1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,360 And then today you won't, I'm not going to teach Billy 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:05,840 Killian's going to be teaching. And I mangle his last name. 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:14,800 So Billy K and so Billy and me have known each other for since 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,720 I got saved in 2001 or shortly thereafter. 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,160 He started doing missions to India in 2006, short term 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,440 missions back and forth. He, I told you a couple weeks 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,480 ago about him doing the telephone ministry or the cell 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,159 phone ministry, that he was literally leading evangelical, 9 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,800 evangelical conferences from around the world because it was 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,760 just on the phone and guys were translating and people were 11 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,880 getting saved that way. So that was a then he went full 12 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,360 time missions. He went full time to Hawaii in 13 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,480 2015 to run the School of School of Evangelism. 14 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:55,640 And he's been all over the world teaching on that since. 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,680 He's now going to be the, I don't know if it's the he's 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,320 going to be the teacher or the he's going to run the Calvary 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,160 Training Center as their missions director. 18 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,840 And I'm going to let him tell you about himself. 19 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:10,400 But that's what I know about him. 20 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,040 Really good guy, enjoy him a lot. 21 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,240 I'm looking forward to what he has to say today. 22 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:17,000 Come on up. Well. 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,520 Thanks. Thanks for that introduction. 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:27,880 I'll give you a brief little bit more information I got. 25 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,280 Let's see, I was born at a very young age. 26 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:34,960 You've heard that one before. Yeah. 27 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,400 It's really dumb. Yeah, I was. 28 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:42,080 I got saved in 1996 in Northern Michigan where I was raised and 29 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:46,800 moved to Washington very shortly thereafter and just got 30 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:48,840 discipled and trained by some guys. 31 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,840 As soon as I got saved, man, I was telling everybody about 32 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:53,360 Jesus. I just wanted everybody to know. 33 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,880 I was so blown away that God would forgive me of all of my 34 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,920 junk. Like I didn't deserve any of 35 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:00,800 that and I wanted everybody to know. 36 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,160 So I was telling, I was taking my buddies that were drinking 37 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,760 buddies the weekend before and now they also had a drug problem 38 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,520 because they got drug to church and they were, you know, I was 39 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,160 taking everybody to tell them about the Lord and stuff. 40 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,520 And how should I say? You know, I've, I've been 41 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,440 involved in evangelistic stuff for a long time, since the 90s, 42 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:22,440 right? Since way back in the 1900s, 43 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:23,040 kids. Yeah. 44 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,000 I'm ancient way back when, you know, Mount Hood was just being 45 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,320 formed. Yeah. 46 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,680 So I've, I've been doing evangelism for a long time. 47 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,960 My first overseas mission was 2000, and it was either six or 48 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,080 seven. Went to India and fell in love 49 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,120 with missions going around the world and preaching the gospel 50 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,600 to people who had never had opportunity to hear and OK, I am 51 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:52,160 up OK good so after that I went back to India every year from 52 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,880 Calvary Chapel tri-cities. We took teams at least 10 times 53 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,360 and been I've known Nick and Faye for a real long time and 54 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,000 let's see we joined youth with a mission 2015. 55 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,160 So when he says I went to Hawaii to lead School of Evangelism, 56 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,600 there's a School of Evangelism in Honolulu where people come 57 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,320 and get training and then we release them all over the world. 58 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,040 And we've released many long term workers into nations pretty 59 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,800 much all over the world, which has been really fulfilling. 60 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,000 Well, in the last year and a half, Steve Winery and I have 61 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,760 been talking about what if we took everything we do in youth 62 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,040 with a mission, running these missions and evangelism schools 63 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,040 and brought it into the Calvary Chapel family and just run it 64 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,640 Calvary style. So it's not a why Wham thing, 65 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,240 it's Calvary ministry. And we can offer that to all of 66 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,560 our Calvary churches because I don't know if you know this, but 67 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,520 around the world, there's something right around 2000 68 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,280 Calvary Chapel ministries around the world. 69 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,160 And we got great Bible schools, like a Bible college if you want 70 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,560 to learn how to study the Bible and preach and teach the Bible. 71 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,600 And there's two that I know of mission schools, but they, I 72 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:58,600 really, I'm not familiar with how their whole program works. 73 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,120 And so we just have, there's a need for it. 74 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,720 So we're introducing that this fall in Calvary, tri-cities. 75 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,600 And I'll tell you a little bit more about that later. 76 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,040 But so now you have a little history of who I am and what I'm 77 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:09,880 about. So I'm an ordained Calvary guy, 78 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,680 joined missions though, instead of just being a pastor. 79 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,880 And, and that's what we're really all about. 80 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,680 My wife and I, we have 6 kids, one of each. 81 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,360 And that's funny, stupid, dumb jokes. 82 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,160 I know there's more where those came from. 83 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,480 So we've got six kids and we live in Honolulu at the moment, 84 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,440 be back in Washington here probably by July. 85 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,400 But I don't have a picture of my family. 86 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,160 I should have done that. Yeah, none of them could come on 87 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,720 this trip because while I'm on the mainland, my family is. 88 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,440 We have family visiting, so my wife is out shopping and 89 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,400 spending all the money. So, yeah, it's expensive for me 90 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,640 to do a trip, but it's more expensive to leave her when I'm 91 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,200 on a trip. I'm just kidding, OK? 92 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:56,640 She's great. She's actually very frugal. 93 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:58,920 I love my wife. She's she's a saver. 94 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:03,080 OK, so this morning we're going to be in the book of Ephesians, 95 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:08,600 specifically focusing in on chapter 1, verses 15 to 19. 96 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,760 And this is part of one of the prayers of the Apostle Paul for 97 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,920 the church. OK, So as you're turning in your 98 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,120 Bibles, I will pray. So Father, we thank you that we 99 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,200 have the word of God in our hands and that great missionary, 100 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,480 the Apostle Paul, who went around planting churches, saving 101 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,240 souls and great works of God. You used him so mightily to 102 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,160 write to the churches then. And for thousands of years your 103 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,480 people have been blessed by how the Holy Spirit penned those 104 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:38,840 words long ago. And this morning I pray that you 105 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:41,320 bring them to life for us in Jesus name, Amen. 106 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,960 Amen. So in case he didn't know, these 107 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,040 Paul prays for people and these are the prayers of the apostle 108 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,040 Paul that you find in your New Testament. 109 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,280 OK, So different books of the Bible, these are the different 110 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,240 spots where he says I'm praying for you and he tells them what 111 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,960 he prays for them. So that's pretty neat, right? 112 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,640 So imagine if you got a letter from your pastor that just told 113 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,240 you, hey, I've been praying for you that God would do this in 114 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,760 your life. How encouraging that would be to 115 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,640 you as a believer, right? And so we have those things 116 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,440 recorded and these are prayers of the apostle Paul and I, I 117 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,000 give you that illustration there just so that you understand the 118 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,040 importance of prayer. And if you want to be a leader, 119 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,040 leaders should be bathing not just themselves, but their 120 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,800 ministries and the people they lead in prayer. 121 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,800 If you want to be involved in any type of ministry, you need 122 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,600 to pray about it and not just pray about should I do this but 123 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,280 even in the midst of it all the way through God, I need your 124 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:42,440 spirit to empower me to do this. God, would you bless people? 125 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,720 Would you minister to the people right, Amen. 126 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,480 OK, so let's get into this passage. 127 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:51,720 Ephesians 115 to 17. If you don't have your Bible you 128 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:53,760 can read on the screen. He says this. 129 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,520 Therefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus 130 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,840 and your love for all the Saints, do not cease to give 131 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:03,280 thanks for you. Making mention of you in my 132 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:04,400 prayers. Isn't that great? 133 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,720 I don't cease to give thanks for you, but I make mention of you 134 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,400 in my prayers. And this is what he prays, that 135 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,440 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may 136 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,120 give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge 137 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,320 of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, 138 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,000 that you may know. What is the hope of His calling? 139 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,080 What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the 140 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,000 Saints? And what is the exceeding 141 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,440 greatness of His power towards us who believe which He worked 142 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:35,040 in Christ Jesus when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him 143 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,200 at His right hand in the heavenly places? 144 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,320 Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, 145 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,800 and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also 146 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,760 that which is to come. So I really want to focus in 147 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:53,120 here on these two verses, 18 and 19, and there's four points 148 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,240 we're going to go over this morning that Paul lays out here 149 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:57,400 for us. What does he say? 150 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,520 That the eyes of your understanding may be 151 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,240 enlightened. The second is that you may know 152 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,640 the hope of His calling. The third is to understand what 153 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,120 are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? 154 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:13,080 And the fourth, what is the exceeding greatness of His power 155 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:18,360 towards us who believe? So First off, Ephesians 118, the 156 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,640 eyes of your understanding being enlightened, how many of you 157 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,480 guys have sang the song Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord, right? 