WEBVTT 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:13.320 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. 00:00:23.559 --> 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. 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:40.420 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:43.579 Good, uh, good morning, everybody. 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:48.939 I, uh, I hope you guys are doing well, happy 2024 or Mary 2024. 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:55.079 If you're still in the holiday season, who has, who still has their Christmas decorations out? 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:56.140 Okay. 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:56.240 Yeah. 00:00:56.420 --> 00:00:56.700 Me too. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:57.140 Us too. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:57.740 Us as well. 00:00:58.020 --> 00:00:59.659 I'm glad I'm in good company then. 00:01:00.179 --> 00:01:15.140 Uh, and I figured you get like, you get about a month that you can keep them, but then, so you kind of stretch it a little bit, one, one way or the other, and ends up about two months because it takes so much work to put Christmas decorations up that you might as well keep them up for about two months. 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:15.359 Amen. 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:17.000 Uh, very good. 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:23.379 We've got, uh, there's, there's a, there's a massive game coming up, uh, pretty soon. 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:23.939 Oh yeah. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:37.900 Uh, we, we've got, uh, we, we've got fans, um, that, that are going to be fired up, uh, that the Green Bay Packers are playing the Chicago Bears this, uh, this afternoon. 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:40.099 Um, I don't know. 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:42.219 Uh, is there another game? 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:43.719 Is there another game too, tomorrow? 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:44.859 Yeah. 00:01:45.019 --> 00:01:45.719 I don't know. 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:46.620 Who knows? 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.620 Uh, you, you guys, you guys can open up the Proverbs 20. 00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:54.319 He is, he just bandwagoned her, right? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.920 Um, yeah, he is. 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:58.379 I don't know if he's worse. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:01:59.579 Yeah, he's not worse. 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:00.280 He's not worse. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:17.439 You know, there's, there's a theme that we're going to focus on for the next, uh, the next few weeks, the, the month of January, we're going to spend, uh, talking about, uh, well, the, the theme or what this little, uh, this little thread that we're going to pull in is, is re. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.560 Uh, we're going to talk today about re-flecting. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:25.080 Uh, we're going to talk about re-engaging, uh, in future weeks. 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:29.599 Uh, we're going to talk about reviving whatever we we've got going on to revive. 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:33.860 Uh, and, and we're going to talk about, uh, being refreshed as well. 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:40.979 Um, but, but today, what, what I want to talk about is just the idea of, of reflecting. 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:51.280 As, as we look back on, on 2023, and as we look forward to 2024, I think there's a lot of value in reflection. 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:55.539 I think it's something that, uh, that, that, that actually is, is, is difficult. 00:02:55.539 --> 00:03:03.759 Um, and it's difficult to do this from a spiritual perspective because often when you consider reflecting, you look at your actions, right? 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:09.800 And what, what happened in, in 2023 or what happened this last year and what occurred. 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:17.319 Uh, I, I think there's a difficulty that we're going to look at today in really considering why this happened. 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:22.740 You know, wisdom, it's been said that wisdom is, that foolishness is just looking at the result. 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:30.439 Uh, wisdom is looking at the process and, and focusing on the process over the result because you focus on just the result. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:32.919 You are going to end up in a lot of trouble. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.699 Uh, you're going to end up making bad habits. 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:37.939 You're going to end up coming to poor conclusions. 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:48.439 But if your focus is on the process, then, then there's going to be a path to, uh, to sustained success, uh, sustained spiritual success. 00:03:48.919 --> 00:03:51.639 Um, so we're, we're in Proverbs 20. 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:58.300 Uh, what we're going to do is we're going to, I hope to give you a few tools that you can use to reflect on the year. 