1 00:00:01,350 --> 00:00:02,400 Speaker: We've all been there. 2 00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:09,090 You're in the middle of something and then you ask yourselves, am I doing this right? 3 00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:11,070 You've been there. 4 00:00:11,070 --> 00:00:16,290 Whether it's IKEA furniture, that's me every time I get there and I'm like, man, 5 00:00:16,290 --> 00:00:19,680 can't they just write their instructions in English and keep it simple? 6 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:22,050 We've been there. 7 00:00:22,050 --> 00:00:26,250 Maybe it's cooking a recipe without, I mean, cooking without a recipe. 8 00:00:26,490 --> 00:00:29,250 It's A-D-D-I-Y home project. 9 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:33,300 Maybe you're trying to fix something or replace something on your car, 10 00:00:33,420 --> 00:00:36,480 and you get to this point and you're like, am I doing this right? 11 00:00:37,110 --> 00:00:41,010 Especially if you have more nails or more parts than you're supposed to have. 12 00:00:42,824 --> 00:00:45,945 I was talking with Dallas Kauai the other day, and uh, you know, it 13 00:00:45,945 --> 00:00:49,425 looks like I'm, I'm going to physical therapy and, and, uh, I'm not sure 14 00:00:49,425 --> 00:00:50,745 if it's tendonitis or arthritis. 15 00:00:50,745 --> 00:00:54,075 What will, you know, God, God will help me figure it out and I'm there. 16 00:00:54,075 --> 00:00:57,644 And, and you know, Dallas, uh, he, he did some, uh, internship and so I'm 17 00:00:57,644 --> 00:01:00,224 trying to get his advice 'cause I'm like, I'm doing this exercise, but 18 00:01:00,224 --> 00:01:02,775 like, I don't know if I'm doing this right because I don't know if this 19 00:01:02,775 --> 00:01:04,575 is supposed to feel the way it feels. 20 00:01:05,295 --> 00:01:07,095 And so we've all been there. 21 00:01:07,215 --> 00:01:11,955 Maybe it's something new, but we've also asked this question sometimes when 22 00:01:11,955 --> 00:01:17,565 we've been doing something for a long time, maybe it's, maybe it's parenting. 23 00:01:18,164 --> 00:01:19,425 Am I doing this right? 24 00:01:20,775 --> 00:01:22,455 Maybe it's our job. 25 00:01:23,205 --> 00:01:27,375 Maybe it's marriage, maybe it's just, it's just life. 26 00:01:28,155 --> 00:01:30,555 Am I doing this thing called life? 27 00:01:30,555 --> 00:01:31,095 Right? 28 00:01:31,590 --> 00:01:32,580 We've all been there. 29 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:38,130 And so this is a good question to ask because we desire to do it 30 00:01:38,130 --> 00:01:43,380 right and we desire to see the good and the blessing from the effort 31 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,509 in which we are giving ourselves. 32 00:01:45,509 --> 00:01:50,670 And so we are starting a new series this week here called Am I doing this right? 33 00:01:51,750 --> 00:01:56,160 And we're gonna be talking about relationships and finances and success. 34 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:57,960 Are we doing these things right? 35 00:01:59,054 --> 00:02:02,865 And so for the month of May, this is what we're going to be walking through. 36 00:02:03,075 --> 00:02:06,525 As we learn from God's word, how can we go in these areas of our 37 00:02:06,525 --> 00:02:09,014 lives and do it the right way? 38 00:02:09,014 --> 00:02:12,405 And so today the question is, am I doing this God thing, right? 39 00:02:13,665 --> 00:02:16,305 Am I doing this God thing, right? 40 00:02:16,305 --> 00:02:18,675 This faith, this religion, this Christianity. 41 00:02:18,945 --> 00:02:20,115 Am I doing it right? 42 00:02:20,115 --> 00:02:23,475 Because maybe you've asked yourself this before. 43 00:02:24,135 --> 00:02:26,685 Maybe you've prayed, you've gone to church. 44 00:02:27,030 --> 00:02:32,310 You try to live a good life, but still feel unsure, disconnected, or feel 45 00:02:32,310 --> 00:02:34,079 like you're, you're missing something. 46 00:02:35,130 --> 00:02:39,540 Or maybe you've been a disciple of Jesus for many years and you know the 47 00:02:39,540 --> 00:02:44,160 language, you know the culture, you know many scriptures, but maybe lately 48 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,899 you're feeling like you've been missing something or maybe you've been a disciple 49 00:02:48,899 --> 00:02:54,959 of many years and you are hit with that question like, Hmm, am I doing this right? 50 00:02:54,959 --> 00:02:55,380 Still? 51 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,990 The beauty of it is that you're not alone. 52 00:03:01,710 --> 00:03:07,050 Wherever you are in the spectrum, you are not alone, and you're 53 00:03:07,050 --> 00:03:08,550 not too far gone either. 54 00:03:08,940 --> 00:03:13,350 In fact, Jesus had a conversation with someone just like you that's 55 00:03:13,350 --> 00:03:18,720 gonna help us answer this question and guide us to see how we can capture 56 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:20,700 what it means to do this God thing. 57 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:22,050 Rights. 58 00:03:22,110 --> 00:03:27,990 And so are you ready here to explore this today in the next several weeks? 59 00:03:28,860 --> 00:03:29,400 Let's go ahead. 60 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:30,600 Let's go to God in prayer. 61 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,100 Then we're gonna dig into the scriptures. 62 00:03:32,310 --> 00:03:38,579 Father in heaven, Lord of glory, the holy one, the one who resides in heaven. 63 00:03:38,579 --> 00:03:40,980 But yet you dwell within our hearts. 64 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,350 We thank you that you have gone before us. 65 00:03:43,350 --> 00:03:47,640 We thank you for the fact that we are part of a worldwide fellowship. 66 00:03:48,059 --> 00:03:51,720 But we thank you that we don't have to guess about life. 67 00:03:52,170 --> 00:03:56,339 We thank you for your scriptures, and most of all, we thank you for Jesus, 68 00:03:56,339 --> 00:03:59,670 the example of how to do things right. 69 00:04:00,239 --> 00:04:03,929 We pray that you will guide us, that you will minister to us, that 70 00:04:03,929 --> 00:04:09,149 you'll put to the side any and every distraction that will try to block 71 00:04:09,149 --> 00:04:11,790 us from hearing your word today. 72 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,679 We pray in the name of Jesus. 73 00:04:13,679 --> 00:04:14,730 Amen. 74 00:04:14,805 --> 00:04:21,704 Yeah, so will we want to go somewhere or where do we usually go when we're 75 00:04:21,704 --> 00:04:23,985 asking ourselves, how do we do something? 