1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,280 Good morning. Will you join me in prayer? 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,960 Father, we thank you for this opportunity to share Your word, 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,800 and I pray that you open our hearts and our minds, Your 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,960 Spirit, and pray that He would be able to speak to us 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:21,760 unfiltered, that His Word would penetrate our hearts and our 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:26,160 mind, and that You would do a deeper work in US today. 7 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:37,320 Father, help us to desire to be more like you and help us Lord 8 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:44,040 to see ourselves as you see us. In Jesus name we pray and all 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:49,960 God's people said Amen. Well, I've heard it said from a 10 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,840 lot of people that all religion leads to God. 11 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,720 And if that were true, that means that there really is no 12 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:11,440 different than any religions. If we all lead to God, then we 13 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,160 all basically have the same end result and we're good to go. 14 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,320 But as Christians we struggle with that for good reason. 15 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,760 I mean, Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. 16 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,880 No one comes to the Father, but through me. 17 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,680 The writer of the Hebrews tells us that Jesus is superior in 18 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,200 every way. The Bible tells us that He's our 19 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:45,400 Creator, our intercessor, and our Savior. 20 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:56,640 So what do we do when somebody says our religions are the same? 21 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:06,480 Now I will say this, that most religions, including some forms 22 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:12,480 of Christianity which I do not think are credible, the goal is 23 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,720 to be good enough to make ourselves ready. 24 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,240 That mean religion is basically man's effort to reach out to 25 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,760 God. What makes Christianity 26 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:30,080 different? It's the only faith that says 27 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:38,560 I'm dysfunctional, I'm a Sinner, I'm broken, and I can't put it 28 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:46,560 together without help. Every other faith in the world, 29 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,240 including some forms of Christianity, it's you can do 30 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,480 it. And I'm telling you this 31 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:59,240 morning, without God in our lives, we cannot. 32 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,920 Now, I had the distinct privilege as a young pastor 33 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:10,360 because I started at 20, right? Yeah, I started at 20. 34 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,160 My mind is not working super good today. 35 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,280 So you can pray for me. And my wife will be more than 36 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,440 happy to fix me if I go off into the weeds. 37 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,640 What was I talking about, Ed? What was I talking about? 38 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,040 All right, Well, that's a pretty safe place, isn't it? 39 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:51,060 Christianity is the only faith where God reaches down and 40 00:03:51,060 --> 00:04:02,200 surrounds us and helps us. Now I get when we tell the world 41 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,840 that Christianity is the only way I get it sounds arrogant 42 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:11,600 doesn't it? It sounds like who does this guy 43 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,880 think he is? But the but the problem is what 44 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:22,600 do I do with the words of Jesus? I am the way and the truth and 45 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,640 the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. 46 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,120 I mean, Jesus said that. Jesus said that. 47 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,200 So what? What do I do with that? 48 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,840 Where does that leave me? I mean, it's really not me 49 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:43,960 saying that Jesus is the only way. 50 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,520 It's Jesus saying he's the only way. 51 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:51,920 And this is the other thing that you'll notice in most religions 52 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:57,040 or faiths, they like to consider Jesus a good man. 53 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,160 I personally don't think that that's a possibility. 54 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,160 Who did Jesus say he was, Son of God? 55 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:10,800 What else did he say about himself? 56 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:17,360 He's the way that he that he lives for the Father and the 57 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,360 Father lives in him. I mean, he told us in so many 58 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:30,840 ways that he is God. So if he's not who he says he 59 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:35,320 was, if he's not God, then he is a liar. 60 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,120 Are liars good men? No way. 61 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,400 And so we need to take a look at that now. 62 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,120 I also wanted to take a look at John 17 one through 5. 63 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:54,280 I'm going to ask you to read it with me because Jesus is pretty 64 00:05:54,280 --> 00:06:00,120 clear, or John is pretty clear. Well, as clear as John gets, 65 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:05,040 let's put it that way. He's pretty clear about what 66 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,040 eternal life is. So let's read it. 67 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,240 When Jesus had spoken these words, read with me, he lifted 68 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:16,800 up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hours come glorify 69 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,920 your Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have 70 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,360 given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to 71 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:30,560 all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that 72 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:36,200 they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you 73 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:41,080 have sent. I glorified you on earth, having 74 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,360 accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 75 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:49,040 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory 76 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,840 that I had with you before the world existed. 