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:03.379 Uh, ultimately then we're going to focus, uh, on, on our, us reflecting God. 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:09.080 And so we're going to look at, certainly we're going to look at reflection and it's introspective, consider yourself. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:14.379 And then on Wednesday and house churches, we are going to have a time to discuss a little bit. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:15.180 What, what happened? 00:04:15.278 --> 00:04:15.899 What went well? 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:17.278 Why do we think it went well? 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:18.100 What didn't go well? 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:18.639 That's okay. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.680 What are we going to do better in 2024? 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:25.000 Uh, but, uh, those things are meaningless if it's not in Christ. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:25.279 Amen. 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:25.720 Amen. 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:27.779 Those things, those things are so pointless. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.360 It's just self-help and that's not, there's, I'm never going to preach. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:32.639 I hope I never preach a lesson. 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:33.620 That's just self-help. 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:35.279 Uh, that's, that's not my intention. 00:04:35.379 --> 00:04:37.759 That's that we're, we're trying to grow closer to Jesus. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.660 We can, and that, that, that is the true way to, uh, for self-help. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:41.920 Amen. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:42.579 Yeah. 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:50.879 Um, you know, Proverbs 20, uh, in verse five, it says the purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out. 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:52.180 Okay. 00:04:52.519 --> 00:05:10.279 Uh, you, you know, for, for us, how I've always, how this, the scripture has been taught to me and how I've taught this scripture has been, uh, well, if a person, the purposes are deep waters, if they're difficult to understand, if people are complicated, then we have to become great at drawing people out. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:14.540 And we want to become those who have insights so that we can help other people. 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:15.980 And that's true. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.939 And I think we should, uh, we should do that. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:18.560 We ought to do that. 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:21.240 We ought to be those who have great insight. 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:21.339 Right. 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:37.040 But what this also means is, is if a person's heart are deep waters, and if you are a person, uh, and if you grow in your insight, then you can actually draw yourself out because people, uh, people are complicated. 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:50.759 Your, your motives for why you did what you did in 2023, why you did spiritual things in 2023, why you struggled in 2023, why you had great victories and successes and why you had deep struggles in 2023. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:53.000 The motives are complicated. 00:05:53.339 --> 00:06:03.879 We, we, you know, I've used this quote a couple of times, but there's this, this show, uh, Loki, if you're not into superhero, uh, movies shows, that's okay. 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:06.120 Just listen to this quote for a second though. 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:11.759 I think it communicates, uh, it communicates a lot of, of what I want to, uh, what I want to say here. 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:23.300 There's this dialogue that's occurring and, and Loki, he's, you know, he's painted as being a, if you guys watch the movies, he's frustrating. 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:25.699 He's a, he's full of mischief. 00:06:25.899 --> 00:06:30.600 Uh, he's, he comes off, he comes off like a bad person, but there's a depth to his character. 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:34.860 And he just says that, that no one bad is ever truly bad. 00:06:34.939 --> 00:06:36.620 No one good is ever truly good. 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:47.939 I would put before you that the same is true with our motives and our actions, the reason behind our actions, that there's, there's, there's very few, uh, actions that we make that are just bad. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.980 We're just evil people and we want it. 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:57.560 But then there's also, uh, there's also very few that are only ever truly good or the motives behind it. 00:06:57.560 --> 00:06:59.120 Uh, we're, we're complicated. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:10.800 And so as, as, uh, as we read, uh, the scripture, I want us to consider then what, what is the reason for why I did what I did in, in 2023. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:15.240 Um, and we're going to grow in our insight, uh, as well. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:22.519 You know, there's, there's this interesting, uh, this interesting illustration that I, I, I believe it's, I believe it's powerful. 