating at times, but he 

388
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,520
would just say why do you ask? 
Why do you ask? 

389
00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:35,080
The cool thing about putting 
that into your vocabulary is it 

390
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,040
gets you to a deeper level with 
people. 

391
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,240
It gets you to their heart 
because people will ask you 

392
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:41,880
questions. 
They'll assume things about you.

393
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:46,040
They'll expect things from me, 
from you, and it's good to just 

394
00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:47,680
ask them the question. 
Why do you ask? 

395
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:48,240
What? 
What? 

396
00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:51,240
Why do you want that from me? 
You know what you're doing when 

397
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,640
you do that. 
You're getting past their 

398
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:57,760
checklist and you're getting 
into their heart, and then you 

399
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,400
have a real opportunity at that 
point to have conversations that

400
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:04,280
matter instead of just checking 
the boxes and moving through 

401
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,160
life blindly. 
Friends, slow down, be obedient 

402
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:12,000
to asking questions, and I bet 
you'll see your year change a 

403
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,880
lot. 
Now, last thing here, obedience 

404
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,520
and submission. 
In verse 48 through 51, it says 

405
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,760
this. 
Oh, my gosh, I'm getting old. 

406
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,080
Oh, it's getting bad. 
It's getting bad. 

407
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,440
Somebody the other day, they 
were like, well, why don't you 

408
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,720
just get bifocals? 
I know some of you have them. 

409
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,480
I understand. 
I'm stubborn. 

410
00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,360
I'm really stubborn. 
I don't want to do it. 

411
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,640
I don't want to do it. 
So I'm just going to do that for

412
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,840
now. 
Where was I? 

413
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,040
48 through 51? 
Oh, yeah. 

414
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,680
So here we go. 
And when his parents saw him, 

415
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:52,320
they were astonished. 
And his mother said to him, son,

416
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,000
why have you treated us so? 
Behold, your father and I have 

417
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,200
been searching for you in great 
distress. 

418
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,040
Yeah, that's a problem. 
And he said to them, why are you

419
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,160
looking for me? 
That's a weird thing to say. 

420
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,840
Did you, did you not know that I
must be in my father's house? 

421
00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,600
And they did not understand the 
scene that he spoke to them. 

422
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,000
And then when he went down with 
them, he went to Nazareth with 

423
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:20,120
them and was submissive to them.
Here's the thing, after, after 

424
00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:24,080
Mary and Joseph come down from 
the paralyzing fear of not just 

425
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,080
losing their son, but losing the
Son of God in the biggest city 

426
00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,320
that they're aware of, which is 
that's really something to do. 

427
00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,320
They started back home together 
and, and it and it reports that 

428
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:37,480
this middle school Jesus was 
submissive. 

429
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,000
I don't know a lot of submissive
middle schoolers, and I work 

430
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,760
with them a lot, but I'm glad 
Jesus was. 

431
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,800
Now, I think if you're thinking 
critically, if you're asking 

432
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,920
questions, here's a question 
that maybe you should be asking 

433
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:57,680
of this text. 
Did Jesus sin when he failed to 

434
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,840
keep up with the group that was 
traveling outside of the city? 

435
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:10,880
Did he sin? 
Answer is no, but do you know 

436
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,600
why he didn't? 
You should perk your ears for 

437
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,040
this. 
You see, when here's the thing, 

438
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:21,200
in this culture, in Jesus 
culture, when a boy was 12, this

439
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,640
is the year of preparation 
before he becomes a man. 

440
00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,320
Can you imagine calling a 13 
year old boy a man? 

441
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:32,200
In our society? 
I can't. 

442
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,520
But maybe that's because of how 
we've raised them. 

443
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,720
Maybe we've allowed, you know, 
adolescence to seep into the mid

444
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,720
20s and it's our fault. 
I think I could make that 

445
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,560
argument, but I won't do that 
right now and right here. 

446
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:45,800
Maybe that's a podcast thing at 
some point. 

447
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,880
But anyway, when a boy was 12, 
he spent that year spending a 

448
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,640
lot of extra time with his 
father. 

449
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:57,240
Because what happens in that 
society is young men do what 

450
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,960
their father does. 
That's what they do. 

451
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,120
Whatever, whatever the family 
business is, that's what you do.

452
00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:06,840
There is no, well, actually I 
was considering my options and I

453
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,040
think I'm going to no, that 
doesn't exist. 

454
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,920
You do what your father does. 
And so in your 12th year, you're

455
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:13,600
going to spend a lot of extra 
time with him. 

456
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,240
Well, in the unique case of the 
Son of God, he was being 

457
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,840
perfectly submissive to his 
father. 

458
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,200
How? 
By spending time in his father's

459
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,520
house, the temple, by listening 
and asking questions and 

460
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,080
submitting to God the Father in 
worship. 

461
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:39,000
So that means, friends, in this 
passage, Jesus is not arguing 

462
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,000
with his earthly parents. 
He's not doing anything wrong. 

