1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,680 Welcome to the River City Church Podcast. 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:07,000 Our prayer is that this message would inspire and encourage you 3 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,480 build your faith and point you to the life changing love of 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,240 Jesus. May you enjoy the goodness of 5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,480 God as you follow him today. Welcome River City. 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,120 My name is RJ Strouch. My family and I have been 7 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:22,920 attending River City for probably about. 8 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:28,000 Nineish years now I've been part of the teaching team. 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,480 I've been fortunate enough to to be part of the teaching team 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,480 last three or four years. I've worked with the youth and 11 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,560 taught in youth for for many years as well. 12 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,160 So it's just a blessing and an honor to be up here first time, 13 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:42,320 the new place for me and it's exciting. 14 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,360 Wow, so, so really just so thankful and so blessed to to be 15 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:48,800 able to share some words with you today. 16 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,160 Wow. Before we get going, that 17 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:54,810 worship set I'm always. I'm always an awe of things like 18 00:00:54,970 --> 00:00:56,930 just artists. I'm the worst artist in the 19 00:00:56,930 --> 00:00:58,930 world. I Can't Sing it all like that. 20 00:00:59,090 --> 00:01:01,730 That's just awesome. And the last words, some of the 21 00:01:01,730 --> 00:01:03,970 last things that that Alyssa was saying. 22 00:01:06,170 --> 00:01:09,050 Don't look to the left or to the right. 23 00:01:09,890 --> 00:01:15,010 Just keep your eyes on me. That's pretty much my message 24 00:01:15,010 --> 00:01:17,570 today. So y'all have a good Sunday, but 25 00:01:17,850 --> 00:01:21,050 but for real right, don't look to the left or to the right. 26 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,800 Just keep your eyes on me Through the tough times, through 27 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,520 the good times, through the mundane times. 28 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:29,680 Don't look to the left or through the right. 29 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,760 Keep your eyes on me. Wow, what a great way to start. 30 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,320 So we are. Before we get to our confession, 31 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,680 I just want to you know, a couple reminders. 32 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,160 Maybe you are aware of this or not. 33 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,320 But but please just keep your keeping your prayers this week. 34 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:48,960 Kids. OK, the children they just got 35 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,450 back from kids camp. They just got back yesterday. 36 00:01:51,450 --> 00:01:53,290 They were there since I believe Wednesday. 37 00:01:53,850 --> 00:01:57,250 But but keep the, you know, all the volunteers, all the people 38 00:01:57,250 --> 00:01:59,250 on staff that help put that together. 39 00:01:59,650 --> 00:02:02,330 Just, you know, prayers of thanks and prayers of recharge 40 00:02:02,330 --> 00:02:04,810 for them for sure. And then for those kiddos, just 41 00:02:04,810 --> 00:02:08,370 that they keep that fire lit as they as they approach school 42 00:02:08,370 --> 00:02:11,450 this year that they keep that fire lit that was hopefully put 43 00:02:11,450 --> 00:02:14,050 into their bellies and that they will just be on fire for the 44 00:02:14,050 --> 00:02:16,210 Lord. And then we also were kind of 45 00:02:16,210 --> 00:02:19,290 smack in the middle. So tomorrow our youth take off 46 00:02:19,290 --> 00:02:20,250 for camp. So again. 47 00:02:20,370 --> 00:02:21,770 Keep them in your prayers this week. 48 00:02:22,010 --> 00:02:25,210 The staff, the volunteers that again put that together and are 49 00:02:25,210 --> 00:02:29,530 going with them and and it's going to be an awesome time but 50 00:02:29,530 --> 00:02:33,930 just pray that they really hear that spirit and then are led to 51 00:02:33,930 --> 00:02:36,530 do just amazing things. So I know my daughter just got 52 00:02:36,530 --> 00:02:39,490 back from from kids camp and we're driving home yesterday and 53 00:02:39,490 --> 00:02:42,090 she's in the back seat and lost another one. 54 00:02:42,090 --> 00:02:44,770 I am free and I'm like there you go that's what I'm talking 55 00:02:44,770 --> 00:02:46,690 about. So yeah we got a kids camp 56 00:02:46,730 --> 00:02:49,330 volunteer in the back. Heck yeah, so. 57 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,240 So, so keep them in your prayers for sure. 58 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,160 So we are going to, we're going to say our our confession here 59 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,800 here in a second, but before we do. 60 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:01,640 And then if you're new, here is your first time, you're like 61 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:03,120 confession. What are we talking about here? 62 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,000 So, so every week we kind of start ourselves and and and kind 63 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,040 of ground ourselves and the fact that we're badly broken, but 64 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,360 we're also deeply loved by an infinite God, right. 65 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:15,360 And then so we'll go through that. 66 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,640 But but more than ever, and we've been in this series for a 67 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:21,780 few weeks now. Of no other, right. 68 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:24,180 We've been talking about counterfeit gods. 69 00:03:24,180 --> 00:03:26,980 We've been talking about this idea of false idols and other 70 00:03:26,980 --> 00:03:32,700 things that we put on the throne of our lives instead of King 71 00:03:32,740 --> 00:03:35,540 Jesus. And it's been heavy, right? 72 00:03:35,580 --> 00:03:39,300 I know for me it's been a lot of soul searching and you know last 73 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:44,020 week with Rebecca the the successes and the idea that. 74 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,360 Success in an instant can change. 75 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:50,440 What you define as success in just one second can totally be 76 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,640 changed. So why not hang our success on 77 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,440 what Jesus calls success And then Jason with identity. 78 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,240 You know, just always looking to find our identity in Christ. 79 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,960 And you know, I know begin. Personally, I'm always looking 80 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,720 at other things to find my identity and it was such a good 81 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,040 reset. And then, Aaron, setting it all 82 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,800 up is just what a counterfeit God is, and the idea of these 83 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,760 false idols in our lives. So it's been heavy, is what I'm 84 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,519 trying to say. And and for you, maybe it has 85 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:22,320 been too. So when we say our confession 86 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:27,520 today more than ever, let's really remember and believe that 87 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,000 second part, that no matter how many times we're putting 88 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,640 counterfeit gods in our lives and putting them up top, no 89 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,920 matter how much badly broken this we have. 90 00:04:38,820 --> 00:04:42,100 That we are loved. So when we say that confession, 91 00:04:42,100 --> 00:04:45,060 let's make sure all our neighbors here in Creekside hear 92 00:04:45,060 --> 00:04:48,540 just how loved we are. So we are badly broken. 