1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,120 Good morning. Someone in the 2 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,920 room has picked up my clicker, and the 3 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,280 loft is telling me you were clicking it during worship and they were trying to 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,040 combat your clicks with theirs. Does anybody 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:22,080 have my clicker? 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,320 All right, well, if it is you, I love you 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:31,840 very much. 8 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:38,980 You're joining us here today on Livestream. Thank you for joining us. 9 00:00:38,980 --> 00:00:42,740 God is so faithful, guys. God is good. He is here. Amen. 10 00:00:42,740 --> 00:00:46,140 He's here. He's been moving. And I am so excited about 11 00:00:46,620 --> 00:00:50,460 what the Lord's doing in this place. Before we get up and rolling 12 00:00:50,540 --> 00:00:53,900 here, we wanted to do something. So about 13 00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:57,700 six, probably, I don't remember, it was maybe eight weeks ago or 14 00:00:57,700 --> 00:01:01,500 so. We made the announcement that 15 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:05,220 there's going to be a transition in our youth group with the youth 16 00:01:05,220 --> 00:01:08,980 leadership. And today officially marks James and Dana 17 00:01:09,620 --> 00:01:13,220 last Sunday as our youth pastors. Guys, 18 00:01:13,220 --> 00:01:16,740 can we show our appreciation for the faithfulness of James and Dana 19 00:01:17,460 --> 00:01:19,220 and the way they've served so well? 20 00:01:21,940 --> 00:01:22,420 Yeah. 21 00:01:41,690 --> 00:01:45,370 We have undergone many youth transitions here at the church, 22 00:01:45,690 --> 00:01:49,410 and let me tell you, this is one of the 23 00:01:49,410 --> 00:01:53,220 better ones, because here's the thing. James and Dana are 24 00:01:53,220 --> 00:01:57,060 family, and they're moving into a greater joy. And I am 25 00:01:57,220 --> 00:02:00,420 excited for what the Lord has got in front of them. It's going to be 26 00:02:00,420 --> 00:02:03,220 a wildly amazing, amazing ride. 27 00:02:03,940 --> 00:02:07,460 God is always in the business of saving the best for now, 28 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:10,740 and I believe he's got incredible things for our youth ahead. 29 00:02:11,380 --> 00:02:15,220 So under the charge of Doug and Jody Jones 30 00:02:15,220 --> 00:02:18,860 with the leadership team that's going to be taking us forward, please come 31 00:02:18,860 --> 00:02:22,420 forward up here. We're going to pray over you guys. 32 00:02:23,540 --> 00:02:27,260 When I knew about 33 00:02:27,260 --> 00:02:30,900 the transition and when it was happening, I began to go to the Lord and 34 00:02:30,900 --> 00:02:34,500 I asked the Lord specifically, would you supply five 35 00:02:35,140 --> 00:02:38,859 married couples who are strong in the Lord? And guys, can I tell 36 00:02:38,859 --> 00:02:42,660 you, he's answered that prayer. We have an incredible group that is 37 00:02:42,660 --> 00:02:46,500 going to be sowing into the lives of the teens here. And I am 38 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:50,340 so. I'm so thrilled that the Lord has called you. I 39 00:02:50,580 --> 00:02:54,060 firsthand know what it is to be in youth ministry and to walk this 40 00:02:54,060 --> 00:02:57,120 journey. And I'm excited to see all of the stories that come. 41 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,520 This is definitely a part of the greatest stories ever told. Yes. So 42 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,280 if you are a youth group member, if you'll come and you're going to 43 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,960 lay hands on these guys. And would I have any of the elders and staff, 44 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,280 if you'll come and lay hands on these guys. And with the rest of you, 45 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,640 stand and stretch your hands this way. 46 00:03:25,050 --> 00:03:28,570 Father, we are grateful for what you're doing in this place. We are thankful, 47 00:03:28,570 --> 00:03:32,370 Lord, that you have charged these individuals, God, for 48 00:03:32,370 --> 00:03:36,129 the task of leading the next generation. I pray, Lord, that you 49 00:03:36,129 --> 00:03:39,490 would put a hedge of protection around their homes. I pray that you would anoint 50 00:03:39,490 --> 00:03:43,130 each one. I pray, Lord, that you would pave the path, Father God. And Lord, 51 00:03:43,130 --> 00:03:46,970 that you would make the things that are distractors go away, Father, 52 00:03:46,970 --> 00:03:50,770 but everything that's of you would stick. I pray for a continuous shift 53 00:03:50,770 --> 00:03:54,450 in our youth, Lord, as they posture their hearts for you, God. I 54 00:03:54,450 --> 00:03:57,850 thank you, Lord, that there's going to be salvations, there's going to be baptisms in 55 00:03:57,850 --> 00:04:00,970 the Holy Spirit, Lord. I thank you, Lord that your move is going to be 56 00:04:00,970 --> 00:04:04,810 mighty in the next generation through these, God. So Lord, protect 57 00:04:04,810 --> 00:04:08,570 them, use them, raise them up, anoint them, Lord. We're thankful, Lord, 58 00:04:08,570 --> 00:04:12,210 for their service, God. We're thankful for the way that you're going to increase, 59 00:04:12,370 --> 00:04:15,690 Lord, and you're going to build upon what has already been laid. We love you, 60 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:19,330 God. We're thankful, Lord, that you're going before us. Help us keep our eyes fixed 61 00:04:19,330 --> 00:04:23,070 on you. In Jesus name and everybody said amen. 62 00:04:23,150 --> 00:04:26,750 Amen, guys. Be in prayer for our youth and our 63 00:04:26,750 --> 00:04:30,510 youth leadership as they move into this next season of 64 00:04:30,750 --> 00:04:33,070 youth ministry together. 65 00:04:38,270 --> 00:04:41,390 And speaking of youth ministry, 66 00:04:42,910 --> 00:04:46,456 midweek gatherings start on August 7th. They start on August 67 00:04:46,524 --> 00:04:50,050 7th. And so do encourage you to make a point 68 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,520 on Thursday nights from 6 to 7 to come and be a part of 69 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,320 the series here in the ministry center. Pastor Barbee's gonna be leading a series 70 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,160 called the Eye of the Needle. And it's gonna be rich. It's gonna be 71 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,920 good. So as you have capacity in your calendars and your space for the week, 72 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,240 make, make a point to come and be a part of this special worship time 73 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,840 together. Youth ministries, kids ministries will be up and running. We'll have more information about 74 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:16,560 that on the app. And then in addition to that, 75 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,400 if you've gone to Lowe's or Hobby Lobby or Walmart, you'll know Christmas is 76 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,950 among us. And therefore, we are having 77 00:05:24,190 --> 00:05:27,870 auditions for A Christmas Carol. Auditions for A Christmas Carol. 78 00:05:27,870 --> 00:05:31,430 Now, why, you ask, am I mentioning this? Because I'm gonna be 79 00:05:31,430 --> 00:05:35,190 directing this bad boy and I'm excited about 80 00:05:35,190 --> 00:05:38,590 it. But there's three specific reasons why I wanted to bring this up. Number one, 81 00:05:39,630 --> 00:05:42,630 I want you all to know as the pastor here, I 82 00:05:42,630 --> 00:05:46,310 overtly, intentionally support and believe 83 00:05:46,310 --> 00:05:49,990 in the mission of our arts outreach here at Springhouse. I 84 00:05:49,990 --> 00:05:53,530 believe in the purpose, and I believe the Lord 85 00:05:53,530 --> 00:05:56,810 has given us a gift of being able to do this 86 00:05:57,450 --> 00:06:01,290 for the community. It's definitely an outreach vein. And so I overtly 87 00:06:01,290 --> 00:06:03,850 support it. So I can't think of a better way to do it than to 88 00:06:03,850 --> 00:06:07,130 need and want to get involved. And so I'm gonna be directing this show. 89 00:06:07,610 --> 00:06:11,250 Second, I wanted to do something that my entire family could be a part 90 00:06:11,250 --> 00:06:15,010 of. And that's sometimes a misnomer, a misunderstood thing. If you 91 00:06:15,010 --> 00:06:18,130 have a family and you want to do something together, the theater's a great place 92 00:06:18,130 --> 00:06:21,210 to get plugged in. Cause there's something for all of you to do. And so 93 00:06:21,530 --> 00:06:25,230 if you've got a family, you want to do something for Christma, we 94 00:06:25,230 --> 00:06:28,790 invite you along the journey and then three along the lines. Here 95 00:06:28,790 --> 00:06:32,150 is, I want this to be a potential door 96 00:06:32,310 --> 00:06:35,710 for some of you who have never been introduced to the theater. Maybe because of 97 00:06:35,710 --> 00:06:38,670 my involvement, you might see that as a pathway to kind of step in and 98 00:06:38,670 --> 00:06:41,390 figure out what this whole theater thing is about. Now you might say to me, 99 00:06:41,390 --> 00:06:45,030 kevin, I'll act. And I sure enough don't sing. Okay, 100 00:06:45,670 --> 00:06:49,470 where's a place for me in the theater? We've got tons of space for 101 00:06:49,470 --> 00:06:53,150 you in the theater. Maybe you can help backstage with props. Can you hand out 102 00:06:53,150 --> 00:06:56,970 a program? Can you hold a door? Can you help build a set? Those 103 00:06:56,970 --> 00:07:00,450 types of things. Now, my hope is that now the theater's done a great job 104 00:07:00,450 --> 00:07:03,690 reaching out to the community. And we've got a lot of shows that have happened 105 00:07:03,690 --> 00:07:07,170 that have had community involvement, including actors and those types of things. 