Good morning, Spring House. It's
Speaker:a cool day inside the house of the Lord.
Speaker:And if you're joining us on Livestream, hopefully you're in air
Speaker:conditioning as well. Well, bless the Lord. God's been
Speaker:moving this morning and I love that we can always count
Speaker:on him to move and to speak.
Speaker:Man, he's always seeming to be up to something really
Speaker:incredible. And if we will just lean in and pay attention, we get to take
Speaker:part in it. We don't have to be separate from him, especially because of Jesus.
Speaker:And so hallelujah, it's good to see you this morning, good to
Speaker:see your smiling faces before we get rolling this
Speaker:morning. School time is getting close. It's drawing
Speaker:close. Which it means, oh yeah, I heard the youth go, oh
Speaker:yeah, it is happening. And parents say
Speaker:amen. Yeah, but that means August
Speaker:is happening. And we're going to resume our midweek gatherings in
Speaker:August. And so we want you to be a part of our
Speaker:midweek gathering. And Pastor Barbie is going to be doing a 12 week
Speaker:series called the Eye of the Needle. And I just want
Speaker:to encourage you, I want to encourage you if you have the
Speaker:capacity as you're getting back in rhythm, who loves a good rhythm, you're
Speaker:getting back, you're getting your family in rhythm
Speaker:that you would carve out that hour from 6 to 7 on Thursday
Speaker:night beginning August 7th and come spend time with us, we worship,
Speaker:there'll be word, it will be rich and you will be blessed. So please make
Speaker:a part a point rather to come and be a part of this very
Speaker:special series as we get things back up and running. And of
Speaker:course we'll be bringing you the information about kids ministry, youth ministry, young adult
Speaker:ministry as well. But I wanted to go ahead and let people begin to
Speaker:plot on their calendars to mark this time aside for our, for our
Speaker:midweek gathering. Okay, well, before we get started
Speaker:into where we're going to go, I just want to tell you that you're probably
Speaker:not going to like what I have to say today. And
Speaker:so, you know, if you came here looking to like me, you're probably not going
Speaker:to. But Barbie's calendar is open this week and taking appointments between eight and
Speaker:five. If you have a problem with something I've said or you know, you'd like
Speaker:to, to discuss it with her, she'd be happy to meet with you.
Speaker:But aren't you glad at Springhouse Church that we don't just cherry pick portions
Speaker:of the Word, that we actually believe in, the whole word of God, the
Speaker:entirety of Scripture. And that means, sometimes it means that
Speaker:we have to render and examine hard truths in our lives and we actually
Speaker:have to contend with what hard truth says
Speaker:as applies to our lives, in our journey. And man, when we turn a blind
Speaker:eye to those hard truths, we don't look a whole lot like Jesus in those
Speaker:areas. And I believe that the aim and the goal because of the power
Speaker:resurrected Jesus Christ is that we look like him. And in order to look
Speaker:at him, we got like Him. We've got to lean into even some of the
Speaker:harder parts of scripture and the harder truths of
Speaker:Scripture. So I'm going to ask you today to not lean out,
Speaker:to not clock out, but to lean in and ask the
Speaker:Lord where he might minister to your heart about some of these truths. Would you
Speaker:look at your neighbor and say, this message is.
Speaker:Is for me.
Speaker:Now, if you chose not to look at your spouse, I would like you to
Speaker:look at your spouse and say, this message is for
Speaker:me.
Speaker:There seems to be such power up here because you have no idea what I'm
Speaker:about to say. We're going to be talking about
Speaker:a man named naaman today in 2 Kings, chapter
Speaker:5. And I'm gonna give you guys the highlights of the story
Speaker:here in just a little bit. I will tell you, we put the sermon
Speaker:schedule together ahead of time. And you know, of all of the great. There's great
Speaker:stories all throughout Scripture. Do you agree? And this is also
Speaker:a great story, but whenever I looked, I was looking about five, six
Speaker:weeks ago, I was looking ahead and I'm thinking, lord, why in the world
Speaker:am I teaching on Naaman? I'm gonna change that. And then
Speaker:I started to walk through the last five or six weeks, some
Speaker:of you as well. And the Lord said, no, this is, this is,
Speaker:this was. Aren't you glad that he knows the end from the beginning? Aren't you
Speaker:glad he just orders our steps and he has ordained today
Speaker:to be today. So if you'll stand with me, we're gonna read two
Speaker:scriptures that's gonna lay a foundation for today. And I'd like you to read it
Speaker:like you believe God can actually do something in your life. Okay? So let's read
Speaker:together. Here we go. Do nothing out of selfish
Speaker:ambition or vain, conceived rather in
Speaker:humility. Value others above yourselves.
Speaker:Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the
Speaker:interest of others and your relationships with
Speaker:one another have the same mindset as Christ
Speaker:Jesus. We're going to say that one more time. Here we go. In your
Speaker:relationships with one another, have the Same
Speaker:mindset as Christ Jesus. Pride
Speaker:goes before destruction and a haughty spirit
Speaker:before a fall. Father, I thank you for your truth, all of
Speaker:it. I pray, Lord, that you would transform our hearts and our minds
Speaker:today. Let my words fall to the ground and mean nothing but your stick for
Speaker:all eternity. We love you today. In Jesus name, amen. You may
Speaker:be seated. You are a part of the greatest stories ever told.
Speaker:And part of what makes your story so uniquely wonderful
Speaker:isn't because you are unique and wonderful though you are, it
Speaker:is that Jesus Christ chooses to do a work in your life. And
Speaker:those points in your life where he comes in and he causes change
Speaker:to happen in your heart and in your life and in your actions, those
Speaker:are the true testimonies and stories of God's goodness.
Speaker:Those are the stories we want to share. Those are the stories that
Speaker:are powerful and will cause kingdom advancement and kingdom change.
Speaker:You are a part of the greatest story ever, ever told. And
Speaker:today we're talking about a man named Naaman. Now last week, Pastor
Speaker:Barbee took us up through Elisha, the transfer of power between
Speaker:Elijah and Elisha. And Elisha is in full force now. He's full
Speaker:fledged into his ministry. And this story pops up about this
Speaker:decorated, this really well decorated
Speaker:military commander named Naaman.
Speaker:Naaman was a commander of the king's army
Speaker:and he was powerful, he was successful, and he was
Speaker:respected even by the king. But just
Speaker:like so many leaders, he had an issue. How many know that
Speaker:your leaders have issues? You're looking at one of the biggest issues
Speaker:probably in the church right now. I have a lot of issues, but leaders have
Speaker:issues. And he had an issue. His issue was that he had leprosy.
Speaker:But we're going to find that he had some other issues as well.
Speaker:Leprosy is a physical disease that isolates and humiliates.
