1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,680 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,200 You haven't seen Alicia around. It means you're probably not 7 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,480 around enough because she's everywhere, doing all of the 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,160 things, bringing her gifts and talents to River City. 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,480 And we love it. So I'm glad that you're here on 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,480 this Sunday before Thanksgiving. I hope that your whole week is 11 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:39,840 filled with gratitude and grace, not that everything is easy, but 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:43,800 that you find a way in the midst of whatever comes to recognize 13 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:45,040 God's presence and to be grateful. 14 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,040 So we begin each week as we begin today with our confession. 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,680 And our confession is important. Really our confession is what's 16 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,600 been behind this whole Ephesians series. 17 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,440 It's really the story behind the whole of Scripture. 18 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,760 Our confession as a churches we're badly broken, badly broken 19 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:07,280 and deeply loved. Yes, you are and that's why it's 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,720 so important. Like where what Alicia said it 21 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,000 comes like the story is that God has been bringing Jews and 22 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,280 Gentiles together. That's this big apocalypse, this 23 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,520 big revelation that that. Paul wrote to this Ephesian 24 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,160 church as a Jewish rabbi, writing to a Gentile 25 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,720 congregation that what God has been doing since the beginning 26 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,800 is what he wants to do in them and today, believe it or don't. 27 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,720 We're actually going to read the. 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,720 End of Ephesians, and that's going to be. 29 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:38,760 Wonderful. I want to say real. 30 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,040 Quick. Though I have an urgency about 31 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,200 this in my soul, right? Like I'm always. 32 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,240 Kind of like I'm high strung, like I I get it, I know, I. 33 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,360 But there's a there's there's more in me today because while 34 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,240 I'm definitely glad for this to to end and I'm ready to move on 35 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,200 to our Christmas series, my concern is that we're going to 36 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,720 take what we've been studying and just move on to whatever the 37 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,560 next thing. And what I want to tell is 38 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,400 Ephesians is the story. Ephesians is the thing. 39 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,639 And my concern is that we're going to take this book that 40 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,400 we've been going and we've been pulling these ideas and these 41 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,680 words and these nuances and these subtleties out of it. 42 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,680 And we've been talking about the way that the church relates to 43 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,760 each other and grows and the way that we're supposed to behave 44 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:25,200 and belong and all of these things. 45 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,200 And my concern is that after 14 weeks, we're going to hear it 46 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,720 and go, that's nice. And we're going to move on. 47 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:34,560 And what I want to say is everything that you're ever 48 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,240 going to hear in church is built on this. 49 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,960 There's never an escape from this content because this is 50 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,320 gospel. This is the good news. 51 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,800 Everything that Jesus does in our lives is for this purpose, 52 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,360 to establish us and to restore us to this. 53 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,840 And so my hope is that you have been been able to see over the 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:03,200 last 14 weeks that you really can go deep, You really can get 55 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,440 granular because I promise you, there is nothing that either 56 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,440 Johnny or myself have talked about or taught that isn't 57 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,800 widely available in the public domain. 58 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,200 You have access to every single. Thing that Johnny and I have 59 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,600 talked about and so my. Hope for you is that you will 60 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,000 get a glimpse and a vision of something that makes you go. 61 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,680 I need more of that. Something that Jason talked 62 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,840 about or Johnny talked about or Paul wrote about, I need. 63 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,520 That and I want that and my hope. 64 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:36,600 Is that as Paul implores us and begs us, that we'll begin to 65 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:41,160 truly live our. Lives around this truth, around 66 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,200 this gospel. And so I want to take a second 67 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:44,800 and thank Johnny. Johnny's not in the room right 68 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,280 now, but I want to thank him in front of you for helping me with 69 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:49,520 this. We've never had a series like 70 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,240 this at River City where we have gone back and forth and we kind 71 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,040 of have alternated a teaching the text. 72 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,440 And I want you to know I'm better at what I do because of 73 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,560 Johnny. I am better at what I do because 74 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:02,920 Johnny took the time to share his process with me. 75 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,520 He's so smart. He knows so many things and he 76 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,320 has helped me and he has encouraged me and he has, I feel 77 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,800 like, made me better and made us better. 78 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,240 So if you see Johnny around anytime next, however long, just 79 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,720 grab him and hug his bald head and tell him that you love him 80 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,079 and you understand most of the things that he said. 81 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:24,720 And you know, all right, have him over for a July 4th 82 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:25,960 celebration. He'll get that. 83 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,320 It's fun. The idea that was a British 84 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:32,760 joke, by the way, if you didn't get it. 85 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,520 So at the end of the Ephesians, the thing that. 86 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:38,240 Paul has been. Hammering that he's been coming 87 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,960 back to over and over and over again is this idea that the 88 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,440 spiritual is the ultimate. What is spiritual is most real. 89 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:47,520 This is real. The things that we can touch and 90 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,000 see and taste. Are real but there's an ultimate 91 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,720 reality even beyond that that this physical reality points to 92 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,600 and the truth and the story of the ultimate spiritual reality 93 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:04,440 is that King Jesus has won and he sits today enthroned in what 94 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:09,560 he calls the heavenlies where he reigns over all things now and 95 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,680 forever. And as his church we begin to 96 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:16,960 experience that partly now but not fully and not entirely yet. 97 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,160 The way Paul talks about that is the ages, the age to come and 98 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,800 this present age. But the message from Paul from 99 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,040 the first to the last is Jesus is. 100 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,560 Resurrected and victorious and seated at the right hand of the 101 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,560 Father. And you're there with him now in 102 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,760 this place. And that is our reality. 103 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,040 And so we saw last week he talked about this armor, and the 104 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,400 armor is this fundamental reality. 