77 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,960 All right, Jesus is saying some pretty key things here. 78 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:07,840 Can we go back to 1? He and one he's saying, well, 79 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:10,480 here he sounds like a lawyer. I don't know about you, but when 80 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,080 somebody says I'm come to glorify you, you glorify me. 81 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,600 And by the time you're all done with this whole thing, I'm a 82 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,720 little confused. It's like when I read legal 83 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,640 papers. And so I, I think John had to be 84 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:28,840 a lawyer because he writes this kind of confused way all the 85 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:30,760 time. So let's go to two. 86 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,080 And John says that Jesus has been given authority over all 87 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:37,400 flesh. Think about that. 88 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:50,480 And Jesus is the one who will give eternal life to us. 89 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:59,280 So for you and me, Jesus is it. He's the judge, He's the jury. 90 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:05,800 He's the boss and all of the authority has been given to him. 91 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,280 And we know that because Jesus created. 92 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Jesus created the heavens and the earth. 93 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:18,720 He was the agent of creation. He, and as the Scripture says, 94 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,800 he has always been. He's always existed. 95 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:28,400 He was here long before any of us were, for sure. 96 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,120 And so we need to depend on that. 97 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:39,559 Now, let's take a look at Romans because if we recognize that 98 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:44,000 we're only saved through faith and that we're saved so that we 99 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,360 can eternal life as a we get to know God, I want you to think 100 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,240 about that. I know that they're, well, I 101 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:57,440 don't know, but I assume that there are people here who voted 102 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,360 for our president three Times Now. 103 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,520 Do any of us really know him? Know about him? 104 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:11,400 We know the facts about his life. 105 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,040 We see enough of him on TV to know what we do and don't like. 106 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:20,720 It's OK to say Amen. Nobody's going to shoot you. 107 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,640 But we really don't know him. And here's what Jesus is trying 108 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:36,000 to tell us. They are giving us the privilege 109 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,800 of knowing God the Father, the Son. 110 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,280 Through the guidance and under the leadership of the Holy 111 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:53,640 Spirit, we get to know the living God, we get to see His 112 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,400 goodness, we get to see his love, we get to see his grace. 113 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:03,880 We have all experienced his forgiveness because He's there 114 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,360 and He's real and these are His qualities. 115 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:14,520 And so now we are being asked, I haven't read Romans yet, have I? 116 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,520 OK, thank you. I'm, I'm finding that doing 2 117 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,680 services is just a little confusing. 118 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:28,600 You try to say, well did I say that yet or not or if or when 119 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:32,960 so. But I want you to see that this 120 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,160 whole thing of eternal life is God's gift to us. 121 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,240 God didn't come here to condemn us. 122 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,640 He did not come here to send us to hell. 123 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,520 That's not his purpose. Now He will let us go there. 124 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,120 Make no mistake, He will allow us to go there. 125 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:04,640 But His heart's desire is that we come to Him and allow Him to 126 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,520 work in our lives. So if you have this faith, what 127 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:10,160 does it look like? What's next? 128 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,040 Well, let's take a look at Romans 12/1 and two. 129 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,640 I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, 130 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,480 to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and 131 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,840 acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 132 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,720 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the 133 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:35,000 renewal of your mind and that by testing, you may discern what is 134 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,040 the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 135 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,160 All right, what Paul is saying, and I think he's a little 136 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,120 clearer, he's saying we need to say to God, my life, it's yours, 137 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,200 it's yours. Whatever you want me to do, 138 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,680 whatever you ask me to do, my answer is yes. 139 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:02,800 Now, can we be honest? It's not always that easy, is 140 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,600 it? Sometimes we grapple with the 141 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:11,160 Lord wants me to do this. Well, I'm not so sure. 142 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,080 Have, have you, have you been there or am I the only one? 143 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,120 You know, we, we grapple with that, we struggle with that. 144 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:26,800 And yet, and yet we know some things. 