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All right, well, guys, welcome. We are actually starting the

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second portion of our year series. So

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over the last several months, we have been in

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the side of abide, and we're about to start with

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Arise today. And then in the fall, we're going to be going into

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advance. And so I'm excited about where the Lord is

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going to take us in this, and I hope that you are, too.

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We're gonna read one scripture today. One scripture. And because

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it's one, I'm gonna ask you to read it twice. So if you'll stand with

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me, we're gonna read that. The first time you read this, I want you to

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read it and you go, oh, that's the scripture we're reading. And then

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the second time you read it, I want you to read it like, oh, that's

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the scripture we're reading. Okay, are you ready? Here we go. Let's read it together.

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Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not

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receive the kingdom of God like a little child will.

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Will never enter it. Whoa. Let's say it again.

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Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not

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receive the kingdom like a little child.

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Father, I thank you for your word. And I thank you for its truth. I

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pray, Lord, that it would transform us today. I pray, Lord, that you would speak

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to our hearts today, God and Lord, as you do the work,

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Lord, help everything that I'm saying, that's nonsense, fall to the ground. But those things

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you have stick for eternity in Jesus name. And everybody said,

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amen. Amen. So we have spent this year,

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the first quarter, talking about the principle of abiding

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and abiding. If I were to sum it up in one phrase,

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abiding is this. Jesus is your source.

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Jesus is your source. John 15 tells us. He says, I

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am the vine and you are the branches. And as we step

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into arise, what we're looking at is coming from the

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vine as we are the branches. We're looking at this budding

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that's happening on the branches. And as it starts to

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bud, we're going to find out what it is that's supposed to happen during this

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season of spiritual maturity in the Lord as

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we have surrendered to him being our source. Now, if you're anything like

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me, I have the propensity of whenever I'm given a green

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light, man, I wanna take off and go, I'm just ready to. I'm ready

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to run. And what I believe some of us as

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believers have also the propensity to do is to do the same

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thing whenever we have surrendered our lives to The Lord we say,

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lord, I fully recognize that you are my source.

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Now what do you want me to do? Now what do you want

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me to do? And so we become, real quickly human

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doers instead of human beings.

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And we're gonna learn a little bit about what that first step looks like. And

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it may not be what you think it

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is. As we step into this arise now, if you can transform

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your back to the beginning of the year, the beginning of the series. And

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let me tell you something, I know you've slept. I know some of you don't

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even remember what you did yesterday. So I'm gonna remind you what that looked like

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back then. But we were talking about, we live in this Kingdom of

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God culture in the context of this broader

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world that doesn't want really anything to do with the Kingdom of God. And that

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can be hard. That can pose some

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challenges because the context with which we live, we're rubbing

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elbows at work, at school, at the grocery stor,

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people who do not ascribe to biblical principles and wanna

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shove their way of living down your throat

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every chance that they get. And so here you are trying to really own and

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learn biblical truth, biblical standards of living, a

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biblical worldview. Yet you're in this context of this world. And

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it can be a bit of a struggle at times. But

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here's the thing. The question that we have to ask ourselves in the midst of

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that as we acknowledge it, is this. Will we be

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formed by the world we live in, or will we be rooted

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in the kingdom to which we belong? This is the question that we asked at

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the beginning of the year. And it's gonna play a role in it. Played

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a role in abide, it's gonna play a role in arise, and it's gonna play

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a role in advance as well. Will we be formed by the world

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we live in, or will we be rooted in the kingdom

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to which we belong? And so what my hope is is as we mature and

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grow in the Lord in this series, and then we get into advance, we're actually

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gonna look when a believer takes a

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stand for biblical truth, we're actually going to look at what it actually looks like.

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What is the action point that happens that's going to come in advance. But

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here's the thing, we got a lot of spiritual surgery that needs

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to happen inside us before we get to this place where the Lord releases us

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to go. And so my hope is that

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as we get in this middle section, that the Lord begins to really do a

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work inside us, because we've been In a place where we say, God, I now

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fully acknowledge you as the source. That's where it starts,

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acknowledging you are the source. I'm not the source. My

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friends are not the source. The TV is not the source.

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Social media is not the source. God, you are the source. You're the

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source of my life. So will we be formed by the world

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or will we be rooted in the kingdom to which we belong?

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Okay, so we're going from this place of abide to

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arise. And in order to do that, I believe we have to go

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all the way back to Genesis. We have to go back to

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the beginning. Did you know that in the beginning, God

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created the heavens and the earth? In

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the beginning, God created. In other words, this idea

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was always God's. This idea was always

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his. In the beginning, he created. Day one, God said,

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let there be light. And there was light. And so he

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created day and night. And you know what he said after that? He said,

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day two, he created the sky and the heavens. And after he got done with

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that, you know what he said? It's good. Then he

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created the land, the sea and the plants. And after he was done creating

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those things, you know what he said? It's good. You're catching on.

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The sun, moon and the stars on day four. And God created it

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and said, then he created the fish and the

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birds. And after he did that, on that day, he said,

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and then day six, he created animals and he

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breathed into man. And he said, you know what

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this tells me? Everything God created is good.

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Everything that God does and has a hand in

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is good. Because God inherently,

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He is good. There is no strain, There was

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no effort. Real effort, no real resistance.

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Beginning only authority and completion. With God's sovereignty

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on display. God was providing order.

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God was the provision. He was the

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completion of all things. God creates the world. He

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forms man. And he breathes life into

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man. And as we see man there laying down, and I want

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you to jump and parallel from John 15 to Genesis 1,

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he says, I am the vine, you are the branches. In

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Genesis 1, God breathes into man. He breathes into man.

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And guess what that breath is? It is the source of life. It's the

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source of life. So we're drawing from, from the beginning, we've always

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supposed to been drawing from God. We've always supposed to been drawing from

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God. And here's the thing. He breathes breath into man. Man breathes

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and he gets up. And guess what? The first thing

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Adam breath gets to experience with God, the

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very first thing that Adam gets To experience with God

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is rest. What?

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Wait a second. I mean, I would

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think if God is breathing into Adam for the first time,

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I mean, if it was me and I'm laying there and he's breathing into Kevin

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for the first time, I want to get up and start running. Let's go, game

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on, Start taking on. Let's start doing stuff. Let's start doing stuff. I want

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to do it. I want to get. I want to get into it, right? But

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the very first thing that humankind,

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mankind gets to witness is listen to this.

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A completed creation

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and a God resting. Not because

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God was exhausted, not because God needed

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to take a break. He was resting so that

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he could enjoy the beauty of what he had

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created. God is resting from a place

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of enjoyment of his creation, and man

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comes on the scene, and the first thing man sees is God

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enjoying the beauty of what he created. I want to

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suggest to you today that the first man, the first

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thing that takes place as you have submitted and surrendered your life

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and said, he is my source, the very first thing that happens is God

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invites you on a journey of rest in him. The very

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first thing that takes place is not take up your swords, look at your

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ability, look at your talents, look at the platform. He

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says, no, the first thing that we do is we rest in everything

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that he's created. He is the source. He is

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God, and we. And we are not.

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God's intention was always this. You

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don't carry this.

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You are supposed to trust me, says the Lord with it.

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See, when it comes to rest, guys, we tend to view

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rest through the lens of the, of recovery.

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In other words, okay, if somebody says rest, it's, I'm tired,

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so rest. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to rest.

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I'm anxious, so I'm going to. I'm going to rest. I'm empty, so I'm going

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to rest. Guys, can I tell you, Adam was not tired. He was

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not overloaded, he was not empty. He was not anxious.

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And this tells us that rest is a part

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of God's design. Rest is a

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part of. In other words, your creator

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created you. And an aspect of you from

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the very jump is supposed to be this rest,

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this beautiful, wonderful rest that

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happens naturally. But here's the thing. We live in a

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culture that fights tooth and nail against this principle of

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rest, tooth and nail

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against rest. I've been on staff

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in some way for about 15 years here, but for the last five,

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a little bit over five years, I've been in this position. And

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after year one, I remember we were going to an admin board meeting,

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and we've got a fantastic admin board here at the church. Really

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has served us well for a very long time. And we're going in there

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to do the year review. Now, I'm walking in from the lens of, okay, this

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is the first year around the. You know, this is my first circle around this

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thing, and we're reviewing how things are going and all that stuff. But the Lord

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says to me, kevin, when you go into that admirable meeting, I want you to

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tell them that you're supposed to take a month off. And I

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go, oh, I can't do that. Who goes into a new

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position? And after less than one year, you go, hey, guys, I just

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want to let you know, I'm supposed to take a month off.

