WEBVTT 00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello, and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:14.839 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.199 We're startup church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.460 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:40.399 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:42.640 Well, good morning church. 00:00:45.049 --> 00:00:53.229 As you've heard many times, my name is Josh McCoy and I'm excited to be speaking to you guys from the day today from the book of Daniel. 00:00:53.229 --> 00:01:01.009 Um, as we most here know, we've been going through a series about the book of Daniel and today we're gonna look at Daniel four. 00:01:01.909 --> 00:01:08.689 So just to give us a little mindset of where we've been, um, let's look over the first three chapters a little bit. 00:01:09.329 --> 00:01:20.769 In Daniel one, we looked at different ways that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to impress the officials of the Babylonians with their stance on their biblical convictions. 00:01:20.769 --> 00:01:35.430 If you remember, it's the first chapter of them getting, um, exiled and them, you know, having changes to their names, but when it came to something important like their diet, they stood up, they stood for their convictions and impressed the officials. 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:44.590 And then in Daniel two, we had house churches, but we looked at Daniel's ability to go to God in an intense situation, right? 00:01:44.609 --> 00:01:48.569 And pray and especially pray with his friends, right? 00:01:48.569 --> 00:01:51.549 And it was about one of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. 00:01:52.469 --> 00:02:06.150 And when God had revealed the dream to him in his, in his sleep, instead of just going to the king and being like, look what I found, Daniel immediately went back to God, thanking him rather than taking credit for himself. 00:02:06.909 --> 00:02:27.409 And then last week, Jaron looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's faith while they stepped through the fiery furnace and their ability to have faith in God, no matter the circumstance and no matter the result, but they had no idea if they were going to die in the furnace, but they were willing to stand up for their faith, no matter the circumstance, no matter the result. 00:02:27.409 --> 00:02:29.110 And through that, God blessed them. 00:02:30.370 --> 00:02:43.409 And so this week we're going to look at Daniel four and we will be looking more at the story of King Nebuchadnezzar and we will be looking at kind of one of his second dreams, kind of his story in this. 00:02:43.770 --> 00:02:49.210 So it's almost like looking at the, at the antagonist here, but looking at how he's been humbled. 00:02:49.629 --> 00:02:53.449 And so today the title of the lesson is serving a God who humbles. 00:02:54.889 --> 00:03:03.650 So I have two points and the first point is God needs to humble because we forget, right? 00:03:04.229 --> 00:03:09.030 So let's start by looking at Daniel four verses four through 12. 00:03:10.210 --> 00:03:12.610 Daniel four verses four through 12. 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:20.830 And it reads, I, Nebuchadnezzar was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:23.710 I had a dream that made me afraid. 00:03:24.310 --> 00:03:28.830 As I was laying in bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. 00:03:29.449 --> 00:03:34.669 So I commanded that all the wise men of Babylonian be brought before me to interpret the dream for me. 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:41.610 When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me. 00:03:42.629 --> 00:03:46.030 Finally, Daniel came into my presence and I told him the dream. 00:03:46.629 --> 00:03:52.810 He is called Belteshazzar after the name of my God and the spirit of the holy gods is in him. 00:03:53.550 --> 00:04:02.330 I said, Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and no mystery is too difficult for you. 00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:03.610 Here is my dream. 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:04.770 Interpret it for me. 00:04:05.289 --> 00:04:07.370 These are the visions I saw while lying in bed. 00:04:07.930 --> 00:04:10.949 I looked and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. 00:04:11.189 --> 00:04:12.210 Its height was enormous. 00:04:12.729 --> 00:04:16.050 The tree grew large and strong, and it touched the top of the sky. 00:04:16.870 --> 00:04:18.350 It was visible to the ends of the earth. 00:04:18.889 --> 00:04:23.370 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and it was food for all. 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:27.610 Under it, the wild animals found shelter and the birds lived in its branches. 00:04:28.149 --> 00:04:30.670 From it, every creature was fed. 00:04:31.430 --> 00:04:42.709 We'll dig more into the dream here in a little bit, but first I want to kind of look deeper into how Nebuchadnezzar talks here, right? 00:04:43.069 --> 00:04:46.470 So this isn't the first dream he had. 00:04:46.529 --> 00:04:50.810 If you remember Daniel 2, he already had a vision and was terrified for it. 00:04:51.189 --> 00:04:51.990 Well, this is round two. 00:04:52.930 --> 00:05:07.209 And when Neb realizes he has another dream, the first thing he commands is, he commands the magicians, the astrologers, all of the enchanters, diviners, to come interpret for him. 00:05:07.910 --> 00:05:10.009 And just like in Daniel 2, they weren't able to. 00:05:10.870 --> 00:05:14.170 And then after he comes, and after that he comes to Daniel. 