1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:02,480 My name is Caleb. I'm the worship director here. 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,120 It's an honor to be here today to see all your faces. 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:10,920 I hope you're staying cool. And one thing about me in my 4 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:15,720 early 20s, I was at what I would say is probably a dead end job. 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:21,240 I and, and it was a dead end job mostly because of my own 6 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:22,800 motivation. It was in the healthcare 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,800 industry. I had no shout out to all our 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:27,920 healthcare workers, but that was not my passion. 9 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:33,800 I was not knowledgeable or gifted in that area and I I was 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,800 not getting paid that much. I wasn't having fulfillment. 11 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,280 I really had no mentorship or no upward mobility at the job. 12 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:47,400 And so it was a dead end job. I eventually went for a job in 13 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,640 telecommunications trying to get another job, change my field, up 14 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,240 my pay, up my vocational kind of equity and value. 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,760 It was a long shot. It was a job I had I knew 16 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,880 nothing about and and considering my demographic, 17 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,519 there wasn't many people that looked like me, talk like me, 18 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:09,960 sounded like me, were like me at this job that I was going for. 19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:16,280 I got the job by God's grace. It was also probably through 20 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,200 some divine intervention. It was a friend of the church 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,960 who was also a vice president at the job who later alerted me 22 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:28,000 that the CEO had some not so good things to say about me 23 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,280 coming onto their team. But that's another story for a 24 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,880 different day. But I got the job. 25 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,720 I was so excited the the pay was double what I was making. 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,960 You get your own computer, your laptop, BlackBerry. 27 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:43,960 I know I'm aging myself, but for for those that don't know, 28 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,600 BlackBerry is kind of like an iPhone refrigerator kind of 29 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,760 thing that goes on your. I travelled a lot. 30 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,920 There was opportunity for upward mobility. 31 00:01:54,920 --> 00:02:00,080 It was a very high profile job. It was selling contracts to the 32 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,120 government, selling telecommunications and 33 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:03,920 communications contracts to the government. 34 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:10,000 I was so grateful and very quickly I realized that I did 35 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,280 not know how to operate in an adult professional environment. 36 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,040 Like seriously. Now my parents, they taught me a 37 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,400 lot. I am so grateful for everything 38 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,760 that they have taught me and instilled in me. 39 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,680 But unfortunately, that wasn't many conversations we had had is 40 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:32,960 how to be an actual professional, how to advocate 41 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,920 for yourself vocationally. My jobs before that had been 42 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,800 working as a clerk in the medical records office, working 43 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:49,160 as a muffin man in a bakery, a couple camp counselor jobs. 44 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,080 And to be quite honest, it probably would be defined as a 45 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,080 profession. It was it was selling marijuana 46 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,080 around the neighborhood. And that was that was before, 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,360 that was before it was trendy and cool and there was 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,040 dispensaries everywhere. So it was actually frowned upon. 49 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,800 I actually tried to write a paper on that in college and 50 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,560 didn't do so well. But anyway, so I was grateful. 51 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,880 I was grateful for the job, but didn't know professional 52 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,920 etiquette. I didn't know the, the, the, the 53 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,240 lingo. I didn't know how to communicate 54 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,280 with people in the right way. I didn't know some of the, the, 55 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,920 the, the ways in which to run meetings. 56 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:31,320 And I was really weak in Google Suite and, and Microsoft Suite. 57 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,600 I was grateful, but I did not know how to operate. 58 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,440 And maybe some of y'all have felt like that, whether it be a 59 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:46,120 new job, a new relationship, a new city, a new marriage, a new 60 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:47,920 something that you're really grateful for. 61 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,480 Thank God I have this, but I don't really know how to 62 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,200 operate. I need instructions, I need 63 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,840 mentorship, I need discipleship. I don't know what I'm doing. 64 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,440 And this is kind of where we find ourselves in this passage 65 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:07,920 as Paul writes to the Ephesians, their newfound faith, they're 66 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,600 grateful for it. He talks about how Jesus died 67 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,320 and, and brings you into this new family where your sins are 68 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,240 forgiven, where you're where you're able to celebrate 69 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,360 diversity and you're able to be sanctified. 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,120 Just meaning that that God is sculpting you into the kind of 71 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:25,400 people that he wants you to be. They're grateful for it, but but 72 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:26,560 they don't really know how to do it. 73 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,000 And, and how many, you know, when you mix people that have 74 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,640 not been at probably at the most maturity and some entitlement 75 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,720 and and different levels of diversity, there could be 76 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:40,440 issues. Amen. 77 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:42,600 You wouldn't know nothing about that. 78 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,920 We can be grateful for it, but not know how to operate. 79 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,040 And so the next part of Paul, the first part of Paul's letter 80 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,480 is just defining the new job. But the next part is that 81 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,120 basically Paul's saying, I know you don't know how to operate, 82 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,680 so let me put you on. And that's where we find 83 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,760 ourselves when we talk about walking in the light. 84 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:16,080 An equally powerful metaphor is when Paul talks about taking off 85 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,840 our old selves and putting on our new selves in verses 22 and 86 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:29,520 24, Taking off our old selves and putting on our new selves. 