106 00:07:07,410 --> 00:07:11,170 My hope is that we have a good Spring House representation 107 00:07:11,170 --> 00:07:14,810 in this particular show. And so I want to personally invite you, if 108 00:07:14,810 --> 00:07:18,370 you're interested, to audition. And also if you just want to be involved 109 00:07:18,370 --> 00:07:21,690 at some level, come and see me or see Pastor Will and we'll get you 110 00:07:21,690 --> 00:07:25,010 involved and you'll be a part, a touch point of 111 00:07:25,410 --> 00:07:28,370 our arts outreach here at Spring House. That sound good? If so, 112 00:07:30,110 --> 00:07:33,950 all right. We are going to be talking about Esther today. 113 00:07:34,190 --> 00:07:37,910 Esther today. And Justin. Pastor Justin doesn't like 114 00:07:37,910 --> 00:07:41,750 Esther, so he left it off of the lineup for the reading. He 115 00:07:41,750 --> 00:07:45,470 just said, I have a problem with that Esther girl. No kidding. We only read 116 00:07:45,470 --> 00:07:49,270 one chapter a day, and so we only could fit so many things 117 00:07:49,270 --> 00:07:52,870 on that thing. Esther is a beautiful, wonderful, redeeming story. 118 00:07:52,870 --> 00:07:56,630 It's a great story. I encourage you to read it. Now, I could be 119 00:07:56,630 --> 00:07:59,710 up here and do a botched up job of telling you the story. But before 120 00:07:59,710 --> 00:08:03,530 I got married, my wife had a dream. She had a dream 121 00:08:04,810 --> 00:08:07,930 she would marry a good looking pastor. No she. No, 122 00:08:08,810 --> 00:08:12,570 she had a dream that she had a daughter, and the Lord 123 00:08:12,570 --> 00:08:16,210 gave her the name Hadassah. Now, Hadassah is Esther's 124 00:08:16,210 --> 00:08:19,690 Hebrew name. If you've read the story, you see that in there. And I thought, 125 00:08:19,770 --> 00:08:23,250 hey, why not have Hadassah come and share the story of Esther with you? Would 126 00:08:23,250 --> 00:08:24,730 you guys welcome Hadassah o' day. 127 00:08:38,350 --> 00:08:41,950 The story of Esther begins with King Xerxes. 128 00:08:42,510 --> 00:08:46,350 And he wanted to show off his kingdom and all the riches in it. So 129 00:08:46,670 --> 00:08:50,470 for 180 days, which is half a year, he showed off his kingdom. And 130 00:08:50,470 --> 00:08:54,170 at the end of that time, he threw a banquet. And his 131 00:08:54,170 --> 00:08:56,970 wife, Queen Vashti, also threw a banquet for all the women. 132 00:08:58,490 --> 00:09:02,130 During the banquet, the king wanted Queen Vashti to come 133 00:09:02,130 --> 00:09:05,930 out in her crown and show everyone how beautiful she was. 134 00:09:06,090 --> 00:09:08,730 But she refused. So the king kicked her out. 135 00:09:14,970 --> 00:09:18,730 Then he wanted a new queen. So he asked 136 00:09:19,790 --> 00:09:23,310 one of his workers to get all of the beautiful virgins 137 00:09:23,950 --> 00:09:27,670 and to bring them to his castle. And they had to have a 138 00:09:27,670 --> 00:09:30,750 year of beauty treatments before they could see the king. 139 00:09:34,350 --> 00:09:37,750 And then there was a girl named Tadasa who went by 140 00:09:37,750 --> 00:09:40,510 Esther, and she 141 00:09:44,110 --> 00:09:47,870 had favor with everyone that she that saw her, including 142 00:09:47,950 --> 00:09:51,310 the king. So she was chosen to be the new queen, 143 00:09:52,190 --> 00:09:56,030 and her cousin Mordecai adopted 144 00:09:56,030 --> 00:09:59,070 her because she didn't have any parents. 145 00:10:00,910 --> 00:10:04,590 So Mordecai would normally 146 00:10:04,910 --> 00:10:07,150 sit out of what they called the king's gate. 147 00:10:08,830 --> 00:10:12,190 And one day, because he was sitting out there, he. 148 00:10:12,590 --> 00:10:16,230 They overheard two of the guards making a plan to assassinate the 149 00:10:16,230 --> 00:10:19,910 king. So he reported it to Esther, and Esther reported it to the 150 00:10:19,910 --> 00:10:23,710 king, but he didn't get anything for it 151 00:10:23,710 --> 00:10:24,030 yet. 152 00:10:27,870 --> 00:10:31,590 Then a few years later, Haman comes in, 153 00:10:31,590 --> 00:10:35,270 and the king gives him great honor, and he makes a 154 00:10:35,270 --> 00:10:38,430 law that whenever he passes by, you're supposed to bow down to him. 155 00:10:39,230 --> 00:10:42,110 So everyone did that, but Mordecai, he. 156 00:10:42,430 --> 00:10:45,870 Mordecai, refused to do that. So Haman hated 157 00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:48,750 Mordecai a lot. And 158 00:10:49,710 --> 00:10:53,430 so the king, he convinced the king that all Jews were 159 00:10:53,430 --> 00:10:57,150 bad because he discovered that Mordecai was a Jew. So he just decided to 160 00:10:57,150 --> 00:11:00,510 hate all the Jews. So once he convinced the king that 161 00:11:01,550 --> 00:11:05,150 all the Jews were bad, then the king let him write 162 00:11:05,310 --> 00:11:08,930 a law saying that all the Jews would be 163 00:11:08,930 --> 00:11:11,650 killed on the 13th day of the 12 month. 164 00:11:22,370 --> 00:11:26,210 Okay? And then Mordecai, once he heard about 165 00:11:26,210 --> 00:11:29,570 the law, he put on sackcloth and sat outside the king's gate. 166 00:11:30,370 --> 00:11:33,970 And Esther heard about it. He sent. She sent him clothes, 167 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,160 but he refused. And she asked him why she was 168 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,240 so sad. He was so sad. And 169 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,680 he told her. He told the messenger that she sent him about 170 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:49,480 the law. The messenger told her about the law. And then 171 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,360 she said, we needed to do something about this. And Mordecai 172 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,160 said, go see the king. But back then, it was illegal to 173 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,170 go into the king's presence uninvited unless 174 00:12:01,170 --> 00:12:04,370 he held out his golden scepter, which meant that 175 00:12:05,010 --> 00:12:07,570 he'll spare her life. And 176 00:12:08,930 --> 00:12:12,730 Esther was like, I can't do this because I could die. But then 177 00:12:12,730 --> 00:12:16,130 Mordecai was like, this is why you have become queen, to save your people. 178 00:12:17,170 --> 00:12:20,930 So she said, fast for me for three days. Don't drink or eat anything, 179 00:12:21,570 --> 00:12:24,850 and I will go to the king. 180 00:12:26,220 --> 00:12:29,660 So on the third day, Esther went to the king, and 181 00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:32,940 he held out his golden scepter. And he said, 182 00:12:33,420 --> 00:12:36,140 like, what do you want? You can have up to half of my kingdom. 183 00:12:36,940 --> 00:12:40,580 And she asked him to 184 00:12:40,580 --> 00:12:44,060 go to a banquet that she set up for him and bring Haman 185 00:12:44,460 --> 00:12:47,900 also. So they did. And 186 00:12:51,110 --> 00:12:54,430 the king asked her again, what do you want? Like, up to half of my 187 00:12:54,430 --> 00:12:58,230 kingdom you can have. And she said, come again tomorrow 188 00:12:58,230 --> 00:13:01,990 to another banquet, and then I'll tell you. So 189 00:13:02,310 --> 00:13:05,750 that that night, Haman went home 190 00:13:06,070 --> 00:13:09,750 really happy. And then he saw Mordecai, 191 00:13:09,910 --> 00:13:13,510 who didn't have any fear when he. When Haman was passing by 192 00:13:13,510 --> 00:13:17,270 him. So he really got mad. And then he decided 193 00:13:18,150 --> 00:13:21,910 that in the morning he was going to tell the king 194 00:13:22,150 --> 00:13:24,950 that Mordecai needed to be killed. 