1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,200 All right, good morning, Church. This morning we have a guest 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:10,720 speaker and he weighs in at 165 lbs. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:16,160 He hails from Big Rapids, MI. If any of you don't know where 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:17,960 that is, I don't think I can help you. 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,040 I don't know where to point to right in. 6 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:24,560 The middle. But he is, he is a pastor, one 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,560 of the pastors, Not necessarily. He's a pastor in training at Res 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,320 Life in Big Rapids. He's the head of youth and he 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,640 overseas young adults. I got it right. 10 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:38,720 Young at all? Say what? 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,960 Just young adult. Just young adults, OK. 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,920 And he's in his second year of training at their school there. 13 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:48,280 Global. What is it called? 14 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,400 Global. Global University. 15 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,200 So this morning as he comes forward, I want to pray with 16 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,280 him. I'd like for you to give him a 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:03,400 round of applause and let's pray together. 18 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:05,720 Father, we thank you for this day. 19 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:10,000 We thank you for Josh. We thank you so much for his 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,040 heart. And we just pray that you 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:17,240 surround him with your presence. And Lord, help us to hear from 22 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,200 you. Help us to hear from you 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,680 clearly. Speak to us in Jesus name, we 24 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,640 pray and all God's people said Amen, Amen. 25 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:29,680 Amen. Thank you, Bob. 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:36,680 Let's give it up for Bob. So Bob, the first probably 3 27 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,480 minutes that I walked through the doors this morning, let me 28 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,400 drive his Mustang. So I was saying to the first 29 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,840 service, I think that almost guarantees he gets a Mustang in 30 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,560 heaven. Like I think that's just how it 31 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,320 works. Well, hey guys, my name is Josh 32 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:50,480 Fulmer. And like we said earlier, I am a 33 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,680 youth leader at Res Life Big Rapids and I lead our young 34 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,040 adult ministry over there called the Bridge. 35 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:58,320 It's just such an honor to be here. 36 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,960 I, I, I don't take it lightly. The opportunity to get to 37 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,920 minister God's word today and what he shared on my heart and 38 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,800 you guys have been so welcoming. And so I just, I thank you for 39 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,440 the opportunity to be here and get to hang out with you guys 40 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:12,720 today. I heard you guys had Pastor 41 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:14,680 Steve here last week. Let's give it up for Pastor 42 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:19,360 Steve now. Pastor Steve has been like 43 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,960 everywhere, like I feel like every revival or anything that's 44 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,080 really happened in a church, he's been a part of it. 45 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,640 Like we've got to know each other pretty well this past 46 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,520 year. And just hearing the stories 47 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,960 that he has is just, it's, it's, it's incredible. 48 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:35,120 What, what, what he's been through. 49 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,720 But I love Pastor Steve. He's awesome. 50 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,520 And I'm just excited to get to minister God's word today. 51 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:47,040 I pray that this word today just encourages you and that you can 52 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,200 get some newness of what God, God has for you. 53 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,360 In my daytime job, I actually am a kindergarten teacher. 54 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,080 I keep. Yeah. 55 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:57,960 Come on back there. Let's go. 56 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,920 So I'm a parapro at a kindergarten. 57 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:02,760 Where? Get this. 58 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:04,280 The entire school is kindergarten. 59 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,720 It's one grade where it is 205 and 6 year olds run around the 60 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,120 building at all times. No, I do not need prayer. 61 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,640 Maybe we need to pray together after the service. 62 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,800 Amen, Amen. Summer vacation. 63 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,680 So no, I, I love what I do and it gives me a lot of awesome 64 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,880 stories and just what they do, just the, the, the good and the 65 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,720 bad. It's, it's, it's something, but 66 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,880 I just love getting to see that child like faith and, and, and 67 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,400 seeing how passionate our kids, even at that age are for the 68 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,320 Lord and it's just, it's amazing. 69 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,040 So hopefully today God has something in store for all of us 70 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,240 today. And I just pray that we can just 71 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,280 walk together through whatever we're going through. 72 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:47,840 And that got me to where you're at. 73 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,640 He meets you exactly in the place that you are today during 74 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,880 this message. We had a student of mine at our 75 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,920 youth group. And one day, like about a year 76 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,200 ago, he started every single week raising his hand for the 77 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,160 salvation prayer every single week. 78 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,400 And week after week I'm like, awesome. 79 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,160 Like, you know, he's picking up his cross daily. 80 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:09,760 He's, he's got this thing figured out. 81 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,320 I did it once. I'm so many times like this kid. 82 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,440 And I thought it was awesome. But really quickly, probably 6 83 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,720 months in to this, I heard other leaders saying, you know, does 84 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,280 he know what he's raising his hand for? 85 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:25,400 Is he doing it because other people are doing it? 86 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,600 Is, you know, is he just doing it to, to say he's raising his 87 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,080 hand? And, and, and so I was like, you 88 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,080 know, he's one of my kids. So I'll go and talk to him and 89 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:34,360 just just see where his heart's at. 90 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,600 And so I went up to him one day and I was like, hey, bud, what 91 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,440 does that mean to you? I see you raising your hand. 92 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:41,440 I think it's awesome. I just want to know what that 93 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,840 means to you. And he looks at me and he says 94 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,320 something. I never would have expected a 13 95 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,320 year old to look me in the eyes and say this. 96 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,440 But he looks, he looks at me dead in the eyes. 97 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:55,760 And he goes, I just, I just want to make all of heaven rejoice. 98 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,160 And I was like, all right, buddy, you raise your hand every 99 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:00,280 single day. You know what, I'm going to 100 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,000 raise my hand with you. And we're going to do this 101 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:03,320 together. We're going to sharpen iron 102 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:04,880 together, you and me. All right? 103 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,480 So today I just just, shouldn't that be how we all live our 104 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,040 lives? Waking up and saying, God, thank 105 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,000 you for today. I want everything that I do 106 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,360 today to honor you. And I know I'm going to stumble. 