Speaker 1: Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year, not because I have to go in debt to buy my kids presents, but because there's a hyper-focus on Jesus.
Speaker 1: It's almost as if the whole year we can actually do church without focusing on Jesus, but right around Christmas time, then it's all about Him.
Speaker 1: Focusing on Jesus, but right around Christmas time, then it's all about him.
Speaker 1: It's strange to me in what we would call the Western church or church in suburban America, how church from January to November can be about being a good person, having good character, treating each other kindly, being a good neighbor, and then we get to December and we're like, oh yeah, to Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's actually the reason, and so today, here's my prayer.
Speaker 1: My prayer is that through our talk and through us being together that we would see Jesus.
Speaker 1: I want to invite you today that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened to know the hope that awaits you.
Speaker 1: That is Paul's reminder to the church.
Speaker 1: I want to invite you today to consider that all that you know about Jesus isn't all there actually is to know about Jesus.
Speaker 1: I found it dangerous in my life to get to the point where I think I've known everything about him.
Speaker 1: I think some of us have some knowledge of him, and maybe we've even read the Bible, and so we could say we kind of know who he is, and yet there's more to know about him.
Speaker 1: This is our revelation of the character of Jesus living out itself in our lives.
Speaker 1: Lives is that we make ourselves available to learn more about him, and so I'm just going to go on a journey with you today, 2024.
Speaker 1: For me, after 17 years of walking with the Lord, committed faithfully, 2024 has been the most vibrant my Christian life has ever been.
Speaker 1: I feel like I wake up and I can feel like he's there.
Speaker 1: I can talk to him and I feel like we have.
Speaker 1: I know I sound like a crazy person.
Speaker 1: I feel like we can have dialogue, me and Jesus.
Speaker 1: I talk to him and he talks back.
Speaker 1: This is in John.
Speaker 1: My sheep know my voice and I love them.
Speaker 1: I've been in the Bible more than ever before.
Speaker 1: We went, we walked our church through.
Speaker 1: We called it sola scriptura, which is only scripture.
Speaker 1: We went three days non-stop reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Speaker 1: Every hour there was a new person coming in to read the Bible.
Speaker 1: We did the whole thing in three days and then, right after that we went three months where we all did the Bible reading plan together.
Speaker 1: We did the whole thing in three days and then, right after that, we went three months where we all did the Bible reading plan together.
Speaker 1: We read the entire text in three months and I've learned more about the Bible this year than ever before.
Speaker 1: I went to Bible college, I went to school to learn about this and I've learned more this year than all the years of walking with the Lord.
Speaker 1: And here's my encouragement to you, for those of you who have walked with God and you feel like man I'm like twice your age young man.
Speaker 1: I know more about the Bible than you would ever imagine.
Speaker 1: I just want to entertain this thought that there might be more.
Speaker 1: I just want you to consider that there might be more about Jesus that you have yet to uncover, and if you would posture your hearts to be open to him, he might actually speak to you today.
Speaker 1: Now, I'm aware that we have a wide demographic of ages, a wide range of ages, in the room today, and yet in all of that, God can speak to you.
Speaker 1: I'm looking specifically at all the younger kids.
Speaker 1: Man, god can speak to you, god can encounter you right here in this room.
Speaker 1: He can open your eyes to see him for who he is, and there could be a moment today where you fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: If you get anything from today, it's this Everything will change if you fall in love with Jesus, everything.
Speaker 1: And so we're going to be in the book of John.
Speaker 1: Did you bring your Bibles with you today?
Speaker 1: Oh, that was quiet.
Speaker 1: If you brought your Bible out today, would you put it up in the air, wave it around like you actually care about it?
Speaker 1: Go ahead.
Speaker 1: This is not to condemn you at all.
Speaker 1: I do this every church I go to, even at my home church, because it's going to be really hard to be a Christian in 2025 without one of these.
Speaker 1: You ought to get yourself one.
Speaker 1: They're cheap.
Speaker 1: It's like $8 on Amazon.
Speaker 1: It'll probably arrive tomorrow with prime shipping.
Speaker 1: You could probably get one right now as you sit in church.
Speaker 1: You might even can you do like Uber Eats for Bibles from Walmart and see if they'll deliver it here.
Speaker 1: Like you got to get one of these, you got to get a Bible.
Speaker 1: It's really hard to be a Christian without a Bible.
Speaker 1: We're going to be in the book of John, john, chapter 10.
Speaker 1: John is in the New Testament.
Speaker 1: The Bible is split up into two parts Old Testament and New Testament.
Speaker 1: The Old Testament creates the framework for our need of a Savior.
Speaker 1: The Old Testament shows us why Jesus was necessary in order for us to be reconciled to God, and so don't discard the Old Testament.
Speaker 1: The Old Testament is full of God's love and grace, in the same way that the New Testament is full of God's love and grace.
Speaker 1: So we're going to be in John 10.