87 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,080 How many sneaker any sneaker heads out here? 88 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,080 Any all right, we got some sneaker heads. 89 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:42,280 Well, regardless if you're a sneaker head or you know, the, 90 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,680 the sensation of putting on sneakers for the first time, you 91 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,520 might like the sneakers, right? But at first they, they don't 92 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,920 feel right sometimes, right, even when they they're actually 93 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,200 technically your size, right? They don't feel right. 94 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,640 You got to what? Break them in right And at the 95 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:04,560 same time, sometimes your old dusty, dirty tongue flapping, 96 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,440 you know, souls kind of scraping off. 97 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:08,080 Those are really comfortable, right? 98 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:10,560 I don't want to get rid of those sneakers. 99 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,280 This can be true with our lives. Amen. 100 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,640 We can want this new restorative mindset. 101 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,400 We can want success in every areas of our lives. 102 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,600 We can want a relationship with Jesus. 103 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,680 But when you first put on this new, it can feel uncomfortable 104 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,000 and it can feel like I'd, I'd, I'd so much rather go back to my 105 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,560 old dirty sneakers. They, they, they're fit to my 106 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,600 foot, right? They know that one leg is longer 107 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,120 than the other. Like, you know, I'm fitting to 108 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,160 them. This can be our lives. 109 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:53,240 And it's important to note that it's not just removing the old 110 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,800 as not just putting on the new. If I went to Foot Locker and was 111 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,480 just like, I want a pair of new sneakers and refuse to take off 112 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,320 my old sneakers, that would be a problem, right? 113 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,360 I'd be walking. I don't, I don't know. 114 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,800 At the same time, if I went to Foot Locker and said I'd like to 115 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,840 try on a pair of new sneakers, took off my old sneakers and 116 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:21,000 just walked out in my socks, that would be a dirty situation. 117 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,600 And so this duality of taking off our old self and putting on 118 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,280 our new selves, God is clothing us with newness. 119 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:34,160 He's giving us new mindsets, new giftings, but at the same time, 120 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,080 there's stuff in our lives that doesn't fit. 121 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,040 And this was true to with the Ephesians. 122 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,680 He's saying, take off your old selves, your old way of doing, 123 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,880 your old way of thinking, your old way of being in community. 124 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,640 Take it off as you get clothed with this new self. 125 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,200 But this metaphor is a little bit incomplete for a couple 126 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,000 reasons. One is the process is 127 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,360 continuous. It's not a one and done. 128 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,840 I take off my old sneakers and put on my new sneakers. 129 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,720 It's a daily responsibility, Amen. 130 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:10,160 And another way this metaphor is incomplete is that instead of 131 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,520 your foot or, or instead of the sneaker breaking into your foot, 132 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,720 Amen. Your foot is changing. 133 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,840 Amen. It's our hearts, our mindsets, 134 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:26,720 our desires that are changing to mold into this newness. 135 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,600 And that was Paul's word to the Ephesians. 136 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,039 Partner with the Lord Jesus as He makes you new. 137 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:36,400 And I know it's hard now. I know it's uncomfortable. 138 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,120 I know you got to look down every time you're afraid there's 139 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,360 a scuff sneaker. Here's what I'm talking about. 140 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,560 I know every, every time you like bend down, you got to like 141 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,400 to you know what I'm talking about when you got to do this so 142 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,400 it doesn't crease. Some of you're like, what is he 143 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:53,800 talking about? Some of you know what I'm 144 00:08:53,800 --> 00:09:00,480 talking about. And so the way Paul talks about 145 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,320 how to focus, how to 0 in on that is saying restrain from the 146 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:10,280 wrong so you can focus on the right, restrain from the wrong 147 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,840 so you can focus on the right. John Olinger, I don't want to 148 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,440 mispronounce his name, but John Olinger, I think is the 149 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,640 pronunciation. He's a, he was a, a Nike 150 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:24,320 executive also did marketing for Kobe, the late great Kobe 151 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,520 Bryant. And I actually get the 152 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,440 opportunity to talk to him in a few days, which I'm excited 153 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,600 about as a, for another project. But he's a believer. 154 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,600 He's a Jesus follower and he, he talks about worthy wins. 155 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,160 He says define what your success is because everybody has a 156 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,560 different idea of what success looks like in their life. 157 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,400 Get clear on what success looks like in this case in the spirit 158 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,840 and the natural. Get clear on what success looks 159 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,920 like. And that way when you have to 160 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,040 shed things, when you have to not do, when you have to 161 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,280 restrain, when you have to forego, it doesn't seem that bad 162 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,240 because I have this goal in mind. 163 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,280 I know what I'm, I'm know what I'm fighting for. 164 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:10,640 So I saw several areas where Paul encourages us to take off 165 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,080 the old and put on the new. This is not exhaustive. 166 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,400 This is just what I extracted and what jumped out to me as the 167 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,400 text. And I know the magic number 168 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,320 usually is 3, but there's six of them. 169 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:22,760 So just bear with me, Church, All right? 170 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:29,840 I saw falsehood, anger, stealing, bad language, lust and 171 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,640 intoxication. Falsehood, anger, stealing, bad 172 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:40,240 language, lust and intoxication. You know, when I first came to 173 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,480 face, and probably many of you might think like this, when I 174 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,960 first came to faith, the Christian faith looked like a 175 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,080 list of do's and don't mostly don'ts actually. 