105 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,560 And what he talked is he uses these Latin phrases, right, 106 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:51,480 semper Paradis, right, like always ready and semper fidelis, 107 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,960 right, always faithful. And what he's talking about is 108 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,920 us in the context of this armor that he talked to us. 109 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:01,280 The idea is for us to always stay ready, to always stay 110 00:06:01,280 --> 00:06:02,960 faithful. He had this idea, right? 111 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,800 Every day is a battle. And you're like, bro, that's 112 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:08,400 heavy and I'm tired and I just want to nap. 113 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:09,960 I get it. I love naps. 114 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,200 Sometimes there's nothing more spiritual than you can do but 115 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,000 take a nap. But listen, it's OK to take a 116 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,000 nap as long as we realize that the world in the cosmos doesn't 117 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,480 nap with us. That's why Paul talks about the 118 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,160 armor. The problem with us is we're not 119 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,040 really an armor bearing culture, are we? 120 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,480 None of you I. Suppose have a breastplate at 121 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,600 your house. Maybe some of you chainmail 122 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:38,760 nerds do, I don't know. That's fine if you do. 123 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,080 But we're not that. Familiar with it? 124 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,800 Right. So what happens then when we 125 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:46,560 have a situation where there's this biblical metaphor, but it's 126 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,040 outside of common? Our common everyday practice is 127 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,080 we get familiar with something, but we don't really understand 128 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:55,920 what it means. And what I want to say is this 129 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,200 is good news for you because many of you have been around the 130 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,400 church for a long time and you've heard about the 131 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,360 breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation and feet 132 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,320 with the readiness of the gospel of truth. 133 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:10,600 And you've heard that. And you're like, that's fine, 134 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,320 but what do I do? With it, do I need to go by 135 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,800 chain mail? Do I need to have right? 136 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,360 So we read about it and we think about it and maybe we do a 137 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,520 devotional about it and we feel mildly inspired by it, but it 138 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,720 doesn't really seem to protect us, does it? 139 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,320 That's OK, you can admit that. We still feel like we get beat 140 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,800 up a lot, right? We wake up and maybe we read the 141 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,800 passage or we do the devotion and we go down by breastplate, 142 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,320 right to the helmet of salvation, like feet, belt, 143 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,720 truth and all. Like all of the things girded 144 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,480 and all the stuff. Like we're ready to go. 145 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,560 And then we walk out the front door and we get our tails kicked 146 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:54,760 in by all kinds of stuff, right? We gossip or we cuss or we steal 147 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:57,400 or we get afraid or we do all of these things and we go home and 148 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,520 we're like, I guess the freaking armor doesn't work. 149 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,840 But the next time Jesus calling, it's in there. 150 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,600 Maya Moser's highest, I'm doing it. 151 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,240 So we go. Again and over and over and over 152 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,800 and over again. Spiritual victory seems out of 153 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,800 reach at best, maybe fleeting. We armor up. 154 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:18,960 But the problem is, and what I'm going to say is the problem is 155 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,240 that we armor up and then we just sit on the couch. 156 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,920 We never go to the battle place. We literally are a bunch of 157 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,440 armored up people cowering in our closets client. 158 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,840 What we're doing is we armor up and then we try to go fight the 159 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,280 battle that our way. What we say is we talk to 160 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,440 ourselves, right? Like if I can just think peace, 161 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,400 right, If I can just figure all of this out, right And we maybe 162 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,160 we've got a verse right, Philippians 4 right, like don't 163 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:46,960 be anxious about anything. And what happens is when we 164 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,000 start trying to beat our fear to death with the mantra, don't be 165 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,640 anxious about anything. Don't be anxious about anything. 166 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,000 Don't be anxious about anything. I'm anxious about whether I'm 167 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,920 doing it right. We try to. 168 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,040 Use truth like a cudgel, like a bludgeon, like trying to beat 169 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,440 things to death. But what we don't have is peace. 170 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:07,680 We talk about if we can just if they would just. 171 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:08,960 If we can just, but we don't know. 172 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,040 Peace. We work for transformation. 173 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,080 We hear about being transformed into the likeness of Christ. 174 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,200 And so we go to the store and we try to be kind and gentle and 175 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,480 patient, but there are people there and people are the worst. 176 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,480 And So what we find out is wherever I go, there I am, or 177 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,880 more than that. We try to be good and we get a 178 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:30,840 little bit better. We say 1 fewer cuss word during 179 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:32,280 the day. And so then we start to go. 180 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,480 I'm pretty. Dang, good at this man. 181 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:40,120 And what we call that is are you listening self righteousness 182 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,560 when you start looking at your own life and start going. 183 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,640 I measure up pretty good compared to all those other 184 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:47,200 losers. They don't vote for the right 185 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:48,520 guy. They don't make enough money. 186 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,160 They don't do the right thing. They're not nearly as handsome 187 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,720 as I am. So all those guys wrong and I 188 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,840 get this Lord, you're welcome for. 189 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,040 Me. And we fail. 190 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,400 We feel it being humble. We feel it being kind. 191 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,960 We feel it being unified. We feel it being powerful. 192 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,720 We feel it being transformed because we're trying to 193 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,440 transform ourselves. We try to argue our way into 194 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,400 unity. We schedule a lunch with those 195 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,680 Republicans. So we can just let them know. 196 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,640 The truth, if we could just make them see, we try to take the 197 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:23,040 Democrats out so we could tell them or these people just go, if 198 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,680 we could just let them know that Jesus loves them because of 199 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:28,160 this. And so we go and we're trying to 200 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,040 argue and we're trying to fight our way into unity. 201 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,080 And what happens is we just get entrenched and we just get 202 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,080 angry. And what happens is when we fail 203 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,560 to be able to convert people to our version and understanding of 204 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:43,560 truth, we begin to get angry and we begin to see the other person 205 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:49,120 as evil, not just different, wrong and evil. 206 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,760 We can point and go. How could anybody who loves 207 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:56,000 Jesus think this or believe? This or fight this way and Jesus 208 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,280 points to all of our wrong ideas and wrong notions and goes just 209 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,280 like that. Or we want to be secure and So 210 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,840 what we try to do is we try to control every aspect, not just 211 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:07,920 of our own life but of our others lives. 