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I was nervous, and now I know these brothers, but I'm like, what

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are they going? Lord, I can't go in there. And can we wait at least

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five or six years in. I mean, go in there. I mean. Or, okay,

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how about a week? Can I take a week off? You know? No. He said,

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I want you to go in there, and I want you to tell them I

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want you to take a month off. So I went in there. I

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was so nervous. I don't know that they know this, but, I mean, I was

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sweating. I was like, in there. And I said, okay, guys, well, thank you. We've

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reviewed the whole thing. Things are going well. And I said, okay, I don't really

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know how this works, but God told me and

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Shari that we're supposed to take an entire month off this next year.

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And do you know, like, the minute the sentence left my mouth, there

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was an amen on the table. Like, it was as if the

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Lord had already prepared their heart in their mind, like they had already gotten

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there before I had gotten there. And I want you to know that it

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wasn't me presenting this because I was exhausted. I wasn't.

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In fact, I was actually opposite. I was geared up and I

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was raring to go for the next year. I'm like, what are you

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talking about? Rest? Here's the thing.

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Sabbatical. The principle of sabbatical, typically culturally,

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is assigned to someone who gets identified. As you're worn

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out, you're depleted, and so now you need to take some time off.

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But how much better is it for the pastoral team to serve you

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from a position of proactive rest than reactive

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whenever there are down in the ditches, worn out?

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And so we went on this sabbatical and can I tell you, for the first

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time in my life, I remember turning off my cell phone,

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completely backing out of everything. And it

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was the most wonderful time that Shari and I have ever

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experienced with each other and more importantly, with the Lord.

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And the Lord downloaded me to me principles and things

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that I needed for this house. And I came back

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and I was ready to march into that admin board and say, I think three

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months will be the ticket next year.

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I was so thankful for that time off. I was so thankful

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for that time of rest. Now I went to the staff and said, the admin

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board has also given permission for you to take off. And guess what? It was

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met with resistance. Some of the staff said, I don't want to do it.

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I'm not going to do it. This is. I don't know that to say this

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is dumb. But they said, you know, this is weird. Do you know what

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FOMO is? Right? I mean, I don't want to miss

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out. Okay? And so there was a little bit back and forth about this whole

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principle of rest. But here's the thing, that's a natural response

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because we are culturally conditioned not

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to rest. We are culturally

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conditioned not to be able to slow down

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and actually take time. And as these staff members began to

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get into a place of sabbatical, guess what they realized,

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Whoa. What is it like to go into a place of

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rest when you're not depleted? What can the Lord actually speak to you during

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that time to get you ready to come back and really run?

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I'm so grateful that we go to a church with the leadership that sees the

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value in the leadership resting in the pastoral

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team, resting guys culture says it's

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uncomfortable to rest. When somebody comes to us and

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suggests, hey, you need to take some time and rest, our

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defense mechanisms kick right in. It's like

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we've been wronged in some way by somebody saying, you might want to consider

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resting guys, we were never designed to manage

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our life's outcomes. We were designed to live dependent

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on the one who already holds everything together.

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And if you don't understand that basic principle,

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you will spend your entire life trying to do God's

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job for him. Here's the thing.

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Something tends to happen to believers who have been around

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the track a number of times, who have heard the word, who have gotten into

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a Bible reading plan. We begin to understand

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the language, we begin to see the patterns, we begin to

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recognize the platitudes, we begin to get into all of the

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minutia, and we end up, listen to this if we're not careful, we

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end up moving from a place of dependence from confidence to

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understanding, and from understanding

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to confidence. But the confidence is

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not in him. Our confidence, listen to this.

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Is what we think we know about Him.

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And so we begin to order our life, not dependent on the

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Lord, but out of the confidence in what we think we know about

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Him. Are you with me? And so, so

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this, I believe, is where the disciples are. And so the

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Lord took me to Luke chapter 17. If you have your word, you can go

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there. Luke 17, 18. And what I wanna pay

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attention to here we've done on Thursday nights, the letters in red.

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Well, today I wanna look at the letters in black. So the letters

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in red are what Jesus says, and that's where we really need to

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draw from. But the letters in black actually give

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not only context to what Jesus is saying, it also is the response,

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response of the disciples and the people around on what

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Jesus is saying. And we can fit into the shoes

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of the people and the writing in black. Okay, and so we're

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gonna get there in just a moment. But so the reason I'm picking up in

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Luke 17 is because the previous chapters, Jesus is

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building and building and building a case for who he

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is, what he's doing. We see the parable of the lost coin, the lost sheep,

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the lost son. He's building all of these things. And Luke 17 is the

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first time we see these black letter come up. And there's a

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response from the disciples. And I want to start, I want to start in Luke

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17 because of that. So we open in

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Luke 17. Jesus has been walking with the disciples.

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He's building a case for himself. And let me say this first. I have

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been so noticing the thread of God in my life lately.

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I want you to know that if you will open your eyes, you will see

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the thread of God in your life. Our

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God, the one we serve. The God we serve, the God who breathes stars. He

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is super. He is ultra intentional.

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If you will pay attention, A connects to B connects to C, if you

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will pay attention. And what we tend to do with these scriptures is we take

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a parable and we plop it out of the context and then we teach on

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it. There's nothing wrong with that. We dive deep in that way. But I want

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you to understand, I believe that Jesus was on a mission with these

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disciples and he was showing them something. He was dismantling

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things all along the pathway that were not

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isolated moments. It was a journey together

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because he was trying to get them to a Place of utter

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dependence on him. Utter and complete dependence

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on him. And so we're opening Luke 17, and

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Jesus is here. And it is the part of Scripture where he's saying, if a

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brother sins against you, you ought to forgive him over

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and over and over and over again. How many have

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had to forgive somebody over and over and over again? And did you have to

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do it over again? And did you have to do it over again, again? And

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did you have to do it again, again, again? Here's the thing. It's okay. We're

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okay forgiving. We're okay forgiving again

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until the again comes. Are you with me? And here's what

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Jesus is doing in this moment, okay? He's saying, you need to

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forgive again. Okay? But here's the deal. I don't know about you.

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When I've gotten to a place where I have to forgive again, again,

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okay? I am sussing

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through such hurt, such woundedness, such

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brokenness and all this, that for me to forgive again, again,

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I actually have to draw from the source of God. So what's

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happening here is Jesus is saying, forgive again, again,

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again. But in order to forgive again, you're going to need to draw from

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me. Cause you're not going to be able to do it on your own strength.

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And let me tell you something, if you do it on your own strength, you're

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probably gonna have strings attached. Jeremy, I forgive you, but I expect

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you to do X, Y and Z. No, that's not the forgiveness he's talking about.

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Forgive again, again, again. You're gonna need his

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strength, the source of life, to

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fuel you and work in your brokenness so that you can walk in true freedom

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and liberation and forgiveness. And so he's

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saying, forgive again, again, again. And here's where we see they say something

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for the very first time. They say this, Lord, increase

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our faith. That's the response. Lord, increase our faith.

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Now, I used to read this. I used to read this

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from the angle of. I thought this was a quantity thing, but I

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don't believe it is. I used to read this. In a way, it's kind of

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like, Hannah, you got faith at level five, so you need

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actually faith level seven to do this. Okay? You're not quite there. So just get

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some more in your tank and then you'll be able. Sam, you're at level three,

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and you need, like level eight to get here. So you need something to happen

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so you can kind of measure. And the reason

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I quantified it is because of what Jesus says next. He says if you have

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faith like a mustard seed. Right? Okay, I don't read it. This is

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how I kind of. I've kind of begun to read this. In this way

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they say, lord, increase our faith. And Jesus is saying, if you have faith like

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a mustard seed, you can move a mountain. In other words, you're not focused

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on the right thing. This isn't about you. Listen to

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this. This is the point. This isn't about you accumulating

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enough faith so you don't have to be with me anymore.