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:37.339 I've been looking for, uh, just some, some different motivations, but this is, it says, uh, so back in the 18th century, there was a King, the Frederick, the second, he was the King of Prussia, which I'm not great at geography, um, but I know there's no Prussia anymore. 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:44.939 Uh, but it's, it's somewhere like Germany, like Russia, like Western Russia area is my understanding. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:46.959 And if I'm wrong about that, that's okay. 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:52.180 Uh, he was looking for ways to feed his nation and lower the price of bread. 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:57.600 He proposed the potato as a suitable new addition to the nation's diet. 00:07:57.779 --> 00:08:04.439 Up until that time, they hadn't really, uh, they hadn't really eaten potatoes, um, but the peasants resisted growing it. 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:08.120 They said the potatoes looked dirty and had no taste. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.639 They're not entirely incorrect. 00:08:10.839 --> 00:08:12.819 That's why we add a bunch of seasoning to this stuff. 00:08:12.899 --> 00:08:13.920 We wash the potatoes, right? 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:14.480 Yeah, absolutely. 00:08:15.129 --> 00:08:22.360 So King Frederick decided to rebrand it as a Royal vegetable. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:29.319 He planted a Royal field with potato plants and ordered guards to protect them. 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:31.959 Now here's the real kicker. 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:39.580 The guards were instructed to pretend not to notice in case local peasants tried to steal from the King's garden. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:49.340 Before long, peasants started stealing these Royal potatoes and growing them in secret and boom, suddenly everyone was eating potatoes. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:58.820 You know, Frederick understood something, understood this though, if something is worth guarding, it's worth stealing. 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:04.919 It's an, it's, it's used. 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.519 It's an example in business textbooks of rebranding. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.039 But what I would, what I would say, and how are we going to relate this spiritually? 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:19.440 How does it give us insight is that there are, uh, there are actions and activities. 00:09:19.580 --> 00:09:26.659 If you take a potato, uh, I mean, we're taught that eating potatoes tastes good or that, that it's, it's appropriate, but it makes sense. 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:29.419 As I was reading this, I was like, how can somebody not like potatoes? 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:34.820 And then you realize, well, we put salt on potatoes, we put pepper on potatoes, we put different, you know, Lowry's on potatoes. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.480 We fry potatoes, we put cheese on potato. 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:39.399 We have to do a lot of things to dress up a potato. 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:41.379 We also have to wash the potato. 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:45.220 We have to, we usually, I mean, unless you, I don't know if it's, do we skin the potato? 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:49.399 And we do a lot of things to make potatoes, uh, you know, palatable. 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:59.450 If you, if you asked those peasants why they didn't eat potatoes before this external stimuli, they'd give you a good reason. 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:02.490 And it's, it's dirty, it's gross, doesn't taste like anything. 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:06.009 If you ask them after they would give you a good reason. 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:07.009 How can you eat potatoes? 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:08.309 Well, this is a Royal food. 00:10:08.490 --> 00:10:09.850 It's, it's good to eat potatoes. 00:10:10.070 --> 00:10:11.690 That's what rich people do. 00:10:13.090 --> 00:10:28.809 I wonder if you look back at your 2023, if you couldn't find areas in your life where you followed or you did what somebody taught you was appropriate, uh, and it, uh, and it, instead of what makes the most sense and what is natural to you. 00:10:30.389 --> 00:10:32.350 I bet, I bet there's, there's potential. 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:40.590 This is where we're going to work, where we're going to connect it, that, that perhaps somebody in authority manipulated you to do something that you otherwise wouldn't do. 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:51.289 Uh, perhaps the devil in 2023, uh, played a role in your mind to manipulate you to do something that, that you wouldn't otherwise do. 00:10:51.350 --> 00:11:04.350 You know, we, we understand the devil is not, uh, this, you know, this, you know, red guy with a pitchfork on, on the side of our, our shoulder and, and trying to convince us in that way, the devil's much more deceitful than that. 00:11:04.429 --> 00:11:05.970 If the devil just said, Hey, I'm the devil. 00:11:06.210 --> 00:11:09.070 If you follow my path, you're going to go straight to hell. 