212 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:12,520 We try to control our spouse, we try to control our children, we 213 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,360 try to control our money. We can try to control our bosses 214 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:17,720 and our coworkers. And what happens is when we 215 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,520 realize that we can't control people, we begin to get afraid. 216 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,440 We begin to get angry because we realize we live in a world that 217 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,880 we can't control. And I'm just going to like tip 218 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:31,160 your hand right here. Like, like you need to know, 219 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,120 there's very little new information that I'm going to 220 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:34,920 give you today, but what I am going to ask you to do is 221 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,560 fundamentally alter the way that you live. 222 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:40,640 I'm going to ask you to throw your entire calendar and 223 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,840 schedule out and to do something different today. 224 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,880 Because the reason that we experience so much of this 225 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,680 powerlessness and some of this kind of futility is because we 226 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,440 got all the armor, but we don't pray. 227 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,360 It's like somebody buying you a BMW and it's all tricked down 228 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,880 and it's got all the stuff, but they forgot to enter the gas 229 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,600 tank. Try as you might, Polish the 230 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,680 Fender as you might, that car's not going anywhere and all of 231 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,960 your best intentions and self righteousness and armored up 232 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:14,640 self without prayer is nothing. It's nothing. 233 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,520 It means nothing. See, the reason we're good at 234 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,520 the armor is because the armor makes us feel powerful. 235 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,000 I'm doing and I'm the breastplate and helmet, right? 236 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,720 I like I like the armor because it makes me feel like a. 237 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,320 Gladiator next miss just miss Aurelius and I. 238 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,480 Fly, blah blah blah, right? We like the armor because what 239 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:33,880 it does for us. We resist prayer because it 240 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,400 makes us feel weak. Because in prayer I come to the 241 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,080 Lord and go, Lord, all of this is bigger than me. 242 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,240 So I need you to get involved or I can't change my boss. 243 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,840 You see what a tool that guy is, Fix him. 244 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,880 Or why won't my kids behave? Fix them. 245 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,240 Paul's been praying throughout this letter from them, literally 246 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:57,200 from the very first chapter. Paul begins in prayer, and he 247 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,760 breaks into prayer spontaneously throughout songs. 248 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,000 And so now what Paul does is he says over and over in all the 249 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,840 books that he writes, follow me as I follow Jesus. 250 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,840 So as he's prayed now he's commending the Ephesians to 251 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,000 prayer. And what he's saying is without 252 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,880 prayer, your armor is worthless. And so I don't want to tell you 253 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:20,160 River City is without prayer. Your armor is worthless without 254 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:21,840 prayer. Your good intentions are 255 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,720 worthless without prayer. Your good deeds are worthless. 256 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,960 Your sacrifice is insufficient to gain or maintain the blessing 257 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,280 and favor of God. Your only hope is that God is as 258 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,480 good as He says He is and is as intent on getting involved in 259 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:44,240 your life as He says that He is. The church without prayer is 260 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,360 powerless. This is nothing. 261 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,480 Nothing. There is no spiritual enemy that 262 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,000 is afraid of this. Now, when we were singing and 263 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,480 worshipping, maybe, but this, you sitting here listening to me 264 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,440 and he's not afraid of that. I'm a windbag dude. 265 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:08,280 People talk a lot, right? What he's scared of. 266 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,520 Is when truth begins to be partnered with the promise that 267 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,600 God had said I'm going to bless the whole world, Jason and if 268 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,720 you'll take your hot air and your tall bald thing and if 269 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,000 you'll go out and do that then you'll see power then you'll see 270 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,280 it I'm just like. Well, Lord, I don't, I don't 271 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,480 really want to do that. And what Paul says is this verse 272 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:29,360 18, right? Remember, he's been talking 273 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,200 about the armor, right? The Blessed. 274 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,040 Plate and all that. Now verse 18 says now with every 275 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,760 prayer and request, now what knows what he says about prayer? 276 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,880 Pray at all times in the Spirit. We know what all times are right 277 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,320 all times as compared to some of the times. 278 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,440 Is there ever a moment in your life that you're not supposed to 279 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,040 be prayerful according to Paul? Is there ever a shopping 280 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,200 excursion where you're not supposed to be prayerful? 281 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,600 Is there ever a purchase of a car or a home or groceries that 282 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,080 you're not supposed to be prayerful? 283 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,880 Is there ever an interaction with a person where you're not 284 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,320 supposed to be prayerful? What he says is pray at all 285 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,560 times in the the Spirit and with this in view the alert with all 286 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,520 perseverance and every request for all the Saints. 287 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,040 Who are the Saints? The really good ones, or are the 288 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:23,440 Saints? All y'all, all y'all. 289 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:26,440 That means look around the room. That means the people that you 290 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,200 don't know yet. That means the people that look 291 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:29,560 different from you. That means the people that 292 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,280 ticked you off. That means the person that took 293 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,120 your parking space this morning and made you park behind the 294 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,760 chiropractors over there. So now you're ticked off at them 295 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360 a little bit. Pray for them as well. 296 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:40,800 Because here's the truth. Here's the. 297 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:42,720 Reality. Prayer is the strength. 298 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,520 The voice and the heartbeat of the redeemed Church. 299 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,200 Whatever else we are and whatever else we do, we are to 300 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,600 be the Church of Jesus, not the people that gather in rooms and 301 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,320 in pews. The Church of Jesus are the 302 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,720 people who pray. The church is the beginning 303 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,000 movement of God's renewal work in humanity. 304 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,520 Well, God begins in this room. He's going to complete someday 305 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:11,360 forever, but we get to taste it here and now and he's when he 306 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,680 comes back, it will be completed. 