176 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:54,280 And, and I've been blessed both culturally and and and and and 177 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,320 and in a lot of ways to have a pretty full life. 178 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,840 Some I'm proud of, some I'm not proud of. 179 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,840 But coming into the Christian faith just felt like it was like 180 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,640 I was trying to fit into this box of no, I can't. 181 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:11,720 No, I can't, no, I can't. Life kind of felt boring and 182 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,080 confusing and less attractive. I mean, and if that's the 183 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,320 paradigm that we're in, of course it feels like that, 184 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:18,840 right? Imagine somebody like you're 185 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,680 trying to evangelize to somebody. 186 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:26,280 You're like, hey, bro, hey sis, would you like to have a lot 187 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,560 less sex and not get drunk and never be able to express your 188 00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:34,640 anger? It's just like, no, that's lame. 189 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:41,120 You're weird, but that was sometimes how I digested the 190 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,360 Christian faith, right? I love how Sho Baraka, who's I 191 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,880 think chief editor, he works at Christianity Today. 192 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,240 He's an author, he's a rapper. He's a really insightful guy. 193 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,320 I love how he puts it, he says. When I first came to faith, my 194 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,840 main concern was to abstain from sexual immorality, drug use and 195 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,800 fits a rage. I would soon learn that the 196 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,120 Christian faith is about so much more than avoiding sin. 197 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,440 As my brother Dottie said, I'll put it, Jesus didn't die for us 198 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,960 to avoid, just to avoid sin and fleet temptation. 199 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,280 He died for us to push back the darkness and be able to walk 200 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,160 amongst the grotesque. And he's not talking about 201 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:18,600 people, he's just talking about this. 202 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:19,800 Life gets hard. Amen. 203 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,280 He goes on to say. The truth is that God makes us 204 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,600 new. He gives us new joys and new 205 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,160 gifts that we should open and celebrate like a kid on 206 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,240 Christmas. The Gospel redeems and reforms 207 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,880 us, but it doesn't remove our compassion and awareness about 208 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,280 the darkness of this world. So you're not just fitting into 209 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,720 a weird box, you're actually becoming stronger and how to 210 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,680 engage the darkness in this world. 211 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,040 You're not pretending things don't exist. 212 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,920 You're not totally denying your full humanity of the person that 213 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:59,480 God's made you to be. So again, falsehood, anger, 214 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:01,560 stealing, bad language, lusted, intoxication. 215 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,240 Let's go through these quickly. And each one of these can be, 216 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,320 it's probably its own sermon, so I'm just going to unpack as it 217 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,640 relates to taking off the old, putting on the new. 218 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,120 But there's a lot more to be said about each one of these 219 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,920 areas. Falsehood, he said instead of 220 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:22,240 falsehood, speak truth and gratitude, speak truth instead 221 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,200 of falsehood. I started to think about the 222 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,480 metaphor of the body. You know, we often talk about 223 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:31,880 Christ's body. It's a body. 224 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,000 There's different functions, there's different ways of being. 225 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,520 There's different people with different gifts. 226 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:41,920 Falsehood, speak truth. One of the interesting things I 227 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,600 think about is an allergic reaction. 228 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:47,360 When an allergic reaction happens, the interesting thing 229 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,960 is it's not about the actual food that you're eating. 230 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,680 It is, but it's not. It's about the signal that your 231 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:57,680 body is sending, the false signal that your body is sending 232 00:13:57,680 --> 00:13:59,600 to create that reaction in your body. 233 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,240 That's why some people can eat whatever almonds and some people 234 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,320 can. It's your own body that is lying 235 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,640 to another part of your body that is creating that allergic 236 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:16,120 reaction. It's not the content, it's the 237 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:22,280 fact that there's a falsehood in our body and we all, anybody who 238 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,640 struggle with health or or or or chronic issues knows the 239 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,080 difference between when your body's working correctly, 240 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:33,400 sending right signals, and when it's not so much more with our 241 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,400 lives and our interactions with each other. 242 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,760 Putting on a true self. A lot of us know how refreshing 243 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,840 it is to be able to be your true self around people and know how 244 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,520 stifling and exhausting it is when you have to fake the funk. 245 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,680 A lot of loneliness I feel like is not just about the volume of 246 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:00,560 people around us, but how well we're known and how well we know 247 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:07,680 others true selves. So speak truth, be your true 248 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:08,760 self. That doesn't mean remain in 249 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,640 toxic behaviors, but speak truth, be be, be, be transformed 250 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,040 as God molds us in our true selves. 251 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:23,480 Instead of anger, address it and view it as an invitation. 252 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,480 Now some of us on one extreme need to watch out for fits of 253 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,040 rage, ration on people, all of the above. 