1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,200 Good morning, Springhouse! Well, it's 2 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,600 a great day to be in the house this morning, and 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,440 I am, I am glad to see you all. Before we get— I say before 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,280 we get cranking, we're already cranking. I'm just continuing the crank. Okay, here we go. 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,800 But this afternoon, immediately following this gathering, we're having a 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,640 luncheon in the fellowship hall. Celebrate Recovery, we're going to be launching in 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,700 August, and so if you are. If you 8 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:36,340 are interested in learning about that ministry, we invite you to come to be a 9 00:00:36,340 --> 00:00:39,220 part of that. Even if you didn't sign up, you can come over and learn. 10 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:42,300 We have plenty of food today for you as 11 00:00:42,940 --> 00:00:46,740 well. And then Easter is coming! Are you guys excited 12 00:00:46,740 --> 00:00:50,500 about that? Easter's coming, and we 13 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:54,140 are going to have church on Easter Sunday. It's going to be good! 14 00:00:54,140 --> 00:00:57,900 9 and 11 o'clock, and you know, wrapped 15 00:00:57,900 --> 00:01:00,780 around the Easter season, some of you know, one of 16 00:01:01,340 --> 00:01:05,040 the core testimonies that we find in this The house, of how 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,840 people arrived here and they stay, is I got here and 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,680 I did not expect the level of authenticity 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,520 and community that was available here at 20 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,119 this house. And so, what we do, you know, anybody know anybody that are 21 00:01:20,119 --> 00:01:23,960 those Easter churchgoers and then that Christmas churchgoer, and that's about 22 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,720 all they do, you know? And so, around the Easter 23 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,800 time, what we've done historically is we've offered an 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,560 opportunity for you to invite people back to church after 25 00:01:36,100 --> 00:01:38,940 Easter, Easter by bringing something special to the stage. So we've had the Skit Guys 26 00:01:38,940 --> 00:01:42,780 here, we've had Jonathan Evans here, we've had other 27 00:01:42,780 --> 00:01:45,740 people here, and so this year we are going to have a guy by the 28 00:01:45,740 --> 00:01:49,460 name of Mike Goodwin, Bow Tie Comedy, and he's going to be 29 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:53,300 here. He will be ministering through comedy and laughter, and he 30 00:01:53,300 --> 00:01:56,540 ties it in the end with a strong message. And so this is 31 00:01:56,540 --> 00:02:00,380 an opportunity for you to ask your friends and those people who 32 00:02:00,380 --> 00:02:03,780 you bring on Easter Sunday if they would come back. Now, why do we want 33 00:02:03,780 --> 00:02:07,020 to do that? We want to do that so that when we're in those hallways 34 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:10,760 and when we're in here that we have opportunity to build relationally 35 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,440 with them so that they might come back and be a part of something that 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,280 they're not necessarily a part of regularly. And if they do continue 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,880 to come back, we'd like them to come the following week to our 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,720 Newcomers Luncheon to learn about SpringHouse, to learn about our church. 39 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,440 If they have questions about who we are, our pastoral team will be 40 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,960 there and our leadership. And so that is— all of that 41 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,560 is strategic in that window of Easter for us to 42 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:40,340 offer an opportunity for people to plug in and get to know us 43 00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:43,340 and be a part of our family here at Springhouse. And some of you have 44 00:02:43,340 --> 00:02:47,140 the testimony of, "I came at Easter and I continued to 45 00:02:47,140 --> 00:02:50,700 come." And so praise God that you are continuing to journey with us. 46 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:53,740 So today we are going to continue— well, there's him 47 00:02:55,020 --> 00:02:58,820 again. Today we're going to continue our series Abide. So we did have 48 00:02:58,820 --> 00:03:02,580 the Abide Conference that closed last week, but we are still in this series Abide 49 00:03:02,580 --> 00:03:06,060 for a few— we're in the series of Abide all year, but this section 50 00:03:06,060 --> 00:03:09,820 on Abide is— we have a few more weeks leading up to Easter. And so 51 00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:13,640 today we're going to talk about hearing the voice of the shepherd. 52 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:17,160 So if you'll stand with me, we're going to read out of The Message version 53 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,720 of the Bible. That is John 54 00:03:20,853 --> 00:03:24,680 10:1-5 and 27. And 55 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,480 if you would read as if you're trying to get somebody saved this morning, 56 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,320 okay? Let's read real, with some real gusto. Here we go. Let me 57 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,880 set this before you as plainly as I 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,720 can. If a person climbs over or through the 59 00:03:40,110 --> 00:03:43,550 fence, of a sheep pen instead of going through the 60 00:03:43,870 --> 00:03:47,110 gate, you know he's up to no good. A 61 00:03:47,110 --> 00:03:50,950 sheep rustler. The shepherd walks right up to 62 00:03:50,950 --> 00:03:54,430 the gate, the gatekeeper opens the gate to 63 00:03:54,590 --> 00:03:58,030 him, and the sheep recognizes his voice. 64 00:03:58,030 --> 00:04:01,790 He calls his own sheep by name and leads them 65 00:04:02,590 --> 00:04:06,430 out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and 66 00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:09,790 they follow because they are familiar with his 67 00:04:10,510 --> 00:04:14,270 voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice, but will 68 00:04:14,510 --> 00:04:17,310 scatter because they aren't used to the sound of 69 00:04:18,030 --> 00:04:21,830 it. Everything I have done has been authorized by 70 00:04:21,830 --> 00:04:25,470 my Father, actions that speak louder than 71 00:04:26,030 --> 00:04:29,230 words. You don't believe because you're not my 72 00:04:29,630 --> 00:04:33,470 sheep. The Father who put them under my care is 73 00:04:33,470 --> 00:04:36,430 so much greater than the destroyer and 74 00:04:37,150 --> 00:04:40,950 thief. No one could ever get them away from Him. 75 00:04:40,950 --> 00:04:44,750 I and the Father are one heart and mind. Father, I 76 00:04:44,750 --> 00:04:48,110 thank you for your Word. I thank you that we can trust it. I pray, 77 00:04:48,110 --> 00:04:51,230 Lord, that you would speak today through it. God, let my words fall to the 78 00:04:51,230 --> 00:04:54,830 ground. Let those words that would be 79 00:04:55,390 --> 00:04:58,510 eternal be eternal and do its work, in Jesus' name. And everybody 80 00:04:59,310 --> 00:05:03,080 said, amen. Amen. My 81 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,280 friend Dustin Howell and I took a trip to Ireland 82 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:10,560 together. It was a really fun trip. This was several years ago. 83 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,760 In fact, I think it was before— the year before I got married. So this 84 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,560 is pre-Shari, and we went, and one of the things that— one of 85 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,160 the notable things that I took away from Ireland was there 86 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,040 are sheep in Ireland, and the sheep are 87 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,680 everywhere. If you've seen stray cats or dogs running around 88 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,360 anywhere here in Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Nashville, 89 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,100 sheep are everywhere in Ireland.. They are 90 00:05:36,100 --> 00:05:39,300 just walking the streets, and you know, they won't get out of 91 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:43,140 your way necessarily. They're just there. 