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Are you with me? It's not about quantity. It's not about, okay,

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my faith tank is full enough. So, Jesus, I don't need you until my faith

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tank is empty. He's saying, no, you must be dependent

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on me all of the time. You can't forgive again,

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again, again. Unless I'm the source.

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Faith, all you need is a little bit of faith. You can move a mountain.

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That's not even a big deal. Don't connect your. Don't

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disconnect yourself from me is what he's trying to do. Listen, he's taking them

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on a journey. These are that have walked and lived and

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breathed with Jesus, okay? So they're walking with him. He says, listen,

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listen, you need me as your source. The

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issue is not how much you have. The strength of your faith is

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revealed by the object of your trust. Because

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faith is revealed by how much you depend.

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Think about it. Your faith is revealed by how

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much you choose to depend on the source.

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I decided about five, six

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years ago, I decided I was gonna get some muscles. And they were

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selling these muscles at Lifetime Wellness, you know, on a package, you know,

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annual package, monthly package. And so I went over there and they

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said, you know, in order to get you some of these muscles, you're gonna have

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to meet with a guy named Spike. And Spike's gonna help you out. He's gonna

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do a consult with you. And so I went down to Lifetime Wellness

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and, you know, I sandwiched it. In my day, I had a meeting, like at

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12 and a meeting at 3, and I was at 2, and

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I get down to Lifetime Wellness and I'm like, okay, I got this tight window,

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but I'm gonna go in here and do this. And I go in there to

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the gym and I go up to the receptionist and Spike has

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left a packet of information for me to read. So I get up

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there and the lady says, if you'll just have a seat right here, here's some

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information for you. Spike will be right out. Now, I'm thinking To myself.

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I've got an appointment coming up right behind this, so I need Spike to be

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on time, okay? Now Spike is five eight, I'm five' eleven, I'm a little taller,

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but Spike is like, he walks like this. I mean, he's got the muscles on.

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He got muscles for sale, okay? He's just walking over, okay? And

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Spike, I'm waiting for Spike to come out and it's 20 minutes. And what I

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do is I sit down, listen to this. I sit down

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and I want to be productive.

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I want to do something. Like I'm not wanting to just sit.

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And so what I do is I grab my phone and I start to go

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through and answer emails and start to set up appointments, and

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guess what? About 2:10 I start getting upset. Why? Because Spike has not shown up

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yet. And so I'm like, I'm answering emails and I'm getting things done. I'm like,

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listen, I don't care if spike comes at 2:20, I'm not leaving here at 3:20.

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I have an appointment. He's got to get done in the 30 minute time. I

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mean, I'm like, what's going on? Okay, so I'm scrolling right here about

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2:20ish, Spike comes out the door. Now this is the first time I met Spike.

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First time I see him, he's walking out like this. Now here, when you see.

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I don't care how tall they are, you see a guy like this, you don't

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tell them you're mad at them. You just go, hey, hey, nice to meet you,

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Spike, you know, nice to meet you. Now internally I'm kind of like, man, you

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wasted 20 minutes of my time. What's going on? Right? So he comes out, he

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introduces himself, and we go down into the gym and he asked me, have you

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ever done a lunge? Okay? So he said, I'm gonna have you do these

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00:24:40,570 --> 00:24:44,250
lunges, okay? So I said, okay, now here's the thing. I'm wired to be an

401
00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:47,970
overachiever, okay? So I'm gonna do the best lunges

402
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I can do as fast as I can do them, right? So I get down

403
00:24:51,570 --> 00:24:55,330
and I'm like, whoosh, you know, whoosh, you know, I'm doing it

404
00:24:55,330 --> 00:24:57,370
all the way down and come all the way back. I'm like, yeah, here we

405
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go. He said, okay, great, do it again. Oh, okay, okay,

406
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yeah, let's do it again. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Back and forth, all the way back.

407
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Great. Okay, I need you to do it again. Oh, okay.

408
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Thought to myself, I'm gonna slow down a little bit this time.

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Whoosh. You know. Okay, so I'm

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doing it. He has me lift some things. He has me do some leg exercises.

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3 o' clock on the dot comes. He says, thank you for coming. You're just

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gonna need to go down the two flights of stairs to the bottom and get

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your checkout slip. And I will be emailing you what you need to do. Now.

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I had a couple things going off in my mind at that time. Three o',

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clock. I thought to myself, first of all, you cheated me on my hour. But

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I'm not saying that out loud. The second thing I thought to

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myself is, I'm so glad this is over, because I am tore up from the

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floor. I am so sore. I got over there to.

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And I tried to step down the first step, and

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I could not lift my leg.

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I mean, I'm serious. I could not lift my leg. So Here

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comes Spike, 5, 8. And he says, are you okay? I

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said, I can't lift my leg.

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Spike picks me up like a baby and

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walks me down five, eight, walks this five,

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eleven man down the two flights of steps in front of all of these hunky

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guys walking in, just ready to work out. I was so embarrassed.

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I said to myself, I will never be at the gym at two o' clock

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again. And so I get to school

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that day and I'm in so much pain. And how many know that you have

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friends in your life that like to broadcast your pain? Anybody? Okay, this

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is my friend.

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Have a good day. Oh,

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Shut up.

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We have adopted this mindset. I want to do it myself.

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See, here's the problem. That paperwork that Spike

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gave the first 20 minutes, it literally says in the

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instructions, take the first 20 minutes and do these stretches

439
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so you will not be in pain.

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You see, there's something that's supposed to be done before

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you get moving. There's a process. The Lord

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is intentional with our lives. He's intentional with what he's

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doing in our lives. And then that place of rest, there is

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stretching of your muscles. That's happening. There's things that he's doing

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to equip you and prepare you to advance. You can't

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skip from abiding to advancing. There's gotta be a place in the

447
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middle, which is the place where. So we start with

448
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,080
this thing that says, I want to do it myself. Now, the disciples are

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unintentionally working their way toward this

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I want to do it myself mentality. And Jesus is

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teaching them that the only way that this works

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is by depending on him. That's

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literally the lesson. He's saying, I need you to depend on me. So

454
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,390
we then go into the story about the servants,

455
00:28:25,180 --> 00:28:28,860
and he talks about servants who don't demand reward.

456
00:28:29,020 --> 00:28:32,820
Why? What he's doing here is he's dismantling

457
00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:36,620
this idea of entitlement. Have you ever met anybody

458
00:28:36,620 --> 00:28:40,220
who seemed entitled? So here's the thing.

459
00:28:40,459 --> 00:28:44,060
Listen, I've read the Bible a few times. I've been at church all my life.

460
00:28:44,060 --> 00:28:47,860
I've been around Christians, you know, so, yeah, I should have that

461
00:28:47,860 --> 00:28:51,660
special seat in the congregation. I should have that special notoriety.

462
00:28:51,660 --> 00:28:55,260
They should be giving me a platform. They should be doing. There's this sense of

463
00:28:55,260 --> 00:28:58,840
entitlement. I say it out loud and absolutely sounds ridiculous,

464
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,960
but let me tell you something. There's so many actions out there that match those

465
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:05,480
words. Just because you don't say it off the cuff

466
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,240
doesn't mean that your actions are not mimicking this. And here are some

467
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,000
disciples. And it's kind of like he's dismantling this idea

468
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,720
that if you get it right, you get a pat on the back. What

469
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,160
he's actually saying is, if you do it right, your

470
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,710
posture should be, I'm unworthy to have even been chosen to do it.

471
00:29:24,900 --> 00:29:28,700
That's the heart posture. Because you understand if you do it right, it's

472
00:29:28,700 --> 00:29:32,220
actually that you were drawing from the source. That you were

473
00:29:32,220 --> 00:29:35,620
drawing from the source. Are y' all picking this up today? Okay,

474
00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:39,500
so he's dismantling his entitlement. So in other words. Okay, guys,

475
00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:42,940
I did not earn this position as lead pastor. It

476
00:29:42,940 --> 00:29:46,660
wasn't like the elders got together and said, okay, here's the way to

477
00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:50,500
achieve the title of lead pastor if you just meet these benchmarks. In

478
00:29:50,500 --> 00:29:54,220
fact, I think I'm God's greatest joke to this church, honestly. Okay, but

479
00:29:54,220 --> 00:29:57,620
here's the deal. There is a call on my life.

