1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,960 If God's been good to you, say praise the Lord, praise the 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:05,760 Lord. Thank you. 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,560 Hey, it's good to be with you. I like for you guys as your 4 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:10,400 pastor, I like for you to know me a little bit better. 5 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,720 I know we don't get a ton of opportunity to hang out all of 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:15,400 us. And so I like for you to get to 7 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,120 know me and my family a little bit better. 8 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,400 We have this game that we play in my family. 9 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,280 But Megan, when we have to go to the shopping, to Kroger, the 10 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,040 shopping center, how old am I, guys? 11 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,640 Come on teens, help me out here When we go to Kroger and like, 12 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:33,480 there's a lot of times where we'll be going somewhere and 13 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,200 Megan will say, we got to stop off and grab something, say, OK, 14 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:37,920 I'll just drop you off and you run in. 15 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,840 And so the boys and I have this game that as soon as Megan gets 16 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,320 out of the car, we all start picking times of when she's 17 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,240 going to come out. So hey, I got to run in and get 18 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,680 a gallon of milk. And so OK, well, I'll give her 19 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:50,840 about 20 minutes. Someone else. 20 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:52,200 Well, I'll give her 15, you know. 21 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,400 And so we pick times on the clock and there's no real prize, 22 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,200 but it's just, it's just kind of fun. 23 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,200 There are two types of shopping, Alex. 24 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,800 OK. There is focused shopping, Alex. 25 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,800 That is, if I am going to get something, I am going straight 26 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,120 in. I'm getting what I need and I'm 27 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:12,960 getting out. How many of you shop that way? 28 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,800 Praise the Lord, God is good. That's how we do it. 29 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,120 There is focused shopping, Alex. That Alex has a mission and I 30 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,680 accomplished that mission and I'm efficient and it's never 20 31 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,880 minutes and I know exactly what I'm doing and I get there and I 32 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,800 get it done as long as I know where that thing is. 33 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,240 So that means it's got to be something in the frozen food 34 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,840 section or the soft drinks or the snacks. 35 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,320 Outside of that, it might take me a little bit longer. 36 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,280 Now there's another Alex and that's when I go to the store 37 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,280 and I don't have a mission. Maybe I'm just going to get some 38 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,640 food or some snacks. Usually I'm hungry when I'm 39 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,440 going to the store in that scenario and that shopping. 40 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,880 Alex a little bit distracted walking through. 41 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:04,440 Oh, that looks good. I'll get that. 42 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,640 Oh, you know what, we could have that for dinner. 43 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:08,880 And I get that and and it drives Megan nuts. 44 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,960 The other day I called her. I said I'm going to get stuff 45 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,840 for hibachi. We're going to make hibachi. 46 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,840 She said we are not even home any night in the next two weeks. 47 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,600 What are you thinking? Hey, I'm going to get stuff for 48 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,960 a grill out. It's snowing outside, what are 49 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:23,560 you doing? But I'm just walking through 50 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,240 aimlessly shopping. And listen, I don't like to do 51 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,760 that because it costs a lot of money. 52 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,400 Aimless shopping Alex spends way too much money on things that we 53 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,040 don't have to have. The kids instantly love aimless 54 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,680 shopping, Alex. It's the only time we get good 55 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,640 snacks in the house. But there is focused shopping, 56 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:47,800 Alex, and there's aimless. And when I'm focused, I get done 57 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,000 what I need to get done. When I don't have a plan, when I 58 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,600 don't have a mission, tends to go off the rails a little bit. 59 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:57,960 You know what? I think that happens in our 60 00:02:57,960 --> 00:02:59,320 lives. I think that happens in the 61 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,240 church sometimes. And I really believe that God 62 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,240 has laid on my heart that our vision as a church is that we 63 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,240 will bear fruit, that God wants to do a work in each and every 64 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:11,920 one of us. If you are here today and you're 65 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:15,120 a follower of Christ, I believe that God wants to work in your 66 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,280 heart, transform you, and that the Holy Spirit wants to work 67 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,160 through you and that there should be fruit that comes from 68 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:23,200 that. Scripture is very clear that if 69 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,480 you're following Jesus, there will be fruit, the fruit of 70 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:29,040 spiritual growth. You'll see the evidence. 71 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,680 You'll you'll witness the evidence of God working in your 72 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,240 life. But also you will be a part of 73 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,320 what God's doing and you will see fruit that God is working 74 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,160 not just in your life, but through your life. 75 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,120 And there will be fruit that you see. 76 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,040 So we're starting a series, roots and fruits. 77 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,560 We're studying in Colossians. Paul's letter. 78 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:52,320 This is Paul's letter to the church at Colossae. 79 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,720 And throughout the New Testament, Paul writes letters 80 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,960 to these different churches. Most of them are churches that 81 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,440 he started and then he's writing letters back to the churches. 82 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,640 But but this one's a little bit different because he didn't 83 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,400 start the church in Colossi. It was somebody else who 84 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,560 started. But he is kind of functioning as 85 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,280 maybe like a overseer of the church. 