76 00:04:25,185 --> 00:04:27,765 You go to Google or you go to YouTube. 77 00:04:28,395 --> 00:04:30,375 Those are the two spots we go to, right? 78 00:04:30,705 --> 00:04:34,155 I know even this week when I was trying to figure out these, these exercises I'm 79 00:04:34,155 --> 00:04:37,215 supposed to do, I was like, man, let me go to YouTube and let me type this in 80 00:04:37,335 --> 00:04:39,615 and let me see how to do this correctly. 81 00:04:40,230 --> 00:04:43,800 And so if we're gonna answer this question correctly, if we're gonna get the right 82 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:45,840 answer, how to do this God thing, right? 83 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:46,440 Yeah. 84 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,190 We might find something from YouTube, but we might find some good stuff on Google. 85 00:04:50,490 --> 00:04:54,270 But where we need to go is we need to go to, actually, Jesus. 86 00:04:55,320 --> 00:05:00,965 We need to go to Jesus because Jesus, he has He. 87 00:05:00,970 --> 00:05:02,700 He knows that God thing pretty well. 88 00:05:02,970 --> 00:05:03,030 Yeah. 89 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,050 And in fact, in the scriptures we see something that's gonna help us. 90 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,100 You see in Colossians one, the apostle Paul tells the church, he says, Jesus 91 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:13,110 is the image of the invisible God. 92 00:05:13,740 --> 00:05:15,150 You wanna know what God would be like. 93 00:05:15,150 --> 00:05:16,110 Guess who you look to? 94 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:18,060 You look to Jesus. 95 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:20,760 He also says this in Hebrews chapter one. 96 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,570 It says, Jesus is the exact representation of God's being. 97 00:05:25,065 --> 00:05:28,455 Whatever Jesus was like, that's what God is like you say, what 98 00:05:28,455 --> 00:05:29,715 would God be like in the flesh? 99 00:05:29,805 --> 00:05:31,065 We have that answer. 100 00:05:31,215 --> 00:05:32,955 It's Jesus. 101 00:05:33,435 --> 00:05:38,414 And in fact, over in John chapter one, it says, no one has ever seen God, but 102 00:05:38,414 --> 00:05:42,495 the one and only son who is himself God and is in closest relationship 103 00:05:42,495 --> 00:05:46,125 with the Father, has made him known. 104 00:05:47,565 --> 00:05:49,875 Jesus makes the Father known. 105 00:05:50,265 --> 00:05:52,065 To all of creation. 106 00:05:52,183 --> 00:05:53,474 And even Jesus said this. 107 00:05:53,474 --> 00:05:57,585 He says, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. 108 00:05:58,335 --> 00:06:03,434 And so one of Jesus' main objectives in coming to, uh, to to earth 109 00:06:03,434 --> 00:06:07,155 here and living and dying was to reveal this whole God thing. 110 00:06:07,994 --> 00:06:10,934 What to show us what it's supposed to be like. 111 00:06:10,994 --> 00:06:17,145 So again, if we're, the very starting point is Jesus, so 112 00:06:17,145 --> 00:06:19,544 let's go to Jesus as he reveals. 113 00:06:19,815 --> 00:06:21,165 How to do this God thing. 114 00:06:21,165 --> 00:06:21,435 Right. 115 00:06:21,435 --> 00:06:23,355 Brother and sisters, are you with me this morning? 116 00:06:23,985 --> 00:06:27,225 Let's go to Mark chapter 10 and we're gonna go ahead and 117 00:06:27,225 --> 00:06:28,605 read here, mark chapter 10. 118 00:06:29,700 --> 00:06:35,400 In verse 17, mark is, uh, written basically a biography about Jesus. 119 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,210 And, uh, what we know from church tradition is that Peter told, 120 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,580 uh, mark about Jesus' life. 121 00:06:41,580 --> 00:06:46,260 And so Mark writes it down and it says here in verse 17, as Jesus started on his 122 00:06:46,260 --> 00:06:50,850 way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him, good teacher, he asked, 123 00:06:51,030 --> 00:06:54,630 what must I do to inherit eternal life? 124 00:06:55,289 --> 00:06:56,700 That's a good question to ask. 125 00:06:58,050 --> 00:07:02,040 What must I do to inherit eternal life? 126 00:07:02,190 --> 00:07:06,060 Now, here's what's interesting is that, again, this is the first century 127 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:10,230 and first century Jews would've all been able to answer this question. 128 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,620 They would've said, Hey, how do you have eternal life? 129 00:07:13,620 --> 00:07:17,430 Is you obey the law, the law of Moses, you obey, and that's 130 00:07:17,430 --> 00:07:19,770 how you will have eternal life. 131 00:07:20,430 --> 00:07:23,730 So it's interesting that he would even ask this question because 132 00:07:23,730 --> 00:07:25,110 he would know what the answer. 133 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:32,159 Would be, however, he still asked it, why I think he's asking what 134 00:07:32,159 --> 00:07:33,750 we're asking ourselves today. 135 00:07:34,350 --> 00:07:36,150 Am I doing this God thing, rights? 136 00:07:37,170 --> 00:07:42,690 And so he goes, and we see problems already in his question, although 137 00:07:42,690 --> 00:07:46,680 he's very sincere, it says he ran up and fell on his knees. 138 00:07:47,220 --> 00:07:49,650 Now, if somebody runs up to you and falls on their knees and asks you 139 00:07:49,650 --> 00:07:52,200 a question, are they pretty sincere about what they're asking you? 140 00:07:52,950 --> 00:07:54,390 Of course they really want it. 141 00:07:54,390 --> 00:07:59,400 There's a heart that desires what's right and what's good, and we see that. 142 00:07:59,850 --> 00:08:03,780 But he starts off and he says, what must I do? 143 00:08:04,620 --> 00:08:05,580 Did you catch that? 144 00:08:06,630 --> 00:08:10,680 What must I do to inherit eternal life? 145 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,600 Problem number one, he thinks he can earn eternal life. 146 00:08:16,410 --> 00:08:18,090 That's the problem right there. 147 00:08:18,510 --> 00:08:20,760 He has some stinking thinking going on. 148 00:08:21,870 --> 00:08:29,940 Is that he thinks if I do something, then God will hon obviously reward me with 149 00:08:29,940 --> 00:08:35,159 eternal life so I can earn my salvation. 150 00:08:36,659 --> 00:08:41,039 And then we see here he is thinking about really a checklist or rules. 