00:05:14.449 --> 00:05:23.310 And then when he comes to Daniel, it's really telling on the quote unquote way he compliments Daniel, right? 00:05:23.310 --> 00:05:29.029 In verse nine, he says, you're the chief of magicians. 00:05:29.310 --> 00:05:40.029 Like I believe, like you, what do they say, like, right, the, I named you after the name of my God, Belteshazzar, you know, and the spirit of the holy gods. 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:43.689 And if you read it, it's gods, G-O-D-S, right? 00:05:44.670 --> 00:05:56.209 And so let us recall, first off, some of the ways Nebuchadnezzar has experienced the quote unquote gods of the Israelites up to this point. 00:05:57.129 --> 00:05:59.529 So right in Daniel 2, Daniel interprets the first dream. 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:07.389 And in his response, King Nebuchadnezzar falls to the ground and says that surely your God is the God of all gods. 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:20.310 And then if that's not enough, in Daniel 3, when he throws Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire furnace, and right when they're in there, they see a fourth person, right, who they believe to be the son of God, right? 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:24.410 He says he praises to the God of these three men. 00:06:25.290 --> 00:06:31.129 So you think that in Daniel 4, he'd have a different response to the dream, right? 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:34.870 He maybe should have gone to Daniel first, right? 00:06:34.990 --> 00:06:44.490 But no, he goes right back to the magicians of the time, the astrologers, the people who probably would tell him something that he'd want to hear, not what he needed to hear. 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:51.029 And then when he refers to God as God, he says holy gods. 00:06:51.189 --> 00:07:06.029 He kind of goes back to this mindset that Daniel serves like one of many gods or something of that matter, instead of being like, no, like you serve the God of the universe, right? 00:07:07.069 --> 00:07:09.389 Nebuchadnezzar does not do this. 00:07:09.389 --> 00:07:14.389 He has not learned the lesson of being reverent when referring to the Lord. 00:07:16.509 --> 00:07:23.149 And right, we bring that up, and I think so many times like, Nebuchadnezzar, that's pretty dumb, like you should have known better, like all these visions, right? 00:07:23.290 --> 00:07:24.329 We shake our head. 00:07:25.009 --> 00:07:26.350 We think we would know better. 00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.029 We think we would have done things differently. 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:35.490 But so often we are just as forgetful, just like Nebuchadnezzar. 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:45.470 And I think on a Sunday when the women are at a retreat, I think it's appropriate to bring up how much we forget our mother's advice in our lives. 00:07:47.009 --> 00:07:49.730 I think that's oh so true in my life, unfortunately. 00:07:50.189 --> 00:08:01.629 I think my life can be designed as a multiple pathways of me not listening to my mom and then telling my mom, mom, you were right, right? 00:08:01.990 --> 00:08:03.290 There have been multiple times. 00:08:03.290 --> 00:08:12.170 My mom would tell me something over and over and over again, and somehow I just couldn't figure it out, right? 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:24.629 Whether it be about making sure I did my chores, my homework, advice about friends, that one's been true too many times, you know, about relationships. 00:08:25.149 --> 00:08:28.750 So many times I didn't listen, and my mom has been right. 00:08:30.350 --> 00:08:36.048 Often it isn't just our parents that we don't listen to or we don't go to in times, right? 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:37.690 We do this with God as well. 00:08:38.590 --> 00:08:43.269 Just as Nebuchadnezzar forgot all God had done for him, we forget. 00:08:44.210 --> 00:08:47.850 And we, I think there's another slide there I didn't click to. 00:08:48.529 --> 00:08:51.370 Yeah, yeah, despite the miracles, Nebuchadnezzar still failed to acknowledge God. 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:56.690 We forget, like we forget just as Nebuchadnezzar forgets, right? 00:08:56.690 --> 00:09:10.190 And as we've been looking at prayer through the book of Daniel, right, kind of put us back in this lens of what this means in our prayer life, how many times are we going to prayer first thing when life happens, right? 00:09:10.570 --> 00:09:12.169 I think about this so much. 00:09:12.230 --> 00:09:18.809 I think about, like when I'm driving, I think it's a simple one, it's so small, we do it every day. 00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:28.169 The amount of times I just think about anger, frustration, how I want to get back at this person or whatever, right? 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:33.230 Like instead of breathing and being like, God, I need to be calm now. 00:09:33.389 --> 00:09:34.169 I need to be humble. 00:09:34.210 --> 00:09:39.309 I need to remember that this anger inside of me isn't the biggest thing, right? 