158 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,640 We've sang that song and you think, what do you mean? 159 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:28,840 I don't have eyes in there, right? 160 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,799 There's what we can see with our natural eyes, and then there are 161 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:38,080 things that we see spiritually. There are things you can see in 162 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,240 the natural all around you, and then there are the things that 163 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,960 God wants you to see, seeing the world and everything in it 164 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,760 through the lens of a biblical worldview, right? 165 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,560 How many people hold to a biblical worldview these days? 166 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,240 There's people who profess that they do, but how many people 167 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:01,360 actually live like they believe and hold to a biblical worldview 168 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,520 in the days that we live? Barna just did a recent poll and 169 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,160 found that among millennials and Gen. 170 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,960 Z, this is already five years old information. 171 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:15,600 But among millennials and Gen. Z, who wants to take a guess how 172 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,600 many of them hold to a biblical worldview? 173 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:19,960 And by the way, this is in the church. 174 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,680 This is in the Christian Church, not just in America as a whole, 175 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,760 but in the church people who profess the name of Jesus. 176 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,440 How many people hold to a biblical worldview? 177 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:36,320 6% of millennials in Gen. Z And we live in a day and age 178 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,440 where you have people who might call themselves sexual atheists, 179 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,600 that is. Hey, when it comes to everything 180 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,080 else, yeah, I believe that, you know, it's a saying to cheat on 181 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,960 my taxes. It's a city, and I have a 182 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:47,840 biblical worldview. But when it comes to sexuality, 183 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,360 that's off limits. That's, that's mine. 184 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:55,840 We have a young generation that's being raised and trained 185 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,760 and taught to believe, not just in the schools, but every bit of 186 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,200 content they're consuming on television and social media is 187 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,560 telling them that there are no foundations of truth anymore and 188 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:09,760 eroding the foundations of even to the point where you can't 189 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,720 tell who's a boy and a girl anymore, right? 190 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:16,640 And there are things that are true. 191 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,560 There are things that are right. There is absolute truth. 192 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,280 Absolutely. If I can say it that way and you 193 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,520 know what's what's happened, though, this is what I've found. 194 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:27,240 I, I work with young people all the time. 195 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,360 And what I've found is because of this erosion of things like 196 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,400 basic knowledge, we all know there's such a thing as a boy 197 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:35,560 and a girl. Everybody knows that. 198 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:37,760 But you're being told not to believe that, right? 199 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,720 And so many other things you can see with your eyes, but you're 200 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,080 being told to think something else that there's, there's no 201 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,840 not necessarily any absolute or foundational truths. 202 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,520 What it's left is a vacuum for truth. 203 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,520 And there's a hunger in our young generation for people who 204 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,040 will just stand up and say it like it is, People who have the 205 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,160 conviction to say this is true. Why do you think people like 206 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,920 Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan, they're not even Christian 207 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:02,960 people, but they're so popular among young people. 208 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:04,680 You know why? Because they say it like it is. 209 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:06,640 And they tell the truth unapologetically. 210 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,760 And it's a magnet for people because everyone else is just 211 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,800 like, oh, there's no such thing. You know, I can't tell. 212 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:15,200 So what am I trying to get out here? 213 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,680 What I'm trying to say is there's a way of looking at 214 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,200 things in the natural, and then there's a way of things that 215 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,600 looking in the spiritual. There's things that the world 216 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,200 wants you to see. There's things that you can see 217 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,080 with your natural eyes. And then there's the things that 218 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:33,160 God wants you and I to see. Revelation chapter 3 in verse 8, 219 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,840 Jesus tells the Laodicean church, He says you have a name 220 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:38,320 that you can see, but you really don't. 221 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,800 You actually are blind. You think you can see, but 222 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:42,160 you're miserable and naked and blind. 223 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,920 But he says this in verse 18 of Revelation chapter 3. 224 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,760 He says I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire 225 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,440 so that you may be rich and white garments so that you may 226 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,600 clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen 227 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,240 and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 228 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,320 When Jesus was on the earth and he he was sharing simple truths 229 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,720 with people and they were so confused. 230 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:09,760 I don't know about you, but before I was saved, I'd read the 231 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,120 Bible and I'd say, what is he talking about fishing and 232 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,360 farming? And it's like, what does that 233 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,520 have to do with anything? What I'm trying to figure out is 234 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:17,480 how to get right with God and he's telling me about this stuff 235 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,960 and he says Matthew 1313. He says seeing they may see, 236 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:24,760 hearing, they may not hear nor do they understand. 237 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,040 Why is that? It's because the natural man 238 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,360 does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, neither can 239 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,960 he know them because they're spiritually understood. 240 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,320 If we were out on the street over here and a blind person was 241 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,200 walking along and tripped on the curb, we wouldn't say get up, 242 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:43,560 you idiot. What'd you do that for? 243 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,840 You would never do that, would you? 244 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,800 Because they cannot see. And when we're dealing with a 245 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,320 world that's blind, I know it's frustrating to see people 246 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,240 eroding foundations of truth and morality all around us. 247 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:58,040 And we just, it's agonizing that that's happening to our nation 248 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,560 and to the whole world, really. But they cannot see, friends. 249 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,840 A blind person cannot see. Can we have compassion on them? 250 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,960 Instead of seeing the world merely as political foes we need 251 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,440 to defeat at the ballot box, could I see them as lost sheep 252 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,520 without a shepherd who can't see like like God says of the 253 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,360 Ninevites after he delivered that great city and Jonah, he's 254 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:21,880 all ticked off. He's like, I knew you were going 255 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:23,800 to save these people. I knew if they repented, you 256 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,840 would forgive them. And God says, shouldn't I care 257 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,040 for these people? There's 120,000 people who don't 258 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:31,520 know their right hand from their left. 259 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,320 That's how God saw them. He had compassion on that big 260 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,200 city. And by the way, these were vile 261 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,240 people. They were, if you read into the 262 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,360 history of the Ninevites, who were they and what did they do? 263 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,200 They were like ISIS. These people were vicious, and 264 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,560 that's why, you know, Jonah, he didn't want to go because he 265 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:49,320 knew God would forgive him. He's like, no, I want them to 266 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,040 get judged. And God says, shouldn't I have 267 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,280 compassion on this city? And Jesus looked on the 268 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,120 multitudes that had compassion on them. 269 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,960 Can you and I do the same thing when we're living our daily 270 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,960 lives and you go to the grocery store? 271 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:04,720 Is it just a line of people in front of you? 272 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,080 When it's really busy times of skiing or beaching in the 273 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,120 summers around here in Sandpoint and the traffic, you know how it 274 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,040 gets right? Now, Do you just see a bunch of 275 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,720 annoying pests in your way, right? 276 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,880 Or now when you think about maybe I should share the gospel, 277 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:21,680 Elizabeth, like, well, I can't do that, I'm so busy. 278 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:27,440 Are people an inconvenience to your day or do we see them like 279 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,760 God sees them? People with infinite value and 280 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:36,560 worth, worth more than all the gold in the world, right In Luke 281 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,320 chapter 24, Jesus, after he had resurrected from the dead, he 282 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,640 was walking with two guys on the way to Emmaus and they didn't 283 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,280 know who he was, even though it was Jesus and they were talking 284 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,440 about Jesus and they didn't even know it was him that was walking 285 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,200 with him. Afterwards, he he sat down to 286 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,200 eat with them and it says he opened their eyes and when they 287 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,960 had their eyes open, then they saw him for who he really was. 288 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,520 The same thing happened a few verses later in the same 289 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,400 chapter. He appears to the disciples in 290 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,520 the upper room because they were, you know, feeling 291 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,440 defeated. There's the Messiah was gone and 292 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,280 when he appeared to them, they're like, it's a ghost. 293 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,360 They're freaking out. But he says don't worry, touch 294 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:15,880 my hands and feet. It's really me. 295 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,480 He sits down and eats with them and it says in verse 45, he 296 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,400 opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. 297 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,440 And what we need to have is a revelation from God for each of 298 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,960 us so that the eyes of our understanding can be 299 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,960 enlightened. There are things you can 300 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,920 definitely see in the natural, but there's things that God 301 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,520 wants you to see. So actually in verse 17, if you 302 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,800 still have your Bible open of the same passage, see here in 303 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:45,680 verse 17, what we just read that God would give us the spirit of 304 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,400 wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 305 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,480 You know, Jesus asked the disciples once, who do men say 306 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,600 that I am? And they said, well, some say 307 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,360 you're Elijah, some say a prophet and some say you're John 308 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,000 the Baptist risen from the dead. And he says, but who do you say 309 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,400 that I am? And you remember Peter says 310 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:05,680 you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. 