195 00:13:25,670 --> 00:13:29,390 But that night the king couldn't sleep, so he had 196 00:13:29,390 --> 00:13:33,190 the king's chronicles brought to him, which is like a book 197 00:13:33,510 --> 00:13:37,110 of stuff that he did. And 198 00:13:37,110 --> 00:13:40,710 it got to the part where Mordecai saved him from being assassinated. 199 00:13:41,590 --> 00:13:44,910 And the king asked, who's. 200 00:13:45,230 --> 00:13:48,590 What has he gotten for this? And the person reading it to him said, 201 00:13:48,830 --> 00:13:52,670 nothing. So the king asked him, who's in the castle? 202 00:13:52,670 --> 00:13:56,270 And then Haman was in the castle or palace. And then 203 00:13:57,310 --> 00:14:00,030 he said, bring Haman in here. So 204 00:14:00,910 --> 00:14:04,710 he asked him, and what should I do to 205 00:14:04,710 --> 00:14:08,310 a man I highly honor? And Haman thought it was 206 00:14:08,310 --> 00:14:10,990 himself. So he said, 207 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,560 let him ride on a horse that the king has ridden on and give him 208 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:20,200 a robe that the king has worn, and let someone honor. This 209 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,920 is what is done to the man that the king honors. And 210 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,160 then the king said, go do that to Mordecai. 211 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:33,400 So, and Haman himself yelled out, this is what 212 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,120 is done to the man that the king honors. 213 00:14:37,730 --> 00:14:41,450 And then after that, he went home and he told his family about 214 00:14:41,450 --> 00:14:45,130 what happened to him. And he's very upset about it. And then 215 00:14:45,130 --> 00:14:47,730 the guards rush him to the queen's banquet, 216 00:14:48,690 --> 00:14:52,130 which then the king asks Esther, 217 00:14:53,170 --> 00:14:56,210 what do you want? You can have up to half of my kingdom. And he 218 00:14:56,210 --> 00:14:59,890 says, please spare the lives of me and all my people, because someone 219 00:14:59,970 --> 00:15:03,680 has tried to kill us all and is going to kill 220 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,400 us soon. And he's like, well, who is 221 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,440 that? Where is he? And she said, haman. 222 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,480 So Haman fell at her feet and started begging her 223 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,120 for his life while the king went to go get guards for Haman, because he 224 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,920 became really mad. And then when the 225 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,600 king returned, he thought Haman was attacking the queen. So 226 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,720 he said, are you even going to attack my queen in front of my eyes? 227 00:15:30,930 --> 00:15:34,770 Then Haman, that 228 00:15:34,770 --> 00:15:38,530 night also, like the night before, set up something 229 00:15:38,530 --> 00:15:41,650 to kill Mordecai on. So 230 00:15:44,770 --> 00:15:48,450 the thing that he set up to kill Mordecai on, he was killed on 231 00:15:48,850 --> 00:15:52,690 that night. Then the loss, 232 00:15:53,410 --> 00:15:56,690 the law was sealed with the king's ring that all of them would die, 233 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,080 all of the Jews would die. But so you can't, like, 234 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,800 undo that law. Not even the king can. So Esther went up to him 235 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,640 again and he held out his gold scepter and said, like, what do you 236 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,960 want? Up to half of my kingdom? And she said, 237 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,680 please try to do something to spare me and my people's lives. 238 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,280 So he let Mordecai write a law. And that law said that 239 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,070 on that day the Jews were allowed to defend themselves and 240 00:16:25,070 --> 00:16:26,030 the Jews won. 241 00:16:28,910 --> 00:16:29,310 Then 242 00:16:35,070 --> 00:16:38,590 they made a holiday called 243 00:16:38,670 --> 00:16:42,270 Purim that the Jews still celebrate. And 244 00:16:43,230 --> 00:16:45,550 at the end of that, Mordecai was given 245 00:16:46,750 --> 00:16:50,350 Haman's job, and he was now second in command over 246 00:16:51,230 --> 00:16:52,270 all of Persia. 247 00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:04,660 Stan, let me give you a blessed. No, I'm kidding. 248 00:17:07,060 --> 00:17:10,740 I love when our youth and our kids know the word of God. I 249 00:17:10,740 --> 00:17:13,620 love when they know the word of God. Do you know the word of God? 250 00:17:13,780 --> 00:17:17,580 You're part of the greatest stories ever told. And part of 251 00:17:17,580 --> 00:17:20,900 that is us knowing the stories as they are told and 252 00:17:21,140 --> 00:17:24,860 being able to share them with others. Would you stand with me? We're going to 253 00:17:24,860 --> 00:17:28,700 read a verse from Romans, from the 254 00:17:28,700 --> 00:17:32,420 message version. Let's read it with some gusto this morning. Here's what 255 00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:35,980 I want you to do. God helping you take 256 00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:39,660 your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, 257 00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:43,020 eating, going to work and walking around life, 258 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:47,180 and place it before God as an offering. Don't 259 00:17:47,180 --> 00:17:50,840 become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit 260 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,560 into it without even thinking. Instead, fix 261 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,960 your attention on God. You'll be changed from the 262 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,680 inside out, readily Recognize what he wants 263 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,480 from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the 264 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,320 culture around you, always dragging you down to its 265 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:13,040 level of immaturity. God brings the best out of 266 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,840 you, develops wealth or maturity in you. Father, thank 267 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,450 you for your word. I thank you that it brings life. Transform our hearts today 268 00:18:20,450 --> 00:18:24,130 with it. In Jesus name and everybody say amen. You may be 269 00:18:24,130 --> 00:18:27,690 seated. This morning in the presence of the Lord. Hey, we have a tendency to 270 00:18:27,690 --> 00:18:31,370 want to gravitate to bigger and better things. Is that true? We have a tendency 271 00:18:31,370 --> 00:18:35,010 to see something and be in somewhere or evaluate something. If something 272 00:18:35,010 --> 00:18:38,330 better comes along, we say, I want that. I want that better thing. I want 273 00:18:38,330 --> 00:18:42,170 that new thing. I want something with excellence. Something great. Okay, so 274 00:18:42,170 --> 00:18:44,930 let's look at some examples here. Okay, so we got A and B. What are 275 00:18:44,930 --> 00:18:48,570 you choosing? A. Definitely A. 276 00:18:48,570 --> 00:18:52,170 Okay, what about. What about this? A, the car, the 277 00:18:52,170 --> 00:18:55,930 clunker. Okay. A. Okay, 278 00:18:55,930 --> 00:18:58,890 mansion or A. Yeah, which hotel? 279 00:19:00,170 --> 00:19:02,970 Okay. All right, what about this one? 280 00:19:04,570 --> 00:19:05,850 Okay, now wait a second. 281 00:19:08,730 --> 00:19:12,350 If you didn't choose A, we're going to have a prayer for 282 00:19:12,350 --> 00:19:16,110 you at the end of the gathering. No, but we want to gravitate 283 00:19:16,110 --> 00:19:19,230 to greater things. We want to gravitate to excellence. We want to 284 00:19:19,230 --> 00:19:22,350 gravitate to those things that seem to 285 00:19:23,230 --> 00:19:26,590 move in an upward position. Okay. We tend to, if we have a choice, we're 286 00:19:26,590 --> 00:19:30,310 like man. We want to take a part of those greater things. And you're part 287 00:19:30,310 --> 00:19:34,110 of the greatest story ever told. But part of what makes your story great 288 00:19:34,750 --> 00:19:38,360 is this. It's about other people. 