92 00:05:43,300 --> 00:05:47,100 And sheep, you know, many of you know this, but sheep historically are 93 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:50,900 just known to be dumb. 94 00:05:50,900 --> 00:05:54,740 And so are we. And that's 95 00:05:54,740 --> 00:05:58,380 why Scripture calls us sheep, 96 00:05:58,380 --> 00:06:02,150 because like sheep they cannot cannot defend themselves, they cannot find 97 00:06:02,150 --> 00:06:05,950 their way home, they cannot protect themselves from predators, and 98 00:06:05,950 --> 00:06:09,670 as much as we think that we on our own strength can do those things, 99 00:06:10,710 --> 00:06:14,430 we can't. So probably more important than us being called sheep is 100 00:06:14,430 --> 00:06:17,590 that scripture repeatedly calls God 101 00:06:18,550 --> 00:06:21,670 our shepherd. We need 102 00:06:23,510 --> 00:06:26,230 a shepherd. When it comes to sheep, something real interesting 103 00:06:27,030 --> 00:06:30,710 will happen. Flocks will merge together and you'll see a variety 104 00:06:31,190 --> 00:06:34,790 of different sheep in a, in a pen or in an area. And what 105 00:06:34,870 --> 00:06:38,550 will happen is a shepherd will come and 106 00:06:38,950 --> 00:06:42,469 call out for the sheep. And what's interesting is the 107 00:06:42,469 --> 00:06:46,270 sheep that belongs to that shepherd will make a move or an 108 00:06:46,270 --> 00:06:49,510 adjustment to go toward the sheep the minute it hears the 109 00:06:50,150 --> 00:06:53,590 shepherd's voice. And so as dumb as sheep are, the one thing they've got going 110 00:06:53,590 --> 00:06:57,360 for them is that they know the shepherd's 111 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,920 voice. They know the voice of their leader. Can the 112 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,680 same be said about you? Do you 113 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,400 know the voice of 114 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:12,440 the shepherd? Do you know the voice of the shepherd? Jesus 115 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,200 said, "The gatekeeper opens the gate to him, and the sheep recognize 116 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,000 his voice." I want us to start here with this point: The voice 117 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,480 of the shepherd protects you from the one who seeks to destroy 118 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,400 your life. The voice of the shepherd protects you from the one who 119 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,120 seeks to destroy your life. In other words, 120 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,920 the security of the sheep is not the fence. The security of the sheep 121 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,519 is the voice. It's a voice. Do you know the 122 00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:43,240 voice of God? This is not a popular teaching in a lot 123 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,040 of Christian circles, but I have to tell you, I'd be remiss as your pastor 124 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,680 not to equip you and inform you that you have a 125 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,700 real, breathing, live enemy. Enemy that is 126 00:07:54,820 --> 00:07:58,660 after you. This enemy wants to steal, he wants to kill, he 127 00:07:58,660 --> 00:08:02,380 wants to destroy you. Now, here's the great thing about 128 00:08:02,380 --> 00:08:06,020 our great glorious God. If you belong to the kingdom, the enemy can't 129 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:10,580 touch you. He has no power. Greater is he who is in you than 130 00:08:10,580 --> 00:08:14,260 he who is in the world. And so he has no power over you, 131 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:18,100 but we sometimes gloss over this understanding that, guys, 132 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:21,700 we are at war. Now, I know that in our cushy seats with 133 00:08:21,700 --> 00:08:25,320 our latte and with everything, you know, seeming we've got 134 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,000 everything at our fingertips. It might not seem that way, but there 135 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,680 is literally an active war going on right now for 136 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:36,200 your soul. There's an active war going on for— now here's the great glorious thing 137 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,080 about the war that we're in. We know who has the victory at the end 138 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,880 of the day, and the one who has the victory is also the 139 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:46,520 same one who's inside you, who gives you greater power 140 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,000 than any enemy that can come against you. But there 141 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,730 are these things called battles along the way. Has 142 00:08:53,730 --> 00:08:56,730 anybody ever succumbed to a battle and lost? My 143 00:08:57,370 --> 00:09:01,090 hand's up. Lost the battle because I got wayward, or 144 00:09:01,090 --> 00:09:04,810 I lost my way, or as we're going in the vein of 145 00:09:05,050 --> 00:09:08,209 today's topic, I lost sight, or I lost earshot 146 00:09:08,209 --> 00:09:12,050 of the shepherd's voice. And so the 147 00:09:12,050 --> 00:09:15,890 security of the sheep is not the fence, it's the voice. Jesus says 148 00:09:15,890 --> 00:09:19,690 that the sheep will recognize the shepherd's voice and they 149 00:09:20,510 --> 00:09:24,190 run from strangers. My experience is that we don't 150 00:09:24,190 --> 00:09:27,870 run from strangers, we tend to run to strangers. And might I 151 00:09:27,870 --> 00:09:31,550 go a step further? We run to strangers and we will build our whole life 152 00:09:31,550 --> 00:09:35,390 based on what a stranger says about us. Now sometimes, here's the 153 00:09:35,390 --> 00:09:39,190 thing, sometimes those strangers manifest themselves on TV programs that we watch 154 00:09:39,190 --> 00:09:42,590 at 4 o'clock because they don't really 155 00:09:43,150 --> 00:09:46,470 know us. And so we can grab— there's no conflict in people who don't know 156 00:09:46,470 --> 00:09:49,270 us who are speaking into our lives, so we'll just grab one little thing that 157 00:09:49,270 --> 00:09:53,100 they say and build a whole theology on it, or build a whole foundation of 158 00:09:54,220 --> 00:09:56,940 our lives. The voice of the shepherd protects us 159 00:09:57,980 --> 00:10:01,820 from danger. The voices in the world are all around us, and they're trying 160 00:10:01,820 --> 00:10:05,660 to lead us somewhere. They're trying to lead you. They're trying to lead you toward 161 00:10:05,660 --> 00:10:07,980 life. They're trying to lead you toward destruction, some 162 00:10:09,420 --> 00:10:13,180 of them. But a shepherd's voice will always protect you. 163 00:10:13,180 --> 00:10:16,500 The ability to hear the shepherd's voice comes from proximity, and 164 00:10:16,500 --> 00:10:19,660 that's why abiding trains your ear to hear 165 00:10:20,450 --> 00:10:24,130 His voice. Jesus says, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you." 166 00:10:24,130 --> 00:10:27,730 So as we abide in him, we are learning 167 00:10:27,890 --> 00:10:31,570 the voice of our Creator. As we remain in him— let me 168 00:10:31,570 --> 00:10:35,090 tell you, all of you guys could be talking to me at one time, and 169 00:10:35,090 --> 00:10:38,530 Shari could be sitting here in the front row, and if Shari says something, I'm 170 00:10:38,530 --> 00:10:42,090 going to be able to pick out her voice more than anybody else in 171 00:10:42,090 --> 00:10:45,690 the room because I live with her. I'm in proximity to 172 00:10:45,690 --> 00:10:49,050 her. I know I know what Shari's voice 173 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:52,930 sounds like. The closer you are to your King, the 174 00:10:52,930 --> 00:10:56,610 more you recognize what His voice sounds like. The closer 175 00:10:56,610 --> 00:11:00,410 you are to your God, the more you recognize what's His voice 176 00:11:01,210 --> 00:11:04,850 and what's the world's voice. I heard the pastor tell this story one time. He 177 00:11:04,850 --> 00:11:08,050 was talking about this blind girl, and she was up on the third floor of 178 