145 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,360 And this is where the whole transformation comes in. 146 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:38,560 We're transformed by the renewing of our what mind, our 147 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:42,600 minds as natural people is I have to take care of myself. 148 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:48,600 I have to provide. If I can't do it, well, I just 149 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:54,960 have to find a way to do it. I don't have a choice. 150 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,520 I mean, this is what I have to do. 151 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:03,160 Isn't that human life? It's the way it goes. 152 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:12,360 But Paul says we need to be transformed in our thinking. 153 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:20,520 We need to tell ourselves things like God really does love us. 154 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:28,360 God really does have the power to help me overcome the 155 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:34,000 obstacles of my life. God does want me to be a more 156 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:42,160 loving, grace, giving, Christ like individual and if he wants 157 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:48,440 that, then he's going to give me the power and the help I need to 158 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:54,760 accomplish that. These are things that we need to 159 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,440 tell ourselves because as human beings, we're like Moses. 160 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,800 I can't do that. Are you kidding me? 161 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:11,360 You're asking me to do what God? And frankly, I don't get too 162 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,520 upset with Moses. I mean, would you volunteer to 163 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,400 lead those people? Not me. 164 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:28,240 You got to be crazy. And so I personally am forgiven 165 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,160 Moses a break. You OK with that? 166 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,200 And maybe that's because if Moses gets a break, maybe I will 167 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:42,160 too. Because no matter, No matter how 168 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,600 close to God you are and how smart you are, you still make 169 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:50,320 mistakes. There's still times when you, 170 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,280 there's a lot of times when you second guess yourself. 171 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,000 You may have done the right thing, but by the time the 172 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,120 devil's done with you, you're not so sure. 173 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,840 And so we need to work on this transforming our mind. 174 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,240 Now let's kind of practically talk about this for a few 175 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:14,120 minutes. How are you going to transform 176 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,200 your mind? Well, one, you need to expose it 177 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:21,560 to God's Word. You just do. 178 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,720 If somehow you think your Bible's going to stay closed and 179 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,640 you're going to grow spiritually, well, I would think 180 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:36,920 about that again and again and again until you change your 181 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,680 mind. You've got to be in the word. 182 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,480 There's no, there's no replacing that. 183 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:54,240 And I want to tell you why David said that. 184 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,960 The human heart is deceitful above all things. 185 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:03,840 Who can understand it? How many times have you deceived 186 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,800 yourself? It's OK, not that bad, not a big 187 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:15,440 deal. We can move on again. 188 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,400 Am I the only one that's ever had that problem? 189 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:25,640 So, so we need to, we need to really think about ourselves 190 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:31,240 honestly. And Jesus has got some some 191 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,880 things for us to to focus on. So let's take a look at 12, 192 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,280 three through 8. I think it is. 193 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,680 For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not 194 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,800 to think himself more highly than he ought to think, but to 195 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,920 think with sober judgment, each according to the major faith 196 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,160 that God is assigned. For as in one body we have many 197 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,920 members and the members do not all have the same function. 198 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,319 So we, though many are one body in Christ and individually 199 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:10,800 members of one another, having the gifts that differ according 200 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,800 to the grace given to us. Let us use them if prophecy and 201 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,160 proportion to our faith, if service in our serving. 202 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,800 The one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in 203 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,920 his exhortation. And that's kind of a preaching 204 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,600 thing. It's more of an encouragement, 205 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:34,720 the one who contributes, and generosity, the one who leads 206 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,160 with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. 