307 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,600 But for now, this now and not yet this place where we have the 308 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:23,200 spirit, we have the body, we are the body, but he's not here with 309 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,160 us. And So what he do, how Paul 310 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,000 concludes is like he's told us all this stuff like listen, live 311 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,800 righteously. You having a hard time with 312 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:30,760 that? I am. 313 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,000 Are you having a hard time? Are there sins that you can't 314 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,520 overcome? There are for me. 315 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,800 Are there things that you wish you did differently? 316 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,400 There are for me, are there people that you were able to be 317 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,640 nicer to? There are for me, like all of 318 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,080 these things are, are truth. But what that tells me is that 319 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,520 we're not done yet, that I haven't got it yet. 320 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:53,160 And So what Paul does then is say, hey, in light of all those 321 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,400 things, the response isn't out there. 322 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,760 Go buck up, right? Be stronger than you are. 323 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:04,119 The thing is, the response is pray at all times, in all 324 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:09,960 occasions, in all places. Church is what we do. 325 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,880 Church isn't how we get ready to do the work of God. 326 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,880 Prayer is the work of God because most everything else is 327 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,920 the work of Jason and the work of Jason is almost destined to 328 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,760 fall. But when we bathe in prayer and 329 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,440 we walk in prayer and we respond in prayer, then things go 330 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:27,480 different. So what do you say, right? 331 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:32,320 This verse 18 is just like pregnant with this encouragement 332 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,240 to engage, to go right? And and so this is the question 333 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:38,040 that we have is how do we move from? 334 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:42,600 Preparation, right? Like that's the that's the the 335 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,320 armor is how we prepare. But the battle. 336 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:46,600 We move from. Preparation, right? 337 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,080 We get off the couch. With our armor. 338 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:53,600 And we got the battle is prayer. We armor up to pray. 339 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,800 We don't armor up and then go take the hill. 340 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,920 We put our armor on and then we go in prayer. 341 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,480 What did he say last week? Over and over again, Prayer that 342 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,880 you might what? Stand, stand, stand. 343 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,480 And having done all this, that you might stand, charge the 344 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:11,480 hill. Nope. 345 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,560 Own the limbs. Nope, none of those things. 346 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,960 The command is you armor up and you bow before the Father in 347 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:21,920 prayer. That's. 348 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,160 How we moved. Johnny said it last week. 349 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,040 Every day is a fight and there is no neutral ground. 350 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,440 And so notice this list of all things that Paul says. 351 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,280 All prayer. All. 352 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,320 Types of prayer. Some of it is requests, some of 353 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,480 it is, Lord, make my dog not sick. 354 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,400 Lord, we need rent. But there's other kinds of 355 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,320 prayers. There's lament. 356 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:46,960 Oh God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 357 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,440 How long, Oh God, will you abandon me? 358 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:51,680 You need to pray those prayers when you're sad. 359 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,800 We need to reach out. We need to have silent prayer. 360 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,400 We need to have contemplative prayer and centering prayer and 361 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,120 intercession and all kinds of prayer at all times, right? 362 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,120 All prayer, all requests, all times in the Spirit. 363 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,560 Be alert with persons for all requests for all the same. 364 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,000 Here's what that means every moment of your. 365 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,160 Life is a chance to connect with the Father. 366 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:17,760 Do you feel like the? Father's far away. 367 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,080 Do you feel like God doesn't see you? 368 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:20,400 Do you feel like God doesn't know? 369 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,120 Listen, we believe that God is here. 370 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,360 He's everywhere. He's saturated and surrounding 371 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:26,720 you. And that quiet moment in your 372 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,960 car is an opportunity for you to acknowledge and recognize the 373 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,760 very presence of the eternal God sitting in your car. 374 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,480 Maybe he's in the in the passenger seat. 375 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,600 Let him drive. He's a better driver than you 376 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,120 are. But it's important to recognize 377 00:19:41,120 --> 00:19:44,320 that we share space with the Father. 378 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:46,880 That's the power that we're after. 379 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,840 What we try to do in the church is supplement the power like 380 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:51,920 we're like. I mean, sure. 381 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,280 Prayer is something, right? But we want other kinds of 382 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:56,680 power. We want charisma. 383 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,520 I just want you to know there's like a nagging sense in my gut. 384 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,440 I worry about this a lot. I think about all this, that if 385 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,520 I just yell loud enough and pound the table loud enough, 386 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:07,960 enough of you will go. Yeah. 387 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,000 Whether I'm telling the truth or not, like I think about it 388 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,120 because I'm loud and I'm and I'm boisterous and I'm a lot right? 389 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,520 Like I fill a room and I do all that right, But that doesn't 390 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,120 mean that I'm that I'm infallible. 391 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:25,480 Prayer is the way that we go. There's a guy in the back of the 392 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,520 room who told me one time he's like Jason, like I just love 393 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:28,120 you. And he's been very 394 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:29,120 complimentary. He's my friend. 395 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:30,920 But he goes, man, I love it when I get to go home. 396 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,520 And sometimes you're just wrong. I know, right? 397 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:40,880 You should assume that, and you should prayerfully consider what 398 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,440 God is doing in you and in me and and around us. 399 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,720 Not because I'm better or worse than what's, but because 400 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,680 Charisma doesn't get it. Because having a big church 401 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,400 isn't it. That's not. 402 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,760 That's not the point. It's not about the production 403 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,640 value. It's not about smoke machines or 404 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,200 light shows. It's not even about positional 405 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,080 influence. It's not about Jason. 406 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,160 You can tell me what to do because you stand up on the 407 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,200 stage. That's not where the power of 408 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,840 our church comes from. We're not going to have a better 409 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,360 church when we have a big building over there. 410 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:14,640 We're not going to. That's not a reality. 