93 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:52,260 We are deeply loved. Yes, indeed we are. 94 00:04:52,260 --> 00:04:54,500 Grace and peace to you. And that was awesome. 95 00:04:56,620 --> 00:04:58,980 So as I said, we're kind of right smack in the middle if you 96 00:04:58,980 --> 00:05:03,420 haven't seen some of the other other teachings on on this idea 97 00:05:03,420 --> 00:05:05,390 of no other. You know, they're on the YouTube 98 00:05:05,390 --> 00:05:08,910 page or on the on the web page. Definitely go check those out. 99 00:05:09,470 --> 00:05:11,670 You don't want to miss them. They're they're really awesome 100 00:05:12,350 --> 00:05:15,990 and and every week we've been kind of setting the setting the 101 00:05:15,990 --> 00:05:20,270 stage with this idea of what even is a counterfeit God. 102 00:05:20,590 --> 00:05:23,390 And the teaching team, you know we kind of one of the books we 103 00:05:23,390 --> 00:05:27,670 studied to prepare for this was Tim Keller's book entitled 104 00:05:28,110 --> 00:05:32,670 Counterfeit Gods. And so to take the definition 105 00:05:32,670 --> 00:05:35,200 that he. Came up with is probably a lot 106 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,640 better than some of us coming up with it cuz he's a pretty smart 107 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,400 dude. So the idea what what he comes 108 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:46,200 up with is it says this anything so central. 109 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,240 So this is the definition of a counterfeit God. 110 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:53,440 Anything so central and essential to your life that 111 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:59,960 should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living 112 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,580 so. No matter where you are in our 113 00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:06,700 in your journey, right. Whether they again, this is your 114 00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:10,700 first time in church, first time even hearing about Jesus, or 115 00:06:10,700 --> 00:06:15,180 you've been following the Lord for 50 years, every single one 116 00:06:15,180 --> 00:06:17,900 of us struggles with this idea of counterfeit gods. 117 00:06:18,380 --> 00:06:21,700 Nobody has it all figured out. So that's, I think the first 118 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,540 thing to understand is there shouldn't be any guilt. 119 00:06:25,740 --> 00:06:28,180 It's not like, oh, and everybody else has got it. 120 00:06:28,180 --> 00:06:29,860 And I keep putting this thing up on top. 121 00:06:30,220 --> 00:06:32,060 We all struggle with it. We all do. 122 00:06:32,460 --> 00:06:38,520 Okay. And and so in knowing that I 123 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,680 kind of struggled on okay, well, there's so many counterfeit gods 124 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,400 and I know I personally battle a lot of them. 125 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,600 So like which one? What am I, What am I going to do 126 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,280 my teaching on right. And it came to me in the best 127 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:53,920 place to to find a sermon, the pediatrician's office. 128 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,120 So. I have just a maybe just a touch 129 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,440 of white coat syndrome where I get a little bit nervous around 130 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:07,240 doctors and whatnot, even when I take my own children to the 131 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:08,680 pediatrician. Yes, a little bit. 132 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,280 So I think it was one of my kids was like having to get a shot or 133 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:13,720 something. And of course I'm not looking 134 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:14,880 away. Hey, you got it, man. 135 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,440 Here. Good job toughing up, buddy. 136 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,600 And I'm looking away and I'm looking at the door of our 137 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,470 pediatrician's office. Has all these things on the 138 00:07:22,470 --> 00:07:24,830 backside of the door to kind of keep you entertained while 139 00:07:24,830 --> 00:07:26,470 you're waiting for him. Okay. 140 00:07:26,950 --> 00:07:31,630 And one of them was a prayer. And I noticed this prayer and 141 00:07:32,270 --> 00:07:34,310 I've seen it a couple times. And the last time we were in 142 00:07:34,310 --> 00:07:35,750 there recently, a few months ago. 143 00:07:35,750 --> 00:07:38,190 And again when we're kind of getting ready for the series, I 144 00:07:38,190 --> 00:07:42,150 read it again. And man, it was such a gut punch 145 00:07:42,150 --> 00:07:45,430 to me. And it really got me thinking 146 00:07:45,870 --> 00:07:49,510 about a very sneaky counterfeit God. 147 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,240 That I know I struggle with and I think we all probably struggle 148 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:56,680 with at times. So let me read the prayer. 149 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,760 It'll be on screen. But let me read the prayer and 150 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:03,600 we'll kind of mush it together to see what what we're looking 151 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:04,280 at here. Okay. 152 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:10,560 So the prayer says this. It says, Father, we confess that 153 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,280 we are satiated and bored. Creation has bored us. 154 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,400 Work has bored us. Family has bored us. 155 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,240 Friends have bored us. Our homes bore us. 156 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,840 Television bores us. Redemption has bored us. 157 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,159 Truth has bored us. You have bored us. 158 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:38,480 No generation in history has ever had so much to entertain 159 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,520 it. We are jaded and cynical. 160 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,880 We think the world is our servant, so we're not thankful 161 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,400 when things go well for us. And we're not patient when they 162 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,160 do not. We believe every desire should 163 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,240 be satisfied. So we're not delighted when they 164 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,120 are, and we're not humbled when they're not. 165 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,560 We laugh, but we don't know joy. We're captivated but are never 166 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:07,960 really awed. We celebrate, but we don't 167 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,680 worship. Have mercy on us and forgive us. 168 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,920 Amaze us with grace Incarnate. Blood stained, resurrected 169 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:21,920 messianic grace. Oh, that's a lot, right? 170 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:29,240 But I count myself reading that. And man, how many times just do 171 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:35,360 we get caught up in this mundane life and the idea of distraction 172 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,880 as an idol? We're distracted by so many 173 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,200 things in this modern world that it kind of becomes. 174 00:09:44,690 --> 00:09:47,770 Comfortable. It kind of becomes the norm. 175 00:09:48,370 --> 00:09:53,890 Whether it's the distraction of our busyness, whether it's 176 00:09:53,890 --> 00:09:58,370 distraction of the noise, just the noise in our life, it seems 177 00:09:58,370 --> 00:10:02,490 like it's never ending or the distraction of technology, the 178 00:10:02,490 --> 00:10:05,650 endless and mindless scrolling day in and day out. 179 00:10:06,330 --> 00:10:12,090 But it just becomes the norm and we don't open our eyes. 180 00:10:12,510 --> 00:10:16,390 To what God has intended for us and the relationships He's 181 00:10:16,390 --> 00:10:19,270 intended for us in the world that he built around us. 182 00:10:19,710 --> 00:10:23,390 Even in our modern day of buildings and skyscrapers, he 183 00:10:23,390 --> 00:10:26,350 inspired someone to have that architecture in mind. 184 00:10:27,190 --> 00:10:30,430 We can be awe inspired all the time. 185 00:10:30,950 --> 00:10:35,470 Yet I know I find myself caught up in the idle of distraction. 