207 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:42,840 Yeah. I mean, how many of us want to 208 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:47,560 lead? It's been such a tough week this 209 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,560 week. I don't know how I'm going to 210 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,280 make it. I mean, doesn't that just 211 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:58,080 inspire you? Well, it's been so hard. 212 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,120 The devil's been on me all day long. 213 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:02,160 I don't know what I'm going to do. 214 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,080 No, that's not what we want. Leadership. 215 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,160 All I got to do is listen to the Evening News to get depressed. 216 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,880 I don't need my pastor to do it to me. 217 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:15,640 And our pastor doesn't. He's awesome. 218 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:25,480 He's a good teacher. So here Paul, our Paul is saying 219 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,800 that as Christians, we need to start with humility. 220 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,480 Don't consider yourself better than somebody else. 221 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,400 You might be smarter. You might be more gifted. 222 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,560 That doesn't make us better. And those whom God has given 223 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:50,120 much, he requires a lot too. And I don't think that's just 224 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:53,240 for us. I think that's finding ways to 225 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:55,200 be a blessing to others around us. 226 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,480 But we start off with humility. It's one of the first traits we 227 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:08,840 need because it's like, like when I said I when I was a young 228 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,480 pastor, people would tell me they hadn't sinned in over 20 229 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:16,560 years. OK, now here's my question. 230 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,360 I know that all man has fallen, broken, dysfunctional. 231 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,640 Would we agree with that? All man, all mankind has sinned. 232 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:35,960 So if a man is going to go a day without sin, and I do think I'm 233 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,240 just going to say this, I do think it's possible. 234 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,560 I probably said that once already, but the issue is 235 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,320 there's no way I can go without sin without the help and grace 236 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:53,240 of God. So it's not I did this or I 237 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,400 haven't sinned. It's the Lord has worked with me 238 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,240 and he's helping me clean up my act. 239 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,560 He's helping me get it together. He's helping me improve. 240 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,840 He's helping me see areas where I need help. 241 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:12,560 And every one of us, every one of us needs help because Paul 242 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:15,640 also goes on to tell us that we are part of a body. 243 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:23,360 We belong to each other, we're connected to each other. 244 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:28,560 We need each other. We need that encouragement. 245 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,320 We need some people have the gifts to to think through 246 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,360 problems. Every church has got problems 247 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,920 they need to think through. Some people are really good at 248 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,400 communication. Some people are excellent 249 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:45,200 teachers. There are people like Dale who 250 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,760 are just faithful, Faithful works his butt off behind the 251 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:54,320 scenes. They're people like Ed. 252 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:55,880 Ed, I'm trying to figure out what you do. 253 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,360 I think, I think, I think you basically just are. 254 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:03,280 And you're an encouragement to all of us. 255 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:10,960 Perseverance, faithfulness. I don't know about you, but I 256 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:16,160 need those kind of examples in my life because I need the Lord 257 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,480 to remind me. You know, Bob, there's ways you 258 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:25,240 could be more like Ed and maybe a little some cut some of the 259 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:31,320 edges off of you. I need you. 260 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:38,440 We need each other and in the body of Christ, you need people 261 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,440 who can teach, you need people who can encourage, you need 262 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:52,000 people who can lead. And and it's and it's OK not to 263 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,560 have somebody else's gift. You know, one of the saddest, 264 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,040 saddest things for me is when somebody thinks they're a leader 265 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:08,640 and it's not really their bag. You know, anybody like that and 266 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:10,600 they want to lead. They want to lead so bad. 267 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:20,040 And the problem is, is when you say no, boy, they can make you 268 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,160 feel like the meanest dog in town. 269 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:30,760 But you know what's meaner? To allow somebody to do 270 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:32,720 something that they don't have the gifts for. 271 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:43,080 And that not only hurts them, it hurts the church. 272 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:49,280 Now, just just so you know, in 45 years of ministry, I probably 273 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,800 didn't say no more than a handful of times. 274 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,640 I don't think that's where you get your frequent flyer miles. 275 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,560 Because everybody in the body has place. 276 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:08,040 And we need to cherish. We need to cherish everybody in 277 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,800 this place. All right? 