289 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:41,920 It's not about you. And ultimately it's about 290 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,240 Christ. It's about Christ using you 291 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,120 to influence other people, to show other 292 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:51,240 people his love. 293 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,600 We like greater things. I like great things. Is it okay to desire 294 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,800 great things? Absolutely. It's okay to desire 295 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,880 greater things. But God never put you here on this planet 296 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:05,720 to build a big old empire for yourself. 297 00:20:07,860 --> 00:20:11,500 And so in our greater things, it is always about pouring out for the 298 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:15,300 benefit of the kingdom. Every kingdom story starts with 299 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,500 a kingdom setup. Every kingdom story 300 00:20:18,980 --> 00:20:21,620 starts with a kingdom setup. 301 00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:25,860 Many of you know I worked at Chick Fil A for many years. 302 00:20:26,260 --> 00:20:30,060 And I'll tell you every position that I've held in my life. Every position, 303 00:20:30,060 --> 00:20:33,740 no matter what it is, I always say, felt that it was my forever position. 304 00:20:33,900 --> 00:20:37,580 I never really knew better or not. Maybe I wasn't good enough to forward think. 305 00:20:37,580 --> 00:20:40,780 I know that there are seminars and places where you go where you sow into, 306 00:20:40,780 --> 00:20:44,380 like, let me get my life plan together for what I'm going to be. But 307 00:20:44,380 --> 00:20:46,860 every Position I had. I was going to own a Chick Fil a. Some of 308 00:20:46,860 --> 00:20:50,540 you in here wrote letters on my behalf asking them 309 00:20:50,540 --> 00:20:53,740 to let me own that Smyrna Chick Fil a when it was being built. I 310 00:20:53,740 --> 00:20:56,700 mean, that was going to be the trajectory of my life. That's where I was 311 00:20:56,700 --> 00:20:58,900 when I did Chick Fil A. Well, I started Chick Fil A when I was 312 00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:02,590 14. And in that sense, in that season of working at Chick Fil a, 313 00:21:02,590 --> 00:21:05,470 man, I learned how to run a business. 314 00:21:06,190 --> 00:21:09,550 In my season at Chick Fil A, I learned how to manage people. I learned 315 00:21:09,550 --> 00:21:13,390 how to work with people. I learned 316 00:21:13,390 --> 00:21:16,990 how to be a part of education. They flew me into 317 00:21:16,990 --> 00:21:20,350 Atlanta and I would teach classes on marketing and those types of things. 318 00:21:20,830 --> 00:21:23,870 And I started a ministry at Chick Fil A. And the Lord taught me about 319 00:21:23,870 --> 00:21:27,510 how to pastor people and meet people where they are. Well, 320 00:21:27,510 --> 00:21:30,830 lo and behold, there would come a point when the Lord wanted to transition me 321 00:21:30,830 --> 00:21:34,350 out of the season of Chick Fil A into what's next. I 322 00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:37,990 guys, I run and operate a school. I pastor this church. And I need every 323 00:21:37,990 --> 00:21:41,830 one of these things to do those things. Let me tell you something. God has 324 00:21:41,830 --> 00:21:45,630 something going on in your life right now that is a setup for you, 325 00:21:45,630 --> 00:21:49,190 for whatever's next, whatever he's got going on in your life right 326 00:21:49,190 --> 00:21:52,990 now. The kingdom. The kingdom is always going to start. The kingdom story in 327 00:21:52,990 --> 00:21:56,740 your life is always going to start with a kingdom setup. So you 328 00:21:56,740 --> 00:21:59,780 may be in a situation or a place or a circumstance in your life. You 329 00:21:59,780 --> 00:22:03,140 may be working for somebody or not working for somebody or in a relationship, not 330 00:22:03,140 --> 00:22:06,820 in a relationship. And I want you to understand that there is purpose in everything 331 00:22:06,820 --> 00:22:10,660 that you're touching right now. There's purpose in everything you're touching. There are 332 00:22:10,660 --> 00:22:14,380 no coincidences. I believe in the kingdom of God. And so are 333 00:22:14,380 --> 00:22:18,020 you paying attention? Are you paying attention to your story? I 334 00:22:18,020 --> 00:22:21,100 wanna ask this question as we start today. And I want you to hold it 335 00:22:21,100 --> 00:22:23,220 in the back of your mind. Cause we're gonna bring it back up at the 336 00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:26,920 end of today. And it is this. What part do 337 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,600 you play in the story that's being written about your life? 338 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,760 What part do you play in the story that's being 339 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,320 written about your life? Esther 340 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,039 4:14 says, and who knows whether you have not come to 341 00:22:42,039 --> 00:22:45,720 the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 342 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,560 is there, and she is literally in probably the best position 343 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,370 she's ever been in, man. Her mom and 344 00:22:53,370 --> 00:22:57,210 dad died. We don't know the story. We know that they died. She's Been 345 00:22:57,210 --> 00:23:00,850 living with her cousin Mordecai. Mordecai has been kind of leading 346 00:23:00,850 --> 00:23:04,410 her and whatnot. And here she is. The king has found favor 347 00:23:04,410 --> 00:23:08,090 upon her, and now she is the queen. The best position of her life. 348 00:23:08,090 --> 00:23:11,290 Some of you in this room would say right now, you are in the best 349 00:23:11,290 --> 00:23:14,370 position of your life. Can I tell you 350 00:23:14,930 --> 00:23:15,330 something? 351 00:23:19,180 --> 00:23:22,980 Anytime God elevates you. Anytime God gives you something, anytime 352 00:23:22,980 --> 00:23:26,660 God bestows favor upon you, he looks for you to surrender 353 00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:30,220 it right away. He looks for you to surrender it 354 00:23:30,540 --> 00:23:34,220 right away. Esther, Queen Esther 355 00:23:35,340 --> 00:23:38,740 asked, has a choice in front of her. Asked to 356 00:23:38,740 --> 00:23:42,580 surrender her position right away. She didn't have to. And guess what? 357 00:23:42,580 --> 00:23:46,080 You don't have to. But it's what God 358 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,920 requires. God is the author of every 359 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,560 good thing that happens in your life. Your setting is 360 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,320 not random. Your placement is not purpose, is purposeful. 361 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,000 God is always looking to use people who are paying 362 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,200 attention. Jack, are you paying attention this morning? 363 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,560 Will, are you paying attention this morning? Tasha, are you paying attention this morning? Not 364 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,160 just to this message I'm asking you. Are you paying attention to the part that 365 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,670 you are playing in your story right now? Or are you so 366 00:24:15,670 --> 00:24:19,190 discouraged, so upset, so worried, so anxious, so 367 00:24:19,190 --> 00:24:22,950 distraught at what seemingly the Lord is allowing to happen in your life that 368 00:24:22,950 --> 00:24:25,550 you're not paying attention to the God lessons inside it? 369 00:24:27,390 --> 00:24:30,990 Because for every hurt, let me tell you something. I haven't really grown 370 00:24:30,990 --> 00:24:34,190 much through all the joyful parts of my life. I love the joyful parts of 371 00:24:34,190 --> 00:24:37,630 my life. Where I've grown is where the pain is, where the hurt is, 372 00:24:38,190 --> 00:24:42,030 where the stuff gets muddy. That's where I've grown. That's where I've learned the 373 00:24:42,030 --> 00:24:45,640 most. So I would say to you, those of you who are in a situation 374 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,360 where you're like, man, I just feel stuck. God's got you stuck 375 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,120 because he's wanting you to become more like Him. He's wanting you to look a 376 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:57,840 whole lot more like him. Are you 377 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,360 paying attention? Sometimes I think that we forget to ask, 378 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,880 why am I here at this appointed time? 379 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,160 