186 00:10:36,510 --> 00:10:38,510 So that's what we're going to kind of look at today. 187 00:10:38,550 --> 00:10:42,160 It's a sneaky 1, right? It's not the the money or 188 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,840 success that I think is a little easier to define. 189 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,080 I think distraction is going to mean something to maybe 190 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,640 everybody did a little bit different to everybody in here 191 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,720 and that's okay. Hopefully you can hear something 192 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:55,720 that you going to catch on to maybe realize and then we'll 193 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,200 look at some strategies at the end to okay. 194 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:01,440 How can we combat this idea of this idol of distraction? 195 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,600 And even how can we combat this idea of counterfeit gods in 196 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,990 general? So maybe that prayer spoke to 197 00:11:07,990 --> 00:11:09,750 you, or maybe you're more of a visual person. 198 00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:11,870 I'm an old educator. I like to, you know, different 199 00:11:11,870 --> 00:11:16,430 modalities of of learning. So maybe this visual here will 200 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:18,350 speak a little bit more to that idea of distraction. 201 00:11:36,910 --> 00:11:40,390 No interaction, just busy staring at phones, walking, no 202 00:11:40,390 --> 00:11:44,950 looking again. Maybe it's like a nice, crisp 65 203 00:11:44,950 --> 00:11:48,430 day degree day and nobody's, you know, thank you Lord, for this 204 00:11:48,430 --> 00:11:50,990 awesome weather. Just Boo, Boo, Boo, Boo all in 205 00:11:50,990 --> 00:11:54,510 there. Just busyness, distractions all 206 00:11:54,510 --> 00:11:57,510 around, right? I read this this quote in a 207 00:11:57,510 --> 00:12:01,750 Devotional 1 morning and I think it was just one of those. 208 00:12:02,190 --> 00:12:04,870 Kind of devotionals that there wasn't like an author attached. 209 00:12:04,870 --> 00:12:08,070 So I'm not going to take credit. But this really spoke to me. 210 00:12:08,750 --> 00:12:12,310 And again, whether you've been following Jesus for a long time 211 00:12:13,470 --> 00:12:17,150 or or this is your first time in a church, I still ask. 212 00:12:17,150 --> 00:12:19,630 I go, you know that that question okay the the Christian 213 00:12:19,630 --> 00:12:21,510 walk. What what like what do we what 214 00:12:21,510 --> 00:12:23,070 is what is the end game what are we doing here? 215 00:12:23,070 --> 00:12:24,910 Right. And I know Jason talks about it 216 00:12:24,910 --> 00:12:28,190 sometimes it's not just so we die someday and go up on a cloud 217 00:12:28,190 --> 00:12:30,470 and strum a harp, right. That's not what it's about. 218 00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:32,960 Okay. So this really spoke to me and 219 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:35,840 it clarified like okay the Christian walk, here we go. 220 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,360 In a nice little sentence, it says being a Christian means 221 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:45,280 becoming who God intended me to be. 222 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:51,520 Being a Christian means becoming who God intended me to be. 223 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:53,920 That's a lifelong process, right? 224 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:58,600 And how easy and and it's no wonder the enemy wants to try 225 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:03,120 and use distraction. The busyness of noise, of 226 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:10,040 technology now to try to stop us and hinder us from becoming who 227 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:16,960 God intends us to be. So instead of constantly, you 228 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,880 know, scrolling through massive media and worried about the busy 229 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,080 schedule and all of that, what if there was something truly 230 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,920 new, something truly refreshing we could have? 231 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,460 That sounds pretty nice, right? Well, these are the words of 232 00:13:32,580 --> 00:13:38,100 Jesus and how he wants your daily life to feel like. 233 00:13:39,180 --> 00:13:42,820 So I'm going to read out of Matthew Chapter 11. 234 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:45,900 It's going to be verses 28 to 30. 235 00:13:46,300 --> 00:13:49,100 You've probably if you've been in church for a while or been in 236 00:13:49,100 --> 00:13:51,420 church at all, you might recognize this. 237 00:13:51,780 --> 00:13:55,750 But this is the message version. I usually, when I read, I think 238 00:13:55,750 --> 00:13:58,310 this is ESV. Yeah, NIV. 239 00:13:59,630 --> 00:14:02,910 But the message version, I think it's on the app or somewhere. 240 00:14:04,390 --> 00:14:08,910 Man, this spoke to me. So let's read this and let's see 241 00:14:08,910 --> 00:14:13,790 what Jesus wants our daily lives to feel like. 242 00:14:14,990 --> 00:14:17,630 These are Jesus's words. So he's talking here, he says. 243 00:14:18,110 --> 00:14:21,350 Are you tired? Worn out. 244 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:30,720 Burned out on religion? Come to me, get away with me and 245 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:37,600 you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real 246 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:42,600 rest. Walk with me and work with me. 247 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:51,600 Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of 248 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,880 grace. I won't lay anything heavy or 249 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,440 ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll 250 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,960 learn to live freely and lightly. 251 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,280 Think about that video up there. Do those people seem like they 252 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,920 were living freely and lightly? Not to me at least. 253 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,360 And how many times in my life am I just running ragged? 254 00:15:17,810 --> 00:15:21,130 Or find myself just scrolling away and Oh my gosh, an hour 255 00:15:21,130 --> 00:15:22,530 just went by. What am I doing? 256 00:15:24,690 --> 00:15:28,170 He wants us to live freely and lightly, learning those unforced 257 00:15:28,170 --> 00:15:31,010 rhythms of grace. That's what he wants our 258 00:15:31,010 --> 00:15:34,530 day-to-day to be. So we're going to keep coming 259 00:15:34,530 --> 00:15:37,690 back to that verse as we go through. 260 00:15:39,010 --> 00:15:42,690 But I think I mentioned, you know, I'm an exeducator, right? 261 00:15:43,130 --> 00:15:46,570 And I was never one in the classroom to have big surprises, 262 00:15:46,570 --> 00:15:49,000 right? Kids are supposed to learn this. 263 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:50,720 Here's what you're supposed to learn. 264 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,960 It's not like, you know, you hear kids all the time. 265 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,600 We had a review and none of it was on the test. 266 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,080 Well, my reviews was literally a video where I would just pretty 267 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:00,960 much go over the whole test. And if they watched the video, 268 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:03,560 hey, we're going to be good. I wanted them to know where we 269 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:04,320 were going. Right. 