86 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,840 That's kind of Paul's role. He is overseeing what's 87 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:17,600 happening. He hears what's happening in the 88 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,279 different churches, and so he writes these letters back to the 89 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,040 churches. And so he's writing to this 90 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,720 church and he's worried for the church because there are all 91 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,880 these distractions. There are different there. 92 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:34,840 There are false gospels, there are false ideologies that are at 93 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:37,600 work in the church. And, and Paul is writing this to 94 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,560 try to keep the church focused in and on track. 95 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,120 And there's one thing we're going to see today. 96 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,080 We're in first, and we're in Colossians chapter one, verse 9 97 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:48,360 through 14. And this is Paul's prayer for 98 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,840 the church at Colossae. And, and there's one major thing 99 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:59,800 he prays for knowing God's will stand with me and I'm all read 100 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,640 Colossians 19 through 14. You can follow along on the 101 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,720 screen. And my prayer is that God will 102 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,920 speak to us. I'm, I'm guessing that we all 103 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,360 came in here in different places, different things going 104 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,400 on. Maybe you came in with 1000 105 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,360 things on your mind. Maybe you came in with a heavy 106 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,000 heart. Maybe you came in and you're 107 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,960 just feeling great. I believe God wants to speak to 108 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,920 each and every one of us through His Word today, starting in 109 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,560 verse 9. For this reason, since the day 110 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,000 we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. 111 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,760 We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His 112 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,920 will through all wisdom and understanding that the Spirit 113 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,960 gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and 114 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,800 please Him in every way. Bearing fruit in every good 115 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,440 work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with 116 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,680 all power according to His glorious might, so that you may 117 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,920 have great endurance and patience. 118 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,040 And giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to 119 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,080 share in the inheritance of His holy people in the Kingdom of 120 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,400 light. For He has rescued us from the 121 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,800 dominion of darkness and has brought us into the Kingdom the 122 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,680 of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness 123 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,400 of sins. Praise the Lord, you can have a 124 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,120 seat. Paul prays for one thing. 125 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,440 He prays that they will know God's will. 126 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:24,800 Now this is important for us to understand. 127 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,360 Paul is not talking to unbelievers here. 128 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,280 He is talking to the church. In fact, it starts. 129 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:35,880 He says, this is Paul writing to God's holy people, writing to 130 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:37,320 the church. He goes on and he says, hey, 131 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,200 we've seen that good things are happening in the church. 132 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:46,040 We've seen the evidence. And so he writes to Christian 133 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,800 people, people that are following Jesus, people that are 134 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,640 a part of God's holy church. This is important for us to 135 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:58,840 acknowledge because I think Paul's first prayer for somebody 136 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:03,440 who is not a part of the church, Paul's prayer for somebody who 137 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,080 is not following Jesus would be first and foremost that they 138 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,840 would know God's love and God's salvation. 139 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,960 So here's the deal. Today's message is all about 140 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,840 God's will. If you are here today and you 141 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,000 have never accepted Christ as your saviour, you don't know all 142 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,320 about God and all about the work that Jesus did on the cross for 143 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:24,880 you. I've got good news for you. 144 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,680 The creator God loves you so much that he not only created 145 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,680 you. But see then we we're all 146 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,360 imperfect. We've all sinned, we've all 147 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,880 fallen short of the glory God, we've all messed up. 148 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,040 The good news of the gospel is that God sent his one and only 149 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,800 Son, Jesus, to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins so 150 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,200 that we could have salvation in life. 151 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,360 And then we are invited into his family. 152 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,920 We're not just, you know, pardoned. 153 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,960 We are made a part. We are adopted into the family 154 00:07:57,960 --> 00:07:59,200 of God. So here's the good news. 155 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,320 If you are not yet a believer in Christ, I just want to say 156 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,240 Paul's prayer for you today would not be just knowing the 157 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,440 will of God. It would be knowing the love, 158 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,520 the grace and the salvation of God today. 159 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,320 I'm guessing a lot of you would fall in the category that Paul 160 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:18,640 is talking to. And he says, my prayer is that 161 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,680 you will know the will of God. We continually ask God to fill 162 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,880 you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and 163 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,560 understanding that the Spirit gives His number one prayer for 164 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:35,919 the church is that they will know God's will, that they will 165 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:39,480 have purpose, that they will have mission, that they will 166 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,159 know exactly what it is that God wants from them, not that they 167 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:45,840 would be aimlessly. See, here's the truth. 168 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,920 There are Christians and there are churches that are just 169 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,240 wandering around just trying to do their best, just like me in 170 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,080 the shopping store. Oh, we'll try this. 171 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,200 Oh, we'll try that. And listen, God has a plan and a 172 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,320 purpose for every single one of us as believers. 