Why am I here at this appointed time? Why am I in this 380 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,860 relationship right now? Why am I. Why am I 381 00:25:12,860 --> 00:25:16,700 in this workplace right now? Why am I involved with this ministry 382 00:25:16,700 --> 00:25:20,500 at this point in time? And the opposite is true. Why am I not 383 00:25:20,500 --> 00:25:23,780 in that relationship anymore? Why am I not in that 384 00:25:23,780 --> 00:25:27,540 workplace anymore? Why am I not in that ministry anymore? All of these 385 00:25:27,540 --> 00:25:31,340 questions. I think a why question is an excellent question to 386 00:25:31,340 --> 00:25:35,020 ask the Creator of the universe. And he has answers for you. He has 387 00:25:35,020 --> 00:25:38,540 answers for You. Why? Why am I here at this 388 00:25:38,540 --> 00:25:41,860 appointed time? I believe the God of the universe is moving on your 389 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:46,200 every single day. He's moving every single day. And if you will just look to 390 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,440 see his sovereign hand, you will find it. He says if you look and find 391 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,720 me, seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Draw close to him. 392 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,520 He'll draw close to you. Look for his fingerprints on your life every 393 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,960 day, and he will reveal something to you. Are you 394 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:03,800 listening? Are we paying attention? Some of 395 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,640 my closest friendships, had I shown up in their life 15 396 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,120 years ago, there's no way in the world that we would be as close as 397 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:10,720 we are today. 398 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,760 Seasons. Seasons. I used to think that 399 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,800 seasons were forever. But, guys, can I tell you, seasons are temporary. 400 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,840 So whether you are on the mountaintop or in the valley right now, you got 401 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,960 a temporary season in front of you. What's God doing in it? Are you paying 402 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,440 attention? His fingerprints are there. You can trust him. 403 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,160 Listen, God does not have to be obvious to be 404 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,850 omnipresent. God does not have to be obvious to 405 00:26:38,850 --> 00:26:42,090 be present. Some of us listen. This is 406 00:26:43,050 --> 00:26:46,810 some strong truth I'm giving you this morning, okay? Some of 407 00:26:46,810 --> 00:26:50,210 you have not moved forward in your momentum with 408 00:26:50,210 --> 00:26:54,050 God because you are awaiting him to open the skies and 409 00:26:54,050 --> 00:26:57,210 speak to you in a miraculously loud 410 00:26:57,530 --> 00:27:01,250 voice so that you know that what you're doing is what you're supposed to 411 00:27:01,250 --> 00:27:05,010 do. Now, let me tell you over in Timothy, it tells us that God has 412 00:27:05,010 --> 00:27:07,590 not given us a spirit of fear and, but he has given us 413 00:27:08,630 --> 00:27:12,350 power, love, and a sound mind. Everybody say sound 414 00:27:12,350 --> 00:27:16,070 mind. You have been given a sound 415 00:27:16,470 --> 00:27:20,230 mind. You have been given a sound mind. The Bible also tells us. 416 00:27:20,710 --> 00:27:24,150 The Bible also tells us in Corinthians, it says we have been given 417 00:27:24,550 --> 00:27:28,270 the mind of Christ. Say the mind of Christ. You've been given the mind 418 00:27:28,270 --> 00:27:31,790 of Christ. It also says in Psalm 37 that the steps of a 419 00:27:31,790 --> 00:27:35,640 righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Steps of 420 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,120 the righteous are ordered by the Lord. Can I tell you this morning that 421 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:42,600 sometimes God's not looking to give you some miraculous 422 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,560 audio. Audible is what I'm trying to say. Audible 423 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,160 voice to get you to move. He's just waiting for you to have the 424 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,760 courage enough to take the next step based on the sound mind he's given 425 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,600 you. Listen, he's equipped you with everything that you need. 426 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,040 Some of us are just remaining still and not moving forward because we are 427 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,320 waiting for something that's not gonna happen. God's just saying, I'm here, I'm 428 00:28:06,950 --> 00:28:10,790 given you Everything you need. Listen, I've had people who have decided to 429 00:28:10,790 --> 00:28:14,550 allow their families to starve because they're waiting for God to open 430 00:28:14,550 --> 00:28:17,750 up that one position, that one thing. They're waiting on a voice. Let me tell 431 00:28:17,750 --> 00:28:21,470 you something. My family's starving. I will flip burgers like the best of them and 432 00:28:21,470 --> 00:28:24,670 do it with such excellence while I'm making money waiting on God to open up 433 00:28:24,670 --> 00:28:25,430 that next thing. 434 00:28:29,030 --> 00:28:32,750 Guys, we use the word common sense. It's not so 435 00:28:32,750 --> 00:28:36,540 common. Okay, it's not so common. But 436 00:28:36,540 --> 00:28:39,100 here's the thing. If you love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and 437 00:28:39,100 --> 00:28:42,820 mind, he will order your steps. Take the next 438 00:28:42,820 --> 00:28:45,820 step. Some of you need to take this today. You need to take a step 439 00:28:45,820 --> 00:28:49,020 of faith. I need to take a step of faith to a 440 00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:52,500 reconciliation in a relationship. I need to take a step of faith on that job 441 00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:55,740 front. I need to take a step of faith in giving that money away that 442 00:28:55,740 --> 00:28:59,500 I've been holding onto. Take a step of 443 00:28:59,500 --> 00:29:03,340 faith. Use what he's given you. He's given you a sound mind. He's 444 00:29:03,340 --> 00:29:06,930 ordering. He's ordering your steps. He's ordering your 445 00:29:06,930 --> 00:29:10,650 steps. I love to tell you guys as your pastor, that majority of my 446 00:29:10,650 --> 00:29:14,330 decisions are the sky opening moments where a voice is coming down and the dove 447 00:29:14,330 --> 00:29:16,210 is descending and I'm just standing in a light. 448 00:29:18,210 --> 00:29:21,810 But that rarely happens. Never has that happened to me. 449 00:29:26,610 --> 00:29:27,970 I've been given the mind of Christ. 450 00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:34,940 I think it's very important that we are careful when we say, God told me. 451 00:29:36,700 --> 00:29:40,460 God told me. And sometimes, just because we're moving so fast, 452 00:29:40,460 --> 00:29:44,180 we're not thinking about what we're saying. We're just taking the next 453 00:29:44,180 --> 00:29:47,940 step on the journey with a sound mind. Because my steps 454 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:51,580 are ordered. And we will tag it with God told me. Let's reserve God 455 00:29:51,580 --> 00:29:54,700 told me for those moments when he audibly speaks to us. 456 00:29:55,590 --> 00:29:59,190 Right when he audibly speaks to us. Guys, move. Take the next step. 457 00:30:00,070 --> 00:30:03,830 Everybody in the room, take the next step. Unless he has said 458 00:30:03,830 --> 00:30:06,590 to you, unless you really feel impressed that he told you to be still, Take 459 00:30:06,590 --> 00:30:10,430 the next step. Do you know that we serve a God who knows how to 460 00:30:10,430 --> 00:30:13,670 slam doors in your face? See, we want him to open 461 00:30:13,910 --> 00:30:17,390 doors up, but, boy, take the next step. Let him slam a door in your 462 00:30:17,390 --> 00:30:21,110 face. I've been hit in the nose, Barbie, so many times 463 00:30:21,110 --> 00:30:24,840 by slammed doors. But guess what? Learn by those slam doors instead 464 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,920 of trying to fly through open ones that I never was supposed to fly through. 