Speaker 1: In the New Testament it's Matthew, mark, luke, john, so John is the fourth book in the New Testament.
Speaker 1: In my Bible it's on page 1,483.
Speaker 1: I don't think that'll work on yours, but it works on mine.
Speaker 1: Here we go, john, chapter 10, verse 10.
Speaker 1: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
Speaker 1: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly, and kill and destroy.
Speaker 1: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Speaker 1: My thought for today is that everyone in this room would like to receive an abundance in life.
Speaker 1: Is that true?
Speaker 1: Raise your hand if you don't want an abundance.
Speaker 1: Like I could do without an abundance, I don't need that, okay.
Speaker 1: So everyone in here would say I could do with an abundance in life Me too.
Speaker 1: Let's do an exercise 30 seconds.
Speaker 1: Lean over to someone next to you and fill in the blank my 2025 would be better if I just had more blank.
Speaker 1: Go ahead 30 seconds.
Speaker 1: Lean over to someone.
Speaker 1: I'm going to start calling you out by your shirt color.
Speaker 1: If you're not talking to anyone, all right, yep, lean over.
Speaker 1: Lean over to the next person, the person you didn't like enough the first time to go to them.
Speaker 1: Tell them my 2025 would be better if I just had more.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to wait the whole 30 seconds.
Speaker 1: You still got 12 seconds.
Speaker 1: Come on, it's okay to talk in church.
Speaker 1: I think all of us have something in mind.
Speaker 1: My whole year, next year, would be better if I just had just that.
Speaker 1: Just that one thing, I think I heard someone say if I had more hair.
Speaker 1: That's incredible.
Speaker 1: Whoever said that?
Speaker 1: In Jesus name, bless that man with more hair.
Speaker 1: Y'all said it, not me.
Speaker 1: I got a picture of my family.
Speaker 1: I think I got three kids.
Speaker 1: I know I look like I'm too young to even have one.
Speaker 1: That's me in the same exact outfit that I'm wearing today Same sweater, same pants, same shoes.
Speaker 1: I even got on the same socks.
Speaker 1: Go Warriors.
Speaker 1: I think I'm even wearing the same shirt.
Speaker 1: Under my hair is the same way.
Speaker 1: I use the same homemade.
Speaker 1: That's my wife Mercy.
Speaker 1: She's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1: The most loving person you'll ever meet in your life.
Speaker 1: She loves well Like.
Speaker 1: She loves so much that she'll confront you if you're not living up to what you know to be true about who you are Like.
Speaker 1: If she sees you slipping, she'll tell you.
Speaker 1: She tells me all the time.
Speaker 1: So, my wife Mercy, I've got three kids.
Speaker 1: Let me see Micah right here is my oldest, he's 10.
Speaker 1: My middle son, hendrix, right there, like Jimi Hendrix, he's 8.
Speaker 1: And my youngest son, kaio, c-a-i-o.
Speaker 1: He's 5.
Speaker 1: My thing would be my 2025 would be better if I just had more obedience for my kids, if I just got a little more listening.
Speaker 1: Oh man, my life would be so much better.
Speaker 1: But all of us have something right.
Speaker 1: All of us can identify one thing If I just had this, my life would be so much better.
Speaker 1: Now, my wife, she's so gracious to me, but if she were here, she would tell you I am not a handyman at all.
Speaker 1: I can't swing a hammer, I can't turn a wrench.
Speaker 1: I don't even own a toolbox, and I know I'm losing points with some of the guys in here, but I do smoke brisket, so let me get those points back.
Speaker 1: Let me get those points back, but I can't I'm not good with with tools at all and, uh, some days I'll wake up and I'll just get really ambitious Any any guys in here just get really ambitious.
Speaker 1: You know you're in over your head but you're like, oh, I could do this Me and YouTube.
Speaker 1: We got this, we'll figure it out.
Speaker 1: And so it was four years ago, october 2020, during the pandemic, you know, and things are kind of starting to open up.
Speaker 1: And I woke up and I felt like, man, our neighborhood just needs more joy.
Speaker 1: We need more joy.
Speaker 1: And I leaned over to my wife and I said, babe, today I'm going to go put up some Christmas lights.
Speaker 1: It was October.
Speaker 1: I'd never done it before.
Speaker 1: In my family growing up, we didn't put up Christmas lights.
Speaker 1: I grew up in Hawaii Like we had no need for Christmas lights because it's just paradise when you walk outside.
Speaker 1: We don't need to look at anything beautiful, everything's beautiful in Hawaii.
Speaker 1: And so I get up and I'm like, babe, I'm going to put these Christmas lights up.
Speaker 1: And you know, she's so encouraging.
Speaker 1: She's like, okay, so I go to Home Depot I know where Home Depot is, by the way and I walk in and the first thing I see Home Depot sells this kit, a Christmas light kit.
Speaker 1: It has everything you need to put up Christmas lights at your house.