Speaker:And the Lord uses this young, a young Israelite servant
Speaker:girl. And she suggests that there is a man
Speaker:in Samaria that would be able to heal this
Speaker:leprosy disease that Naaman is carrying.
Speaker:This little servant girl, ironically.
Speaker:Do you see how hope comes not from a king or
Speaker:a warrior, but from a foreign captive girl.
Speaker:A reminder that the Lord will use the humble.
Speaker:Naaman brings wealth and a letter from his
Speaker:king to impress Israel's king. And so his king sends
Speaker:him to Israel's king. And Naaman brings this wealth in this letter. And the letter
Speaker:says to the king, we want your God to heal, to
Speaker:heal Naaman's leprosy. And the king of Israel
Speaker:says, as he tears his Robes. Who am I that I would be able
Speaker:to. To heal this man? There's no way I would be able to do this.
Speaker:There's nothing in me that could do this. And Elisha catches
Speaker:word that the king has torn his robe, rend his garments, and
Speaker:has said he couldn't do this. And Elisha says, I know the very God who
Speaker:can do this. Send Naaman my way. Send Naaman my
Speaker:way and he'll be healed of this
Speaker:leprosy. Well, Naaman
Speaker:mounts his chariots and brings his entire entourage to
Speaker:Elijah and Elisha. And it was kind of like, here I am.
Speaker:Let the trumpets blow. Naaman has arrived,
Speaker:and I'm here to see the man of God. And Elisha does something
Speaker:so incredible, he sends his messenger out to meet
Speaker:Naaman to give him the news. Well, this
Speaker:infuriates Naaman because Naaman is a proud
Speaker:dude. He is like a valiant warrior. And
Speaker:you are not going to pawn off your little weak servant
Speaker:messenger on me to deliver this news. And
Speaker:so the servant comes and says, the servant from Elisha says, if you'll dip
Speaker:seven times in the Jordan, then you'll be healed if you'll go in there seven
Speaker:times. And Naaman is like, that is the dumbest thing I've ever
Speaker:heard. And so he says,
Speaker:you know, he says, basically, I'm not gonna do that.
Speaker:Why can't the man of God come out and touch me? Why
Speaker:can't he come and introduce. Doesn't he know that there are other
Speaker:rivers that are cleaner that I could go in? Doesn't he?
Speaker:And he basically throws a T. He becomes enraged
Speaker:and marches along. So Naaman
Speaker:nearly walks away from his miracle. Oh, how
Speaker:many times are we close to a miracle? But because of our
Speaker:pride, because of the things that we contend with in our flesh, and
Speaker:because the pathway. Listen to this. The pathway God has
Speaker:chosen for us to receive our healing.
Speaker:Looks dumb, looks stupid, not something we're willing to
Speaker:do. And there we thwart the miracle blessing
Speaker:and yet will still go to the Lord and say, heal me, heal me, Heal
Speaker:me, heal me, heal me, heal me, heal me.
Speaker:And so God uses Naaman's servants who
Speaker:run to him and say, now, Naaman,
Speaker:if the messenger would have come and said for you to do something, valiant
Speaker:warrior like you would have proudly stood up and done that,
Speaker:because it would have brought you notoriety. How much more
Speaker:then if the man of God says, come and dip in the
Speaker:river seven times, would you not do that? And this
Speaker:was a defining moment for Naaman, a defining
Speaker:moment because he's already thrown a tantrum. Everybody knows how he feels
Speaker:about what's going on. He's already made a spectacle of himself.
Speaker:But thankfully we have an example of somebody who chooses the path of
Speaker:humility. And he chooses the path of humility. And he
Speaker:goes to the river and he dips in seven times. I can imagine what it
Speaker:must have been like going out that first time after all that spectacle and the
Speaker:thing he did. He gets in and he walks out and he's looking at his
Speaker:entourage and he's got to turn around and do it again
Speaker:and then do it again. I kind of think God may have been shedding
Speaker:some stuff off of Naaman in those seven times. Going back again and again
Speaker:and again. Sometimes God will have you go back again and again and again
Speaker:and again because he's teaching you in that journey. He's teaching you in that
Speaker:thing to go back. The sixth time and the seventh
Speaker:time, healing sometimes looks humble, simple,
Speaker:uncomfortable. Pride almost cost him everything. And he
Speaker:finally humbles himself and does that, goes into
Speaker:the river, and his flesh was restored. God
Speaker:healed his body. But more than that,
Speaker:and listen, more than that, his heart was
Speaker:changed.
Speaker:Guys, there's nothing better than a changed heart.
Speaker:In the situations that you're in with relationships,
Speaker:with work, with ministry, with
Speaker:spouses, family, there is nothing better than a
Speaker:changed heart. The problem is that we expect God to change theirs and not
Speaker:ours. But I believe that
Speaker:God is in the business of changing our heart. And the ripples
Speaker:of our change affect others and changes
Speaker:others. Today we're going to deal with this issue of pride. Aren't you
Speaker:excited? We're going to deal with the issue of pride. Don't look at your neighbor.
Speaker:We live in a world where pride is often mistaken
Speaker:for strength. We applaud self, confidence,
Speaker:assertiveness, and independence. But in God's kingdom,
Speaker:pride is not power, it's poison. In
Speaker:God's kingdom, pride is poison. Pride is what
Speaker:keeps us from God. Pride is what keeps us from one another.
Speaker:Pride is an attitude that says, I don't need help.
Speaker:I know better. I deserve better.
Speaker:Many of you know my youngest daughter, Nora. We were in an airport together as
Speaker:a whole family a couple years ago in Minneapolis.
Speaker:It's a big airport. If you've ever flown through Minneapolis, it's a real big airport.
Speaker:And we're on the airplane and my daughters had just, you know, they were. My
Speaker:kids are such great travelers.
Speaker:Yeah, I was waiting. Thanks, Rhonda. So
Speaker:my kids have their feet hanging out in the aisle. They're laying down they're flailing
Speaker:the arms. We've been traveling for a minute and people are trying to
Speaker:walk by, and I am trying to get them off the plane because we've got
Speaker:to catch our layover. And I'm going through, and they are just
Speaker:being very extra. I've got great kids, but they're being
Speaker:extra on this day. Parents, you can. You know what I'm talking about, okay? And
Speaker:so I am literally saying, get it together right now. Get up, right?
Speaker:Do this. Stop doing that. Get out of the way. And the flight
Speaker:attendants are all coming over to our area and
Speaker:they're saying, we don't mind. We'll carry her off the plane for you.
