1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,440 Welcome to the River City Church podcast. 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,160 And a message by our lead pastor, Jason Powers. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,640 Our prayer is that this message would inspire and encourage you, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,160 build your faith and point you to the life changing love of 5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:16,920 Jesus. May you enjoy the goodness of 6 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,240 God as you follow Him today. Our confession is his church is 7 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:25,680 that we are badly broken. Yes, you are grace and peace to 8 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,520 you. I hope you experienced that and 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,320 feel that today we're continuing in Proverbs and just like we 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,440 kind of just talked about in the same way that the the goal of 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,120 our gathering together. Isn't just to sing songs and 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,840 then go, it's to talk about truth and then align with it. 13 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,400 That's what wisdom is. And that's what the proverbs 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,400 have been leading us towards and guiding us towards wisdom is. 15 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:52,000 And the proverbs are a path that lead us on the life with Jesus. 16 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,600 They're not rules and promises, but if you do this, then God 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,080 will. Then God is duty bound to do 18 00:00:58,080 --> 00:00:59,880 this. It's like signs on a path that 19 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:05,200 say if you walk this way, if you live your life in this direction 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,160 before God, then there will be fruit in your life. 21 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,080 The wisdom, the proverbs are about relationship. 22 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,360 It's about a posture. And again, we said last week, 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,680 relationship is important. It's just, it's simply how two 24 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,560 things or two people are positioned towards each other. 25 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,480 So the wisdom is about being positioned and being in 26 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,840 relationship towards God, either tumbled and submitted before him 27 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,560 where we say, listen, God, there's a lot of things that I 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,240 don't know. There are some things that you 29 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,560 say that I don't understand and that I don't like. 30 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:40,560 But I am either positioned towards you submitted or I am 31 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,200 positioned towards you in rejecting your way and saying, 32 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,000 yeah, I think I hear what you say, but I'm going to do my own 33 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,360 thing. I'd rather just do it my way and 34 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,240 we'll see how it goes. And the thing that we've seen as 35 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,800 we've talked about speech, right, like our our speech, the 36 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:57,120 words it comes from a. Heart. 37 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,960 That heart that says either I'll take you under advisement, O God 38 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,280 of the universe, and I'll decide. 39 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,000 I'll make the decision about what's best for my life, or I 40 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,160 will hear you and humble myself and submit to your way. 41 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,440 That is a posture, and if our words will reflect that heart, 42 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,200 Jesus said. What is brewing in our heart 43 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,480 bubbles over. Out of our word. 44 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:23,400 And last week we saw how that is cumulative, how that builds up 45 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,520 in our lives, and it's expressed through our relationships. 46 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,400 If we can look at our words and say, man, my words are hurtful 47 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:35,640 or divisive or angry or constantly saturated with grief 48 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:38,840 and fear and sorrow, we can acknowledge that those things 49 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,040 are in our heart. And we can also begin to look 50 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,160 around at the quality and the nature of our relationships, the 51 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:49,000 things that we surround ourselves with on a day today. 52 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,480 So let me just also acknowledge, as real as those things are. 53 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,280 And I don't in any way want to take the steam out of those 54 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,800 things. They can kind of be hard to put 55 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,280 a finger on, right? They're subtle. 56 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,360 We, we recognize it. Like I may run, just go, man, 57 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,960 I've got this anxiety kind of thing and it kind of flows out. 58 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,080 But I haven't really thought about it in terms of my 59 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,520 relationships or my speech. So we acknowledge it when we're 60 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:12,880 talking about it, but we may not. 61 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,320 Feel it on a day-to-day basis. My guess is this week isn't 62 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,280 going to be like that. My guess is that this week is 63 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,880 something that's going to touch most of us in places right where 64 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,200 we live. We're going to talk about this 65 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:30,000 week about security, about what makes us feel safe. 66 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,000 And necessarily when we talk about security, we talk about 67 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,960 provision. Where does the stuff that I have 68 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,960 come from ultimately. And when we talk about security 69 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,880 and when we talk about provision, we're certainly 70 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,680 talking about what. Work and when we talk about 71 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,760 work, we're talking about what money like I knew it. 72 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,880 If you're here for the first time, I just want you to know 73 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:01,360 the Lord LED you here. You're here. 74 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,840 Here's the thing that we want to that we want to say walking in 75 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:09,240 wisdom bears predictable fruit when you when we just say like 76 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:10,720 that's the idea behind the sign, right? 77 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,200 Not every time and once and for all that we can kind of 78 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,600 manipulate God and say, well, I did this and and listen, that's 79 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,920 why this idea of talking about money and the church can be so 80 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,240 weird and. Goofy and I know This is why 81 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,440 some of you have been really hurt by this message. 82 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,760 I'm going to say from the beginning is man, I'm sorry. 83 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,760 That's not the heart God's heart like listen, God owns the cattle 84 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,640 on 1000 hills. He doesn't need my 5 bucks like 85 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,680 he doesn't or all of it right. And so if you've been 86 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,800 manipulated by money and, and, and someone told you that they 87 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,000 that you know. They they need and God needed 88 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,040 you deserve or if they manipulated you and told you 89 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,200 that if you'll just give this, then God is obligated to give 90 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,320 this that I. That ain't it, and we're not 91 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,280 going to go at it like that today. 92 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,000 But what we are? Going to say is our posture 93 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,040 towards these things, towards what makes us feel secure about 94 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,320 what gives us hope, about where we think our provision come, 95 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,040 what we believe in our head and in our heart. 96 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:10,520 It bears fruit in our lives, and it's predictable in the same way 97 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,240 ignoring wisdom bears predictable fruit. 98 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,360 If we see what God says and we begin to bring our lives into a 99 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,120 line that alignment with that, we'll see it. 100 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,600 If we ignore what God says about these things that will bear 101 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,520 fruit too. So the idea when we the big 102 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,760 thing, this is like got to fund this got to be underlying 103 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:30,680 everything. And This is why when you were. 104 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,640 Manipulated like like they missed it the proverbs and 105 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:43,080 consequently the logical issue. What we believe about provision 106 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,480 isn't just a matter of what we do Monday through Friday. 