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:42.029 I forget this. 00:09:42.129 --> 00:09:50.250 And then even just on bigger things, I think we get so caught up in a day-to-day muck of our lives and we just forget all the great things God has done for us. 00:09:50.809 --> 00:10:05.070 And that's, I think, super big, like Nebuchadnezzar, I don't know the exact time span, I didn't look that up, between all of these events, but I can tell you it probably wasn't like this week that happened, next week that happened, and this week, like he probably would have had a different response if it was like that. 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:18.570 But as time goes on, and if you're not getting with God every day, if we're not having our prayer life so strong on a day-to-day basis, we forget so often when time passes. 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:29.230 And so for us, Nebuchadnezzar is a strong warning of what can happen if we don't go to God in our prayer, in our day-to-day lives, and in our event-to-event lives. 00:10:30.149 --> 00:10:35.169 And so, with that, I have a second point. 00:10:35.269 --> 00:10:42.330 So now that we've looked at why God has humbled us, like why God needs to humble us, let's look at how God does humble us. 00:10:42.850 --> 00:10:46.649 And so the point, too, is he helps us see ourselves accurately. 00:10:47.909 --> 00:10:50.029 He helps us see ourselves accurately. 00:10:50.029 --> 00:10:52.470 I'll just go to the next one so I don't forget. 00:10:55.690 --> 00:11:05.710 So we're going to take a look, we're going to jump down to Daniel 4, 28 through 37, but before we do that, this is where we're going to talk a little bit more about the context of the dream. 00:11:05.769 --> 00:11:10.789 We're just not going to read it, you know, verbatim, but let's kind of get into this. 00:11:10.830 --> 00:11:17.350 So just be following along within Daniel 4 as I talk about this, because it won't be word for word. 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:21.370 So right in the start of chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar has this dream. 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:24.230 It's the dream of a giant tree, and the tree is massive. 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:27.870 It encompasses the whole sky and can be seen at any point over the earth. 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:34.950 As Nebuchadnezzar is looking at this tree, a messenger from heaven comes down and tells him to cut it, but leave the roots. 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:42.690 And so when Daniel is given this dream to interpret, he tells Nebuchadnezzar that the tree is him and his kingdom. 00:11:43.690 --> 00:12:02.230 Now, if Nebuchadnezzar doesn't take the chance to acknowledge God as the provider of his expansive kingdom, then he will make the king live like a wild animal for seven years, to eat grass like an ox, to have hair as long as the feathers of an eagle, and to have nails as long as the claws of a bird. 00:12:04.049 --> 00:12:13.470 And Daniel, in verse 27, pleads Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his sins and to acknowledge God, and that's what we're going to pick up in verse 28. 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:21.379 It says, verse 28, all this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:31.919 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence? 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:39.960 By my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty, even as the words were on his lip, a voice came from heaven. 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.220 This is what I decree for you, King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:12:43.580 --> 00:12:45.759 Your royal authority has been taken from you. 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:50.100 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.360 You'll eat grass like an ox. 00:12:52.740 --> 00:13:02.220 Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and give them to anyone he wishes. 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:05.899 Immediately, what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:09.460 He was driven away from people and ate grass like an ox. 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:16.820 His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:24.200 At the end of this time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my hands toward heaven and my sanity was restored. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.299 Then I praised the most high. 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:29.259 I honored and glorified him who lives forever. 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:31.879 His dominion is an eternal dominion. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.299 His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:37.539 All the people of earth are regarded as nothing. 00:13:38.259 --> 00:13:41.799 He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of earth. 00:13:42.279 --> 00:13:45.860 No one can hold back his hand or say to him, what have you done? 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:53.139 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:58.919 My advisors and nobles sought me out and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:11.100 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt to glorify the king of heaven because everything he does is right and all his ways are just and those who walk in pride he always is able to humble. 