151 00:08:41,250 --> 00:08:42,600 What's the one thing I need to do? 152 00:08:42,659 --> 00:08:43,230 Let me do it. 153 00:08:43,230 --> 00:08:43,438 Bam. 154 00:08:43,438 --> 00:08:44,010 I'm good. 155 00:08:45,270 --> 00:08:47,190 Let's continue in the past. 156 00:08:47,190 --> 00:08:48,600 And he says, why do you call me good? 157 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:49,260 Jesus answered. 158 00:08:49,470 --> 00:08:51,000 No one is good except God alone. 159 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:51,930 You know the commandments. 160 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:52,860 You should not murder. 161 00:08:52,860 --> 00:08:54,750 You should not commit adultery, you should not steal. 162 00:08:54,930 --> 00:08:56,280 You should not give false testimony. 163 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,270 You should not defraud honor your father and mother, Jesus goes on and he lists 164 00:09:00,390 --> 00:09:03,330 a number of the 10 Commandments, but he says, you should not defraud, which 165 00:09:03,330 --> 00:09:04,710 actually isn't in the take commandment. 166 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,240 So he's not saying just, Hey, you gotta obey just 10 commandments. 167 00:09:09,390 --> 00:09:11,670 But he's talking to him and he already knows this. 168 00:09:11,670 --> 00:09:14,100 And Jesus, we, we, we know how Jesus is. 169 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:16,140 He set him up for a longer conversation. 170 00:09:16,620 --> 00:09:20,040 But there is something important that we can take from this is that 171 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:26,190 obedience is a part of or right response to God that we are called 172 00:09:26,220 --> 00:09:30,450 to obey his word, but he says this. 173 00:09:31,170 --> 00:09:35,910 Teacher, he declared all these, I have kept since I was a boy. 174 00:09:37,410 --> 00:09:38,700 I've done it all. 175 00:09:39,570 --> 00:09:41,850 We can debate and we can speculate. 176 00:09:41,850 --> 00:09:44,910 Did he really do all this since he was a young boy? 177 00:09:45,090 --> 00:09:45,810 Maybe. 178 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:47,160 Maybe he was a good one. 179 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,060 Maybe he was like Dallas, Kauai and he was just the golden child. 180 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:55,080 However, I knew Dallas when he was two, and I'll tell you, 181 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,460 he was not the golden child. 182 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:58,350 Great person. 183 00:09:59,265 --> 00:10:00,045 Just having some fun. 184 00:10:00,045 --> 00:10:01,005 I've known him since he was two. 185 00:10:02,234 --> 00:10:07,635 No, but we see here that the ruler that this young man we see here in 186 00:10:07,635 --> 00:10:09,015 different passages, call him young. 187 00:10:09,015 --> 00:10:09,615 He's called the rulers. 188 00:10:09,615 --> 00:10:15,194 So we call him the rich young ruler, is that he, he wants to show off his resume, 189 00:10:17,265 --> 00:10:19,935 Hey, hey, you, you know what, Jesus, you said I gotta do these things. 190 00:10:19,935 --> 00:10:20,954 Well, guess what? 191 00:10:21,045 --> 00:10:21,734 I've done them. 192 00:10:22,964 --> 00:10:25,844 And so maybe he's saying this with confidence, maybe he's probably, you know, 193 00:10:25,844 --> 00:10:27,314 I've been doing this since I was a boy. 194 00:10:27,314 --> 00:10:28,005 You know what I'm saying? 195 00:10:29,175 --> 00:10:32,685 Or maybe he's saying with insecurity and uncertainty. 196 00:10:33,135 --> 00:10:37,814 You know, I, I've been doing all this since I was a boy, but 197 00:10:37,814 --> 00:10:39,975 something still doesn't feel right. 198 00:10:41,235 --> 00:10:43,905 Maybe I'm still missing something. 199 00:10:44,745 --> 00:10:48,975 Maybe this whole God thing I don't have on as much as I thought 200 00:10:48,975 --> 00:10:50,834 I did since I was a youngin. 201 00:10:51,915 --> 00:10:55,275 And so we see some wrong things here. 202 00:10:55,275 --> 00:10:57,045 Is that he's thinking again, more of rules. 203 00:10:57,780 --> 00:10:59,790 More than heart and relationship. 204 00:11:01,170 --> 00:11:07,680 Again, it's about following these rules as opposed to the hearts and 205 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,470 the relationship that God seeks. 206 00:11:11,069 --> 00:11:14,880 And so we continue in Mark 17, in verse 21. 207 00:11:15,210 --> 00:11:16,770 Brother and sister, are you still with me here? 208 00:11:17,819 --> 00:11:19,710 Jesus looked at him and loved him. 209 00:11:20,460 --> 00:11:21,300 What was that like? 210 00:11:23,910 --> 00:11:25,140 What was that like? 211 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:30,390 What kinda look did Jesus give that the people around said why he looked 212 00:11:30,390 --> 00:11:32,670 at him and you could tell he loved him? 213 00:11:34,020 --> 00:11:37,980 Obviously it wasn't one of condemnation, it wasn't one of anger and frustration. 214 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:39,930 Man, what's wrong with this guy? 215 00:11:41,190 --> 00:11:42,630 He thinks he's got it all together. 216 00:11:42,780 --> 00:11:46,680 No, he looked at him and loved him. 217 00:11:48,915 --> 00:11:51,824 He says here one thing you lack. 218 00:11:52,635 --> 00:11:56,295 Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you 219 00:11:56,295 --> 00:11:58,155 will have treasure in heaven. 220 00:11:58,155 --> 00:12:02,354 Then come follow me at this. 221 00:12:02,354 --> 00:12:03,525 Demand's face fail. 222 00:12:03,525 --> 00:12:07,604 He went away sad because he had great wealth. 223 00:12:08,535 --> 00:12:12,614 You know, Jesus offering mercy, grace, he's patient and he's giving 224 00:12:12,614 --> 00:12:15,704 him an opportunity and a tragic. 225 00:12:16,350 --> 00:12:16,920 Tell. 226 00:12:17,610 --> 00:12:19,110 It says he went away sad. 227 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,980 You know, if you go through the gospels outside of Jesus's opponents, 228 00:12:22,980 --> 00:12:27,390 outside of his ops, the ones who come to Jesus usually are sad, feeling 229 00:12:27,390 --> 00:12:29,670 something, and they come away with joy. 230 00:12:30,450 --> 00:12:34,380 This is one of the few occurrences where he came in and left actually 231 00:12:34,380 --> 00:12:41,370 sad because he was called to something and he didn't wanna give up. 232 00:12:41,730 --> 00:12:47,250 One thing, and that was his, his wealth or his security or his ambition, and 233 00:12:47,250 --> 00:12:49,170 we can dive into that another day. 234 00:12:49,260 --> 00:12:54,240 But what do we see here is that he had a belief, but there was no sacrifice. 