Speaker:We will get their bags. We'll call reinforcements in. And I'm saying,
Speaker:absolutely not. My kids know how to walk. They're gonna
Speaker:get up and do what I tell them to do right now. And I'm just
Speaker:having a moment, right? And I'm not gonna let. Everybody's looking at
Speaker:me. I'm. I'm telling them what I expect. We're gonna do this my
Speaker:way. And I get so angry that I grab my bag and I walk right
Speaker:off the plane without my wife and my four kids. I'm a great husband, let
Speaker:me tell you. And so I get into that lobby area
Speaker:and I'm waiting there. Just. I'm saying, get off this plane. Let's go.
Speaker:We've gotta make our layover. And people get off and
Speaker:there's a big gap and nobody's coming off. And so I step over to the
Speaker:gate and sure enough, there's a flight attendant carrying Nora, There's a flight
Speaker:attendant carrying Lucy. They've got bags and they have radio.
Speaker:Get. They have radioed one of those Jeeps to come and pick us up
Speaker:at the gate and drive us to our gate. I was so embarrassed.
Speaker:I was so embarrassed. The spectacle that these girls would put me through. Oh, my
Speaker:word. So we get on this thing and everybody's watching
Speaker:us, and our kids are just going, woo. This is the best thing in life.
Speaker:And I just wanted to spank every one of them. I'm just telling you. I'm
Speaker:just so upset. The gate was
Speaker:literally drive time was about seven minutes away. Drive time.
Speaker:And we pull up and they are about to close the gate.
Speaker:Had we not gotten on the Jeep, we would have not made our flight.
Speaker:What would have, it looked like if I refused to allow them to help us
Speaker:with that Jeep? And God said, pride,
Speaker:Kevin, pride.
Speaker:God has put people in your path and in your life to help you on
Speaker:your journey. God has put
Speaker:people in your path because here. And, guys, I know this is a hard
Speaker:truth to hear. You don't know it all.
Speaker:And you need people in your path who
Speaker:can tell you you don't know it all. And
Speaker:they probably have some information that will help you
Speaker:on your journey, that will help you in your walk.
Speaker:But here's the thing. We tend to think, yeah, they don't know it all,
Speaker:but you don't know it all either. We need each other.
Speaker:And I would argue that to the degree you think you need to
Speaker:be in that other person's life, they probably need to be in your life that
Speaker:much more because God puts us together
Speaker:in that way. This is what Pride says. Pride says, I'll do this my way.
Speaker:I'll just do this my way. Pride resists correction,
Speaker:refuses vulnerability, and often pushes people and
Speaker:even God away. And it's not always loud and
Speaker:arrogant. Sometimes it's just the quiet voice that
Speaker:says, I'm going to do this my way. I'm going to do this
Speaker:my way. Do we have that video? Praise the Lord.
Speaker:All right, I want you to watch this. It's not going to seem connected, but
Speaker:it really is. Can you get me in?
Speaker:At the gate back there, God said, depart from me, and I couldn't.
Speaker:Couldn't believe it. But. But I know there's been some mistake. That's why I called
Speaker:you. I was baptized at 5. My. I think my dad's
Speaker:a pastor. There's been no mistake.
Speaker:Your file, it doesn't look too good.
Speaker:What's in there? My sins. No, no, no, no. Those shouldn't be in there. You
Speaker:forgave those, remember? I mean, that. That makes sense. That's where the mistake is coming
Speaker:from. If you're basing it off of, I won't make it in there. There's a
Speaker:lifetime of evidence against me. No, this. This isn't evidence against
Speaker:you. It's evidence that you were even saved to
Speaker:begin with.
Speaker:And there's nothing in here.
Speaker:Baptized at 5 and lived an
Speaker:entire life doing whatever you want.
Speaker:Partying, sex, gossip.
Speaker:This is the most we've talked your whole
Speaker:life. I'm supposed to bail you out now, right?
Speaker:Jesus says that he is the way, the truth and the
Speaker:life. But so many of us thwart the fact that he's the
Speaker:way because we do it our whole lives, our own way. And
Speaker:that's Pride. Pride will separate you from the King
Speaker:of the Universe, and it will separate you from the people that you're sitting next
Speaker:to. The People who love you most.
Proverbs 16 00:19:00
18 says this. Pride goes before destruction
Proverbs 16 00:19:04
and a haughty spirit before the fall. Pride leads to collapse,
Proverbs 16 00:19:08
personally and relationally. And, guys, I can't tell you, the
Proverbs 16 00:19:11
countless ministry people, job people that have had
Proverbs 16 00:19:15
positions, that have had positions, and they were not supposed to
Proverbs 16 00:19:18
be out of those positions, but God had to set them down early
Proverbs 16 00:19:23
because of pride. God had to pull them out of that position. They were not
Proverbs 16 00:19:26
done running the race. They were not done doing what God had asked them to
Proverbs 16 00:19:30
do, but God had to set them down because it was either set them down
Proverbs 16 00:19:32
or let them continue to lead others toward destruction.
Proverbs 16 00:19:36
Pride. Pride is a booger.
Proverbs 16 00:19:40
It's a big booger, and if you keep picking at it, eventually it
Proverbs 16 00:19:44
will come out. Just don't eat it.
Proverbs 16 00:19:50
Where there is strife, there is pride. But wisdom is found
Proverbs 16 00:19:54
in those who take advice. Guys, let me tell you the
Proverbs 16 00:19:57
strife. If you're ever in a situation with strife, the
Proverbs 16 00:20:01
Word tells us, where there's strife, every evil work abounds.
Proverbs 16 00:20:06
And where there's strife, there's bound to be pride in the ingredients there.
Proverbs 16 00:20:12
Because pride leads to destruction. The word also says, God
Proverbs 16 00:20:16
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I
Proverbs 16 00:20:20
pray every single morning when I wake up. Have you? I have a habitual prayer.
Proverbs 16 00:20:23
Sometimes that I don't even think about, it shoots out of my mouth. And the
Proverbs 16 00:20:26
very first thing that I say is, oh, Lord, thank you for your grace and
Proverbs 16 00:20:29
mercy this morning. It just shoots out of my mouth. I don't even think about
Proverbs 16 00:20:32
it. It's just an automatic thank you for your grace and mercy this morning.
Proverbs 16 00:20:36
How do I get grace? He gives grace to the
Proverbs 16 00:20:39
humble. Now, is he just best friends with the
Proverbs 16 00:20:43
proud? Is he just kind of tolerating the proud? No, it says,
Proverbs 16 00:20:47
he opposes the proud.
Proverbs 16 00:20:51
We're talking about the star breather. And why are
Proverbs 16 00:20:54
we talking about a hard word? Because, guys, sometimes we make the God
Proverbs 16 00:20:58
of the universe so soft. He is not a plush
Proverbs 16 00:21:02
teddy bear. He's not a wish machine. He's not
Proverbs 16 00:21:05
Santa Claus. He is the God of the universe.