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:11.129 We would say, let's run away from that path. 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:12.090 You know, get away from me. 00:11:12.210 --> 00:11:12.970 We need help. 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:13.769 We can see it. 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:16.230 Let's just, let's do everything we can to stay away. 00:11:16.750 --> 00:11:18.549 The devil's a lot more deceitful than that though. 00:11:18.610 --> 00:11:27.490 The devil uses people and he uses people and he actually, as crazy as that sounds, he uses people to infiltrate our minds, to convince us this is what's appropriate. 00:11:27.590 --> 00:11:30.490 It makes sense for me to pull back from this group of people. 00:11:30.990 --> 00:11:34.169 It makes sense for me to treat my spouse this way. 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:37.809 It makes sense for me to do this at work. 00:11:38.110 --> 00:11:53.110 Maybe you, you look back at your 2023 and you look at the school or work and you say, well, I didn't work as hard as I could have, or maybe you found yourself not representing Christ in the way of showing integrity or showing compassion. 00:11:53.509 --> 00:11:59.629 And I bet if we sat with it, you could convince yourself and you could say, well, the reason everyone's doing it. 00:11:59.629 --> 00:12:03.350 And so I can fudge the numbers a little bit, or it's not that big of a deal. 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:07.070 This is, it's understood that we're not going to follow exactly the protocol. 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.070 Or maybe you, you, you could give yourself a reason why you didn't show compassion. 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:20.049 And you could say, well, if I'm always so nice and people always step on me, then it's never going to, it's never going to work out for me. 00:12:20.049 --> 00:12:21.070 That's not what it's about. 00:12:21.070 --> 00:12:23.149 And I'm not saying to be a pushover. 00:12:23.210 --> 00:12:24.230 That's not what I'm communicating. 00:12:24.509 --> 00:12:32.549 But I bet you, if you look at your 2023, you might find areas where you give yourself a way out spiritually when you are rather than you make it spiritual. 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:33.950 You try to over spiritualize it. 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:49.149 You know, in terms of, in terms of our, our money in 2023 and our stewardship with, with our finances, I don't, I don't believe anybody in this group that I don't have a, I don't believe anybody to be flashy, you know? 00:12:49.269 --> 00:12:51.029 And, oh man, I'm going to flaunt my money. 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:53.590 And I'm, you know, I just let the hundred dollar bill drop. 00:12:53.649 --> 00:12:59.110 And, oh, you know, if you, if anyone here lets a hundred dollar bill drop and I see it, I'm picking it up and I'm giving it to contribution. 00:12:59.309 --> 00:13:00.309 I'm not, I'm not giving it back. 00:13:00.669 --> 00:13:08.779 So just so you know, anyone that's trying to be flashy and, you know, but, but this is where, this is where now here work with me. 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:12.059 No one's doing that, but the devil can be deceitful though. 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:12.279 Right. 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:20.519 And he can say, well, you know, if, if I'm, I'm supposed to focus on my retirement, I want to be, I want to retire one day. 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:22.639 I want to live comfortably one day. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:28.000 And so because of that, it can prompt us to not be sacrificial to God. 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.500 And, and we give, and that's a, there's a, that's a great reason. 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:35.600 The world will tell you that's an awesome reason to not be sacrificial and giving to God. 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:36.080 There's a story. 00:13:36.139 --> 00:13:46.600 One of my really good friends, he, he was, he was, he's doing his taxes and they were, you know, he was doing it and he was talking to somebody who's not a Christian about, about his taxes. 00:13:46.659 --> 00:13:50.940 And they said, okay, so, and what do you, you know, what about your charitable, yeah, charitable giving? 00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:53.580 And he said this, this number that he's giving. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:55.620 And the guy said, I think you messed it up. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.320 Is there, it's not this number. 00:13:57.320 --> 00:13:59.039 Maybe I think you put an extra zero. 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:00.179 He said, no, no, this is what we give. 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:08.080 And the guy who's doing his taxes told him that was irresponsible to give this much in contribution relative to his income. 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:11.539 The world will tell you that it's appropriate. 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:21.159 And it makes a lot of sense to withhold and give and give for your, for your retirement because you need to retire one day and you need to live comfortably. 00:14:22.179 --> 00:14:27.779 Again, there's, we, we, we're very fortunate that we give to our retirement. 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:30.700 We, we, we're trying to be responsible and great stewards. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:34.960 Part of great stewardship is, is looking in the future and setting yourself up. 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:36.320 That is absolutely true. 00:14:37.659 --> 00:14:40.220 But, but, but it's a slippery slope, isn't it? 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:45.440 Because although we don't have to be flashy, but we can still hold back from God. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.320 Yeah, our contribution ought to be a sacrifice. 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:51.139 And I'm not, this isn't prompted me, me saying this is not prompted. 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:55.059 By any, uh, any one person or one thing, that's not what I'm doing. 00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:58.360 I want us to, to ask ourselves why we did what we did in 2023. 00:15:01.539 --> 00:15:11.200 You know, the, the, the Bible says in Hebrews four, uh, we know this scripture and we know it well, it says for the word of God is alive and active sharper than any double edged sword. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:14.779 It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.059 It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:21.659 Nothing at all creation is hidden from God's sight. 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:27.899 Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:33.960 But the Bible says the word of God, it says it's alive and it's active. 00:15:34.220 --> 00:15:35.919 It's sharper than a double edged sword. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.320 And then it says this really interesting, it makes, it makes this amazing claim. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:43.220 It says it divides soul and spirit. 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:50.580 And this is this, this concept I think is, I didn't understand until I looked it up and someone explained it. 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:53.139 So we, I was always taught soul and spirit. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:54.580 You're like, it's just difficult things. 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:56.320 Nobody's going to understand them. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:57.659 And so there you go. 00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:02.179 But actually with soul, it says that there's, there's clear definitions, especially in the Greek. 00:16:02.179 --> 00:16:19.519 And I was reading a commentary that, that explained that the soul is, uh, this is like the, the nature of, of, of a man, like the animal desires, uh, that, that that's, which hasn't, which he has in common with just, uh, normal people or normal animals. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:26.940 Like that's the, the earthly essence of somebody, if you will, says it divides that part. 00:16:26.980 --> 00:16:30.259 And it divides the spirit, this higher part of a man. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:35.700 Uh, this is what, what, what allows him to go to heaven or the hope of, of eternal life. 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:42.519 And it, it divides these two things and the motives of these two things that if you'll sit with yourself are extremely difficult. 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:53.460 And I use the example a lot of times when I'm, when I'm meeting with, uh, young men, I say, so let's say, uh, my friend that you see a very pretty girl and you're, you, you said, man, I really, you're single. 00:16:53.539 --> 00:16:54.620 And I really liked this girl. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:59.620 And so you, but you're like, you know, I asked, you ask her, Hey, will you come to church with me? 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:02.179 Uh, now why are you asking her to go to church? 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:09.960 Well, on one hand, um, you're asking her to go to church because you really care about her salvation and you want her to become a Christian, but you'd be lying to yourself. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:15.480 You said some of your motivation wasn't, uh, I want, I want this girl to become a Christian so that I can date this woman. 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:15.759 Right. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:20.618 You'd be, you'd be out of your mind if you, if you just, so there's, it's difficult, right? 00:17:20.660 --> 00:17:24.118 There's multiple reasons and there's motives and, and all of that stuff. 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:26.858 It says the Bible is able to cut through that like a knife. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:32.000 It is not difficult for the Bible to discern things that, that we inside of ourselves are unable to. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:41.440 It says, it says that the thoughts and the attitudes of our heart are, are able to be discerned. 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:42.420 You know, it's, it's amazing. 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:48.480 Uh, there's, there's no other book that can say I'm able to do this. 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:56.700 Uh, there, there's no other book that's able to say that every other book talks about rules and laws and regulations and what happens on the outside. 00:17:56.819 --> 00:18:03.779 The Bible says I can figure out, and I, not only can I figure out, I already know what's going on inside of me right now. 00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:04.200 Wow. 