311 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,440 And Jesus says to him, blessed are you Simon, son of Barjona, 312 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,440 flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. 313 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,240 But my father who's in heaven. See the revelation even of who 314 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,040 Jesus is is God-given. We can read about him, but the 315 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,760 the full revelation of who he is is God-given. 316 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:26,280 And So what I'm trying to get at is all of us need to have our 317 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,320 spiritual eyes opened by the Father, by the Holy Spirit. 318 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,240 And so if I want to see this world through the lens of a 319 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,960 biblical worldview, then I need to ask God for it. 320 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,680 Not just for my behavior sake so that I don't cheat on my taxes 321 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,480 and what else other things and behave sexually and all that, 322 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:46,000 but also so that I can see the people in it with compassion and 323 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,080 not feel like I'm always contending with them or not 324 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,280 caring about them or, or lacking compassion, but that I would 325 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,560 always see them the way Jesus does. 326 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,280 Paul says this in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 16 to 18. 327 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,120 This is right after he lists all the different things he had 328 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,839 endured and he says, I've been pressed down. 329 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:08,520 I've been, you know, I've been imprisoned and he's, he's, he 330 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:09,520 lists all these different things. 331 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,240 He's been through difficulties and he says this about it. 332 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,720 He says, therefore we don't lose heart, even though our outward 333 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,920 man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 334 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,079 Yes, the outward man is perishing, right. 335 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:25,560 We all know that. And there's people who are very 336 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,720 young in our crowd this morning whose bodies are like, fit as a 337 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,160 fiddle. You can eat anything you want, 338 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,640 and it doesn't show up here. And then there's others of us, 339 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,280 and we've lost our hair. And, you know, our bodies are 340 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:38,640 continually falling apart just physically. 341 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,560 And on the outside. We can be, you know, oppressed 342 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,400 in all kinds of a ways. And Paul says the outward man, 343 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,320 yes, is perishing, but the inward man, this inner me is 344 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,040 being renewed day by day, every day, right. 345 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,640 And he says this in verse 17 for our light affliction, which is 346 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,800 but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and 347 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,280 eternal weight of glory. You know, those people who are 348 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,040 like, everything's working against me. 349 00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:03,720 Oh the devil, he's trying to get me. 350 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,320 Oh, are those people at the bank, they hit me with these 351 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,600 overdraft fees or the police, they pulled me over. 352 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:10,200 They're just trying to find someone to give it. 353 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,800 And it's like all the time, everything's working against me. 354 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,320 Everything in their life working against them. 355 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,240 Paul didn't see his problems that way. 356 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,280 And his problems were far greater than yours, by the way. 357 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,720 And he says our light affliction, which is but for a 358 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,360 moment, OK, So that's how he viewed it, temporary, But he 359 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:32,120 says this, it's working for us. My problems are working for me. 360 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,080 Why? Because if God is allowing this 361 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,480 thing in my life, like I prayed about it and God hasn't 362 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,400 delivered me and he's allowing it in my life, then certainly 363 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,680 God must be doing something greater than the trial in me. 364 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,120 And that's what Paul says. He says it's working for us a 365 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,760 far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 366 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:52,840 We don't look at the things which are seen, but at the 367 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,160 things which are unseen. For the things which are seen 368 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,800 are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 369 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,000 God give us those eyes that we could see not just our life and 370 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,760 all the things in it through the lens of a biblical worldview, 371 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,920 but as I am sojourning in this world as a representative agent 372 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:17,320 of God to this world, how can I have my heavenly eyes opened? 373 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,000 You know the the expression, oh, that guy, he just sees 374 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,920 everything through those rose colored glasses. 375 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:23,840 You know that expression because they always look on the bright 376 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:25,000 side of everything. You've heard it. 377 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,040 I want to be the person who has these eternal glasses somehow, 378 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,680 if I could use the word that I look at everything through the 379 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:33,840 lens of its eternal value. Amen. 380 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,600 Save ourselves a lot of pain in this life by having that 381 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,400 perspective. The second thing he says is that 382 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,200 we would know the hope of His calling. 383 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,120 OK, So yes, He wants our spiritual eyes under open so we 384 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:50,280 could have spiritual understanding, but he wants us 385 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:54,640 to know the hope of His calling. So what's the calling of God on 386 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:59,080 your life, on this church, for your community? 387 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,960 What's the hope of His calling when the Bible uses this word? 388 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,800 Hope. It's not like when we say I I 389 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,120 hope I win the lottery because we don't know if it's going to 390 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,840 happen. It's like you're anxiously 391 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,280 hoping that it might happen. But the hope in the Bible is 392 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,920 that the literal translation is a confident expectation. 393 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,040 When I know that God has promised it, I am confidently 394 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,760 expecting it. When I was first interested in 395 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,760 marrying my wife, we were dating and I was like, this is the girl 396 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,840 for me. I hope that this happens. 397 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,760 When I asked her to marry me and she said yes, I was like, yes, 398 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,920 praise God, we actually eloped. I couldn't wait for the wedding. 399 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,280 I was took it right down to the courthouse. 400 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:40,480 We did it up. I didn't want her to change her 401 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,040 mind. I'm just kidding. 402 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,360 The the wedding plans weren't going so good. 403 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,840 So we just said, forget it. We got married, but I moved past 404 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,960 the realm of I hope she says yes into the realm of once that ring 405 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,000 is on her finger. Now there's a confident 406 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,440 expectation this is happening, right? 407 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:01,160 It's going to happen in so many other areas of our life. 408 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,080 We have hope where we have a faith that we're believing for 409 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:08,200 something, but it's also a confident expectation when it 410 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,640 comes to the things of God. I know he's going to keep his 411 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,440 word in my life. And that's what God is trying to 412 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:15,800 have. What he's trying to explain to 413 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,440 us is the the, what faith ought to be like. 414 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,640 So there's an example in the in the life of Abraham. 415 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,080 And in Romans chapter 4, he's talking about Abraham. 416 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,280 And he says this because Abraham was given a promise too, that 417 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,960 he's going to have a son. And he says, how's this going 418 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,240 to, how's this going to happen? I'm an old man, my wife's too 419 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,480 old. Scientifically, this isn't 420 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,120 happening right now. He had questions, but he did 421 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,160 have faith. He trusted, he believed God. 422 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,760 But it says this about him in verse 20 of chapter 4 of Romans, 423 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,880 it says this. He did not waver through 424 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,360 unbelief regarding the promise of God, but he was strong in his 425 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,880 faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what 426 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,920 God had promised, he was able also to perform. 427 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,200 He was fully persuaded that what God promised him, he was able 428 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,360 also to perform. It sounds crazy. 429 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,160 You're going to have a child in your old age, but he believed 430 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,160 him and so he became the father of faith. 431 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,320 So when God says he has a calling on my life and yours, do 432 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:17,040 we believe it? In this same chapter of 433 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:20,200 Ephesians chapter 1, if you if you have it in your Bible open 434 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,000 look at verse 13 and 14. He says this in whom you also 435 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,680 trusted. Obviously talking about Jesus 436 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,200 after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your 437 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:32,160 salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with 438 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,600 the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our 439 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,800 inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to 440 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,080 the praise of his glory. He's using the language there of 441 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,280 like a down payment. Anybody ever buy a house and you 442 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,280 have to put a down payment. I used to build houses for a 443 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,480 living before missions, and when somebody would come into our 444 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,240 office and want a particular lot and a floor plan, we would get 445 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,280 earnest money from them, which is down payment. 446 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,400 You'd give your earnest money. That's the guarantee. 447 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,320 So if I'm going to go out on a limb and build this $300,000 448 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,000 home back then you could buy one that cheap. 449 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,440 If I'm going to go out on a limb and build this $300,000 home, 450 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,040 then that earnest money is the guarantee. 451 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,160 You're going to come in at the end and fulfill your obligation 452 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,120 to buy it, right? And the what? 453 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,840 Or if maybe if you bought a car, the bank wants a down payment so 454 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,960 they know that's like a guarantee you're going to 455 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,360 continue to make those payments and pay that loan off. 456 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,800 Well, the Bible uses this language about the Holy Spirit. 457 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:28,160 Listen to this again. In whom also having believed you 458 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,960 were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the 459 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,440 guarantee? The Holy Spirit is the guarantee 460 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,000 of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased 461 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,120 possession. You are the purchased possession 462 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:42,120 that's going to be fully redeemed when you eventually get 463 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:44,640 to be with the Lord in person, right to the praise of His 464 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,840 glory. So when people ask me stuff 465 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:49,840 like, Billy, why, why are you all fired up all the time? 466 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,680 Do you just like get in the mirror in the morning and be 467 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,320 like, come on, man, we're going to do it today. 