235 00:12:56,100 --> 00:12:57,959 There was a belief in God. 236 00:12:58,020 --> 00:13:01,260 There was a belief that Jesus obviously had some right answers. 237 00:13:01,439 --> 00:13:05,819 However, there was belief with no sacrifice. 238 00:13:07,110 --> 00:13:09,300 You know, you can do all the right things. 239 00:13:10,425 --> 00:13:12,075 Still get it wrong. 240 00:13:14,055 --> 00:13:20,475 You can do all the right things and still get it wrong. 241 00:13:21,375 --> 00:13:24,765 You know, I want us to look here real quickly and we're gonna take 242 00:13:24,765 --> 00:13:28,035 some more from this passage and also add a couple more things 243 00:13:28,035 --> 00:13:30,615 of some signs of doing it wrong. 244 00:13:30,705 --> 00:13:33,885 Hmm, as we see here from this man. 245 00:13:33,885 --> 00:13:35,895 And we can also see it in our lives. 246 00:13:35,895 --> 00:13:40,455 And so here are some signs of doing it wrong, and these are perspective or 247 00:13:40,455 --> 00:13:46,815 practices that you and I and those around us in this our society, that we can think 248 00:13:46,815 --> 00:13:50,595 that that could be our view, or these could be our practices and our lifestyles. 249 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,745 And, and this isn't necessarily in the ranking order, but this 250 00:13:53,745 --> 00:13:58,245 is the order that I don't believe it is exhaustive, but captures. 251 00:13:58,995 --> 00:14:00,345 How we can do it wrong. 252 00:14:00,525 --> 00:14:06,405 And so one rules based, when we have a perspective of practices in which 253 00:14:06,405 --> 00:14:13,635 we think God just wants rules to be followed, and included in that is 254 00:14:13,635 --> 00:14:15,975 performance or outside appearance. 255 00:14:16,485 --> 00:14:20,535 If I perform a way, if I look good in front of those around 256 00:14:20,535 --> 00:14:24,735 me, but that's doing it wrong. 257 00:14:25,605 --> 00:14:30,165 Also, if we're morality focused, this whole God thing is just 258 00:14:30,165 --> 00:14:31,605 about being a good person. 259 00:14:31,844 --> 00:14:35,865 As long as you're not a bad person, you don't steal, you don't kill people, 260 00:14:35,895 --> 00:14:37,995 you don't rob, you don't lie too much. 261 00:14:38,115 --> 00:14:40,964 You don't get angry too much, as long as you are a good person. 262 00:14:40,995 --> 00:14:43,875 So I'm just gonna focus in on being a good person. 263 00:14:44,954 --> 00:14:50,444 Another way is when it's convenient commitments, we're committed on 264 00:14:50,444 --> 00:14:54,314 our terms, but if we ever have to stretch ourselves, sorry. 265 00:14:55,395 --> 00:14:57,465 Give financially sacrificially. 266 00:14:57,495 --> 00:14:58,095 Nope. 267 00:14:58,185 --> 00:14:59,325 Give them my time. 268 00:14:59,355 --> 00:15:00,165 Nope. 269 00:15:02,475 --> 00:15:03,825 No sacrifice. 270 00:15:04,755 --> 00:15:08,445 We also can see it in this being self-centered, where this whole 271 00:15:08,445 --> 00:15:11,625 God thing is really about me. 272 00:15:12,585 --> 00:15:13,815 It's about me. 273 00:15:14,325 --> 00:15:18,705 It's about what I can consume or it's about my improvements. 274 00:15:18,735 --> 00:15:22,785 Yeah, I just don't wanna be the same person I was before. 275 00:15:23,055 --> 00:15:27,375 I wanna be a better person, or I don't wanna be the person I naturally am. 276 00:15:27,855 --> 00:15:31,605 Or it's a consumer mindset, Hey, what's in this for me? 277 00:15:31,635 --> 00:15:34,425 What's the value for me? 278 00:15:35,325 --> 00:15:38,385 What can others do for me? 279 00:15:38,385 --> 00:15:42,885 And we might not say that out loud, but it's our perspective and we look through 280 00:15:42,885 --> 00:15:47,025 the lens of how does this affect me? 281 00:15:49,260 --> 00:15:53,940 We can also have, and we don't really see this in the story here, private faith. 282 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,590 This is where it's about me and God and that's it. 283 00:15:59,310 --> 00:16:03,210 Don't you get in my business, it's about me and God. 284 00:16:03,210 --> 00:16:04,680 It's not between me and you. 285 00:16:04,860 --> 00:16:06,900 I can just do this on my, on my own. 286 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,170 And you know what, you could argue that with the rich young ruler, 287 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,740 he is asking about himself and private, he's not actually concerned 288 00:16:13,740 --> 00:16:15,240 with, how do all of us get this? 289 00:16:17,310 --> 00:16:20,070 And we can see this a lot of times, a lot of people say, I do the God 290 00:16:20,070 --> 00:16:21,390 thing, but I don't do the church thing. 291 00:16:24,060 --> 00:16:24,840 It's private. 292 00:16:25,230 --> 00:16:26,910 Here's the thing, lemme share this real quickly. 293 00:16:27,270 --> 00:16:31,500 Our relationship with God is supposed to be personal but not privates. 294 00:16:33,450 --> 00:16:37,800 Our relationship with God's supposed to be personal but not privates because 295 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:40,170 God designed us for a relationship. 296 00:16:41,370 --> 00:16:44,849 Here's another way which we could be doing the wrong, and this is the other extreme, 297 00:16:44,910 --> 00:16:47,250 which is it's about church over Christ. 298 00:16:48,449 --> 00:16:50,579 Meaning I'm all about the people. 299 00:16:50,849 --> 00:16:52,260 I'm all about the routines. 300 00:16:52,260 --> 00:16:56,730 I'm about the tradition, but I'm not too much about the whole Jesus parts. 301 00:16:57,449 --> 00:17:01,380 And this can be seen in language like, Hey, I go to church. 302 00:17:01,709 --> 00:17:04,290 When you're thinking about problems and answers for your 303 00:17:04,290 --> 00:17:06,598 life or others, it's about church. 304 00:17:06,930 --> 00:17:07,680 Hey, what do you need? 305 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:09,839 You need to go to church with me. 306 00:17:10,589 --> 00:17:16,440 You get what I'm saying here is that church becomes the focus and not Christ. 307 00:17:16,859 --> 00:17:17,099 Come on man. 308 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:23,160 And here's another one and last one that we'll briefly mention here is faith only. 309 00:17:24,660 --> 00:17:29,190 And this is where we believe we have faith, but there's no relationship. 