Speaker 1: And I looked at it and I said no, that's too easy, I'm going to go and get piece by piece.
Speaker 1: And so I went walking to Home Depot on the right side that's where all the Christmas decor is.
Speaker 1: I went and got the lights and I went home and I said I got this, got home, pull up in my driveway, unbox the lights.
Speaker 1: And I stood back and I said man, how am I supposed to get these up there?
Speaker 1: And so I went back to Home Depot.
Speaker 1: You know Home Depot sells these plastic clips that you could put on your gutter so that you could put the lights on.
Speaker 1: So I bought myself a box of clips and I thought surely I have everything I need for life and godliness.
Speaker 1: And I came home with the clips and the lights and I'm standing there and I'm like I got this, babe, I'm going to put these lights up.
Speaker 1: I wanted to make my kids proud.
Speaker 1: I was like I'm going to do this for you guys, and I get there and I have the lights and I have the clips and then I realized you need something to get the clips on the gutter.
Speaker 1: And Home Depot sells this pole that, like telescopes, you twist the clips on on and then you can put them on the gutter.
Speaker 1: And I didn't get that the first or the second trip.
Speaker 1: So I went back in my car and I went back to Home Depot and I walked into Home Depot and I passed you know, that kit I told you about in the beginning passed the kit and I got the pole.
Speaker 1: I said, okay, this is it.
Speaker 1: And I got home and I had the lights and I had the clips and I had the pole and I started putting the clips up and they don't tell you this.
Speaker 1: But the clips break Just about every other clip.
Speaker 1: They're plastic, they break when you put them up there.
Speaker 1: So I put the clips up and I finally got the lights up and I stood back and I was so proud of myself until I realized that I needed some way to turn them on.
Speaker 1: I'm not handy, guys.
Speaker 1: I had to jump back in my car, go back to Home Depot and grab the green outdoor extension cords so that I could plug my lights in with a timer so that I could finally get everything on, and all the while I was passing this stupid kit in the middle of the aisle that said we have everything right here in this one box.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of John 10 10.
Speaker 1: When Jesus says I've come to give you life, and life in abundance.
Speaker 1: And all of us in this room have something that we think if I just have more of this in 2025, my life is going to be better.
Speaker 1: My life is going to be better.
Speaker 1: And so, in our constant pursuit of more peace and our constant pursuit of more meaning or more deep relationships, or more money or more of my debt wiped out, all the while we're pursuing these things, tiring ourselves out, and there's this kit that stands in the middle that says everything that you need is actually right here.
Speaker 1: That stands in the middle that says everything that you need is actually right here.
Speaker 1: It would be crazy, wouldn't it be crazy, if there was a person?
Speaker 1: It'd be crazy if there was just a person who had all these things that we said that we needed.
Speaker 1: It'd be crazy if there was one place that we could go to where we didn't have to chase each item by itself.
Speaker 1: We could go to one place and find all of these things.
Speaker 1: It'd be weird.
Speaker 1: It'd be weird if there was a person named Jesus or something who had all of these things.
Speaker 1: And here's where the tension lies, is that they're not all bad things, all the things that we just said to each other.
Speaker 1: Man, if I just, if I just had a promotion at work, then I'd be able to pay off that debt and I wouldn't have to deal with any more stress.
Speaker 1: That's not a bad thing, man.
Speaker 1: If I just had more meaningful relationships at school with my friends, I'd feel less lonely, I'd feel less overlooked.
Speaker 1: It's not a bad thing, man.
Speaker 1: If I could just my wife and I could just get over this one hurdle our relationship, we'd be reconciled, we'd have more peace.
Speaker 1: It's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1: And yet we find ourselves in life constantly chasing after each thing.
Speaker 1: When all of these things are found in one person, enter Jesus.
Speaker 1: When Jesus says in John 10, 10, I've come to give you life, and life in abundance, or life and have it abundantly, what he's saying is this word zoe, this zoe, life.
Speaker 1: Zoe, life is not that we have more stuff, but that we experience more satisfaction and contentment and fulfillment.
Speaker 1: In our minds, in how we process words, we see abundance and we automatically think stuff An abundance of money, an abundance of cars, an abundance of investments, an abundance of homes.
Speaker 1: An abundance.
Speaker 1: We think it's always more and it somehow always ties itself to monetary value.
Speaker 1: And yet this is not what Jesus refers to at all.
Speaker 1: He says if you want to experience the highest form of life, the most satisfied form of life, here's what you're going to find.
Speaker 1: It's all found in me.
Speaker 1: It's not found in buying the new house with the extra room for the man cave, with the extra room for the man cave.
Speaker 1: It's not found in finding another job with a better benefits package and better healthcare.
Speaker 1: It's not in any of those things.
Speaker 1: It's found in a person, and his name is Jesus.