Proverbs 16 00:21:09
He has given everything on the line for your life
Proverbs 16 00:21:13
because he loves you. Every single thing on the line, including
Proverbs 16 00:21:16
his life. Came down, lived the life, perfect life, died on the cross,
Proverbs 16 00:21:20
rose again. And he says, listen, I oppose the proud,
Proverbs 16 00:21:25
but I give grace. I give grace to
Proverbs 16 00:21:28
the humble. Anybody need grace? I need grace in my life.
Proverbs 16 00:21:33
I need grace in my life.
Proverbs 16 00:21:37
Many of you know we run Lancaster Christian Academy, my wife and I,
Proverbs 16 00:21:40
and we had a situation several years ago
Proverbs 16 00:21:44
where we had a tornado coming in the vicinity of the school. It was the
Proverbs 16 00:21:48
morning time and one of my lead administrators there, I was not there
Proverbs 16 00:21:52
yet. And she calls me and she's saying, this is a situation. I said,
Proverbs 16 00:21:56
yes, you need to lock it down and get everybody room in the into place.
Proverbs 16 00:21:58
So we do drills and all those things. So she's executing everything the way that
Proverbs 16 00:22:02
she's supposed to. And she knows where the best places in the building
Proverbs 16 00:22:06
are for safety. So she's giving direction. We have parents in the building because
Proverbs 16 00:22:09
it's drop off time. And we have one of our staff members, one
Proverbs 16 00:22:13
of our staff members who looks right at her and says, I'm not going where
Proverbs 16 00:22:16
you told me to go. And he breaks out of his classroom from his kids
Proverbs 16 00:22:20
and goes and grabs his own children, his own biological children, and takes
Proverbs 16 00:22:24
them into another place of the building to keep them safe. Well, things
Proverbs 16 00:22:28
carry on. Parents are wondering why he's going in the opposite direction. She's trying to
Proverbs 16 00:22:31
get him to stop, but he won't listen. So he goes and she continues to
Proverbs 16 00:22:34
take care of the rest of the thing. So later on that
Proverbs 16 00:22:38
day, I call him into my office and I said, why
Proverbs 16 00:22:41
did you not stay with your classroom and listen to what
Proverbs 16 00:22:45
your authority asked you to do? And he said, because I did not trust where
Proverbs 16 00:22:48
my authority was telling me to take my kids. And I said,
Proverbs 16 00:22:52
well, where did you take him? And he told me where he took him. And
Proverbs 16 00:22:54
I said, here's the thing that you don't know. I know every square inch of
Proverbs 16 00:22:57
this building and the exact place that you were taking them is the weakest place
Proverbs 16 00:23:01
in the building. And had a tornado come, that
Proverbs 16 00:23:05
would be the first demolished point. And the way that our elite administrator was taking
Proverbs 16 00:23:08
the kids was the safest place in the building. And I looked at him and
Proverbs 16 00:23:12
I said, I need to know if this were to happen again the same way,
Proverbs 16 00:23:16
I need to know that your decision making would be different. He looked at me
Proverbs 16 00:23:18
and said, I do the same thing. And I said, well, today will be your
Proverbs 16 00:23:21
last day day. Unfortunately,
Proverbs 16 00:23:24
looking on social media and kind of keeping up with this, this man,
Proverbs 16 00:23:29
divorced two years later, lost his kids years
Proverbs 16 00:23:33
later having a rough go at it. Pride
Proverbs 16 00:23:36
is a booger. Pride is destructive.
Proverbs 16 00:23:41
Pride will lead to destruction.
Proverbs 16 00:23:47
But here is where the enemy gets in and twists his little fingers is because
Proverbs 16 00:23:51
when it comes to the issue of pride, we, most of us have this posture
Proverbs 16 00:23:54
right here. Who me?
Proverbs 16 00:23:58
Me prideful me? Who me
Proverbs 16 00:24:02
would I be? Would I be prideful? And I'll tell you Guys, I.
Proverbs 16 00:24:07
It took me a long time to understand really what pride was, because I
Proverbs 16 00:24:11
would go, am I prideful? You know, I mean, is it prideful to say you're
Proverbs 16 00:24:14
not prideful? You know, I mean, so, I mean, I'm like,
Proverbs 16 00:24:17
lord help me. And so I want to do a litmus test with you right
Proverbs 16 00:24:21
now. I want, you know, if you're questioning am I prideful. Okay.
Proverbs 16 00:24:25
Or if I struggle with it in the context of your relationships, I'm
Proverbs 16 00:24:29
going to give you a litmus test. And if you have said these things or
Proverbs 16 00:24:31
you thought these things, or you've said this to the people around you,
Proverbs 16 00:24:36
then congratulations, you have joined the pride club.
Proverbs 16 00:24:42
You're too sensitive.
Proverbs 16 00:24:46
Have you ever said you're too sensitive? You always take
Proverbs 16 00:24:49
things the wrong way.
Proverbs 16 00:24:54
I don't have time for this right now.
Proverbs 16 00:24:59
This is just who I am.
Proverbs 16 00:25:04
You're the one who needs the change, not me.
Proverbs 16 00:25:10
I already said sorry. What more do you want?
Proverbs 16 00:25:16
You're making a big deal out of nothing.
Proverbs 16 00:25:23
I just. I don't see any of the spouses looking at each other right now.
Proverbs 16 00:25:28
I shouldn't have to explain myself to you.
Proverbs 16 00:25:33
I refuse to. We refuse
Proverbs 16 00:25:37
to. I will not.
Proverbs 16 00:25:45
I'm done.
Proverbs 16 00:25:48
If you're honest with yourself, we've all struggled with these to some degree,
Proverbs 16 00:25:53
but pride often comes in a way that will convince us that
Proverbs 16 00:25:57
we are incapable of dealing with it in the right way.