310 00:17:30,450 --> 00:17:33,990 We believe, but there's no obedience. 311 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,860 And so it's faith only. 312 00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:43,620 These are the signs that you may be doing it wrong, and I want you to 313 00:17:43,620 --> 00:17:50,490 humbly ask yourselves right now, do any of these things describe me today? 314 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:03,660 Because here's the thing, if this is the case, God wants to take you from 315 00:18:03,660 --> 00:18:05,340 doing it wrong to doing it right. 316 00:18:05,355 --> 00:18:05,505 Amen. 317 00:18:06,795 --> 00:18:09,315 And so it's okay if you say, you know what? 318 00:18:09,315 --> 00:18:10,335 That has been me. 319 00:18:10,365 --> 00:18:13,755 Because I can say, this has been me prior to becoming a Christian and 320 00:18:13,755 --> 00:18:15,735 at times after becoming a Christian. 321 00:18:17,445 --> 00:18:22,005 And so we need to honestly look and observe and ask, am I doing this wrong? 322 00:18:22,035 --> 00:18:24,015 Because I don't wanna do this wrong. 323 00:18:25,425 --> 00:18:27,945 I wanna do this God thing, rights. 324 00:18:28,845 --> 00:18:30,705 And so Jesus is going to help us. 325 00:18:30,795 --> 00:18:32,685 Brothers and sisters, are you still with me here? 326 00:18:33,255 --> 00:18:33,855 All right. 327 00:18:33,945 --> 00:18:35,295 Don't get too quiet on me now. 328 00:18:35,745 --> 00:18:37,725 Let's go back to Mark chapter 10 here. 329 00:18:37,875 --> 00:18:40,365 It says, Jesus looked at him and remember he looked at him. 330 00:18:40,365 --> 00:18:41,955 He says, Hey, go sell everything. 331 00:18:41,955 --> 00:18:44,685 No, he is not calling everybody to sell, but he calls it for him 332 00:18:44,685 --> 00:18:47,865 because that's the one thing that he knows that he needs to give up. 333 00:18:47,955 --> 00:18:50,595 He says, then come follow me. 334 00:18:51,165 --> 00:18:53,895 Jesus invites him to relationship. 335 00:18:55,035 --> 00:18:57,945 Hey, come follow me. 336 00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:05,010 He invites him not to a list of rules, not to some restrictive religion 337 00:19:05,010 --> 00:19:09,480 and some restrictive lifestyle, but he invites him to relationship. 338 00:19:12,149 --> 00:19:15,300 And you see the man, he had religion, but he didn't have relationship. 339 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,534 He wanted heaven, but he didn't want the one from heaven, and 340 00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:24,420 he walks away from the relationship. 341 00:19:25,965 --> 00:19:28,305 He didn't walk away from his religion. 342 00:19:29,115 --> 00:19:32,625 He didn't walk away from his faith, but he walked away from the 343 00:19:32,625 --> 00:19:34,005 one who was the author of Faith. 344 00:19:37,365 --> 00:19:42,675 You see, the main part of doing it right is this whole relationship thing. 345 00:19:44,085 --> 00:19:47,925 That's the main ingredient and the main components of this God thing. 346 00:19:47,985 --> 00:19:49,965 It's about a relationship. 347 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,860 And we even see this even some more in Mark. 348 00:19:52,860 --> 00:19:54,840 As Jesus continues, let's continue. 349 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,560 He says, Jesus looked around at his disciples and he said, how hard is it 350 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:00,780 for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? 351 00:20:00,810 --> 00:20:02,129 The disciples were amazed. 352 00:20:02,129 --> 00:20:02,370 What? 353 00:20:02,370 --> 00:20:03,510 What did he just say? 354 00:20:03,629 --> 00:20:05,370 The rich can't enter the kingdom of God. 355 00:20:05,460 --> 00:20:07,590 I thought if you were rich, God bless you. 356 00:20:07,590 --> 00:20:08,850 You had God's favor. 357 00:20:10,169 --> 00:20:14,040 But Jesus said again, children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. 358 00:20:14,100 --> 00:20:17,850 It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone 359 00:20:17,850 --> 00:20:19,530 who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. 360 00:20:19,679 --> 00:20:21,689 Everybody like, well, that's impossible. 361 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,969 A camel can't go through a eye of a needle. 362 00:20:23,969 --> 00:20:25,439 What are you talking about? 363 00:20:25,649 --> 00:20:27,780 The disciples are even more amazed and said to each other, 364 00:20:27,959 --> 00:20:29,429 well then who can be saved? 365 00:20:29,429 --> 00:20:34,500 Then Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible, but not with God. 366 00:20:34,860 --> 00:20:37,379 All things are possible with God. 367 00:20:38,175 --> 00:20:39,615 We gotta remember that verse, y'all. 368 00:20:40,305 --> 00:20:41,865 All things are possible with God. 369 00:20:42,075 --> 00:20:43,755 It was possible for that rich young ruler. 370 00:20:43,755 --> 00:20:46,515 It's possible for you, it's possible for every soul. 371 00:20:47,415 --> 00:20:49,875 But he continues in verse 28, and Peter spoke up. 372 00:20:49,935 --> 00:20:52,545 We have left everything to follow you. 373 00:20:54,945 --> 00:20:58,455 Truly, I tell you, Jesus replied, no one who has left home or brothers 374 00:20:58,455 --> 00:21:02,445 or sisters, or mother or father or children or fields for me. 375 00:21:03,570 --> 00:21:06,870 And the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present 376 00:21:06,870 --> 00:21:11,160 age, Holmes brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, along with persecutions 377 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,390 and in the age to come eternal life with many who are first will be last, and 378 00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:17,850 the last first will stop right there. 379 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:19,320 Did you catch that? 380 00:21:19,380 --> 00:21:20,520 Peter says, Hey, you know what? 381 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,730 We left everything to follow you. 382 00:21:24,990 --> 00:21:26,490 And Jesus says, Hey, guess what? 383 00:21:26,490 --> 00:21:31,200 Everybody here if you've sacrificed anything for me. 384 00:21:32,399 --> 00:21:34,170 I'm gonna reward you in the present. 385 00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:40,080 And for all eternity, Jesus points them to himself. 386 00:21:40,740 --> 00:21:45,360 The disciples at this time weren't trying to follow a religion or a set of rules. 