WEBVTT 00:00:51.317 --> 00:00:52.851 Well, welcome this morning. 00:00:52.851 --> 00:00:54.186 It's good to be here with you. 00:00:54.186 --> 00:00:58.825 As you can see, we're going to talk about habits going into the new year. 00:00:58.825 --> 00:01:04.430 How do we develop new, stronger spiritual habits? 00:01:04.531 --> 00:01:07.867 Let me say first, before we dive into that, it's really good to be here. 00:01:07.867 --> 00:01:11.471 Two weeks ago, I was standing here, but I wasn't really here. 00:01:11.471 --> 00:01:13.338 I was so sick. 00:01:13.338 --> 00:01:14.774 I was struggling so bad. 00:01:14.774 --> 00:01:22.114 And then last week, thankfully, Andrew was already scheduled to preach because there was a group of men in the church who needed some extra ministry. 00:01:22.114 --> 00:01:26.286 They were taking a trip to an NFL game and they needed a chaperone. 00:01:26.286 --> 00:01:35.495 So in order to help continue to recover, I went with them just out of pure goodness of my heart is the only reason to love on them and care for them. 00:01:35.495 --> 00:01:39.831 But here we are this week to start the New Year and we're taking a break from the Book of John. 00:01:39.831 --> 00:01:48.007 We've been working through the Book of John now, I looked yesterday, since September of ‘22, working our way through the book of John. 00:01:48.007 --> 00:02:04.757 We're going to take just a few week break here in January, because I think most of us, when we're kicking off a new year, there's just this excitement, there's this interest to start some things new, to maybe revitalize some parts of my life, maybe to breathe some new energy into my life. 00:02:04.757 --> 00:02:13.699 And we want to kind of ride the wave of that energy and talk about what does it mean to build some new spiritual habits into our lives. 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:16.802 And so we're going to do that over the next four weeks. 00:02:16.802 --> 00:02:20.205 And the word habits is really important. 00:02:20.272 --> 00:02:31.651 That's really key to use because so much of our lives are just made up of tiny little decisions and small little habits we do every day. 00:02:31.818 --> 00:02:38.024 You know, most of life is not these gigantic life changing decisions that we make. 00:02:38.024 --> 00:02:42.260 I mean, those are usually probably only a handful of moments in our life. 00:02:42.461 --> 00:02:52.938 Most of it is just the daily drip of the small decision, the small, menial, boring things that we do every day, and a lot of it without even thinking. 00:02:52.938 --> 00:02:55.875 Those are what really shape our lives. 00:02:55.875 --> 00:03:03.883 So how do we build more of those good habits that just happen automatically without even thinking about it? 00:03:03.883 --> 00:03:06.352 That's what we want to focus on today. 00:03:06.352 --> 00:03:09.555 And so to do that, we're going to actually unpack the word habit. 00:03:09.555 --> 00:03:11.524 We use that as an acronym. 00:03:11.524 --> 00:03:20.765 We'll go through each of those letters over the next four weeks and we'll end up covering ten habits for spiritual life over the next four weeks, ten Habits for Spiritual Life. 00:03:20.765 --> 00:03:26.271 This week, we're going to look at two based on the letter H and to do that, we're going to look at the book of Romans. 00:03:26.271 --> 00:03:44.456 We're going to look at Romans chapter 12, and we'll be pulling from verses in Romans Chapter 12 and 13 all throughout this series, because there's a lot in Romans chapter 12 about the spiritual life, our spiritual habits, the way we grow spiritually in our lives. 00:03:44.556 --> 00:03:49.027 And so for Letter H, we're going to see this two different aspects of the letter H. 00:03:49.027 --> 00:03:51.062 I'm going to start in Romans chapter 12, verse two. 00:03:51.062 --> 00:03:56.001 And if you have a church Bible that's on page 891, if you don't have a Bible, we'd love to put the Bible in your hands. 00:03:56.001 --> 00:03:57.502 Those are in the connection corner. 00:03:57.502 --> 00:03:58.837 Those are free for you. 00:03:58.837 --> 00:03:59.972 Slip out any time. 00:03:59.972 --> 00:04:01.006 Grab one of those. Keep it. 00:04:01.006 --> 00:04:02.174 We want you in God's word. 00:04:02.174 --> 00:04:04.276 We're going to talk a lot about that today. 