411 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,840 We will have as good a church as we, and by we I mean me and all 412 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,040 y'all will have as good a church as we pray for. 413 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,560 Do you want us to be a kind of church where people get? 414 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:26,920 Saved. Pray for that do. 415 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,200 You want to be the kind of church where people get healed. 416 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:30,040 Pray. For that do. 417 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,560 You want to be the kind of church where like we're what or 418 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,840 God does what? Join God to restore your 419 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,640 relationship to your parents, to your children. 420 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,560 Pray for that. Do that. 421 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,200 That's what prayer is. We armor up so that we don't get 422 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,320 distracted and then we go to the Lord and we just say Lord. 423 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,840 Will you do this in my life? So here's my challenge for us 424 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,800 church and all this I. Love you so. 425 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:52,640 Hard right now you don't even know this right? 426 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,720 Like I know. Here's my other big concern that 427 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,560 loud sounds angry or whatever. No listen. 428 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,520 I feel like you have left the ultimate power source on the 429 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,040 table and this is good news for us. 430 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,480 This is the best message that you've heard in forever. 431 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,480 And I don't even know because the answer literally access to 432 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,840 the keys of the cosmos are on the table in front of you. 433 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,040 All you gotta do is like. Pick it up. 434 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,360 What I'm asking us as a church, what I'm asking you as a 435 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:24,080 follower of Jesus, is specifically to repent of 436 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,360 prayerlessness. I mean, call it a sin. 437 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,320 Lord, I have sinned by not praying to you enough. 438 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,720 I have sinned by taking all of these things into my own end. 439 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:34,960 Lord, I have sinned by trying to listen. 440 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,280 Are you listening to me? Fix my marriage, myself. 441 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:47,080 Live under a budget by myself. Discipline my kids by myself. 442 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:48,760 Lord, I'm sorry I've tried to do all that. 443 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,720 I've ruined a lot of it because my spouse ticks me off like you 444 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,480 can't believe. And Lord, I have tried so hard 445 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,640 to have patience, but it's but I don't. 446 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,360 So Lord, I need you to give me patience and you know what I'm 447 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,040 going to do. Lord, I'm going to sit here 448 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:08,480 silently with you for 20 minutes and I'm not going to say a word 449 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,640 to you and your brains going crazy. 450 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,520 And you just sit there because that's what patience is. 451 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,000 And the Lord begins to infuse and do things, and that is 452 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,240 prayer. And what I want to say is those 453 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,640 things. Charisma A charismatic leader. 454 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,720 A well structured organization, A big. 455 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,280 Loud, big, bright room, A big production that makes your 456 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,920 heartbeat fast. Positional influence, all of 457 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,240 those things, right? What? 458 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,320 Those are the powers of the powers, and those are the things 459 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,840 that divide us. Because listen, I can't get you 460 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,800 to heaven. All I can do is point to Jesus. 461 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,360 You got to follow him yourself, right? 462 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,400 So this becomes about me or about. 463 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,200 Race still or about Brent is Bill or about any of that. 464 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,240 It's lost, it's wrong, it's gone. 465 00:23:58,240 --> 00:23:59,920 It's Jesus. It's about Jesus. 466 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:01,760 He's the one that we talked about. 467 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:06,160 And So what we need to do is just simply begin to pray. 468 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,880 So let's acknowledge that many of you maybe don't have a prayer 469 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,560 habit that you just go, no, I'm ready to pray in the Kingdom. 470 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,800 Great. You're in the perfect place to 471 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,880 see absolutely unbelievable fruit in your life. 472 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,720 So what I would say is start in the morning, 15 minutes. 473 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,000 Just set a timer and pray for 15 minutes. 474 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:26,760 Just start. You can go back. 475 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,120 Listen, a couple weeks ago when was. 476 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:30,880 I don't know when it was. Before summer, I did a whole 477 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,840 series on prayer, 5 or 6 weeks. Go listen to it, go do it. 478 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:39,000 Go find somebody else's sermons on prayer and listen to it and 479 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,280 respond. There's a, you can go to 480 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,360 practicingtheway.org, get in a small group and take your small 481 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,200 group. There's a, there's a section on 482 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,440 prayer that will teach you how to pray and what it looks like 483 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,560 and what it means. But here's the deal. 484 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:54,920 You just got to do it. And some of you are like, I will 485 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,880 go out and buy a prayer book. You should go buy a prayer book. 486 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,120 I have more prayer books than I know what to do with, but just 487 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:04,040 know you will never find Jesus in a prayer book the way that 488 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,560 you will. Find him in prayer. 489 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,360 So just get down on your knees and go before him and go. 490 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:12,120 You teach me how to pray. But here's the thing, you're 491 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:14,880 going to want to miss it. You're going to want to sleep 492 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,640 late. You're going to want to go do 493 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,360 something else. Your mind's going to get 494 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:19,840 distracted and you're going to think you're a failure. 495 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,360 And what I'm going to tell you is don't quit. 496 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:22,680 Don't stop. Don't give up. 497 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,120 There's nothing else as a church that we have to do but pray. 498 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,480 And when we as a church pray, we'll begin to hear the things 499 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,120 that He wants to say to us about ourselves and about our 500 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,960 neighbors. If you already. 501 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:36,720 Pray and you go I. Have a pretty good prayer habit 502 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:37,440 I. Believe you. 503 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,760 I want you to know I want you to try different kinds of prayer. 504 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,960 I want you to go online. And finally, I want you to try 505 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,040 contemplative prayer. I want you to try Lectio Davina. 506 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,480 I want you to pray the Lords Prayer every day. 507 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,720 I want you to lament. I want you to try centering 508 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:51,880 prayer. I want you to grow. 509 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:54,960 I want you to take your your prayer life as serious as you 510 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:59,400 take your diet or your trips to the gym or your running schedule 511 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,960 or your vacations or your TV shows. 512 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,160 I want you to make prayer more important than those things. 513 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,120 Because when you go to prayer first. 