Speaker 1: When Jesus says I've come to give you an abundance of life, what he's saying is not that you're going to have more, but every day that you wake up, you get to live with purpose, an abundance of life.
Speaker 1: Every day that you wake up, you get to live with passion and zeal.
Speaker 1: You look forward to what God's going to do in your life.
Speaker 1: Every day that you wake up, you get to wake up with direction and a sense of knowing that I'm going to be okay, no matter what presents itself in front of me.
Speaker 1: I found myself this year, 2024.
Speaker 1: I told God.
Speaker 1: I said God, if you don't do a thing, if you do nothing else for me for the rest of my life, I'm ever satisfied in what you've already done.
Speaker 1: God, I don't need you to answer another prayer.
Speaker 1: I found contentment in knowing you.
Speaker 1: I've got kids and I've got dreams for my family and what I want to do.
Speaker 1: And yet, if God doesn't answer any of those prayers, I found complete joy and satisfaction in knowing him.
Speaker 1: This is an abundance of life.
Speaker 1: Here's what's going to happen if you get all those needs met, the needs that you just mentioned You're just going to have.
Speaker 1: If you get all those needs met, the needs that you just mentioned, you're just going to have more needs that need to be met.
Speaker 1: And when those needs are met, you'll find other needs that need to be met and your heart will ever grow tired and weary of chasing and pursuing.
Speaker 1: This is literally.
Speaker 1: The book of Galatians says it like this.
Speaker 1: He says because we've all been born as sons and daughters of the most high God, our hearts cry out Abba, father, there's a longing and an angst on the inside of each and every one of our hearts that longs to be with him, and yet we're pursuing everything else and we wonder why we grow tired and we wonder why we grow weary.
Speaker 1: Because our heart longs to be with him and yet we're trying to find fulfillment in things.
Speaker 1: If you want 2025 to be your best year ever, I would tell you this fall in love with the person of jesus.
Speaker 1: Don't pursue things and try to get things, and and they're all great things none of them are bad in principle, but if you want to find the best satisfaction in your life, you find it in him.
Speaker 1: The abundant life doesn't start at the point of your need being met.
Speaker 1: It starts at the point of seeing Jesus rightly.
Speaker 1: Here's the problem with the American church we don't actually see Jesus rightly, especially at a time like Christmas.
Speaker 1: What is Jesus?
Speaker 1: He's a baby in a manger.
Speaker 1: That's Jesus.
Speaker 1: And you know why that's Jesus to us?
Speaker 1: Because it's marketable.
Speaker 1: I can sell Jesus in a manger a baby that's cute.
Speaker 1: I could sell a nativity scene, and all the while, the church is being sung to sleep by pop culture and media and we're influenced to think that Jesus is only a baby in a manger.
Speaker 1: This is Israel in the Bible, israel, the nation in the Old Testament.
Speaker 1: This is Israel's relationship with God.
Speaker 1: God sets them free.
Speaker 1: Israel runs off, forgets about God, does their own thing, says God, we got this, we don't need you.
Speaker 1: And then they realize, oh, they don't got this, they need him.
Speaker 1: God help us.
Speaker 1: And God comes and he helps them.
Speaker 1: And then Israel goes away and says, okay, god, I think we figured it out, we don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: And then they realize, oh, my gosh, I do need him.
Speaker 1: So they call God again.
Speaker 1: God help us.
Speaker 1: And God comes back in all his mercy and grace, helps them again.
Speaker 1: This is us, this is the American church.
Speaker 1: God, we don't need you.
Speaker 1: And then things get really hard.
Speaker 1: Oh, my God, I need you, I need you, I need you, I need you.
Speaker 1: And God comes so lovingly and so gentle and he meets us at the point of our need.
Speaker 1: And then things start going well and then we forget about him.
Speaker 1: Oh God, I don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: I already got the job.
Speaker 1: God, I don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: I already got the job.
Speaker 1: God, I don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: That relationship I prayed for, oh, it's better.
Speaker 1: I don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: Oh God, I don't need you anymore.
Speaker 1: I already paid off that debt that we had.
Speaker 1: And then we call out for him again and then we run away.
Speaker 1: This is Israel.
Speaker 1: And so Israel finds itself in a place where they're looking for a king, a conqueror, a savior.
Speaker 1: Israel wanted, like someone like King David, to come back and restore the nation to what it was, because they had been so, so tired of trying to sustain themselves without God.
Speaker 1: So they find themselves in this place where they're told the king is going to come.
Speaker 1: This is the Christmas story.
Speaker 1: This is what we all sing about.
Speaker 1: This is the Christmas story.
Speaker 1: This is what we all sing about.
Speaker 1: But what Israel expected was a king.
Speaker 1: Israel expected like a warrior, like William Wallace from Braveheart.
Speaker 1: Israel expected William Wallace to come and say they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom.
Speaker 1: Maybe this movie went over your head.
Speaker 1: Israel was looking for someone like Luke Skywalker, to be like a Jedi Knight and come back and bring balance to the force.