107 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,680 It's a matter of what we believe 24/7. 108 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,720 What we do reveals what we believe. 109 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:57,320 So there's a diagnostic question that we can see around all this 110 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:58,720 and you don't have to answer it out loud. 111 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,080 In fact, I would advise you and encourage you and hope that you 112 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,000 don't answer it too quickly, but they will take it home and look 113 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,040 and just say the answer to this question bears. 114 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,520 Fruit in my. Calendar in my checkbook, in the 115 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,600 way that I spend my time, the things that trigger me and send 116 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,240 me over the edge. The question is, what do I 117 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:21,240 believe actually keeps me safe and holds my life together? 118 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:28,040 And what I'm going to say is, man, you're in church. 119 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,200 We know the right answers, right? 120 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,720 Like you heard the Sunday school story, right? 121 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,560 Sunday school teacher asks a kid and eight-year old kid and just 122 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:39,120 says what has what is brown and has a furry trail, furry tail 123 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:40,840 and hides in trees and likes to eat nuts. 124 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:43,680 And the kid goes, it sounds like a squirrel, but I'm going to say 125 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:51,280 Jesus, right? We know the church answer what 126 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,520 holds our lives together, and knowing that is really 127 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,400 important. But aligning our lives to that 128 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,800 is even more important. And so when we talked about this 129 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,640 idea of safety and security and provision, it raises some 130 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,440 important questions. Why do we stay at jobs that we 131 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,800 hate and that drain our souls and that steal our time? 132 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,360 Why are we quick to confess even with a laugh? 133 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,960 Sometimes we laugh it off and we're I'm such a control freak, 134 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,960 but we never make the connection in the association. 135 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,560 Maybe that's why we're so anxious. 136 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:38,480 All the time. Maybe the reason we're scared 137 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,880 and we're anxious is because we're trying to control a world 138 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,320 that is just bigger than us and that is out of our hands. 139 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,600 Maybe that's why we're angry all the time, because we're afraid 140 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,280 that things aren't going the way that we want them to, and we're 141 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,120 really kind of just worried that someday, someday soon, it's all 142 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:02,200 just going to get away from us. Why are we sometimes willing? 143 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,440 Why do we see it so often? People us willing to fudge on 144 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:14,160 our character or give a little bit to our conscious if it 145 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,840 promises economic stability, why do we just chalk it up to, well, 146 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:19,760 that's just. The way that you have. 147 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,800 To do it, you're what you say. It works great in the church, 148 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:24,600 but out in the real world you got to do it different. 149 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,520 You got to be what? Responsible. 150 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,640 Why do we think responsibility and economic stability are 151 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,360 opposed or just don't have anything to do with the way of 152 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,880 God? Why are we silent about things 153 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:43,919 that matter to us? Why does how, whether or not we 154 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:47,680 are checked in or checked out or leaned in or leaned out, why do 155 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:52,200 those things so often depend on the circle that we're a part of 156 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,800 or the group that we're a part of, or the places that we go and 157 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,160 the people that claim us or that we claim? 158 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,120 We saw that last week about proximity and we see how it 159 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,720 shapes us and how it's how it forms us. 160 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,400 I just, you know, I've got teenagers and, and my son 161 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,200 Jackson is going to be 20 years old in May and he's already 162 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,080 looking towards like, what is my career going to be? 163 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,160 What is the job that it's that it's going to be? 164 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,440 And my two daughters, as they start contemplating college now, 165 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,400 where do I need to go to to get what I need to live? 166 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:28,760 And I just want to say, with all the confidence in the world, 167 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:33,000 none of my kids dream of being a slave to the machine. 168 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,840 None of my children dream of working for 40. 169 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,720 Years in the hopes that someday their four O 1K will allow them 170 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:46,200 to have a comfortable five years, 10 years, 15 years. 171 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,080 We don't dream of that, and yet many of us are. 172 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:57,040 Many of us carry that burden of lives and jobs and work that we 173 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,520 don't like, that don't fulfill us, that don't seem to have 174 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,160 anything. To do with. 175 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,600 What's in our heart and what's in our life and what's in our 176 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,920 dream. And we do it, and we call it 177 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:13,040 responsibility. We call it something. 178 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:19,480 The Bible calls it misplaced trust. 179 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:26,320 The Bible calls it putting faith and something that can't and 180 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,240 shouldn't hold that. And that is why we have that 181 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,000 ache. That is why there is something 182 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,960 in us that yearns and longs for something to for something 183 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,160 different. That's why we're willing to give 184 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,920 up all manner of margin. For just a little bit of the 185 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,720 thing that promises to keep us safe, promises to keep us 186 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,600 secure, promises to give us a good life. 187 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:56,000 And we haven't seen it yet. We believe that if we just give 188 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,880 a little more, do a little bit more, go a little bit farther, 189 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,760 try a little bit harder, a few more hours, and we give up all 190 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,800 of that. Then someday, someway, somehow, 191 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,320 when we're almost dead, we'll have a fleeting glimpse of the 192 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:16,720 good life, Henry David Thoreau said. 193 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:22,200 Most men lead lives of what? Quiet desperation. 194 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,480 Oof. We are barely alive, waiting for 195 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,400 the other shoe to drop. And when I say we, I'm talking 196 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,000 about me. I'm talking about all the fears 197 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,000 and anxieties that sneak into my life, too. 198 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,160 And what I want to say is if you're here today and you've 199 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:46,360 just kind of accepted this idea that life in the West in the 200 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,760 21st century just means living with some kind of sense of low. 201 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,920 Grade. Panic and fear and anxiety about 202 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,600 work and money. If you just accepted that that's 203 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,720 what life today has to mean. I want you to know that you're 204 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,080 probably responding to your life in one of two ways. 205 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,920 You are either clamping down on control and you're trying to 206 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,720 make everything work just. The right way and you're trying 207 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,240 to make everything just go and then every once in a while 208 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:16,160 something. Happens. 