107 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,600 I know I'm going to fail, but I just want to make all of heaven 108 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:20,440 rejoice because you are leading my steps by faith. 109 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,360 And I lived a lot of my life not in that position. 110 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,000 I lived a lot of my life leading my own path, leading my own 111 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,840 direction, and really lost for a long time. 112 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:36,400 And through that God was with me and I didn't really know He was 113 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,400 with me, but He was with me. And I remember the times that I 114 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,040 would pray because I started my life in church. 115 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:44,760 For the 1st 10 years of my life I was in church. 116 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,720 And so I knew Jesus as Savior, but I didn't know him as Lord. 117 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,440 And so I remember the times where I would be struggling with 118 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:54,840 something and just just just hurting about something. 119 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:57,880 Just the pain was filling me. The shame was filling me and, 120 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,520 and, and I was never praying that God would help me. 121 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,280 I was praying that God would just remove me from the 122 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,280 situation, pluck me out like a little flower and put me down in 123 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:11,640 some great beautiful garden. I was. 124 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,800 But I want you to know that wherever, wherever you're at, I 125 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,640 don't know where what you guys stories are. 126 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,400 I've met some of you, but I don't know where you're 127 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,320 struggling in. I don't know what you're going 128 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:23,360 through. I don't know what you're praying 129 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,360 about. I don't know what circumstances 130 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,520 are going on in your life. But I want you to know that if 131 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,320 we just start to put ourselves in a posture of receiving from 132 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,240 the Father and understanding that there are times in our 133 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,360 lives where we're going to struggle. 134 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,440 There are times in our lives when things around us are going 135 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,880 to start burning up and the smoke's going to be heavy and 136 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:41,960 the flames are going to be hot and they're going to be all 137 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,040 around us. And instead of asking God to 138 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,120 take us from the situation and just put us somewhere safe, we 139 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,320 need to open our eyes and see that God is with us. 140 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,000 And this is the title of my message today. 141 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:56,440 God is with us through the fire. Everybody say through the 142 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,480 through the fire. Father God, I thank you for 143 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:00,880 today. And I just thank you for your 144 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,960 just amazing opportunity to just get to, to minister your word 145 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:06,480 and, and share what you've laid on my heart. 146 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,400 God, I pray that today would be a moment of us opening up our 147 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,280 hands to you and seeing you next to us in every circumstance. 148 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,160 God, I pray that you would specifically meet the needs of 149 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,040 this congregation, this body, Father. 150 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,440 And I pray that there would be new transformation, that there 151 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,440 would be new revelation today and that there would be new 152 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,000 blessings on the other side of whatever we're going through. 153 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,680 Father, I thank you for the opportunity and we just thank 154 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,240 you for North Life Church. We thank you in Jesus name, 155 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,320 Amen. Amen. 156 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,760 So being in the elementary, this is going to be my corner back 157 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:41,880 here. I'm going to be talking to you 158 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,880 guys a lot. So being in school, one of my 159 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,480 very first days, I didn't go to school to be a teacher or 160 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:51,760 anything or to work in the element. 161 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,000 I never thought I'd be working there. 162 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,800 But one of the very first tools that one of the people that was 163 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,680 training me told me was, hey, you need to use this statement. 164 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:06,000 And the statement is, if then everyone say if then so with if 165 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,840 then a lot of our kids will come up to me and say, I think they 166 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:11,920 think that I'm just like a walking vending machine or 167 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,680 something because they'll come up to, Hey, Mr. Josh, you got 168 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:16,840 any chips? Hey, Mr. Josh, you got candy. 169 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,640 I know you got candy in there. I'm like, dude, where do you 170 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,480 guys think I'm hiding these things in my pants? 171 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,440 Like I, I don't know what you're talking about. 172 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,280 And my goal, like my heart is I want to give them the thing that 173 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:32,440 they're asking. And most of the time I do, but 174 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:34,520 and they know that they take advantage of that. 175 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:38,280 But a lot of times the kids that are asking me for something, 176 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,679 I've just watched them slap another kid in the face, RIP 177 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,160 their paper that they're supposed to be doing and doing 178 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,240 absolutely everything but the thing that we asked them to do. 179 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,680 So the Amen this tool if then helps me in that whole 180 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,400 circumstance because it puts the ball in their court. 181 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,080 Because I see, Jimmy, that you want some chips. 182 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:05,440 Now, if you want chips, if you do your work first, then you'll 183 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,240 get some chips. If you stop slapping your buddy 184 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,800 in the face over there, then I might want to take you outside 185 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:18,240 for some extra recess. If then if I sit here and say 186 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,920 God, I want you to use me. I want to be a blank canvas for 187 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,920 you and I want you to use every part of me, and it's your will, 188 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,480 not my will, then you'll know that God is with you through the 189 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,640 fire. If then, and we see so many if 190 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:38,480 then statements and stories in the Bible, from Abraham to Jonah 191 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:44,080 to Moses, Joshua, Peter, all the disciples, everybody, we see so 192 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,800 many if then statements in the Bible. 193 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,080 But the one that we're going to talk about today is in Daniel 3. 194 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,680 So we're going to hang out in Daniel three a little bit today. 195 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:57,840 And this is probably a story you might have heard before, but any 196 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:02,040 walk of life, I preach a lot to our youth ministry and our young 197 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,120 adult ministry. But I want to talk to everybody 198 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,680 in this room today. I want to meet everybody where 199 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:09,240 they're at. I want the Holy Spirit to 200 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:10,640 minister to your guys's hearts today. 201 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,240 And this is second service. This is these are my people. 202 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,920 I'm going to be honest, I've never actually been to our first 203 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,640 service at our church ever. I am a second service kind of 204 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,200 guy. So let's let's let's get into 205 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:27,000 this today. So in this story, we see a king 206 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,280 of Babylon, an evil king. He's prideful. 