Speaker 1: They wanted a warrior, someone who was going to come in and conquer and help them.
Speaker 1: Maybe you don't watch Star Wars.
Speaker 1: Israel wanted someone like Batman Just send up a bat signal and Batman will come save Israel, and so they're longing, expecting for someone to come save them, just like us.
Speaker 1: We're longing and thinking that if I just get this one thing fixed, it'll save my life, it'll settle everything.
Speaker 1: And Israel is waiting for a king, and all they get is a baby.
Speaker 1: And can you imagine this Israel thinking I need someone to come and save me.
Speaker 1: And then a baby comes.
Speaker 1: A baby, a baby in a manger is supposed to come and save me.
Speaker 1: This baby can't teach me how to be a better man.
Speaker 1: Why should I trust this baby?
Speaker 1: Sweet baby Jesus.
Speaker 1: You can't help me know how to steward my finances.
Speaker 1: Why should I trust you?
Speaker 1: I was expecting a king.
Speaker 1: Baby Jesus, what are you going to teach me about being a better wife or a better husband?
Speaker 1: This is the image of Jesus that we're taught.
Speaker 1: And because we're taught this image of Jesus, it limits, it creates a gap between our understanding of who he really is.
Speaker 1: Because this is the image that we push, baby Jesus, how's it going to help me wipe out all my debt?
Speaker 1: I'm going to go back to my real king.
Speaker 1: We all have real kings, whether we say it or not.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 1: King career Kings.
Speaker 1: Whether we say it or not, you know, king career King career my career will save me.
Speaker 1: I'll just work harder, get a promotion, get a raise.
Speaker 1: Hopefully taxes don't go up at the same time.
Speaker 1: King career that's our real king.
Speaker 1: Or how about this one, some of us?
Speaker 1: King self-reliance, king effort I just got to do more.
Speaker 1: I just got to grunt more Grr, because grunting helps.
Speaker 1: We all have kings that we don't articulate verbally, but they still exist.
Speaker 1: What about king approval of man?
Speaker 1: If I just sit in the back and appease everyone and make everyone else happy, then my life will be better.
Speaker 1: King leisure I'm just going to sacrifice my own health and well-being on the altar of taking my family out on more vacations and then everything's going to be better.
Speaker 1: What about king selfish ambition?
Speaker 1: No, this is about me and my dreams and my wants for me.
Speaker 1: What about King's self-care?
Speaker 1: What about King YOLO?
Speaker 1: Do it all.
Speaker 1: You only live once.
Speaker 1: We all have a king, because this is how we see Jesus.
Speaker 1: I have an idea that if you would be able to see Jesus rightly, your entire life might change.
Speaker 1: This is the image we have of Jesus and this is not who Jesus is.
Speaker 1: Jesus was in a manger for a time, but Jesus grows up and he walks out of that manger.
Speaker 1: We read in the Bible how Jesus was 12 years old, found in the temple praying.
Speaker 1: He's not the baby in the manger anymore, he's praying at church.
Speaker 1: Then we read about Jesus, 30 years old in Matthew, getting baptized by John the Baptist.
Speaker 1: The clouds part and the voice comes from heaven and says this is my beloved son, with whom I'm well pleased.
Speaker 1: He's not the baby in the manger anymore, he's being baptized.
Speaker 1: Then we see Jesus gather the 12 disciples, goes around, starts healing the lame, healing the blind, healing the sick.
Speaker 1: Starts feeding people with some Hawaiian rolls and deep fried catfish.
Speaker 1: Jesus, he's not the baby in the manger anymore, and yet we treat him like he's the baby in the manger.
Speaker 1: Jesus, you can't help me with my problems today, I'll just do this myself.
Speaker 1: He says you can't help me with my problems today, I'll just do this myself.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of I'm Filipino, so we have family parties for, like, anything Like, it'll just be a Tuesday and my family will find a reason to get together and we'll go to these.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you, I got one supporter in the room.
Speaker 1: We'll go to these family parties and I'll often find myself meeting people I'd never met before in my life, but they know me.
Speaker 1: Oh, austin.
Speaker 1: Oh, come here.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen you since you were five years old, like pinching my cheeks.
Speaker 1: I'm not five years old anymore.
Speaker 1: I got my family right behind me.
Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh, I remember I used to change your diapers.
Speaker 1: Do you remember me?
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm?
Speaker 1: Yeah, gosh, I remember I used to change your diapers.
Speaker 1: Do you remember me?
Speaker 1: Yeah, auntie.
Speaker 1: Oh, austin, look.
Speaker 1: Oh, I remember you were so cute.
Speaker 1: What happened?
Speaker 1: Aunties are the rudest man, but they'll be doing this to me and in my mind, I'm like I'm not that baby anymore, I've got a family.
Speaker 1: When are you going to start talking to me like I'm?