Proverbs 16 00:26:02
Naaman needed healing. He needed
Proverbs 16 00:26:05
healing and he rides in the town pompous
Proverbs 16 00:26:09
and ready to receive it. But his status, title, and ultimately his pride
Proverbs 16 00:26:13
governs his initial response. And I want
Proverbs 16 00:26:17
us to look at his response. Here it says, naaman went away angry and said,
Proverbs 16 00:26:20
I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on
Proverbs 16 00:26:23
the name of the Lord, his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure
Proverbs 16 00:26:26
me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and
Proverbs 16 00:26:30
Paphor, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the
Proverbs 16 00:26:33
waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed? So he
Proverbs 16 00:26:37
turned and went off in rage. And let me tell you something,
Proverbs 16 00:26:41
this is the moment when he turns and goes off in rage. This is the
Proverbs 16 00:26:45
moment in that argument, in that conversation, in that moment,
Proverbs 16 00:26:48
the moment that sucks everything out of the room is when you have the choice
Proverbs 16 00:26:52
to choose between pride and humility. It's that gut wrenching moment
Proverbs 16 00:26:56
that you know inside you need to respond a certain way, but something in
Proverbs 16 00:27:00
your flesh gets ahold of you and you go a different direction. You decide, I'm
Proverbs 16 00:27:03
gonna step over here and you begin this process of putting
Proverbs 16 00:27:07
gaps and spaces between you and the other person, you in the
Proverbs 16 00:27:10
relationship with people who love you the most. The gaps are created because
Proverbs 16 00:27:14
you are not willing to budge or bend because of something you think they did
Proverbs 16 00:27:18
or said. But we are
Proverbs 16 00:27:21
commissioned to have the mind of Christ when it comes to our
Proverbs 16 00:27:25
relationships. What would it be like if Jesus looked at you and said, no,
Proverbs 16 00:27:28
you've gone too far. I'm not bending for you.
Proverbs 16 00:27:32
My death on a cross is not good enough for you because of what you
Proverbs 16 00:27:36
did. The way we respond
Proverbs 16 00:27:40
to one another, the way we treat one another. And this is not just spouses.
Proverbs 16 00:27:43
Spouses is any relationship. Work, relationships, ministry relationships, church
Proverbs 16 00:27:47
relationships, friendships, spouses, all across the board. We are
Proverbs 16 00:27:51
to be as like Christ to one another in our responses, which
Proverbs 16 00:27:54
calls us to a high degree of humility, even
Proverbs 16 00:27:58
when they're not doing anything proactive about the situation.
Proverbs 16 00:28:10
Just because you have a position doesn't exempt you from
Proverbs 16 00:28:14
walking through and having to deal with tough things, including sin.
Proverbs 16 00:28:18
In fact, if you're used by God many times, those things are eliminated much more
Proverbs 16 00:28:21
quickly when he gives you a position.
Proverbs 16 00:28:24
Naaman is insulted that Elisha doesn't come out in person. He says, I thought
Proverbs 16 00:28:28
surely he'd come out to me. I'm big, bad, ugly.
Proverbs 16 00:28:33
Why is he sending me his little pawn? He should be coming out
Proverbs 16 00:28:36
on his own. Oh, that we would not have a haughty spirit
Proverbs 16 00:28:40
like that, that we would walk in humility.
Proverbs 16 00:28:45
Naaman had a script in his mind, and he wanted God to
Proverbs 16 00:28:49
heal him on his own terms.
Proverbs 16 00:28:52
And might I suggest that some of us have not received relational
Proverbs 16 00:28:56
healing in this place because we want to do it on our own
Proverbs 16 00:28:59
terms. Pride says, this should go how
Proverbs 16 00:29:03
I imagined. I shouldn't have to do that.
Proverbs 16 00:29:07
I shouldn't have to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have to say I'm sorry again.
Proverbs 16 00:29:11
I shouldn't have to listen to them. I shouldn't have to communicate the way they
Proverbs 16 00:29:14
want to communicate. I shouldn't have to do this. It's beneath me.
Proverbs 16 00:29:22
But might I suggest to you today that healing
Proverbs 16 00:29:25
follows humility? When
Proverbs 16 00:29:29
we lean into humility and we decide to put
Proverbs 16 00:29:32
Christ in the middle, he begins to do a transformative work in
Proverbs 16 00:29:36
you and in them that is unparalleled and
Proverbs 16 00:29:40
extraordinary, that is supernatural.
Proverbs 16 00:29:44
You want to see that person changed? Approach them with humility
Proverbs 16 00:29:48
and look and see what the Lord does. Look
Proverbs 16 00:29:52
and see what the Lord does. You have to admit that there's a
Proverbs 16 00:29:55
problem before you can address the problem. We were
Proverbs 16 00:29:59
driving down in Seattle in a van. And the tire
Proverbs 16 00:30:03
light comes on, and Sherry says to me, we better pull over and get off
Proverbs 16 00:30:06
the exit. The tire's blown. And I look and I say, no, we're
Proverbs 16 00:30:10
fine. It's just a little. It's just a little air going out. And we keep
Proverbs 16 00:30:13
going. And all of a sudden, as we're rumbling around, she's like,
Proverbs 16 00:30:17
what do you think now? You think the tire's blowing?
Proverbs 16 00:30:21
No, I'm going to keep going.
Proverbs 16 00:30:25
Pride he puts people in your life
Proverbs 16 00:30:29
to speak into things you don't see. He puts people
Proverbs 16 00:30:32
in your life to be your blind spot.
Proverbs 16 00:30:36
And so there was the servant. And would you notice if you read this story,
Proverbs 16 00:30:40
you notice the real heroes in the story, not Naaman, not
Proverbs 16 00:30:44
Elisha. The real heroes are two unnamed servants.
Proverbs 16 00:30:48
Servant girl at the beginning of the story, and Naaman servant who remind
Proverbs 16 00:30:51
them about this God who can heal. I
Proverbs 16 00:30:55
love that the Lord uses the humble and mighty ways.
Proverbs 16 00:30:59
I wonder whose voice choosing to use in your
Proverbs 16 00:31:03
life today. It's probably a voice
Proverbs 16 00:31:07
that's unexpected. It's probably a voice that's small. It might even be a voice
Proverbs 16 00:31:10
that you don't want to hear from. But it's the voice
Proverbs 16 00:31:14
God saying, this is the voice I'm using to change your life.
Proverbs 16 00:31:19
Because here's the thing, you don't get to choose the way God wants to
Proverbs 16 00:31:23
heal. He's got the better way. You
Proverbs 16 00:31:27
might not understand it, might not agree with it, it, but there's a reason.
Proverbs 16 00:31:31
There's something for you to learn, and there's something for them as well.
Proverbs 16 00:31:35
The servant says a lot. If Elisha had asked you, Naaman, to do
Proverbs 16 00:31:39
something heroic, you would have said without a doubt.
Proverbs 16 00:31:44
Why would you not then go into the river
Proverbs 16 00:31:47
seven times and be healed? And this is where the
Proverbs 16 00:31:51
rubber hits the road. He's made a spectacle of himself.