465 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,520 The greatest part of your story won't be what you accomplish, 466 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,200 but who you lay your life down for. The greatest 467 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,920 part of your story won't be what you accomplish, but who 468 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,040 you lay your life down for. Kurt and I were at lunch 469 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,190 yesterday and he was talking and sharing some things about 470 00:30:51,190 --> 00:30:55,030 outreach. I was talking and sharing some things about outreach. We didn't plan to meet 471 00:30:55,030 --> 00:30:58,870 about outreach. We just met to hang out, right? And so we met to 472 00:30:58,870 --> 00:31:02,350 hang out. And all of a sudden in that conversation, we started to see, like, 473 00:31:02,350 --> 00:31:05,870 puzzle pieces come together as we were 474 00:31:05,870 --> 00:31:09,550 paying attention to what was going on in 475 00:31:09,550 --> 00:31:13,310 that moment. Those types of connections happen 476 00:31:13,310 --> 00:31:15,840 all the time. If you're paying attention, 477 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,800 why is this conversation happening? What's God wanting to do in the 478 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,520 middle of this? I encourage you. You know, I've been, you know, when I go 479 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,000 out to eat, I realize that not everybody is accustomed to praying before 480 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,240 you eat, you know, but when the people are with the pastor and they put 481 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,160 something in their mouth and they feel so bad, you know, whenever I'm sitting there, 482 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,400 I like to let somebody take a bite and then say, would you pray for 483 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:41,110 us? And. But I don't just 484 00:31:41,110 --> 00:31:44,950 pray to bless the food. I pray to invite the presence of 485 00:31:44,950 --> 00:31:48,350 the Holy Spirit for there to be an awareness 486 00:31:48,910 --> 00:31:52,590 that he's there so that our conversation not only could be 487 00:31:52,590 --> 00:31:56,230 centered on him, but we could pay attention to what he's doing in that 488 00:31:56,230 --> 00:31:59,630 dialogue. The greatest part of your story 489 00:31:59,870 --> 00:32:03,550 won't be what you accomplish, but who you laid your life down 490 00:32:03,550 --> 00:32:07,320 for. Esther didn't save a nation by playing it safe, and neither will 491 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,080 we. Esther risked everything. Her position, her peace, 492 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,560 her life, all for her people. 493 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,800 God's assignments always involve people 494 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,360 because his heart always involves 495 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:22,840 love. 496 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,760 And guys, sometimes I can't stand it. But do 497 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,080 you ever notice that God rarely calls you to love easy people? 498 00:32:36,490 --> 00:32:40,250 He calls you to love like Him. And I found that the greatest 499 00:32:40,250 --> 00:32:44,050 parts of my story, my growth and becoming more like him, involve people 500 00:32:44,050 --> 00:32:46,810 I'd rather avoid or ignore. 501 00:32:48,890 --> 00:32:52,650 And maybe that's your story, too. Boy, if we had 502 00:32:52,650 --> 00:32:55,530 to cherry, if we just got to cherry pick the people that we just hung 503 00:32:55,530 --> 00:32:57,890 out with and just say, well, this is all the people I'm going to be 504 00:32:57,890 --> 00:33:01,270 associated with, there would be a lot of lonely, left out people, 505 00:33:01,590 --> 00:33:04,430 probably a lot of people who wouldn't know the Lord. Probably a lot of the 506 00:33:04,430 --> 00:33:08,110 people wouldn't look like the Lord either. I need the people that he's 507 00:33:08,110 --> 00:33:11,870 placed in my life because in the season that 508 00:33:11,870 --> 00:33:15,510 I'm in, the people that are there are supposed to be there to sharpen me. 509 00:33:15,510 --> 00:33:18,710 So that why so I look more like him. 510 00:33:20,310 --> 00:33:23,950 Relationship is the soil where courage takes root 511 00:33:23,950 --> 00:33:27,470 and sacrifice bears fruit. And we see this evidence in the 512 00:33:27,470 --> 00:33:31,020 choices that Esther makes on behalf of her people, on behalf of 513 00:33:31,330 --> 00:33:34,970 others. God didn't create us to build empires. He 514 00:33:34,970 --> 00:33:38,610 created us to love. Esther shows the 515 00:33:38,610 --> 00:33:42,330 heart of faith, love expressed through sacrifice. Over in 516 00:33:42,330 --> 00:33:46,050 John 15, Jesus says, this greater love has no 517 00:33:46,050 --> 00:33:49,730 one than this. To lay down one's life for one's 518 00:33:49,730 --> 00:33:53,370 friends. Well, how do we do that? 519 00:33:53,370 --> 00:33:56,650 That takes, I believe, a step of faith. Well, over in James chapter two, it 520 00:33:56,650 --> 00:34:00,050 says, this faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, 521 00:34:00,370 --> 00:34:02,610 is dead. This tells me that love requires. 522 00:34:05,170 --> 00:34:07,570 Love requires you to do something. 523 00:34:10,210 --> 00:34:13,970 But what we like to do is we like to say, I love you, 524 00:34:14,130 --> 00:34:17,970 but I don't mean it. We don't say that last part, I love 525 00:34:17,970 --> 00:34:21,810 you. I'll send you a text message, I love you, but my actions 526 00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:24,050 do not meet my words. 527 00:34:26,290 --> 00:34:30,120 Guys, as believers, we should be the example. 528 00:34:30,990 --> 00:34:34,670 We should be the example of what it really means to say 529 00:34:35,310 --> 00:34:39,110 I love you. And when somebody says that, 530 00:34:39,110 --> 00:34:42,510 a believer says that, it's as if they're looking at Christ 531 00:34:43,390 --> 00:34:46,509 saying, hey, I'm willing to give it up for you. 532 00:34:47,070 --> 00:34:48,830 I'm willing to give it up for you. 533 00:34:50,430 --> 00:34:54,110 Esther was in the greatest position of her life, 534 00:34:54,990 --> 00:34:58,510 and it's just like God to plop into the midst of such favor and ask 535 00:34:58,510 --> 00:35:02,250 you to give it all up for him, because he wants first place in 536 00:35:02,250 --> 00:35:05,730 our lives. So Mordecai, her 537 00:35:05,730 --> 00:35:08,690 cousin, asked Esther, Esther, go to the king, 538 00:35:10,690 --> 00:35:13,330 and risking her life, she chooses to obey. 539 00:35:14,930 --> 00:35:18,570 I believe that the enemy of obedience is 540 00:35:18,570 --> 00:35:22,370 rarely fear. Sometimes we're like, I don't want to obey because I'm fear. I 541 00:35:22,370 --> 00:35:25,830 don't think it's fear. I think it's comfortable. 542 00:35:26,860 --> 00:35:30,540 The enemy of obedience is comfort. You may be 543 00:35:30,540 --> 00:35:34,340 living right now a life full of God's favor. And your prayer 544 00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:37,700 is, more, Lord. More, Lord, give me more, Lord. And there's an 545 00:35:37,700 --> 00:35:41,140 overflow. I don't have any problem with that prayer, but can I tell you, favor 546 00:35:41,140 --> 00:35:44,900 was never meant to make you comfortable. It was meant to make you 547 00:35:44,900 --> 00:35:48,420 useful. It's meant to make you useful for his 548 00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:52,160 kingdom, your comfort. Listen to this. May 549 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,360 be the greatest threat to someone else's freedom. 550 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:00,560 Your comfort may be the greatest threat to 551 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,360 someone else's freedom. See, here's the thing. 552 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,960 Comfort. Whispers, stay safe 553 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,720 while calling. Whispers, step out 554 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,800 and only one of those voices will write your legacy. 555 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:20,200 I believe that comfort zones are the graveyards of kingdom 556 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:24,030 impact. We pass by this banner every Sunday, when you 557 00:36:24,030 --> 00:36:26,790 come in church, we pass by this banner right here. Now, it's a little small 558 00:36:26,790 --> 00:36:30,270 on the screen, but it's that second one right there. It says, tears for the 559 00:36:30,590 --> 00:36:34,390 lost. Tears for the lost. Some of you 560 00:36:34,390 --> 00:36:37,390 look up there like, I forgot that was out there. And that's my point. 