173 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,080 And he has a plan and a purpose for every one of his churches. 174 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,880 He wants us to bear fruit and bring him glory. 175 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,600 And so Paul says, my first thing is that you will know God's 176 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,760 will. The first step of faith is 177 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,440 knowing God's love and salvation. 178 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,960 The second is knowing his will. So let me ask you a question, 179 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,160 and you don't have to tell anyone, I'm not going to make 180 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,720 you share this, but what is God's plan for you? 181 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,040 What is God's plan for you? What is his purpose? 182 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,800 If we're talking about the mission I'm going in, I'm doing 183 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,120 my job, I'm coming out, what is God's plan? 184 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,000 What is God's mission for you? Let me ask you a second 185 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,960 question. What is God's plan for the 186 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,520 church? It's not just a Country Club. 187 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:57,360 We've got country clubs. It's not just a, you know, it's 188 00:09:57,360 --> 00:09:59,400 not a social gathering. There are plenty of places. 189 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,680 You can go to any number of places and have a social 190 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:05,520 gathering. God has a plan for you and for 191 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,800 his church. So what is that plan? 192 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,080 Is it that you'll just be happy? Is God's plan for you to be 193 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:12,720 happy? That sounds good. 194 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,000 How many of you want to be happy? 195 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,760 Some people believe that God's plan for their life is for them 196 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:23,320 to be happy. Guys, that's problematic because 197 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,080 if God's plan for you is just that, you would be happy. 198 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,920 What happens is every one of us makes this about us, and it 199 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,560 doesn't take long for us to start fighting because what 200 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:37,520 might make me happy might not be what you think makes you happy. 201 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,040 And then all of a sudden we're at odds with each other. 202 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,080 God's plan is God does want you to have happiness and joy. 203 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,320 You'll see that later. But that's not God's ultimate 204 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,560 plan for you. It's God's plan for you to stop 205 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:53,280 doing bad things. How many of you want to stop 206 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,200 doing bad things? OK, that's a good thing. 207 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:00,240 Don't do bad things. But God's ultimate plan is not 208 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,240 just for you to stop doing bad things. 209 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,240 Yes, God wants you to honour Him and live in a way that brings 210 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,000 Him glory, but that's not his ultimate plan for you. 211 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,320 It's not just that you will stop doing bad things. 212 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:17,040 God wants to invite you into what He's doing in the world 213 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,760 around you. To love Him, to worship Him, to 214 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,120 bring Him glory, to bring others into His family, to share the 215 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:30,560 love of Christ with other people, to be a part of His work 216 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,120 in this world. How many of you know that God 217 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,800 has called you to be a part of what He's doing? 218 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:36,720 We're not. The church is not meant to just 219 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,440 sit here and watch what God is doing. 220 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:41,680 We are meant to be an active part of it. 221 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:46,560 He wants to work through US. God's plan to transform the 222 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:50,520 world is to work through His holy people and His holy church 223 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:53,320 and to share His love with others. 224 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,800 So, so Paul says the number one thing that you need as a 225 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,480 follower of Christ is to know God's will. 226 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:04,320 That's assuming you know his love. 227 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,480 That's assuming you have his salvation. 228 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,320 Now you need to know the plan. You need to know your purpose. 229 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,040 You need to know God's will will. 230 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,920 Well, how can we know God's will? 231 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:19,880 That's a that's a tough thing. I hear this question all the 232 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:21,200 time. Well, how do I know what to do 233 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,480 in this circumstance? How do I know whether to take 234 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,360 this job or that job? How do I how do I know what God 235 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,720 wants me to do? Here, I got good news for you. 236 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:37,160 God wants you to know his will. In college we had, you probably 237 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,840 had this too, if you went to college or maybe even high 238 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:40,920 school. Syllabus. 239 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:43,680 How many of you remember syllabus or syllabi? 240 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,040 That's fancy next level stuff there. 241 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:51,080 You can tell I'm an educated man, right that way, All right, 242 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,920 Syllabus wasn't my thing. Every class, the beginning, 243 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,600 they'd give you the syllabus. It told you what you were going 244 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,280 to study. It told you what you were going 245 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,160 to have to turn in. It told you what they were going 246 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:05,800 to grade on. It was a it was a plan for the 247 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,760 teaching, right? Were you guys good with the 248 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,480 syllabus? I usually lost mine the first 249 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,040 day, put it somewhere in my room, and then when I messed up 250 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:17,600 or I knew, I thought, oh, I know there's a paper coming up. 251 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,400 I'd go find the syllabus and realize that it was due in a 252 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,520 couple hours. But we have the syllabus in in 253 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,800 school, we have the syllabus and it shows us exactly what the 254 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:31,080 plan is for the class, exactly what the plan is for us to learn 255 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,480 and grow in that area. God has given us His Word. 256 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,440 He's given us a guide. This God's word is meant to help 257 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,480 us know Him and walk with Him in fullness. 258 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,560 And so we have the guide. But I've got good news. 259 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,960 God doesn't just give you God's word and say good luck. 260 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:52,920 See, the beautiful thing is I wasn't the best with the 261 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,680 syllabus, but we also had teachers. 