270 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:05,880 I want you to know where we're going to. 271 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:10,600 So, spoiler alert, there's no magic bullet to the Counterfeit 272 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,270 Gods in our life. But I got that Tim Keller book, 273 00:16:14,270 --> 00:16:15,710 and I knew we were going to study through it. 274 00:16:15,950 --> 00:16:17,830 I, like, flipped to the end. And I was like, all right, Tim 275 00:16:17,830 --> 00:16:19,990 Keller, here's a smart theologian. 276 00:16:20,310 --> 00:16:22,510 You're going to have an answer, right, for counterfeit gods. 277 00:16:22,510 --> 00:16:25,230 You're something simple that I can just make sure I do that 278 00:16:25,230 --> 00:16:27,870 every day and I'll stay away from those counterfeit gods. 279 00:16:29,790 --> 00:16:31,390 There wasn't anything. There wasn't anything. 280 00:16:31,830 --> 00:16:37,270 There's no magic bullet. Just like becoming who God 281 00:16:37,270 --> 00:16:39,870 intends us to be is a lifelong thing. 282 00:16:40,780 --> 00:16:45,220 So is combating these counterfeit gods in our life and 283 00:16:45,220 --> 00:16:49,780 especially the idol of distraction, especially in this 284 00:16:49,780 --> 00:16:54,860 day and age. So as we go through this and we 285 00:16:54,980 --> 00:16:57,780 start looking at some scripture and breaking some things down, 286 00:16:58,540 --> 00:17:00,020 we'll talk about some strategies. 287 00:17:00,020 --> 00:17:04,859 But just remember it's not just about a six or seven week 288 00:17:05,460 --> 00:17:09,750 series. It's a constant conscious effort 289 00:17:09,750 --> 00:17:12,349 that we have to battle these counterfeit gods in our lives. 290 00:17:13,430 --> 00:17:17,510 It can't just be the month of July and a little bit of August 291 00:17:17,510 --> 00:17:20,829 and OK, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep focus on that. 292 00:17:21,310 --> 00:17:24,550 It's got to be. It's a constant walk every day 293 00:17:24,550 --> 00:17:25,990 where we try and take steps forward. 294 00:17:25,990 --> 00:17:30,710 OK, So the scripture we're really going to kind of hang 295 00:17:30,710 --> 00:17:35,510 into for a little while today is it's a famous parable of Jesus. 296 00:17:36,180 --> 00:17:39,900 It's the parable of the sower, so it comes out of Matthew. 297 00:17:40,060 --> 00:17:45,260 Chapter 13 is where I'm going to be and verses one through 9 and 298 00:17:45,260 --> 00:17:47,980 our scripture you'll see here in a second when we get to it. 299 00:17:48,340 --> 00:17:53,940 It it starts with the words that same day and I always love, I 300 00:17:53,940 --> 00:17:58,260 love when there's that same day or something about and then 301 00:17:58,380 --> 00:18:01,180 Jesus, because I love to go back and look at like OK. 302 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:06,080 Like what else was happening cuz you know, the idea of the sewer 303 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,280 is it's a pretty big story and I would read that if it was alone 304 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,400 and just think man, that's a pretty good day for Jesus. 305 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,600 He taught a ton of people and maybe he slept late and but now 306 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,280 there was a lot more going on that same day. 307 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,600 So just to kind of give you the background, the behind the 308 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,360 scenes of what else was going on, so. 309 00:18:25,940 --> 00:18:28,500 This was a Sabbath day. So it was a it was a Jewish 310 00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:31,860 Sabbath. Okay, meaning no work, right? 311 00:18:31,940 --> 00:18:34,900 Not supposed to work at all. No healing people, no working in 312 00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:37,860 the fields, None of that. Well, his disciples were hungry. 313 00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:39,260 They were traveling around as always. 314 00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:41,100 They were walking through a field, and they picked some 315 00:18:41,100 --> 00:18:43,100 grain. Pharisees saw this. 316 00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:45,260 They're like losing their minds. They're working. 317 00:18:45,380 --> 00:18:48,020 Jesus, your disciples are working on on the Sabbath. 318 00:18:49,140 --> 00:18:51,380 Jesus calmed them down a little bit, or at least rebutted to 319 00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:55,140 them. And then Jesus heals a man. 320 00:18:55,550 --> 00:18:58,030 So his disciples are working in the field. 321 00:18:58,030 --> 00:18:59,790 Technically, he's healing someone. 322 00:18:59,790 --> 00:19:03,230 I mean, the Pharisees are losing their minds by this point. 323 00:19:03,510 --> 00:19:07,310 They even go so far as to say that Jesus is under Satan's 324 00:19:07,310 --> 00:19:10,310 power. I mean, that's pretty heavy 325 00:19:10,310 --> 00:19:12,790 stuff. So if I was Jesus, I'd be like 326 00:19:12,950 --> 00:19:14,590 battling them and then go take a nap. 327 00:19:14,710 --> 00:19:19,870 But he decides to withdraw and do what Jesus does best. 328 00:19:20,790 --> 00:19:24,310 Teach people, Teach people the the way, right? 329 00:19:24,970 --> 00:19:28,010 And so he goes into this parable of the sower. 330 00:19:28,810 --> 00:19:32,330 And so let's read that story together here. 331 00:19:33,290 --> 00:19:40,210 And it says, this says that same day Jesus went out of the house 332 00:19:40,210 --> 00:19:44,490 and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered 333 00:19:44,490 --> 00:19:46,730 around him that he got into a boat. 334 00:19:47,410 --> 00:19:51,930 And Saturday while all the people stood on the shore, then 335 00:19:51,930 --> 00:19:53,930 he told them many things in parables. 336 00:19:53,930 --> 00:19:57,280 Same. A farmer went out to sow his 337 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,000 seed. As he was scattering the seed, 338 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,200 some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up. 339 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,760 Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. 340 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,640 It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow, but when the 341 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,920 sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered 342 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:23,040 because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns 343 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:25,820 which grew up. And choked the plants. 344 00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:31,380 Still the other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a 345 00:20:31,380 --> 00:20:36,300 crop 160 and 30 times what was sown. 346 00:20:36,980 --> 00:20:42,700 Whoever has ears, let them hear. Now before we start breaking 347 00:20:42,700 --> 00:20:46,380 down the scripture and kind of how that molds into this idea of 348 00:20:46,420 --> 00:20:51,220 distraction as an idol, that last sentence, you hang your hat 349 00:20:51,220 --> 00:20:55,220 on that one again. That's what these weeks are all 350 00:20:55,220 --> 00:20:58,460 about. I know you know, I can sit there 351 00:20:58,460 --> 00:21:01,900 next week or I can sit there and and hear, but am I really 352 00:21:01,900 --> 00:21:05,140 hearing, Am I taking it in? Am I understanding the message 353 00:21:05,140 --> 00:21:08,900 and then changing how those idols affect my life? 354 00:21:09,540 --> 00:21:13,220 He who has ears let him hear. So keep that in mind as we keep 355 00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:15,100 going through this series. Some of it's hard to hear. 356 00:21:15,340 --> 00:21:18,500 This was hard to prepare for cuz I struggle with all of this 357 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:22,530 distraction idea. And so I get that, but have 358 00:21:22,530 --> 00:21:27,010 those ears have that open mind. Go to Jesus and let him take 359 00:21:27,010 --> 00:21:31,810 care of those counterfeit gods. So the first one he talks about 360 00:21:32,290 --> 00:21:40,090 is the path, right? And he says that he says that 361 00:21:40,210 --> 00:21:43,210 that birds came and ate the seed even before it could even start 362 00:21:43,210 --> 00:21:46,450 sprouting, right. Is that the noise in our life? 363 00:21:47,250 --> 00:21:52,420 Maybe We have so much noise in our life sometimes that we get 364 00:21:52,540 --> 00:21:53,860 the message. We hear the seed. 365 00:21:53,860 --> 00:21:57,140 The seed is planted, but it doesn't even the birds come and 366 00:21:57,140 --> 00:22:00,460 Peck, Peck, Peck, and it's gone. Maybe the birds of those people 367 00:22:00,780 --> 00:22:04,020 that you work with or in your neighborhood, they're just 368 00:22:04,020 --> 00:22:07,140 constantly negative. They're just constantly pecking, 369 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:09,820 pecking, pecking, pecking, stealing that seed before it 370 00:22:09,820 --> 00:22:15,060 could even get planted. Or maybe the birds sometimes are 371 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:18,580 even wooing you, right? Maybe they're Why do you need 372 00:22:18,580 --> 00:22:20,550 small group? And you're a great guy. 373 00:22:20,550 --> 00:22:22,270 What do you need to go to small group for again? 