209 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,000 You have a heart attack. I had. 210 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,640 I bought my first house in San Antonio two months before the 211 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:27,280 economic collapse of 2008. I did. 212 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,800 Everything I was supposed to. Do and the bottom fell out. 213 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,280 So we either try to control everything is that you? 214 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,800 Are you the one that does that? There's no shame here, right? 215 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:45,320 But let's diagnose it. Or we withdraw and we avoid. 216 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,240 This is what addiction looks like. 217 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,880 We're going through the motions, but we take a pill or we spend a 218 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,600 dollar or we go to a website that will just make it not hurt 219 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,080 and not be quite so heavy for quite so long. 220 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,120 We avoid. We stop talking to the people 221 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:04,600 that love us. We stop identifying our feelings 222 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:06,920 because our feelings are too big, they're too powerful, 223 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,680 they're too scary. And what if they get away from 224 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:11,320 us now? The reality is the actual. 225 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,360 So this is basically a fight or flight thing, right? 226 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:19,160 My flight mechanism is broken. I want to. 227 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,440 Fight all of it, all the time, every way, right? 228 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,680 Some of you may lean right. The the reality is there are 229 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,760 there are hints of all that, but you probably default to one or 230 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,920 the other. And how you default under duress 231 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,760 and stress becomes a deeply formative thing in your life. 232 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,800 It becomes something that shapes the way. 233 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,200 That you respond to your kids and your spouse and your 234 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,520 coworkers and the economy and politics and your neighbors. 235 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,600 Do you know which one you default to? 236 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:56,160 The Proverbs describe it in Proverbs 6, starting in verse 6 237 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,600 says take lesson from the ants. You lazy bones learn from their 238 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,080 ways and become wise. OK, so lazy bones is wild. 239 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,040 It's a wild to read that in your scripture. 240 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,960 But like the older translations, if you have like a new American 241 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,880 standard or King James or something like that, there's 242 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,480 even better word. It uses the word sluggard. 243 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,000 So I feel a little weird. Saying lazy bones. 244 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,200 So I may say sluggard throughout, we may use those 245 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,960 interchangeable, right? But the this is this is the 246 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,320 idea, right? So when we read about the when 247 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,200 we read these problems, I want you to know this whole series is 248 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,720 about teaching us us learning together how to read the 249 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,840 proverbs, right? Because we're not touching every 250 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:37,160 problem. We're not touching on 251 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,240 everything, but what we are doing is seeing these things 252 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,280 that show up over and over and over again. 253 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,400 Throughout the scriptures. And what we saw last week, 254 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,040 remember you guys did great with your English literature lesson 255 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:48,560 where you knew like. Like a metaphor. 256 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:50,520 That uses like or, as is a simile. 257 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:51,080 Right. And we? 258 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,040 Use that to identify this is a different metaphor and what what 259 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,440 we can tend to do when we read this is get real moralistic 260 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,040 about this. What this is not saying to us is 261 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,480 you need to go be like the. Ants. 262 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:04,280 Nope. Nope. 263 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,360 That's that's not what that is, right? 264 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,200 What it does say is exactly what it says. 265 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:13,400 Look at it. Take a lesson from the point of 266 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:18,800 the proverbs is to slow us down, which is exactly the thing that 267 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:20,760 our culture doesn't want us to do, is it? 268 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,760 That's exactly the thing that it removes from us. 269 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,320 We don't have time to slow down. We got to work more. 270 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,840 We got to be better. We got to meet, we got to meet 271 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,000 deadlines. We got to meet thresholds. 272 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,480 And if we need that threshold, then we got to get to the next 273 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,480 threshold. And what the problems do is 274 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:41,600 invite us to step back and say, hey, specifically in this 275 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,400 instance, if your tendency is to try to control things, take a 276 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,720 look at how things operate out there when things aren't being 277 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,240 controlled. And the solution to write some 278 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,880 of us that the fight or flight, like the control avoidance 279 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:59,800 thing, the solution isn't to somehow find the exact middle 280 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,160 spot where I'm appropriately controlling and appropriately 281 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,600 avoiding. The idea is to take the whole 282 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,960 scale and just throw it out. And opt into something totally 283 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,600 different. And the way that the proverbs 284 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,360 illustrates that is by nature by looking at the world it created, 285 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,760 specifically in this case the ants. 286 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,920 To look at what God has. Created and see how he how they 287 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,840 deal with So what does it say about how they deal with it 288 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,360 Starting in verse 7 take a lesson from the ants. 289 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,760 They have no Prince or governor or ruler to make them work. 290 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,360 This is what the people of Israel saw in Egypt when they 291 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,080 were slaves in Israel. In Egypt, Pharaoh got to make 292 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,520 bricks for my houses. Oh, got to make more bricks and 293 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,560 more bricks. Now you got to gather your own 294 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,040 materials. This is about the slave driver 295 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,160 at work who doesn't care about your family. 296 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:55,880 He doesn't care about where you come from. 297 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,480 He only cares about production. And you are as valuable to him 298 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,320 or to her, to them as as what you have produced in the last 299 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,040 quarter, He says. The ants. 300 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,920 Aren't like that. They don't have rulers that make 301 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,560 them work. And yet. 302 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:17,119 They labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winner. 303 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:24,680 The Ant works appropriately in season, without having to be 304 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:29,800 driven, and also without fear and panic and without anxiety. 305 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,640 What the? The scripture and the example of 306 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,400 these. Ants are shown is they just do 307 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,800 what they're supposed to do when they're supposed to do it and 308 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,320 they don't worry about anything else. 309 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:43,080 The Bible calls that faithfulness and in Scripture, 310 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:50,000 wisdom is faithfulness. Faithfulness. 311 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,600 In this example, the counterpoint to faithfulness 312 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:01,520 would be hustle. We love hustle, right? 313 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,960 We don't actually love hustle. We think we love hustle. 