387 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,930 They were trying to follow the one who invited them to a relationship. 388 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:53,520 And so here's the thing here, brothers and sisters, here's what it 389 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,360 comes down to is that Christianity is not about a what, but who. 390 00:21:57,420 --> 00:22:01,230 Ooh, Christianity is not about a what? 391 00:22:01,260 --> 00:22:02,340 What should I do? 392 00:22:02,430 --> 00:22:07,110 It's about a who and that who being Christ himself. 393 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:11,580 You see Christianity while Christ is craziness. 394 00:22:13,470 --> 00:22:15,960 You don't even have Christianity if you take Christ out of the word. 395 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:17,700 Are you with me there, Chris? 396 00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:18,510 You caught that one. 397 00:22:21,060 --> 00:22:26,700 You see, it's all about a focus in on Jesus. 398 00:22:27,870 --> 00:22:29,430 That's what this God thing is about. 399 00:22:30,210 --> 00:22:32,730 It's about a relationship with Jesus. 400 00:22:32,730 --> 00:22:37,680 It's about becoming more like Jesus in our character and in our nature. 401 00:22:37,770 --> 00:22:44,100 It's about working alongside Jesus in his work to redeem all of creation. 402 00:22:45,165 --> 00:22:48,945 And this life that Jesus offers again, isn't one of restriction. 403 00:22:48,945 --> 00:22:52,125 We can have some stinking thinking, thinking, man, following Jesus 404 00:22:52,125 --> 00:22:53,925 means this life of restriction. 405 00:22:53,985 --> 00:23:00,465 It's actually one that produces freedom and security because it's in relationship. 406 00:23:02,115 --> 00:23:05,985 Think about the people that you're close to use your, your best friend. 407 00:23:05,985 --> 00:23:11,565 For example, my, my best friend, uh, by the grace of God is, is my wife Karina. 408 00:23:12,390 --> 00:23:13,440 She's my best friend. 409 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:14,580 And y'all tell her I said that. 410 00:23:14,580 --> 00:23:14,850 Okay. 411 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,670 Because she gonna have some other things to be mad about Maia and be like, okay, 412 00:23:20,670 --> 00:23:21,720 well you did that one thing right? 413 00:23:23,460 --> 00:23:24,750 You know, after. 414 00:23:25,740 --> 00:23:29,550 And part of the reason why I didn't marry her was because of our, our, our, our, our 415 00:23:29,550 --> 00:23:30,960 friendship, our relationship that we had. 416 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,950 But after we got married, after there was a full commitment. 417 00:23:35,865 --> 00:23:39,615 20 years ago, our relationship got better, but it also became 418 00:23:39,615 --> 00:23:41,774 more freeing in our relationship. 419 00:23:42,675 --> 00:23:45,105 I was no longer trying to impress her. 420 00:23:45,524 --> 00:23:50,445 I'm like, girl, you already said yes, but I wasn't trying to impress her 421 00:23:50,504 --> 00:23:52,935 and I wasn't nervous and insecure. 422 00:23:52,995 --> 00:23:53,324 Uh oh. 423 00:23:53,324 --> 00:23:55,395 If I do this, will it mess it everything up? 424 00:23:55,395 --> 00:23:56,595 Will it blow up? 425 00:23:57,044 --> 00:23:57,375 Why? 426 00:23:57,375 --> 00:24:00,435 Because of the commitment to the relationship actually 427 00:24:00,435 --> 00:24:03,645 made me more free and secure. 428 00:24:04,665 --> 00:24:08,595 Before the commitment, Hey, there could be some insecurity and uncertainty 429 00:24:08,685 --> 00:24:09,915 because we're not fully committed. 430 00:24:09,975 --> 00:24:11,205 Are you with me here? 431 00:24:11,925 --> 00:24:13,635 Thinking about your close friends? 432 00:24:13,635 --> 00:24:15,945 Maybe it's your spouse, your your best friend from 20 433 00:24:15,945 --> 00:24:17,055 years, whatever the case is. 434 00:24:17,205 --> 00:24:20,715 As you guys built this relationship and you understood, we're down for each 435 00:24:20,715 --> 00:24:25,125 other, that's my ride or die, whatever the case is, it made you more free in the 436 00:24:25,125 --> 00:24:30,915 relationship to show the ugly, to show the bad, and to rejoice over the good. 437 00:24:31,574 --> 00:24:33,794 You didn't feel restricted in that relationship. 438 00:24:33,855 --> 00:24:39,975 You actually felt freedom and security because of the 439 00:24:39,975 --> 00:24:42,705 commitment in the relationship. 440 00:24:43,395 --> 00:24:45,524 The same with Jesus. 441 00:24:45,675 --> 00:24:50,175 When we commit in the relationship, there's freedom. 442 00:24:50,730 --> 00:24:53,790 In Christ, perfect love dries out fear. 443 00:24:53,790 --> 00:24:58,410 The scripture tells us when we have this relationship, we don't have to fear. 444 00:24:58,410 --> 00:24:59,040 Oh no. 445 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:03,360 Where am I at with you, God, because everyone likes and enjoys you. 446 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:03,840 Notice that. 447 00:25:05,580 --> 00:25:09,120 So what I'm saying here is when you're in a relationship and you're 448 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:13,500 committed, you oftentimes do things that maybe they're not your preference, 449 00:25:13,650 --> 00:25:14,970 but you start to do them with them. 450 00:25:14,970 --> 00:25:18,240 And over time you even start to enjoy and like some of those things. 451 00:25:19,410 --> 00:25:20,670 I seen that, you know what I mean? 452 00:25:20,670 --> 00:25:23,070 Like, I, I, I got Karina listening to a lot more rap 453 00:25:23,070 --> 00:25:24,389 music than she probably used to. 454 00:25:26,010 --> 00:25:28,980 She's into basketball more than she's used to, and she, she likes sports, you 455 00:25:28,980 --> 00:25:32,340 know, but I'm into certain things that I, I'm like, oh man, I, I would never 456 00:25:32,340 --> 00:25:34,170 do this, but because I love you, girl. 457 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,540 But the more we get closer to God, guess what? 458 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,280 We start to like what he likes. 459 00:25:42,450 --> 00:25:44,400 We start to enjoy what he enjoys. 460 00:25:45,375 --> 00:25:45,794 Guess what? 461 00:25:45,794 --> 00:25:52,455 We start to become more like him and our character and in our nature. 462 00:25:53,865 --> 00:25:56,625 And so how do we know when this God thing is on straight? 