468 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,840 You're going to be awesome. I don't have to do any of that. 469 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,200 Like before a football game and everybody's in the locker room 470 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,240 like pumping each other up. It's not hype. 471 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,640 It's a real confident expectation of faith in the 472 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,240 promises of God. I really believe that he's 473 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,680 forgiven all of my sins. I absolutely know I have eternal 474 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:12,880 life. And because of that, it gives me 475 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,760 a joy. It gives me a physical energy. 476 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,000 You know what the secret is to having a life of maintained joy 477 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,240 in your Christian walk? It's just focusing on the fact 478 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:23,520 that your name is written in heaven. 479 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:25,920 That's what Jesus told the disciples in Luke chapter 10. 480 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,800 They had just come back from casting out demons and stuff. 481 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,000 They were all fired up. They said even the demons are 482 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,400 subject to us in your name. And Jesus says, I saw Satan fall 483 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,440 like lightning from heaven, and I've given you authority to 484 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,000 trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power 485 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,280 of the enemy. Nothing will by any means hurt 486 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:44,840 you. What a promise, right? 487 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:49,160 But then he says, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the 488 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,320 spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are 489 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,160 written in heaven. See if my if my joy is a 490 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,600 Christian or your joy is a Christian is in the fact that 491 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,720 life is sweet, things are going good, bills are paid. 492 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,800 You know my health feels I'm feeling good, then you're going 493 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,520 to lose your joy when things go bad. 494 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,600 But if your joy is a Christian, is first founded in the fact 495 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:15,280 that your name is there, you have eternal life, then you're 496 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,400 going to maintain a peace that passes all human understanding 497 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,520 and a joy in the Lord even in the midst of life's most 498 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,600 difficult and even grievous situations. 499 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:29,040 You can stand over the grave of a friend, a loved one, and still 500 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,560 know this is not the end. You can have tears coming down, 501 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,080 real grief, and still maintain peace in your heart and even a 502 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,360 joy that the world can a comprehend, right? 503 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,520 Because we know the hope of Our Calling. 504 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,880 We have this confident expectation of God's ultimate 505 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,640 call that we're going to be home with Him. 506 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,280 All the promises of God are yes and Amen in Christ. 507 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:54,000 So what's His calling on your life specifically? 508 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:56,920 Many people have never even considered that I'm just going 509 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,120 to kind of live my life and pay my bills and acquire property, 510 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:04,880 shoot deer, shoot pheasants, catch fish, marry a nice lady. 511 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,320 We have some kids, reproduce, and hopefully they grew up to be 512 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,400 upstanding citizens. A lot of people just have that 513 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:12,760 mentality. This is what God called me to. 514 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,560 But what if God had other things in mind for your life as well, a 515 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,400 spiritual calling on your life in the midst of all that, I'd 516 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,200 say pursue all that. Yeah, that's like the American 517 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:22,200 dream. Go for it. 518 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,720 But in the midst of it, what if God had other things he wanted 519 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,120 for you to accomplish for his Kingdom purposes? 520 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,080 If you were musically talented and you said, you know, I really 521 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,240 love that acapella. She crushed it this morning. 522 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,160 That was beautiful. But I can play the guitar. 523 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,800 I can help you. Or I can play that keyboard. 524 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,760 I can help you. You guys need help standing out 525 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,760 front just handing out Flyers or putting stuff at the shopping 526 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,280 malls or if you have a shopping mall here, wherever it would be 527 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:55,000 to tell people about bridges. You know Ephesians 210 says this 528 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,400 about you. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10 529 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,000 God says this about you. We are His handiwork, created in 530 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,640 Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance 531 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:12,800 for us to walk in them. You are God's creation, created 532 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,800 in Christ Jesus for good works which he prepared in advance for 533 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,680 you to walk in them. Guys, that speaks of a destiny 534 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,960 about your life, like a purpose that God actually has for you. 535 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,720 There is a call on every single person in this room. 536 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:29,440 Yeah, there's a call in your life. 537 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,360 In the natural. We can seek God for direction. 538 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,360 Should I buy this house? Should I move to this area? 539 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,360 Should I come and pastor a church in Sandpoint? 540 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:39,480 Right, And we can hear God and, and, and obey him in those 541 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:45,080 directions. But a lot of Christians that I 542 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,400 meet haven't done that because, well, first of all, we don't 543 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,320 want to be presumptuous. I'm special, God, what do you 544 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,760 have for me? We don't want to be that person, 545 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:53,280 right? Nobody. 546 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,520 Well, some people might want that, but we don't. 547 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,160 We want to be people who walk in humility. 548 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:00,080 And so there's this resistance to be presumptuous. 549 00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,280 On the other hand, can we take God at His Word and believe that 550 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:05,920 you've created me for something special? 551 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:08,280 It may not look like anybody else's. 552 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,200 I don't have to try to be Billy Graham or Greg Laurie. 553 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,320 I can just be who I am in Christ, and so can you. 554 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,880 You don't have to try to mimic someone else. 555 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,200 You can say, God, what have you created me for? 556 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:23,840 So we all end up somewhere in life, but very few people end up 557 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:30,360 there on purpose. It's true, a lot of people just 558 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:33,680 live there without any vision for 5 or 10 or 15 years in the 559 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,160 future. We make those plans with our 560 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,520 money. Yes, we have 4 O1 KS and Iras 561 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,360 and those kind of plans, but what if we had a faith goal? 562 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,880 My God, I want to serve you. I think this year I could just 563 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:51,800 maybe evangelize once a month or lead one person to Christ this 564 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,400 year or maybe and have a faith goal. 565 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,080 God, I want to read to the whole Bible this year. 566 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:57,760 I'm going to get one of those Bible reading calendars. 567 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,240 I'm going to do it. Simple things that will build 568 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:08,960 your spiritual life. This is the other thing. 569 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:10,960 Why people don't pursue it is because they feel like they blew 570 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,880 it, like you missed God's perfect will. 571 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,400 It's too late for me, you know, now I'm married and I have kids 572 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,480 and what am I supposed to do? I'm a very busy mom or I'm a, 573 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,160 I'm married and my wife has kids and now I have to work my tail 574 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,200 off to support those kids. We have these ideas of like, you 575 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,520 know, I, I thought I might have had a vision from God. 576 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,720 You know, I joined missions with five kids. 577 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:33,400 We had a kid while on the mission field. 578 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,440 And a lot of people think you can't go and do missions if you 579 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:36,680 have a family. How could you do that? 580 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,080 If you're hearing from God and God is directing your life, you 581 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:43,000 can walk in perfect obedience. And some people think they've 582 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:48,000 disqualified themselves because of either neglect or even a sin 583 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,920 in their life. In Romans 11/29, it tells us 584 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,480 that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 585 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,200 I've always read like about Samson and thank God. 586 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,320 Why did you still give this guy strength even in the midst of 587 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,080 all of his stupid moves and sin and all that? 588 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,400 The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. 589 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:12,280 And some of you might need to hear that today. 590 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,960 You felt like God called you to something before, but, well, I 591 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,240 missed it. You didn't miss it. 592 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:20,640 Here we have these really cool things on our phone these days. 593 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,320 We didn't used to have this, but Maps. 594 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,240 I used Maps to get here this morning. 595 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,600 And you guys use Maps. Or if you're on the dark side of 596 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,840 the forest and you have Google Maps and you're using a Droid, 597 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:35,680 Droid is the dark side of the fork. 598 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,160 It is a Star Wars joke. Told you there was more coming. 599 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,120 The Maps app on your phone. If you've ever like gone 600 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,160 somewhere and I'm driving, I'm talking to my wife, or maybe I'm 601 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,080 daydreaming and I get distracted, I miss a turn. 602 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:50,320 What does Maps do? Reroute, recalculate. 603 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,520 No big deal. If I get distracted a second 604 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,680 time and miss it or if I say technology is stupid, I know 605 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,280 where I'm going. I tried to go off and I'm way 606 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,000 off in the weeds somewhere. Or I stop at a gas station. 607 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:04,880 Maps just reroutes. It doesn't get frustrated and 608 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,480 say, you bonehead, I'm done with you and you know, call me back 609 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,520 when you're ready to follow my It doesn't do any of that. 610 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,360 But Maps just reroutes. It still knows, no matter how 611 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,520 far I go over here, how to get me to there. 612 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,720 And in your life, you may have gone off of God's perfect plan. 613 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:21,760 I mean, everybody has through sin, right? 614 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,880 Until you get saved, everybody's gone way off of God's perfect 615 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,960 intention for their life. But even as a child of God, you 616 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,520 may have strayed off of God's perfect plan for your life 617 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,560 through decisions you've made, even decisions someone else has 618 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:37,160 made that impacted you may have derailed the perfect plan. 619 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,480 But God still knows how to take you from where you are to where 620 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,640 He wants you to be. At any time in your life, you 621 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,320 can come back into alignment with God's perfect will and say, 622 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,920 OK, God, I may have neglected your call before, but I'm ready 623 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:51,400 now. I'm sorry, if will you forgive 624 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,160 me? And he's not a petty father. 