Speaker 1: Like I'm not that baby anymore, I've got a family.
Speaker 1: When are you going to start talking to me like I'm an adult?
Speaker 1: I wonder how the Lord feels with our image of him like this.
Speaker 1: And he's not the baby in the manger anymore.
Speaker 1: We treat him like this.
Speaker 1: Okay, god, thank you for this day.
Speaker 1: I hope I have a good day, amen.
Speaker 1: And yet the lord has an invitation, one of the most beautiful invitation he gives.
Speaker 1: I love this.
Speaker 1: This is this year has been one of my favorite scriptures to pray and meditate on.
Speaker 1: He says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest, but you're a baby.
Speaker 1: You're a baby in a manger.
Speaker 1: You can't give me rest.
Speaker 1: You don't even rest.
Speaker 1: You probably just cry all night.
Speaker 1: You haven't even been fed by your bottle, baby Jesus.
Speaker 1: This is how we treat Jesus, and this is why I think many of us have experienced an unsatisfied Christian life, because we still treat him like the baby.
Speaker 1: Aw Tozer, one of my favorite authors in the world, says what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.
Speaker 1: And so I would ask you when you think about God, what do you see?
Speaker 1: Do you yet see the baby in the manger?
Speaker 1: Do you see a distant father?
Speaker 1: Do you see a judge with a gavel?
Speaker 1: Do you see a school principal waiting for you to mess up?
Speaker 1: What do you see when you think of him?
Speaker 1: I would tell you today that everything changed for me when prayer changed for me.
Speaker 1: When prayer changed for me, everything else about my Christian walk changed.
Speaker 1: When I started diving into the text and diving through the scripture, I started reading the book of Revelation.
Speaker 1: I know it's scary Anyone scared to read the book of Revelation.
Speaker 1: I know it's scary.
Speaker 1: Anyone scared to read the book of Revelation?
Speaker 1: Yeah, eyeballs and horns and oh my gosh, and wizards and dungeons and dragons it's like Harry Potter, all in the book of Revelation.
Speaker 1: It's scary sometimes, but you start reading through the book of Revelation, chapter four and five, where God gives John an eyewitness account, a sneak peek into what the throne room looks like, and everything changes.
Speaker 1: He's not the baby in the manger anymore, he's a king.
Speaker 1: And if I would change my perspective on how I see Jesus, maybe my prayer life might change, maybe everything else for me might change if I come to him not as a baby but as king, to him not as a baby but as king.
Speaker 1: I think it's hard for us in America to recognize him as king because we don't have kings and so our natural minds can't associate him as king and give him the honor that he's due, because that part there's a gap.
Speaker 1: But when we submit ourselves to Jesus, the king, I've found that everything I could ever want or need, I discover I used to think.
Speaker 1: I used to think, all right, if I could just have you know how you guys did the exercise, if my 2025 would be better, better if I could just have blank.
Speaker 1: I used to think it was more money.
Speaker 1: And so, 2017, my wife and I launched a business.
Speaker 1: We launched a business.
Speaker 1: I come from a family where we have no entrepreneurs.
Speaker 1: The highest form of education would be my mom and she graduated from high school, and I grew up with both parents and two older brothers both and she graduated from high school and I grew up with both parents and two older brothers, both of who barely passed high school.
Speaker 1: And so I thought me launch a business?
Speaker 1: No way.
Speaker 1: But I was kind of excited, so I was like, let's do it.
Speaker 1: And so we launched a business in 2017.
Speaker 1: Did really well, even through the pandemic.
Speaker 1: We were at the point where it was two more years in business and I would have been able to retire before 40 years old Literally retire, sit back, step away from everything, and, because of the business that we had built, everything would have been generating enough revenue for us to live comfortably and do what we wanted to do.
Speaker 1: I was two years away.
Speaker 1: I thought that's all I needed.
Speaker 1: If there's any business owners in the room, you know how stressful owning a business is.
Speaker 1: I thought own a business, everything will go away.
Speaker 1: No, everything got worse, more headaches.
Speaker 1: What I got?
Speaker 1: To hire people.
Speaker 1: I got to file my taxes differently.
Speaker 1: I have to follow rules differently according to how we filed our corporation, like what.
Speaker 1: And I remember one day being in prayer and telling God this was earlier this year, in April.
Speaker 1: I said God, why is this so hard?
Speaker 1: I thought all I needed was just to make more money and my parents or my family me as a parent would be more satisfied, I'd be more content, my family would be well taken care of.
Speaker 1: I thought everything was going to be okay.
Speaker 1: Why is this so hard?
Speaker 1: And I heard the voice of God and I've only heard this twice in my life.
Speaker 1: I clearly heard him say Austin, you forgot about me In your pursuit of all of these things, austin, that you thought was going to make your life better, you forgot about me.
Speaker 1: I was like I'm a pastor.
Speaker 1: How do I forget about you?
Speaker 1: I've been walking with you for 17 years.