00:11:08,050 --> 00:11:11,890 an apartment complex. That's where they lived. Now, she wasn't rendered 179 00:11:11,890 --> 00:11:15,690 unable to do things. She was make her way around, but she 180 00:11:15,690 --> 00:11:19,450 was legally blind. And so, the father went to the grocery 181 00:11:19,450 --> 00:11:22,530 store, and the apartment complex that day caught 182 00:11:23,570 --> 00:11:27,410 on fire. She was stuck in the apartment that caught 183 00:11:27,410 --> 00:11:30,850 on fire, and so she goes out to the balcony, and the police had come, 184 00:11:30,850 --> 00:11:34,690 the firemen had come, and they put out that big trampoline type 185 00:11:34,690 --> 00:11:38,490 thing that they jump into, you know, to be safe. 186 00:11:38,490 --> 00:11:42,170 And so, she gets out there on the balcony, and everybody is yelling 187 00:11:42,170 --> 00:11:45,970 at her, "Jump!" Jump! Jump! Let's go! Come down! Come 188 00:11:45,970 --> 00:11:49,610 down! They had no relationship with her, they didn't know that she was 189 00:11:49,610 --> 00:11:53,290 blind, but there she was in this burning fire not responding to all of their 190 00:11:53,290 --> 00:11:57,050 cries. Well, the father got the call at the grocery store that the apartment was 191 00:11:57,770 --> 00:12:01,370 on fire, laid his buggy down, got in his car, got to 192 00:12:01,530 --> 00:12:04,090 the place, jumped out of the car, and 193 00:12:05,370 --> 00:12:07,930 said, "Jump!" She took off and jumped and saved 194 00:12:09,060 --> 00:12:12,820 her life. Why did she jump for her father, but didn't jump when everybody 195 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:16,260 else was saying, "Jump"? Because she knew 196 00:12:16,580 --> 00:12:20,220 his voice. There is protection in the voice that you 197 00:12:20,220 --> 00:12:22,820 know. There's protection in the 198 00:12:23,620 --> 00:12:27,220 shepherd's voice. Hearing His voice is not accidental, it 199 00:12:28,180 --> 00:12:31,780 is trained. It is trained. Again, Jesus says, "Abide in Me, 200 00:12:31,780 --> 00:12:35,540 and I abide in you." When you abide long enough, His voice 201 00:12:35,540 --> 00:12:39,020 stops sounding unfamiliar. The sheep that hear the 202 00:12:39,020 --> 00:12:42,820 shepherd the clearest are the sheep that stay the closest, 203 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:46,700 because closeness creates familiarity. And 204 00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:50,180 so we want to recognize and distinguish His voice, because sometimes 205 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:53,700 the loudest voices we hear are our 206 00:12:53,700 --> 00:12:57,300 own. I succumb sometimes to the voices inside my head that are bathed 207 00:12:58,180 --> 00:13:01,660 in fear, bathed in preferences, in 208 00:13:01,660 --> 00:13:05,350 ambitions, or opinions, or emotions., and then we are so 209 00:13:05,350 --> 00:13:08,910 quick to attach a spiritual label on that. 210 00:13:08,990 --> 00:13:12,350 Might I suggest this morning that not every voice inside your head 211 00:13:14,990 --> 00:13:17,390 is the shepherd? Not every voice that's 212 00:13:18,670 --> 00:13:22,430 inside your head is the shepherd. We live in 213 00:13:22,830 --> 00:13:26,270 one of the loudest— no, we don't live in one of the loudest, we live 214 00:13:26,350 --> 00:13:28,510 in the loudest culture 215 00:13:30,190 --> 00:13:33,990 of all history. Let that sink in for just a moment. We 216 00:13:33,990 --> 00:13:37,550 live in the loudest culture in all 217 00:13:37,550 --> 00:13:41,150 of mankind in history today. 218 00:13:41,150 --> 00:13:44,830 Phones are going off like crazy, the news is shouting at 219 00:13:45,070 --> 00:13:48,750 us, people's opinions all around us. Everywhere we turn somebody's trying 220 00:13:48,750 --> 00:13:52,390 to tell you what to believe, what to think, what to 221 00:13:52,390 --> 00:13:55,700 fear, what to chase, what success 222 00:13:55,700 --> 00:13:59,540 looks like. And external noise is not the whole 223 00:13:59,540 --> 00:14:03,380 problem, it's just part of the problem. The other problem is 224 00:14:03,380 --> 00:14:07,100 that sometimes the world tries to 225 00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:10,940 imitate the shepherd's voice. One of the most dangerous 226 00:14:10,940 --> 00:14:14,420 phrases that you and I can say— listen to this, believers— one of 227 00:14:14,420 --> 00:14:18,260 the most dangerous phrases you and I can say is this, 228 00:14:21,470 --> 00:14:24,590 "God told me." And we throw that phrase around like seed hitting the 229 00:14:26,430 --> 00:14:30,190 ground for birds. "God told me." Because 230 00:14:30,430 --> 00:14:33,310 "God told me," you're talking about 231 00:14:33,870 --> 00:14:37,550 the Star Breather, Sovereign God, Creator of the universe, 232 00:14:37,550 --> 00:14:41,310 and when we say, "God told me something," there's not anything 233 00:14:41,310 --> 00:14:44,910 else to say about the conversation. If God told 234 00:14:44,910 --> 00:14:48,670 you to do something, if He literally, if He said to you, "Do this," 235 00:14:48,670 --> 00:14:52,090 it doesn't matter what I think, doesn't matter what I say, doesn't matter what anybody 236 00:14:52,090 --> 00:14:55,730 else says, That's something you better do. If God said it, if the God of 237 00:14:55,730 --> 00:14:59,450 the universe said it, you better walk in obedience. And so, so 238 00:14:59,450 --> 00:15:02,370 often I hear somebody say, "God told me," and I turn around, I don't see 239 00:15:02,370 --> 00:15:05,730 them doing what they say God told them, and what it really was was, "I 240 00:15:05,730 --> 00:15:08,330 really wanted to do this, so I labeled it as God told me 241 00:15:10,010 --> 00:15:13,130 to do it." And when we do that, 242 00:15:14,010 --> 00:15:17,570 it is destructive. Destructive in our lives, 243 00:15:17,570 --> 00:15:21,180 and destructive to others. Because if God didn't say 244 00:15:21,180 --> 00:15:24,980 it and we claim that He did, we are putting His 245 00:15:24,980 --> 00:15:28,380 name on something that originated with 246 00:15:28,380 --> 00:15:31,540 us. And that's 247 00:15:31,700 --> 00:15:35,220 problematic. That's problematic. Discernment matters because 248 00:15:35,220 --> 00:15:38,980 not every voice inside your head is 249 00:15:39,060 --> 00:15:42,780 the shepherd. John 1, Jesus, as 250 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:46,620 John 1 opens it says, "I am the the Word. He says, "In the 251 00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:50,420 beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was 252 00:15:50,420 --> 00:15:54,100 with God." And so what we learn in that is that the 253 00:15:54,100 --> 00:15:57,780 written Word and the living Word are never going to 254 00:15:57,780 --> 00:16:01,340 come in disagreement to one another. A 255 00:16:01,340 --> 00:16:04,940 surefire way of knowing whether you've heard the Shepherd's voice 256 00:16:04,940 --> 00:16:08,420 is to test it against the Word of 257 00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:12,260 God. This is truth. There is 258 00:16:12,260 --> 00:16:15,890 foundation here that we can rely on and that 259 00:16:16,530 --> 00:16:20,370 we can trust. Now sometimes people will take, you know, "I 260 00:16:20,610 --> 00:16:24,050 like page number 826 of scripture, so I'm going to take this little portion here, 261 00:16:24,050 --> 00:16:27,770 I'm going to base my entire life on it." And we run with 262 00:16:27,770 --> 00:16:31,490 that, forgetting that there is an entirety of scripture here that we're supposed to 263 00:16:31,490 --> 00:16:35,250 live and abide by. And so this is why it's very important 264 00:16:35,250 --> 00:16:38,410 for us to be familiar with the Word of God. We need to know what 265 00:16:38,410 --> 00:16:41,970 the Word of God says so that whenever we're testing what God is 266 00:16:42,130 --> 00:16:45,250 saying to us, we know what we're testing it against, that 267 00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:49,350 we actually understand the Word of God and that it is true, that we 268 00:16:49,350 --> 00:16:52,950 actually know what His Word says. So that if somebody says, "God told me to 269 00:16:52,950 --> 00:16:56,230 do this," and it doesn't line up with scripture, you know that was 270 00:16:56,230 --> 00:16:59,910 not from the Shepherd. That was not from the Good Shepherd. 