374 00:22:22,990 --> 00:22:25,350 They're wooing you away from that message. 375 00:22:25,350 --> 00:22:27,030 Just Peck, Peck, Peck, taking it away. 376 00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:30,270 There's a guy in the Bible, in the Old Testament named 377 00:22:30,270 --> 00:22:32,830 Nehemiah. He had a lot of birds in his 378 00:22:32,830 --> 00:22:38,110 life. So Nehemiah, he was taken out of 379 00:22:38,110 --> 00:22:39,630 Jerusalem. He was in Persia. 380 00:22:40,310 --> 00:22:42,990 He was working for the king of Persia, and he heard that the 381 00:22:43,150 --> 00:22:46,910 wall surrounding Jerusalem that fortified the city had been 382 00:22:46,910 --> 00:22:50,360 destroyed, and by fire and enemies that destroyed the wall. 383 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:56,120 And So what he felt God intended him to be, was the person to go 384 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,440 and rebuild this wall. So he got permission from the 385 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,600 Persian king, went back to Jerusalem, started working on 386 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:02,920 the wall, and then the birds came. 387 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,400 The people in his life trying to steal away that seed, came and 388 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,040 telling him, you'll never finish this wall. 389 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:10,840 Why are you even trying? What are you doing? 390 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:13,520 Stop. There's no time. 391 00:23:14,730 --> 00:23:17,370 And then other birds came and started stealing the seed, 392 00:23:17,370 --> 00:23:19,930 trying to woo him off the wall. Oh, Nehemiah, come on, you've 393 00:23:19,930 --> 00:23:21,770 worked hard enough. Come on down off that wall. 394 00:23:22,290 --> 00:23:27,490 But he stuck with it, kept focus on God, and became that person 395 00:23:27,490 --> 00:23:31,850 that God intended him to be. And remember, back in Matthew, 396 00:23:33,090 --> 00:23:36,610 when there's so much noise in your life and the birds are 397 00:23:36,610 --> 00:23:40,170 pecking away at that seed, remember Jesus's words? 398 00:23:40,810 --> 00:23:43,650 Are you tired? Are you worn out? 399 00:23:44,980 --> 00:23:50,620 Come to me, get away with me, and you'll recover your life. 400 00:23:52,660 --> 00:23:55,220 The second example that Jesus uses is rocks. 401 00:23:56,180 --> 00:24:01,060 He talks about the rocks and how the rocky soil wasn't very deep 402 00:24:01,100 --> 00:24:03,140 and the roots couldn't really form. 403 00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:05,500 And so the sun came and scorched it out. 404 00:24:06,580 --> 00:24:09,340 And to me again, just personally, most of the time 405 00:24:09,340 --> 00:24:11,100 when I'm teaching, I'm talking to myself the whole time. 406 00:24:12,060 --> 00:24:17,880 It's technology, Technology In our life of the rocks, maybe we 407 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,080 have good intention. Maybe we have the Bible app and 408 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,120 we open it in the morning and then two minutes later we're 409 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:29,080 scrolling through Facebook or we get an alert from Instagram of 410 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,000 somebody made a post and we're scrolling mindlessly. 411 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,240 Or maybe it's Twitter is your thing, and then oh, and do 412 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,360 somebody's new tweet. And now I've got to respond to 413 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,680 that. And it's on and on. 414 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:45,370 And you have good intentions but then there's just too much other 415 00:24:45,370 --> 00:24:55,770 distractions on that device. So good timing So oh I did 416 00:24:55,770 --> 00:24:59,570 forget one and I have got to give a little shout out to to I 417 00:24:59,570 --> 00:25:00,730 don't. I do have a lot of apps. 418 00:25:00,730 --> 00:25:05,170 I don't have TikTok, but and my second oldest son he attributes 419 00:25:05,170 --> 00:25:09,010 it to TikTok made some of the best smoked ribs I've ever had a 420 00:25:09,010 --> 00:25:12,090 couple weeks ago so maybe that was is 1 we can pay a little 421 00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:15,310 attention to. But but let me give you some 422 00:25:15,310 --> 00:25:19,190 some statistics. You might have heard things like 423 00:25:19,190 --> 00:25:23,110 this before but it's always eye opening right when you hear some 424 00:25:23,110 --> 00:25:26,590 of these things. So so like this on average. 425 00:25:26,630 --> 00:25:28,510 And there were lots of different studies so I went with the 426 00:25:28,510 --> 00:25:31,110 lowest average to give us all the benefit of the doubt. 427 00:25:31,630 --> 00:25:37,030 But on average, Americans have a screen time of 4 1/2 hours a 428 00:25:37,030 --> 00:25:43,920 day. In 2011, only 35% of Americans 429 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:49,840 used a smartphone. Today, 85% from 2011 to today. 430 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:55,560 That's how much that's grown. The average American touches 431 00:25:55,560 --> 00:26:02,840 their phone 2617 times a day. Now hold on, because when I was 432 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,560 talking to my family, they're like dad. 433 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,400 No, no way. But if you think about it, 434 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,330 touch, unlock, touch, send a text. 435 00:26:10,330 --> 00:26:12,850 Touch, touch, touch, touch. That's 10 times just to say hi 436 00:26:12,850 --> 00:26:16,970 to somebody so easily. If we're counting every single 437 00:26:16,970 --> 00:26:22,650 touch 2000 / 2000 times a day. Bank of America found in a study 438 00:26:23,010 --> 00:26:28,930 that 91% of people value their smartphone as much as they value 439 00:26:28,930 --> 00:26:35,370 their car or deodorant. It's pretty valuable thing 440 00:26:35,370 --> 00:26:39,500 there. And here's where it gets just in 441 00:26:39,500 --> 00:26:45,300 all honesty, scary and even I've got to take a hard look at 442 00:26:45,300 --> 00:26:47,820 myself, right? But let's before I read this 443 00:26:47,820 --> 00:26:50,740 last statistic, let's go back to Tim Keller's definition. 444 00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:54,820 Remember his definition of a counterfeit gun? 445 00:26:55,900 --> 00:26:59,580 Anything so central and essential to your life that 446 00:26:59,580 --> 00:27:03,860 should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. 447 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:10,830 So USA TODAY did a study that found almost half of US adults 448 00:27:11,950 --> 00:27:15,270 report they can't live without their smartphones. 449 00:27:17,430 --> 00:27:21,590 That kind of sums up the idea of a counterfeit God right there. 450 00:27:21,590 --> 00:27:24,110 And I know for some of us in here, maybe this isn't your 451 00:27:24,110 --> 00:27:26,430 struggle, and that's awesome. But I know for a lot of 452 00:27:26,430 --> 00:27:30,470 Americans, half according to this study, I mean it. 453 00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:38,070 It's a reality that we face. But remember what Jesus has for 454 00:27:38,070 --> 00:27:41,670 us, and I'll share with you my own struggles with technology I 455 00:27:41,670 --> 00:27:44,110 had, I had to have. It was years ago. 456 00:27:44,110 --> 00:27:48,350 Maybe like 10 years ago. I had a simple, easy little 457 00:27:48,350 --> 00:27:52,430 surgery day in, boom go day out. But remember my white coat 458 00:27:52,430 --> 00:27:54,590 syndrome? I was a nervous wreck. 459 00:27:54,630 --> 00:27:56,950 I was anxious weeks leading up to that. 460 00:27:57,510 --> 00:28:01,110 But instead of going to Father and praying and talking to 461 00:28:01,110 --> 00:28:05,350 father about my my anxiety and how nervous I was, or talking to 462 00:28:05,350 --> 00:28:09,560 my wife or my family, that would have supported, Nope, downloaded 463 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,040 shooties guys and played a little game on my phone all the 464 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,280 time just to take my mind off of worrying about the surgery. 