278 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,080 So we focus on humility. We focus on understanding that 279 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,440 we need each other. Those are keys. 280 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:22,680 Those are just keys. We need God to guide us first 281 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,720 and foremost. We need His wisdom and His 282 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,000 strength. Now we want to talk about 283 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,640 another section of Scripture. And then I think I'm going to 284 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,920 close out. I'm beginning to realize that 285 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:43,760 this service starts at 10:30, but we're usually done at 12, 286 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,760 right, Dale? Well, I'm not going for 25 more 287 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:50,400 minutes. All God's people said. 288 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,960 Amen. All right, now that we've got 289 00:23:54,960 --> 00:24:01,760 that out of the way, let's talk about. 290 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,240 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about 9 through 13. 291 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:16,040 Would you read this one with me? Well, we'll be able to read it 292 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:25,680 in a second. You know, we don't give those 293 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:30,880 guys enough credit at all because, because here's the 294 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:32,680 deal. You know, when the the sound 295 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,560 guys are doing their job, when nobody notices. 296 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:45,240 And we do notice this stuff, but that stuff is just normal, and 297 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,640 it's part of being human. So I want to thank you up on top 298 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:51,880 for everything you've done today. 299 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,200 I thank you for responding to me at the last minute. 300 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,400 I mean, I came in here with 15 minutes to go, and they did all 301 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,120 this for me. So you blame me. 302 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,920 Things don't go right. Not them. 303 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,200 All right. Would you read this with me? 304 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:10,200 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. 305 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:15,240 Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly 306 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,800 affection, Outdo one another in showing honor. 307 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,480 Do not be slothful and zealed, but fervent in spirit. 308 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:29,960 Serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be 309 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:34,240 constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the 310 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,040 Saints and seek to show hospitality. 311 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,320 All right, can we go back to the first verse of this section? 312 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:54,160 Let love be genuine. This is one place where we need 313 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:58,200 to be real. But I've been pastored long 314 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:03,080 enough and I've been in places where they were the wannabes, 315 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,560 the pretenders, you know, not really understanding. 316 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,120 And I'm going to tell you that in some churches, love is not 317 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:18,280 genuine. It's pasty, it's fake, it's not 318 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:24,080 real. Now, they're different 319 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:26,760 personalities and we all love different ways. 320 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:33,280 So sometimes we just need to give grace to people. 321 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,320 You know, if you've noticed around here, I love to pick on 322 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,760 the kids. Well, everybody's going to see 323 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,320 pics on everybody. Oh my Gods. 324 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,320 People said get it out of your system, OK? 325 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,880 I love little kids. Always have hope. 326 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,560 Hope that I always do. I'm watching my dad. 327 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,800 He's 94 now, and he's not always so excited about little kids. 328 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,320 He used to be. He used to be all right. 329 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,200 We want to love what is genuine. We want to be real. 330 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,440 And I think that's one of the key things is people today need 331 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,160 to see the church be real. That doesn't mean we pretend 332 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,720 that we're holy. If you're holy, you don't need 333 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,240 to tell somebody you are. They're going to notice it. 334 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,720 And if you're unholy, you don't need to tell them that either 335 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,920 because they'll pick that up pretty fast. 336 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,000 And one of the things that I've noticed in my years of ministry, 337 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,520 I think when I started, we focused an awful lot on 338 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,080 behavior. You do this, you don't do that. 339 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,320 There were certain words, if you said you were going to hell 340 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,760 straight away, I'm not, I'm not going to repeat them because you 341 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,800 might be some of you who still feel that way. 342 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,920 But we've come, we've come to learn that, you know, swearing 343 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,280 the Scripture talks about is taking the Lord's name in vain. 344 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:12,520 Don't do that. That's not a wise thing to do. 345 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,600 And you want to make sure that your language, I mean, when your 346 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,360 language is so vulgar, you can turn a marine's face red. 347 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:27,640 You've crossed some lines here. But we need to remember that the 348 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,080 measure of all of this is our heart. 349 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,280 You may do things that are unsavory, but do you love 350 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,280 people? Do you love people? 