254 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,120 But then some of us on the other end of the spectrum need to 255 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:40,760 learn how to express our anger and advocate for ourselves and 256 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,520 be courageous. They both have in common is 257 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,240 learning how to address anger in healthy ways. 258 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,960 Anger can be an invitation. And I know they, we, we, we've 259 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,480 probably all heard like, don't let the sun go down on your 260 00:15:57,480 --> 00:15:59,120 anger. It's funny, I read it. 261 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,440 It was some book that a couple was like, we tried that 262 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,120 literally early in our marriage and we didn't sleep for three 263 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,400 days. I don't think he's literally 264 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,320 saying don't get sleep because I don't know, Christina and I 265 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,520 might relate. Is, is trying to resolve anger 266 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,160 when you're low on sleep is usually counterproductive 267 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,640 anyway. And so, but what he's saying is 268 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:21,960 don't let it turn into bitterness. 269 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:27,120 Don't let it start to rot. You know the difference when 270 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,800 you're angry and you're working through it versus like it's just 271 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,920 sitting, it's sitting in the pit of your stomach. 272 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,440 And this anger is not doing me any good. 273 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,280 You ever, you ever, you ever pretended like something didn't 274 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,280 bother you, like, it ain't a big deal. 275 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,440 And then you get home. Morgan Freeman narration. 276 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,520 But it was a big deal. I'm glad y'all caught that. 277 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,640 Yeah. Learn how to advocate for your 278 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,960 anger without going into rage or to bitterness. 279 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,160 Anger can be an invitation. Later. 280 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,040 In, in, in, in, elsewhere in. I think Matthew Paul talks about 281 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,240 stories that you may win your brother over so that you may 282 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,560 deepen the relationship. I can't tell tell you how many 283 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,640 times conflict has been an invitation to deepen the 284 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:22,520 relationship. So we got anger, we have 285 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:24,560 falsehood. And he talks about stealing 286 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,600 instead of stealing, generosity so that folks would have 287 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:31,120 everything they need. So you can give to folks in need 288 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,760 and stealing. I'm sure he's talking about 289 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,120 several kinds, right? He's talking about petty thief, 290 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,200 which is, yes, don't take other people's stuff that doesn't 291 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,360 belong to you without their consent. 292 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,080 Yes, but also there was a contingent that was wealthy 293 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,800 here. And we know from in in Ephesus, 294 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:52,120 there was it was not all just poor people. 295 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,760 And we also know from Matthew in the story of Zacchaeus that they 296 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,960 were aware of not just stealing, as in like personal stealing, 297 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:04,640 but systems of stealing, systems that exploited poor people, 298 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,560 systems that exploited 1 ethnic group, systems that marginalized 299 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:13,240 people and left whole groups of people without what they needed. 300 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,400 And so we might look and say, well, I'm not a thief. 301 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,680 I'm not a petty thief. But he invites us to examine, 302 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,360 are we participating in systems that damage people? 303 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,840 And the goal here is so that everyone can have what they 304 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,760 need. The goal here is abundance. 305 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,040 Stop stealing. Check your heart so that 306 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:43,760 everyone can thrive. Bad language, which sounds kind 307 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:45,400 of weird. And, and I'll, I'll take a stab 308 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,960 here and say I do not think that Paul was talking about American 309 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,080 English curse words. Now, I'm not saying this gives 310 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,520 us the license to go curse somebody out, but this was 311 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,400 several thousand years ago when the paradigm of bad language is 312 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,120 a little bit different and not to mention American. 313 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,160 The English curse words actually have an interesting history that 314 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:09,760 can be a whole other rabbit trail. 315 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,720 But the point here is I think he's talking less about what you 316 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,080 say and more about why you say it. 317 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,640 Now, again, I'm not telling you to go to Pastor Josh. 318 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,400 You'd be like, yo, that was great. 319 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:28,280 I'm not saying all that, but it's less about what you say and 320 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,960 why you less about what you say, but why you say it. 321 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,480 You know, a lot of one of one of the checks and balances I use 322 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,000 for my language is intent and impact. 323 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,600 Intent and impact. What was my intention of saying 324 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,360 said thing? I can say a nice thing. 325 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,280 You, oh, you, you look, you look good today. 326 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,760 You know I can say a nice thing sonically, right? 327 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,440 What was my intention for saying that? 328 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:57,640 Where was my heart when I said that thing? 329 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:00,520 We can play each other all we want, but we can't play 330 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,160 ourselves in our own heart and what we meant when we said 331 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,360 something. And the impact. 332 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:09,520 You might have the best intentions, but take a second to 333 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,600 reflect. How was this going to land on 334 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:18,360 said people or person? What is the intent and what is 335 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,600 the impact? You can say the same thing with 336 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,320 different intentions and that can determine the morality of 337 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,320 it. I can say in vernacular to 338 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,920 somebody that understands me, like, oh man, you could tell a 339 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,080 funny joke and I'm like, oh, you stupid, you're funny, you're 340 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:39,400 wise, you're witty. Or I could be like, yo, you're 341 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,960 stupid. That's the same thing. 342 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,560 Different intent and probably different impact. 343 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,720 And so if your words are not landing the way that you want 344 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,800 them to, it's usually one of those two things or both. 345 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:59,520 You might want to check why you're saying the thing or you 346 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,240 might need better communication skills or knowledge of who 347 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,480 you're communicating to to have a better impact. 