271 00:16:59,910 --> 00:17:03,590 So how do we discern God's voice? Let's look at 4 ways 272 00:17:03,590 --> 00:17:06,830 that we can discern God's voice, okay? The first one we've 273 00:17:07,230 --> 00:17:11,070 talked about already. It's the Word of God. Psalm 119 says 274 00:17:11,070 --> 00:17:14,869 this, "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light 275 00:17:14,869 --> 00:17:18,629 light unto my path. And so we take the 276 00:17:18,629 --> 00:17:21,789 Word and we test whatever it is that we feel like we're getting 277 00:17:21,789 --> 00:17:25,269 in terms of discernment, 278 00:17:25,269 --> 00:17:28,309 direction, whatever the idea is, whatever motion we're 279 00:17:29,109 --> 00:17:32,869 trying to set into the course of action, we test 280 00:17:32,869 --> 00:17:36,229 it by God's Word. Now, when something happens in 281 00:17:36,229 --> 00:17:39,749 my life, some dramatic event, something at 282 00:17:39,909 --> 00:17:43,509 work, some financial crisis, something emotional, whatever, 283 00:17:43,669 --> 00:17:46,139 the first question that I think is good to ask is this, how did I 284 00:17:46,139 --> 00:17:49,890 How did I get here? How did 285 00:17:49,890 --> 00:17:53,450 this happen? How did I arrive here? How did I arrive to this dilemma? How 286 00:17:53,450 --> 00:17:57,210 did I get here? The second question, 287 00:17:57,210 --> 00:18:00,930 after you've discerned, how did I get here? The second question is, what 288 00:18:00,930 --> 00:18:04,410 does God's word say about this? Now, here's what 289 00:18:04,410 --> 00:18:07,930 we have the propensity to do. How did I get here? Okay, 290 00:18:07,930 --> 00:18:11,490 I got that answer. What does God's word say about 291 00:18:14,410 --> 00:18:18,250 it for them? What does God's Word say about it for their situation and the 292 00:18:18,250 --> 00:18:21,970 part that they played? What's the truth that they need to 293 00:18:21,970 --> 00:18:25,730 hear that they're not hearing? But see, what we 294 00:18:25,730 --> 00:18:29,570 need to do is we need to turn that around. We need to 295 00:18:29,570 --> 00:18:33,370 understand that it's, "How did I get here? And God, what is Your Word 296 00:18:33,450 --> 00:18:37,090 saying to me about this dilemma? What is Your Word saying 297 00:18:37,090 --> 00:18:40,690 to me about how I'm supposed to respond? What is Your Word saying? 298 00:18:40,690 --> 00:18:44,510 What does Your truth say about my thought process about what's going 299 00:18:44,510 --> 00:18:48,150 on? What is your Word saying about my opinion about what's 300 00:18:48,150 --> 00:18:51,790 going on? And everything surrenders and bows down to the 301 00:18:51,790 --> 00:18:53,190 truth of God's Word. 302 00:18:55,270 --> 00:18:58,670 Church, say, "Amen." Your circumstances, 303 00:18:58,670 --> 00:19:02,070 your problems, your drama, your emotions, they 304 00:19:02,150 --> 00:19:05,870 are not your rock or your foundation. The truth of 305 00:19:05,870 --> 00:19:09,710 God's Word is your foundation. It is where your peace comes 306 00:19:09,710 --> 00:19:13,470 from. Holy Spirit is the second thing. First thing is the Word. 307 00:19:13,470 --> 00:19:16,950 The second, we've been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. John 16 says, "When 308 00:19:16,950 --> 00:19:19,710 the Spirit of Truth comes, He 309 00:19:20,430 --> 00:19:24,230 will do," what? He'll do what? Okay, I need 310 00:19:24,230 --> 00:19:27,310 a guide. I need a guide. So I've got truth, which is the path. Now 311 00:19:27,310 --> 00:19:30,870 I need a guide to the truth. So I look at the Holy Spirit kind 312 00:19:30,870 --> 00:19:34,630 of like a flashlight. It's like, okay, here's the 313 00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:38,190 direction you're going, and He's going to illuminate reality right in 314 00:19:38,190 --> 00:19:41,940 front of you. He's going to be able to separate truth from lies. He's 315 00:19:41,940 --> 00:19:45,660 going to be able to point you in the direction. He's going to allow you 316 00:19:45,660 --> 00:19:49,420 to walk with Him. And here's the thing, most of the time what 317 00:19:49,420 --> 00:19:52,940 we are looking for, what the Lord is looking for, is that you are 318 00:19:52,940 --> 00:19:56,700 taking a step with Him. That you're taking a step 319 00:19:56,700 --> 00:20:00,380 with Him. That you're taking a step, and as you walk faithfully with Him, 320 00:20:00,380 --> 00:20:03,540 He will order your steps. We're going to talk about that in just a few 321 00:20:03,540 --> 00:20:07,360 seconds, okay? But it's like a flashlight. He looks 322 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:11,200 at He lets us look at our situation, our 323 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,480 experience, whatever is in front of us through the mature spiritual 324 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,840 lens, through a biblical lens, and then we can 325 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,160 begin to move. The third thing, if we have the Word and the Holy Spirit, 326 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:22,960 the third thing we look 327 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,280 for is peace. Is peace. I do 328 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,120 not find many situations in scripture where the person who 329 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,870 was in charge moved or did anything when they were not 330 00:20:37,310 --> 00:20:41,110 at peace. Peace. God comes down, has a conversation with them, they get straight 331 00:20:41,110 --> 00:20:44,190 with the Lord, they're looking at the Lord, and there's peace. And a lot of 332 00:20:44,190 --> 00:20:47,790 times, listen to this, friends, a lot of times what the Lord does is 333 00:20:47,790 --> 00:20:51,430 He strips them of everything that they brought to the table, and then 334 00:20:51,430 --> 00:20:55,110 He gives them peace to move. But, but God, you don't understand what 335 00:20:55,110 --> 00:20:58,950 they did. You don't understand what they said. You don't understand how this is affecting 336 00:20:58,950 --> 00:21:00,510 everything. God says, lay that all down. 337 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:04,720 Look at me. I have a friend who, I have a friend who has been 338 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,560 married for a very long time, and she 339 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,160 has every biblical ground to leave her marriage. She has every biblical ground 340 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,080 to leave her marriage. She wants to leave her marriage. She wanted to 341 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,640 leave her marriage. And she came across the crossroad, and the Lord said, "I want 342 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:24,600 you to stay. I want you to stay." 343 00:21:26,850 --> 00:21:30,050 And she did. These are the types of things that happen in the 344 00:21:31,810 --> 00:21:35,610 kingdom of God. These are the types of things that you need a shepherd who 345 00:21:35,610 --> 00:21:38,690 gives you the strength when you're weak to 346 00:21:40,130 --> 00:21:43,650 continue to endure. Just because you have the right to do something doesn't mean it's 347 00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:47,450 what God tells you to do. Colossians says, 348 00:21:47,450 --> 00:21:50,850 "Let the—" I highlighted the wrong word here. "Let the peace 349 00:21:51,330 --> 00:21:54,910 of Christ rule in your heart." Let the peace 350 00:21:55,310 --> 00:21:59,110 of Christ rule. Guys, when your peace begins to get off kilter, it's time 351 00:21:59,110 --> 00:22:02,670 to be still and get close to the Creator. When your peace is 352 00:22:02,670 --> 00:22:06,350 not— when your peace is out of whack, that is not the time to be 353 00:22:06,510 --> 00:22:10,350 making big decisions. That's not the time to be— that's not really the time to 354 00:22:10,350 --> 00:22:13,910 be talking to people. It's not the time to be texting or posting 355 00:22:13,910 --> 00:22:17,550 on Facebook or posting on Facebook or posting 356 00:22:18,460 --> 00:22:21,700 on Facebook, right? When you don't have peace, when you don't have 357 00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:25,820 peace, let me— okay, any football watchers here? Okay, when you watch 358 00:22:26,220 --> 00:22:30,060 a football game, okay, and you see a play that has happened and 359 00:22:30,060 --> 00:22:33,260 the ball's gone out of bounds or something has taken place and the ref 360 00:22:33,660 --> 00:22:37,420 blows the whistle, you know, if you're an avid football watcher and you know the 361 00:22:37,420 --> 00:22:40,580 game, you know what's about to happen. You know the call that they're about to 362 00:22:40,580 --> 00:22:43,980 show you on the screen, and then they show you the call and then they 363 00:22:43,980 --> 00:22:47,710 move on and you move on with them. Okay? Peace is 364 00:22:47,950 --> 00:22:51,470 like that referee. Peace is like illuminating what you already know by 365 00:22:51,470 --> 00:22:54,830 truth in the direction of the Holy Spirit. Peace gets in there and says, "You're 366 00:22:54,830 --> 00:22:58,630 going in the right way. You're going in the right direction." You 367 00:22:58,630 --> 00:23:01,750 can trust in this peace, okay? So you have the Word, you have the Holy 368 00:23:01,750 --> 00:23:05,070 Spirit, you have