262 00:13:56,680 --> 00:13:58,920 How many of you had a teacher that loved and guided you and 263 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,000 helped you through? And so occasionally you'd have 264 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,040 to go and you'd have to ask questions to the teacher. 265 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,360 Hey, I don't understand this. Hey, I don't know how to do 266 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,280 this. And the teacher would help you. 267 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:11,800 Hopefully your teachers helped you. 268 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,320 I got good news. Not only do we have a guide 269 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,240 book, not only do we have God's word that's meant to teach us 270 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:22,440 who he is and how we can walk with him, but we also have a 271 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,480 teacher, We have the Holy Spirit. 272 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,240 God has given us his Spirit to lead us and teach us just as we 273 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,760 have teachers. God's Spirit wants to teach you 274 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,400 to know his will and walk in as well. 275 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,400 So knowing God's will requires wisdom and understanding and we 276 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,240 gain those through listening to his Spirit. 277 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,760 See it. It says right here that that I 278 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,320 continually, we continually ask that you will be filled with the 279 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,120 knowledge of his will. How through all wisdom and 280 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,240 understanding that the Spirit gives. 281 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,960 How do we know His will? Well, we've got the guidebook, 282 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:03,840 we've got His word written to us, and we've got a teacher, the 283 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,480 Holy Spirit, to lead and guide us. 284 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,800 I'm no handyman. If you've listened to me speak 285 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,240 for a while, you probably know that I can't fix things. 286 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:14,760 How many of you men are handymen? 287 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,880 Come on, don't be shy. Go ahead, raise your hand. 288 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,960 Don't be shy. I don't know where Eli got it. 289 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:24,600 How many of you women are handy Women? 290 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,240 I don't. I didn't know the word for it. 291 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:27,480 Sorry. How many of you women are handy? 292 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,760 When I'm not handy? I don't know how to fix things. 293 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:37,080 But every once in a while I come into a situation where I have to 294 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,680 work on something. A few years ago, we went to 295 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:45,080 Africa, and in Africa they put us in this room and they said 296 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,960 you're going to build a closet and then that closets going to 297 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,200 become a dark room for the photo lab. 298 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,200 So they said go ahead, build the closet. 299 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:01,640 Yeah, give me a drill and some screws and some metal and stuff 300 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,200 like that. It's not going to turn into a 301 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,920 closet. It's going to turn into a mess. 302 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,800 Listen, I'm not handy. Give it up for all the handy men 303 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,120 and women in the room. Way to go. 304 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,000 We need you guys and girls and girls. 305 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:14,320 I always get in trouble with you. 306 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,800 I'm not a handyman. If you give me, you know, an 307 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,880 instruction manual and some tools, maybe it works out. 308 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,120 Probably not. I like to have a guide. 309 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,480 See, the good news was they put us in this room in Africa and 310 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,760 they said build this closet. The good news was they put me 311 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,800 with Andy Brenner. Now, Andy has moved to Xenia 312 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,200 now, but he was a part of our church. 313 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,040 And so Andy was right there with me. 314 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,960 And I'd be like, Andy, help me out because I don't want to do 315 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,720 this whole thing wrong. And he would come over and he 316 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:44,880 would show me, no, you're doing it wrong. 317 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:46,960 You got to do it this way. It's easier if you do this. 318 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,080 And I, I not only knew what I was supposed to do. 319 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,480 See, see, we're, we're to be filled with the knowledge of his 320 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,880 will, but we're also to be filled with wisdom and 321 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,000 understanding to understand how to accomplish it. 322 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,000 It's one thing to say, go in a room and build a closet, but to 323 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,200 have someone that leads you and guides you. 324 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,720 Here's the easiest way. Here's what you need to do here. 325 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,160 I need that. We need that. 326 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,480 See, God's Spirit wants to lead us to give us wisdom, not just 327 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,520 to tell us. I think we could all say, OK, we 328 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,480 know that we're supposed to be following God's will. 329 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,040 We know we're supposed to bring him glory and worship him. 330 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,880 But how does that happen? The Spirit wants to lead us and 331 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,480 guide us, give us wisdom. See, some things are easy. 332 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,960 Last week we talked about one of the commandments. 333 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,840 Thou shalt not murder. That was one of the things we 334 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,360 said in the sermon last week. How many of you have not 335 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:44,120 murdered someone this week? If you have murdered someone, it 336 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,520 might be a good idea not to confess that today. 