Proverbs 16 00:31:55
He's, I'm the big bad wolf, and all of this. And he
Proverbs 16 00:31:59
humbles himself in front of his entourage and goes seven times
Proverbs 16 00:32:04
into the river. And the word tells us that he
Proverbs 16 00:32:07
was healed. He was healed. And
Proverbs 16 00:32:11
this is Naaman's response to Elisha. Afterward, he went
Proverbs 16 00:32:15
back to the holy man, which was Elisha. He and his
Proverbs 16 00:32:19
entourage stood before him and said, I now know beyond a
Proverbs 16 00:32:22
shadow of a doubt that there is no God anywhere on the earth other than
Proverbs 16 00:32:26
the Israel. Can I tell you that when miraculous
Proverbs 16 00:32:29
supernatural activity happens in your life, it is for none other than
Proverbs 16 00:32:33
to make God famous. It is for no better reason than appoint
Proverbs 16 00:32:37
people to Jesus when he moves in your life, when he chooses to
Proverbs 16 00:32:40
miraculously heal you. It is so that he can receive the
Proverbs 16 00:32:44
glory. It's so that he can be acknowledged. And this is what happens
Proverbs 16 00:32:48
in Elijah's life. What do you think? I'm sorry, Naaman's life. What do you think
Proverbs 16 00:32:51
the greater healing was? That he was healed from leprosy or that his heart was
Proverbs 16 00:32:55
healed and he knows the real true God. God wants to
Proverbs 16 00:32:59
heal hearts. He wants to heal relationships.
Proverbs 16 00:33:02
And he will use physical things to get there. You notice Jesus
Proverbs 16 00:33:06
ministry, he always started by healing and meeting the physical needs of the people before
Proverbs 16 00:33:09
he ever did anything spiritual.
Proverbs 16 00:33:13
And so that was all the setup. Here's what I want us to
Proverbs 16 00:33:17
take away today. The greatest healing you will ever
Proverbs 16 00:33:20
receive is not physical. It's relational. The
Proverbs 16 00:33:24
greatest healing you will ever receive is not physical,
Proverbs 16 00:33:28
it's relational. Naaman had it all. Status,
Proverbs 16 00:33:31
respect, victory. But he was broken.
Proverbs 16 00:33:35
Leprosy wasn't just a disease of the body. It was a condition that made
Proverbs 16 00:33:39
people socially unclean, relationally distant,
Proverbs 16 00:33:43
relationally distant. And this just isn't
Proverbs 16 00:33:46
Naaman's story. This is ours, too. Pride creeps into
Proverbs 16 00:33:50
our marriages. It creeps into our friendships, our families, our
Proverbs 16 00:33:54
church relationships. And you can be winning on the outside and dying on the
Proverbs 16 00:33:58
inside. You can have success, yet be broken
Proverbs 16 00:34:01
relationally. And some of you today know what that
Proverbs 16 00:34:05
type of pain and hurt is. The deepest wounds are not always
Proverbs 16 00:34:08
visible ones. They come from distance. We used to talk
Proverbs 16 00:34:12
all the time and we don't talk anymore.
Proverbs 16 00:34:16
They come from silence, betrayal and broken
Proverbs 16 00:34:20
trust. Pride fuels conflict.
Proverbs 16 00:34:24
It keeps us distant. It demands that
Proverbs 16 00:34:28
others change while refusing to self
Proverbs 16 00:34:32
reflect. I need nine volunteers to meet me on the
Proverbs 16 00:34:35
stage quickly.
Proverbs 16 00:34:50
I know we can count. Spring House, let's go. Which y' all will have a
Proverbs 16 00:34:53
seat in the chairs, but not the orange one.
Proverbs 16 00:34:59
Cole, I'm going to have you stand at the end.
Proverbs 16 00:35:02
Griff, have you stand on that side.
Proverbs 16 00:35:07
Great. Have a seat. Perfect. One more, Come on. All right.
Proverbs 16 00:35:11
Thank you. Let's give a round of applause for these good looking helpers.
Proverbs 16 00:35:18
Griff, Cole, come over here and stand in the center. How long have y' all
Proverbs 16 00:35:22
been friends? Couple
Proverbs 16 00:35:25
days. How long have y' all been friends? Really?
Proverbs 16 00:35:29
Five years. Okay. All of us
Proverbs 16 00:35:33
have relationships. We've got marriages, we've got best
Proverbs 16 00:35:37
friends, we've got work, relationships, ministry, relationships, all of these
Proverbs 16 00:35:41
things. But in every relationship are two human
Proverbs 16 00:35:44
beings. And the human beings that are in that relationship, guess
Proverbs 16 00:35:48
what? They're broken. Which means it stands to reason that
Proverbs 16 00:35:52
in every single relationship, no matter how deep and wonderful it is, there's
Proverbs 16 00:35:55
bound, at some point, conflict. There's bound to be
Proverbs 16 00:35:59
conflict. How we handle conflict is
Proverbs 16 00:36:02
everything when it comes to relational healing, to
Proverbs 16 00:36:06
where we are with the Lord in terms of our relationships. How we handle conflict
Proverbs 16 00:36:10
is absolutely everything. And so we're going to pretend for a moment
Proverbs 16 00:36:14
that these two guys have had some type of conflict and it has caused
Proverbs 16 00:36:18
them to walk away from one another. So I'm going to let you all walk
Proverbs 16 00:36:20
away from one another and join the other side of this line.
Proverbs 16 00:36:24
So these two have had a relational conflict. And what conflict does.
Proverbs 16 00:36:27
Conflict puts distance between us.
Proverbs 16 00:36:31
Issues come between us. There's a gap, there's a fracture.
Proverbs 16 00:36:35
And it would be the desire of Jesus Christ for us to heal
Proverbs 16 00:36:39
the fractures between us. The enemy rejoices when
Proverbs 16 00:36:43
it looks like this. The enemy rejoices when there is space,
Proverbs 16 00:36:47
when there is distance. When there's betrayal, he rejoices.
Proverbs 16 00:36:50
But God is wooing us to be unified. He's wooing us to be together.
Proverbs 16 00:36:54
He's wooing us to love one another the way he has loved us.
Proverbs 16 00:36:58
But here's what happens. We get
Proverbs 16 00:37:02
into this mindset where Griff's like, well, Cole did such and such,
Proverbs 16 00:37:06
and he needs to apologize for it. And Cole's saying,
Proverbs 16 00:37:09
griff said and did such and such, and he needs to apologize for
Proverbs 16 00:37:13
it. And so we're going to say that
Proverbs 16 00:37:17
Cole is more prideful up here than Griff
Proverbs 16 00:37:22
in this particular situation.
Proverbs 16 00:37:27
And Griff wants to see this relationship restored. Cole wants to
Proverbs 16 00:37:30
see this relationship restored. The difference is, is one of them wants to do it
Proverbs 16 00:37:34
their way. The other one's willing to give in and abandon their way, to do
Proverbs 16 00:37:38
it the way the Lord would want them to. And so
Proverbs 16 00:37:42
Griff is willing strides toward
Proverbs 16 00:37:46
coal relationally. Now, if it
Proverbs 16 00:37:49
was Griff's way, he would be like, okay, I'm going to go over here. I'm
Proverbs 16 00:37:52
going to walk over here. I'm going to do it this way. But that's not
Proverbs 16 00:37:55
what Cole has laid out. I want you all to take these signs and just
Proverbs 16 00:37:58
put them around your neck for me.