peace, and the last thing, and guys, we poo-poo 369 00:23:05,070 --> 00:23:07,470 this away like 370 00:23:09,470 --> 00:23:13,110 crazy, godly counsel. And the reason that we poo-poo away godly 371 00:23:13,110 --> 00:23:15,950 counsel is because here's what godly counsel really means to a 372 00:23:16,970 --> 00:23:19,610 lot of us. Godly counsel It also means, "I've come to inform you about what 373 00:23:19,610 --> 00:23:20,090 I've already 374 00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:27,410 decided to do." I can't tell you how many times I get calls every 375 00:23:27,410 --> 00:23:31,250 week, I have meetings with people, and, "Pastor, I've just come to let 376 00:23:31,250 --> 00:23:34,970 you know this is what I've decided to do. This is a big decision in 377 00:23:34,970 --> 00:23:38,090 my life. This is what I've decided to do. This is the choice I've made." 378 00:23:38,410 --> 00:23:42,210 And I'm thinking, "Okay, I don't know why we're having this conversation 379 00:23:42,210 --> 00:23:45,650 right now. I appreciate the information, but were you asking me to pray for you? 380 00:23:45,650 --> 00:23:48,370 Did you want me—" Because what we want is we want people to surround us 381 00:23:48,370 --> 00:23:51,630 to affirm us in the the things we want to do. We want, we want 382 00:23:51,630 --> 00:23:54,710 somebody to come say, yeah, that's good. I'm good with that. You know, I had 383 00:23:54,710 --> 00:23:58,270 a call just the other night. Somebody was just kind of sharing their heart 384 00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:01,030 with me or whatever. And I mean, they got through everything they want to do. 385 00:24:01,030 --> 00:24:04,829 And my first two words were, 386 00:24:04,829 --> 00:24:07,590 absolutely not. Absolutely not. That I do not agree with. I do not think that 387 00:24:07,590 --> 00:24:11,430 at all. That's the direction that you're supposed to go. This person was emotional. It 388 00:24:11,430 --> 00:24:15,190 was a, it was a good call. Listen, godly 389 00:24:16,550 --> 00:24:20,230 counsel is super is super important. God confirms His voice 390 00:24:20,390 --> 00:24:24,230 through wise believers around us. 391 00:24:24,230 --> 00:24:28,030 We have behavior issues at the school sometimes, and we've got a— I've 392 00:24:28,030 --> 00:24:31,790 got my authority, her name is Debbie Landers over in East Tennessee, and sometimes I 393 00:24:31,790 --> 00:24:35,310 have to call her and I have to say, "Hey, listen, we've got this particular 394 00:24:35,310 --> 00:24:39,070 situation. What do you think about this?" And she'll give me some counsel. 395 00:24:39,070 --> 00:24:42,870 We'll talk as an administrative team. I'll call Vonda or Rachel and say, "Hey, we've 396 00:24:43,190 --> 00:24:46,470 got this issue. What are your thoughts about this? Before we take action, 397 00:24:46,630 --> 00:24:50,250 what are the thoughts?" Because because there is wisdom in 398 00:24:50,250 --> 00:24:53,570 getting other perspectives. There's wisdom in 399 00:24:55,010 --> 00:24:58,650 getting other counsel. And so, when we're looking for counsel, you 400 00:24:58,650 --> 00:25:02,330 want to look for people who have a track record of a 401 00:25:02,330 --> 00:25:05,210 grace gift in whatever it is that you're trying to get counsel for. So, for 402 00:25:05,210 --> 00:25:08,370 instance, if I need the Lord to give 403 00:25:08,690 --> 00:25:12,370 me some calculated information, I need to grab some counsel on 404 00:25:12,370 --> 00:25:15,770 administrative functions, I'm probably going to go see I go see Mark Laughlin because he 405 00:25:15,770 --> 00:25:18,970 has a consistent track record of being calculated and being able 406 00:25:18,970 --> 00:25:22,650 to have this administrative grace gift, and so he 407 00:25:22,650 --> 00:25:26,410 can impart some information into my 408 00:25:26,410 --> 00:25:29,409 life. James. James and I have been friends for a long time. He's a guy, 409 00:25:29,409 --> 00:25:32,410 you know what he sows into situations? Peace. 410 00:25:33,050 --> 00:25:36,570 He's a peacemaker. If there's a situation going on, he always comes in and he 411 00:25:36,570 --> 00:25:40,370 will speak peace to a situation. Wisdom. There's times when I 412 00:25:40,370 --> 00:25:44,010 need concrete wisdom, whenever I got a situation going, I need to get some wisdom 413 00:25:44,010 --> 00:25:45,950 on which direction to go, and I'll go see Ronnie. I'll go see I'll tell 414 00:25:45,950 --> 00:25:49,070 you, there's been so many lunches I sit down and Ronnie will just put a 415 00:25:49,070 --> 00:25:52,190 nugget of wisdom on the table and it will blow my mind because he's got 416 00:25:52,190 --> 00:25:55,750 a grace and wisdom. There is, there 417 00:25:55,910 --> 00:25:59,710 is wisdom in having a multitude of counselors. This is what the 418 00:25:59,710 --> 00:26:03,430 scripture says, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the 419 00:26:03,910 --> 00:26:07,350 multitude of counselors there's 420 00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:13,120 safety." There's safety. And so, Amongst all those 421 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,000 things, the Word, the Holy Spirit, peace, and godly 422 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,840 counsel, where do we get off kilter? Well, I think the biggest culprit 423 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:24,480 in all of that 424 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,920 is distraction. Distraction is the 425 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,080 enemy of discernment. This is 426 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,570 my puppy Emmett. Come 427 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,160 here. Hey, buddy. Now Emmett came right to 428 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,800 me. Emmett knows my voice. Let me tell you something, 429 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,360 Emmett knows my voice, but every now and then 430 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:54,680 when 431 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,760 he goes outside, I can be screaming at the top of my lungs 432 00:27:03,410 --> 00:27:07,250 with my voice, and, and he is more concerned about the squirrel going 433 00:27:07,250 --> 00:27:11,010 up the tree, the field before him, the birds that 434 00:27:11,010 --> 00:27:14,690 are flocking around, and this guy can run! 435 00:27:15,170 --> 00:27:17,570 This guy can run! And I have ran after 436 00:27:21,250 --> 00:27:24,610 him with no avail. And so when he's getting away, do you 437 00:27:24,610 --> 00:27:27,450 think I'm screaming for Emmett to come back to me because I don't want him 438 00:27:27,450 --> 00:27:30,010 to play with the squirrels, or I don't want him to play with the birds, 439 00:27:30,010 --> 00:27:33,737 or I don't want him to have fun in 440 00:27:33,737 --> 00:27:37,351 the field? I'm, I'm, I'm calling him because he doesn't see the 441 00:27:37,351 --> 00:27:40,990 Mack truck that's on the road that's about to end his life. 442 00:27:40,990 --> 00:27:44,470 And if he will listen to my voice, he will come back 443 00:27:44,470 --> 00:27:48,310 to the place of safety. Are you picking up what I'm putting 444 00:27:48,310 --> 00:27:51,950 down? And so what happens is, is we got this little contraption 445 00:27:51,950 --> 00:27:54,710 on his, his neck here that is controlled 446 00:27:56,070 --> 00:27:59,750 by this little device. And if he doesn't listen to my voice, 447 00:27:59,750 --> 00:28:02,260 I push this little red button and boy, he makes a 448 00:28:04,490 --> 00:28:08,290 beeline right to me. Okay, here's what I want 449 00:28:08,290 --> 00:28:12,050 you to understand. The God of the universe loves you so much 450 00:28:12,050 --> 00:28:15,690 that He will push the red button to get you to come running back to 451 00:28:15,690 --> 00:28:18,970 Him. He will allow you to go through 452 00:28:19,450 --> 00:28:22,250 some difficult, hard circumstances to allow Him 453 00:28:23,530 --> 00:28:24,570 to become the focus. 