337 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,680 Please tell me none of you murdered anyone this week. 338 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,080 That's easy. Some of the commands are easy. 339 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:57,080 They're easy. We, we know what we're supposed 340 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,400 to do. But let's be honest, some of 341 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:03,160 them are hard. What am I supposed to do in this 342 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,280 situation? How do I react to this? 343 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,680 How do we how do I react when someone over here is is talking 344 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:13,000 to me about something and and someone over here is being 345 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,880 talked about? How do I handle that? 346 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,560 You guys ever find yourself in a tough spot that you just need 347 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:24,880 some wisdom and direction? Sometimes we need the Holy 348 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:27,360 Spirit to guide us. And here's the deal. 349 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,520 God wants us to not just know His will, but has wisdom and 350 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:32,760 understanding. So He's given us his word and 351 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,720 he's given us his Spirit to lead us and guide us in all of that. 352 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:39,720 And so here's the good news. The more we listen to God's 353 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,440 Spirit, the more we grow in knowledge of His will, the more 354 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,040 we understand how to listen to Him, the more we follow Him at 355 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,760 the easier it is. The more we listen, the easier 356 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,880 it is to follow His will. Good news, God wants you to know 357 00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:59,280 his will. Good news, God has given you his 358 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,160 Spirit to listen to, to walk with him. 359 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:04,520 So that's the first part. Number one, knowing his will, 360 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,520 say, knowing his will. All right, now let's go to verse 361 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,560 10. This is why this is the, this is 362 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,600 the result. This is the reason we need to 363 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,760 know Paul's prayer is that the church will know his will. 364 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,960 Why? Here it is so that there are 7 365 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:19,600 things here. By the way, we got 7 points 366 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,880 today and we're 2/3 of the way through the sermon. 367 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:23,200 How many of you are excited about that? 368 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:31,240 All right, not many of you, so that you may live a life worthy 369 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:38,000 of the Lord, that you may please Him in every way, bearing fruit 370 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:43,560 in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being 371 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,720 strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. 372 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,520 So that you may have great endurance and patience. 373 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,680 And giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to 374 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,040 share in the inheritance of his holy people in the Kingdom of 375 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,120 light. Praise the Lord. 7 things. 376 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:03,440 We're going to work through them really quick. 377 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,800 Here we go. Number one, that we will knowing 378 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,560 God's will, Paul's prayers, that you will know God's will, that 379 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,720 you have wisdom and understanding so that you can 380 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:17,600 live right, that you can live a life worthy of the Lord. 381 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,120 I talked about this with the teens a few weeks ago. 382 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:22,440 We we were talking about Ephesians, Paul's letter of the 383 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,240 church in Ephesus and he says the same thing. 384 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,440 He says that you may live a life worthy of the calling put on 385 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,040 your life that you may live a life worthy. 386 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,360 So we talked about it. By the way, if you ever want to 387 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:37,040 feel old, go talk to the teens makes you feel old really quick 388 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,640 that you may live a life worthy. I talked to them and I told 389 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,040 them, I said, look at the youth room around you. 390 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,440 A lot of money was invested into this youth room. 391 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,960 Look at the children's area. A lot of money was invested into 392 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,000 this children's area. Think of the teachers that have 393 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,040 poured into your life. Think of your parents and the 394 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,680 energy and the effort and the time that they've given. 395 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,280 Think of all of this stuff that's been put. 396 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:02,640 Now think of God and what God has done. 397 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,040 Let me, let me do this with you guys. 398 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,120 I'll do the same thing. Think of the beauty of the 399 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:09,520 building that we're in, the that God's holy temple that we are a 400 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,080 part of and we are being built into His temple. 401 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,920 Think of the investment that people have made in your life. 402 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,160 Maybe you had a teacher, maybe you had a parent or a 403 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,240 grandparent or a faithful follower of Christ that showed 404 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,960 you the way that brought you to Jesus. 405 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,280 Think of the investment people have made. 406 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,000 Think of the teachers, the leaders, the pastors. 407 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,000 Think of all the stuff that's been poured into you. 408 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,000 Now, beyond all that, greater than all that, think of the fact 409 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,640 that God loves you, that he sent his one and only Son to die on a 410 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,880 cross so you can have salvation in life. 411 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,320 Think of everything that's been poured into you so that you may 412 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:53,080 live a life worthy of the Lord. Does that sound challenging to 413 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,440 you? It's challenging to me. 414 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,240 I got good news. We talk about this all the time. 415 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,800 Nothing you could do would save you from your sins. 416 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:06,560 There's nothing you could do to make yourself worthy enough that 417 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,640 you could be saved. Without the work of Jesus Christ 418 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,280 on the cross, there's nothing you could do. 419 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:14,440 We've all sinned. We've all fallen short. 420 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,720 There's nothing we could do. No amount of prayers or Hail 421 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,080 Marys or gifts or service. There's no amount of it that can 422 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,880 pay that price. Good news, Jesus paid the price. 423 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:29,600 And here's the better news that we can now be transformed and we 424 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:35,120 can live a life worthy, not on our own, but through the filling 425 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:38,360 of the Holy Spirit, through the power of the Spirit at work in 426 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:46,680 us, we can live a life worthy. We can actually be transformed, 427 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,200 redeemed, and we can live worthy of the Lord. 428 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,480 Second, it says and pleasing to God. 429 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,160 OK, you guys know there are some people in your lives that you 430 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,120 have to walk on egg shells around, right? 