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:07.880 What a, what a powerful book. 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:09.539 What a powerful example. 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:14.660 The entirety of it from, we can see from the lens of God, what's going on inside of our hearts. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:18.460 This, this ought to give us motivation then to dig deep into it in 2024. 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:19.039 Amen. 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:33.259 And so through, through all of this, we, we understand that, that there's, there's a, there's a point to reflection and that we're looking more at the motives than we are at, at our actions. 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:39.180 Even, uh, all of it, again, it's useless if we're not focused on reflecting God. 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:48.420 Uh, you, you can go to second Corinthians three, we're, we're gonna, we're gonna read a little bit and we're going to, uh, you know, we're going to bring it in for a landing here pretty soon. 00:18:51.660 --> 00:19:01.000 Second Corinthians three, uh, it brings up this, this story of Moses, actually it says, therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:10.539 We are not like Moses who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:16.940 But their minds were made dull for to this day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:21.740 It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:26.119 Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:31.359 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:38.240 Now the Lord is the spirit and where, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:39.579 Here we go. 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:52.279 And we all who with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord's glory are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:58.799 In verse 18, it communicates what we are, who we are trying to reflect. 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:01.599 It says we all are bold. 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:08.740 And so we can come to God with unveiled faces and we can reflect, we can really gather stuff. 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:11.559 And then we can go ahead and reflect God to the world. 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:13.420 There's a comparison here. 00:20:13.859 --> 00:20:18.960 There's so much in this scripture that I really study it this week for yourself. 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.039 There's, there's too much in it for me to do it justice. 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:24.240 They're preaching it right, right now this morning. 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:36.099 But what's being talked about is, is Moses coming down after receiving the 10 commandments and then coming down and he has this interaction with God. 00:20:36.099 --> 00:20:42.740 And so he doesn't realize it, but his face is shining brightly so much so that the people are scared. 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:48.019 They realize that they're not, however close Moses is to God, they're not that close to God. 00:20:48.099 --> 00:20:50.660 And so they're, they're, I can't be close to you. 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:59.680 And so it says Moses then veils his face and then, and then the children of Israel come near to him and he's able to talk to them. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:18.460 It says in Exodus 34, you just referenced it, 34, 35, it says, and whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shown, then Moses would put a veil on again until he went in to speak with him, him uppercase being God. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:26.660 For, for you and I, there's truths about reflection, right? 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:35.700 One, if we are going to reflect God, we understand that, that the reflection is always, it's a reflection of something is always worse than the original, right? 00:21:36.019 --> 00:21:41.460 You can look in a mirror and you can see your, your face and, and, but it's, it's worse than the original. 00:21:41.460 --> 00:21:43.660 It's a little bit different than, than the original. 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:55.119 Whenever you see a reflection or like a figurine of something that, that was created, the, the figurine or the creative thing is, is worse than the original. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.240 It points to the original, but it's worse than it. 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:04.480 The same, the same has to be true for you and I, if we're reflecting Christ, we understand that, that it's not about us. 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:05.759 We didn't do anything amazing. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:10.240 We're just trying to reflect and we're reflecting, we're pointing to something and someone. 00:22:10.460 --> 00:22:10.599 Amen. 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:19.099 Another thing that, that is true about reflection is that whatever you stare at is, is what you're going to reflect. 00:22:19.099 --> 00:22:22.200 Whatever you focus on is, is what you are going to reflect. 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:22.640 Yeah. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.099 And we, we see that in, in the Bible. 00:22:25.099 --> 00:22:31.220 It says that Moses and God were, were speaking and he was in God's presence. 