454 00:28:33,030 --> 00:28:34,310 I love this boy. Don't make 455 00:28:37,830 --> 00:28:41,390 me push the button! Abiding creates 456 00:28:41,390 --> 00:28:44,870 space to hear God clearly. So here's the deal, guys. 457 00:28:45,750 --> 00:28:48,390 Let's just be real. There are times in our lives where we have a mountain 458 00:28:49,750 --> 00:28:53,350 in front of us. The mountain can be a work situation, 459 00:28:53,510 --> 00:28:56,310 could be a financial problem, it 460 00:28:57,030 --> 00:28:59,830 could be a relational fallout. It can 461 00:29:00,790 --> 00:29:04,590 be some type of contentious thing that's going on. It can be, 462 00:29:04,590 --> 00:29:07,830 and it feels like a mountain. It's weighty. Anybody 463 00:29:08,470 --> 00:29:12,311 ever had a mountain? Yeah, it's weighty. It's, it's, 464 00:29:12,311 --> 00:29:15,831 it's real. It's there. You wake up thinking about it. You go to work thinking 465 00:29:15,831 --> 00:29:19,590 about it. You drive around thinking about it. You emote about 466 00:29:19,590 --> 00:29:23,310 it. You, it comes up in your conversations because it is right there in 467 00:29:23,310 --> 00:29:26,840 front of your face. There this mountain, and it is huge. 468 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,720 And if you're a believer and you're really close to the Lord, what you're doing 469 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,200 is you're seeing this mountain and you're crying out to the Lord, and what you're 470 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,640 saying to the Lord is, "Get this mountain out of my way! Tell me what 471 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,440 to do here! I've got to make a decision here about this mountain!" And 472 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,120 what you talk about more and more and more is about the mountain, far more 473 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,720 than what you talk about Him. And what happens 474 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,640 is the mountain becomes so, so illuminated and 475 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,260 huge in our lives, and here's the deal, It's 476 00:29:54,260 --> 00:29:57,660 so tiny to the Creator of the universe. 477 00:29:57,660 --> 00:30:01,180 It's so small in comparison to everything else. What 478 00:30:01,580 --> 00:30:04,940 is ruining your day is tiny to the Star Breather. 479 00:30:05,420 --> 00:30:08,700 Are you with me? And so the Star Breather 480 00:30:09,020 --> 00:30:12,620 says, "Take that mountain and surrender it to me so 481 00:30:12,620 --> 00:30:16,020 it becomes this big." Now, here's the thing. The mountain's not gone away. 482 00:30:16,020 --> 00:30:19,420 It's just become a molehill now. And so here it is, 483 00:30:19,580 --> 00:30:23,340 and you've got this mountain in your peripheral,, but you've 484 00:30:23,340 --> 00:30:26,980 got Jesus in front of you and He's so much bigger than 485 00:30:26,980 --> 00:30:30,140 this, and all of a sudden you start to see 486 00:30:31,100 --> 00:30:34,940 things at a different perspective. You start to come in line with the truth. 487 00:30:34,940 --> 00:30:38,700 You start to get yourself in line with His precepts and, and what the Lord 488 00:30:38,700 --> 00:30:42,540 says, and all of a sudden your response 489 00:30:42,540 --> 00:30:46,380 to this mountain shifts, and it changes, and it 490 00:30:46,380 --> 00:30:49,170 evolves to line up with the Shepherd 491 00:30:50,530 --> 00:30:54,170 Whose voice you're listening to. And so this mountain 492 00:30:54,170 --> 00:30:57,290 becomes small. The Word tells us this is what this really means in real time. 493 00:30:57,290 --> 00:31:01,010 We don't like— listen, if nothing's going on, we don't care about this verse, but 494 00:31:01,010 --> 00:31:04,450 let there be a mountain in front of us. This is the truth 495 00:31:04,530 --> 00:31:07,490 of God's Word. Trust in the Lord 496 00:31:08,930 --> 00:31:12,730 with some of that problem. Trust in the Lord with a few things. 497 00:31:12,730 --> 00:31:16,220 Trust in the Lord with everything else but the mountain. Mountain. 498 00:31:16,540 --> 00:31:20,220 No, trust in the Lord with all your heart, 499 00:31:20,300 --> 00:31:24,020 and do what? Lean not on your understanding. But 500 00:31:24,020 --> 00:31:25,500 God, you don't understand what 501 00:31:27,580 --> 00:31:30,620 they, what it, what— No! 502 00:31:31,500 --> 00:31:34,780 Lean not on your understanding. Now, I don't know how to get here 503 00:31:37,020 --> 00:31:40,390 when I'm facing a mountain, because everything in my understanding wants 504 00:31:40,390 --> 00:31:43,740 to pull out the the Lord wants 505 00:31:43,740 --> 00:31:47,420 to throw my opinions, my attitude, 506 00:31:47,420 --> 00:31:51,100 my emotions, everything within me wants to use what I think I know 507 00:31:51,100 --> 00:31:51,420 is 508 00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:59,300 right to fix the problem. But things that the Lord is really trying to do 509 00:31:59,300 --> 00:32:03,100 in us and heal us from are the reasons why mountains get erected in 510 00:32:03,100 --> 00:32:06,740 the first place. I'm doing Celebrate Recovery right now, and one 511 00:32:06,740 --> 00:32:10,430 of the things that I'm learning about myself is the biggest struggle that 512 00:32:10,430 --> 00:32:13,830 I have in my life, one of the biggest struggles, got a lot of them, 513 00:32:14,870 --> 00:32:18,630 is the fear of rejection. And so what happens is, is when I feel 514 00:32:18,630 --> 00:32:22,070 like I'm coming up against some rejection, a mountain will 515 00:32:22,390 --> 00:32:25,750 be erected in my path. And so all of a sudden, what will happen in 516 00:32:25,750 --> 00:32:29,030 my life is I'll begin to make unhealthy 517 00:32:29,030 --> 00:32:32,870 decisions, and unhealthy choices, and unhealthy conversations fueled 518 00:32:32,950 --> 00:32:36,370 by me wanting to fix the rejection issue. But here's what 519 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,480 the Savior says. He says, He says, "Don't you know that I've accepted you, Kevin 520 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,160 O'Day? Don't you know that the rejection of your past should not fuel or be 521 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,840 a foundation with which you are making decisions on today?" You understand 522 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,360 what I'm saying? And as I surrender that to Him, 523 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,000 then my mountain becomes a molehill, and I look at it and say, "Wait a 524 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,720 minute, God, you are so much greater than this little thing over here." And 525 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,120 all of a sudden I'm walking in peace, and I'm walking in grace, and all 526 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,960 of a sudden— I don't know what your thing is. Everybody's got I 527 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,640 don't know if yours is 528 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,360 rejection, but everybody's got stuff. I call them 529 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,920 mountain erectors. A mountain comes up. You know that verse over, 530 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:18,480 I think it's in Matthew 17, where Jesus is talking about if 531 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,560 you have faith like a mustard seed, right? He says you 532 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,280 can tell this mountain to move. Now, He could 533 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,610 have been talking about a literal mountain. 534 00:33:29,610 --> 00:33:33,330 But the context of that scripture is that the disciples 535 00:33:33,330 --> 00:33:36,690 could not cast out the demons, and they come to Him and He says, "You 536 00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:39,930 have such little faith. If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can take 537 00:33:39,930 --> 00:33:43,529 this mountain and cast it into the sea." I believe it works 538 00:33:43,529 --> 00:33:47,090 metaphorically too. I believe it works that you can take that mountain, 539 00:33:47,090 --> 00:33:50,490 whatever it is that you're facing today, whatever that 540 00:33:50,490 --> 00:33:54,170 mountain is that consumes your thoughts, consumes everything going 541 00:33:54,170 --> 00:33:57,570 on, that your text messages are about, and your phone calls about, and your mind 542 00:33:57,570 --> 00:34:01,270 is wrestling, you can't sleep at night, whatever that mountain is, Jesus says, 543 00:34:01,270 --> 00:34:04,070 "I believe with mustard seed faith you can take that mountain and say, 544 00:34:04,870 --> 00:34:08,550 'Get out of my way! Get out of my way!'" Let's look at 545 00:34:08,950 --> 00:34:12,190 some examples in scripture, okay? First of all, the shepherd always leads like a shepherd. 546 00:34:12,190 --> 00:34:15,510 Let's see how that happens here. Here we go. 547 00:34:16,390 --> 00:34:19,350 Moses at the Red Sea. Moses at the Red Sea. 548 00:34:19,670 --> 00:34:23,470 The people were saying, "God, Moses, God, do you not see this 549 00:34:23,470 --> 00:34:27,180 army behind us?" If you go back and read that the messenger. 