348 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:11,040 And now for everyone's favorite lust into self-control. 349 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,560 This obviously could be a whole nother sermon. 350 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:19,840 But what I will say is, you know, back back in this time, 351 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,200 obviously nothing like this time where somebody who comes into 352 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:31,040 power has a bunch of less powerful people at their beck 353 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:37,400 and call, starts to use them for sexual and labour and 354 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:44,920 exploitative needs. And and and and the feds raid 355 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,080 their mansion, I mean castle and and find a bunch of baby oil. 356 00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:01,360 It's not so different as in powerful power that is not 357 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,920 checked. Objectification not checked 358 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,080 turns into lust that destroys things and people. 359 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:16,600 And nowadays you have to intentionally fight. 360 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:21,080 I, I know there's whole scores of conversation about the ethics 361 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,520 around Christian sexuality. But one thing I, I, I really 362 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,720 will stand on and I'll fight for at this time is the, the, the, 363 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:35,880 the saturation of, of, of sexuality in our faces all the 364 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,880 time. Just not even just our faults, 365 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,960 just the availability of the, the, the, the ability to be able 366 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,800 to see any and everything at any given notice. 367 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:46,560 I don't think that's healthy for him. 368 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,640 And there's complicated relationships. 369 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,680 We need the Internet, we need online. 370 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,600 And that's for all of us. I'm saying for a lot of us, it's 371 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,800 not even our fault. And for a lot of us, there are 372 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,120 things that we've been exposed to that didn't have our consent, 373 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:01,640 that we didn't even want to be exposed to. 374 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,760 And so I'm not saying this is a shame or a blame, but I'm saying 375 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,920 is if our goal is a healthy relationship with ourselves, a 376 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,320 healthy relationship with each other, and for those that desire 377 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,320 to be married or are married, a healthy relationship with our 378 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:22,320 spouse. Unchecked lust is darkness. 379 00:23:28,860 --> 00:23:31,860 I've heard especially guys talking about like, I haven't 380 00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:34,740 met the right one yet. I haven't met the right one. 381 00:23:34,940 --> 00:23:37,500 And my question is always, are you the right one? 382 00:23:37,860 --> 00:23:47,040 Have you become the right one? Unchecked lust makes it so hard 383 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:54,720 to love correctly. And then intoxication, he says 384 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,760 instead of intoxication, be filled with the Spirit and make 385 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:03,000 the most of every opportunity. Again, there's some nuance 386 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:07,080 around drinking. He says don't get drunk. 387 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,160 But we do know Jesus like to sip, sip every now and then. 388 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,080 And there's even more nuance nowadays with the legalization 389 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,840 of certain recreational drugs. Again, that could be a separate 390 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,560 conversation, but I will. What I will say is if you are 391 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,880 constantly inebriated, it is hard to make the most of every 392 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,640 opportunity. And that could be anything. 393 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,120 That could be back to lust, that could be to anger. 394 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,800 That could especially be with alcohol, with recreational 395 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:38,440 drugs, with hard drugs, with food. 396 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,720 It is hard to make the most of every opportunity. 397 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:45,680 I remember one time I used to go to the studio. 398 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:50,120 I still go to the studio a lot, but I used to get drunk and go 399 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,040 to the studio. I remember one time I was so 400 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,360 excited about going to the studio, about recording this new 401 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:01,160 song, and I was like, we should celebrate early before we go to 402 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,880 the studio. We celebrated way too hard. 403 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,000 I remember waking up listening to what we did in the studio and 404 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,760 I was like, why did the engineer ever let us record this? 405 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,840 This is terrible. My intoxication was not making 406 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,600 the most of that opportunity, especially when you're paying by 407 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,160 the hour. Make the most of every 408 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,880 opportunity, be filled with the spirit. 409 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,000 And you know, I've seen examples again, back to taking off the 410 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,840 old and and putting on the new. You know, there's kind of AI say 411 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,840 like a, a lane of, of masculinity now that there's a 412 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,720 lot of emphasizes abstaining, abstaining from could be lost, 413 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:48,400 abstaining from drugs, abstaining from food and, and 414 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:49,920 really beating your body into submission. 415 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,280 And I think parts of that's OK, but I know I have some people in 416 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:58,040 mind right now that have gotten really good at abstaining, but 417 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:03,240 it hasn't made them more kind, more wise, more loving, more 418 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,800 humble, more generous. And so I'm like, what are you? 419 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,160 What are you abstaining for? Take a drink, bro, Goodness 420 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:15,240 gracious. At the same time, I'd like to 421 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,200 shout out my brother who couldn't make it today. 422 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,440 He's coming up on two years of alcohol sobriety and he gave me 423 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:29,000 permission to to share this and I I love my brother. 424 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,400 I love him at one point and it's actually several points that 425 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:39,600 addiction or abuse had put him in some darkness and and and put 426 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,440 us as a the darkness has spread, right? 427 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,480 He was the darkness was affecting me. 428 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,480 He made the decision. I don't think it was the 429 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,520 attractiveness of not having alcohol, but it was him seeing 430 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,760 his new self and imagining with God what he could be. 431 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,520 And I think this example holds true because he's become he was 432 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,120 already a good father. He's become a great father, he's 433 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,120 become a better friend, he's become a better leader. 