625 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,480 Oh, you're on probation for six months, and then we'll see if 626 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,240 you really mean it this time. He doesn't do that to us, does 627 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,880 he? God's a good dad. 628 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,520 But the gifts and the calling of God, they're irrevocable. 629 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,040 And you know, guys, you know this. 630 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,880 You are alive for a reason. I used to think that I was 631 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:13,880 special, you know, when I was young growing up, like, I just 632 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,840 had a sense of like my life is made for more than just the 633 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,080 status quo. But the more that I've talked to 634 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,000 other people and the more I travel literally all around this 635 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,960 world, I'm not alone in that. Everybody has this sense of I 636 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,880 was made for more than just to be living out a life of other 637 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,040 people's expectations and the weary grind of just the status 638 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,520 quo and the ordinary. I was made for more than this, 639 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:37,880 and you know that about your life. 640 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,120 Why do I, why am I so confident in saying that? 641 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:43,760 Because it tells me in Ephesians 210 you were created in Christ 642 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,360 for good works which God prepared in advance for you to 643 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,640 walk in them. And all you have to do is 644 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,400 discover what they are. You can know the hope of God's 645 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:56,800 calling for your life. There's things people pursue in 646 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,680 this world, earthly riches. They give this illusion and 647 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,600 Jesus called it deception, that he called it the deceitfulness 648 00:33:03,600 --> 00:33:05,520 of riches. Choke the word and make it 649 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,400 unfruitful in your life. If you want to pursue the world 650 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,680 and the riches of the world, it will literally choke God's word 651 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,680 and the fruitfulness he wants to bear in your life. 652 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,280 But our, our culture says no, no, no, actually you can. 653 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,200 You can, you can serve God in mammon. 654 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,800 It's actually a sign of God's blessing on your life with your 655 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:27,200 economic prosperity. And sometimes God blesses us. 656 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,080 There's no question but the heart. 657 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,960 If your heart is to pursue wealth and riches, it will choke 658 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,680 the word of God in your life and make you unfruitful. 659 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,840 We live right now in the wealthiest generation in all of 660 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,160 human history. No question. 661 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,160 We have so much at our fingertips. 662 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,680 All the information the world has ever known is at your 663 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:50,600 fingertips right now. And now with the advancements of 664 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:54,440 AI, you can ask it anything and get answers to things way 665 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:57,520 smarter than you are. You know, it's crazy, but we 666 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:01,760 have medical advancements. The world has never known food. 667 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,680 I mean, just our health. Even though we have all those 668 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,560 advancements, we're like the unhealthiest generation probably 669 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,400 the world has ever seen. We're the most connected 670 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:14,239 generation in history with all of our social medias and 671 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,480 everything. And yet why are we still? 672 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,000 We might be the wealthiest, but we're the most unfulfilled. 673 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:22,960 We might have the most access to healthcare, but we're the most 674 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,000 unhealthy. We might have the most access to 675 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,440 connection to other people, but we're the loneliest generation. 676 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:34,280 Why? Because those things will never 677 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:38,639 fulfill your life. It's the pursuit of all that 678 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:42,800 earthly stuff that people think. The money, the position, the 679 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,960 popularity, the power, all those things the world seeks after and 680 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,239 thinks if only if I get that, then I'll be satisfied. 681 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,920 And I've done it, guys. I've chased that stuff and found 682 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,639 it all empty. I was at the top. 683 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:55,239 Nick knows I was at the top of the ladder. 684 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:56,960 I built a brand new house every couple years. 685 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,760 We had to lay all of that down to pursue missions because I 686 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,280 know I can't pursue both at once. 687 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:10,520 I can't do it. And ultimately they, it's always 688 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,920 been the lie of the devil that you're going to find purpose, 689 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,320 fulfillment and meaning in your life through material things. 690 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,440 Solomon found out, just read the book of Ecclesiastes and you'll 691 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:25,800 see he got all of it. And he said it's vanity. 692 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,760 It's chasing after the wind. You ever tried to chase the 693 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:29,920 wind? I did this when I was a kid. 694 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:32,280 I had a cardboard box and it was windy and I was like, I'm 695 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,280 catching it. I tried this and I was out in 696 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,320 the yard on a windy day and I tried like 5 times and I'd open 697 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:38,400 the box. Guess what came out? 698 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,760 Nothing. And that's what your life will 699 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:43,240 be like. If you want to chase those 700 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,280 things, you will chase and chase and chase. 701 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,320 And even if you climb the pinnacle of success at the end 702 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,720 of your life, you'll open it up. There's nothing. 703 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,160 What if you got to the end of your life and you stood before 704 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:00,080 God and you chased everything that this world has to offer and 705 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,760 you found out that you succeeded in the things that mattered the 706 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,800 least. You may have had some temporary 707 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,600 success, but there were other things. 708 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,400 God called you in your life. He had a purpose for you. 709 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:13,320 He had a destiny. He had a calling on your life, 710 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:15,840 and instead you chased everything the world had to 711 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,680 offer. You succeeded in the things that 712 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:22,040 mattered the least. That would be more. 713 00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:27,440 That's so tragic to have that be our lives, and I don't want it 714 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,360 to be mine. It's been said poor people chase 715 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:32,800 money. It's true, right? 716 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:37,240 Rich people chase things, getting more, having things. 717 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,680 Wealthy people, people who have it all chase purpose. 718 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,000 They want meaning. And I sat down with a guy, his 719 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,800 friend of mine's name is Chris. He's a venture capitalist, has 720 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:54,000 hundreds of millions of dollars and he said Billy the rich are 721 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,440 the loneliest people in the world. 722 00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:01,040 We were in San Diego in a very just like what you see in the 723 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,440 movies with all these private clubs where all the millionaires 724 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,880 and billionaires go with their kids and play tennis and they're 725 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,440 all, it was real fancy. So he took me to lunch there and 726 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,600 he wasn't trying to show off. We were talking about how to how 727 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,480 to raise money for one of our youth with a mission campuses. 728 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:17,440 We had a big campaign. We're trying to raise about 20 729 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,680 million bucks. So he was counseling me on how 730 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:21,120 to raise money. OK. 731 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,200 And he turned in to be a very great friend. 732 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,200 But he said Billy the Rich, He said we're the loneliest people 733 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,320 in the world. We have everything, but we're 734 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,360 the loneliest because once you get everything, it doesn't give 735 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:33,840 you any sense of meaning or purpose. 736 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:39,640 It's actually empty. Ecclesiastes 712 tells us wisdom 737 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:41,400 is a shelter as money is a shelter. 738 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,280 But the advantage of wisdom is this. 739 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,680 It preserves the life of its professor possessor. 740 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,120 Wisdom preserves your life. Jesus says this in Matthew 6. 741 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:54,560 Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth 742 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,760 and rust will destroy, where thieves break in and steal. 743 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,600 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth 744 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,040 nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and 745 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,840 steal. Right for where your treasure 746 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,320 is, there's your heart. Also there's people chasing 747 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:12,080 treasures on earth. And you know what? 748 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:15,240 All you have to do is go to the junkyard and look at people's 749 00:38:15,240 --> 00:38:18,080 dreams. Serious. 750 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:22,800 Go to East Pasco and look at, you know, years ago, that 751 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,440 neighborhood, that house, somebody overextended 752 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,080 themselves, acquired a loan they could barely afford. 753 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:30,760 And a few years later, it's, it's enough. 754 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,680 It's nothing. It's to get. 755 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:36,400 We used to build houses in a subdivision called Sunny 756 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,360 Meadows. OK, Sunny Meadows. 757 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:40,240 It was all the brand new neighborhood and people were 758 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:41,760 coming to buy homes. You know what they call it now, 759 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,000 25 years later? Sunny Ghettos. 760 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,160 Seriously, the name, the nickname of it, and this is 761 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,120 people's dreams. That's what happens to those 762 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:52,400 things. So in first Timothy, Paul says 763 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:54,880 told those who are rich in this world, people who do have 764 00:38:54,880 --> 00:39:00,120 riches, to be rich in good deeds, to do good and be rich in 765 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,640 good deeds. Be rich in the things that 766 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,080 matter. If God blesses you with 767 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,880 financial wealth, great. So that's, that's a good thing. 768 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:10,720 But use it for Kingdom purposes. Amen. 769 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:13,360 Be rich in good deeds, be rich in the things that matter. 770 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,200 Some people are so poor, all they have is their money. 771 00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:20,920 I got nothing else. And they're going to get to the 772 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,240 end of their life and stand before God. 773 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:25,900 They're not taking in. You don't see a hearse behind EU 774 00:39:25,900 --> 00:39:27,840 Haul, right? No. 775 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,520 A U-Haul behind a hearse, That's the other way around. 776 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:32,840 I often joked if I could ever like, rent a hearse someday, I'd 777 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:35,600 just also rent EU Haul and drive it around town just for laughs. 