207 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,520 He's he's he's angry. He lashes out. 208 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,840 And what he does is he goes, I'm such an amazing king. 209 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,400 I'm such an amazing guy. Everybody in the nation of 210 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,840 Babylon is clearly going to want to see a little bit more of this 211 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:42,640 guy. So I'm going to build a golden 212 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,880 statue and I'm going to put this up. 213 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:49,640 And anytime anybody hears music that we play, you are to bow 214 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,320 down and worship this golden statue. 215 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:54,240 So what does everybody in the nation of Babylon do? 216 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,200 They do it every time they hear this music. 217 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,600 They bow down and they worship well, the king, King 218 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,760 Nebuchadnezzar, he appoints three men, Shadrach, Meshach and 219 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:06,760 Abednego. A lot of us have heard those, 220 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,520 those names and music and, and, and, or in the word, and 221 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,000 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are strong men of faith. 222 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,400 Today we're going to be talking all about trusting God in 223 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,760 trials, trusting God through whatever circumstance you're 224 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,080 going through, wherever you're at. 225 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:30,720 Everybody in here needs to trust in God that he is with us 226 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,920 through the fire. So, so we see Shatter Agneshach 227 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:37,400 and Abednego standing there. They're not worshipping this 228 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,400 idol because the word of God says so. 229 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:43,240 So we see some men called the Chaldeans or the Chaldeans or 230 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:44,760 whatever. I'm calling on the Chaldeans. 231 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,440 So the Chaldeans are what we like to call in the elementary 232 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:53,440 world some tattle tales. OK, yeah, we I don't know what 233 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,680 it is about title. I don't care if I physically saw 234 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,640 everything that little John is telling me that that kid saw. 235 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,000 I don't care if I physically saw him winding up and go to. 236 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,360 I don't I don't know why I'm not saying it's right, but I don't 237 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,240 know why I want to get this kid in trouble that told on that 238 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:12,320 kid. I don't know why I'm not saying 239 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:13,880 it's right. Maybe we need maybe we do need 240 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:15,600 to have a prayer circle later. Amen. 241 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,360 So, so, So what I'm saying is, is these men they go up to, and 242 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,720 This is why I know King Nebuchadnezzar was not a teacher 243 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,840 or has probably ever seen a child, because I know the 244 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:28,160 parents in here understand as well that he comes up and hears 245 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,240 this. He gets so angry, not at these 246 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,920 little tattle tales. He gets angry at Shadrach, 247 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,120 Meshach and Abednego. And he's like, dude, why would 248 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,640 somebody not worship this beautiful statue? 249 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:38,880 So he goes, bring them in. So they bring in Shadrach, 250 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,200 Meshach and Abednego and, and they're fine. 251 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,560 They're they're walking in fine. They God's got us and and the 252 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,400 king he goes all right so there clearly is a misunderstanding 253 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,600 here Clearly you didn't hear when I told you guys you're 254 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:54,120 going to worship the statue the Sound of Music. 255 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,000 So what we're going to do is we're going to play some music. 256 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:57,920 You guys are going to worship the statue. 257 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:01,640 If not, there's a fire. You're going to, you're going to 258 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:03,600 burn to death, but clearly you're going to worship the 259 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,240 statue. It's beautiful, it's amazing. 260 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:06,880 So we'll just get this figured out. 261 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,560 You guys can get on your way because he says the Shadrach, 262 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:16,880 Meshach and Abednego. Because what God could save you 263 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,960 from the fire in the blazing heat of this furnace? 264 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,320 Maybe that's what the enemy is saying to you today. 265 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:25,560 Wherever you're, wherever you're at in your walk right now, 266 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:28,040 whatever you're struggling with, the enemy wants to tell you, 267 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:33,080 nothing could save you. Nothing could get you out of 268 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:34,880 this situation. You're way too far gone. 269 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,560 And we want to speak against that today in the name of Jesus. 270 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:39,920 We want to break down those lies in the name of Jesus. 271 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:44,120 And I want to show you guys how to respond to this because 272 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:47,640 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego know the if then statement 273 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,120 because they say Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an 274 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,000 answer to this question and watch this. 275 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:59,920 If the God we serve exists, everybody say if, if the God we 276 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:04,680 serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing 277 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:10,560 fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. 278 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,760 If then I know I should have put it up, up on the screen, but I 279 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,600 know you guys got your Bibles anyway. 280 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:22,520 If then, Nebuchadnezzar, we know. 281 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,960 We know what's over there, but we know that our faith and trust 282 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:29,880 is in Jesus. We know that our faith is in 283 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,680 trust is in the Father. We know that whatever situation 284 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,000 we're going through, God's got us. 285 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,560 Because I should have put this verse on the screen because this 286 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,120 is the punch. Because that statement in itself 287 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,320 of itself is very strong. It's very bold. 288 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,640 I don't know about you guys, but sometimes I've been pressed a 289 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,960 little bit for a lot less of an outcome than what Shadrach, 290 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:52,640 Meshach, and Abednego are about to face. 291 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:55,600 And I've backed up and go, whoa, OK, I'm this is a little bit 292 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,720 over my head a little bit. But they stand firm in their 293 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,760 faith. We see the nation of Babylon is 294 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,240 doing this, but we're not going to because our God tells us not 295 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,000 to make any other gods or idols above him. 296 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,480 So we're going to stand firm in our faith. 297 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,960 And that's the bold statement. But this is the mark on the 298 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:12,600 stamp. They say. 299 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,760 But even if he doesn't, everyone say, but even if he doesn't, but 300 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:23,880 even if he doesn't, we still will not serve your gods or 301 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,400 worship the gold statue that you have set up. 302 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,920 But even if I don't get the, the relationship I think I should 303 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,000 have, but even if I don't get the opportunity to that I think 304 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,240 that I should have. But even if I don't get the 305 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,400 opportunities in in my work and in my my jobs, even if I don't 306 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,640 get that promotion, I think that I'm supposed to, even if the 307 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,560 situation and the circumstances that I'm going through right now 308 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,120 are nothing that I ever thought that I would be going through. 