314 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,200 We love hustle because it feels like hustle is going to give us 315 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,840 more. But we don't see. 316 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,120 From the ants as the ants trying to get 2 days worth of 317 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:15,840 production out of one day's experience. 318 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,440 We don't see the ants leading hard over there and and kind of 319 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,840 manipulating their Co workers to do a little bit more, to go a 320 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:25,760 little bit further. We don't see the ants. 321 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,840 We don't see the red ants and the Gray ants in competition 322 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,960 with it, with each other to see who can build the biggest hill 323 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,480 or have the deepest tunnels. We don't see the ants trying to 324 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,440 get maximum extraction out of the day. 325 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,960 We just see the ants understanding and realizing that 326 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,640 winter is coming and today is an opportunity for us. 327 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,120 Practice what we're supposed to do. 328 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,040 I don't think we find the pictures and of the ants 329 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,280 collapsing in exhaustion. We don't see a lot of aunt 330 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:00,440 divorces because one aunt worked too far and went too much. 331 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,520 We don't have a lot of Ant childhood counseling because, 332 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,040 well, my dad wasn't there and he sure worked a lot and he 333 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,120 provided a lot. We don't see a lot of Ant 334 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:11,360 tension. What I do for my family is 335 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:12,760 provide. I don't have time to be with 336 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,160 him. Listen, there's no guilt and 337 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:15,800 there's no shame. There's no condemnation. 338 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:20,280 But I do want to acknowledge is what the wisdom and Proverbs 339 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,360 portrays in US is there's a cost. 340 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:29,200 There's a cost more always. Once more, you're never going to 341 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,720 run to the end of desire. You're not going to ever run to 342 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,000 the end of someone who has a bigger house or a nicer car or 343 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,480 bigger experience or a better vacation. 344 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,400 And when we make that the example, when we hold that in 345 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,800 front of us, it shapes us. It forms us. 346 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,000 The wisdom of the end is to simply do what is in front of me 347 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:56,840 today and then stop. There's a great practice that 348 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,640 we've been talking about. It's called the practice of 349 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,960 Sabbath. Sabbath was built into the 350 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,560 structure of the Israelite people. 351 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,560 Now listen, we don't observe Sabbath to to make God approve 352 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,440 of us. We don't observe the Sabbath. 353 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,400 That's part of the law by which we are saved. 354 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,920 We acknowledge that the Sabbath was before the law. 355 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,920 The Sabbath was built into creation in Genesis chapter 2. 356 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,800 God blessed the 7th day and He made it holy. 357 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,680 And we don't work on the Sabbath because he didn't work on the 358 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:23,920 Sabbath. And when we. 359 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,440 Stop when we get away from the Sabbath, when we put. 360 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,760 Aside that day of rest, what happens is we begin to believe 361 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,440 in our heart of hearts that we are what we produce. 362 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,360 That is exactly what God led his people out of Egypt. 363 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:38,400 He said you don't work for Pharaoh anymore. 364 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,200 It's not about the number of bricks that you can produce. 365 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,000 It's not about having better buildings or better any of that. 366 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,320 It's about you being a people who work, who are foreign and 367 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,640 shades, who have powers and guilt and gifts and skills and 368 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,400 abilities, but you're not defined by them. 369 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,720 And you certainly don't have to make your own. 370 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:04,200 Way so we practice Sabbath, one day of rest where we say I'm not 371 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,640 my job, I am not a widget maker. I don't have to earn the right 372 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,640 or the privilege of resting. Notice the ants. 373 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,840 Now he provides a contrast to that in verse 9. 374 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,000 But you lazy bones, how long will you sleep? 375 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,200 When will you wake up? As long as I can, right, is my 376 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,720 response. As much as possible can, right? 377 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:32,880 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding 378 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,720 of the hands to rest. Then poverty will bounce on you 379 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,560 like a bandit. Scarcity will attack you like an 380 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,320 armed robber. OK, so we have that. 381 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:43,520 The picture is like the hustle culture, right? 382 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,600 Like we're just going to got to go, got to go, got to go, got to 383 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:47,720 run, got to do more, got to be more and we go and write until 384 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,880 we crash and we follow. The counter to that is lazy 385 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:51,920 bones. It is the slugger. 386 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,440 And what it doesn't mean is someone who just says I'm not 387 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,280 ever going to do anything. The reason the Sabbath works, 388 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,280 the command of the Sabbath is 6 days. 389 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,840 You'll do your work and one day you will rest. 390 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,160 That's a day that's holy. The Sabbath assumes that there's 391 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:08,800 going to be work. But here's the thing that I'm 392 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,720 going to tell you if you've never experienced anxiety and 393 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,160 depression and fear, there are some days that the prospect of 394 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,960 tomorrow is so scary and overwhelming that I can't get 395 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,720 off the couch today. And I find all kinds of ways to 396 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,520 justify it. I just need a little break. 397 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:28,880 I just need a little bit more time. 398 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:31,880 This is a picture of procrastination. 399 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,200 This is a picture of waiting to do the important things until 400 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,160 tomorrow. Today I'll I'll do a. 401 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,760 Little bit of this and I'm not really resting, I'm just simply 402 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,840 sitting on my couch and meditating on all the potential 403 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,960 horrors that are going to come tomorrow. 404 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,360 We call it paralysis by analysis. 405 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:56,240 Anxiety is paralysis by what if. What if what they say is true? 406 00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:01,360 What if all the things that I can imagine in my head come 407 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,800 true? Anxiety and fear and, and all of 408 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,000 these, you know, insecurity about what's going to come. 409 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,440 They always see absolute destruction ahead, don't they? 410 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,040 There's no shame in here, but we can see that. 411 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,280 Unless what I want to hold up is if you've been there, if you're 412 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,920 walking in that right now, what I want to invite you into is it 413 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,720 begin. Maybe today all you can do is 414 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:29,160 begin to begin to believe that God has something different for 415 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,320 you. That the plan in the path of the 416 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,360 Proverbs is not to lead you into more hustle or into a world 417 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,520 that's so scary that you can't possibly figure out how to get 418 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,000 it. Let me promise you as a part of 419 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:48,800 fully Orthodox theology, the God who created all things by his 420 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,000 word is not wondering what's going to happen tomorrow. 