Speaker 1: What do you mean I forgot about you.
Speaker 1: Here's what I found.
Speaker 1: What I did was I took my life and the busyness of it and I just tried to fit God in those gaps where my life would allow him to.
Speaker 1: I think that's what he was telling me when he said I forgot about him.
Speaker 1: I had a business, I was working.
Speaker 1: Still, my wife was working, our three kids they play sports.
Speaker 1: We all know how crazy that gets.
Speaker 1: They're in school, we have our own extracurricular activities and I just tried to figure out okay, god, where do you fit in all these gaps?
Speaker 1: And God said you forgot about me.
Speaker 1: And so when he told me that I just sold everything, literally a week later I sold everything Our business in our business.
Speaker 1: What we would do is we would buy cabins or homes in vacation spots and rent them out on Airbnb and we had a big portfolio and we were so close to retiring.
Speaker 1: And God said Austin, you forgot about me.
Speaker 1: And I said, god, I never want to forget about you.
Speaker 1: I'm going to sell everything, sold it all in a week, didn't make any money off of it.
Speaker 1: I sold it for cost, what we bought it for, because I just wanted to get rid of it.
Speaker 1: I thought, if this is going to be the thing that keeps me from pursuing you and having intimacy with you, I don't want it.
Speaker 1: Everything changed.
Speaker 1: God, show me, austin, you don't organize me around your life.
Speaker 1: You organize your life around me.
Speaker 1: You don't just fit me into the gaps where you have time, you make me your priority and everything else fills itself around that, and if it doesn't fit, then you don't need it.
Speaker 1: 2025, your church is going to go into this theme of getting deeper and growing closer and intimacy with God.
Speaker 1: Here's what I found.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's going to take a move that might hurt your pride or your ego to get closer to him, but I would assure you with this, it's worth it.
Speaker 1: I don't have nearly as much money as I had earlier this year, but I got much more joy.
Speaker 1: I don't have all these vacations lined up like we were doing, but I feel more content.
Speaker 1: I don't have any of those things, but I have deep, meaningful conversations with my wife.
Speaker 1: Our marriage is more vibrant than it's ever been before.
Speaker 1: We take a daily walk 10 minutes every day where we just get to talk, and I hate talking.
Speaker 1: I can't stand it.
Speaker 1: My wife she used to be like hey, babe, do you want to talk?
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, I just want to out.
Speaker 1: And now we go on these walks and we're asking each other questions.
Speaker 1: We're learning more about each other.
Speaker 1: We've been married for 11 years and we're still learning about each other.
Speaker 1: Like man.
Speaker 1: This is more exciting than when we could go on vacation and we were going on vacation twice a year.
Speaker 1: All of that stuff that we said my 2025 would be better if I just had more of this.
Speaker 1: I get it Right now.
Speaker 1: My 2025 would be better if I just had more of this.
Speaker 1: I get it Right now.
Speaker 1: That's what it feels like if I just had this.
Speaker 1: This is our most felt need.
Speaker 1: If I could satisfy this one need, then everything would be better, and I would tell you probably not.
Speaker 1: It's probably not going to be better.
Speaker 1: What's most likely going to happen is you're going to find another need that needs to be met All the while, jesus is standing there saying everything you need is found right here as the worship team comes up.
Speaker 1: I just want to talk to a couple of different groups of people.
Speaker 1: Let me just talk to the men in the room really quick.
Speaker 1: Men in the house.
Speaker 1: I know, as a husband, as a father, I know your heart's desire is to care for your family.
Speaker 1: I know All you want is to provide for your family, to make sure that they're okay.
Speaker 1: You don't want them to have to worry about anything.
Speaker 1: I get it Finding another job, getting more money, getting another promotion.
Speaker 1: That's not going to satisfy your family.
Speaker 1: Here's what's going to satisfy your family.
Speaker 1: Fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: It's not what we would think a man does that's going to satisfy our family or please them.
Speaker 1: It's our falling in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: Men, learn humility.
Speaker 1: Learn how to bow your knee to a real king.
Speaker 1: Learn how to come and posture your heart to say Lord, I don't know anything.
Speaker 1: I don't know anything, I need you.
Speaker 1: I find myself often kneeling right next to my wife in prayer, crying.
Speaker 1: Crying Jesus, I need you.
Speaker 1: I don't know how to do this.
Speaker 1: She loves me now more than ever before, not because I was able to build a business and make more money, but because she sees a husband willing to sacrifice his life, not even for her, but for the kingdom.
Speaker 1: Men in the house fall in love with Jesus and I promise you you will find more satisfaction and contentment.
Speaker 1: Women in the house, especially for those moms.
Speaker 1: Man, I talk to my wife all the time.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine being like.
Speaker 1: I don't know how y'all think of so many things at one time, like 42 different thoughts at the same time and you're able to keep track of every single one of them, and none of them have to do with you.