561 00:36:39,230 --> 00:36:42,710 The three things we've been asking the Lord for this year. Answered prayers. We've been 562 00:36:42,710 --> 00:36:46,310 sharing testimonies every Sunday. For the last little bit here, I've been hearing answered prayers 563 00:36:46,310 --> 00:36:49,980 like crazy. It's been great. Hunger for the Word. I've been so encouraged 564 00:36:49,980 --> 00:36:53,460 by Springhouse becoming a Bible believing church, a Bible 565 00:36:53,700 --> 00:36:57,460 reading church, Bible literate church. But guys, 566 00:36:57,460 --> 00:36:59,700 what about tears for the lost? 567 00:37:01,540 --> 00:37:05,340 What about tears for the lost? We can celebrate our answered prayers all day 568 00:37:05,340 --> 00:37:09,100 long. We can grow a hunger for the Word. But we are commissioned by 569 00:37:09,100 --> 00:37:12,900 faith to love people. At a point where we have tears for the 570 00:37:12,900 --> 00:37:16,660 lost. Might I suggest to you this morning. Now, sometimes 571 00:37:16,660 --> 00:37:20,230 it's actual real tears, okay? But I'm talking about a heart 572 00:37:20,230 --> 00:37:23,830 position. If you don't have tears for the lost, might I 573 00:37:23,830 --> 00:37:27,470 suggest you're too comfortable. If you're 574 00:37:27,470 --> 00:37:31,150 walking by people who are on their way to hell every single day, 575 00:37:31,150 --> 00:37:34,670 separated from the God of the universe and have no relationship with him 576 00:37:35,070 --> 00:37:38,830 and you're content and fine with that, and you're content with 577 00:37:38,830 --> 00:37:42,590 going after your stuff, building your empire, you 578 00:37:42,590 --> 00:37:46,250 are too comfortable and dare I say, be 579 00:37:46,250 --> 00:37:49,450 careful that the Holy Spirit of God will yank that right from you. 580 00:37:50,970 --> 00:37:54,810 That's not a threat. He's not a manipulative God. I'm saying 581 00:37:54,810 --> 00:37:58,010 that the reason he would entrust you with the favor he's given you is not 582 00:37:58,010 --> 00:38:00,330 so that you can build a cushy life for yourself. 583 00:38:02,330 --> 00:38:04,010 Where's our tears for the lost? 584 00:38:06,090 --> 00:38:09,770 I have to believe that Esther, in the middle of her posh circumstance, 585 00:38:09,930 --> 00:38:12,890 had tears for her people who were going to die, 586 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:18,760 had tears for the people. Her very people couldn't believe that 587 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,640 this was going to happen to them. 588 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,840 Hebrews 11:6 says, without faith, it is impossible to please 589 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,840 God. I want to be a believer who pleases God. 590 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:34,000 Guys, without faith, it's impossible for me to please him. Without faith, it's 591 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,800 impossible for me to be saved. Without faith, it's impossible for me to lead 592 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,510 anybody else to the Lord. I need faith and I want to be a 593 00:38:41,510 --> 00:38:44,430 pleaser of my Father. Anybody want to join me in that? 594 00:38:47,150 --> 00:38:50,830 You can either protect your comfort or step into your calling, 595 00:38:51,150 --> 00:38:54,990 but you can't do both. And it takes faith to do so. 596 00:38:56,510 --> 00:38:59,870 I believe Esther could have enjoyed her position and said, you know what? This is 597 00:38:59,870 --> 00:39:03,150 not my problem. It's not my problem. 598 00:39:04,110 --> 00:39:07,780 And it would have been an accurate response 599 00:39:07,940 --> 00:39:10,900 because she's the queen. Hey, I don't live there anymore with them. 600 00:39:12,580 --> 00:39:16,300 It's not my problem. And, man, I hate to admit 601 00:39:16,300 --> 00:39:19,980 this, but there's some times in our lives when we are saying, it's not my 602 00:39:19,980 --> 00:39:20,260 problem. 603 00:39:25,300 --> 00:39:29,140 If the Lord exposes it to you, guess what? 604 00:39:30,580 --> 00:39:32,100 No coincidences in the kingdom. 605 00:39:34,810 --> 00:39:38,410 We would rather avoid. We would rather walk 606 00:39:38,410 --> 00:39:42,050 away. We want to just say, let somebody else do that. It's in. 607 00:39:42,050 --> 00:39:45,730 That's the biggest. It's inconvenient. I 608 00:39:45,730 --> 00:39:49,450 think the enemy's greatest ploy right now, today 609 00:39:49,610 --> 00:39:53,450 is the art of distraction. Let me just distract you. I'll distract you. I'll distract 610 00:39:53,450 --> 00:39:57,050 you. You ever been in a 611 00:39:57,050 --> 00:39:59,890 conversation with somebody and they were more entertained by their phone than what you were 612 00:39:59,890 --> 00:40:02,900 saying? I'm guilty. 613 00:40:06,260 --> 00:40:09,940 Esther could have said, it's not my problem, but she didn't. She loved her 614 00:40:09,940 --> 00:40:13,380 people. Listen to this. She loved her people to the point of death. 615 00:40:13,620 --> 00:40:16,459 And this is what the crux of what I'm trying to get out today in 616 00:40:16,459 --> 00:40:20,140 the message. I will always bring a message that points us to Jesus and 617 00:40:20,140 --> 00:40:23,780 points us to one another in love. Here's the thing. She was 618 00:40:23,780 --> 00:40:27,630 motivated by the love that she had for her people. Now, I. 619 00:40:28,180 --> 00:40:31,900 Yes, we may actually be called to actually physically die for somebody, okay, 620 00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:35,540 that might be a thing. But, man, laying down our pride, 621 00:40:35,780 --> 00:40:39,340 laying down our ego, laying down our stuff, laying down 622 00:40:39,340 --> 00:40:42,820 our will, laying down our everything for somebody else, 623 00:40:42,980 --> 00:40:46,300 it's the greatest. It's part of the greatest part of love that we can have. 624 00:40:46,300 --> 00:40:50,060 And it could ripple into the greatest part of your story. If you'll allow the 625 00:40:50,060 --> 00:40:53,700 Lord to move, if you'll walk in enough humility to allow 626 00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:57,500 him to do something, to unlock something. If 627 00:40:57,500 --> 00:41:01,140 love doesn't lead you to a cross, it's not the love 628 00:41:01,140 --> 00:41:04,860 of Jesus. If love doesn't lead you 629 00:41:04,860 --> 00:41:07,220 to a cross, it's not the love. Jesus modeled 630 00:41:08,420 --> 00:41:11,540 worship team, you can make your way back out here. We think it's about being 631 00:41:11,619 --> 00:41:15,260 kind and smiling and just 632 00:41:15,260 --> 00:41:17,300 saying, I love you. I love you. 633 00:41:19,140 --> 00:41:22,950 It's saying, I choose you over 634 00:41:22,950 --> 00:41:26,550 myself. And that's hard, 635 00:41:27,190 --> 00:41:29,430 Jessica. That's hard because I like to choose myself, 636 00:41:30,710 --> 00:41:33,910 Cole. That's hard. I like to choose Kevin. Hannah. I like to choose me 637 00:41:34,790 --> 00:41:38,150 numero uno. But, man, love. 638 00:41:38,790 --> 00:41:42,230 In my story, Ben, when it comes to love, I want it to be. 639 00:41:42,710 --> 00:41:45,910 I remember that time when Kevin had a choice to do that. 640 00:41:46,550 --> 00:41:50,140 But he sacrificed and did this instead. And it benefited me. 641 00:41:52,060 --> 00:41:55,740 It means I want to lay down myself and you might not 642 00:41:55,740 --> 00:41:59,500 reciprocate. And I need to be okay with that because I'm 643 00:41:59,500 --> 00:42:03,220 not in it to get something. I'm in it for the outflow of the 644 00:42:03,220 --> 00:42:04,460 love of Christ in my life. 645 00:42:08,380 --> 00:42:12,220 I want this love. This love needs to be over. My pride. We talked all 646 00:42:12,220 --> 00:42:15,890 week. How's the pride walk going for everybody? That did not 647 00:42:15,890 --> 00:42:19,490 sound good. Scratch that. How's your pride? How's your 648 00:42:19,490 --> 00:42:23,210 pride? How's your pride? Get, get. Stay focused 649 00:42:23,210 --> 00:42:26,970 here. Pride, pride. 650 00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:31,290 It'll pull your focus real fast because it focuses on you 651 00:42:34,410 --> 00:42:37,770 over my stuff. Guys, 652 00:42:38,010 --> 00:42:41,210 some of us have too much stuff. Can I just be real? 653 00:42:43,050 --> 00:42:46,690 And we are distracted by continually updating 654 00:42:46,690 --> 00:42:50,410 our stuff. I need to redo this room. I need to redo 655 00:42:50,410 --> 00:42:53,290 this thing. I need to update this thing because I got so much stuff. And 656 00:42:53,290 --> 00:42:55,610 then I got to clean up all the stuff that gets messy and cluttered and 657 00:42:55,610 --> 00:42:59,330 all this stuff and we're focused. Stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff. Stuff. Tears 658 00:42:59,330 --> 00:43:03,050 for the lost. Tears for the lost. Tears for lost. Gets pushed to the side. 659 00:43:03,530 --> 00:43:07,370 Stuff. Some of you are so 660 00:43:07,370 --> 00:43:11,200 rich and you're keeping it the biggest secret for anybody 661 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:14,800 else. You got so many zeros in that bank account and you're like, I'm set 662 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,600 for life. And yes, I am. Haman was like, look 663 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,000 at me, look at me. Look what I've got. 664 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,000 I am so glad that you got to come in my presence today, Tina. 665 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:27,440 Lucky you. 666 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,600 And then look, Lord takes it away. 667 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,400 It's all going to be destroyed. My goodness. 