421 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,080 The God who created you and called you by name is not 422 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,280 worried about whether the economy is going to turn or what 423 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,680 the return on your 4-O1K is going to be. 424 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:15,560 The God who created light, who created sky, He's not that 425 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,320 impressed with your hustle, your extra 40%. 426 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,800 He's not that interested in that. 427 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,080 What He is interested in is you reflecting the life and the 428 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,240 freedom of the Godhead in your life and in your world. 429 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,880 He's interested in you being faithful, doing the thing that's 430 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,920 in front of you and letting Him do all the rest of it. 431 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,040 So this is weird though, right? Like if we do this like a little 432 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,200 bit extra sleeve, a little more slumber, and then what it says 433 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,920 is poverty will pounce on you like a bandit. 434 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,800 It's real important, right? Like some places will use this 435 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,840 and they'll take this and say, if you don't do what you're 436 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,320 supposed to do, if you're not active enough, if you don't go 437 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,480 to enough small groups, if you don't do that, then God's going 438 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,280 to make you poor. The you know, the converse of 439 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,840 that is that if you do all the right things that God will make 440 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:02,960 you rich. Notice this. 441 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,880 This isn't saying that God does this. 442 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,560 This is a consequence. This is a natural effect. 443 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,120 Here's the thing. If you keep putting on until 444 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:14,240 tomorrow what needs to be done today, someday the bill is going 445 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,560 to come due and we'll be stuck and we'll be caught. 446 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,280 If I'm so afraid of what comes tomorrow that I ignored today, 447 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,960 tomorrow should be scary. But if I simply say tomorrow is 448 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,120 unknown to me, I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring. 449 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:29,720 I don't know how it's going to turn out. 450 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,280 I think I do. But that voice of fear in my 451 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,200 head is a liar. The voice of God says I've 452 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:36,840 created tomorrow. I'll take care of it. 453 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:42,280 You do your piece today and then tomorrow when you wake up, you 454 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,800 do that. But listen, when the bell, some 455 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,760 of you are bosses and you're here and you're just like, no, 456 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,960 listen. When the bell rings at 5:00, you 457 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,720 go home to your family. They're waiting for you. 458 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,960 More than that, they need. Your best We're raising 459 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:05,200 children. We're raising kids to either be 460 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:10,080 paralyzed by fear and anxiety and insecurity by whatever the 461 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,160 loudest voice on the TV tells them they need to be afraid of 462 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,440 today, or they're able to look into the goodness of God and see 463 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,920 his provision and take care of what needs to happen today. 464 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,440 Poverty is simply and listen, I this is so like, here's what I'm 465 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,960 not saying. I'm because, listen, statistics 466 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,240 would indicate that there are people in here that that that 467 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:31,760 covers. And what I want you to hear, I 468 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,000 want you to hear me say like, you didn't do anything wrong. 469 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,480 Maybe I mean, if you gambled it all, you shouldn't have done 470 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,320 that. But the idea here isn't that God 471 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,800 is going to punish you if you do too much or too little. 472 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,360 The idea here is an invitation to live wisdom. 473 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,280 Wisdom participates faithfully in today without fear of 474 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:56,560 tomorrow. Wisdom is able to stand at the 475 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,880 end of the day and just say not everything's done. 476 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:01,800 When is everything going to be done? 477 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,120 Never right? But what wisdom is able to do is 478 00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:09,080 go to work hard, to show up on time with a good attitude to 479 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,120 work, to make your your coworkers better, to make your 480 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:13,760 boss as successful as they can be. 481 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,840 And then at the end of the day, five o'clock 6:00, whatever, 482 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:22,760 it's time to stop and say that's enough for today and to go home. 483 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,200 Your boss isn't going to like that. 484 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,000 But listen, your boss, listen to some of your your bosses. 485 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,760 You have an opportunity to not be like this, right? 486 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,480 Your boss wants you to think that they are your provider 487 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,200 because then they can control you. 488 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:44,960 A person who's not afraid is dangerous, and the best way you 489 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,360 know why. Can't control them, can't 490 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:50,520 manipulate them. The person who just says, yeah, 491 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,400 no, I did my work today and yeah, there, no, there will be 492 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,680 work tomorrow. I call this job security. 493 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,480 I'm going to do just what I can today to make sure that when I 494 00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,000 show up tomorrow there was something else. 495 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,880 And I trust that God is going to provide for me for that. 496 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,240 See what happens there? What when you start, when we 497 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,400 start walking in that and we just start saying, no, I'm going 498 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,640 to be faithful with what's in front of me and then I'm going 499 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:14,200 to go do the other things that are in my life. 500 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,880 What happens, what begin to see, is called margin. 501 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,320 This isn't fundamentally a passage about economics. 502 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:29,440 This isn't passage about margin, about space between what we have 503 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,400 and what we consume. And the more that that gap 504 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,600 shrinks, the more our anxiety spikes. 505 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,160 We're living right on the razor's edge. 506 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,680 But something happens when we begin to live in margin, when we 507 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,760 begin to say, I've done enough and if I'm working in a place or 508 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,720 if I'm giving my life to a place that always needs more and 509 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,120 always wants. I'm not telling you, you need to 510 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,920 go get a new job, But I'm telling you, you may need to go 511 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,320 get a new job. Because something predictable 512 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,480 happens when we begin to have margin in our life, margin in 513 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,800 our time, margin in our checkbooks, margin in the things 514 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,560 that we do. Right here's here's what it 515 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,160 looks like. Proverbs Chapter 11. 516 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,440 We'll start in verse 24. Give freely and become more 517 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,200 wealthy. Be stingy and lose everything. 518 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,760 The generous will prosper. Those who refresh others will 519 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,520 themselves be refreshed. And again, some of you have 520 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:32,120 heard a prosperity preacher say, you just got to give me your 521 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,640 10%. If you give me 10%, then God 522 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,640 will bless you. Probably not today, but maybe 523 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,480 tomorrow. Hopefully tomorrow. 