514 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,640 Those other things have a way of finding their place in the 515 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,160 rhythm. I promise you I've over the last 516 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,400 month or so like God is just. He's lit a. 517 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,440 Fire in my prayer and I want to tell you I still watch plenty of 518 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:22,520 TVI have not missed my TV. But you know what? 519 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,040 I have found the presence of the Lord in prayer in a way that I 520 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:28,120 couldn't have fathomed or understood before. 521 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:32,560 So when we. Stop the problem with this is 522 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,560 when we stop praying, we stop drawing strength from the Lord. 523 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,120 And when we stop drawing strength from the Lord and we 524 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,000 start walking in weakness because we don't have the Lord's 525 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:42,040 strength. All we have is ours. 526 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,080 What happens is we stop getting his strength. 527 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:48,360 So then we start distorting the message since we, since we don't 528 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:51,440 have the power of God, we just start talking about things that 529 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:54,440 we can win, right? Like we just start pointing out 530 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,520 other people's sins as exclusions because, well, 531 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,240 they're not our sins and we can control that. 532 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,360 We start to. Trying to control all kinds of 533 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,920 things that aren't ours, right? But the point of prayer, the 534 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,040 role of prayer, prayer is prayer should bring clarity and 535 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,640 boldness to the message of the church. 536 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:15,440 The message of the church is one thing. 537 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:21,520 There is a king whose name is Jesus, who presently and 538 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,680 eternally reigns over all things. 539 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,760 Give your life to him. It's not your life anymore. 540 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,520 Give your life to him. That's that's the message. 541 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,400 But when we get separated from the power and the calling of 542 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,600 Jesus, now we want to start. Talking about your habits and 543 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,920 your behaviors. When Jesus is King, you know 544 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,520 what I say. Go talk to him about that, but I 545 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:45,560 mean it, talk to him about your sexuality, talk to him about 546 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,160 your marriage, talk to him about your money. 547 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:48,680 Talk to him about all of those things. 548 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,120 Talk to him about the things that we yell about, that we talk 549 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,320 about because he says Paul says this in verse 19. 550 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:58,320 Pray on my behalf that speech may be given to me. 551 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,760 Now let me just show you real quick, I just want to hold this 552 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:07,160 up. This is. 553 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:12,320 Paul's part bro. Paul knows words. 554 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,200 The problem isn't that Paul didn't have anything to say. 555 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,520 The problem isn't that Paul didn't understand theology. 556 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,800 The problem is Paul knew when he. 557 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:23,120 Talks. Of his own. 558 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,960 It's a mess. So what he prayed was, Lord, 559 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:28,920 don't let me say anything that doesn't come from you. 560 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,640 How great would it be if every time we logged in, we said, 561 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,840 Lord, don't let me say anything that isn't from you? 562 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,800 What if every time we saw those posts online, we said, Lord, 563 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,480 don't let me be anything from you because here's a reality. 564 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,960 It's not our message. This isn't our message. 565 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,000 Listen, if you're here and you don't like the message, I don't 566 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,520 have anything to. I'm sorry. 567 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,280 I can't do anything about that. It's not my message. 568 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:59,440 It's his message. But if you don't like the way 569 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,320 that I say it, if I give a message of love heavily or with 570 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,240 coercion or with force, that's not OK because it's not my 571 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,880 message. I don't get to deliver Jesus's 572 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,640 message my way. If it's his message, it's his 573 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,520 methodology, right? Andy Stanley, Whether you like 574 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,520 Andy Stanley or not, I don't, I don't care. 575 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,240 He says a cool thing. He says this. 576 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,040 He says you do not gain. Are you listening? 577 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:29,880 You do not gain or maintain the blessings of God. 578 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,000 And I want to stop real quick and ask you what you think the 579 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,560 blessings of God in your life. Could it be? 580 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,760 Could it be a fruitful marriage? Could it be sobriety? 581 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,280 Could it be a relationship with your kids? 582 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:44,800 What would the blessing of God look like? 583 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:50,000 Peace in your finances, your children returning home. 584 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:59,760 You cannot gain or maintain the blessings of God by violating 585 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:05,080 the principles of God. Friends, I love you. 586 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,560 The reason that our marriages aren't working is because we do 587 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:14,520 not love and respect each other. It's not because we're not get. 588 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,080 The reason they're broken is because we're trying to do God's 589 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:21,040 plan, marriage our way with our own strength rather than 590 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,840 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 591 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:27,600 Husbands, does your wife need something? 592 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:33,200 Space, healing, covering, encouragement, a new shirt? 593 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,080 Does your wife what? What is it? 594 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,840 Does she need something? Give it to her wives. 595 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:41,960 Does your husband need encouragement? 596 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,560 Does your husband come home beat down, draggled every day? 597 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,440 Does your husband feel worthless and like he has nothing left? 598 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:50,920 Be the voice of love in his head. 599 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,880 You give it to him. Who do you think is going to do 600 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:55,760 it? Jeez, you go to that place at 601 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,560 work that only values you for what you produce and you don't 602 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,440 find a lot of existential encouragement there. 603 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:02,720 What's wrong with you? You give it to him. 604 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,800 You're the answer. You're the answer. 605 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,280 Give it to him. But he comes home and he's mad. 606 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:10,880 Yeah, He's had a terrible day at work. 607 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,800 Everybody hates him at work, Husbands, everybody. 608 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:14,920 Hates you at work because you're a jerk. 609 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:18,680 You. See how it goes back and forth, 610 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,000 right? You don't gain or maintain the 611 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,600 blessings of God by violating the principles of God. 612 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,880 Paul doesn't pray for escape. Paul doesn't say Get Me Out of 613 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,880 prison. Paul says help me make sure that 614 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,560 when I talk about these chains that everybody knows that these 615 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,640 chains are part of my glory. We will talk around talking 616 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,440 about our spouse like down ball and chains like they're holding 617 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,280 us down, stop. We talk about our kids like 618 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,320 they're terrible, stop. You talk about your job like 619 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,480 it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you, then get out 620 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,400 and go somewhere else. But wherever you go, there you 621 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,440 are. You will be at your next job. 622 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,160 So here's the thing. If you're a terrible employee, 623 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,520 you're going to think all of your bosses are awful. 