480
00:29:58,340 --> 00:30:02,100
And the reason that's important is because, I mean, none of y' all do this.

481
00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:05,580
But I get these emails and these opinions. It's never y'. All, but I get

482
00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:09,060
these emails and these opinions and these thoughts, you know, that are

483
00:30:09,060 --> 00:30:12,220
targeted, that are. That are left field. Like, I don't think you should have done

484
00:30:12,220 --> 00:30:15,620
this. I don't think you should. And I'm so grateful for the feedback. Again, all

485
00:30:15,620 --> 00:30:17,380
y' all only give me positive stuff,

486
00:30:19,140 --> 00:30:22,750
right? Okay, but you get these. I get these

487
00:30:22,750 --> 00:30:26,310
emails and I get these opinions. Because here's the thing. And here's the thing. Do

488
00:30:26,310 --> 00:30:29,070
you know what? I'm actually Supposed to get those things

489
00:30:29,870 --> 00:30:33,350
because I'm the leader, and leaders have fewer

490
00:30:33,350 --> 00:30:37,110
privileges than followers. Okay, leaders have things. But here's the thing. You

491
00:30:37,110 --> 00:30:40,830
know why my peace is not disturbed when somebody sends me something that is

492
00:30:40,830 --> 00:30:44,670
kind of out left field, or maybe as a. I don't take

493
00:30:44,670 --> 00:30:47,350
it as a personal attack, but maybe it's meant that way. I don't know. You

494
00:30:47,350 --> 00:30:50,030
know why my peace is not disturbed? It's because I have a call on my

495
00:30:50,030 --> 00:30:53,710
life today, this position. And so if I'm drawing from the

496
00:30:53,710 --> 00:30:57,470
source, which is Jesus, then what you say to me is not

497
00:30:57,470 --> 00:31:01,150
my source, which means it doesn't affect how I feel or how I walk or

498
00:31:01,150 --> 00:31:04,750
what I do. Does that make sense? Now? It doesn't mean that it's not

499
00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:07,950
valid. Doesn't mean it doesn't have to be addressed, all of those things. But

500
00:31:08,190 --> 00:31:11,830
emotionally, it's like people are like, can you believe they said that about you? Well,

501
00:31:11,830 --> 00:31:14,310
yeah. I mean, I've been a doormat for a long time in my life, you

502
00:31:14,310 --> 00:31:17,970
know, to certain people. But guess what? I draw from the source. I

503
00:31:17,970 --> 00:31:21,730
draw from the source. Now, here's the problem. When he lifts the call and I

504
00:31:21,730 --> 00:31:25,050
continue to be in this position, then we're in trouble. I'm not just in trouble.

505
00:31:25,050 --> 00:31:28,010
Y' all are in trouble, too. You don't need a pastor. You don't need any

506
00:31:28,010 --> 00:31:31,650
of your pastors to be in the position without the call. You need

507
00:31:31,650 --> 00:31:34,890
God to anoint the people who are leading you. You need to recognize

508
00:31:35,850 --> 00:31:39,370
that anointing. But here's the thing. You need leaders in your life who lead from

509
00:31:39,370 --> 00:31:43,090
a posture of, I cannot believe God would choose me worthy to do this. I

510
00:31:43,090 --> 00:31:45,850
cannot believe that the Lord would choose me to do this. So, Lord, I want

511
00:31:45,850 --> 00:31:49,040
to be. You need to be. You need me to be drawing from the sour

512
00:31:49,190 --> 00:31:52,990
source. If you want truth in your life conveyed from any

513
00:31:52,990 --> 00:31:56,270
of your leaders, you need them to be drawing from the true source. Not from

514
00:31:56,270 --> 00:31:59,030
their ideas. Not from Facebook, not from Facebook,

515
00:32:00,070 --> 00:32:00,870
not from Facebook,

516
00:32:04,150 --> 00:32:06,870
not from Facebook. Okay,

517
00:32:10,070 --> 00:32:13,910
so then we go into the story of the ten lepers. You see, ten lepers

518
00:32:13,910 --> 00:32:17,480
are healed. Ten are healed from Jesus, and only

519
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,240
one comes back. And here's the thing. Everybody

520
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,840
can receive from Jesus. Everybody's able to come and

521
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,680
receive from Jesus, but very few are actually made whole. You

522
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,160
see, here's the thing. The 10 experienced the healing, but only one in that moment

523
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,640
was made whole because that one came back.

524
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:39,400
So the principle here is, I don't just need what Jesus

525
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,120
gives. I need Jesus. So the Principle

526
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,920
here, disciples, as you're walking is you don't just need the things I'm giving

527
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,520
you. This isn't like a three year window for you to get everything I give

528
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,280
you and then adios, okay? I don't have anything to do with your life

529
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:57,639
anymore. I hope you learn what you learned and do it. No, he's like, I'm

530
00:32:57,639 --> 00:33:01,120
going to be with you. Like, the idea is that you need to depend on

531
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,640
me. And so that leper comes back completely healed, but doesn't just

532
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,240
receive healing, receives wholeness. And guys, you will receive

533
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,020
wholeness. If he's your source, if you go back to him. Jesus said,

534
00:33:12,410 --> 00:33:16,170
whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, but whoever loses their

535
00:33:16,170 --> 00:33:19,450
life will preserve it. In other words, when you proactively

536
00:33:19,610 --> 00:33:23,450
surrender to this king and say, I surrender to you, Jesus,

537
00:33:23,450 --> 00:33:27,250
and I acknowledge you as my source, you will have life, and you'll

538
00:33:27,250 --> 00:33:31,010
have life abundantly. A life that you can't even. It's so extraordinary,

539
00:33:31,010 --> 00:33:34,610
the peace that he gives you. And so if Luke 17 kind of

540
00:33:34,610 --> 00:33:38,360
defines faith, Luke 18 demonstrates it. And so,

541
00:33:38,510 --> 00:33:42,270
so Jesus takes everything he's just exposed and he

542
00:33:42,270 --> 00:33:46,030
begins to walk them through what it actually looks like. And so this is

543
00:33:46,030 --> 00:33:49,830
where we're gonna go to those words in black. And so in chapter 18, verse

544
00:33:49,830 --> 00:33:53,630
1, it says this. Then Jesus told his disciples

545
00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:57,550
a parable. Now, parable means story. Jesus told his

546
00:33:57,550 --> 00:34:01,110
disciples a story to show them that they

547
00:34:01,110 --> 00:34:04,900
should always pray and not give up. Okay,

548
00:34:04,900 --> 00:34:08,660
so when you see this parable of the persistent widow, what are we supposed to

549
00:34:08,660 --> 00:34:12,460
be taking away from it? We

550
00:34:12,460 --> 00:34:15,780
should always pray and we should not give up. Okay,

551
00:34:16,100 --> 00:34:19,900
so he goes through this story with the widow. She

552
00:34:19,900 --> 00:34:23,700
has nothing. She has no power, no leverage, no influence, just need, just

553
00:34:23,940 --> 00:34:27,700
dependence. And here's what dependence does. Dependence will keep

554
00:34:27,700 --> 00:34:31,500
you going back to the source. What Jesus is teaching here is

555
00:34:31,500 --> 00:34:34,860
when you depend on him, dependence, repentance is

556
00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:38,420
infectious. You depend, you get, you go back. You

557
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:41,820
depend, you get, you go back. You depend, you

558
00:34:41,820 --> 00:34:45,580
receive and you go back. This widow keeps

559
00:34:45,580 --> 00:34:49,420
going, keeps going. Don't you think that Jesus is okay with

560
00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:53,180
you continuing to come to him over and over and over

561
00:34:53,420 --> 00:34:57,060
and over again? Some of you are one over again away

562
00:34:57,060 --> 00:35:00,780
from a breakthrough in your life. Some of you are one

563
00:35:00,780 --> 00:35:04,560
more persistent prayer away from God shattering the

564
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,240
ceiling and everything breaking free in your life. Some of you have

565
00:35:08,240 --> 00:35:12,080
given up on this God who breathes stars by saying, well,

566
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,360
I guess he doesn't see me, I guess he doesn't know me, and I'm gonna

567
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:19,200
Draw to my own way of doing this. But he's saying, come back again, come

568
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,880
back again, come back again. His source never runs out. His source

569
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,920
never runs out. You might not have the breakthrough yet, but I'm gonna give you

570
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,630
the sustainability to walk until the breakthrough comes. Y' all aren't hearing what

571
00:35:29,630 --> 00:35:33,270
I'm saying today. He is the source that we depend on.