778 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:42,280 See what people say. Yeah, what if we stopped trying 779 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,400 to get rich financially and started to try to live a rich 780 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,880 life and finding things to invest our time in in the hope 781 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,000 of God's calling on our life? You may not know what that is 782 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,200 right now. And you just seriously, we can 783 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,280 ask Him, Lord, what do you have for me? 784 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:04,040 So we should know what are the riches of his glory, of the 785 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,240 glory of his inheritance in the Saints? 786 00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:08,880 We've been talking a little bit about earthly riches versus true 787 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,040 riches already. What are some of the riches God 788 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:15,440 has for us? If you think about it, what are 789 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,920 the things he's promised? What are the heavenly riches? 790 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:19,880 Well, of course there's fellowship with the life of God 791 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:22,120 that you never had before you were saved. 792 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:28,360 The whole world is trying to fill that vacuum, that emptiness 793 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:34,360 with things or with pleasure, with relationships, position, 794 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,920 you know, the things that people chase to try to find meaning in 795 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,760 their life. The whole world is looking for 796 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:41,880 that, and then as soon as they acquire, it comes up empty. 797 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:47,960 But identity and relationship with God, true fellowship with 798 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,480 God is where you'll find ultimate meaning and purpose for 799 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,120 your life. Nothing can replace that. 800 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:58,440 You get to experience His peace, His forgiveness, no longer have 801 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,440 any fear of death, no longer have any fear of judgement of 802 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,440 God, the forgiveness of God, the peace that passes understanding. 803 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,360 You have His promises and His faithfulness in your life. 804 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,480 The the just the joy of seeing God answer your prayer in little 805 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,800 and small like small things and big things. 806 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:18,960 I've had God answer the prayers of the tiniest things. 807 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,280 Just a few days ago there were four guys. 808 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,680 We were in the garage at Youth with the Mission in Honolulu. 809 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:26,600 One of the young guys moped. Mopeds are real popular in 810 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:28,680 Hawaii. One of the guys moped had a flat 811 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:29,960 tire. So we were trying to put a new 812 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,160 tire on his little rim. Little tiny tire about this big 813 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:38,480 around like this big four of us. 4B. 814 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:40,480 I've changed many tires. It's hard to get a little. 815 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,760 I think it's harder to get a little tire than a big tire. 816 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,520 Anyways, we were soaping this up. 817 00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:47,560 We were trying to ratchet it on. We had the air compressor for 40 818 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,600 minutes. And I was like, have you guys 819 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:51,160 prayed about this when I first got out there? 820 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,880 And they were like, no, not yet, but here, let's do this. 821 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:55,880 And then we just kept working. And I was like, we should pray. 822 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:57,520 And then we just were like, yeah, but let's try this first. 823 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:01,240 And that didn't work. After 40 minutes, I said, guys, 824 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:03,400 we got to pray. So here's four of us standing 825 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:06,120 there in all humility. God, this little piece of rubber 826 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,520 has defeated us. We're stupid. 827 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:13,080 You're smart, you know. And as God is my witness, this 828 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:15,600 kid named Bauer, he bends over and hooks up the air compressor, 829 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,040 and it's seated on the rim just like that. 830 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,600 Because we prayed. Now, I know that seems like a 831 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:25,160 very trivial, silly prayer request when people are praying 832 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:29,840 for deliverance from cancer and like having very serious things 833 00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,240 they're dealing with in life. But I've seen God answer those 834 00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:37,400 prayers too. Jesus said, hey, even the hairs 835 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,920 of your head are numbered. Now that sounds really trivial, 836 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:42,600 but it's a truth God wants us to know. 837 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,800 He cares about even the tiniest things in your life that you 838 00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:47,240 don't even know. I don't know how many hairs are 839 00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:49,920 on my head. Well, there's, Yeah, not that 840 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:53,240 many anymore, but you don't know how many hairs are on your head. 841 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:54,880 But God wants you to know that He does. 842 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:57,880 He cares about every little detail in your life. 843 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:02,320 The true riches of knowing God. You have a rich, vibrant, 844 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,400 abundant life. When I came to know Christ, 845 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,480 that's when I really began to live in life, came alive to me. 846 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:09,680 Yeah. There's the people that God 847 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,800 gives us, the people we get to do life with, the people in your 848 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,480 fellowship. What about the promises of 849 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:20,000 eternal life? Brand new bodies waiting for us, 850 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,880 right? So maybe when we get to heaven, 851 00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:23,360 I'm going to have this Brillo pad, right? 852 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:26,000 Or that. Either that or you'll all be 853 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:30,320 bald. Yeah, but I doubt it. 854 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:36,560 I often joke God made some perfect heads or beautiful 855 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:38,160 heads, and then he put hair on all the rest of them. 856 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,720 But Jesus says I'm going to prepare a place for you. 857 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:46,960 The things God has promised us, eye has not seen, ear has not 858 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,680 heard, neither has it even entered the mind of man. 859 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,080 The things that God has prepared for those who love him. 860 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:57,440 If you asked my 8 year old son Tyler, what is the greatest 861 00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:00,440 experience in life? What is the pinnacle of human 862 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:04,200 pleasure or enjoyment? His whole worldview is wrapped 863 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,720 up in what's his latest thing? Twinkies, I think Yeah. 864 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:13,480 And we all laugh, don't we? Because it's like the we know 865 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:15,920 that there's things in life that are a whole lot more fulfilling, 866 00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,320 a whole lot more fun, a whole lot more pleasurable, a whole 867 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,480 lot, you know, there's things that give way more satisfaction 868 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:24,240 in life than a Twinkie. And it's kind of funny, but I 869 00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:25,600 think God looks at us the same way. 870 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:28,320 There's things that we're chasing in this world that we 871 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,280 think are like this right here. If I could get that, that my 872 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:36,680 life is good and God's like yeah, there's eye has not seen, 873 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,520 ear has not heard, hasn't even entered into your mind. 874 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:41,360 The things that I have prepared for you. 875 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:43,720 You can't even imagine what's coming. 876 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,880 And God has things ready for you and I OK. 877 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:52,800 The last thing is the exceeding greatness of his power towards 878 00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:55,040 us who believe. So we talked about the eyes of 879 00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:57,840 our understanding being opened. God, I need you to open my eyes 880 00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:01,280 to see spiritual things. We talked about the hope of his 881 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:04,080 calling. I have a confident expectation 882 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:07,680 in God's promises, but I also have a confident expectation 883 00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:09,480 that He has a purpose for my life. 884 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,680 There is a a real calling for me. 885 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:15,200 We talked about the riches of his glorious inheritance. 886 00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:19,320 There's earthly riches that really come to nothing, and 887 00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:22,960 there's the true riches that God offers us that we don't even 888 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,280 have to work for, right? We don't have to strive for. 889 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:29,160 We can receive. And then the fourth thing is the 890 00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:32,880 exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe. 891 00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,720 You know, God delights in demonstrating his power to us. 892 00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:39,320 I think he delights in that. But he also demonstrates his 893 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,920 power through us. He really does. 894 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,920 He wants to use people like you and me to demonstrate his power 895 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:48,240 to the world around us. All through the Scriptures we 896 00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:54,280 see God using ordinary men and women to do the things of God 897 00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:56,800 and we we hold them up on these pedestals like they're these 898 00:45:56,800 --> 00:46:00,760 amazing, you know, examples and perfection. 899 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:02,440 But look at just look at some of them. 900 00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:08,320 Abraham, man, he was a OK, hey, babe, just tell him you're my 901 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,520 sister. All right, let's his wife get 902 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,040 brought into the harem of the Pharaoh. 903 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:14,840 God says here's the promised land. 904 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:18,160 Abraham, you're in it. A little drought comes along. 905 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:22,080 Abraham's like I'm out of here, goes to Egypt like he's a man of 906 00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:24,160 faith, but he also blew it in a lot of ways. 907 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:27,320 And you just go right down from Abraham through a Jacob. 908 00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,200 He was a deceiver. He was a trickster. 909 00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:37,200 You look at David, the royal screw up, big time murderer, 910 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:39,600 adulterer. Moses was a murderer. 911 00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:44,800 And you just go through like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, like these 912 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,040 are prophets that God used, but they had their issues. 913 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,120 Jonah, God used them, but he had his issues. 914 00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:50,600 He didn't want those people saved even. 915 00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,320 And God will use people like you and me. 916 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,000 He'll delight to show his power through us to the world around 917 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,360 us, even though we may have our issues, right? 918 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:04,720 Ask my wife, she'll tell you. I got some, very few, but she'll 919 00:47:04,720 --> 00:47:07,720 tell you. But God delights in showing his 920 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:12,000 power. Dunamis dynamite, the power of 921 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,160 God. He delights in showing his power 922 00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:18,120 through us because he, he, when he said it's free from sin, he 923 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:20,400 just, he didn't just set us free from the penalty of sin. 924 00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,080 He said it's free from the power of sin in our life. 925 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:26,280 You don't have to give in to sin anymore. 926 00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:29,200 Before I was saved, I would try. I tried guys, I took the 10 927 00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,320 commandments and I tried. Believe me, I tried. 928 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:35,160 And all it did is make me feel even worse because now I'm 929 00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:37,560 really paying attention and I can't stop. 930 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:40,400 And then it made me feel recognized even more how much I 931 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:45,600 was breaking them. I guess impossible, but He set 932 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,280 me free from the power of sin. After I'm saved, I no longer 933 00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,960 have to be a slave to sin, and you don't either. 