524 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,040 Not tomorrow either, or someday. I remember last week when we 525 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,080 talked about the prophet who wants to come tell me what God 526 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,240 is saying to me. But I asked them, well, who does 527 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,120 God say to you? I want to ask the prosperity 528 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:49,480 gospel. Teacher, who are you? 529 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,680 Giving 10% to. Who are you? 530 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,000 Investing in. But what happens is when we 531 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,440 begin to put boundaries, appropriate boundaries around 532 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,640 our lives, and we begin to create margin. 533 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:05,080 The fruit of that is generosity. The problem is sometimes 534 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,040 generosity. Pastors handle generosity like a 535 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:09,680 cudgel, right? Like I'm just standing here and 536 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,600 I'm going to beat you into giving what I think that you 537 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:14,640 need to give. We don't have to do that. 538 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:16,520 That's why we don't pass a plate here. 539 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,680 I don't want you to feel manipulated by that. 540 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,160 Some of you don't have two nickels to rub together right 541 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,440 now. What I would say to you is when 542 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,640 you give generously, it produces fruit in you, God for God. 543 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:30,600 God shows up and God delivers. But I'm not going to use 544 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:34,000 generosity to beat you. What I am going to say is when 545 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,680 we live with margin, when we say and what margin looks like is I 546 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,040 have enough. When we live with margin 547 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,320 generosity, natural flow naturally. 548 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:46,360 Flows. It just leaks out of us this 549 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:50,080 isn't a prosperity doctrine principle. 550 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:55,880 This is an invitation. Watch how faith and fear and. 551 00:30:55,880 --> 00:31:02,040 Trust work because when I give when I when I give, I don't 552 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,480 whatever the words of my mouth are, when I give to something to 553 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,080 A cause, to a person to alleviate some suffering, what I 554 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:14,760 implicitly saying is I have enough my needs are met, I 555 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,600 listen I can afford to give and the problem is we're. 556 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,400 Just like Oh well, say them, they give a. $1000 Well, I don't 557 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,160 care what you give. You know Jesus celebrates on the 558 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:25,600 Scripture a woman who puts a couple of nickels. 559 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,760 He stops the worship service. The point at this? 560 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,200 Huge. Gift of faith. 561 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,360 I want you to know I don't know what you give. 562 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,000 I don't know what I don't because I don't care. 563 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,400 It's not about it's not about the number of dollars that you 564 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,080 that you put in. It's about are you living with 565 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:49,680 enough margin in your life to know that I don't serve this 566 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,680 world. I have the ability to do good in 567 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,960 this world. I have enough and I trust that 568 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,720 what I need tomorrow God will provide. 569 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,960 And I want to be real careful too. 570 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:08,280 And all the love to say that that God doesn't promise to meet 571 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:14,080 my lifestyle demands. Sometimes getting Marge in our 572 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:18,800 life says I need a smaller house and a smaller payment. 573 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:25,080 I need to buy a used car, right? Because here's here's the thing 574 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,720 about, you know, when you buy that new BMW after about six 575 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,120 weeks, that's just the place that you throw your McDonald's 576 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:35,400 wrappers. You can throw a McDonald's 577 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:41,120 wrapper in a 1997 Camry. Listen, I watch Camry on TikTok 578 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,400 like those. You get 808 hundred, 1000 miles 579 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:44,920 out of a Camry if you take care of it, right? 580 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,320 But in the same way that generosity says it's a 581 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,360 demonstration, I have enough to give. 582 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,840 And I want to just say, you might not even believe it now. 583 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,160 You might just go, I don't have enough, but I'm going to give 584 00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,400 anyway. Then I'm going to see. 585 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:02,120 And what happens is when you give and then you step back and 586 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,160 you're just bracing and you're just waiting, And then guess 587 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:05,680 what? You go to sleep and you wake up 588 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,840 the next day and you just go, I didn't die, I'm still here. 589 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,440 It trains our heart to be generous. 590 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:16,560 But when I withhold, there's no listen, there's no hammer here. 591 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,680 What I want to do is hold up a mirror and I want to ask is, are 592 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:23,200 you living? Like coming up with everything 593 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:27,520 that you have is up to you. Do you believe that God desires 594 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,520 to give goodness even if it comes in a smaller house or an 595 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,920 older car? Withholding is the declaration 596 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:40,680 that if I give anything, I won't have enough for tomorrow. 597 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,560 And what I lovingly want to point out to you is you don't 598 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,480 know what tomorrow brings. It's designed that way. 599 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,920 The point of it is so that we will trust God. 600 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:54,480 God's desire is that his people would live in the world 601 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,680 generously, wisely. Able to contribute to the things 602 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,480 that matter, the things that are in your heart, able to do good 603 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,440 not just with your time for someone else, but with the 604 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,280 produce of your life, the things that you give your life away 605 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,000 for. And listen, I know there are 606 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,639 people, there are stories of people that you see on this 607 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:18,600 stage that aren't me. And I know they sell their house 608 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,080 and downsize so they can take jobs that don't demand as much 609 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:23,800 of them so that they can be present to each other. 610 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,960 And I'm not telling you that you need to do that. 611 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,159 I'm asking you what kind of life do you who want to lead and what 612 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:34,960 has the world told you you have to provide for yourself and what 613 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,719 is the. Cost of our marginalist 614 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:43,400 existence because margin is the space where generosity happens 615 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,000 and generosity trains our hearts to trust Jesus. 616 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,600 He said it this way, right? This is important, right? 617 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:54,040 Every week when we just say we talk about the Proverbs in the 618 00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,440 Old Testament, but every week we want to bring back. 619 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,200 And I just want you to know the Proverbs, the wisdom in the Old 620 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,240 Testament doesn't end in the Old Testament. 621 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,760 It's embodied and. Expressed by Jesus. 622 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,400 Jesus. Is how we interpret the the 623 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,800 wisdom in the Proverbs, right? And so here's what it looks 624 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,400 like. Matthew chapter 6. 625 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,600 This is Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, 626 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,400 starting in verse 19. Don't store up yourself. 627 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,480 Don't store up treasures here on Earth where moths eat them and 628 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:23,520 rust destroys them. It didn't say don't do anything. 