351 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,800 Do you really love people? And you're not going to say or 352 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,320 want to do anything that's going to hurt them? 353 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:52,320 Not intentionally. So we need to let love be 354 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:53,920 genuine. What's the next part of that 355 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:55,320 line? I lost my screen. 356 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:58,800 Oh, we need to have this thing now. 357 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,960 Go back love. One of the one more. 358 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,800 Go to 11. There we go. 359 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:09,800 We, we need to hang on to what's good. 360 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:13,360 We need to not be slothful in zeal. 361 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:22,760 I'm finding as a retiree that it's pretty easy to be slothful. 362 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,480 Can I admit that, you know, before I retired, I said, well, 363 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:30,760 I'm not going to have any problem. 364 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,360 You know, all my friends would say, man, I don't know. 365 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,120 However, phone time to go to work, I do. 366 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:43,080 But but I will admit that that was by design. 367 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,120 You know, as a pastor, my life was going 150 miles an hour. 368 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,560 I didn't want my retirement to be that way too. 369 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:56,520 Want to slow down a little bit? But I may stretch into that 370 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,360 slothful zone every once in a while. 371 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,200 So, Ed, you need to kick me in the butt. 372 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,000 Get going. So we need to be fervent. 373 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,920 We need to be excited about what God wants to do innocent through 374 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:13,160 us. We need to serve the Lord with 375 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:17,560 some enthusiasm that, well, you know, I'm doing this for the 376 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:25,920 Lord. I'm suffering for Jesus, OK? 377 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:29,520 Doesn't inspire me, does it, you, James? 378 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:34,240 No, we see we need to be in the business of inspiring people. 379 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:35,760 This is what I love about Barnabas. 380 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:42,080 Barnabas took a look at this guy by the name of Mark, whom Paul 381 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:46,120 said I'm not trusting him again. He's not going with me. 382 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:51,680 And Barnabas said, I think this guy got some purpose. 383 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:57,080 I think there's something that we can do this productive here. 384 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:02,120 Barnabas saw the nugget of gold. Paul just saw the problem. 385 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,320 If you had people like that in your life, all they do is see 386 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,960 the problem. Here's the deal, here's the 387 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:11,600 deal. It's true of you, it's true of 388 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:12,800 me. It's true of everybody in this 389 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,680 room. Everyone of us have strengths, 390 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:22,760 and we have weaknesses. You want to make sure that your 391 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:30,040 weaknesses aren't sinful, because sinful weaknesses can 392 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:36,520 undo your life. You don't want to do that. 393 00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:45,540 And we need to make sure that our weaknesses aren't crippling 394 00:31:45,740 --> 00:31:50,220 our positives. But when I was young, they 395 00:31:50,220 --> 00:31:52,020 taught us, they always taught us this. 396 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,160 Turn your weaknesses into strengths. 397 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,800 OK, so what's happening to my strengths while I'm spending all 398 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:07,080 my time working on my weakness? What do you think? 399 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:14,640 Think anything happened to them? You got to develop what you're 400 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,920 good at. God made you good at something 401 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,200 for a reason. Now I know we spend a lot of 402 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,960 time looking at people and we wished, I wished I was more like 403 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,680 so and so. I remember as a young man, as a 404 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,480 young pastor, I was going to Spring Arbor for pastors classes 405 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:42,280 and I rode with a guy who was about then, he was about my age 406 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,240 now. And I just really impressed with 407 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,120 this guy. And I asked him one day, I said, 408 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,600 how, how do I get to be as spiritual as you are? 409 00:32:55,120 --> 00:33:01,480 He said, well it's easy. I've been a Christian for 45 410 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,400 plus years and I was obedient to the Lord. 411 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,240 And so over those years, being obedient to the Lord, I grew. 412 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,880 If you want to walk with the Lord 45 years and be obedient, 413 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,800 you'll probably get there too, you know, and, and that's what 414 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,600 makes sense because we have this idea that I'm going to be 415 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:24,040 spiritual. I'm going to flip a switch and 416 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,200 I'm going to go from here to here right now. 417 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:35,920 It'd be great if it worked that way, but is there anybody here 418 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:40,240 who'd say it does work that way? It's never worked that way for 419 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,360 me. In fact, I'm, I'm pretty 420 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:44,800 convinced that if I'm going to grow, I'm going to choose the 421 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:50,040 hardest way there is. I think it's a brain damage 422 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:56,960 thing. But we need to be committed to 423 00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:58,800 grow. But we need to understand that 424 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,200 what we're entering into is a relationship. 