465 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,840 So I get it. I totally get it. 466 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:28,600 But remember what Jesus wants to offer us instead of that 467 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,920 technology, that tool or torture device? 468 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,810 I don't know, he says. He wants us to learn the 469 00:28:37,850 --> 00:28:44,050 unforced rhythms of grace. And how can we learn the 470 00:28:44,050 --> 00:28:48,130 unforced rhythms of grace with our heads down all the time, 471 00:28:48,130 --> 00:28:51,810 instead of our eyes up looking to him and thanking him? 472 00:28:54,330 --> 00:28:58,450 The last one Jesus talks about in this parable is the thorns, 473 00:28:58,450 --> 00:29:01,090 right? And the thorns come and they 474 00:29:01,090 --> 00:29:03,410 choke out the the, the, the plant. 475 00:29:03,410 --> 00:29:07,580 They choke out the crop and I feel like that's the busyness in 476 00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:11,740 our life, the distraction of busyness, that again, maybe we 477 00:29:11,740 --> 00:29:16,500 sit here, we have good intentions, and then Monday hits 478 00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:19,500 and the busyness just starts rolling in. 479 00:29:20,060 --> 00:29:23,940 The kids activities and the work activities and the trying to 480 00:29:23,940 --> 00:29:26,300 battle and climb the ladder and all of that. 481 00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:33,180 The busyness just chokes out who God intended us to be. 482 00:29:36,470 --> 00:29:40,390 The Mayo Clinic did a study on cortisol. 483 00:29:40,470 --> 00:29:44,030 Cortisol is a hormone that is released when we're under 484 00:29:44,030 --> 00:29:49,070 stress, OK? And busyness tends to lead to a 485 00:29:49,070 --> 00:29:51,030 lot of stress for all, for all of us, right? 486 00:29:51,590 --> 00:29:56,710 And it says that this too much of this cortisol can lead to 487 00:29:56,710 --> 00:30:01,680 anxiety, depression, headaches, heart disease, sleep problems, 488 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,960 and even memory and concentration impairment. 489 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,440 But all those physical things aside, let's think about for a 490 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:13,120 second Jason's message since Easter. 491 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,760 And again, if this is your first time here, spoiler alert, it's 492 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,640 been about love. Since Easter, we've been talking 493 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,920 about nothing but love. And if you have been here, you 494 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,150 remember talked about love of God and loving each other and 495 00:30:26,150 --> 00:30:29,950 all Love has been the theme since pretty much Easter. 496 00:30:31,390 --> 00:30:35,110 And the Christian author John Ortberg says this though about 497 00:30:35,670 --> 00:30:38,990 busyness and love and hurriedness and love. 498 00:30:39,150 --> 00:30:45,710 He says love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. 499 00:30:46,910 --> 00:30:53,020 Love always takes time, and time is the one thing that hurried 500 00:30:53,020 --> 00:30:57,380 people don't have. So the distraction of busyness 501 00:30:57,460 --> 00:31:01,780 is keeping us from what God intended, right to love each 502 00:31:01,780 --> 00:31:04,260 other, to love him, to let him love us. 503 00:31:05,620 --> 00:31:07,300 But that distraction blocks it out. 504 00:31:08,060 --> 00:31:11,580 So fertile soil is the last one he talked about. 505 00:31:12,540 --> 00:31:15,980 That fertile soil is needed for those deep roots, those deep 506 00:31:15,980 --> 00:31:19,700 roots to make it through adverse times, to keep taking steps 507 00:31:19,700 --> 00:31:24,010 forward of becoming the person that God intended us to be. 508 00:31:24,770 --> 00:31:30,010 So even in our busiest moments, go back to Matthew, remember 509 00:31:30,010 --> 00:31:33,290 Jesus's words, how he's calling to us. 510 00:31:34,130 --> 00:31:40,090 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and 511 00:31:40,090 --> 00:31:42,930 lightly. I can't go back to that message 512 00:31:42,930 --> 00:31:45,610 enough. We're not alone in our 513 00:31:45,610 --> 00:31:49,610 distraction, though, right? Jesus went through distraction, 514 00:31:50,020 --> 00:31:52,540 and he was preparing for his ministry, and the devil took him 515 00:31:52,540 --> 00:31:55,180 out to the desert. That was a lot of distraction in 516 00:31:55,180 --> 00:31:57,380 that, too. So we're not alone. 517 00:31:58,060 --> 00:32:01,580 Jesus understands how distractions can creep in and 518 00:32:01,580 --> 00:32:03,900 block out what he intended for us. 519 00:32:06,460 --> 00:32:10,860 And really, you know, this idea of distraction, it comes down 520 00:32:10,860 --> 00:32:16,060 again for me about selfishness, but also about my neediness. 521 00:32:16,660 --> 00:32:19,220 I think we're all needy by default, right? 522 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:24,000 The need to be accepted, the need to compare. 523 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,360 The need to live up to expectations and think about how 524 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,680 the noise of people trying to please those around you and 525 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,080 please the noise Okay. Comparing nothing more than 526 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:41,080 technology to compare each other with and living up to 527 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:42,880 expectations. The busyness. 528 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,000 You're expected to be busy, you're expected. 529 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,960 It's just the norm of society. Why? 530 00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:50,820 We just read what Jesus wants us to have. 531 00:32:52,300 --> 00:32:58,180 Keeping focus on that can help keep taking steps forward of 532 00:32:58,180 --> 00:33:00,980 becoming who God intended us to be. 533 00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:05,460 So remember I said there's no magic bullet, right? 534 00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:07,740 That was that. Spoiler alert, there's no tada 535 00:33:07,740 --> 00:33:10,860 moment here. But I do want to go through some 536 00:33:10,860 --> 00:33:14,300 things here at the end of just some strategies, right? 537 00:33:14,620 --> 00:33:16,980 Just maybe some tools that we can put in our toolbox. 538 00:33:17,390 --> 00:33:20,750 Maybe one of them will help you to kind of keep those 539 00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:25,750 distractions at Bay in your life and keep your eyes focused on 540 00:33:26,030 --> 00:33:30,910 King Jesus. So the first thing is identify. 541 00:33:34,030 --> 00:33:35,750 It's important. And Aaron touched on this a 542 00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:38,950 little bit too, right? But it's important to identify 543 00:33:38,950 --> 00:33:42,110 where these distractions are in your life and what the 544 00:33:42,110 --> 00:33:44,630 distractions are before we can kind of combat them. 545 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,400 So when your mind has nothing else to think of, where does it 546 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,480 wander? What does it get distracted by? 547 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,000 Is it straight to your phone when you have free time and 548 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,880 there's nothing else to think? Is it straight to your phone and 549 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,560 you're scrolling? Is it straight to the 100 things 550 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,400 you have to do at work? Straight to maybe the drama of a 551 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,720 relationship and the birds that are pecking at you? 552 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:08,800 OK, insert Jesus into these moments of your daily time. 553 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,360 Instead of picking up your phone and mindlessly scrolling through 554 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:17,880 social media intentionally to go through a Bible study instead of 555 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:21,280 multitasking to try and get the job done and be the first done. 556 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:26,679 Pick one task and go through that and remember who you're 557 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:28,639 truly working for in the 1st place. 