572
00:35:33,430 --> 00:35:37,190
And she keeps going and going. One of the largest indicators.

573
00:35:37,190 --> 00:35:40,790
Listen to this. One of the largest indicators of independence

574
00:35:41,350 --> 00:35:45,070
is a shallow, non prayer life. One

575
00:35:45,070 --> 00:35:48,830
of the greatest indicators. If you're wondering am I independent or I'm dependent, how

576
00:35:48,830 --> 00:35:52,630
often do you talk to God? If you do not talk to God, if you

577
00:35:52,630 --> 00:35:56,430
do not have a prayer life, active in your life whatsoever, you

578
00:35:56,430 --> 00:35:59,050
do not talk to him, then you are the source of he's not.

579
00:35:59,930 --> 00:36:03,570
Prayer unlocks all types of pathways to the king

580
00:36:03,570 --> 00:36:06,730
who breathes stars. And guys, we've got to start talking to him.

581
00:36:07,450 --> 00:36:10,450
We've got to be going to him. We got to be bringing our hurts, our

582
00:36:10,450 --> 00:36:14,090
wounds, our confusion needs to be going to him. Our distractions.

583
00:36:14,090 --> 00:36:17,250
We need to be going to him, not to the person next to us. We

584
00:36:17,250 --> 00:36:21,090
need to be going to the source. Prayer. Prayer is the indicator on whether

585
00:36:21,090 --> 00:36:24,890
we're depending on God. So she keeps coming back. She

586
00:36:24,890 --> 00:36:28,500
keeps coming back. Then we see the story of the Pharisees and the tax

587
00:36:28,500 --> 00:36:32,060
collector. Let's read those words in black. And it says this

588
00:36:32,140 --> 00:36:35,940
to some who were confident of their own

589
00:36:35,940 --> 00:36:39,180
righteousness and looked down on everyone

590
00:36:39,500 --> 00:36:43,180
else. Jesus told this parable. So when we read this

591
00:36:43,180 --> 00:36:46,700
parable, it is to those who were confident of their own

592
00:36:46,700 --> 00:36:49,500
righteousness. What does that mean? I'm confident? Hey,

593
00:36:50,380 --> 00:36:54,190
I'm doing everything right. Have

594
00:36:54,190 --> 00:36:56,310
you ever talked to somebody and they're never wrong?

595
00:36:59,990 --> 00:37:03,670
Like, it doesn't matter what you say to them. It's like they're never wrong. They're

596
00:37:03,670 --> 00:37:07,350
never wrong. They're confident in their own

597
00:37:07,350 --> 00:37:11,070
righteousness. Confidence in all the things that they

598
00:37:11,070 --> 00:37:14,390
say and they do. I mean, they listen. They've read this book a couple times

599
00:37:14,390 --> 00:37:18,030
and they've got the law on this book. They know exactly what's

600
00:37:18,030 --> 00:37:21,390
supposed to happen. They're so confident

601
00:37:22,990 --> 00:37:26,350
in their righteousness. And then he says this. He says,

602
00:37:26,670 --> 00:37:30,430
and look down on everyone else. Here's the thing. This is

603
00:37:30,430 --> 00:37:34,070
how this works. When you are so confident of your

604
00:37:34,070 --> 00:37:37,710
own righteousness, then the only one you can see is yourself.

605
00:37:38,030 --> 00:37:41,630
So then by proxy, you are looking down on everyone else, but you can't tell

606
00:37:41,630 --> 00:37:44,210
that you're looking down on everyone else because you're too busy looking at yourself.

607
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:49,120
Are you with me? So when you're looking in the mirror and all you see

608
00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,800
is yourself all of the time, and you go, I don't look down on other

609
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,560
people. Yes, you do. Because all you see is a version

610
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,240
of yourself everywhere you go. And God is

611
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,040
saying, put down the mirror and start looking at me. When

612
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:06,200
you look in the mirror, you should see Jesus. If you don't see Jesus, you're

613
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,880
not there yet. Y' all are quiet

614
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:11,000
today. Okay, here we go.

615
00:38:17,850 --> 00:38:21,690
Jesus says, the one who walks away right with God is the

616
00:38:21,690 --> 00:38:25,490
one who knew he needed him. In other words, the kingdom

617
00:38:25,490 --> 00:38:28,650
cannot be earned. It can only be received.

618
00:38:30,170 --> 00:38:33,970
It doesn't matter how gooder you are, how much you've worked, no

619
00:38:33,970 --> 00:38:37,570
matter how much you've put in. I've been. Man, I've been going to this church

620
00:38:37,570 --> 00:38:41,330
for 25 years. I'm just a little bit higher now. No, it doesn't matter.

621
00:38:41,330 --> 00:38:45,150
There's no earning. Let me give us something that

622
00:38:45,150 --> 00:38:48,950
will help us in this culture. Okay? I want to earn my

623
00:38:48,950 --> 00:38:51,950
way into the kingdom. I'm going to give you an antidote. I'm going to give

624
00:38:51,950 --> 00:38:55,790
you a pathway. Okay, here's the pathway. If you want to earn your

625
00:38:55,790 --> 00:38:59,510
way into the kingdom, then the way to do that is

626
00:38:59,510 --> 00:39:03,270
equivalent to your level of surrender. If you want

627
00:39:03,270 --> 00:39:06,990
a mathematical equation, then surrender more, and then

628
00:39:06,990 --> 00:39:10,830
you will receive more of the kingdom. Surrender more. Let go of more.

629
00:39:10,830 --> 00:39:14,670
Let go, let go, let go, says the Lord. Okay, so he's

630
00:39:14,670 --> 00:39:18,030
walking these guys. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is for us today. But

631
00:39:18,030 --> 00:39:21,870
he's walking with these. His friends are right there, and he's taking.

632
00:39:21,870 --> 00:39:25,710
This is like, boom, boom, boom. And he's like. He's

633
00:39:25,710 --> 00:39:29,230
literally nailing all of these things on the head. And he's like. So if he

634
00:39:29,230 --> 00:39:32,990
says to some who were confident of their own righteousness, it meant that

635
00:39:32,990 --> 00:39:36,670
there were people there who were confident of their own righteousness

636
00:39:36,670 --> 00:39:40,510
and looking down on other people. Are you with me? He's speaking to these

637
00:39:40,510 --> 00:39:44,130
people. That's the whole reason of telling this story. Okay,

638
00:39:44,130 --> 00:39:47,890
Then something interesting happens. Okay, now I wanna

639
00:39:47,890 --> 00:39:51,690
say this first. Connected to this, I'm

640
00:39:51,690 --> 00:39:54,530
gonna say something that some of you are gonna email me about. You ready? Okay,

641
00:39:54,610 --> 00:39:58,410
here we go. The greatest barrier

642
00:39:58,410 --> 00:40:01,810
between you and God is not sin.

643
00:40:03,410 --> 00:40:06,930
It's not sin. Sin separates us from God.

644
00:40:07,650 --> 00:40:11,330
But God sent Jesus to give us a pathway right

645
00:40:11,330 --> 00:40:14,210
to the Father. In fact, in Hebrews, there's a verse that says, because of what

646
00:40:14,210 --> 00:40:17,030
J, not only do we go to the Father. It says you can go to

647
00:40:17,030 --> 00:40:20,670
him with boldness. So if sin is not

648
00:40:20,670 --> 00:40:24,430
the barrier between us and God post resurrection,

649
00:40:24,750 --> 00:40:28,510
then I would suggest today that the biggest barrier between you and

650
00:40:28,510 --> 00:40:32,270
God is your independence. The biggest barrier

651
00:40:32,350 --> 00:40:36,110
between you and God is when you decide, I'm gonna do it on my own

652
00:40:36,110 --> 00:40:39,910
strength. I know enough, I've seen enough, I've heard enough. So I'm

653
00:40:39,910 --> 00:40:43,410
gonna do it on my own strength. That's the biggest barrier between you and

654
00:40:43,410 --> 00:40:46,770
God. Jesus said this, for all who exalt

655
00:40:46,770 --> 00:40:50,490
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves

656
00:40:50,490 --> 00:40:53,890
will be exalted. There was a pastor that said this. God, I am so glad

657
00:40:54,050 --> 00:40:57,090
when you correct me in the privacy of my own mind.