463 00:25:56,655 --> 00:26:00,405 It's when we're becoming more like Jesus. 464 00:26:01,514 --> 00:26:05,955 Our relationship leads to taking on the traits of others. 465 00:26:06,524 --> 00:26:09,435 I remember there was a time I noticed this when, when, uh, my oldest brother, uh, um. 466 00:26:10,740 --> 00:26:13,440 And moved back from Arizona and we were spending a lot more time together. 467 00:26:13,620 --> 00:26:16,500 And my oldest brother has a certain kind of laugh and for some odd 468 00:26:16,500 --> 00:26:18,270 reason I started to laugh like him. 469 00:26:19,050 --> 00:26:21,480 And my mom was like, can you stop laughing like that? 470 00:26:21,990 --> 00:26:23,310 You sound like your older brother. 471 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,740 And I've seen that and I've seen this in in my relationships, and I even got 472 00:26:28,740 --> 00:26:30,090 this thing that I'm trying to stop. 473 00:26:30,090 --> 00:26:33,150 I love my boy Martin Shires, but he does this thing with his hands. 474 00:26:33,660 --> 00:26:35,790 Have you ever noticed that he does that? 475 00:26:36,180 --> 00:26:38,460 And I saw myself doing this and I was like, stop. 476 00:26:40,185 --> 00:26:43,605 But it's because we've been spending this time together that we start 477 00:26:43,605 --> 00:26:48,435 to take on each other's traits, and guess what happens spiritually? 478 00:26:49,815 --> 00:26:52,935 When we spend more and more time in relationship with Jesus, we start to 479 00:26:52,935 --> 00:27:00,435 take on his traits again, becoming more like Jesus, building in our relationship, 480 00:27:01,305 --> 00:27:08,235 and then we spiritually, day, week, and years, start to become more like Jesus. 481 00:27:09,015 --> 00:27:16,185 So again, Christianity's not about a what's but who and why is this important? 482 00:27:16,875 --> 00:27:21,105 Because we can be getting this thing wrong and we could be missing 483 00:27:21,105 --> 00:27:26,025 out for today, but we also could be missing out for all eternity. 484 00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:29,475 We don't know what happened to the rich young ruler. 485 00:27:29,475 --> 00:27:32,595 The fact that we never hear about him makes me think it didn't, 486 00:27:32,775 --> 00:27:33,915 it didn't go well for him. 487 00:27:35,355 --> 00:27:36,825 And what a tragic story it is. 488 00:27:38,220 --> 00:27:40,830 You and I have the opportunity to respond differently. 489 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,230 We have the opportunity to go. 490 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:49,710 Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but now I can focus in on Christ and I can do it right. 491 00:27:51,030 --> 00:27:52,680 You know, I've been at all these stages. 492 00:27:52,830 --> 00:27:57,120 As I mentioned earlier, before I became a Christian, I was wilding out. 493 00:27:57,300 --> 00:27:59,970 I was way out there knee deep, not even knee deep in sin. 494 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:01,470 I was neck deep in sin. 495 00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:05,610 And by God's grace, I had a time where I decided, you know what I, 496 00:28:05,610 --> 00:28:06,990 I need to become more religious. 497 00:28:07,710 --> 00:28:10,770 And, uh, and so I end up becoming more religious. 498 00:28:10,770 --> 00:28:14,370 I didn't fully commit to Christ, but I became more religious and I 499 00:28:14,370 --> 00:28:18,120 feel like I became like the rich young ruler and I became religious. 500 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:22,530 But there was all this, there was always this idea that I don't really know 501 00:28:22,530 --> 00:28:24,150 if I'm doing this God thing, right? 502 00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:28,170 And I knew it, but then my pride wouldn't accept it. 503 00:28:28,380 --> 00:28:30,120 But then I knew it deep down. 504 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:31,860 You, you, you guys understand what I'm saying? 505 00:28:32,460 --> 00:28:37,110 And so in, in 2001, uh, over at Howard University, I was doing an exchange 506 00:28:37,110 --> 00:28:39,510 program, uh, by God's grace and mercy. 507 00:28:39,510 --> 00:28:42,750 I started studying the Bible with some member members of our church 508 00:28:42,750 --> 00:28:46,320 in Washington, dc and as we were there, we're studying the scriptures. 509 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,540 I'm like, man, I haven't been doing this right. 510 00:28:49,050 --> 00:28:49,710 And you know what? 511 00:28:49,710 --> 00:28:51,600 I haven't been doing this right my whole life. 512 00:28:52,230 --> 00:28:54,630 I didn't even know about these things. 513 00:28:55,635 --> 00:28:56,925 Then I decided, you know what? 514 00:28:56,925 --> 00:28:59,865 I'm gonna pursue Jesus and follow Jesus. 515 00:28:59,865 --> 00:29:04,095 And by God's grace on May 1st, 2001, I got baptized into Christ 516 00:29:04,125 --> 00:29:05,625 and became a new creation. 517 00:29:07,575 --> 00:29:14,835 But after 24 years, God has used many people to bring me back to focus in on 518 00:29:14,835 --> 00:29:19,185 Christ, because many times I have veered in my perspective or in my practice. 519 00:29:20,175 --> 00:29:25,185 And this Holy Spirit through the word has convicted me and reminded me, and 520 00:29:25,185 --> 00:29:30,014 still to this day, continually convicts me and reminds me, make it about Christ. 521 00:29:31,245 --> 00:29:34,065 Even as I was thinking about preaching, uh, I think maybe it was 522 00:29:34,065 --> 00:29:35,205 yesterday, I can't even remember. 523 00:29:35,355 --> 00:29:38,535 I was like, man, I was starting to think about me. 524 00:29:39,315 --> 00:29:41,625 How am I gonna look man? 525 00:29:41,625 --> 00:29:45,405 The people who came to East, are they gonna come back to hear me? 526 00:29:46,335 --> 00:29:48,825 And guy's like, it's not about you. 527 00:29:48,900 --> 00:29:48,990 Right. 528 00:29:49,830 --> 00:29:51,840 It's about me. 529 00:29:52,710 --> 00:29:55,440 And so God has been reminding me, he refines me. 530 00:29:55,980 --> 00:29:59,520 And so the question for the our brothers and sisters is, am I 531 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,310 doing this God thing rights? 532 00:30:04,590 --> 00:30:08,970 And for some of us, am I still doing this God thing? 533 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:10,020 Rights. 534 00:30:10,830 --> 00:30:14,790 Again, Christianity is not about a what, but who. 535 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,070 So how should we respond? 