434 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:12,880 He's become more intentional, a better husband, more reliable. 435 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,880 There's so many things that doors that have opened up in his 436 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,040 life that we probably wouldn't even have related to alcohol. 437 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,960 But it's just part of taking off the the darkness and seeing 438 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,680 clearly and seeing and imagining with God what there could be for 439 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,520 you. And I don't want to idolize 440 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,400 just, again, I don't want to idolize abstaining. 441 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,640 Most of anybody that's been around recovery know it's a 442 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,560 daily thing. So you don't want to make the 443 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,680 abstaining the idol, right? But I'm proud to witness folks 444 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,320 that because of their abstinence, because of their 445 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,640 self-control, it has opened up beautiful possibilities for them 446 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:49,720 to draw closer to God and each other. 447 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:03,640 So now we get to this dark and light back in the day. 448 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:05,360 I'm a city kid. I was born and raised in 449 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:10,040 Dorchester Common Square. And although I've been to like 450 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:15,920 rural areas, when when I say dark, my concept usually is 451 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:19,400 like, yeah, I don't know, like the city when it's dark, there's 452 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,560 still lights. It's not dark dark. 453 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,400 Anybody grew up in rural America around here? 454 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,560 So y'all know what dark is, right? 455 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,560 I'm not talking spiritually, metaphorically I'm I'm but y'all 456 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,600 know y'all know dark dark, right? 457 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,760 Like our my concept of dark. It's hard to actually think 458 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,680 about what outside dark is because all throughout 459 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:42,760 Dorchester there's a light everywhere right now. 460 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,240 You go back 2000 years without electricity. 461 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,720 If you ain't brought your torch, it's dark. 462 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,880 And so when Paul gives his imagery of darkness, it's really 463 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,160 scary and dangerous. It's not just like, oh, let me 464 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,440 go over here and flick on a light switch, right? 465 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,800 When you're in the dark, you're none the wiser. 466 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,720 You're vulnerable. Somebody can attack you. 467 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,440 You don't know. I could go behind you and tell 468 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,600 you you're surrounded. And you have no way of verifying 469 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,600 that the darkness is a dangerous place, as Paul's talking about 470 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,280 it. In the darkness, you can't see 471 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,000 yourself clearly. You can't see others clearly. 472 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,640 You can't see your own. What's tripping you up very 473 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,120 clearly? How many of y'all have got up to 474 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,600 go to the bathroom in the night and just stubbed your toe? 475 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,920 Like, Oh my God, that's the darkness. 476 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,960 And Paul uses this language about being deceived, right? 477 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,560 He says deceived. He's not saying like all these 478 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,000 people are just terrible, rotten, disgraceful people. 479 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,960 He's talking about these people in the darkness. 480 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,840 You've been deceived. So, so the interesting thing is 481 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,280 some of us, including myself, sometimes we want these good 482 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,680 things for ourselves. We want to be able to have 483 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,000 healthy relationships, We want self-control, we want to be have 484 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,640 healthy marriages. We want, we want to be generous. 485 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,440 And so we have good intentions, but we're just missing it. 486 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,280 The word sin is an archery term that just means missing the 487 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,600 mark. So it's not even necessarily 488 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,160 saying that like all the time you're doing something bad 489 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,760 because you're bad and, and, and you should just be shamed. 490 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:22,920 It's saying you're actually just, you're missing it. 491 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,000 There's a vision problem, there's an accuracy problem. 492 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,760 J. Cole, really talented rapper, he 493 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:35,480 said. The good news is you came a long 494 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,880 way. The bad news is you went the 495 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,080 wrong way. You could be have the best 496 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,760 intentions, right and fight hard. 497 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,680 I heard another rapper. Was it, I don't even remember 498 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:49,320 who it was thinking saying who we were listening to. 499 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,560 We were listening to somebody. Oh, Toby, he said. 500 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,880 I know people that stood 10 toes down, meaning they stood solid 501 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,280 on sinking sand. We can have the best intentions, 502 00:30:58,280 --> 00:30:59,920 but in the darkness, we don't always know. 503 00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:02,000 Are we going toward the goal? Are we doing well? 504 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,200 Are we, are we loving people the way they should be loved? 505 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,680 Are we, are we succeeding? That's what the darkness does. 506 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:13,360 But in the light, Amen Church, in the lights, you can see 507 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,640 yourself. You can see yourself clearly, 508 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,160 you can see, you can see your own beauty. 509 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,440 You can see your imperfect. You know, I do a lot of video 510 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,400 work with a lot of videographers. 511 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,440 And you know, one of the things one of the guys said was like, 512 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,640 folks are mature, more seasoned Saints, right? 513 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,840 Older folks are just so beautiful to look at through 514 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:39,800 these high definition lenses, you can see the age, the wisdom, 515 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:41,160 you can see the beauty of people. 