658
00:40:58,450 --> 00:41:01,690
There are times when he will correct you in the privacy of your own mind,

659
00:41:01,690 --> 00:41:04,770
and then there are times when he will put it on display for everybody else

660
00:41:04,770 --> 00:41:08,600
to see. If you humble yourself, he will lift you up.

661
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,680
But there will be a point where you will be humbled if you're going on

662
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:15,520
your own strength. And let me tell you something, it's a lot easier to let

663
00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,920
man humble you than it is. It's a lot better for man to humble you

664
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:22,840
than for the Lord to humble you. And

665
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:26,120
so then this wonderful, interesting thing happens. And this is kind of

666
00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,560
gets us to the crux of where we are. He's traveled through all of

667
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,090
these things, and then something happens. The Word says

668
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:38,520
that they brought the children to Jesus. Now, I looked this up and

669
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,360
I learned something new as I was preparing for that. I learned a lot of

670
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,280
things new when I prepared. But one of the things I learned is the word

671
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:48,000
that's used there for children is the word breathe. And the word

672
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,360
breathe actually translates into the word infant.

673
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:55,840
Infant. So when they're bringing children to Jesus,

674
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:59,720
it's not necessarily they're bringing 7, 8, 9 year olds. They are

675
00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:03,250
bringing infants to Jesus. They're bringing babies

676
00:42:03,730 --> 00:42:06,370
to Jesus. Why is that significant?

677
00:42:08,210 --> 00:42:12,050
The infants are brought to Jesus and the disciples stop

678
00:42:12,130 --> 00:42:15,730
them because they don't see value

679
00:42:16,530 --> 00:42:20,010
in the infants. Here's what they see. Listen, with the

680
00:42:20,010 --> 00:42:23,810
infants, they can't contribute, they can't

681
00:42:23,810 --> 00:42:27,540
perform, they can't understand. In other

682
00:42:27,540 --> 00:42:31,100
words, the babies are inconvenient because all

683
00:42:31,100 --> 00:42:34,540
they're doing is there to receive from Jesus.

684
00:42:34,780 --> 00:42:38,380
Now listen, this is my baby. Oh, yes, she's cute. Okay, here's the thing.

685
00:42:39,980 --> 00:42:43,580
She poops, we clean her diaper, she

686
00:42:43,580 --> 00:42:47,380
cries, we give her a bottle. All Eliana can

687
00:42:47,380 --> 00:42:50,900
do at this moment is sit there, sleep, eat and

688
00:42:50,900 --> 00:42:54,220
breathe because she is completely Dependent

689
00:42:54,460 --> 00:42:58,220
on us. The babies are being

690
00:42:58,220 --> 00:43:01,940
brought to Jesus and they say, don't worry

691
00:43:01,940 --> 00:43:05,660
about these babies. They can't do anything here. They

692
00:43:05,660 --> 00:43:09,340
can't do anything here because the culture says it's based on

693
00:43:09,340 --> 00:43:12,940
what you do instead of who you are. And who you

694
00:43:12,940 --> 00:43:16,740
are is who the source says you are. And he

695
00:43:16,740 --> 00:43:20,300
says, listen, let the babies come to me.

696
00:43:21,020 --> 00:43:24,780
Bring those babies to me. Because here's the thing. If you don't

697
00:43:24,780 --> 00:43:28,620
receive the kingdom like a baby, you don't get the kingdom at all.

698
00:43:28,940 --> 00:43:32,700
Which means unless you have utter dependence

699
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:35,900
on him like a baby, until you become like

700
00:43:35,900 --> 00:43:39,540
Eliana, until I become like Eliana in the kingdom, until

701
00:43:39,540 --> 00:43:43,340
I'm laying there going, gah ga goo goo, God, please,

702
00:43:43,740 --> 00:43:47,420
please change me, feed me, help me. Until we can get to

703
00:43:47,420 --> 00:43:51,020
that mentality, we're not going to receive the kingdom.

704
00:43:51,020 --> 00:43:54,740
Are you with me? He's saying, let them come. I've just taken

705
00:43:54,740 --> 00:43:58,060
you on this journey I'm trying to dismantle. It's not about.

706
00:43:59,270 --> 00:44:03,070
Not about good works. It's not about entitlement. It's not about all these things. It

707
00:44:03,070 --> 00:44:05,830
is about you becoming dependent on me. John,

708
00:44:06,470 --> 00:44:10,310
Luke, Thomas, Vonda, April, Deanne,

709
00:44:10,310 --> 00:44:14,030
Keith. It's about you becoming dependent on me. Jesus says,

710
00:44:14,030 --> 00:44:17,870
let them come. Whoever does not receive the kingdom

711
00:44:17,870 --> 00:44:21,630
like this will not enter them. Listen, the kingdom belongs to those

712
00:44:21,630 --> 00:44:25,390
who depend on the Lord. The kingdom of God depends

713
00:44:25,390 --> 00:44:28,940
on. Depends, belongs to those who depend

714
00:44:28,940 --> 00:44:32,380
on the Lord. Babies don't strive, they trust.

715
00:44:32,540 --> 00:44:35,180
Babies don't perform, they rest.

716
00:44:36,220 --> 00:44:39,900
They don't manage outcomes like we talked earlier. They

717
00:44:39,900 --> 00:44:43,620
depend. And Jesus says, this is how

718
00:44:43,620 --> 00:44:47,180
we enter the kingdom of God. This level of

719
00:44:47,180 --> 00:44:50,820
dependence. Now, I'm going to say this, and this is another email. You

720
00:44:50,820 --> 00:44:54,570
ready? There is a boldness rising up

721
00:44:54,570 --> 00:44:58,410
in the church. Big C. There's a boldness happening right now, okay?

722
00:44:58,410 --> 00:45:02,210
And that's not wrong. And how I know there's a boldness is

723
00:45:02,210 --> 00:45:05,970
because Instagram and Instagram has these little things that

724
00:45:05,970 --> 00:45:09,410
pop up and it tells you. It gives you one little snippet of a little,

725
00:45:09,410 --> 00:45:13,170
like, sharp sword that says, churchgoers, believers should believe

726
00:45:13,170 --> 00:45:16,650
this, and this is what we should do. And I don't necessarily think

727
00:45:16,650 --> 00:45:20,330
isolated. Those little micro things that we see on

728
00:45:20,410 --> 00:45:24,030
Instagram, they're not necessarily false. In fact, a lot of justified

729
00:45:24,030 --> 00:45:27,710
right through the word. But here's the problem. The problem is, is we got

730
00:45:27,710 --> 00:45:31,030
dependent statements in the hands of independent believers.

731
00:45:32,630 --> 00:45:36,150
And what happens is when we get dependent statements and independent

732
00:45:36,150 --> 00:45:39,470
believers, what they do is they begin to depend upon their own Idea of how

733
00:45:39,470 --> 00:45:43,190
we should execute the thing that they're reading. And that becomes

734
00:45:43,430 --> 00:45:47,150
dangerous. That becomes. If boldness is not rooted

735
00:45:47,150 --> 00:45:50,540
in this infant style dependence, it becomes

736
00:45:50,540 --> 00:45:53,700
dangerous to us and to believers all around us.

737
00:45:54,100 --> 00:45:57,700
Boldness with dependence becomes spirit led power

738
00:45:57,940 --> 00:46:01,460
and spirit led power leads to transformation in people's lives.

739
00:46:02,020 --> 00:46:05,380
Spirit led power leads to transformation in people's

740
00:46:05,540 --> 00:46:09,300
life. If it's not flowing from him, it's not worth it

741
00:46:10,020 --> 00:46:13,780
if it's not flowing from the Lord. Listen, guys, I'm going to suggest something.