934 00:47:53,720 --> 00:47:55,080 But He gives us power. I'm going to give you a few 935 00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:56,600 examples. Power to speak for Him. 936 00:47:56,920 --> 00:47:59,800 In Acts 18, Jesus says you will receive power when the Holy 937 00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:03,400 Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses to the ends 938 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,360 of the earth, right? You'll receive power when the 939 00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:10,480 Holy Spirit comes upon you. He gives us deliverance. 940 00:48:10,720 --> 00:48:13,000 He gives us answered prayer. Listen to what it says in Psalm 941 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,240 91. Because He loves me, says the 942 00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:18,680 Lord, I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he 943 00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,640 acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will 944 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:23,960 answer him. I'll be with him in trouble. 945 00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:27,880 I will deliver him and honor Him and show him my salvation. 946 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:32,520 Deliverance answered prayer. What about this power over the 947 00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:34,120 enemy? I mentioned this verse a little 948 00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:37,760 while ago in in Luke chapter 10, he says, look, behold, I give 949 00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:40,960 you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over 950 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:44,640 all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt 951 00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:47,040 you. You know how many people don't 952 00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:49,840 do evangelism? They're afraid that man, if I do 953 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:51,640 that, there's a target on my back and then there's going to 954 00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,000 be a demon behind every telephone pole waiting to you 955 00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,960 know, if I go to India, man, don't they worship idols there? 956 00:48:58,040 --> 00:48:59,760 I'm going to be overcome by the enemy. 957 00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:02,800 No, you will not. Jesus says very clearly. 958 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:06,480 I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions over 959 00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:10,440 all the power of the enemy. Nothing will by any means hurt 960 00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:12,640 you. You don't have to be afraid that 961 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,440 the big bad devil is going to overcome you, because you're 962 00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:18,720 pursuing the things of God. Greater is he who's in you than 963 00:49:18,720 --> 00:49:22,920 he who is in the world, right? And then there's supernatural 964 00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:26,400 power to overcome obstacles in situations and difficulties in 965 00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:28,640 life, especially when it comes to ministry. 966 00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:33,520 You think of David and Goliath. He was a giant. 967 00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:36,160 Nobody else could beat that guy. And David didn't go and use 968 00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,240 conventional weapons. Saul was like, here, put these 969 00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:40,200 on. He says, I can't wear these. 970 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:45,440 We don't have to go out and fight spiritual battles with 971 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,240 carnal weapons. That's what Paul says. 972 00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:49,920 The weapons of our warfare, they're not carnal, they're not 973 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,640 earthly, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down 974 00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:55,840 of strongholds. And that's how David defeated 975 00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:59,800 Goliath. And Jonathan, he he was facing 976 00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:02,920 an impossible army. The Israelite army was down to 977 00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:05,080 like, I don't know, 600 people or something like that. 978 00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:08,120 And they were surrounded by more people than it was like the 979 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:13,000 sand. And, and Jonathan says, let's 980 00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,000 just go over there and see if God's going to do something. 981 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:17,320 It may be that the Lord will work through US today. 982 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:20,840 Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. 983 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:23,760 That was his attitude. God can do this through. 984 00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:25,400 Yeah, huge army or even just a few. 985 00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:28,800 Let's see what God does. And that whole army was defeated 986 00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:31,720 that day. Ultimately, God is looking for 987 00:50:31,720 --> 00:50:36,080 people who will take Him at His word in our lives in every 988 00:50:36,080 --> 00:50:42,680 situation, whether that's for our earthly needs like housing, 989 00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:44,320 food, clothing, things like that. 990 00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:47,240 We all have those needs. And why I trust and I'm not 991 00:50:47,240 --> 00:50:49,520 ashamed to say I'm totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to 992 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:52,400 supply all my needs. OK, but he also will give us 993 00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:54,760 what we need for godliness, for the things we say. 994 00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,000 God, I want to serve you. You don't have to go it alone 995 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:01,560 guys, in any area of your life. You don't ever have to be alone 996 00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:05,720 for another second of your life. Not good news. 997 00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:08,360 He says I'm I'll be with you forever. 998 00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:09,680 I'm never going to leave you or forsake you. 999 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:14,160 I will not leave you as orphans. You never have to be alone for 1000 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:17,120 another second of your life. So anything you would say yes to 1001 00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:21,680 God do in your life, whether that's serving in your church, 1002 00:51:22,040 --> 00:51:26,040 doing some evangelism, going on a mission trip, you can trust. 1003 00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:29,760 I got to be with you friends. He really will when we see 1004 00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:34,000 things God's way. And So what we've looked at 1005 00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:36,960 today is these verses and just breaking down. 1006 00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:41,280 God, I need my eyes to be open if I'm going to see the world 1007 00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:44,200 around me the way you want me to see it and the people in it the 1008 00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:47,200 way you want me to see them. God, would you give me those 1009 00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:49,080 spiritual eyes? Because guys, I know what it's 1010 00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:53,560 like to just, I have 6 kids. Like I said, I could be very 1011 00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:57,280 busy and just doing life right and doing good things. 1012 00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:00,160 Really not even sinful things. But if I'm going to follow the 1013 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,120 purposes of God, then I have to be intentional about it. 1014 00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:05,640 You know, I have a deal with God and I'll tell you this, I don't 1015 00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:09,280 tell people this a lot, but I'll tell you this because this for, 1016 00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:12,240 for an example, because I know my life can get very busy and I 1017 00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:15,200 can compartmentalize evangelism because I'm in missions full 1018 00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:18,400 time and we have blocks of the week that we've got scheduled 1019 00:52:18,400 --> 00:52:20,000 times where we do outreach, right? 1020 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:23,280 We go to the Waikiki or the mall and I take teams of people to 1021 00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,960 go. And it's very easy to just kind 1022 00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:28,520 of have those little blocks in my life when I do this and that. 1023 00:52:28,840 --> 00:52:32,160 A few years ago, I said, God, OK, I'm going to do this every 1024 00:52:32,160 --> 00:52:34,960 single day. I'm going to share with at least 1025 00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:37,240 one person every single day, share the gospel. 1026 00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:43,080 And I was blown away by how many opportunities I pass by every 1027 00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:45,040 single day as I started to do that. 1028 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:48,520 Because you know, if you have, maybe you're in the market for a 1029 00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:51,840 new car or something and you think, man, I really want a, you 1030 00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:54,120 know, a Ford F-150. Well, now all of a sudden you 1031 00:52:54,120 --> 00:52:57,440 see every single Ford F-150 because your radar is up. 1032 00:52:57,520 --> 00:52:59,000 Your attention is focused on that. 1033 00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:01,680 Well, so since I was focused on, OK, where am I going to share 1034 00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:03,240 the gospel today, I got to make sure I do it. 1035 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:06,080 Then all of a sudden it's lunchtime and I'm thinking, my 1036 00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:09,680 goodness, I passed by the person at the Safeway, the bank or the 1037 00:53:09,680 --> 00:53:12,280 Starbucks or the wherever. All through your day, you're 1038 00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:14,400 encountering people every single day. 1039 00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:18,120 And I was like, I'm, I'm the worst evangelist because I've 1040 00:53:18,120 --> 00:53:20,560 been passing this stuff by all the time, right? 1041 00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:25,040 But if the point I'm making is I have to be intentional about 1042 00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:29,240 this or it won't happen. I'm intentional about my Bible 1043 00:53:29,240 --> 00:53:31,120 reading. I'm disciplined. 1044 00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:34,480 I have a Bible reading calendar and I have times blocked out for 1045 00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,080 that to make sure I'm reading the Bible every single day. 1046 00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:39,160 Otherwise I'll be busy and it'll be the end of the day and I will 1047 00:53:39,160 --> 00:53:40,720 be like trying to go to bed at night. 1048 00:53:40,720 --> 00:53:42,400 Oh yeah. And I'll read one verse and then 1049 00:53:42,400 --> 00:53:45,520 go back to sleep. Prayer is the same thing. 1050 00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:47,240 There are disciplines in our life. 1051 00:53:47,240 --> 00:53:49,160 We have to just block it out, right? 1052 00:53:49,720 --> 00:53:53,680 So eyes of our understanding, being open, knowing the hope of 1053 00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:57,640 God's calling on our life. It's not just God. 1054 00:53:57,640 --> 00:54:01,120 I hope you have a plan for me, but we can have a confidence in 1055 00:54:01,120 --> 00:54:04,120 God, knowing that God, whatever it is you have for me, I'm 1056 00:54:04,120 --> 00:54:06,120 willing to walk in it. Will you start to show me and 1057 00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:08,160 watch God start to open doors in front of you? 1058 00:54:09,120 --> 00:54:12,480 And you might be really surprised because in the natural 1059 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:15,640 you have talents, you have gifts God has already given you that 1060 00:54:15,640 --> 00:54:18,160 you already know about. Some of you are gifted at maybe 1061 00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:21,040 public speaking or maybe you're a good salesperson, or maybe 1062 00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:24,120 you're different things that you just know you're good at natural 1063 00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,120 giftings. But then when God gives you a 1064 00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:29,440 spiritual gift, you'll know a spiritual because you would 1065 00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:31,800 never do that in the natural right. 1066 00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:34,800 Like I would never do this. Never. 1067 00:54:35,720 --> 00:54:38,400 The only reason I passed speech class in high school is because 1068 00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:40,720 Mrs. Torgeson hated me and wanted, didn't want me back. 1069 00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:43,600 I got AD minus, which is the lowest possible grade you can 1070 00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:47,000 get and still pass because I was terrified I'd get in front of 1071 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,080 the room and go red and I, I never got through a single 1072 00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:51,080 speech. I would stand there and just 1073 00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,960 with my car and just and I'd and the way I broke it was laughing. 1074 00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:57,080 So I'd stand up there and laugh and look like a moron. 1075 00:54:57,080 --> 00:54:59,640 And anyways, I should, I should never be doing this. 1076 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:03,400 That's how I know it's God's call because I would never do it 1077 00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:05,200 in the natural. And you might be surprised at 1078 00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:08,080 what God might gift you at that. You realize that actually went 1079 00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:11,200 really well, right? Sharing your faith is something 1080 00:55:11,200 --> 00:55:13,240 that I think we all have. But anyway, knowing the hope of 1081 00:55:13,240 --> 00:55:16,040 his calling, third thing, the riches of his glorious 1082 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:19,200 inheritance. Don't waste your life chasing 1083 00:55:19,200 --> 00:55:25,640 after earthly things, guys. The whole world is doing it, and 1084 00:55:25,640 --> 00:55:27,360 then they end up in the same place. 1085 00:55:29,240 --> 00:55:31,840 People who climbed to the top, people who get halfway there and 1086 00:55:31,840 --> 00:55:34,920 lose everything, whatever the whole world is doing it, they 1087 00:55:34,920 --> 00:55:37,200 all end up in the same place and they're going to stand before 1088 00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:40,160 God. And I would hate to stand before 1089 00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,800 Him and have succeeded in all these other things in life, but 1090 00:55:42,800 --> 00:55:45,120 failed at what really, really matters. 