624 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:06,120 Maybe the problem is you. Church, I'm just saying like we 625 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,560 got to wake up to this, like we're to the problem is we're 626 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,920 doing the same things that everybody else does and just go, 627 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:12,560 well, why isn't it working different? 628 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,760 Why do we just keep getting further apart and more divided? 629 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:18,800 Right, Because we're talking about the wrong things. 630 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:20,760 We're talking to the wrong people. 631 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,880 We're not praying because The thing is, if, if Jesus hadn't, 632 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,960 right? Like what we're talking about 633 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,800 now with our prayer, with using our words for prayer, is making 634 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,160 sure that the things that Jesus tore down stayed down, that they 635 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:37,880 don't get built back up, right? But listen, Jesus isn't afraid 636 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,520 of people. Jesus isn't afraid of illegals. 637 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,320 Jesus isn't afraid about where all the Healthcare is going to 638 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,920 come from. Jesus loves people. 639 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,760 Jesus sees people and says that's a person who is created 640 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,160 in my image. And we don't have to wonder how 641 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,880 we look at them. We look at them like that. 642 00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,800 Jesus isn't hostile to people. Jesus isn't reactive to 643 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,240 situations. Yesterday my daughter locked her 644 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,520 key in the car and it looked like this in my life. 645 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,480 Man, I'm glad that didn't fall. Right. 646 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,360 That's what I did because I reacted in the moment. 647 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,120 I don't think that's not Jesus. Jesus didn't see my daughter 648 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:16,800 locker. Couldn't go. 649 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:18,840 Oh my God, we had bugs and it's Christmas time. 650 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,800 He's like, it's fine, it's fine, pay the bill, I'll cover you 651 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:29,240 next. Time right see like he calls us 652 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:34,240 to be this picture of. Grace and peace. 653 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,320 He calls us to represent the reality that we live in a 654 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:39,680 Kingdom where everything that we need is provided. 655 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,120 For us. The. 656 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:43,960 Powers want to tell you to be afraid. 657 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:45,520 Not powers like the powers family. 658 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,760 I mean the powers that are out there, the powers of darkness 659 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,960 tell you that the other side is the problem. 660 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,680 They tell you that you won't have enough because of all the 661 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,720 people that are here. But Jesus is Revelation, the 662 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:01,480 whole apocalypse, this whole thing about as the whole cosmos 663 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:03,760 are unified. They're all together. 664 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:05,680 There's no division, there's no separation. 665 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,720 There's no us and them, there's no you. 666 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,120 And that right the powers are the ones that want to isolate 667 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:11,440 you. So and listen anytime you're 668 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:13,480 watching something or listening to something or feeling 669 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,440 something and somebody comes. Out and says be careful of that. 670 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:20,000 Person, person, people, demographics. 671 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:25,960 That's not the voice of Jesus. Jesus is not worried about that. 672 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,280 Jesus created them and loved them. 673 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:34,080 So the question is if the powers isolate and Jesus unifies. 674 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:38,159 My question is which side do your words work for? 675 00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:43,560 When you walk out of a room and you're done talking, are people 676 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,760 more likely to be unified to other people or separated from 677 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:51,520 other people? Jesus prayed for his enemies. 678 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,800 He prayed for his enemies. He extended the cup of 679 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:57,760 fellowship to Judas at the table. 680 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:01,840 He prayed for the Roman soldier who was driving stakes through 681 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,240 his through his wrists and through his ankles. 682 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:07,240 And he said, Father, he doesn't know what he's doing. 683 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:11,520 So if Jesus prayed for his enemies, then anything that you 684 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:17,120 or I do to foster division or separation between people or 685 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:21,200 people groups is Antichrist. You want to know the Antichrist 686 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,920 is it's people at work in? The world opposite of His 687 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,200 purposes. His purpose is to bring all 688 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,520 things together in Christ to the degree that we keep things 689 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,160 separate or reinforce separations or divisions. 690 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,880 We are. Working against the power and 691 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,200 the purpose of Jesus so my encouragement and my challenge 692 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,560 to us, I asked us to repent of prayerlessness now repent of 693 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,400 careless speech the. Opposite of careless is. 694 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,480 Thoughtful. This is what Paul said right 695 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:54,920 before in Ephesians chapter 4. Listen Verse. 29 Let no 696 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,520 unwholesome talk. You thought it was a talking 697 00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,960 about the F word, and maybe, maybe that's it, right? 698 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,360 Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. 699 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:07,600 But if there is any good word for edification, this is what 700 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:10,160 wholesome talk is. Words that build people up. 701 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,920 For the need of the moment, say that so that it will give grace 702 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,720 to those who are near. You want to know what the words 703 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,320 of Christ are? The words of Christ are You have 704 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:21,720 enough? You are sufficient. 705 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:24,720 I see you, I love you. I've got your back, you're with 706 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:26,600 me. Let's go. 707 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,640 Do the words that come out of your mouth sound more like Paul 708 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,720 who prayed for his ethnic enemies, or like the news? 709 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:43,000 Are you snarky? Or cynical to people who 710 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,960 disagree with you. If that's the case, then you 711 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,120 have put someone else or something else in front of 712 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,960 Jesus. Listen, I, I can't escape the 713 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,280 what we're doing here in this book as we, as we get to the end 714 00:36:56,280 --> 00:37:00,040 of this book, is we have again, this exhaustively, thoroughly 715 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,400 Jewish Rabbi Paul. And the very last thing that he 716 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:08,640 does in the book is he commends his Greek friend Titicus to this 717 00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:13,760 gentle Gentile congregation. He says, this Titicus is my 718 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,600 brother. Receive him and let him. 719 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:21,200 So what he does is he embodies the gospel in this church. 