742
00:46:13,940 --> 00:46:17,370
The process of discipleship can become an

743
00:46:17,370 --> 00:46:21,130
idol in your life. The process

744
00:46:21,210 --> 00:46:24,610
by which we call out other people's faults can become an

745
00:46:24,610 --> 00:46:28,250
idol in your life. Why am I saying that? Because some people

746
00:46:28,330 --> 00:46:32,010
live their day in, day out, breathing life, trying to

747
00:46:32,090 --> 00:46:35,930
make things happen, manipulate situations, tell people what they're going

748
00:46:35,930 --> 00:46:39,610
wrong, and they have not spent any time with the source. They're deriving

749
00:46:39,690 --> 00:46:43,210
their information from the right place, but they're not being led

750
00:46:43,890 --> 00:46:47,090
by the Holy Spirit. In other words, here we go.

751
00:46:47,330 --> 00:46:50,970
Dependence feels like loss when your identity is built on

752
00:46:50,970 --> 00:46:54,690
control. Dependence feels like

753
00:46:54,690 --> 00:46:58,410
loss, like I've lost something when your identity is built on

754
00:46:58,410 --> 00:47:02,010
controlling the outcomes. It's so

755
00:47:02,010 --> 00:47:05,730
easy to masquerade dependency when your security is your

756
00:47:05,730 --> 00:47:09,450
own sense of control. Like maybe for your finances. I

757
00:47:09,450 --> 00:47:13,170
talked about our admin board just a little bit ago. Here's the

758
00:47:13,170 --> 00:47:16,970
thing. Our church, like when we review the financials and stuff,

759
00:47:16,970 --> 00:47:20,530
there is Holy Spirit led intervention when it comes

760
00:47:20,530 --> 00:47:23,530
to stewardship that allows us to have

761
00:47:23,930 --> 00:47:27,770
wisdom, exercise discernment and having some cash over here

762
00:47:27,770 --> 00:47:31,530
in case something goes down or goes wrong. When the air conditioning goes out, we

763
00:47:31,530 --> 00:47:35,210
need to have money to fix the air conditioning. Okay, so. And that principle

764
00:47:35,210 --> 00:47:38,930
can apply in your house. But here's the tension that we work with

765
00:47:38,930 --> 00:47:42,520
all the time and we got a great group doing this. The tension is we

766
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:45,920
don't need to be a church that's sitting on $5 million in the bank account

767
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:49,640
when there's a dying world out there. We don't need $5 million to fix

768
00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:53,120
air conditioning. Because what that says is we're relying on our bank account. We don't

769
00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:56,800
need to trust the Lord for our finances. There's wisdom in figuring

770
00:47:56,800 --> 00:48:00,600
out where that balance and tension is, where you don't have the tools

771
00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:04,320
in front of you to control the situation. You have to get to a place

772
00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:08,080
where you understand, listen, I'm exercising discernment in this situation.

773
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:11,760
I'm being steward in this situation. I'm doing and saying what I'm supposed to do.

774
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:14,720
Based on what I've seen in scripture. But there comes a point when I go,

775
00:48:14,720 --> 00:48:18,400
I surrender. You're the source. I surrender. You're the source. I

776
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:22,080
surrender. What you tell me to do? Guys, Shari and I used about three years

777
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:25,400
ago, I was like, I'm gonna start saving up our bank account. I'm literally gonna

778
00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:28,680
start saving. And I start saving, I get up to a certain amount, and you

779
00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:32,400
know what the Holy Spirit says? I want you to give it all away. I'm

780
00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:36,200
like, what? Okay, I started storing up. Storing up, give it all away.

781
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:39,240
He did that about four times to me. I said, forget it. I'm not saving

782
00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:42,900
up any. I'm done. I'm done. I don't wanna wait on the

783
00:48:42,900 --> 00:48:46,420
blessing for when I got that much money. I want the blessing now. Lord, just

784
00:48:46,420 --> 00:48:49,620
use me today. What do you need me to freely give today? Because every time

785
00:48:49,620 --> 00:48:52,540
I try to stock up, you know what he's doing? He's saying, kevin, if you

786
00:48:52,540 --> 00:48:55,300
start saving up, you're gonna rely on your bank account. And you're not gonna rely

787
00:48:55,300 --> 00:48:58,980
on my voice. Now, that's for me. For you, he might have you do

788
00:48:58,980 --> 00:49:02,180
5 million. I expect your tithe check next week. Okay, so

789
00:49:02,580 --> 00:49:06,340
now Peter does

790
00:49:06,340 --> 00:49:10,070
something here that is. Is just outrageous. Okay. If

791
00:49:10,070 --> 00:49:13,790
you know the story. Oh, my goodness. It's that time. Okay, Peter does something outrageous.

792
00:49:13,790 --> 00:49:17,270
Okay, we're about to close down here. Peter does something

793
00:49:17,270 --> 00:49:20,990
here. Okay, I'm gonna tell him my sister. Is my sister here? Is Alexis

794
00:49:20,990 --> 00:49:24,750
here? Oh, good, I can talk about her. Praise God. Okay. All right, here's the

795
00:49:24,750 --> 00:49:27,670
deal. Now, my mama raised us pretty much.

796
00:49:28,550 --> 00:49:31,630
My mom was a single mom for a while there. And she raised my brother

797
00:49:31,630 --> 00:49:35,070
and I, and my brother and I. I mean, we got away with things, but

798
00:49:35,070 --> 00:49:38,790
we also knew who brought home the law. Is that right, Joey?

799
00:49:39,190 --> 00:49:42,990
We knew. Mom's in charge, Right? Okay. Have you ever had a

800
00:49:42,990 --> 00:49:46,830
moment where your soul left your body? Okay. We were on

801
00:49:46,830 --> 00:49:50,070
an airplane coming back home from vacation, and

802
00:49:50,870 --> 00:49:54,590
we're adults. My brother and I are adults. And my sister's in middle school. And

803
00:49:54,590 --> 00:49:56,870
my mom's on the plane, and we're all on vacation together.

804
00:49:58,230 --> 00:50:01,670
And we're there, and my mom's standing. I guess we're getting situated. Cause I remember

805
00:50:01,670 --> 00:50:05,440
I. I was in a standing position. And my mom said, alexis,

806
00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:09,160
sit down. To which Alexis turns around and says, mom, you sit

807
00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:12,960
down. And I believe she said, and

808
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:16,720
be quiet. My soul left my body, went around

809
00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:20,480
the airplane and came back, and I fell down in my

810
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:24,040
seat because all I could See, was my mama's hand coming across

811
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:28,160
the seats and smacking her. I was beside. I mean, it sucked

812
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:31,960
the air out of the room. Okay, was that true, Joey? I mean. I mean,

813
00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:34,920
we were sitting there like, what is about to go down here? Now, here's the

814
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:38,600
thing. Youth get ready. As your parents get older, they get softer. See,

815
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:42,120
let me tell you something. Alexis got out of that so easy.

816
00:50:42,600 --> 00:50:45,800
She should have been beaten down. And we didn't. She was just like, sit down,

817
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:48,360
man. I was so unfair. But

818
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,320
I read this scripture that what Peter says here. And my

819
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:56,990
soul left my body because Peter

820
00:50:56,990 --> 00:51:00,350
has something to say. We get through all of these things. I want you to

821
00:51:00,350 --> 00:51:04,110
picture Peter here. Okay? Peter. Now, Peter's stepping out of the boat.

822
00:51:04,350 --> 00:51:08,070
All of the things. I mean, Peter, we like Peter, okay? He's the pronounced

823
00:51:08,070 --> 00:51:11,910
one. But Peter actually stands up to

824
00:51:11,910 --> 00:51:15,150
Jesus. He says, look,

825
00:51:16,350 --> 00:51:19,950
look, Jesus, we've left all our

826
00:51:20,740 --> 00:51:24,580
family for you. Now, here's the thing. The reason this doesn't

827
00:51:24,580 --> 00:51:28,220
escalate is because he was talking to Jesus. Now, Jesus is compassionate. He is

828
00:51:28,220 --> 00:51:32,060
kind, he is patient, right? But when I read that

829
00:51:32,060 --> 00:51:35,780
in the context of this buildup here, and Jesus

830
00:51:35,780 --> 00:51:39,620
said. And Peter's like, look, I'm gonna say. I'm gonna speak on behalf of everybody.