309 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,840 But even if it doesn't, I know that God is for me and not 310 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,040 against me. I know that God is going to grow 311 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,200 me and lead me. He's going to put me in a 312 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,480 position to receive from him the love that he's been trying to 313 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,400 give me. But even if he doesn't, I still 314 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,120 will not serve your gods. We need to look at the world and 315 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,600 say, I know that the world looks kind of crazy right now, and I 316 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,080 know that the Lord can save me from my situation. 317 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,560 But even if he doesn't, it won't make me falter. 318 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,080 It won't make me fail. It won't make me stumble because 319 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,600 my feet are on solid ground. Amen. 320 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,160 Amen. OK, so you would think King 321 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,800 Nebuchadnezzar is like, OK, these guys mean business. 322 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,560 No, he doesn't. Because what he does is he picks 323 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:36,280 them, he grabs some of the best guards and, and, and they tie 324 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,160 them and bind them and throw them into the fire. 325 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,760 King Nebuchadnezzar is like, I, I told you guys, this is what 326 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,520 was going to happen. Throws them into the fire. 327 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,040 That's it. He's probably looking around 328 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,160 like, yeah, look what I did. Look at me. 329 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,080 Nobody's going to go against me. Everybody's going to be, we 330 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,640 should make an even bigger statue because nobody is going 331 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,840 to go against me. My, my, what I'm going through, 332 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,760 it doesn't matter because everybody's going to look at me. 333 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,480 Everybody's going to look at what I did to Shadrach, Meshach 334 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,800 and Abednego. Look at this golden statue and 335 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,079 bow down in fear. That's what the enemy wants to 336 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:14,920 say to us. That's what the enemy tries to 337 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,000 speak through us. That's what the enemy tries to 338 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,640 say to us. But even if he doesn't, because 339 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,800 as King Nebuchadnezzar sitting there, he looks and he goes, 340 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,560 didn't we put three men in the fire? 341 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,240 Because I see a fourth man in the fire, and it looks like the 342 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,760 Son of God is with them through the situation. 343 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,560 And I want you to know that wherever you're at, whatever 344 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,480 circumstance you're going through, God is with you. 345 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,800 Through the fire, God is with you, refining you. 346 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,120 Whatever you're getting pressed about, whatever you're getting 347 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,840 pushed about, God is with you. Through the fire, God has always 348 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,080 been with you. But but it's kind of like when 349 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,960 you're on a roller coaster and, and when you go down, if you're 350 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,400 anything like me, I'm Scrouch, I'm I'm, I'm, I'm in a little 351 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:02,400 ball and I don't know why, but if you look and I wish I put 352 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,080 these pictures up on the screen, but I didn't. 353 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,720 If that camera always catches me in the worst time, like I look 354 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:14,560 like a weirdo going down those going down those hills and I'm 355 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,800 every single one of them is it is like this. 356 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:18,600 And I'm scared and I'm in fear and fear. 357 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:20,800 I'm closing my eyes and I'm scrunching up and I feel like 358 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:23,440 maybe you're like that today. Maybe you're scrunched up and 359 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,520 you're, you're closing your eyes and you're saying, Josh, I've 360 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,920 heard messages like this. I've heard, I've read the 361 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,080 scriptures, I've heard this. I've been going to church 362 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,320 faithfully and trying to get through the circumstances that 363 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,800 I'm going through. I've been working and trying and 364 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,120 and trying, but I just don't see God in this situation. 365 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:41,360 I don't see God where I'm at because I'm too far gone. 366 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:44,600 I'm too, I, I, I'm in too deep. I don't know how to let go. 367 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,880 I don't, I don't, I don't know how to let go of the addictions 368 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:48,440 that I'm, that I'm going through. 369 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,440 I've heard this, but I'm not. But I believe that God sent me 370 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:56,160 here today and sent you here today to say, open your eyes and 371 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,560 see that Jesus is with you through the fire. 372 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,880 Jesus is with you in your circumstance. 373 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,200 He's with you in your pain. He's with you in your struggles, 374 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,800 he's with you in your family situations. 375 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:15,560 He's with you in your marriages. He's with you in the fire. 376 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:18,960 It would have been really easy for Shadrack, Meshach and 377 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,360 Abednego to say, God, just don't let the flames ignite. 378 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,760 Just just just don't let us be in a situation where we would be 379 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:28,000 compromised. Or just don't. 380 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,200 But they don't. They say guys got it because the 381 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:35,120 if then statement, the if is the only part of the conversation we 382 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,080 get to be a part of. The if is OK. 383 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,920 God, I'm going to do this. The then is God's response. 384 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:51,920 So if then doesn't say I'm going to get rid of the flames, says 385 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:53,600 I'm going to be with you through it. 386 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,240 God is going to be with you through whatever you're going 387 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:02,600 through. But we need to be able to ask 388 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,640 ourselves, do we actually trust? I believe that there are people 389 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,120 in here that are looking for answers. 390 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:11,960 And maybe you've been praying for a sign, maybe you've been 391 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,560 praying that God would show you where you're supposed to go in 392 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:17,720 an opportunity that you're, that you're praying about. 393 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,880 Maybe you're praying about God. I want you to lead me in this 394 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,040 situation because my, my marriage is so broken or my, my 395 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,640 relationships are so broken or, or, or my job is really, really 396 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,720 testing me or the people that I'm around or, or my family 397 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:33,840 situation is really rough right now. 398 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,200 And, and, and, and I'm going to, I'm going to see some at 399 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,040 reunions this summer. And, and I don't, I'm going to 400 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,400 be, I don't know how to have these conversations. 401 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,920 It's been a while. And, and wherever you're at, 402 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:47,080 wherever you're at, or maybe you're struggling with, with, 403 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,440 with church hurt, God's not going to hurt you. 404 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:51,920 Hurt people are going to hurt you. 405 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,880 Jesus is going to be with you through the unknown 406 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,720 circumstances. He's going to be with you 407 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,920 through the pain and he's going to be with you through the fire. 408 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:12,040 So that's what we see. That's what we see here is we 409 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,520 need to ask ourselves, do we actually trust, do we actually 410 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:16,960 trust him when we're getting tested? 