668 00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:42,960 Esther decided in her heart what to do and she responded 669 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:46,400 with a love answer that said, if I perish, 670 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,640 I perish. I want you to think for a second 671 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,920 in your relationships with your spouse, your friends, 672 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,720 whomever, work, co workers, Just think for a minute. Let's just take just a 673 00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:00,880 second. I'm going to be silent for a second here. When was the last time, 674 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:06,440 genuinely, you had a heart posture that said, if I 675 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:10,160 perish, I perish, but I'm going to love 676 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,480 you like Christ. Think about that for a second. When was the last time 677 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,730 Jesus is the greater Esther? He stepped 678 00:44:27,730 --> 00:44:31,490 into our brokenness, not just by risking his life, but 679 00:44:31,490 --> 00:44:34,850 giving all of it. Guys, all of 680 00:44:34,850 --> 00:44:38,410 scripture, the greatest stories ever told. Every bit of this 681 00:44:38,410 --> 00:44:41,970 book points to this kind of love. Sacrificial 682 00:44:42,770 --> 00:44:46,290 and redemptive. Sacrificial and 683 00:44:46,290 --> 00:44:49,890 redemptive. It's how we are supposed to live our lives. 684 00:44:57,580 --> 00:45:01,180 Sometimes with the teenagers at the school, I will have 685 00:45:01,180 --> 00:45:04,860 said something to them 40,000 times. And then one other 686 00:45:04,860 --> 00:45:07,780 voice comes along and they say the exact same thing. And it's as if they 687 00:45:07,780 --> 00:45:11,580 heard it for the very first time. Okay, 688 00:45:12,540 --> 00:45:16,380 can I tell you something? If you paid attention? I have been given 689 00:45:16,380 --> 00:45:20,110 the same message week after week after week after week after 690 00:45:20,110 --> 00:45:23,510 week. But 691 00:45:23,510 --> 00:45:27,150 somebody may need to actually see it in action to actually 692 00:45:27,150 --> 00:45:27,830 make a change. 693 00:45:32,390 --> 00:45:36,230 And I can't. Guys grow tired of hearing this message and 694 00:45:36,230 --> 00:45:40,030 speaking this message because it's the entire reason he came. It's 695 00:45:40,030 --> 00:45:43,870 the entire reason. And until I reach perfection in it, I'm going to keep going. 696 00:45:43,870 --> 00:45:46,680 I'm going to keep digging and plowing the ground. Keep plowing the ground. 697 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,800 This is what Jesus said. I 698 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,120 lay my life down. 699 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:56,920 I lay my life down. 700 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:02,920 So what you say? So I asked you the question again that I started with. 701 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:07,040 What role or what part do you play in 702 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,320 the story that's being written about your life? What part are you, 703 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:14,070 Esther? Are you in a place today of failure? Are you in a place 704 00:46:14,070 --> 00:46:17,870 where you actually are, you would say, you know, yeah, there's little rumblings 705 00:46:17,870 --> 00:46:20,310 of things here and there, but I'm in a really, kind of really good spot 706 00:46:20,310 --> 00:46:24,030 right now. I mean, there's not. I mean, I've got security in 707 00:46:24,030 --> 00:46:27,790 places. I'm doing, I'm doing well. Well, what are you doing with your wealth? 708 00:46:27,870 --> 00:46:31,270 What are you doing with your time? What's your story look like? Where are you 709 00:46:31,270 --> 00:46:34,990 seeing God? Have you grown complacent or content where you're actually not 710 00:46:34,990 --> 00:46:38,820 seeing God move? Are you, are you in this make believe world? 711 00:46:38,820 --> 00:46:41,900 If I wake up and the sunshine and roses are there, and I just say, 712 00:46:41,900 --> 00:46:45,580 thank you, Lord, and you walk about your day while all this stuff around 713 00:46:45,580 --> 00:46:49,420 you is just passing by. Are you 714 00:46:49,500 --> 00:46:53,180 a Mordecai, a man of integrity? Maybe you're 715 00:46:53,180 --> 00:46:56,980 somebody's wingman. Maybe Mordecai is 716 00:46:56,980 --> 00:47:00,460 at that gate and he overhears this situation, this 717 00:47:00,460 --> 00:47:04,230 gossip situation, and they're going to take the king down. And 718 00:47:04,230 --> 00:47:07,310 you know what we like to do? We like to hear that information and then 719 00:47:07,310 --> 00:47:10,670 run to somebody. Hannah, did you hear what they said? Kayla, did you hear what 720 00:47:10,670 --> 00:47:14,190 they said? We like to go everywhere else. You know where? He went to the 721 00:47:14,190 --> 00:47:16,070 source. He went right to the king. 722 00:47:17,750 --> 00:47:18,950 Mordecai was strong. 723 00:47:21,110 --> 00:47:24,750 Mordecai knew how to humble himself and mourn for the people. He 724 00:47:24,750 --> 00:47:28,390 wasn't willing to bow down to idols or bow down to man. 725 00:47:28,470 --> 00:47:31,120 He was going to worship God with humility. 726 00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:35,280 Or maybe you're Haman. 727 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:41,800 That was A nice message, Pastor. Appreciate it. I'm glad I could be here to 728 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:45,519 hear that today. And 729 00:47:45,519 --> 00:47:49,040 guys, I mean, it's a little funny, but if we're 730 00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:52,760 honest, all of us have been in all three positions at some point in our 731 00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:56,380 life. The question is, where are you right now in this 732 00:47:56,380 --> 00:48:00,180 season? Guys, this is 733 00:48:00,180 --> 00:48:03,900 real. Like our life, it's real. What we 734 00:48:03,900 --> 00:48:07,460 do. Today, this afternoon, it's real. Tomorrow, it's real. How we love each other, 735 00:48:07,620 --> 00:48:10,660 it's real. He's gonna split the sky. This is not fake, 736 00:48:12,180 --> 00:48:15,460 man. And Kurt, I want to give up the whole world. 737 00:48:15,780 --> 00:48:19,500 Just give me Jesus. Same, Smitty, 738 00:48:19,500 --> 00:48:23,110 same. I want Jesus. Barbie, Keith, I want Jesus. 739 00:48:23,510 --> 00:48:26,470 This is why we preach here as much as we can. And we try to 740 00:48:26,470 --> 00:48:30,110 do it, guys, to have our positions like this, open handed. Take this 741 00:48:30,110 --> 00:48:33,950 position from me tomorrow, Lord, give me you. I don't want it unless you're in 742 00:48:33,950 --> 00:48:37,350 it. Are you holding your hands open like that? 743 00:48:37,669 --> 00:48:40,830 Guys, what part are you playing in the story that's been written by your life? 744 00:48:40,830 --> 00:48:43,750 Would you stand with me this morning and with those who are going to minister 745 00:48:44,630 --> 00:48:48,190 to people? We need to have prayer warriors come down today because I believe there's 746 00:48:48,190 --> 00:48:51,970 people that need prayer. Not just for these things, but you know, maybe 747 00:48:51,970 --> 00:48:55,570 somebody needs healing. Maybe there's a broken family situation. Maybe 748 00:48:55,650 --> 00:48:59,290 you're going through a hard time or you have heard this message today. You 749 00:48:59,290 --> 00:49:02,970 heard the message today and you're like, you know what? I 750 00:49:02,970 --> 00:49:06,810 need courage to take the next step. I need 751 00:49:06,810 --> 00:49:08,850 God to shake some things up in my life. 752 00:49:10,610 --> 00:49:13,810 You don't have to leave here, guys. Come meet the God of the universe. 753 00:49:14,530 --> 00:49:18,250 Agree with somebody today. Let's worship 754 00:49:18,250 --> 00:49:21,370 him as we pray.