425 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:07,400 And so our growth is a process. And the other thing we deal with 426 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,360 is human beings. It's not like being a banker or 427 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,040 an engineer. If I'm an engineer or a 428 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:19,280 scientist or a finance guy, I have a a formula that everything 429 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,760 fits into boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 430 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:28,080 And it works. Human beings, what works on me 431 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:32,199 isn't probably going to work on James or on Paul or on Gary or 432 00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:39,679 on Ed, because we're different and God made us to be different. 433 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:45,400 And that's OK, because if you're going to compare yourself to 434 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,800 somebody, compare yourself to Jesus. 435 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:56,600 Not not to beat yourself up, but to keep yourself humble, you 436 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:00,120 don't want it. We don't want to compare to each 437 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:05,880 other because what Paul Freeman's called to be and do is 438 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,560 completely different than what he's called me to do and what he 439 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,600 called Ed to do and what he called Dale to do and Brad to 440 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,240 do. And we need to allow for that 441 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:19,000 freedom. We have to allow for that 442 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,280 freedom when it comes to personal convictions. 443 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,320 You know what I'm saying? You might be a person who has a 444 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,040 weakness for alcohol, so you need to stay away from it. 445 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:35,120 That doesn't mean that everybody else has to. 446 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,520 They may not have that weakness. They may have a weakness with 447 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:47,040 watching the wrong stuff on TV or the Internet, or they may 448 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,080 have a weakness with how they spend money. 449 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:57,560 And This is why we need to give each other room to be who God 450 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:02,360 made us to be. Now there's a couple more 451 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:03,680 things. Can we get back to the 452 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,800 Scripture? I think we're on 10 or 11 now. 453 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,680 12 and 12. OK, rejoice. 454 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:12,400 They're just trying to tell me to get done. 455 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,600 Rejoice and hope. Be patient in tribulation. 456 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:24,640 Be constant in prayer. Now that is an awesome formula, 457 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:29,320 but it's pretty lofty, don't you think? 458 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,680 Rejoice and hope. This is a good thing. 459 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,480 Why are you hopeful? Why do you put your confidence 460 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,640 in God? How have you seen Him work? 461 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:45,040 When's the last time you took time as a family and just talked 462 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,320 about these are the things God's been doing for us? 463 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:52,760 Isn't that cool? I mean, those things are 464 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,040 important. Be patient. 465 00:36:55,040 --> 00:37:04,230 In Tribulation, we need to understand that sometimes our 466 00:37:04,230 --> 00:37:11,430 journey takes us down paths that are challenging, to say the 467 00:37:11,430 --> 00:37:18,160 least. Here's where my faith kicks in. 468 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,440 I believe that everything that happens to me is for a purpose. 469 00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:26,880 I choose to believe that there's nothing that happens to me that 470 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:34,200 is caught God off guard. And because of those two things, 471 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:39,240 I believe that everything He allows to happen to me, He can 472 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:52,130 use as a building block in my life if I will allow him to My 473 00:37:52,130 --> 00:37:54,490 that my. My belief in those areas has LED 474 00:37:54,490 --> 00:38:03,130 me down some dark paths, but I'm not so sure they haven't been 475 00:38:03,130 --> 00:38:11,650 good paths. I remember it's been 10-11 years 476 00:38:11,650 --> 00:38:14,050 now since I ruptured both of my quads. 477 00:38:15,490 --> 00:38:21,080 I went from walking to not walking in about 10 seconds. 478 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:30,280 And I was in the hospital for a month to the hospital and 479 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:36,640 nursing home. And I've I've tried to make my 480 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,760 wife promise that she'll shoot me before she sends me back to 481 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,120 the nursing home. That's not something I get 482 00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:50,080 excited about, but I'm telling you the lessons I learned while 483 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:56,000 I was in that state, the things that God spoke to me about 484 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,680 because He had me on my back and I couldn't do anything else. 485 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:06,200 I wouldn't give those lessons back for anything. 486 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:14,760 Now I'm in no hurry to do it again, but I'm thankful for the 487 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,800 things that the Lord taught me through that challenge and 488 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:24,240 through that difficulty. Be constant in prayer. 489 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:32,480 Do you really know where your help comes from? 490 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:38,240 Yeah, but how sure are we of that? 491 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,200 I mean, when we get into trouble, when something happens, 492 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:45,800 what do we do? I mean, I know when we're 493 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,200 driving down the road and we think we're going to get next 494 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,560 and go, oh, God, save me, You know, almost always then that 495 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:54,360 kind of a thing. But what do we do when we're 496 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:59,560 faced with moral choices? What do we do when we have to 497 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,960 make business decisions? What do we do when we have to 498 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,920 make decisions at home? Are these things we pray about? 