720 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:28,440 Look verse 21 now so that you also may know about my 721 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,720 circumstances as to what I am doing. 722 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,160 Titicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant of the Lord, 723 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,080 will make everything known to you. 724 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,280 I have sent Him to you for this very purpose, so that you may 725 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:43,840 know about us and that he may comfort your heart. 726 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:49,560 That is the gospel, that is the good news, that there is comfort 727 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:51,400 and a time and a place and in the world. 728 00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:55,080 But that comes from prayer. Paul who prayed. 729 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:57,680 Paul who taught his. Church to pray and. 730 00:37:57,840 --> 00:37:59,360 For us. So how do we do this? 731 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:04,400 What does this leave us at the? End of ephesians #1 Start 732 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:06,640 talking to him. Start talking to him. 733 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,360 Wherever you are, you. Can do this. 734 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,200 Do you have a sin in your life that you're ashamed of? 735 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:14,560 Talk to him about it. Have you been addicted to 736 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,720 something for a long time? Have you been addicted and then 737 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:21,120 you quit and got sober but you fell off and you relapsed and 738 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:24,360 now you're running in shame? Talk to Jesus about it. 739 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,600 You know better than all. People you are. 740 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:31,240 Powerless unless someone intervenes. 741 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,440 That person is Jesus. Are you scared? 742 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,640 Do you have anxiety? Do you hate? 743 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,280 Don't deny it. Don't run from it. 744 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,560 Pray. Start talking to Jesus about it 745 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:44,320 now. Armor. 746 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:47,840 Up for sure and go to Lord and go Lord, I'm praying here about 747 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,200 my righteousness, right? I'm praying about this my, my 748 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,600 breastplate of licenses. I need you to help me, right? 749 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,480 I need you. To take this away because I'm 750 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:56,680 not righteous, because I'm separated, because I don't like 751 00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:58,960 those people. Pray about it. 752 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:06,320 Don't study it, pray about it. 15 minutes set a timer. 15 753 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,520 minutes. Set it to go off twice a day. 754 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,200 One in the morning, one. Right when you get home from 755 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:14,880 work and then just sit there, you'll feel worthless. 756 00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:15,960 You'll feel like you're not doing anything. 757 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,640 Your mind will wander. You'll feel feel like the most 758 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:18,760 pointless thing you've ever done. 759 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:22,320 Just keep doing it anyway. Read a book about centering 760 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,720 prayer, about whatever. Just start. 761 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,520 Just go, just sit down and just do it. 762 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:33,120 Second, stay in the game. Listen, because once you start, 763 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,120 all the powers are going to come against you and they're going to 764 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,040 tell you that you're too bored or it's not working or you're 765 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,920 not doing enough, or you can't or God's. 766 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:41,000 Don't quit. Don't stop praying. 767 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,000 Just keep going. Just go try new stuff. 768 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:45,760 If you've been a believer. For a long time. 769 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,000 If you've been following Jesus for a long time, when was the 770 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,440 last time you tried a new type of prayer or a new way to pray? 771 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,800 Try lectio divina. Start praying the scriptures. 772 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,640 Open the Psalms and make the words in the psalms your words 773 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,160 read 1 passage every day for a week. 774 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:05,240 Whatever it is, try something, Make sure that you stay in the 775 00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:07,200 game. And finally, strengthen your 776 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:12,920 voice daily, every day practice. Bless somebody again. 777 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,600 Bless your neighbor again. Bless your enemy again. 778 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:23,840 Speak truth again, speak life again, Pray the Word of God from 779 00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:28,400 the heart of God again, over and over and over again. 780 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,800 Because, listen, we will be as effective and our experience of 781 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,360 Him will be as real. As our capacity for prayer. 782 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:41,440 And so Paul ends this letter and we end our time in it in the 783 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:46,360 same place that we started with a blessing of grace and peace 784 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,480 and then the worship of the one who is worthy of it all. 785 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,440 See, behind all of this is this idea. 786 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,560 We give up our way because his way is better. 787 00:40:56,160 --> 00:41:00,240 We believe this because we have tried our way and found it 788 00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:02,520 lacking. So if you will, as we close 789 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:03,600 today, we're going to close and worship. 790 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,640 But I would ask if you would. Stand with us and I want to 791 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:11,040 close our time in Ephesians with the closing words of Paul. 792 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:12,920 And then we're going. To. 793 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,160 Leave after this is over, we'll have some. 794 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:16,400 Folks that will come up and pray. 795 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,400 If you need prayer, come get prayer. 796 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,360 Ask someone to pray. If you want to pray for someone, 797 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:23,280 come stand up here and pray for someone. 798 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,280 River City. I want us to be a place that 799 00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:34,000 prays. Peace to you, brothers and 800 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:39,640 sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord 801 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:43,960 Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love 802 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,520 our Lord Jesus with incorruptible love. 803 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,520 Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about 804 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:54,240 experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and 805 00:41:54,240 --> 00:41:56,920 community, and we hope that you've been able to experience 806 00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:59,560 that today. As grateful as I am that you've 807 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:02,880 spent this time listening in this morning, this podcast is no 808 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:05,920 substitute for full participation in a local church. 809 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:09,480 I love it when River City people listen to other pastors, but it 810 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,560 is those who show up week after week faithfully giving their 811 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:15,480 support and time and resources that make all of this possible. 812 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,280 If we can help you get connected to a local church, pray for you, 813 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,560 or support you in any way, click the link in the description and 814 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:24,720 let us know. If you'd like to financially 815 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:27,520 support the ministry of River City, click the give link on our 816 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,680 website in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and 817 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:32,400 don't forget to share this with your friends. 818 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:35,400 Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless and keep you 819 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,000 in all grace and peace.