516 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,360 So I'm not just talking about like stereotypical 517 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,720 attractiveness, but seeing people, seeing the, the wrinkles 518 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,160 in their face, seeing their facial expressions, seeing their 519 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,320 eye color, right? And I'm not trying to be weird 520 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,560 or anything, but just seeing the beauty of people when it's 521 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,440 light, we can see ourselves, we can see each other. 522 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:04,280 I just got the the imagery of right for those of you that I 523 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,480 mean, most of us haven't gone to a nightclub because we are so 524 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,360 wholly and sanctified. But for those of you I could put 525 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,040 you on, if you've never been to a nightclub, there's always just 526 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,200 like funny mantra of like folks, we've been in the dark, we're 527 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,520 dancing, dancing, dancing and then the lights come on and we 528 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,000 all just look like zombies, right? 529 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,880 There's sweaty hair everywhere, there's makeup everywhere. 530 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,200 You can also see some of your imperfections of what you got to 531 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:26,560 deal with in the light. Amen. 532 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,640 I know y'all know about that. You can see obstacles and 533 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,400 opportunities in the light. You can see I trip. 534 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:36,920 You know what I tripped right there. 535 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:41,360 Let me hop over that next time. A lot of times you know I've 536 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,720 I've dealt with recovery in several areas of my life. 537 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:45,720 I've dealt with frustration and doing the same thing over and 538 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,640 over again. And sometimes I just want to be 539 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:49,600 in the dark. I want to ignore the problem, 540 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:52,920 but that actually makes me do it over and over and over and over 541 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,320 and over again. Sometimes it takes courage to 542 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,200 look at the problem and say, I've I've tripped up here and I 543 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,840 keep tripping right here. I have to look at it not from a 544 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,600 shameful perspective, but to know, God, what are you telling 545 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,280 me to do in this moment? That's what the light can do for 546 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:12,200 us. A lot of us are trying to to 547 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,680 dream and see and imagine what we look like as we become 548 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,040 restored. We're trying to imagine how 549 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:23,800 where God will take us. We're trying to imagine if as 550 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,640 what it would look like if we if we're whether it be married or 551 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,280 get that next job or just draw closer to Jesus, have closer 552 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,400 friendships. But but the darkness can make it 553 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,360 hard to even have those dreams. The darkness can make it hard to 554 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:42,440 even have that imagination in, in, in 317 in Ephesians, he says 555 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,800 exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we can ask or think. 556 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:48,480 I, I really think that's literal saying. 557 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,000 Like when you're in the darkness, it's hard to even 558 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:53,240 imagine what you could be doing in the light. 559 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,040 If you, there's some folks in here that have known me for some 560 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:57,160 years. If I had told you they were 561 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,840 coming to hear me preach, they would have, they would have not 562 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:03,200 believed me. They would have been like, say, 563 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:10,400 come on, man, let's go back to the studio, getting out of the 564 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,159 darkness. And it's not like a transaction 565 00:34:12,159 --> 00:34:15,920 of reward, but it's just God opening our eyes, removing those 566 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,159 scales, saying, let me, let me let me open up your imagination 567 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:21,000 for what life looks like in the light. 568 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,239 And it's really hard. So some of us have been 569 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,239 discouraged because we're trying to like exactly plot the course 570 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,360 of exactly what I'll look like and what I'll do. 571 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,199 And sometimes God's like, hey, partner with me as I remove 572 00:34:32,199 --> 00:34:35,639 these unhealthy things from your life and your imagination will 573 00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:39,000 start to open. It's interesting. 574 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,639 He ends. He ends the verse talking about 575 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,719 singing. Be filled with the Spirit 576 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:52,159 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 577 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,320 singing and making melody. To the Lord with your heart and 578 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,240 give thanks. You know, I've, I've served here 579 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,320 for a couple years. It's just been an honor to serve 580 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,320 with the worship team. It's been an honor to sing with 581 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:04,280 you all. It's been an honor to, to, to, 582 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,640 to, to, to curate and, and try to store it the, the, the little 583 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:10,600 place that God has me. And, and you've been a blessing 584 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:13,760 to work with every member of the worship team and those that have 585 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,200 that have partnered. And so I, I don't take that 586 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,560 lightly. I often tell the worship team 587 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,080 to, to drop out singing and let the congregation hear themselves 588 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:25,040 sing because it's something about when you hear your voice 589 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,000 saying these words to God. And, and I understand some of us 590 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,480 are able to make a joyful noise in others, no shade. 591 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,680 But there's something about hearing and seeing that and, 592 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,960 and, and, and digesting those words that you're saying. 593 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,560 This is why one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about hip 594 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,880 hop and Christian artistry, because we need, we need things 595 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,320 to come to our mind about forgiveness, about restoration, 596 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,640 about conflict resolution, about God's holiness. 597 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:52,400 We need these things to come to our mind. 598 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:56,360 I just so happens that some friends of mine, Jalen and and 599 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,120 Roy, we're here and we've and we've, we connected through 600 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:01,840 music, but it's gone so much deeper than that because there's 601 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,000 something, there's something special, there's something 602 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,560 intimate as you're creating songs and singing to the Lord. 603 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,600 And, and I think there's a couple extremes that we want to 604 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,240 avoid, right? I'm not saying like we, we 605 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:15,800 don't, we don't want to center a whole discipleship of formation 606 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,640 around music production. I don't think that's healthy. 