Speaker 1: So selfless, so caring, so nurturing.
Speaker 1: I can tell you this Finding another babysitter isn't going to help.
Speaker 1: It's not going to be what helps Fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's going to help you fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's going to help you fall in love with Jesus and you start walking closely with him and he'll teach you how to be a better wife.
Speaker 1: He'll teach you how to be a better mom.
Speaker 1: He'll teach you how to be present and care for yourself at the same time, not to discard your needs for the sake of everyone else, but he'll teach you how to do these things.
Speaker 1: Students in the room, raise your hand.
Speaker 1: If you're in grade school, high school, junior high, come on, raise your hand.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start calling people out.
Speaker 1: I can see you.
Speaker 1: The lights are on y'all.
Speaker 1: There's a desire for students, especially to be seen on campus, not to feel like they're overlooked.
Speaker 1: Seen on campus, not to feel like they're overlooked.
Speaker 1: We do a lot of studies with young adults and teenagers and you would probably hear these studies.
Speaker 1: We live in one of the most anxious times that we've ever seen in human history.
Speaker 1: More students are depressed, more students are experiencing anxiety and they don't even know how to diagnose it or what to call it.
Speaker 1: They just know that these feelings are there.
Speaker 1: I would tell you this you can fall in love with Jesus and Jesus will help settle that anxiety and Jesus will help lift depression and Jesus will bring comfort.
Speaker 1: Jesus will see you.
Speaker 1: There's a story in the Bible where Jesus is walking into town and there's these sick lepers on the side and everyone's walking past them.
Speaker 1: Nobody's looking at them, they don't even see them.
Speaker 1: And the Bible says that Jesus saw them and he said to them here's my encouragement to you, students.
Speaker 1: Jesus sees you Even when it feels like you're not seen.
Speaker 1: He sees you when it feels like you have no one else.
Speaker 1: He speaks to you and he only speaks encouraging words.
Speaker 1: My beloved son, my beloved daughter, fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: All the single people in the room.
Speaker 1: We got one eligible bachelor up there somewhere.
Speaker 1: I heard him.
Speaker 1: But to you, whoever said it, fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: I promise you'll be more attractive to said it.
Speaker 1: Fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: I promise you'll be more attractive to women if you fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: Whoever that was.
Speaker 1: Fall in love with Jesus, single people in the room, don't worry about trying to make your resume look better.
Speaker 1: Fall in love with Jesus.
Speaker 1: And if I missed anyone, any demographic, oh, grandparents.
Speaker 1: Let me just talk to grandparents real quick.
Speaker 1: This is important, and I say this because I have a lot of deep relationships with people who are much more experienced than I am.
Speaker 1: You have great influence and I know the Lord has been faithful to you in your life over the years, and yet there's still more for you to discover about him.
Speaker 1: I would encourage you all the grandparents in the room fall in love with Jesus again.
Speaker 1: Fall in love with him again.
Speaker 1: There's more to know, there's more to discover.
Speaker 1: He has more for you.
Speaker 1: He wants to give you more hope for your future.
Speaker 1: There's more.
Speaker 1: As we close, I want to pose this question for us to consider and to contemplate.
Speaker 1: I pray this often Holy Spirit, show me how much Jesus loves me.
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, show me how much Jesus loves me.
Speaker 1: I pray this almost every day.
Speaker 1: We had a prayer meeting five, maybe five years ago.
Speaker 1: There was 15 of us in a room smaller than this.
Speaker 1: It was a couple of our friends from church.
Speaker 1: My friend had his six-year-old son at the time in the room and we asked the same question Holy Spirit, show us how much Jesus loves us.
Speaker 1: And we paused and we asked him hey, did you see anything?
Speaker 1: He said all I saw were cherries.
Speaker 1: I closed my eyes and all I saw were cherries.
Speaker 1: And my friend leaned over and he said well, what's your favorite fruit in the whole world?
Speaker 1: Cherries.
Speaker 1: What do you love to eat more?
Speaker 1: The whole world, cherries.
Speaker 1: What do you love to eat more than anything else?
Speaker 1: Cherries.
Speaker 1: My friend lived over and he said hey, don't you think God might be showing you that Jesus loves you more than you love cherries At six years old?
Speaker 1: The Lord can speak to us and show us how much Jesus loves us.
Speaker 1: And so, all around this room, here's my invitation to you.
Speaker 1: However, your posture of prayer is whether you bow your head, whether you kneel, whatever you do.
Speaker 1: Would you take a second to pause and ask the Holy Spirit?
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, show me how much Jesus loves me.
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, show me how much Jesus loves me, and we trust you today, lord, that you'll speak.
Speaker 1: We declare today, john 10, my sheep know my voice and I love them that we can hear from you.
Speaker 1: Would you show us today, in this room, how much you love us, how much more you love us than we could ever imagine, ever hope for.
Speaker 1: Show us today how much you love us.