463
00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,240
He's doing exactly what he is 
supposed to be doing. 

464
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,200
And here's what he's doing. 
He's simply reminding them as 

465
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,280
they come back. 
He's like mom, dad, I am being 

466
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,440
submissive. 
I am being submissive to my 

467
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,880
father. 
My father is training me up in 

468
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,280
the way that I should go. 
My father is teaching me what is

469
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,000
going to mean to be the man that
I need to become my father. 

470
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,440
I'm I'm spending time with him. 
I'm in his house. 

471
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,200
I'm doing exactly what a 12 year
old boy should be doing. 

472
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:21,800
And here's the thing, Jesus was 
with his Father so that he could

473
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:26,320
become the man that his Father 
said he had to be and that He 

474
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,960
could become the man that the 
world needed him to be. 

475
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:37,680
You and I, in the entire world, 
we needed him to be submissive 

476
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:42,400
to the Father in such a way that
He would be willing to lose his 

477
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,440
life for ours. 
And here's the thing, of course,

478
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,600
Mary and Joseph were freaked out
that for three days they 

479
00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:51,720
couldn't find him. 
We'll Fast forward. 

480
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,120
If you know the end of the 
story, at the end of Jesus's 

481
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:57,920
life, that's exactly what 
happens. 

482
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,520
Again, he lives this life. 
He performs all these miracles. 

483
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,040
The disciples and all those who 
were really close to him, they 

484
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,480
thought, this is it. 
We found the Messiah. 

485
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,800
He's going to kick out Rome. 
He's going to make our lives 

486
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,760
right again. 
He's going to fix all these 

487
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,760
problems for us, and then He's 
dead. 

488
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:19,680
And for three days they cannot 
find him because for three days 

489
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,680
He lived in a tomb. 
After He took on all of our sin,

490
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,400
after He took on the cross that 
was supposed to be ours. 

491
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,560
But He took on that cross, He 
took on that sin. 

492
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:35,960
He took on those three days so 
that we might live, so that we 

493
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,320
may not be lost. 
And here's the thing, friends, 

494
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,960
we are lost like a child in our 
sin. 

495
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:49,000
I don't know if you know that or
not, but we are, we are lost to 

496
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,640
our Father and he's searching 
for us. 

497
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:53,960
He's asking for a relationship 
with us. 

498
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,680
He's asking for us to come home.
He's asking for us to be 

499
00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,160
present. 
And, and, and it's only because 

500
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,840
of the cross of Jesus Christ 
that we can be found in our 

501
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,680
lostness. 
Because he was lost for three 

502
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,240
days, we can be found forever. 
Amen. 

503
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:13,800
OK, last thing and then I'll let
you go or I guess we'll sing 

504
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:20,160
another song. 
It would be my prayer for all of

505
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:24,680
us that we don't even have to 
wait till the new year. 

506
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,520
Don't do that to yourself. 
Start now. 

507
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,280
Start being obedient to God in 
listening. 

508
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:30,800
And you know what that's going 
to do. 

509
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,000
That's going to create real 
wisdom in your life. 

510
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:35,680
And because you've listened well
to the Word of God, you've 

511
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,480
listened to an expert word, 
you're going to then start 

512
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,000
asking questions that you never 
asked before. 

513
00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,280
You will start questioning the 
priorities that this world is 

514
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:45,720
trying to shove down your 
throat. 

515
00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:47,400
And that's going to make you 
weird. 

516
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,080
That's going to make you weird. 
But as I've said from this stage

517
00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,320
before, it's pretty fun to be 
weird. 

518
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:55,400
It really is. 
You should try it sometime if 

519
00:28:55,400 --> 00:29:00,200
you're not. 
But then ultimately be found. 

520
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,280
We get to be found in the gospel
because Jesus was lost. 

521
00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,480
This is the great hope that we 
have, and this is the hope that 

522
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,200
we take with us as we go. 
Let's pray. 

523
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:16,920
Our Father in heaven, thank you 
for losing your life to save 

524
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:24,280
ours. 
Lord Jesus, you decided you 

525
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,360
decided to get lost and it's 
crazy. 

526
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,640
You came down from heaven for 
us. 

527
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,320
You left perfection and came 
into this broken, sinful world 

528
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,960
for us. 
Father, I pray that that is not 

529
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:41,120
lost on any of us. 
I pray that every single person 

530
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,240
in this room and listening would
understand that the only way to 

531
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,360
be found inside grace, the only 
way to be found inside your love

532
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,120
and in your life is through your
Son Jesus Christ. 

533
00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,640
Lord, let that idea, let that 
truth penetrate our hearts today

534
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,760
and forevermore that we might 
believe and come home to you. 

535
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,120
Father, we pray all these things
in Jesus name, Amen. 

536
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,480
Thanks for listening to ERC 
Sundays. 

537
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,960
To support the work God is doing
an Emmaus Rd. church, visit 

538
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,920
emmausrdonline.org/giving.