431 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,680 Anyone have any of those? Just nod, don't raise your hand, 432 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:05,520 don't be too vocal. We don't want to be mean, but 433 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:08,000 you got some people in your life you got to walk on egg shells 434 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,760 around. A lot of people live their faith 435 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,720 that way. They feel like they have to walk 436 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,960 on egg shells because they don't want to offend God. 437 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,320 They don't want God to be mad at them. 438 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,440 So they're just walking, trying their best. 439 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:24,800 Let's let's not, let's not get him mad at me, Paul says. 440 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,560 I hope you know the will of God so you can live a life worthy 441 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,520 and you can live a life that actually pleases God. 442 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,240 You don't have to walk on egg shells. 443 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,040 It's no fun walking on egg shells, is it? 444 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,800 No, I guarantee you the people you like being around most are 445 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:44,000 not people you have to walk on egg shells around, but people 446 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,480 that want to serve and give life and please others. 447 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,160 Those are the people you enjoy being around it, Paul says. 448 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,920 I want you to know his will because then you can live worthy 449 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,800 and you can live a life that pleases God. 450 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,880 We don't have to walk through life worrying about is he going 451 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:02,080 to strike me down with lightning? 452 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,360 Am I going to be good enough? Am I going to? 453 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,160 Is he going to get mad at me? We can live a life where we 454 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:13,200 actually give value. We please Him, we glorify Him, 455 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,200 we worship Him with the way we live. 456 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,200 He says my prayer is that you would know His will so you can 457 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:25,000 live a life worthy, so you could please God #3 that you would 458 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,200 bear fruit. This is the key here. 459 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,040 How do we bring glory to God? We allow the Spirit to bear 460 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,080 fruit in US. We live a life worthy. 461 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,600 How do we live a life worthy? Through the power of the Spirit. 462 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,600 We live a life worthy through bearing fruit. 463 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:43,840 How do we please God through bearing fruit? 464 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,360 And so the third thing is we bear fruit. 465 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,760 This is the key to all of it. Scripture is incredibly clear. 466 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:54,760 If you are a follower of Christ, there should be fruit from your 467 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:59,720 relationship with Jesus. You should be growing and you 468 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,360 should be a part of what God's doing and you should see the 469 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:03,560 evidence. We just sang the song. 470 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,040 I've witnessed it. You should be able to say I've 471 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,640 witnessed God working in my heart and my life and through my 472 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,640 heart and through my life. You should be able to say I've 473 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:18,800 witnessed it. That you will bear fruit in 474 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,360 every good work. I know it's been a while since 475 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:25,280 I've talked about this, but you know, I play an instrument. 476 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,160 Guess which instrument I play? Go ahead and say it out loud. 477 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,920 Guess which instrument I play. 123-GO. 478 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,520 How many of you said violin? Then you've heard me preach 479 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,520 before because you never would have guessed violin without 480 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,160 that. When I was in like 4th grade, I 481 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,440 started playing the violin. Super cool, super cool. 482 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,040 Felt really cool. When I was a 10th grade, you 483 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,280 know, high school basketball player, being in the orchestra 484 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:53,120 felt really cool. I will tell you this, I wasn't 485 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,800 very good at the violin, but one of my favorite things was to be 486 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,080 a part of the orchestra. When you're playing the great 487 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,840 symphonies and the great things, there are a few things better 488 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,720 than being a part of something so incredible. 489 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,080 Now, I I didn't always add to it. 490 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,320 My goal with the violin was just to try to make the least 491 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,920 distraction from what was happening as they're playing 492 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,720 this beautiful music. I just wanted to play the 493 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,680 closest thing I could so that people didn't realize didn't 494 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,360 ruin it. Here's the deal. 495 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:27,960 We're created not just to not ruin it, not just to sit in the 496 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:32,360 back and just do the best we can to come close and not not cause 497 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:36,000 a scene or not mess things up. We're called to be a part of it, 498 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,320 to bear fruit, to be a part of what God's doing and to allow 499 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,800 God's Spirit to work in us so that we're actually 500 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,520 contributing. We're a part of it. 501 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:52,480 We are called to add to it #4 and as we bear fruit, it says 502 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:58,120 growing deeper, that we will grow deeper in our knowledge and 503 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:01,480 in our faith. Guys, if you, if you've walked 504 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,320 with Jesus for very long, you know this, that as you follow 505 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,160 him, as you know His will, as your obedient, not only do you 506 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:13,360 live a life worthy, not only, not only do you please God, not 507 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:17,240 only do you bear fruit, but you actually grow more and more. 508 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,800 I think about teaching the kids to swim. 509 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:21,720 They just want to stay in the shallow end, right? 510 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,280 And I'm trying to teach them guys, you don't understand. 511 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,040 If you will just learn to swim, you're going to enjoy swimming 512 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,400 so much more. Standing is boring. 