Proverbs 16 00:38:02
In their interaction and in their discourse,
Proverbs 16 00:38:06
Cole, because of the infraction, has laid out
Proverbs 16 00:38:10
a bunch of things that Griff must do in
Proverbs 16 00:38:14
order to restore this relationship. In other words,
Proverbs 16 00:38:18
Cole has provided hoops for Griff to jump
Proverbs 16 00:38:22
through in order for the relationship to be restored.
Proverbs 16 00:38:26
Would you guys pick up those hoops and hold them at, like, shin
Proverbs 16 00:38:29
level? Like, real low there? Okay, Now,
Proverbs 16 00:38:34
Griff looks at this, and Cole's saying, oh, will you want to be
Proverbs 16 00:38:37
reconciled Here are the hoops I need you to jump through. And Griff
Proverbs 16 00:38:41
goes, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen in my life.
Proverbs 16 00:38:45
I'm not jumping through your hoops. I'm
Proverbs 16 00:38:49
not about to. You know how silly this looks? Do you know how
Proverbs 16 00:38:52
absolutely ridiculous this is that you would make me jump through this
Proverbs 16 00:38:56
to get to you? In other words, Cole, you're not
Proverbs 16 00:38:59
worth it. In
Proverbs 16 00:39:03
other words, Cole, I don't love you enough to jump
Proverbs 16 00:39:07
through the hoops you've placed up. But here's what
Proverbs 16 00:39:11
Grif doesn't understand. The hoops that are here
Proverbs 16 00:39:14
aren't necessarily just by happenstance. Cole has
Proverbs 16 00:39:18
lived a life of insecurity, with
Proverbs 16 00:39:22
pain, with fear, with identity issues
Proverbs 16 00:39:26
from past things, past mistakes, doubt and confusion that
Proverbs 16 00:39:29
has caused him to not easily trust when there's
Proverbs 16 00:39:33
been a conflict in the relationship. So because
Proverbs 16 00:39:37
of these things, hoops have been created for anybody to get
Proverbs 16 00:39:41
close to him. Now, Cole suffers from having being
Proverbs 16 00:39:44
isolated most of his life, but, man, can I tell you, if there's
Proverbs 16 00:39:47
just one person who would love Cole enough to decide, it
Proverbs 16 00:39:51
doesn't matter what kind of hoops you put, I'm going to jump through them because
Proverbs 16 00:39:54
I see the value. I see the Christ in you. I love you
Proverbs 16 00:39:58
enough to jump through the hoops. You'll jump through the hoops. Going to jump through
Proverbs 16 00:40:01
these hoops. And he will get to you, Cole, no matter how ridiculous
Proverbs 16 00:40:05
it looks, no matter how ugly it is, no matter what it is, he'll jump
Proverbs 16 00:40:08
through the hoops and the relationship will be restored.
Proverbs 16 00:40:14
Now, some of you, some of you, not most of us, but some of
Proverbs 16 00:40:18
you say, you know what? I would jump through hoops. But then you do this.
Proverbs 16 00:40:21
You jump through the hoops and you grab the person. You're like, look what you
Proverbs 16 00:40:25
just took me through. Look what you made me do. I can't believe you made
Proverbs 16 00:40:28
me do this. And guess what? You cause a more of a severing relationship. But
Proverbs 16 00:40:32
here's the thing. When he jumps through the hoops, what he does at the end
Proverbs 16 00:40:35
of it. What'd you see? There's a big bear hug. There's a one
Proverbs 16 00:40:39
directional focus, and it says, listen, I did all of that crap because I see
Proverbs 16 00:40:43
you and I love you and I want to be in relationship with you.
Proverbs 16 00:40:47
I don't have the strength to do that, Kev. I don't have the strength to
Proverbs 16 00:40:50
jump through this hoop. It's ridiculous. Guess what? That's why you need the Holy Spirit.
Proverbs 16 00:40:55
I don't have to understand why you need me. To jump through these hoops.
Proverbs 16 00:40:58
What I'm saying is, I love you so much, it doesn't matter. At the
Proverbs 16 00:41:02
end of the day, I want to be reconciled. What do I need to do
Proverbs 16 00:41:05
to be reconciled? I want my relationship with you to grow
Proverbs 16 00:41:09
deeper in the Lord. What do you need me to do? How many more hoops
Proverbs 16 00:41:12
do you need me to jump through? And here's the crux. Jesus Christ
Proverbs 16 00:41:16
jumped through every single hoop we put out there, but he added one.
Proverbs 16 00:41:20
And he said, after all the hoops you did, I'm gonna add one. And the
Proverbs 16 00:41:23
one I'm adding is death. I love you so much that I'm gonna die
Proverbs 16 00:41:27
for you, and I'm willing to do so
Proverbs 16 00:41:30
every single time. And here's the thing. Come back over
Proverbs 16 00:41:34
here, Cole. When you're in this position over here,
Proverbs 16 00:41:38
when trust has been established here and
Proverbs 16 00:41:41
Cole finally sees somebody who's operating like
Proverbs 16 00:41:45
Jesus Christ, who says, I love you so much that I just went through all
Proverbs 16 00:41:48
of that, and I don't care about that. We don't even talk about that. I
Proverbs 16 00:41:50
am sorry. Look, I jumped through all the hoops, and I'm
Proverbs 16 00:41:53
still saying I am sorry. Forgive me. Because the
Proverbs 16 00:41:57
issue should not outweigh our relationship.
Proverbs 16 00:42:01
It's not important enough to take what God has put together
Proverbs 16 00:42:05
here, and so the
Proverbs 16 00:42:08
relationship's established. But guess what else happens now?
Proverbs 16 00:42:11
There's an opportunity because he's. Grif has jumped through
Proverbs 16 00:42:15
all of this. Guess what? There's an opportunity for
Proverbs 16 00:42:18
Grif to say, hey, hey, let's talk about the doubt
Proverbs 16 00:42:22
that's in your life. And Cole listens
Proverbs 16 00:42:27
because somebody was willing to sacrifice their ego and their pride to
Proverbs 16 00:42:30
love him enough to now speak truth about all of these
Proverbs 16 00:42:34
situations. And it works both ways. It
Proverbs 16 00:42:37
works both ways. Jesus
Proverbs 16 00:42:41
jumped through our hoops. And I'm asking you, are there things in
Proverbs 16 00:42:45
your relationships that you have said, I refuse to do it? And you
Proverbs 16 00:42:49
just are content with your relationship being. I would tell you, if
Proverbs 16 00:42:53
Jesus Christ was standing right here, he'd look at you and say, that is not
Proverbs 16 00:42:56
my will. That is not my will.