411 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,680 Do we actually trust him when things are pressing in on us? 412 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:26,800 And I want to do a little bit of a self reflection here for every 413 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:31,120 single person in the room. I want us to all do a, a, a self 414 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:35,120 reflection into actually seeing where our hearts are at and to 415 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,600 actually respond to this word. I want us to be in a spot where 416 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:44,560 even from the seasoned believers to the first timers and 417 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,360 everywhere in between, every single one of us can grow with 418 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,280 the father. So I want us to take us through 419 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,560 a little bit of a walk through this story. 420 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,000 And I believe that there are really 4 attributes of this 421 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,240 story and or four seats. And what I want to ask you is 422 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,880 what seat are you sitting in? And I had an idea, bringing up 423 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,720 some chairs and sitting in each one of them and illustrating, 424 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:07,440 you know what? See, but you don't want me to 425 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,360 sit down and start preaching because you might have to cancel 426 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,560 your lunch plans because I'd be here for a little while. 427 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,680 And, and, but we're OK. So what we're going to do is I 428 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,720 want you to just imagine each attributes of this story, each 429 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,120 characteristics of this story. And I want to see where you're 430 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,080 at in this story. Who are you in the story? 431 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,520 And it's OK if one of them is identifying you. 432 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,480 Like man, I thought I was doing little bit better than that, but 433 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:31,720 I feel like I'm sitting in that seat. 434 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:34,440 Let's get freedom in that. Let's get prayer. 435 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,880 Let's whatever that is, we need to respond to the word to 436 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,160 actually begin to trust him more. 437 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,200 Everybody say trust. All right, so the very first 438 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,240 seat that we're going to pull up is the conforming seat. 439 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,120 So the conforming seat was where all of the people in the nation 440 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:55,640 of Babylon were sitting. So they're sitting and they're 441 00:22:55,640 --> 00:23:00,320 going on about this worship in in this golden statue. 442 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,360 And so they're bowing down. They're conforming to the 443 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:06,360 patterns of the world. So what is going on is you might 444 00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:08,800 be saying, Josh, you know, I'm not going to bow down to a 445 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,560 statue of a golden idol and bow down and worship it. 446 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:14,800 And I would hope that that is true. 447 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,160 But what I want to ask you is what about these things? 448 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:25,160 What about Facebook and Instagram and the likes and, 449 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,680 and, and how much time we spend scrolling on this thing? 450 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,120 And and don't make me ask you guys how much your screen time 451 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:34,840 says, because I just got my screen time. 452 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,360 And we're not going to talk about it, but how much time we 453 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,400 spend holding that phone with our eyes down when our eyes 454 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,840 should be locked on Jesus. Because what we should be doing 455 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,280 is, is getting into this, not caring about what the world 456 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,880 says, not caring about what the Instagram and the Facebook and 457 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,520 the news feeds are saying, but caring about what the word of 458 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,080 God is saying about us. Because if you spend time in 459 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,440 this, you're going to see that this says do not conform to the 460 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,800 patterns of this world, but be transformed, say transformed, 461 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:10,560 transformed by the renewing of your mind, not conforming, not 462 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,720 putting idols above God, not putting anything that's going to 463 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,720 compromise your relationship with the Father. 464 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,560 And if you've been sitting there, it's OK because we're 465 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,200 going to get healing from that today. 466 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,600 The next seat is the condemning seat. 467 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:31,640 So with the condemning seat, we have the Chaldeans. 468 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:36,040 These are our tattle tales, OK? They're looking around and and 469 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,160 they don't see shattering Meshach and Abednego bowing 470 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,160 down. And so they want some justice to 471 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,760 be done, which is the furnace in the blazing fire. 472 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,080 And you might be saying, Josh, I'm not going to condemn 473 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,080 somebody to a blazing furnace of fire. 474 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,880 And I would say, praise the Lord that you're not going to do 475 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,120 that. I would hope so. 476 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:59,160 But what about those people at work that we're judging and 477 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,920 saying, man, those are not great people or the family members 478 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:10,760 that we struggle with, or the coworkers or the people on the 479 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,080 street that we see like, man, they should just get a job. 480 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:14,480 Why don't why they dress like that? 481 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:22,480 Why do they act like that? Don't even start me on what June 482 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,480 is all about. We can't be judging people 483 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:31,840 because if we were spending time and this this would tell us to 484 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,600 love God and love people to love your neighbor as yourself to to 485 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,160 to love people in the way that God would love us to love others 486 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,560 in a way that Jesus has poured into us. 487 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,080 Because as much time as we spend judging other people where this 488 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,040 this says that we're actually judging ourselves because we too 489 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,120 are sinners. So if you've been sitting in the 490 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,160 condemning chair with the Chaldeans, it's OK because we're 491 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,320 going to get healing from that. Because these two, the 492 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,640 conforming and the condemning chair, really bottle up to get 493 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:06,040 us to our third chair, which is the convicting chair. 494 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,120 And the convicting chair is where King Nebuchadnezzar SAT. 495 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:16,480 So much rage, so much anger, so much pain and pride is stepping 496 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:24,360 in, taking over until he makes a statue of himself, tells 497 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:31,120 everybody to worship it or else. And if you've been sitting in 498 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,840 that seat, this is where you start lashing out, where you 499 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:41,160 start acting, building up walls, compromising your faith. 500 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:46,760 And trust me, you're not alone if you've been sitting in this 501 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,160 seat, because I sat in these seats a lot. 502 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,840 I actually pretty much stacked each chair on one and sat at the 503 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,280 top and kind of hung out there for a while because I, like I 504 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:56,880 said, I grew up in church for 10 years. 