629 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,000 It says don't store them up. Don't. 630 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,080 Oh, I got to keep this because I don't know what tomorrow he's 631 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:28,480 like. Don't. 632 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:32,000 Don't put everything here. Some of you lost everything in 633 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,520 2008. Some of you are so afraid of 634 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:41,680 another financial downturn that you live angry and afraid. 635 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,360 And what Jesus saying is like, don't make that your ultimate 636 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:50,760 withholding because rust destroys them and thieves break 637 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,240 in and steal it. Instead, store your treasures in 638 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:57,440 heaven or moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break 639 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,160 in and steal. Listen, whatever, wherever your 640 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,400 treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 641 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,280 I expect that to be different. I would expect to be where your 642 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,080 heart is, there your treasures will be. 643 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,440 But what Jesus says is you can train your heart where to go by 644 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:18,480 investing your your treasure. And that can be your time for 645 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:21,080 sure. For sure you should. 646 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,680 That's why I think this is such an important thing. 647 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:27,440 Listen, you don't need more of me in your life, right? 648 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,560 Like you just don't. But there's something about 649 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,200 saying there's a spot on my calendar, a weekly spot on my 650 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,400 calendar that is non negotiable, where I go and worship with 651 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,240 God's people and where I hear God's words spoken over me. 652 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,360 I want to go to a place every. Week when I'm in town, when I'm 653 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,720 around I want to go to a place every week where I can be 654 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,240 confronted with a beautiful gospel truth that I am badly 655 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,480 broken and I am deeply loved there's nowhere else in the 656 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:57,680 world that is going to tell you that and Jesus says where your. 657 00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,400 Treasure is there, your heart will be. 658 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:05,440 Also your money and I don't say that to manipulate you or do 659 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:08,000 anything like that, but I'm also not going to back away from it 660 00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,720 because for some of us, it's easier to just give our time. 661 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:12,120 Sure. Also, oh, you just want an hour. 662 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:13,960 Great. Some of you have been going to 663 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,640 an hour here for so long that you need to start serving and 664 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,440 give another hour. Some of you, it's time, right? 665 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,600 And you just go. Listen, I'm afraid if you're 666 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,680 afraid of the it's so afraid of the economy on the news that you 667 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,000 are mad and angry at other people, you need to start 668 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,760 disciplining your heart by making your money go somewhere 669 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,960 else. Is it scary? 670 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,040 Terrifying. Terrifying. 671 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,520 I know, because I'm afraid too. Every time. 672 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:46,040 I'm just like, all right, Natalie pries it out of my hands 673 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,840 and get rid of it like that. The Lord has always been 674 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,040 faithful. The Lord has always been 675 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:56,920 faithful and I don't think today is the day that he breaks that 676 00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,360 streak. So he says put your treasure 677 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,600 where you want your heart to be. Do you want to die and have your 678 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,920 boss say, man, the best thing about that guy is he made me 679 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:13,960 rich. That same speech, Jesus goes on 680 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:19,080 verse 25. That's why I tell you not to 681 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,760 worry about your everyday life. And he describes it. 682 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,880 Whether you have enough food or drink or enough clothes to wear. 683 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,200 Isn't life more than food and your body more than closing 684 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:32,200 clothing? He's not talking about poverty, 685 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:33,440 existence. He's not talking about 686 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,440 starvation. He's talking about, listen, I 687 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:42,200 heard a statistic this week we throw away $160 billion worth of 688 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:47,560 food a year. The problem isn't that we don't 689 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:51,280 have enough food. The problem is it's ported and 690 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:55,760 it's not distributed. Well, as we're afraid says don't 691 00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,120 worry about your life, what you're going to eat says look at 692 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,040 the birds. Remember, look at the ants, 693 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:02,760 Jesus said look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or 694 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,000 store food in barns and your heavenly Father feeds them. 695 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:09,520 Now here's the question. Aren't you more valuable to him 696 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,640 than they are? That's the question. 697 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,160 That's the question that you've got to answer. 698 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,720 Do you think you're more important than the birds and the 699 00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:19,920 ants? We think we're fundamentally 700 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:21,440 different. Like, yeah, but the ants don't 701 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,760 know. How do you know that's God 702 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,480 created them both? He created both us and the ants 703 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,800 us and the words. The difference is he's given us 704 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,240 his Spirit. He's created his image in us. 705 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:33,880 He's going to take care of us more and better than that. 706 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,080 He hasn't promised to make us rich because all the rich stuff 707 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:40,200 is going to go away. We're going to die and not take 708 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:42,400 any of it. And all that hustle is going to 709 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:46,080 do is speed that day up. And Jesus goes, you should have. 710 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,920 Checked out of that. Does it cause you to? 711 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,560 Worry, do you have anxiety become of that because of that 712 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,360 good news, You don't have to play that game anymore. 713 00:39:55,080 --> 00:40:02,400 You don't have to live in that system, he goes on verse 31. 714 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,120 So don't worry about all of these. 715 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,640 Things. Fran, listen. 716 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,160 Are you listening? Don't worry. 717 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:15,440 That's a command from Jesus in Scripture. 718 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:21,480 Don't worry about these things saying what we eat or what we 719 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,240 drink, what we wear. These things dominate the 720 00:40:24,240 --> 00:40:29,120 thoughts of unbelievers. Wow, that's heavy. 721 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:32,360 It's supposed to look different for us. 722 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,480 This is supposed to be one of the things that marks the 723 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,120 followers of Jesus, that we believe that our God cares for 724 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:41,200 us in practical and tangible ways. 725 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,080 Day by day, those things dominate the thoughts of 726 00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:46,080 unbelievers. But your heavenly Father always 727 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:49,800 knows your needs. So seek the Kingdom of God above 728 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,600 all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything 729 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,080 that you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, 730 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:57,760 for tomorrow will bring its own worries. 731 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,000 Today's trouble is enough for its own. 732 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,280 Jesus is talking about movement. Listen. 733 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:05,280 Wherever you are, He starts with place. 734 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,040 Don't worry, stop that. Don't worry about tomorrow, 735 00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:09,720 right? Put your hand on your chest. 