831
00:51:39,620 --> 00:51:43,460
Look, let me tell you something. We get to places in our life where we're

832
00:51:43,460 --> 00:51:46,980
looking at the Lord and we're like, look, Lord. We buck up to him and

833
00:51:46,980 --> 00:51:50,680
we say, now, we might not say it out loud, but I've been around some

834
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:54,240
people. I've literally been around some people, and I'm like, let the lightning

835
00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:57,520
strike tomorrow. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus.

836
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:00,480
Okay, here's the thing.

837
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:07,160
He's not rebelling. He's reasoning. But here's the danger. And

838
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:09,200
this is if you don't leave with anything else, this is what I want you

839
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:12,960
to leave with. When you think you understand how God works, you stop

840
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:16,790
depending on how God will. When you think you understand,

841
00:52:16,870 --> 00:52:20,270
Peter's coming. Listen, Peter wasn't. It wasn't like Peter

842
00:52:20,270 --> 00:52:23,910
decided, I'm going to stand up to Jesus. It's what he did.

843
00:52:23,910 --> 00:52:27,750
But it's not like he's meditating on this. Peter believes he

844
00:52:27,750 --> 00:52:31,510
understands what's going on. Peter. And so Jesus is making

845
00:52:31,510 --> 00:52:35,230
the assertion, here you've got all your family's got to leave, and brother

846
00:52:35,230 --> 00:52:38,710
over sister, all this stuff. And Peter's sitting here going, look,

847
00:52:38,710 --> 00:52:42,400
we've done this. Did I get it right, Lord? I mean, what's going

848
00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:45,960
on? It's the same Time when he, it's the same thing as, you're not gonna

849
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:49,800
wash my feet, you're not gonna wash my feet, you're gonna wash

850
00:52:49,800 --> 00:52:53,440
my whole body. Soul sucking

851
00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:57,840
out of the room. Peter had been with Jesus, but now he's interpreting everything through

852
00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:01,640
himself. And we read and say, how could he say that? But we

853
00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:05,040
do it all the time. Every time we evaluate our lives based on what we've

854
00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:08,580
done instead of who, who we trust. You can

855
00:53:08,580 --> 00:53:11,980
leave everything and still be depending on yourself.

856
00:53:13,260 --> 00:53:16,980
Peter approaches the kingdom like a contributor. A baby approaches the kingdom

857
00:53:16,980 --> 00:53:20,700
like a recipient. Peter says, look what I've done. A baby says,

858
00:53:20,700 --> 00:53:24,420
I'll trust what you will do. Listen, Peter

859
00:53:24,420 --> 00:53:27,940
didn't need to do more. He didn't need to say more. He didn't need to

860
00:53:27,940 --> 00:53:31,340
be more. He only needed to rely

861
00:53:31,580 --> 00:53:35,300
on the lord more. Proverbs 3, 5 says this,

862
00:53:35,300 --> 00:53:39,060
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on

863
00:53:39,060 --> 00:53:42,460
your own understanding. Guys, all is all, all

864
00:53:42,620 --> 00:53:46,380
is all. But what we do, instead of relying completely

865
00:53:46,380 --> 00:53:49,659
on him as we do this, we say, it's going to be Jesus and

866
00:53:51,420 --> 00:53:52,460
Jesus and

867
00:53:54,860 --> 00:53:57,260
Jesus and leads to destruction.

868
00:53:58,460 --> 00:54:02,140
It's Jesus, period. Eliminate

869
00:54:02,140 --> 00:54:05,940
the and in your life. Eliminate whatever that and is,

870
00:54:05,940 --> 00:54:09,580
eliminate it. And lastly, in this worship team, you come on back and get

871
00:54:09,580 --> 00:54:13,300
prepared. The blind man is the story. Next, all of this

872
00:54:13,300 --> 00:54:17,100
happens and the Word says that Jesus approaches Jericho.

873
00:54:17,100 --> 00:54:20,580
You know what Jericho means? Jericho literally translates to the word walls.

874
00:54:20,820 --> 00:54:24,620
Jesus is approaching walls, and at these walls, there's a

875
00:54:24,620 --> 00:54:28,230
blind man. I love where this is in the story because he's gone through all

876
00:54:28,230 --> 00:54:31,590
of this with the disciples. And it's like, I want to show you a blind

877
00:54:31,590 --> 00:54:35,070
man. I want to show you a wall in your life. And guys, some of

878
00:54:35,070 --> 00:54:38,590
you came here this morning. You've got walls in your life. You've got blind spots

879
00:54:38,590 --> 00:54:42,190
in your life. And this blind man has no choice. He

880
00:54:42,190 --> 00:54:45,670
can't see with his natural eyes. So he has no choice but to

881
00:54:45,670 --> 00:54:49,510
depend on people, to depend on others. So he's

882
00:54:49,510 --> 00:54:52,950
fully dependent. And he cries out and they try to silence him, but he gets

883
00:54:52,950 --> 00:54:56,540
louder. And Jesus asked him a question. He says, what do

884
00:54:56,540 --> 00:55:00,180
you want? And he says, I want

885
00:55:00,180 --> 00:55:03,900
to see. Guys, I think some of

886
00:55:03,900 --> 00:55:07,580
us need to acknowledge that we are blind. And I want

887
00:55:07,580 --> 00:55:11,300
to see God. I know the scripture,

888
00:55:11,700 --> 00:55:15,420
I've been around church, but God, I got blind spots and I

889
00:55:15,420 --> 00:55:18,980
want to see from the source. Because here's the thing. Dependence often

890
00:55:18,980 --> 00:55:22,470
comes before clarity. See, we want the

891
00:55:22,470 --> 00:55:26,310
clarity first. We want to see what the plan is. And then we'll depend.

892
00:55:26,470 --> 00:55:29,550
But God says, no, that's not faith. I want you to depend on me, and

893
00:55:29,550 --> 00:55:32,150
then I'll show you things that you've never seen before.

894
00:55:33,590 --> 00:55:36,950
Dependency often comes before clarity.

895
00:55:37,670 --> 00:55:41,350
So what if we actually lived what Corinthians says, We walk by

896
00:55:41,430 --> 00:55:45,150
faith and not by sight. What type of

897
00:55:45,150 --> 00:55:48,190
exponential things would be happening in our lives?

898
00:55:49,230 --> 00:55:52,990
So we abide from a place. We abide from a place of knowing he's

899
00:55:52,990 --> 00:55:56,550
the Source, and we arise in this place. And the very

900
00:55:56,550 --> 00:56:00,190
first step, friends, is to rest and depend on Him.

901
00:56:00,510 --> 00:56:04,190
I found this video on Insta and I want to play it for you

902
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because I believe it might connect to our hearts, on how our. Our

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posture should be with worship.

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What if today was a breathing moment for you

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where you looked at your circumstances, your

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situations, the things that you've been holding on to, and

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you said, lord, make me an infant. Make me like a

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child in this.

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What would it look like if you approached what you're going through

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with total and utter dependence on the Lord? Would you

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guys stand with me and those who are going to minister? Would you come forward

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this morning?

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Guys, the God of the universe, he is on the throne

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and he knows you. He cares about you. He sees

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you and he says, come again. Just like

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that widow. Come again. Come again. Come again. Come.

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Come to me. Come to me, those who are weary and

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brokenhearted. He is the giver of rest. He is the giver

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of strength. He is the giver of peace.

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But when we say we draw from the source, we're not

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drawing from the source. As people who bring our own ideas,

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our own methods, we're drawing from the source. Like

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infant babies who say, God, I actually think I know what

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to do. I think I know what's going on. But God, actually, you have the

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answer here. And I can totally, fully trust you. That's my

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faith stuff. I trust you. I lean into you. And I believe

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that you will radically transform anything going on in my life.

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Because you care about me that much. If we don't take care of Eliana,

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she will die. You have a heavenly

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father that does not want you to die. So believe

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me, he's looking to feed you. Stop eating the crap the world's giving you.

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He's looking to sustain you and to hold you. He wants to hold

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you. Stop being held by other people who aren't God.

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He wants to breathe life into you. Jesus says, I am the

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way, I am the truth. I am the life. I love that

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it's the and not a He is the way so come this morning

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if you have anything at all all remember that verse in Hebrews Come boldly

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and let's agree together that this guy can actually do what he said he'll do

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he's the source, let's worship.