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:37.900 And so when he came down, he reflected, he literally, his, his, his skin reflected God. 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:42.660 For, for you and I, whatever we're focused on is what we are going to reflect. 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:52.819 And so as you look at your 2023, perhaps you can identify, this is the area in my life that I was focused on God and that I just wanted to reflect God's image. 00:22:52.839 --> 00:23:04.940 And, and there's, there's, there's things that you did, but, but more than a challenge that somebody gave you, I bet you when, when you became convicted of whatever you had to change or whatever you had to do, there was something intrinsic, right? 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:08.079 That, that you felt like, I need to repent in this area. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:09.819 I need to turn to God in this area. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:12.140 I need to, I need to do better in my marriage. 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.000 I need to do better in my integrity. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:20.119 There was something that happened when you connected with God, that you were able to say, you can give me rules, I'll follow them. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:23.119 But the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing is because I just want to reflect God. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:33.359 Uh, whatever you stare at is what you are reflecting because you, you'd probably be able to look at areas in your life where you didn't reflect God so well. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:42.880 And you, you might be able to see that in those areas, you were looking at something else, or you were looking at the example of someone else instead of the example of Christ. 00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:56.180 The, the, the power in, in this scripture in particular is that it's saying that we're, we're trying to, we sit before it, it's, it's powerful. 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:57.759 It says we're very bold. 00:23:58.059 --> 00:24:01.099 Um, and it says, we're not like, like Moses, who even veiled his face. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:12.099 We are called to, to live lives that reflect Jesus and then go out to the people and, and live with unveiled, uh, unveiled glory, uh, to be able to point to him. 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:16.819 It says that Moses, when he interacted with the people, he put this veil on so that the people would interact with him. 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:19.519 He says, no, no, we're, we're even more bold than that. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:25.599 And so when we connect with God, reflect God, we're, we're connecting, we're so deep in our relationship with God. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:30.079 What our call is then to do is not to put a veil on as we go into the world. 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:36.180 It is to be a flagrantly and offensively Christian as we go into the world. 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:36.440 Amen. 00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:49.880 The, the, the, the Bible, uh, then this, the same passage follows and it says the God, uh, under case God. 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:56.079 So the, the spiritual forces of evil that we read about it, that the, the, um, it could be the devil. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.859 It could be just these, these, you know, God's of these strongholds in, in our lives. 00:25:00.859 --> 00:25:06.480 And that we've seen in our communities says the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. 00:25:06.740 --> 00:25:32.859 So they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God for what we preach is not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as servant, as your servants for Jesus's sake, for God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:40.539 And so our responsibility, you see, I even tripped it up because it's a, it's an interesting phrasing in verse five. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:42.519 It says, we preach. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:48.180 It's not ourselves, but it's ourselves as your servants for Jesus's sake. 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:53.380 Paul can, he, he, he called the church to change and repent in first Corinthians. 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:55.900 And then he's, he's sharing. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:56.559 There's hope. 00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:00.539 And he says, you guys are changing, but you're still holding back a little bit from me. 00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:01.740 He says, no, no, no. 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:03.859 My job is to be your, your servant. 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:13.460 Then we are servants of Christ first, but I'm your servant for Christ's sake so that you can know the reason for, for, for all of this. 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:16.700 That's our, that's our call. 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:23.799 That's our call more than it is that the purpose of our reflection is not again, to feel better about ourselves. 00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:26.480 It's not even necessarily to grow. 00:26:26.700 --> 00:26:29.579 The purpose is to reflect Jesus. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:32.740 And if we focus on reflecting Jesus, we are absolutely going to grow. 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:36.259 There's going to be areas of our lives where we, we totally run from. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:44.039 There's going to be areas where we totally run to, but, but none of it matters if we're not aspiring to reflect Jesus in everything that we do. 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:44.720 Yeah. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:45.900 Yeah. 00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:52.930 The, the think about the amazing call. 00:26:53.089 --> 00:26:58.210 What, what a privilege that we have, that we truly have to reflect Jesus. 00:26:58.470 --> 00:27:03.529 We, we could have been born 2,500 years ago. 00:27:03.569 --> 00:27:05.190 We could have been born 4,000 years ago. 00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:11.430 We, we could have not even been able to hear and see and understand the true gospel of Jesus. 00:27:11.430 --> 00:27:13.950 We could be like, hear me now. 00:27:13.950 --> 00:27:22.369 We could be like so many of the members in the community who've heard a little bit about Jesus, but who've never had a real deep experience with Jesus. 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:24.809 So they're, they're, they're, they're living a disillusioned life. 00:27:24.910 --> 00:27:28.210 There's no church that is actually going to follow it and call people to do that. 00:27:28.269 --> 00:27:41.210 And so we'll just tune in online and we could, we could be those people, but consider how privileged you are to know, to know Jesus, to have the opportunity to walk with him, to have the opportunity to reflect him. 00:27:41.390 --> 00:27:42.710 This is not, it's not a chore. 00:27:42.710 --> 00:27:43.609 It's not a burden. 00:27:44.029 --> 00:27:46.089 It's, it's not too heavy for us. 00:27:46.609 --> 00:27:49.190 We have the opportunity to truly reflect Jesus. 00:27:49.430 --> 00:27:59.670 This is something that I can promise you when we get to heaven and we talk to those who, who were living faithful lives in the old Testament pointing to what is to come. 00:27:59.750 --> 00:28:02.349 They would say, wow, it'd be amazing to live. 00:28:02.450 --> 00:28:05.750 It would have been amazing to live in Kalamazoo in 2024. 00:28:06.130 --> 00:28:06.369 Yeah. 00:28:06.509 --> 00:28:10.069 And you'd say, I think it would have been more amazing to live where you, it's no, no, no, no. 00:28:10.069 --> 00:28:12.150 You got a chance to know Jesus. 00:28:12.150 --> 00:28:14.210 You could read about the whole Bible. 00:28:14.349 --> 00:28:18.529 There's so many tools and applications that you can always look at the Bible. 00:28:18.710 --> 00:28:20.049 You know how to read. 00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:20.869 That's amazing. 00:28:21.029 --> 00:28:22.569 I don't even know how to read and I'm in heaven. 00:28:22.950 --> 00:28:23.750 You know how to read. 00:28:24.089 --> 00:28:26.529 They would say all of these things to us. 00:28:26.670 --> 00:28:29.230 We have such an awesome opportunity. 00:28:30.029 --> 00:28:33.569 I pray that we don't miss it in 2024 and beyond. 00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:33.890 Amen. 00:28:36.069 --> 00:28:43.430 Right now we're going to bring in, we're going to bring this whole lesson in for a chance to take communion. 00:28:43.569 --> 00:28:51.509 We're going to listen to a song and about halfway through the song, we're going to, we're going to take communion together. 00:28:51.690 --> 00:29:00.829 And the purpose of the communion is to remember Jesus' body on the cross and the blood that he shed for each and every one of us to have the opportunity. 00:29:01.009 --> 00:29:06.930 But even more than for you personally or you individually, he gives the opportunity for everybody. 00:29:07.109 --> 00:29:07.269 Amen. 00:29:07.990 --> 00:29:09.410 Let's pray right now. 00:29:09.410 --> 00:29:12.390 We're going to listen to a song. 00:29:12.569 --> 00:29:18.650 And then again, about a minute and a half in, the trace will be passed to take communion. 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:28.500 Dear God, Jesus, we come before you and we're honored. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:31.480 We're so grateful to be able to praise your name. 00:29:31.619 --> 00:29:33.519 We're grateful to be able to walk with you. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:55.880 We're grateful that we have the privilege to reflect you, we see you, Lord, that we don't have to come with veiled faces as we approach your throne, that we can talk to you, Lord, that you listen to us, that you want to listen to us, that you care about us and that you care about us so much that you would send your son to die for us. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:03.039 We don't understand why we're worthy, but we know that it is true. 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:18.940 And because of that truth, Lord, I pray that it will order our steps and it will compel our lives to live those that are devoted entirely to you and entirely to reflecting Jesus Christ. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:22.059 Jesus, this is in your name that we pray. 00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:22.460 Amen. 00:30:24.339 --> 00:30:29.500 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:33.180 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:40.779 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. 00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:43.400 In any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.