550 00:34:27,180 --> 00:34:30,980 God does not address the army. "Look at this army back here!" 551 00:34:30,980 --> 00:34:33,940 You know what He does? He says, "Trust in my—" You know, in fact, Moses 552 00:34:33,940 --> 00:34:36,540 is crying out to Him, and you know what God says to Moses? "Why are 553 00:34:37,660 --> 00:34:41,420 you crying out to me? You have everything inside you 554 00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:45,180 that you need to move forward." And I'm telling 555 00:34:45,340 --> 00:34:47,500 you today, you have everything inside you, 556 00:34:49,500 --> 00:34:53,160 you need to move forward. We make the issue the 557 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,840 army. He's get the pathway forward. What's next? Feeding of the 558 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,520 5,000. The disciples come to Jesus and say, "Hey, we don't have 559 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,960 enough. This is an impossible situation. We don't have enough food for all 560 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,960 these people." You know what Jesus' response was? "Oh no, what 561 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,160 are we going to do?" No. Jesus looks 562 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,720 right at them and says, "Kirk, you feed them." 563 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,750 Isn't that what He says? "Susie, you feed 564 00:35:20,620 --> 00:35:23,900 them. Scotty, you feed them." "With what, 565 00:35:24,540 --> 00:35:28,260 Lord?" "You have little faith. Don't you know that the Creator 566 00:35:28,260 --> 00:35:31,500 of the universe is literally talking to you in front of 567 00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:35,340 you? Have you not seen anything?" Gosh, we 568 00:35:35,340 --> 00:35:38,620 make it so much about things that it's not really about. Okay, 569 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:42,860 Peter walking on the water. News flash, 570 00:35:44,870 --> 00:35:47,590 the problem wasn't the water. Jesus didn't go, 571 00:35:49,830 --> 00:35:53,590 "Now, water, get it together!" The problem was, "You took your 572 00:35:54,470 --> 00:35:56,470 focus off of me, Peter. That's 573 00:35:59,349 --> 00:36:03,150 why you can't walk anymore." And lastly, "Lord, won't 574 00:36:03,150 --> 00:36:04,230 you tell my sister to 575 00:36:06,390 --> 00:36:10,070 get up and help me?" "Arthas, you are 576 00:36:10,150 --> 00:36:13,750 worried about so many things. The best thing right now is," what? "Come 577 00:36:13,830 --> 00:36:15,030 on, what? 578 00:36:17,670 --> 00:36:21,350 To spend time with me." Guys, that mountain, 579 00:36:22,150 --> 00:36:25,430 that mountain can be deceptive. It can mess you up. It 580 00:36:25,830 --> 00:36:29,430 can cause you to make decisions in 581 00:36:30,390 --> 00:36:34,190 your life that are wrong. Dangerous. 582 00:36:34,190 --> 00:36:36,470 Here's the thing, the shepherd's voice 583 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,480 always will lead toward 584 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,120 life, and Restoration and righteousness. Am I listening to the Shepherd's voice? Is it leading 585 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,520 you to places of life? Is His voice leading you to 586 00:36:50,240 --> 00:36:54,000 places where you're being restored? Relationships 587 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,040 being restored? Is it leading you to places 588 00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,840 of righteousness? Of right standing? Meaning 589 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:06,400 you can't continue to sin. He's leading you out of sin. He's 590 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,920 leading you out of destruction. Restoration. That's where His voice leads you. He woos you 591 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,000 to life. He woos you to restoration. 592 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:16,800 He woos you to righteousness. 593 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:23,200 Anybody ever been to Buc-ee's? I don't struggle with anxiety. That's just not a 594 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,600 struggle that I've had to contend with. Closest I ever came was the 595 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:30,160 first time I went to Buc-ee's. 596 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:33,880 I walked into that store and everyone was screaming. Everyone 597 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,620 was running. There was no semblance of traffic I 598 00:37:37,620 --> 00:37:39,300 walked in there, I hyperventilated for a 599 00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:46,938 minute. It was a moment. Guys, here's the 600 00:37:47,222 --> 00:37:49,748 honest truth here in 2026. 2026, 601 00:37:51,860 --> 00:37:55,700 our lives look like Buc-ee's. I was up here a few months ago talking about 602 00:37:55,700 --> 00:37:59,460 that red ball. You know what I'm talking about? Truth of the matter is 603 00:37:59,460 --> 00:38:03,100 there's 52 red balls happening every day at all times, everywhere across the way. It's 604 00:38:03,100 --> 00:38:06,900 just all the time, is it not? Am I telling the truth? Amen? Isn't that 605 00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:10,620 the truth? The distractions are enormous, 606 00:38:10,700 --> 00:38:14,260 and it is so vital, believers in this 607 00:38:14,260 --> 00:38:17,980 room, that we know the voice of our Savior. 608 00:38:17,980 --> 00:38:21,620 That we know the voice of the Creator of the universe. 609 00:38:21,620 --> 00:38:25,300 The one who knows your name. That when He says, "Be 610 00:38:25,300 --> 00:38:29,140 still," we know that's the voice that's telling me, "Be still." When 611 00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:32,250 He says, "Go," that's the voice that's telling me, telling me to 612 00:38:33,210 --> 00:38:36,890 go. When He says, "Stop," that's the voice 613 00:38:36,890 --> 00:38:40,050 telling me to stop. Do you 614 00:38:40,050 --> 00:38:43,610 know the voice of your 615 00:38:43,610 --> 00:38:47,450 Creator? Have you measured His voice against the Word, 616 00:38:48,170 --> 00:38:52,010 the Holy Spirit, the peace, and godly counsel? Are 617 00:38:52,090 --> 00:38:55,730 you contending with a mountain this morning? Or have you contended 618 00:38:55,730 --> 00:38:59,530 with a mountain that you haven't settled 619 00:38:59,530 --> 00:39:03,290 up He has peace to offer you. There was a guy in 620 00:39:03,290 --> 00:39:07,050 the Old Testament who I think had a real good handle on this whole 621 00:39:07,050 --> 00:39:09,970 shepherd thing. His name was 622 00:39:11,650 --> 00:39:13,330 David, and he wrote this, 623 00:39:15,330 --> 00:39:18,210 "The Lord is my shepherd. I 624 00:39:19,250 --> 00:39:21,970 lack nothing." Everybody say, "Nothing." When you trust 625 00:39:23,580 --> 00:39:27,340 the shepherd, you lack nothing. Listen, the prerequisite of lacking nothing 626 00:39:27,340 --> 00:39:31,060 is not what your bank 627 00:39:31,060 --> 00:39:33,740 account says. "The Lord is 628 00:39:36,060 --> 00:39:39,700 my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me 629 00:39:39,700 --> 00:39:42,060 to lie down in green pastures." We do 630 00:39:44,140 --> 00:39:47,820 not like that word "makes." He suggests that you might take up a 631 00:39:47,820 --> 00:39:51,550 spot on the green pasture here. Maybe this might 632 00:39:51,550 --> 00:39:55,350 be a good idea if you just took up some— No, it 633 00:39:55,350 --> 00:39:58,870 says He makes. That's what the Word of God says. He makes us to 634 00:39:59,030 --> 00:40:02,870 lie down in green pastures. You know what that communicates 635 00:40:02,870 --> 00:40:06,550 to Kevin? He says, "Lay down the worry that you're caring 636 00:40:06,550 --> 00:40:10,350 about this mountain, and come lay with 637 00:40:10,350 --> 00:40:13,790 Me in this pasture. Because the more you worry about this mountain in front 638 00:40:13,790 --> 00:40:17,590 of you, the more it consumes you, the less you believe that I 639 00:40:17,590 --> 00:40:21,190 am bigger than that that thing, whatever 640 00:40:22,390 --> 00:40:24,790 it is. But he continues. He says, I— he says 641 00:40:25,670 --> 00:40:27,750 this, he leads me beside 642 00:40:29,670 --> 00:40:33,430 rushing waters that are fierce. No, who knows their 643 00:40:33,430 --> 00:40:35,670 scripture this morning? He 644 00:40:37,110 --> 00:40:40,670 leads me beside quiet waters. And you know what he does in that? You're 645 00:40:40,670 --> 00:40:44,070 laying down beside the quiet waters. Robert, what does it say? 646 00:40:44,150 --> 00:40:46,470 It says he He refreshes my soul. 647 00:40:48,790 --> 00:40:52,270 Has He refreshed your soul? I want to be in a place of refreshing 648 00:40:52,270 --> 00:40:55,590 all the time. Here's a pathway. 