513 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:32,720 Now, the older I get, the better I think it is. 514 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,360 But I tell the kids, come on, you got to you got to get out of 515 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:39,720 your comfort zone because the more you get out of your comfort 516 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,440 zone, you'll learn and the more you learn, the more you're going 517 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:43,800 to enjoy it. You can go out in the ocean, You 518 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,760 can swim in the waves, you can go in the deep end. 519 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,920 You can play games and, and for the longest time now we want to 520 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,680 hold onto the wall. We want to stay where we can 521 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,200 touch. No, no, no, no, get out of your 522 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,080 comfort zone. Follow his will. 523 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:02,400 Trust Him. You will bear fruit and you will 524 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:07,400 continue to grow deeper and deeper and it gets better and 525 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,920 better. God is good if we trust Him. 526 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,320 If we get out of our comfort zone, if we allow Him to lead 527 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,800 us, we grow deeper and deeper and it's great. 528 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,200 Then it goes on, it says, being strengthened by His glorious 529 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,480 might. Now this is incredible. 530 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:26,320 This is good stuff, guys. Not only does God want our sins 531 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,880 to be forgiven, not only does He want us to come be a part of His 532 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:35,800 family, not only does He want to transform us so that we can add 533 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,840 value, but He wants to fill us with His Spirit and give us His 534 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,440 power and His might to work within us. 535 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,080 When we know His will, when we're obedient to his will, we 536 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,280 bear fruit through the work of the Holy Spirit and we are 537 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,400 actually strengthened by the power of God. 538 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,400 Does that sound good to any of you? 539 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,400 It's not just, hey, you can go today and you can, you can add 540 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:04,480 whatever value you can add. Use the all those great gifts 541 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,240 that God has given you. Play in the violin. 542 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,160 No, no. You're given the strength and 543 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,760 the power of God. The Spirit of God works within 544 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,080 you, and things happen that could never happen outside of 545 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,400 the work of God. And it's incredible how many of 546 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:20,240 you have witnessed it before that. 547 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,080 God works in incredible ways. He wants to fill you with His 548 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,880 spirit, and He wants you to be strengthened. 549 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,120 The Bible is full. We've been talking about judges 550 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,120 with the teens. The judges are stories of 551 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,960 imperfect people who are filled with the Spirit of God and God 552 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:42,200 does incredible things. Even past that the Bible is full 553 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:46,440 of stories of imperfect people, limited people, filled by the 554 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,760 Spirit of God that do incredible things. 555 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,320 When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his disciples. 556 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,520 He said now go and make disciples. 557 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,760 Build the church was the command. 558 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,360 Now, these are the same disciples that ran and hid when 559 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,000 he was arrested. These are the same disciples 560 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,640 that denied him. These are the same disciples 561 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,960 that doubted him. They're the same disciples that 562 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,960 panicked in the storm. They're the same disciples that 563 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,280 failed over and over again. But they were filled with the 564 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,080 Spirit and they were filled with the power of God. 565 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:25,000 And think about this today. The disciples were the start of 566 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,440 it. And look how many people are 567 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,040 gathered just in this room and think about how many churches 568 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,000 there are in in the Cincinnati area and think about how many 569 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,160 even more across the world. There are people all over the 570 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,360 world that are worshipping God today because not because 12 571 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,360 disciples were really incredible, but because the 572 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:47,280 power and the might of God was working in them to accomplish 573 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,520 great things. Know his will. 574 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,120 My prayer is that you will know His will so that you can live a 575 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,680 life worthy, so you can please Him, so you can bear fruit, so 576 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,760 you can grow deeper and you can be strengthened. 577 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:04,920 And then the next one that you can gain endurance and patience. 578 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,080 This is good stuff, guys. You guys need a little more 579 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,880 endurance and patience. Anybody need a little bit more 580 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:13,640 of that? I do. 581 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,160 Paul is a testament to this. By the way, guys, he's writing 582 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,120 this from jail. Think about that. 583 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:30,160 Paul is sitting in a jail cell writing to a church saying, hey 584 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,640 guys, if you'll trust him and if you'll know his will, and if 585 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,640 you'll be obedient. Not only will you live a life 586 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,320 worthy, will you please God? Will you bear fruit? 587 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,080 Will you grow deeper? Will you be strengthened? 588 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:47,920 But God can give you endurance and patience to walk faithfully 589 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,800 through the difficulty of life. Guys, life is not going to be 590 00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:52,400 easy. It's not all going to be handed 591 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,040 to you. It's going to be difficult at 592 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,000 times. The good news is when we follow 593 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,760 His will, we gain not just His power and His might, but we gain 594 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,320 endurance and patience. Yesterday we had a basketball 595 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:06,640 game and and a few basketball games in the second game was a 596 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,160 tough game. There were a lot of fouls and 597 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,760 the rest weren't calling him. And after the game, Charlie was 598 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:12,680 pretty upset and he's like I said, what's going on? 599 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,760 He said, wow, they were just fouled me. 600 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,400 And oh, you know, I said, Charlie, let it make you better. 