Proverbs 16 00:43:00
He has called us to deep relationships.
Proverbs 16 00:43:04
He's called us to further. And I'm going to ask you this morning, I commission
Proverbs 16 00:43:08
to you, are there things separating you and your spouse,
Proverbs 16 00:43:12
your friends, work relationships? Are there things in the
Proverbs 16 00:43:16
middle issues that you have allowed yourself to stand by and say, well, until
Proverbs 16 00:43:20
they do such and such, I'm not budging. Maybe the Lord is inviting you
Proverbs 16 00:43:24
today to begin jumping through the hoops they put out to
Proverbs 16 00:43:27
show the essence in the love of Jesus Christ. You guys may
Proverbs 16 00:43:31
be seated. Thank you so much. Would the worship team come out?
Proverbs 16 00:43:36
The greatest healing you will ever receive
Proverbs 16 00:43:40
is not physical. The greatest healing
Proverbs 16 00:43:44
you will receive in life is relational because it is
Proverbs 16 00:43:47
eternal. It is eternal. Here's what's going on.
Proverbs 16 00:43:51
Pride says, beneath me. Love says, I'll
Proverbs 16 00:43:55
do whatever it takes to reach you.
Proverbs 16 00:44:00
How many would be bold enough to admit this morning that you
Proverbs 16 00:44:04
haven't given your all in terms of reaching somebody in your life that you
Proverbs 16 00:44:08
need to reach? I have my hand up first.
Proverbs 16 00:44:15
If God says he opposes the proud,
Proverbs 16 00:44:19
if he says he opposes the proud and your hand was
Proverbs 16 00:44:23
in the air, why would you want the God of the universe to oppose you?
Proverbs 16 00:44:28
You need grace. I need grace.
Proverbs 16 00:44:32
So I need to humble myself in the
Proverbs 16 00:44:36
sight of the Lord. This is how Jesus loved
Proverbs 16 00:44:40
us. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death,
Proverbs 16 00:44:43
even death on a cross.
Proverbs 16 00:44:47
Three weeks ago, I was speaking on Elijah,
Proverbs 16 00:44:51
and I was talking about the fire that came down from heaven. And I talked
Proverbs 16 00:44:55
about the water that he put in the trench because of the faith, the bolstered
Proverbs 16 00:44:58
faith he had in the Lord. And he took that water and he poured it
Proverbs 16 00:45:02
on there and poured it on there and poured it on there. In the context
Proverbs 16 00:45:04
of that message, I shared with you guys some very private
Proverbs 16 00:45:08
information about my medical journey
Proverbs 16 00:45:12
and told you that I had a mass on my liver.
Proverbs 16 00:45:15
And since that time, I've had some tests done. And
Proverbs 16 00:45:21
there was a point in time where we had read that I had
Proverbs 16 00:45:24
cancer. But this week, I got
Proverbs 16 00:45:29
a note from my doctor on Tuesday and said, it is not
Proverbs 16 00:45:33
cancer. It is benign. There is nothing wrong. That is
Proverbs 16 00:45:37
good, good news. God
Proverbs 16 00:45:40
has healed my body, and I praise the sovereign God for
Proverbs 16 00:45:44
it. On Thursday this
Proverbs 16 00:45:48
week, on Thursday this week, Sherry and I
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had an appointment in my office here at the church with a woman
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who two years ago slandered my
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name, drug our ministry
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through the mud, said all sorts of crazy things about us.
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And it was a very hurtful, hurtful season.
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And this lady came to meet with us
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to say, I want to be reconciled. I am so sorry.
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And we apologized, and God created a situation
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where our relationship was healed. I want to tell you this
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this morning that this week I am more excited
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about the relational healing than I am the fact that I don't have
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cancer. I am more excited about the relationship in my
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life being healed than the fact that he's touched my body. Because here's the truth,
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guys. In three years, five years, 10 years, I may have cancer again. I may
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have something that happens to my body, my body's going away. But
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relationships are eternal. And guys, sometimes
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we wait until there's somebody laying in a couch to decide,
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I should have let the pride walls fall. And I wish I would
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have said. I wish I would have. If I would have done anything to jump
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through that hoop that they put there, what was I thinking?
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And God's saying, drop the pride now while they're still breathing so I can do
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relational work through you, in you, and with you. There
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are apologies that need to be made. There are. There's
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yardage in relationships that need to be had. Today is a day where, where I
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believe that God wants to restore relationships. And we're going to ask, just like
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the psalmist says, lord, search my heart. Don't let it be what I
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think. But Lord, you identify and put in front of my face. You need to
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go, you need to do some business with that person because you're not
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resolved. There's stuff down there. There's
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nitty gritty stuff. And your pride is stopping you from going any further. And
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I've got something huge in your life
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relationally with that person. So the choice
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is your hard, hard message today because it causes you to actually
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have to lay down yourself and surrender your pride and go
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to people and do some business, some Holy Spirit business.
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But let me tell you, there is nothing greater. There is nothing
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greater than being healed relationally. Would you
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guys stand with me this morning?
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Love says, I'll do whatever it takes. Guys, we.
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We know how to shout. We know how to say I love you, I love
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you, I love you. I love. We. I love you, I love you, I love
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you, I love you. That is such a, such a shallow term
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now or phrase. Now, the proof is in the pity.
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The proof is I love you. Here's my step towards
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you. I love you. I'm jumping through this hoop for you. I
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don't have to say it because I'm showing you. Jesus didn't
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just go to the cross and stand by side and say, I love you, I
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love you. Just wanted to let you. He didn't text you I love you. He
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got on the cross and he did what he said he was going to do.
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And so this morning, the altar space is over. Love says, I'll do
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whatever it takes. I'll jump through every hoop. I'll meet you where you are
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because. Because that's exactly what Jesus did for you. So as we sing this song,
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if you need to ask the Lord to shed off layers of pride in your
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life. And I'm going to tell you, your pastor, I'm the first one up here.
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I don't have to go far. I'm right here. But if you need to
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have layers of pride shed, you come forward. But let me tell you
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something. You can pray all day long in the altar space, which is good because
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you need to be equipped with the Holy Spirit. But he's going to give you
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some direction, and it's going to mean you're going to have to have some. Some
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conversations with some people. Be ready for that. And I can't
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wait to hear the testimonies of God's faithfulness as he heals relationships all
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over this place. Let's worship.