649 00:40:56,150 --> 00:40:59,750 Come lay down. Come stop. You refreshed, April? Come 650 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:03,310 on, are we refreshed this morning? He 651 00:41:03,310 --> 00:41:07,150 guides me along the right paths. This shepherd, not for me, 652 00:41:07,150 --> 00:41:10,720 not so that Kevin can get glory. So 653 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,880 it's for his name's sake. And it says 654 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,720 this, even though, even though, which means I can be walking through 655 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:22,400 the midst of a dark valley, even 656 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,240 though I walk through the valley of what? The shadow 657 00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:29,840 of death, where things are deceased, where things are falling off, where 658 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,400 things seem to die, where relationships are dying 659 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,070 all around me, where work situations are dying all around around me, where I 660 00:41:37,070 --> 00:41:40,790 thought I had purpose and it's dying around me, although these perceptions 661 00:41:40,790 --> 00:41:42,550 are all around me, even though 662 00:41:44,630 --> 00:41:47,110 I walk through that valley, 663 00:41:49,750 --> 00:41:53,430 he, my shepherd, comforts me. I fear no evil because you are with me. It 664 00:41:53,430 --> 00:41:55,190 says his rod and 665 00:41:57,270 --> 00:41:59,190 his staff. There's a distinction. One of 666 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:05,080 them is used for discipline. One of them is used 667 00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:06,880 for protection. Do you welcome the discipline of 668 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,560 the Lord in your life? Because the Word says a good— listen, 669 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:16,400 if I did not discipline my 5 daughters, I would not 670 00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:20,080 be a good dad. If God Almighty did not discipline you, he 671 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,520 would not be a good Father. 672 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,570 But he doesn't just discipline, he protects. He 673 00:42:27,710 --> 00:42:31,390 protects the shepherd dog. He does. And then it says 674 00:42:31,710 --> 00:42:35,310 this, "You," I love this, "You prepare a table 675 00:42:35,790 --> 00:42:39,510 before me in the presence of my enemies." Anybody ever felt like you 676 00:42:39,510 --> 00:42:43,070 got a target on your back? No 677 00:42:45,150 --> 00:42:48,550 one, just me. Okay, well, in the presence, it's not, "Hey, come around here, we're 678 00:42:48,550 --> 00:42:51,710 going to let your enemies do a thing." He literally 679 00:42:52,590 --> 00:42:56,190 brings the table to them and says, I don't care nothing about 680 00:42:56,270 --> 00:42:59,910 what y'all trying to say, what you're trying to do. We're going to sit 681 00:42:59,910 --> 00:43:03,470 here and eat and watch you lose your minds at the peace 682 00:43:04,190 --> 00:43:07,790 that we have right now. Your enemies should be losing their minds 683 00:43:07,790 --> 00:43:11,430 that you are at such peace. They should be losing their 684 00:43:11,430 --> 00:43:15,150 minds that you're at such peace. This doesn't faze me. You know 685 00:43:15,310 --> 00:43:17,790 why? Because it's so small compared to the 686 00:43:19,240 --> 00:43:22,920 great, glorious God I serve. He sets this table, and 687 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:26,680 then he says, "In the presence of the enemy." And then guess what? He says, 688 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,800 "He anoints your head with 689 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,360 oil." He gives you purpose. He said, "I'm gonna give you something to do, and 690 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:37,080 I'm gonna give you the power and the strength to do it right there while 691 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,040 your enemies are watching, all under the protection 692 00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:44,200 of the shepherd." "My cup overflows," because with 693 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:47,660 the Lord, everything's always 694 00:43:47,660 --> 00:43:51,020 more. It's always more. Overflows. Surely 695 00:43:51,180 --> 00:43:54,820 your goodness and your love will— what? Will follow me. Who needs 696 00:43:54,820 --> 00:43:58,580 his goodness and love to follow them all the days of their life? 697 00:43:58,580 --> 00:44:02,339 I need his goodness and love following 698 00:44:02,339 --> 00:44:04,380 me. But you can't recognize his goodness and love when 699 00:44:05,980 --> 00:44:09,420 you're looking at the mountain. And I will dwell in 700 00:44:10,300 --> 00:44:13,110 the house 701 00:44:13,990 --> 00:44:17,670 of the Lord forever. Forever. This is our 702 00:44:17,750 --> 00:44:21,550 shepherd. This is the one who knows your 703 00:44:21,550 --> 00:44:25,230 name, cares about you, created you, sees you, 704 00:44:25,230 --> 00:44:28,550 knows you, and guess what? Yes, he sees that mountain 705 00:44:28,870 --> 00:44:32,430 too, and he says, "Stop thinking about that mountain and 706 00:44:32,430 --> 00:44:36,030 start looking at me. Start listening 707 00:44:36,030 --> 00:44:38,680 to my voice. Let me take care 708 00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,640 of that mountain." for you. The best things that have happened in my life 709 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:47,240 have been when I have relinquished control. When I've 710 00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:51,200 backed up and said, "God, you do it." The best things 711 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,920 that will happen in your life is when you relinquish control and 712 00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:57,480 you back up and you say, "God, you do it." Would you 713 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,380 stand with me this morning? I would like 714 00:45:05,370 --> 00:45:09,130 to be a church known known for 715 00:45:09,130 --> 00:45:12,930 people who actually hear the voice of the shepherd. I 716 00:45:12,930 --> 00:45:16,410 would like Springhouse— when they talk about Springhouse, they're talking 717 00:45:16,970 --> 00:45:20,650 about a group of people who know his word, who know the 718 00:45:20,650 --> 00:45:24,170 Holy Spirit, who know what peace looks like, 719 00:45:24,170 --> 00:45:27,890 and that participate in godly counsel. That the whole package is there 720 00:45:27,890 --> 00:45:31,730 because we are listening to the shepherd. And so that when people out 721 00:45:31,730 --> 00:45:35,430 in the world are contending with their very mountains. You 722 00:45:35,430 --> 00:45:39,270 don't have people guiding them the wrong way because they're listening to their 723 00:45:39,270 --> 00:45:42,750 own voice, ideas, and opinions, but they are listening to the voice of the shepherd 724 00:45:42,750 --> 00:45:46,590 by the example of the people around them. If you're going to pray with people, 725 00:45:46,590 --> 00:45:50,270 would you come forward this morning? In a group this size, there's got to 726 00:45:50,270 --> 00:45:53,431 be people dealing with some mountains. I just, I just feel that. I just believe 727 00:45:53,431 --> 00:45:57,190 there's got to be people this morning. You got mountains. It's been consuming your 728 00:45:57,190 --> 00:46:00,930 week. You've been thinking about it. There's been relational fallout because of it. Of 729 00:46:00,930 --> 00:46:04,050 it. There's been text messages, all these things. It could be financial, it could be 730 00:46:04,050 --> 00:46:07,850 a work thing, whatever it is, there's mountains in this room, and I 731 00:46:07,850 --> 00:46:11,330 believe today that God wants to address those mountains. Now, one of the ways to 732 00:46:11,330 --> 00:46:14,450 get godly counsel is for me to be able to go to Mel Galeoni over 733 00:46:14,450 --> 00:46:18,090 here and say, "Mel, I have this issue. Would you agree with me? Because I 734 00:46:18,090 --> 00:46:21,250 can't see it. All I see is this mountain, and I need you to speak 735 00:46:21,250 --> 00:46:24,370 truth, because I believe that you have truth inside you to speak over me." You 736 00:46:24,370 --> 00:46:27,750 can say, "Kevin, the way you're seeing that mountain is Actually not the perspective of 737 00:46:27,750 --> 00:46:30,790 what's really happening. Let me tell you what God's saying about this. And they speak 738 00:46:30,790 --> 00:46:33,630 into your life, and they begin to get your frame of 739 00:46:34,510 --> 00:46:38,190 mind. And it takes humility. It takes such humility. But I 740 00:46:39,390 --> 00:46:42,990 believe that the Lord wants to help us overcome some mountains 741 00:46:43,150 --> 00:46:46,830 today. So that's you. Today's the day of salvation. It's the day to do 742 00:46:46,830 --> 00:46:48,080 business. He's alive and well today. Come, let's worship.