00:14:13.529 --> 00:14:14.690 So let's dig into this, guys. 00:14:16.149 --> 00:14:26.990 The crazy part about the story is that Nebuchadnezzar had a heads up from Daniel what would happen if he stays prideful, right? 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:36.570 Daniel is quite explicit on exactly what Nebuchadnezzar had to do, plan for plan to change his life, right? 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:45.049 But in verse 30, Nebuchadnezzar must have had amnesia because he forgot about these warning signs, right, that Daniel had told him. 00:14:45.710 --> 00:14:51.889 Because when talking about how great Babylon is and the power of the kingdom, who does he give all the credit to? 00:14:52.389 --> 00:14:54.590 He gives it all to himself, right? 00:14:54.590 --> 00:14:59.169 He doesn't refer to, even the first part, he doesn't refer to any of his amazing advisors. 00:14:59.529 --> 00:15:03.889 He doesn't appreciate all the hardworking people that have made this kingdom great. 00:15:04.669 --> 00:15:10.149 But most importantly, he doesn't recognize God for giving him this mighty kingdom. 00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:16.750 And right, it says in verse 31, God, as these words left his lip, fulfilled the dream. 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:23.169 He stripped all authority Nebuchadnezzar had and made him roam the earth like a wild animal. 00:15:24.169 --> 00:15:26.950 Think about how crazy this is, right? 00:15:27.009 --> 00:15:33.590 Like if you were a citizen of Babylon, this is the most powerful kingdom of the earth at this point, right? 00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:44.309 I think we can correlate this right back with America because we've been more or not the powerhouse of the world since the 1940s, right? 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:55.570 So if you were a citizen of Babylon, and let's say you're going out to the forest to scavenge or whatever. 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.169 I don't know exactly how they did things entirely back in the day. 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:01.529 But right, it's a vision walk with me here. 00:16:02.429 --> 00:16:05.870 You're out there and you spot someone and you're like, who is that? 00:16:05.889 --> 00:16:09.470 And it's this person just eating the grass like this crazy manged animal. 00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:12.309 And then you realize, that's my king. 00:16:13.190 --> 00:16:19.470 That's the person that there's, there are statues, there's gold statues of that man that if I didn't bow to, my head would have been cut off. 00:16:20.830 --> 00:16:25.370 And he's eating grass like a wild animal, like he has no control over himself. 00:16:25.789 --> 00:16:35.330 I think about that, like if I saw any of our presidents do that, like we would automatically lose all credit for this person being like, okay, like, what are you doing? 00:16:35.529 --> 00:16:37.830 Like, like you're supposed to be the leader of our nation. 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:50.330 What are you doing, you know, looking like, you know, like the craziest 1970s hippie that ever was combined with, you know, like the, like, it looks like, like a drug addiction, right? 00:16:50.409 --> 00:16:53.470 This is what Nebuchadnezzar looked like, right? 00:16:54.509 --> 00:17:00.370 And for, and even just for Nebuchadnezzar, for most of his life, he had servants to meet his every command. 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:05.470 And then in an instant when he did not recognize God's authority, God turned him into this. 00:17:06.049 --> 00:17:11.828 God humbled Nebuchadnezzar, showed him accurately as someone lost without the Lord. 00:17:12.769 --> 00:17:14.890 But the dream isn't just about the punishment. 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.710 It's about having the humility to acknowledge who God is and what he has given us. 00:17:20.230 --> 00:17:23.490 And that is what Nebuchadnezzar does in verse 34, right? 00:17:23.529 --> 00:17:29.329 He raises his eyes towards heaven, praises God and understands that there is no one like the Lord almighty. 00:17:30.029 --> 00:17:33.670 Now this is something we wish that he would have gotten in Daniel 2. 00:17:34.230 --> 00:17:48.450 In Daniel 3 and maybe before this event in Daniel 4 when he actually has the dream interpreted, but it took all of this humbling for him to see the king of heaven rules over everything. 00:17:50.049 --> 00:17:59.470 So when I look at this story, and I think especially to start the book of Daniel, like there are, you know, there's like four, no, five main characters, right? 00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:03.029 You look at Daniel, you look at Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Nebuchadnezzar. 00:18:03.029 --> 00:18:05.849 I think those are the five, you know, main characters. 00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:12.490 And in Daniel 1, 2, and 3, we look at kind of, like I said, the pros, like, oh man, like Daniel is so great. 00:18:12.589 --> 00:18:18.109 Like we, you know, we look at Daniel's life, his humbleness, his, you know, the outstanding man he was, the high character. 00:18:18.250 --> 00:18:27.990 We look at the faith that, you know, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had, and we're like, oh my gosh, like these guys, this is like, this is what it means to be faithful in all these tough times. 