558 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,719 Second thing, prioritize. Prioritize. 559 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,440 It has to. We have to prioritize if we're 560 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,159 going to combat these distractions. 561 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:46,610 An example in the Bible of making sure Jesus is first is 562 00:34:46,770 --> 00:34:49,530 there's a story in the New Testament where John the Baptist 563 00:34:49,730 --> 00:34:53,449 and Jesus, they were actually baptizing people kind of at the 564 00:34:53,449 --> 00:34:57,570 same time in the same area. And John's disciples, all the 565 00:34:57,570 --> 00:35:00,970 people are going over to Jesus and John the Baptist disciples 566 00:35:00,970 --> 00:35:04,890 run up to him and they're like, dude, all the people are going 567 00:35:04,890 --> 00:35:06,170 to Jesus, what are we going to do? 568 00:35:06,490 --> 00:35:11,810 And John just tells him calmly, look, he must become greater. 569 00:35:12,650 --> 00:35:17,010 I must become less. And if we can just keep that 570 00:35:17,010 --> 00:35:20,930 mantra in our head of prioritize, he must become 571 00:35:20,930 --> 00:35:23,690 greater. I must become less. 572 00:35:24,410 --> 00:35:26,410 That's going to keep those distractions at Bay. 573 00:35:26,770 --> 00:35:30,570 I know it will for me because my distractions are all about 574 00:35:30,570 --> 00:35:35,490 selfish reasons. Just personally, He must become 575 00:35:35,490 --> 00:35:37,650 greater. I must become less. 576 00:35:37,810 --> 00:35:40,490 Prioritize that relationship with Christ. 577 00:35:42,180 --> 00:35:44,460 The next one is spiritual disciplines. 578 00:35:45,340 --> 00:35:49,860 So spiritual disciplines, They're tools, right? 579 00:35:49,940 --> 00:35:54,580 They're tools to keep stepping forward on that way and becoming 580 00:35:54,580 --> 00:35:56,420 that person that God intended us to be. 581 00:35:56,900 --> 00:35:59,740 I'm not very handy. I'm not very handy at all. 582 00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:03,700 My dad, my fatherinlaw, my neighbor. 583 00:36:03,900 --> 00:36:06,580 They can all tell you how unhandy I am because pretty much 584 00:36:06,580 --> 00:36:09,780 anytime something goes wrong, I'm calling one of them with the 585 00:36:09,780 --> 00:36:11,260 house, like, hey, can I borrow this? 586 00:36:12,150 --> 00:36:17,510 But a few years ago, a few years ago, I inherited a big set of 587 00:36:17,510 --> 00:36:19,990 tools for my grandfather. My grandfather passed away. 588 00:36:20,870 --> 00:36:24,910 He left these tools. They were in my dad's garage. 589 00:36:24,910 --> 00:36:27,510 My dad's an electrician. He's got more tools than he 590 00:36:27,510 --> 00:36:29,550 knows what to do with. And he asked me one day he's 591 00:36:29,550 --> 00:36:31,070 like, hey, do you do you want these tools? 592 00:36:31,350 --> 00:36:34,070 It's like 4 big old tool boxes. I was like, yeah, sure, I'll 593 00:36:34,070 --> 00:36:38,310 take them. And I've found since I have 594 00:36:38,310 --> 00:36:42,350 these tools at the house, I'm a little bit more handy, at least 595 00:36:42,790 --> 00:36:46,710 because I have the right tools. And the same thing in our 596 00:36:46,710 --> 00:36:51,390 Christian walk, when we're trying to take steps forward to 597 00:36:51,390 --> 00:36:56,630 the person that God intended us to be, having the right tools is 598 00:36:56,630 --> 00:36:59,310 a big thing. And so I'm going to share just 599 00:36:59,310 --> 00:37:02,350 two tools that help me sometimes. 600 00:37:02,470 --> 00:37:05,710 Again, I'm no one, no one's got it all figured out, but these 601 00:37:05,990 --> 00:37:08,270 help me to stay focused and prioritize. 602 00:37:08,590 --> 00:37:11,430 The first one is, and I always give this a shout out whether 603 00:37:11,430 --> 00:37:14,310 I'm teaching in youth or here, but it's it's an app. 604 00:37:14,350 --> 00:37:15,830 I know technology, but get an app. 605 00:37:16,950 --> 00:37:20,590 It's called it's called Through the Word, OK, Through the word. 606 00:37:20,590 --> 00:37:25,470 It's it's a Bible app, but it's a pastor in your ear and then a 607 00:37:25,470 --> 00:37:27,950 message. So it's a chapter of the Bible a 608 00:37:27,950 --> 00:37:30,350 day. A pastor gives you the 609 00:37:30,350 --> 00:37:33,350 background of it, breaks it down for about 8 or 9 minutes. 610 00:37:33,930 --> 00:37:36,290 Love it, it's awesome. It makes it again. 611 00:37:36,290 --> 00:37:38,610 I love kind of the behind the scenes of the Bible and what's 612 00:37:38,610 --> 00:37:41,530 going on and give you some ideas to think about. 613 00:37:42,090 --> 00:37:44,850 It's a great way if you're like me and you struggle with Bible 614 00:37:44,850 --> 00:37:49,570 reading because again you open some of this and it's like makes 615 00:37:49,570 --> 00:37:52,770 you go cross eyed through the word is awesome because it 616 00:37:52,770 --> 00:37:55,570 really helps kind of break things down and and walk you 617 00:37:55,570 --> 00:37:58,210 through some of the scripture. So there's one and then the 618 00:37:58,210 --> 00:38:01,850 second one if you're if you're old school physical type of 619 00:38:01,850 --> 00:38:04,820 Bible person, life application Bible. 620 00:38:07,460 --> 00:38:10,860 He's actually a pastor but a guy I coached with gave me this 621 00:38:11,100 --> 00:38:18,860 sheesh 20 years ago probably and it is great tool as well to to 622 00:38:18,900 --> 00:38:21,260 make you more handy in your walk with Christ. 623 00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:24,620 The life application Bible, it's a regular Bible, has scripture 624 00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:29,140 but then underneath it has again kind of teaching points almost 625 00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:32,380 or breakdown of maybe historically what was happening 626 00:38:32,380 --> 00:38:35,500 at that time or it gives you again the behind the scenes or 627 00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:39,940 little points to think about. It really is a great companion 628 00:38:39,940 --> 00:38:41,940 and a great tool to put in the toolbox. 629 00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:47,420 So spiritual disciplines next one bring Jesus. 630 00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:52,100 I said earlier I teach in youth sometimes I love teaching in 631 00:38:52,100 --> 00:38:53,460 youth. I love teaching in here too. 632 00:38:53,460 --> 00:38:58,700 Don't get offended, but in youth we it's a conversation a lot of 633 00:38:58,700 --> 00:39:00,940 times, right? It's not just me talking for 30 634 00:39:00,940 --> 00:39:02,700 minutes. Usually I'll have them do 635 00:39:02,700 --> 00:39:03,900 something. I'm sure they love an 636 00:39:03,900 --> 00:39:05,900 assignment, right when when they're not in school. 637 00:39:06,460 --> 00:39:08,180 So I'll have them like do something and we'll share out 638 00:39:08,180 --> 00:39:11,260 and we'll talk a little bit about it because I love to hear 639 00:39:11,260 --> 00:39:12,860 their voice. They have a lot of awesome 640 00:39:12,860 --> 00:39:15,180 things to say. And so I was kind of 641 00:39:15,620 --> 00:39:19,260 workshopping this over with, with youth a few months ago. 642 00:39:19,700 --> 00:39:22,300 And we were talking about counterfeit gods and we were 643 00:39:22,500 --> 00:39:24,540 brainstorming some ideas. Okay. 644 00:39:24,540 --> 00:39:27,300 Well, how can we combat the counterfeit gods in our life? 645 00:39:27,700 --> 00:39:28,980 And this one gentleman raised his hand. 646 00:39:28,980 --> 00:39:31,650 He was like, well, just bring Jesus. 647 00:39:31,650 --> 00:39:33,290 And I was like, what do you mean by that? 648 00:39:33,810 --> 00:39:35,130 He said. Like, I love to hike. 649 00:39:35,810 --> 00:39:40,130 And so when I go out on a hike, I just, I stopped for 30 650 00:39:40,130 --> 00:39:41,970 seconds. And before I go out on the hike, 651 00:39:41,970 --> 00:39:45,490 I just thank Jesus for the beautiful scenery and the 652 00:39:45,490 --> 00:39:48,090 awesome nature that he created and that I'm able to go out on 653 00:39:48,090 --> 00:39:50,530 this hike. So I just bring Jesus into the 654 00:39:50,530 --> 00:39:55,170 things that I love to do. Like, man, you got to figure it 655 00:39:55,170 --> 00:39:56,170 out. That's pretty awesome. 