505 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,320 Within 10, we had some church hurt in our family and we left 506 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,120 the church. So from 10 to 20, I spent 507 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:07,160 outside the church, which is a really tough transitional part 508 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,560 of our lives, OK, teenage years. And I'm leading it on my own 509 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,600 strength. Let me tell you, when I was out 510 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,280 there seeking the world, it was nothing fun. 511 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,160 I had open wounds and I was just putting little band aids on it 512 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,560 or or even just putting some paper towel on it. 513 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,120 And what is that going to do? But it's going to seep through 514 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:32,880 and burst out. I spent a lot of time where my 515 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:38,560 identity was drinking and women and, and partying and putting 516 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:40,880 people down. And this is just three years 517 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,080 ago. If you would have told me three 518 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,640 years ago, I'm at I, I, I'd be where I'm at now, I would have 519 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:51,280 said, no, you're crazy. But how I got there was I had to 520 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,440 look at these seats. I had to see where am I at? 521 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,160 I'm looking at myself in the mirror and I, I hate what I see. 522 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,200 I don't like what I see anymore. I don't like how I'm hurting 523 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:05,560 people. I don't like the walls that are 524 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:06,760 up. There's nobody around me that 525 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,640 cares about me anymore. And I start listening to the 526 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,320 lies of the enemy as he pours in. 527 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,280 You're worthless. Nobody cares about you. 528 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:17,200 What could you do to better the Kingdom? 529 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:22,240 Who are you to even tell anybody how to act or to judge anybody 530 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,720 if you're there? I believe that the Father wants 531 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,920 to minister to your heart and he wants to heal you. 532 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:37,120 Because it wasn't until I hit my very rock bottom and I dropped 533 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:40,800 down on my knees and I say, father, I I've tried everything 534 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,720 else. I've done everything else and I 535 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:49,120 and nowhere was I satisfied. Nowhere was I going to find any 536 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,040 fruit in my life of anything good. 537 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,640 And everyone is left to me. Every wall is up. 538 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,480 Every person has left me. But father, I just, I don't know 539 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,400 what a relationship with you looks like. 540 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,120 I don't know if if I'm even worthy of being saved, but I 541 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,720 need you. I, I think I want a relationship 542 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,320 with you. I made Jesus my savior when I 543 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,120 was a kid, but I never truly made him the Lord of my life. 544 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,520 And Jesus, I need you to fill my life. 545 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,520 I need you to lead my path. I can't lead it anymore. 546 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,400 I can't choose my own way. I can't choose my own decisions 547 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,160 anymore. I need you to be the Lord of my 548 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,040 life because when I made him savior, my life did not produce 549 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:31,120 any evidence or fruit that Jesus was actually the Lord of my 550 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,360 life. So Jesus, I make you Lord of my 551 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,000 life. And the second that I did that, 552 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,760 he told me, I want you to stand, Josh. 553 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,000 I want you to plant your feet on that solid ground that I've 554 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,120 given to you because you are home. 555 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:47,640 My boy has come home. The prodigal son has returned. 556 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:49,960 And maybe you're in that situation right now that you're 557 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:51,720 returning home. God put you here. 558 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:52,880 You could have been out on the boat. 559 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:54,840 You could have been out hunting or not hunt. 560 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,600 It's not season, but you could be out anywhere else that you 561 00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,880 want. But you chose to be here. 562 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,200 And I believe that God is saying my child is back. 563 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,000 He's back. There's no, there's no need to, 564 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,880 to hold on to the shame and to the guilt and to the pain, the 565 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,520 depression, the anxiety, the, the worry, the, the, the, the 566 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,440 sin that's in your life. There's no need. 567 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,680 I don't see any of that. I just see my child that I 568 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,760 created and I put you here for a plan for a purpose. 569 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,600 And I just want to grow you. I want to move in your life. 570 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,120 I want you to accept the love that I've given to you. 571 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,520 I want you to accept the blessings that I've been trying 572 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,800 to give you. I have so much over here. 573 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,640 If you would only step into the places that I have for you, 574 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,760 receive the love that I have for you, be still on that solid 575 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,320 rock, then I would move in your life. 576 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,560 Then you would see that I've always been there. 577 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,520 Then you would stop opening or closing your eyes and saying, I 578 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,720 I just need I, I need something to stop what I'm feeling. 579 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,080 You would say, father, I know that you are with me through the 580 00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:58,680 fire. I know that you are with me 581 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,960 through the challenges. I know that you are with me 582 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:03,080 through the struggle. And I know that there are people 583 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,360 in here that are hurting. I know that there are people in 584 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,040 here that have been really been getting pressed on and really 585 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,520 the enemy's been doing overtime, but I want to know what the 586 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,160 enemy wants. I want to know what he sees in 587 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,040 you that's so amazing and worthy of him spending his time trying 588 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,560 to RIP you from the desire that God has for you. 589 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,360 What does the enemy want? What does he want? 590 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,120 Because as long as we spend in all of these three chairs, we're 591 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,280 just being distracted by, hey, there's another chair. 592 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,400 We're going to throw that out because the second you make 593 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:35,720 Jesus Lord of your life, you can sit with Shadrach, Meshach and 594 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,600 Abednego in the Christ like chair. 595 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,800 And no, this does not mean that you're going to have it all 596 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,160 figured out. This does not mean that it's 597 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:49,320 going to be a great, amazing opportunity of, of joy and 598 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,400 skipping and rainbows and and you're going to be having 599 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,640 salvations every day of every person that you ever see. 600 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,360 Praise God. I wish that was how it worked, 601 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:01,920 but God himself, Jesus himself leaves the disciples and says, 602 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,640 if you follow me, then you will face persecution. 603 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,960 You will face people that oppose you. 604 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,000 It will be hard, but I promise you. 605 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,640 But just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the if then and 606 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,880 the but, but I have something so much greater. 