1091 00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:47,520 Amen. And the third thing is the 1092 00:55:47,520 --> 00:55:50,720 exceeding greatness of His power towards those of us who believe 1093 00:55:51,280 --> 00:55:54,560 there's power available to every one of us for the Christian 1094 00:55:54,560 --> 00:55:58,320 life. I know you guys are aware of a 1095 00:55:58,320 --> 00:56:00,640 lot of this. I want to encourage you this 1096 00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:03,480 morning to pursue the things of God. 1097 00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:06,240 Have those spiritual eyes stop looking at the world and 1098 00:56:06,240 --> 00:56:08,800 everything in it through those lenses and say, God, give me the 1099 00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:10,880 ability to see things properly. Amen. 1100 00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:14,840 So the last thing I want to do is share with you real in like 1101 00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:17,520 in one minute here, what we're doing. 1102 00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:20,480 Like Nick had mentioned, we're introducing the School of 1103 00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:24,200 Ministry and School of Missions in Washington here in 1104 00:56:24,200 --> 00:56:25,840 tri-cities, couple hours away from you. 1105 00:56:26,560 --> 00:56:29,360 So we talked about bringing everything we're doing in 1106 00:56:29,360 --> 00:56:33,800 missions and then bring it into Calvary context, Calvary style, 1107 00:56:33,800 --> 00:56:37,040 Calvary Chapel, eyes, missions, whatever you want to call it. 1108 00:56:37,440 --> 00:56:42,000 So this fall we're introducing this School of missions. 1109 00:56:42,120 --> 00:56:45,920 This September, I should say it's before fall school of 1110 00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:47,640 missions, it's starting September. 1111 00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:49,840 So what that looks like is actually I have some brochures 1112 00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,640 so anybody who might be interested, if you know someone 1113 00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:54,600 that's thinking, I want to do missions, but I don't know where 1114 00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:56,440 to get started. I just need some training. 1115 00:56:56,600 --> 00:56:58,080 How would I go? How what would I do? 1116 00:56:58,800 --> 00:57:00,440 I'll give. We have some in the back and I 1117 00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,480 have some up here that you could give them and there are course 1118 00:57:03,480 --> 00:57:05,240 details in here that tell you what it's like. 1119 00:57:05,240 --> 00:57:07,680 So this is how it works. We have housing. 1120 00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:12,560 So this is all living together in a, you know, learning 1121 00:57:12,560 --> 00:57:14,200 environment where you're with a whole group of people. 1122 00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:17,360 So I have a house for girls, I got a house for guys. 1123 00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:19,640 We have a classroom we all meet at every day. 1124 00:57:19,640 --> 00:57:23,960 There's about 3 hours of lecture times where different pastors 1125 00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:27,440 and leaders in the missions world come in and give teaching 1126 00:57:27,440 --> 00:57:29,760 on. Well, I have a whole list of 1127 00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:32,760 them here. So like church planting, how to 1128 00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:35,680 do long term missions, how to pioneer a new ministry, how to 1129 00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:38,320 build a cohesive team, how to fundraise, how to pay for it. 1130 00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:40,480 You know, God's, if you're going to do this, you're going to need 1131 00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:42,400 to be sustainable long term financially. 1132 00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:46,000 All those little elements of how to do missions and each one is a 1133 00:57:46,000 --> 00:57:50,240 full week of teaching, right? Evangelism, how to share the 1134 00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:52,920 gospel, how to share the gospel cross culturally, if you have a 1135 00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:55,920 specific nation in mind, how to prepare to go there, all these 1136 00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:59,960 kind of elements of missions. And then we're going on after 12 1137 00:57:59,960 --> 00:58:03,360 weeks of classroom learning, we go learning environment, we go 1138 00:58:03,360 --> 00:58:07,760 on a 10 week mission outreach. And those locations are still 1139 00:58:08,200 --> 00:58:11,360 yet to be determined, but it'll be Asia, Europe. 1140 00:58:12,600 --> 00:58:14,680 We have, we have Calvary people all over the whole world, 1141 00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,600 Mexico. So I still haven't decided where 1142 00:58:17,600 --> 00:58:18,760 the first outreach is going to go. 1143 00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:20,920 Depends on the makeup of who comes. 1144 00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:23,120 Like if we have students who come and say, I really want to 1145 00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:26,200 go to Japan, well, we got places to go in Japan, right? 1146 00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:28,840 So all that's still to be determined where the mission is. 1147 00:58:28,840 --> 00:58:31,880 But it's 10 weeks of missions. So after the school is over, 1148 00:58:32,400 --> 00:58:34,800 you've had a mission trip. You know how to do missions and 1149 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:37,040 you'll know, are you called to do this with your whole life or 1150 00:58:37,040 --> 00:58:38,480 not? Most people, some, a lot of 1151 00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:39,920 people already know. Like I'm already in. 1152 00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:41,960 I'm just, I need some training and let me go. 1153 00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:44,480 So this is to train you, send you, release you. 1154 00:58:44,480 --> 00:58:46,520 We're not going to try to control you, but at the same 1155 00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,600 time, we're not just going to send you off and leave you on 1156 00:58:48,600 --> 00:58:49,480 your own. We're going to be there to 1157 00:58:49,480 --> 00:58:50,640 support you. Amen. 1158 00:58:51,400 --> 00:58:52,800 OK, so that's the mission school. 1159 00:58:52,960 --> 00:58:56,520 Following that right after is a ministry school. 1160 00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:58,600 And the school of ministry is different. 1161 00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:01,520 If you're thinking I want to get into ministry but I just don't 1162 00:59:01,520 --> 00:59:03,600 know how. I remember when God first called 1163 00:59:03,600 --> 00:59:06,680 me into ministry and I was terrified of public speaking. 1164 00:59:06,680 --> 00:59:08,880 I didn't even know how to put a Bible study together. 1165 00:59:08,880 --> 00:59:11,000 I don't know what how to start, but I knew the calling was 1166 00:59:11,000 --> 00:59:13,280 there. It was a conviction. 1167 00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:15,320 Like I know I'm called to do something, but I don't know how 1168 00:59:15,320 --> 00:59:17,680 to start. I just got some mentoring and 1169 00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:20,200 training. And so this school is designed 1170 00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:23,640 six months, 18 weeks of, of lecture times and living 1171 00:59:23,640 --> 00:59:26,280 together in this environment. So we house you. 1172 00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:28,880 We, we got all the classrooms, everything all together. 1173 00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:32,840 And you learn from people who've been doing ministry a long time. 1174 00:59:33,160 --> 00:59:36,600 Brandon B, who's been raising and training worship leaders and 1175 00:59:36,600 --> 00:59:38,360 releasing them all over the place. 1176 00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:41,640 He's going to, he's going to run alongside of us with a worship 1177 00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:43,040 track. So you're going to learn how to 1178 00:59:43,040 --> 00:59:46,040 do ministry well, but also learn if you're thinking of being a 1179 00:59:46,040 --> 00:59:49,440 worship leader, he, he knows how to, you know, train in that 1180 00:59:49,440 --> 00:59:51,440 area. And we've got young adults, 1181 00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:53,720 pastors, youth pastors, senior pastors. 1182 00:59:54,160 --> 00:59:56,680 And in the midst of both of these schools, as you're living 1183 00:59:56,680 --> 00:59:59,400 in this environment, we have local ministries that were 1184 00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:02,440 involving our students in so that yes, you're learning in the 1185 01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:06,320 mornings, but in the afternoons we actually plug into different 1186 01:00:06,320 --> 01:00:10,400 local ministries, evangelism ministries and just service in 1187 01:00:10,400 --> 01:00:14,040 the Kingdom or in the body. So you get hands on experience 1188 01:00:14,240 --> 01:00:18,160 and you get lecture teaching and then we go on mission trips and 1189 01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:21,400 we actually go and do the work. So it's training to send up and 1190 01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:24,560 just release out the next generation of missionaries and 1191 01:00:24,560 --> 01:00:27,640 the next generation of, you know, Christian workers for the 1192 01:00:27,640 --> 01:00:30,800 churches. So I have some stuff for it. 1193 01:00:30,920 --> 01:00:32,360 You guys are very welcome to hang out. 1194 01:00:32,360 --> 01:00:35,720 Come chat with me about it and I guess it's a little bit of a 1195 01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:37,520 sales pitch. The message had nothing to do 1196 01:00:37,520 --> 01:00:38,800 with me doing a little sales pitch. 1197 01:00:38,800 --> 01:00:41,200 This was that was for your edification as believers. 1198 01:00:41,520 --> 01:00:44,360 But I also want to make sure you guys know this is available to 1199 01:00:44,360 --> 01:00:49,280 you and the age anybody. I've had students that were 17 1200 01:00:49,280 --> 01:00:52,760 years old, and I've had students in their 70s and everything in 1201 01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:56,280 between. Families, singles, young, old. 1202 01:00:56,280 --> 01:01:00,720 I get whoever you might be that you're thinking, I would like to 1203 01:01:00,720 --> 01:01:01,920 do that, but I feel like I'm too old. 1204 01:01:02,280 --> 01:01:05,720 George Mueller started the missionary phase of his life in 1205 01:01:05,720 --> 01:01:08,000 his 70s. Yeah. 1206 01:01:08,520 --> 01:01:11,840 And he went to like, how many? Like, over like 20 different 1207 01:01:11,840 --> 01:01:14,880 countries, 140,000 miles of travel. 1208 01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:16,720 This was before airplanes, you know? 1209 01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:19,440 So if a guy in his 70s can do it, anybody can do it. 1210 01:01:19,440 --> 01:01:20,960 Amen. All right, so let me pray for 1211 01:01:20,960 --> 01:01:23,160 you guys, and we'll get you out of here. 1212 01:01:23,160 --> 01:01:27,280 So Lord, I thank you for the encouragement of your word in 1213 01:01:27,280 --> 01:01:32,200 the book of Ephesians and how you don't leave us alone and 1214 01:01:32,800 --> 01:01:36,800 you're with us every step of the way through this journey in 1215 01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:38,040 life. And thank you, Lord, that each 1216 01:01:38,040 --> 01:01:41,360 of us has a calling that you made us. 1217 01:01:41,360 --> 01:01:44,320 You've, you've created us in Christ for good works. 1218 01:01:45,600 --> 01:01:48,960 Man, it's just every time I hear that, I think, wow, God, you 1219 01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:51,840 really have a destiny for me. Thank you for saving me, but you 1220 01:01:51,840 --> 01:01:54,600 really want to use me too. God, I pray that each of us 1221 01:01:54,600 --> 01:01:58,200 would just seek you and ask Lord, what is it you want me to 1222 01:01:58,200 --> 01:01:59,840 do? What's the next thing in front 1223 01:01:59,840 --> 01:02:03,160 of me that I can get involved in and serve the Kingdom of God 1224 01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:06,680 right here, right now? And yeah, I just pray that this 1225 01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:08,400 message would be sealed to our hearts. 1226 01:02:08,400 --> 01:02:11,000 Everything that came out of your word, write it upon our hearts 1227 01:02:11,000 --> 01:02:12,360 Lord, and help us to serve you better. 1228 01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:15,040 And everything that came that was just from Billy when we just 1229 01:02:15,040 --> 01:02:18,120 forget it, but everything from the word of God, Lord in Jesus 1230 01:02:18,120 --> 01:02:21,360 name, would you impress it upon us and help us to follow you and 1231 01:02:21,360 --> 01:02:23,760 serve you with our whole hearts in Jesus name, Amen. 1232 01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:26,320 Amen. Thank you very much. 1233 01:02:26,320 --> 01:02:29,200 Nick, do you have announcements? We didn't go over how to end 1234 01:02:29,200 --> 01:02:30,400 this. So this is gotta. 1235 01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:38,200 Say, I gotta say, I mean, he's all right. 1236 01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:41,200 It's OK. No, he is. 1237 01:02:41,480 --> 01:02:46,480 He is definitely I I enjoy, I enjoyed what he said and took a 1238 01:02:46,480 --> 01:02:49,480 bunch of notes. The School of Ministry stuff 1239 01:02:49,480 --> 01:02:52,720 guys, I am I'm excited for it just because when I was first 1240 01:02:52,720 --> 01:02:55,640 getting into missions, when I was first doing that stuff, 1241 01:02:56,320 --> 01:03:01,680 there's there's really nothing like that stateside that that I 1242 01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:05,760 was, I was able to find. I I found one that was a one 1243 01:03:05,760 --> 01:03:08,240 week online class before we went to Uganda. 1244 01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:12,040 But it's just feeling like you, I mean, like he said, when you 1245 01:03:12,040 --> 01:03:16,840 first get into, into like going and doing mission stuff, you 1246 01:03:17,240 --> 01:03:20,360 like you, you read about seminaries and all this stuff 1247 01:03:20,360 --> 01:03:23,600 you're supposed to do. And, and really it's just having 1248 01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:27,720 that grounding right of, of real world, real time stuff. 1249 01:03:27,720 --> 01:03:30,040 And that's, that's what that's going to be and I'm excited for 1250 01:03:30,040 --> 01:03:31,560 it. He's going to be one of the 1251 01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:34,360 guest speakers at the ministry conference. 1252 01:03:34,360 --> 01:03:39,240 So that's that's pretty much what what Billy did is what you 1253 01:03:39,240 --> 01:03:43,560 guys are going to get in stacks of things in at the ministry 1254 01:03:43,560 --> 01:03:46,280 conference April. Maybe 3rd through the 20? 1255 01:03:47,520 --> 01:03:50,280 5th April 23rd through the 25th. So if you're if you're 1256 01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:52,080 interested, we can get you the information on that. 1257 01:03:52,080 --> 01:03:55,680 But other than that, there is food in the back. 1258 01:03:55,840 --> 01:03:57,760 Be feel free to visit with Billy. 1259 01:03:58,320 --> 01:04:00,640 If you got any questions, come and see him come. 1260 01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:02,280 If you got any questions, come and see me. 1261 01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:05,000 Get us out of here. Lord, thank you for today. 1262 01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:06,840 Thank you for all that you give us Lord. 1263 01:04:06,840 --> 01:04:13,560 Thank you for just those that that are gifted to teach, Lord, 1264 01:04:13,560 --> 01:04:18,720 and just that that you'd be speaking to hearts, Lord that 1265 01:04:19,400 --> 01:04:22,320 that what would leave here today is your words, Lord, into 1266 01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:24,440 people's hearts. And Lord, that you would just be 1267 01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:27,720 making appointments with people that we would be out talking to 1268 01:04:27,720 --> 01:04:32,240 the person at Safeway and, and the person at the gas pump. 1269 01:04:32,240 --> 01:04:36,240 And, and Lord, that we were just sharing with people about you 1270 01:04:36,360 --> 01:04:42,400 and your Kingdom and your hope, Lord, that that this world has 1271 01:04:42,400 --> 01:04:47,000 nothing to offer an empty box. Lord and Lord that he's guiding, 1272 01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:50,680 direct us, go in front of us and pray this in Jesus name, Amen.