736 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:13,400 I don't know what tomorrow it brings, but I am safe today. 737 00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:16,480 That is a truth from Jesus. I don't know what tomorrow 738 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,400 brings, but today I am safe and I have enough. 739 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:23,040 Regulate that nervous system. Don't let tomorrow steal today 740 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:24,360 from you. But it moves on there. 741 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:25,920 Don't worry. And then look. 742 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,200 Here's why I don't have to worry, because look at God's 743 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,440 good creation. The sun rises and sets. 744 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,040 I went walking the other day and the golden hour was so 745 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:34,680 beautiful, almost took my breath away. 746 00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:37,680 I didn't do one thing to earn that, I just got to experience 747 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:40,000 it. Look around at the goodness that 748 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,360 God gives all around you and then seek first the Kingdom. 749 00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:47,480 Put people first, put righteousness first. 750 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:51,000 That's what freedom is. That's how we experience freedom 751 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,440 and from fear, freedom from scarcity. 752 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:59,240 But we face this moment authentically, as it. 753 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:01,200 Is and we let tomorrow be itself. 754 00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:03,640 That's a lot to process, isn't it? 755 00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:07,560 That's a lot. You don't have to get all the 756 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:09,960 way there today. You don't have to go all the 757 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:11,720 way, right? But each week we've had a couple 758 00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:14,440 of questions that help us think through and process this, so I 759 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:19,000 want to put these up. Am I more inclined to try to 760 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:24,160 manage anxiety and fear by controlling something or hiding 761 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,960 from it? And. 762 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:31,160 Where did I learn that? Who? 763 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:36,560 Taught me that that was responsible #2 how much margin 764 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:41,080 in my is in my life and what has that produced in me? 765 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:45,400 Am I more patient and kind and gentle and loving or less 766 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:50,840 because of the demands of keeping up and 3rd and this 767 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,040 one's hard. What is fear and anxiety cost me 768 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:59,160 in my life? What have I lost or sacrificed 769 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:03,000 because I try to control or avoid the opportunity of this 770 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,600 moment. Now listen real quick. 771 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:11,920 We talk a lot at church about being saved, right? 772 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:14,840 And it's this real, like saved by Jesus, I'm saved. 773 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:17,480 I just want you to know that word means something. 774 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:22,520 It means saved from this. It means saved from having to 775 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,800 manufacture a life that I think is good enough or good enough 776 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,760 for someone else to recognize this issue of trust. 777 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:34,280 It's not just a financial thing. Jesus does not need your money. 778 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:39,360 Jesus wants your heart. Jesus wants your life. 779 00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:45,280 So I'm asking you today, whatever you're holding on to, 780 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:50,760 will you let it go? That tight fist of grasping, 781 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:52,680 right? Your forearms are bulging and 782 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:55,880 veins are popping out, right? You can't receive goodness. 783 00:43:55,880 --> 00:44:00,600 You got to let it go. Will you say to yourself? 784 00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:04,960 I have trusted my own ability to provide for myself because I 785 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:07,880 haven't wanted to believe or obey you. 786 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:12,720 Jesus, we call that confession. It's confession. 787 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:16,040 That's how it starts. It's telling the truth, and I 788 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,160 want you to know that Jesus doesn't punish you for telling 789 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:21,720 the truth. He forgives you, but He 790 00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:25,520 absolutely wants to lead you into something different. 791 00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,120 He absolutely wants to lead you somewhere life giving. 792 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:32,640 That's repentance, the new life, the new direction. 793 00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:35,800 A Christian isn't someone who believes in Jesus. 794 00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:40,600 A Christian is a person who confesses that they have missed 795 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:44,360 the mark with their own life and spends every moment to the best 796 00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:47,360 of their ability from this point forward, trying to follow him. 797 00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,320 Not to earn his love, not to earn their salvation, but to 798 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,200 experience it. To be saved from a life without 799 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:58,880 Him. So we re aim our lives and our 800 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,840 hearts towards Him. Will you do that today? 801 00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:04,240 If you haven't done that for the first time, I want you to know 802 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,720 Jesus wants to save you from a life of toil and hardship. 803 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:14,800 We pray with me, Jesus, There is nothing in our world. 804 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:19,120 There is no news station, newspaper, website, blog that 805 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:25,600 tells us this and that should be a tell. 806 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:31,400 I just pray especially for anybody in here today who is 807 00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:36,520 worried, who is afraid even today, they're grieving what 808 00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,160 they have lost to anxiety and fear in Jesus. 809 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,240 I just pray that you would meet them in that moment. 810 00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:48,480 Lord, your comfort is emotional, but it is also very practical. 811 00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:54,160 And Lord, I pray that your people would be alive with a 812 00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:57,640 margin enough to be generous with the love and the grace that 813 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:01,400 we have experienced. So I pray that you would comfort 814 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,000 us today. I pray that you would lead us 815 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:07,040 into life, and in the wholeness I pray that pray that you would 816 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:09,080 lead us out of. A world where? 817 00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:15,120 We have to produce to earn your love and where we can simply be 818 00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:19,480 faithful with what you've placed before us today and experience 819 00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:23,000 all of the goodness of your Kingdom on earth. 820 00:46:23,840 --> 00:46:26,680 As in heaven, we ask these things. 821 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:29,520 Jesus, in your name and for your glory, Amen. 822 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:32,600 Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about 823 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,320 experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and 824 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:38,000 community, and we hope that you've been able to experience 825 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,640 that today. As grateful as I am that you've 826 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:43,960 spent this time listening in this morning, this podcast is no 827 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:46,960 substitute for full participation in a local church. 828 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:50,560 I love it when River City people listen to other pastors, but it 829 00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,640 is those who show up week after week faithfully giving their 830 00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:56,480 support and time and resources that make all of this possible. 831 00:46:57,080 --> 00:47:00,320 If we can help you get connected to a local church, pray for you, 832 00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,680 or support you in any way, click the link in the description and 833 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:05,800 let us know. If you'd like to financially 834 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:08,640 support the ministry of River City, click the give link on our 835 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:11,800 website in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and 836 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,520 don't forget to share this with your friends. 837 00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,560 Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless and keep you 838 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:18,120 in all grace and peace.