607 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,760 I've something so much better. We're in a race. 608 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:31,760 Do you want to get there first or do you want to show up 609 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:36,640 smiling a little bit like smoke? And trust me, I spent a lot of 610 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:42,840 time in in in that position. But as long as we can sit in the 611 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:48,840 Christ like chair, this the word of God gives us a, a guide on 612 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,200 how we should live our life. It gives us a rule book and A 613 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,360 and a place to to follow. I don't even want to say rule 614 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:59,920 book, a guide book so that we can see an instruction manual on 615 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:03,080 how we should live our lives. But the Lord gives us the FN 616 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,080 statement. He doesn't say you have to do 617 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,960 this. He says if you want to 618 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,000 experience the fullness of the life that I have for you, then 619 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,400 follow me because it's time. And he's put you here because I 620 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:21,160 believe that it's time. I believe that you're ready and 621 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,760 I believe whatever you're going through, Jesus is there and he 622 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:30,680 wants to move in your life. But as I close up, you might be 623 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:36,120 saying, Josh, I've, I've tried, I've been in the church for a 624 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:40,920 long time. I've been there, I've done it, 625 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,920 I've given it to God and it's come right back. 626 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,360 I've tried to trust him, but I just don't see it. 627 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:50,800 I don't see it work. I can see that for you and 628 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,280 that's great for you, but it's not working for me. 629 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:58,160 So I'm just going to put on my happy face, I'm going to go to 630 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,280 church and I'll see you next week. 631 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:04,880 God, I say to her, I say to our youth kids all the time. 632 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,239 If you texted your girlfriend one day a week, would you be 633 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:09,639 have? Would you have a girlfriend? 634 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:12,199 No, clearly they're like, no, obviously. 635 00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:14,920 Why are we praying one time a week? 636 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:16,280 Then? Why are we spending time with 637 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:22,320 God one day a week? Makes me think of our first day 638 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,639 of school. This kid, and this is a true 639 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:29,239 story. This kid, he comes up to me 640 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,480 first cut like maybe 30 minutes and he needed a break. 641 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,719 So I took him to the gym and we're playing basketball and, 642 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:40,280 and he's shooting and he misses every single shot over and over 643 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,040 and over again. And every time he's getting more 644 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,560 and more worked up, more mad and upset with himself to the point 645 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:47,679 where he throws himself on the ground. 646 00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:50,480 He goes, I'm done. I'm let's go back to class. 647 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,960 And you know, if a kid wants to go back to class, there's a 648 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:54,880 problem. There is, there's, there's 649 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:56,719 something going on. So he goes, let's go back to 650 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,880 class. I go, I go, buddy, if you fail, 651 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:05,680 don't just give up. You need to try again. 652 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,120 So I looked him. I go, you know, actually stand 653 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:09,600 up. You need to say that to me. 654 00:35:09,720 --> 00:35:13,120 I'm going to try again. And I go, I I I go, buddy, What, 655 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,520 what do you do when you fail? He goes, I'm going to try again, 656 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,440 Mr. Josh. I go, OK, So he shoots it and he 657 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,120 makes it. And I'm like, thank you, Lord. 658 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,400 Like, I don't know what I would have done if he missed. 659 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:30,720 So, so he's sitting there and that changed everything for him. 660 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,720 His face is like, why is it like, are you serious? 661 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,480 Like, and that changed his whole year. 662 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:39,280 That became our thing. All year long. 663 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:41,440 I go up to him and I was like, hey, what do you do when you 664 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,640 fail? He goes, I try again, I try 665 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,760 again, Mr. Josh. And, and that just became our 666 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,280 thing. He grew so much over the year. 667 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,120 And like I said, we only get him for one year. 668 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:55,600 So it was really hard for me to say goodbye to him. 669 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,440 And last Tuesday was our last day of school and I'm crying 670 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,520 like a baby all day long. I had to say goodbye to like 671 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,360 every kid in the school. It was it was, it was a lot. 672 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:11,040 But I go up to him, I give him a hug and I set by and he was sad 673 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:16,320 and I'm sad and and I say something to him and he walks 674 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,840 out the doors and I go, hey, what do you do when you fail? 675 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:23,000 He goes. I try again. 676 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:33,280 And he left, and I. I believe that the Father is 677 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,280 telling some of you guys in here it's time to try again. 678 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:39,600 I believe that the Lord wants you to try again. 679 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:43,200 Or maybe for some of you, it's try for the first time. 680 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,160 But God sent a kid from Big Rapids to tell you that you, you 681 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,680 need to try again. Doesn't matter where you're at, 682 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:53,440 doesn't matter where you've been. 683 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,280 Doesn't matter if the sirens are coming to chase you. 684 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,200 It's it's loud and it's, it's obnoxious. 685 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:07,240 It's time to try again. It's time to fully trust him and 686 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:12,480 rely on him through the fire. So if you want to do that today, 687 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,360 I want to give you a tool. And then I'm going to wrap this 688 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,600 up. I want to give you guys a tool. 689 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:24,280 And this tool is how to better trust and rely on him because 690 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:27,200 it's so easy to raise our hands and sing that song. 691 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,480 How that was so cool that the that God lined up the worship to 692 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,120 be singing trust in God. And and all these like, it's so 693 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,480 easy to put our hands up and sing those words. 