536 00:30:17,430 --> 00:30:24,150 I believe it's this, it's to pursue Jesus again, pursuing Jesus. 537 00:30:24,810 --> 00:30:27,060 Will we pursue a relationship? 538 00:30:27,090 --> 00:30:27,930 We pursue? 539 00:30:27,930 --> 00:30:33,180 Focusing in on getting to know Jesus, adopting his mission for 540 00:30:33,180 --> 00:30:38,190 our life and, and working alongside Jesus in his great commission. 541 00:30:38,550 --> 00:30:39,210 And guess what? 542 00:30:39,210 --> 00:30:40,740 We all need help with this. 543 00:30:40,740 --> 00:30:42,060 None of us can do this alone. 544 00:30:42,210 --> 00:30:44,490 That's that private faith that we were talking about. 545 00:30:45,780 --> 00:30:52,350 We all need help in this, so I encourage you to seek help in pursuing Jesus. 546 00:30:52,410 --> 00:30:53,670 That's not a bad thing. 547 00:30:53,730 --> 00:30:55,830 That's the way God designed it. 548 00:30:56,700 --> 00:31:01,710 Ask for prayers and wisdom for certain areas, but we pursue Jesus 549 00:31:01,710 --> 00:31:03,720 by making Christianity about Christ. 550 00:31:07,445 --> 00:31:09,030 Let's get real practical here. 551 00:31:09,270 --> 00:31:09,930 Are you still with me? 552 00:31:09,930 --> 00:31:10,470 Church? 553 00:31:10,500 --> 00:31:13,170 Yeah, let's get some action steps here for the week. 554 00:31:13,170 --> 00:31:17,010 First one here, reflect on the signs of doing it wrong. 555 00:31:17,430 --> 00:31:18,300 I want you to do this. 556 00:31:18,300 --> 00:31:19,410 Don't wait till Wednesday. 557 00:31:19,410 --> 00:31:20,460 Don't wait till Tuesday. 558 00:31:20,460 --> 00:31:21,990 Do it today or do it tomorrow. 559 00:31:22,770 --> 00:31:24,000 It's to reflect. 560 00:31:24,510 --> 00:31:26,820 Hey, are any of these things me right now? 561 00:31:27,780 --> 00:31:32,190 Rules based morality, focus, convenient commitment, self-centered private faith, 562 00:31:32,305 --> 00:31:34,165 church over Christ, or belief only. 563 00:31:34,965 --> 00:31:38,865 Is to go ahead and ask yourself and to reflect and answer it. 564 00:31:38,865 --> 00:31:43,845 Honestly, the worst thing we can do is when we're dishonest with ourselves, well, 565 00:31:43,845 --> 00:31:45,495 we just don't want to face the truth. 566 00:31:46,275 --> 00:31:49,365 It's like looking in the mirror and go, no, I just don't wanna face that. 567 00:31:49,425 --> 00:31:50,685 It doesn't make sense. 568 00:31:51,795 --> 00:31:55,935 Look in the mirror, accept it so that God can move you to his direction. 569 00:31:56,595 --> 00:32:00,615 But after we do this, here's the second part here, is to go ahead here and 570 00:32:00,615 --> 00:32:02,565 take a practical step to pursue Jesus. 571 00:32:03,615 --> 00:32:08,205 A practical step for some of us that's making a decision to study the Bible. 572 00:32:08,205 --> 00:32:10,905 Appreciate Anna sharing how once she studied the Bible, she 573 00:32:10,905 --> 00:32:12,945 came to know the real Jesus. 574 00:32:12,945 --> 00:32:18,585 Not a tradition, not a culture, but Jesus and who he is, what he's done, 575 00:32:18,585 --> 00:32:20,655 and what he's calling us all to. 576 00:32:21,105 --> 00:32:23,385 For others, that's making a decision to repent. 577 00:32:23,565 --> 00:32:28,185 Whatever are the distractions, I'm going to make a decision to address those, 578 00:32:28,185 --> 00:32:29,835 confront those, and get rid of those. 579 00:32:30,495 --> 00:32:33,075 Maybe it's to study out Jesus in the gospels. 580 00:32:33,195 --> 00:32:33,675 You know what? 581 00:32:33,675 --> 00:32:35,115 I need to get focused in on him. 582 00:32:35,265 --> 00:32:38,685 So let me just go to the gospels, let me get reacclimated with my Lord. 583 00:32:38,895 --> 00:32:42,105 Let me see what he was like so I can become more like him so I 584 00:32:42,105 --> 00:32:44,265 can join him in his good work. 585 00:32:44,895 --> 00:32:47,895 Regardless, we need to pray and get some help. 586 00:32:48,945 --> 00:32:51,675 So as we take a practical step, God show me. 587 00:32:51,675 --> 00:32:52,125 And you know what? 588 00:32:52,125 --> 00:32:53,205 Let me get some input. 589 00:32:53,565 --> 00:32:57,255 Hey, what can I do to take a practical step this week? 590 00:32:57,705 --> 00:32:59,865 To pursue Jesus. 591 00:33:01,305 --> 00:33:08,835 Imagine the freedom, the security, the fulfillment, and the joy that can start, 592 00:33:08,835 --> 00:33:14,265 that you can start to experience in this life and in your faith, and you 593 00:33:14,265 --> 00:33:17,055 can stay the course for all of eternity. 594 00:33:18,165 --> 00:33:20,805 This is why important that we just don't like this today, 595 00:33:21,255 --> 00:33:22,785 but that we implement it today. 596 00:33:24,075 --> 00:33:25,605 Am I doing this right? 597 00:33:26,504 --> 00:33:29,235 Next week we're gonna talk about, am I doing relationship? 598 00:33:29,625 --> 00:33:31,425 Am I doing this relationship stuff right? 599 00:33:31,995 --> 00:33:34,545 So please come on back and join us for that. 600 00:33:34,935 --> 00:33:38,805 But let us learn from Jesus and let us learn from the rich young ruler 601 00:33:38,955 --> 00:33:44,055 today that we could be doing many things right, but still get it wrong. 602 00:33:44,595 --> 00:33:48,615 However, in God's grace and mercy, he's calling us to do it right, 603 00:33:49,095 --> 00:33:51,405 and that's by focusing in on Jesus. 604 00:33:51,915 --> 00:33:56,715 Focusing on how we can get him to be more of our Lord and Savior, 605 00:33:56,715 --> 00:34:01,725 not just in theory, but him to be our character and our nature. 606 00:34:02,385 --> 00:34:06,075 And when we focus in on him, then we will get our life right. 607 00:34:06,315 --> 00:34:07,575 We'll get our faith right. 608 00:34:07,875 --> 00:34:11,685 We'll get this God thing right, and we'll get eternity rights. 609 00:34:13,290 --> 00:34:17,070 So let's close out with this last passage, which I believe captures 610 00:34:17,070 --> 00:34:19,620 this for us in Hebrews chapter 12. 611 00:34:19,770 --> 00:34:21,510 It says this in verse two. 612 00:34:21,510 --> 00:34:24,480 I'm reading from the, uh, the old school 1984 version. 613 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:30,239 It says, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith for 614 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:34,949 the joy set before in he endured the cross scorn in his shame and sat down 615 00:34:34,949 --> 00:34:38,310 at the right hand of the throne of God. 616 00:34:38,909 --> 00:34:42,630 Brother says, I pray that we may all do this God thing, right? 617 00:34:42,690 --> 00:34:43,080 Amen.