601 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,680 Let it make you better. If you just learn that that's 602 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:27,040 going to happen, you can whine about it all you want, but if 603 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,840 you learn that it's happening and if you allow it to make you 604 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,520 better, you will learn to endure and you will learn to figure it 605 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:34,800 out. The same thing is true in our 606 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,520 walk of faith. There are going to be things 607 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,000 that happened to us. If we will follow His will and 608 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,760 we will trust Him, He will teach us and He will give us endurance 609 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,960 and patience. And then the last thing that you 610 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,280 may live joyfully, it says in giving joyful thanks to the 611 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,880 Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His 612 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:55,360 holy people in the Kingdom of light. 613 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,840 Guys, we're called to be joyful. And when we follow his will and 614 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:05,440 his plan, not only do we live with his power and his endurance 615 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,400 and his patience, when we go through difficult things, we 616 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,800 don't just make it through. We can live joyfully. 617 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,240 I want to be joyful. I don't want to be the kind of 618 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,280 person that brings others down. I don't want you to see me on a 619 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:22,240 Sunday and think, man, being a Christian might must be really 620 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,840 rough. Being a pastor must be terrible. 621 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:30,040 I want you to see me and think man, his God is good and his God 622 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,600 has given him a joy that's beyond anything else. 623 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,680 Even in the worst parts of life, God will give you a joy because 624 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,000 you know your inheritance in Christ. 625 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,920 So worship team, come on up. Paul's main prayer for the 626 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,800 church, and this is where we're going to end week 1, is that we 627 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:51,440 will know God's will, that we will follow God's will. 628 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,280 Guys, as followers of Christ, we are, we're, we're not supposed 629 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,760 to just be aimlessly wandering through life. 630 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,640 We're not supposed to be just just walking along wondering 631 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,520 what's supposed to happen, just seeing what each day brings. 632 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:06,200 We're supposed to be on a mission. 633 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:07,720 We're supposed to have a purpose. 634 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,760 That God wants us to join him in the work that he's doing in the 635 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:12,840 world. That God wants to call us and 636 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,719 lead us and guide us through his Spirit to bear fruit, to live a 637 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,480 life worthy to be filled, to have endurance and patience, and 638 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,159 to be joyful. God wants you to follow His will 639 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:26,440 today. So Paul says, my number one 640 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,920 prayer for you. So you will know God's will, 641 00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:33,560 sure that you will know His love and His salvation. 642 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,159 But when you know that, that you will know His will, what does He 643 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:40,159 want for your life? How can you follow Him 644 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:41,159 faithfully? Stand with me. 645 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:45,639 Maybe there's some of you here today and you've never accepted 646 00:34:45,639 --> 00:34:47,760 God. You've never accepted Jesus as 647 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,199 your Lord and Savior. You've never accepted his free 648 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:51,960 grace that's offered to you today. 649 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,440 There is nothing you can do to save yourself or make yourself 650 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,080 better. We've all sinned and fallen 651 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,840 short. The good news is Jesus came and 652 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,840 died on the cross to pay for your sins. 653 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:05,480 And because of that you are invited into the family of God. 654 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,440 And today all it takes is a simple decision to say, I want 655 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,560 to live for God, I want to be forgiven and I want to walk with 656 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,560 him. Maybe today that's it's knowing 657 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,080 his love and his salvation. If that's you, I want to invite 658 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,000 you to respond. But for a lot of us, we know his 659 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,960 love and salvation. And the big question today is 660 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,080 what is his will? What does he want you to do? 661 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,160 How does he want you to live? How does he want you to respond? 662 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:31,920 How can you deal with that situation? 663 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:33,200 So we're going to respond to God's word. 664 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:35,880 We're going to sing about the good plans that God has for us. 665 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:37,520 And I want to invite you to respond. 666 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:38,760 You can respond in different ways. 667 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,640 You can sing, you can proclaim it, you can praise Him, but 668 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,760 maybe God's dealing with you about something. 669 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:47,720 Maybe there's something you need some help with. 670 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:50,400 The altars are a good place to come and pray. 671 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,800 Not a place of defeat or shame, a place of victory, and a place 672 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,520 of hearing from Him and being transformed by Him. 673 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,680 If you feel like you need to respond by coming and praying, 674 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:02,800 you can come to an altar. You can sit where you are, you 675 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:04,360 can find someone to pray with you. 676 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:07,320 You can worship. Let's respond to God's word. 677 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,000 Father, I thank you that you love us. 678 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,880 Thank you that you don't leave us on our own, but you want us 679 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,560 to know your will. You give us your Spirit. 680 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:16,960 You want us to have life and life to the fullest. 681 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,160 You want us to join you and what you're doing here on this earth. 682 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,880 So transform us, speak to us, help us to be obedient to you 683 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:24,440 now. Help us to respond to your word. 684 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,960 We want to be obedient to you now. 685 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,360 In Jesus name, Amen. Respond to God's Word as He 686 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:30,720 leads you.