607 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:22,080 And some churches fall that way. But I also don't think, I also 608 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:25,400 think we don't want to undermine the importance of singing songs 609 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:27,000 together. It's biblical people. 610 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,840 NT Wright, theologian, historian, says if you don't 611 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,000 want your garden to grow weeds, one of the best ways to keep it 612 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,440 well stocked with strong, sturdy flowers and shrubs. 613 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,880 If you is to keep it well stocked with strong, sturdy 614 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,320 flowers and shrubs. If you don't want your mind and 615 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,640 heart to go wandering off into the realms of darkness, one of 616 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,680 the best ways is to keep it stocked with wise and thankful 617 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,480 themes so that comfort, words of comfort, guidance, and good 618 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,480 judgement come bubbling up, unbidding from the memory and 619 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,880 the subconscious. We want to store these songs in 620 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:08,320 our hearts. So part of part of, I guess the 621 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,240 resource that we'll offer you to as a playlist, we're going to 622 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:16,360 send out a playlist in the next newsletter that has many of the 623 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:19,000 spiritual songs that we've been singing. 624 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:22,440 And so I hope it aids in your formation. 625 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:24,560 I hope that you can, you probably know a lot of these 626 00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:29,640 songs already, but I hope it helps bring these things out of 627 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,560 your subconscious and helps in your spiritual walk. 628 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,400 I'm certainly familiar how it does it negatively. 629 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,840 I'm, I'm a millennial. I think the, the song and, and 630 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,240 phrase Yolo probably like was responsible for 70% of bad 631 00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:48,480 decisions in the 2000 tens. Everything was Yolo, bad 632 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:53,280 decision. If I really dig in the crates 633 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,480 and for those that really like hip hop, see something hip hop 634 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:59,640 knock if you buck was thank you. I'm glad somebody laughed about 635 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:01,400 that. It's a song that really just 636 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,680 encourages fighting in the club and people took that literally 637 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:07,560 like and so music and songs and words have power. 638 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,560 I'm not talking about some new age spiritual manifestation, but 639 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,560 I'm saying that if you continually replay something in 640 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,080 your subconscious, that starts to shape your mindset. 641 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:22,240 So the invitation here is for all of us, no matter where we 642 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:25,520 find ourselves in the spiritual journey, it's to come out of the 643 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,520 darkness and to step into the light. 644 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,760 It's for everybody, whether it be we're thinking our lives 645 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,440 holistically or this area where you're like, I don't yet have an 646 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,520 imagination for this God. Are you asking me to reshape my 647 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,960 thinking? Are you asking me to remove 648 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:47,280 something from my life? Remember, God looks at the 649 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,480 heart. So even if these areas, 650 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,200 intoxication, lust, bad language, stealing, anger, 651 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,440 falsehood, even if on the surface you don't do these 652 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,360 things, all of us, all of us struggle with these things in 653 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,800 our heart on some level. And it's the continued process 654 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,520 of inviting God in to say, God, have your way with these areas 655 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,920 and let me step into your imagination as you show me what 656 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,960 healthy relationships look like, as you show me what self-control 657 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,000 and beauty looks like, as you, as you show me what generosity 658 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:21,440 looks like. So I invite you to ponder and to 659 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:25,840 pray. I invite you to ponder and to 660 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,760 pray. Ponder or pray. 661 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:41,360 Think about darkness and light. The goal here is not just to 662 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,960 step out the darkness. The goal here is not just to 663 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:47,040 take off the old self. The goal here is not just to 664 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:51,320 restrain and abstain. The goal here is to partner with 665 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:57,080 God in the beauty and the justice and the restoration and 666 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,040 the holiness that He is Co creating. 667 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:04,880 And so I invite you to ponder on that. 668 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:08,160 God, what's my part? What are the areas in which you 669 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,800 are removing from me? Not to hurt me, not to make me 670 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:16,120 bored, but to make my life more beautiful, To do exceedingly, 671 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,080 abundantly, be abundantly beyond what I can ask or think. 672 00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:28,480 And then I invite you to pray, To pray that God would give you 673 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:33,360 a holy imagination of your true self in the light. 674 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:36,320 Not, not some like Christianese kind of version that you're 675 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:41,080 trying to conform to, that you may think it needs to be, but 676 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:43,840 what your true self looks like in the light. 677 00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:50,560 Like I said, a lot of us, including myself, I need God to 678 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:53,440 give me that imagination. I would not have imagined the 679 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:57,960 weird daily stuff I do now. I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have 680 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:02,680 dreamt it. I'm sure many of you could even 681 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,520 pray a prayer of gratitude of like where I might right now. 682 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,880 I wouldn't have imagined that. And so when God, we're always 683 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,640 growing, you might, there might. There is another level of 684 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,040 imagination now, my son, my daughter. 685 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,720 Now that we've done that, I'm inviting you to take off more 686 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:21,480 old and put on more new.