694 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,200 But our life does not produce evidence that we fully trust in 695 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:41,000 him. And when we get tested, we don't 696 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,520 actually prove that we trust him. 697 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:45,440 We don't actually prove that he's actually the Lord of our 698 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:46,640 life. Because if he's the Lord of our 699 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,680 life, then we're adopted as a son of the highest king, the 700 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:51,680 ruler of all things. And I can confidently walk 701 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,600 through any storm and be still in the fact that I know that 702 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,840 he's fighting my battles for me. So I want to give you this tool 703 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:00,800 and I'm going to wrap it up. I'm running a little bit long 704 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,880 and I want to, you know, maybe come hang out with you guys 705 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:04,200 again. So I'm going to try to wrap this 706 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,760 up as quick as possible. So Trust God gave me an acronym 707 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,200 for trust. And I believe this is a a really 708 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:13,960 good representation of how to genuinely trust him and take 709 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,760 this outside of here. So trust T talk to God. 710 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,280 You need to pray to him. You need to have a conversation 711 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,640 with him, not having it just be a one time a week praying 712 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,120 consistently or you need to read his word. 713 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,480 We need to be a, a, a church family that brings this to the 714 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:33,080 church. I know you have it on your on 715 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:36,520 your phone, but at res life, we, we, we're very adamant that we 716 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,600 bring a Bible to church. So that have a have, have a 717 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,360 Bible for your car, have a Bible for your work for for home. 718 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,640 Have many different Bible. Have a Bible that you just have 719 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:49,400 on hand just in case you need to give it to somebody, but make it 720 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:52,360 be an awkward silence. Pastor Ross knows this back 721 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:54,800 home, there is an awkward silence because I would say 722 00:38:54,800 --> 00:39:00,000 probably confidently 95% or maybe more bring their Bibles to 723 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,040 church every single day and there are notes all over it. 724 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,160 Pastor Ross does an amazing job at setting that table. 725 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,200 So we need to be a church body that brings these things 726 00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:12,800 everywhere and still have the Bible app just in case you ever 727 00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,400 find yourself at work or in line or or somewhere and you're 728 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,960 scrolling on your phone, maybe scroll through Proverbs or 729 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,880 Philippians. OK, I think there's going to be 730 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,320 a little bit more fruit in that than looking at the Facebook 731 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:28,600 quizzes and all that now. So we need to be a Bible reading 732 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,280 church. So you is understand it's more 733 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:34,720 than just reading the Proverb of the day and checking off that 734 00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:36,920 list. Understand, meditate it, 735 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,720 meditate on it daily like Joshua commands us. 736 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:45,400 We need to meditate on it daily. If it's just maybe one word or 737 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:48,520 or maybe not one word, 1 scripture, maybe sometimes a 738 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:52,040 word, but one scripture throughout the entire day, 739 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,800 meditating on that, letting it transform our mind. 740 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:56,880 That's where we begin stepping into that posture. 741 00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,680 And St. the last two is stand firm in your faith that when you 742 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:04,440 ever walk through a storm. Than when you ever get pressed 743 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,800 on by the world, when you ever are struggling or worried or 744 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:11,880 weary that you could stand firm in your faith and I'd love yes, 745 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,160 I'm seeing fault. Take a picture of that write it 746 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:14,960 down. I don't care. 747 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,320 I'll step out of the way so I'm not weirdly in your picture, but 748 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,920 I want you to hold on to this so that you know that there is a 749 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:25,360 tool for you to take outside if you're to genuinely trust in the 750 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,280 Father. And I have one more scripture 751 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,120 for you and then we're going to send this home. 752 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:34,280 So God gives US1 in Romans. Whoa, God gives us one of the 753 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:38,640 biggest if then statements the word of God has, and this is 754 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:43,120 Romans 10/9. Romans 10/9 says if you declare 755 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:47,320 with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that 756 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,040 God raised him from the dead, I'm going to add a then then you 757 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:57,880 will be saved. Everybody say I will be saved if 758 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:00,800 you declare that Jesus is Lord of your life. 759 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:04,600 There's a difference in in, in, in seeing him as Savior and 760 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:06,680 Lord. And I hope today that the Father 761 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,200 was ministering to your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. 762 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,080 Have I really truly made him my Savior? 763 00:41:12,720 --> 00:41:17,400 Have I really made him Lord? So I want to give you guys an 764 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:21,360 opportunity to respond to that and step into a posture of 765 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:23,520 receiving. So we're going to pray. 766 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:28,200 Father, I thank you for today. I thank you for reminding us and 767 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:32,280 and giving us illustrations and stories of real life occurrences 768 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:37,160 that that help us to see where we're at and where we're at in 769 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,920 our lives. God, God, I pray that you would 770 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,880 begin impressing on the power of the Holy Spirit. 771 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:46,480 Everyone in here that needs to take, we all need to take 772 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,120 another step closer to you. We all need to understand and 773 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:54,240 identify that we can just close our eyes and sit and be led by 774 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,560 faith, not by sight. But Father, I pray that you 775 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:59,960 would lead us in our decisions, lead us in our in our, in our 776 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:02,120 families and our communities. Help us to be a light wherever 777 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,000 we're at. And if you're in here today and 778 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,520 you want to make that decision to make Jesus the Lord of your 779 00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,800 life, maybe you've been trying, maybe you've made Jesus the Lord 780 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,960 of your life, but you've stumbled and you and you've and 781 00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,600 you've fallen and you need to be picked back up. 782 00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:17,440 And you're saying today is my day. 783 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:22,480 Today is my day that I make Jesus Lord of my life and I 784 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,240 stopped letting the ways of the world, the patterns of this 785 00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:28,400 world distract me from my relationship with you. 786 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:32,280 If that's you today with nobody looking around, I just want you 787 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:37,040 to shoot your hand up. It's not for for us to know or 788 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,840 to take tally. This is for you to reach the 789 00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:44,160 hand of God and take his hand and publicly say no more. 790 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,120 Jesus is my Lord. I see hands going up. 791 00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:49,720 So we thank you and praise you and I just want you guys to 792 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,640 repeat this after me. Say Lord, thank you for Jesus, 793 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:58,520 thank you for your love and your freedom. 794 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:05,480 I believe that Jesus died and God raised him from the dead so 795 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:10,920 that I could have new life. Father, use me the way you need 796 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:18,680 and help me see your victory wherever I go. 797 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:25,480 Holy Spirit, fill me up from the bottoms of my feet to the tops 798 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,640 of my hair. In Jesus mighty name I pray. 799 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:30,640 Amen. Let's give it up for everyone 800 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:36,280 who made that decision today. Well guys, it was an honor to be 801 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,160 here. I hope I see you guys again soon 802 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:39,880 and I'm excited to meet you guys. 803 00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:41,960 I'd love to meet you guys outside of here, but you guys 804 00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:46,080 have an amazing church family here and we'll see you again. 805 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:47,080 You guys are dismissed.