00:18:28.490 --> 00:18:33.009 And then there's like Nebuchadnezzar, the antagonist, the guy who's making all this happen, right? 00:18:33.009 --> 00:18:36.509 Like he's the bad guy that's making their faith look good. 00:18:38.170 --> 00:18:40.049 So more often than not, I think I'm Daniel. 00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:41.549 I think I'm Shadrach. 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:42.289 I think I'm Meshach. 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:43.130 I think I'm Abednego. 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:51.930 But realistically, through my time on this earth, my heart has been more like Nebuchadnezzar than I would ever like to admit. 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:57.789 Right, a little backstory to the reason I became a disciple was because God needed to humble me. 00:18:58.130 --> 00:18:59.809 I feel like a lot of here could probably say the same. 00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:04.569 He needed to show me that I was living like Nebuchadnezzar more than I was Daniel. 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:10.750 So a little story, I think this is the first time I've gotten to share a little bit of my testimony with you guys. 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:17.210 So when I was a senior in high school, I had what I thought was the whole world in my hands, right? 00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:19.750 I went to a private school in a place called Arvada, Colorado. 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:22.470 I will talk about Colorado many times. 00:19:22.549 --> 00:19:23.450 This is the first of many. 00:19:25.049 --> 00:19:26.269 The first, the first. 00:19:26.269 --> 00:19:31.569 The first, I played basketball there and at my school, like basketball was keen. 00:19:32.950 --> 00:19:38.049 The five years before I became a freshman, we'd won five straight state championships, right? 00:19:38.089 --> 00:19:41.210 You had this idea if you didn't win a state championship, it was a bad season. 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:43.950 And that is all I wanted to do. 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:49.150 It's the only thing I think that ever crossed my mind, you know, for like 80% of my time through high school. 00:19:49.670 --> 00:19:54.829 And so on one hand, I had this, you know, quote unquote, sports career, if you can call it one. 00:19:55.990 --> 00:20:06.789 And then on the other hand, in my junior year, I got a girlfriend, who I deeply, deeply cared about, right? 00:20:07.490 --> 00:20:13.690 And if most of us can take a step back and just envision high school, again, we are in a high school, it's a perfect setting for this. 00:20:14.609 --> 00:20:18.769 You would understand why I thought my world was perfect, right? 00:20:19.089 --> 00:20:20.750 But here's the problem with this picture. 00:20:21.369 --> 00:20:24.690 Not one ounce of that credit went to God, right? 00:20:25.029 --> 00:20:30.509 In my heart, I got the basket, I got to the basketball team, it was my hard work that did it. 00:20:31.109 --> 00:20:39.470 And it was my abilities as a younger, a lot skinnier, handsome looking man that got this amazing girlfriend, right? 00:20:39.609 --> 00:20:42.109 I created this amazing life for myself. 00:20:43.309 --> 00:20:45.410 So in return, God did what he does best. 00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:46.789 He humbled me. 00:20:48.329 --> 00:20:55.289 So that year, we were really, my senior year, right, we were a really good basketball team, we had a legitimate chance to win it all that year. 00:20:55.670 --> 00:20:58.750 And pre-context, we hadn't won it in the three years up to this. 00:21:00.130 --> 00:21:07.049 You know, I could have been a part of that, you know, I think about that the year we started, we didn't, you know, I started high school, we didn't start winning state championships. 00:21:07.049 --> 00:21:10.849 So, you know, I don't know if there's any coincidence that but it kind of hurt. 00:21:12.849 --> 00:21:17.490 But you know, this senior year, we, we were one of the top two seeds. 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:21.589 And we had home court through up to the, they call it the elite eight. 00:21:21.690 --> 00:21:25.309 That's when you go to, like, one of the bigger stadiums and you play, right. 00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:26.710 And so this is the round of 16. 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:28.609 We get upset at home. 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:33.869 And it was the last time I ever experienced real competitive basketball. 00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:40.309 And as a young kid who put so much effort and time into this sport, I was devastated when we lost. 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:46.309 I would say it's probably one of the top three moments I cried for a really long time. 00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:52.940 And then to make matters just that much worse, my girlfriend broke up with me two days later. 00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:58.920 That, yeah, that, that, that, that game happened on a Saturday. 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.599 And then that Monday, my girlfriend broke up with me. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:15.079 And right as a young kid who had experienced much loss, any real hardship, had been basically skating through life, you know, this whole time thinking I created this amazing world for myself. 00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:22.519 God humbled me, you know, and to this point, like, I am so grateful God humbled me in those situations. 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:26.660 I look back, I kind of laugh, I'm like, like, it's a basketball team, right? 00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:31.200 Like, I'm so much better off, like, right, I have so many more things to live for in life. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:36.099 Like, it was a high school relationship, I can tell you guys all about some of the stupid things I did. 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:41.259 And I, you know, if I could go back in time, I'd probably punch younger me for some of the stupid things I did. 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.440 But like, in that moment, I was heartbroken. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.619 I had this whole world put up for myself. 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:51.720 And God took it down, right? 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.759 But because of that, God lifted my eyes and showed me my life as it truly was, lost without God. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:01.380 And that summer, I had to really think about that. 00:23:01.660 --> 00:23:08.460 I sat with a lot of those emotions, and I worked construction, a lot of it by myself, and I had to think about these things. 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:15.039 And then going into that next semester is when I met a man named Turner Glissman, studied the Bible, and became a disciple. 00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:19.579 And so, right, these things are so important, right? 00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:25.380 And if we don't live this life in reverence of God, it's a dark path. 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:35.579 Especially when we know the power of God, when He's done the miracles in our lives, when He's changed our lives around and we decide to turn back. 00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:39.700 God is not afraid to show us what our lives look like without Him. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:44.559 And I think we can all imagine or maybe picture what that looks like. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.079 So the application for this week in our lives is one of gratitude. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:55.319 We need to be praying every day, and those prayers need to be prayers of remembrance. 00:23:56.460 --> 00:24:00.359 Remember where we've been without God, and then who we are with Him. 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:07.220 And making sure that when the time comes to acknowledge God for all He's done, that we are not hesitant to do it. 00:24:07.660 --> 00:24:10.220 We don't look at ourselves, we look to God. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.099 Prayer is so much about a grateful mindset. 00:24:16.019 --> 00:24:19.380 Nebuchadnezzar didn't have one, and it led to him having to be humbled. 00:24:20.119 --> 00:24:21.599 Let us not get to this point. 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.640 Let us be grateful for all that we have. 00:24:25.819 --> 00:24:28.000 With that, that's the end of the lesson point. 00:24:28.579 --> 00:24:30.259 This is where we're going to get into communion. 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:38.579 And as we kind of go into the mindset of communion here for a second, let us have a prayer of gratefulness. 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:41.480 Let us remember these things that have come in our lives. 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:46.180 Let us not be Nebuchadnezzar and forget all the great things God has done for us. 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:47.539 Let us pray for communion. 00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:51.299 Dear God, I'm just so grateful. 00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:53.200 I'm grateful that I can share my life. 00:24:53.279 --> 00:25:04.160 I can look back at the senior kid who thought he just had everything, an 18-year-old who thought the world was his, and I am so grateful you humbled me, God. 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:15.539 I'm so grateful that instead of continuing to live like Nebuchadnezzar, I'm trying to live my life more like Daniel, more like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, being humble. 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:19.259 And as we take communion today, God, let us have that mindset. 00:25:19.259 --> 00:25:21.359 Let us be grateful for everything we have. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:24.500 Let us not forget the great things you've done in our lives. 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:26.220 In your name I pray, amen. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.279 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:43.940 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:51.579 Please go to kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on. 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:54.200 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.