656 00:39:56,650 --> 00:40:02,200 And it sounds simple, but how? How many times do we go and do 657 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:05,600 the things that we love and we're not bringing Jesus along 658 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,040 for the ride. So bring Jesus. 659 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:10,800 You love to play Shooty Skies on your phone. 660 00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:16,720 Spend 30 seconds saying Lord, thank you so much for inspiring 661 00:40:16,720 --> 00:40:20,120 some app developer to make this game that I love. 662 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,240 You're an awesome God. Help me get to level 20 today or 663 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:27,640 whatever it is, right? But for real, we can bring Jesus 664 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,830 into all these moments with us. So bring Jesus. 665 00:40:30,830 --> 00:40:32,670 I like that one. Thank you, youth. 666 00:40:34,550 --> 00:40:38,590 Two more. Take five, take 5. 667 00:40:38,630 --> 00:40:45,110 This is a great strategy that I think can kind of ground us and 668 00:40:45,190 --> 00:40:48,670 keeping our focus on Jesus and keeping those distractions at 669 00:40:48,670 --> 00:40:50,670 Bay. So when we find ourselves 670 00:40:50,670 --> 00:40:54,190 distracted, maybe we started that scroll in or we've, you 671 00:40:54,190 --> 00:40:58,550 know, the the the birds are pecking at us and on all that 672 00:40:58,550 --> 00:41:02,510 things, the busyness, right? Deep breath. 673 00:41:03,470 --> 00:41:07,470 Just ask yourself these five questions Will this matter in 5 674 00:41:07,470 --> 00:41:11,630 minutes? Will this matter in five days? 675 00:41:13,830 --> 00:41:18,310 Will this matter in five months? Will it matter in five years? 676 00:41:19,750 --> 00:41:23,110 And does this matter to the five most important people in my 677 00:41:23,110 --> 00:41:25,830 life? Take five. 678 00:41:25,830 --> 00:41:29,950 If the answer is no, well then maybe we shouldn't stress over 679 00:41:29,950 --> 00:41:31,310 it, right? Maybe we shouldn't let that 680 00:41:31,310 --> 00:41:34,070 cortisol build up and we should put the phone down for a little 681 00:41:34,070 --> 00:41:38,390 bit and go interact with people and see the world that God has 682 00:41:38,390 --> 00:41:40,950 intended us to see. So take five. 683 00:41:41,670 --> 00:41:44,990 And the last one. I love this one, right? 684 00:41:44,990 --> 00:41:46,790 It's feels like a little bit of a cop out. 685 00:41:46,790 --> 00:41:51,670 But perseverance, It just takes perseverance. 686 00:41:53,270 --> 00:41:59,190 There's no magic bullet, right? It's a baby steps every day to 687 00:41:59,190 --> 00:42:04,270 keep those distractions at Bay. Not one person in this room has 688 00:42:04,270 --> 00:42:07,470 it all figured out right? We're all in this together. 689 00:42:08,550 --> 00:42:11,790 But keeping that perseverance, getting those spiritual 690 00:42:11,790 --> 00:42:15,110 disciplines in place take 5 All prioritize. 691 00:42:15,110 --> 00:42:20,670 All of them will help us to become more and more the person 692 00:42:20,790 --> 00:42:25,240 that God intended us to be. I love hoops. 693 00:42:25,240 --> 00:42:27,440 I love basketball. I'm an old basketball coach, and 694 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:29,880 Tim Duncan's my favorite, favorite player. 695 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,560 He just, he just did it right. Like went out fundamental boom, 696 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:36,880 just did his job. And he says it like this. 697 00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,000 Good, better. Best. 698 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:45,880 Never let it rest until you're good is better and you're better 699 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:49,520 is best. Isn't that kind of the Christian 700 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,350 walk in a nutshell? Especially when we're talking 701 00:42:52,350 --> 00:42:54,910 about counterfeit gods and this idea of distraction. 702 00:42:55,230 --> 00:42:58,070 And some days it feels like I'm never going to, I'm never going 703 00:42:58,070 --> 00:43:01,710 to make it. Keep taking steps forward. 704 00:43:01,790 --> 00:43:04,590 Don't lose heart. Have that perseverance. 705 00:43:05,110 --> 00:43:07,310 Good, better. Best Don't let it rest. 706 00:43:07,310 --> 00:43:10,630 Don't get discouraged, keep taking steps forward. 707 00:43:11,990 --> 00:43:16,510 Because as we walk through this, we're going to be shaped and 708 00:43:16,510 --> 00:43:22,570 molded into something, right? And the more we keep our eyes 709 00:43:22,570 --> 00:43:27,170 focused on Jesus and not to the left or to the right, the more 710 00:43:27,170 --> 00:43:31,570 that he can mold us into that person that he intended us to 711 00:43:31,570 --> 00:43:34,170 be. So this week, as you're 712 00:43:34,170 --> 00:43:38,570 scrolling through or the noises of life is too much, or you feel 713 00:43:38,570 --> 00:43:42,850 that the busyness is just crushing you down, go back to 714 00:43:42,850 --> 00:43:47,770 the basics. Go back to what Jesus said in 715 00:43:47,770 --> 00:43:50,560 Matthew. Are you tired? 716 00:43:52,120 --> 00:43:55,440 Worn out? Burned out on religion? 717 00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:03,360 Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. 718 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:06,800 I'll show you how to take a real rest. 719 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:14,480 Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. 720 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:19,950 Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. 721 00:44:20,910 --> 00:44:23,470 I won't lay anything heavy or real fitting on you. 722 00:44:24,310 --> 00:44:31,190 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and 723 00:44:31,190 --> 00:44:37,070 lightly. Let's pray Lord, thank you so 724 00:44:37,070 --> 00:44:40,390 much for wow. Just an opportunity to to be 725 00:44:40,390 --> 00:44:44,550 together in in this space and just to learn more about you and 726 00:44:44,550 --> 00:44:48,470 and to love on you and to let you love on us. 727 00:44:48,470 --> 00:44:52,280 Lord, Lord, when when the distractions of life try to 728 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:57,480 creep in and sneak in and and steal who you intend us to be. 729 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:02,160 Lord just help us to to combat those and keep our eyes focused 730 00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,280 on you. Lord, gosh we love you. 731 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:07,400 We just thank you for your message. 732 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:11,720 Thank you for your word. Help us to to be there for each 733 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:14,920 other in these tough times when the counterfeit God seemed to 734 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:20,070 just be coming from all angles. Help us to focus on you. 735 00:45:20,910 --> 00:45:23,230 We love you, Lord, We thank you for our blessings. 736 00:45:23,990 --> 00:45:29,110 Amen. Thank you for joining us today. 737 00:45:29,670 --> 00:45:32,430 River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing 738 00:45:32,470 --> 00:45:35,150 God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that 739 00:45:35,150 --> 00:45:37,070 you've been able to experience that today. 740 00:45:37,750 --> 00:45:40,350 As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in 741 00:45:40,350 --> 00:45:43,390 this morning, this podcast is no substitute for full 742 00:45:43,390 --> 00:45:47,320 participation in a local church. I love it when River City people 743 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:50,640 listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after 744 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,560 week faithfully giving their support and time and resources 745 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:56,920 that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected 746 00:45:56,920 --> 00:46:00,960 to a local church, pray for you or support you in any way, click 747 00:46:00,960 --> 00:46:02,600 the link in the description and let us know. 748 00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:05,240 If you'd like to financially support the ministry of River 749 00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:08,120 City, Click the give link on our website in the description. 750 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,320 Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with 751 00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,320 your friends. Thanks so much for listening. 752 00:46:13,650 --> 00:46:16,530 May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.