499 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:06,440 Are these things we say? God? 500 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:14,440 I need your input on this because that's important. 501 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:18,640 Because when we do that, we're saying He is my Lord. 502 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,160 And that's the whole point today. 503 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:27,680 The whole point is, is we need to be people who realize that 504 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,280 we're not going to heaven because we're good little 505 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:32,720 people. We're going to heaven because we 506 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:34,800 put our faith and confidence in Christ. 507 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:40,200 And because we've done that, we're going to allow Him to use 508 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:47,480 us words and all. We're going to let him use this. 509 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:53,240 We're going to let him enable us to use things that we may or may 510 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:55,880 not know. I'm going to tell you before, 511 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,360 I'm not so sure. Today's a good example. 512 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,840 But before I became felt the call to preach when I got up in 513 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:07,120 a speech class, I mumbled all over myself, couldn't give a 514 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:13,160 talk to save my life. And then the Lord called me and 515 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,240 that seemed to change today. It seems to come back. 516 00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:18,440 But that's OK. I'm old. 517 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:23,680 We'll excuse it for that. So can I ask you a question? 518 00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:27,520 Do you just wake up one day and say today's the day I'm going to 519 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:31,640 be transformed? How do you get there? 520 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:37,440 Time and and you have to make some decisions. 521 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:44,240 You have to make a decision that I need God in my life, I need 522 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:47,640 the Spirit. I need to commit myself to 523 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:53,920 something outside of myself, and God here I am. 524 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:59,800 Have you done that? Have you done that? 525 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:05,160 I mean, there are a lot of people that know about God. 526 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:12,200 They know about Jesus, but somehow they're missing that 527 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:17,080 deeper connection. And I want to say to you, don't 528 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:20,640 miss it. There are people in this 529 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,680 sanctuary right now, and I'm not going to name everybody because 530 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:25,880 I'm going to screw it up and miss half of them. 531 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,720 But there are people here that you could talk to you about your 532 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:32,880 faith who would be happy to talk to you about your faith. 533 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:34,400 You say, oh, I don't want to do it. 534 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,240 I don't want to bother. You know, here's the deal. 535 00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:39,360 Somebody comes to you and they want to talk about faith and 536 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:42,280 you've got to leave. Make an appointment with him 537 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:45,880 before you go and make sure you contact and get back to him. 538 00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:54,000 We need to ask. We're, we're supposed to be part 539 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:56,200 of a body. So that means we can ask 540 00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,320 questions of each other. We can ask favors of each other. 541 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:04,440 We can ask for help. It's OK. 542 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:09,280 This is supposed to be the one place where we can be ourselves. 543 00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,720 I'm not sure it is all the time, but it's the one place where we 544 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:21,680 should be able to be ourselves. So have you asked God to 545 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:28,760 transform you? Are you asking Him to renew your 546 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:32,200 thinking? Are you giving Him opportunity 547 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:39,720 to do that? Feel free to reach out. 548 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:46,000 There are people here that want to talk to you and we would love 549 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,320 to pray with you. If you want to come forward, we 550 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:54,560 would pray with you too. But most of you probably, if 551 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,400 you're not a Christian yet, you just, you need a conversation. 552 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,600 You might not be ready to make a commitment yet. 553 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:02,600 So we're ready to talk. We're willing to talk. 554 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:10,680 Let's stand together, Father, we are your people. 555 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:20,560 We are called by your name. We are here to represent you and 556 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,800 Lord, we admit that we're not always good representation. 557 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:30,520 And Lord, we ask for your forgiveness for that. 558 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:43,400 And we ask, Lord, that you will inspire us to commit ourselves 559 00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:49,160 fully to you, that we will accept the gifts and the rules 560 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:52,840 that you have for us and that we'll use them for your glory. 561 00:44:55,200 --> 00:45:00,240 Lord, speak to us, speak to our hearts, draw us close to you. 562 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:06,600 In Jesus name we pray. And all God's people said Amen.