00:04:04.276 --> 00:04:08.713 That being a key to your spiritual growth in 2024 is to be in God's word. 00:04:08.713 --> 00:04:11.516 Great start is to get a copy of his word. 00:04:11.516 --> 00:04:17.255 But let's start by reading Romans chapter 12, verse two, and have that set up the first letter H. 00:04:19.257 --> 00:04:35.341 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:04:35.406 --> 00:04:36.574 I love this verse. 00:04:36.574 --> 00:04:46.285 This verse is going to set up the first principle from the letter H that we're going to discuss, which is Hear the Word of God. 00:04:46.384 --> 00:04:53.959 One of the disciplines, the habits you want to develop this year is to hear the Word of God, to be in the Word of God. And here's why. 00:04:53.959 --> 00:05:01.000 What we're trying to counteract is the very first phrase here Do not be conformed to this world. 00:05:01.065 --> 00:05:03.869 That word conformed has a wide range of meaning. 00:05:03.869 --> 00:05:12.011 But one of the pictures, the imagery we get with it, it's this idea of being pressed into a mold, of being shaped by something. 00:05:12.011 --> 00:05:18.384 I think of things like maybe wax poured into a candle mold or, you know, Play-Doh. 00:05:18.384 --> 00:05:26.324 When you've played with it, do you have different cookie cutter shapes or objects that you can mold it into, to shape it into? 00:05:26.425 --> 00:05:29.528 And so this verse says, Do not be conformed to this world. 00:05:29.528 --> 00:05:31.797 Don't be pressed into the mold of this. 00:05:31.797 --> 00:05:34.533 Actually, the word’s not world, it's age. 00:05:34.533 --> 00:05:36.901 Don't be pressed into the mold of this age. 00:05:36.901 --> 00:05:42.673 Don't let this age be what shapes you, molds you. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:50.281 And of course, every age has its fascination, its thing that says everyone must follow. 00:05:50.348 --> 00:06:02.761 I've even I've read a bunch of from the monk Thomas Merton over the last year, and he talks a lot about when he was in his twenties or when he was in his twenties in the twenties and thirties. 00:06:02.761 --> 00:06:04.762 Growing up in the twenties and thirties. 00:06:04.762 --> 00:06:10.435 The fascination of that time as he was an intellectual in New York State, working on his Ph.D. 00:06:10.536 --> 00:06:12.271 before he became a monk. 00:06:12.271 --> 00:06:16.809 And all the fascination, all the rage with everyone around him was communism. 00:06:16.875 --> 00:06:19.911 You know, you had to become a communist if you were really enlightened. 00:06:19.911 --> 00:06:21.612 That's what will change the world. 00:06:21.612 --> 00:06:23.014 Capitalism's the real problem. 00:06:23.014 --> 00:06:25.716 If we bring in communism, that's going to change everything. 00:06:25.716 --> 00:06:30.189 And he didn't even know what communism was, but he was convinced I got to I got to do that. 00:06:30.189 --> 00:06:31.122 That's the thing to do. 00:06:31.122 --> 00:06:33.725 That's the mold of that age. 00:06:33.725 --> 00:06:41.800 And of course, later he realized how silly that was for him to just go along with what everyone else was doing. 00:06:41.867 --> 00:06:48.339 Every age has its thing that they say this is the right way to live, the right thing to believe. 00:06:48.339 --> 00:06:50.242 You're facing that now. 00:06:50.242 --> 00:06:51.976 Our age is no better. 00:06:51.976 --> 00:06:56.747 It may not be communism now, but I hear from a number of you. 00:06:56.747 --> 00:07:03.088 If you're not very careful with what you say at work, you may not be there any longer. 00:07:03.088 --> 00:07:04.055 It could be. 00:07:04.055 --> 00:07:10.896 And how you talk about pronouns, it could even just be mentioning that you have a faith. 00:07:10.896 --> 00:07:15.800 Don't let this world press you into its mold. 00:07:15.966 --> 00:07:23.809 Now, the counteraction to that in this verse, look at what it says to do instead of being conformed, pressed into the mold shaped by this world. 00:07:23.809 --> 00:07:24.543 Look at what it says. 00:07:24.543 --> 00:07:32.783 Instead of that, it says, Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. 00:07:32.783 --> 00:07:39.391 And part of the contrast between those two words conformed is focused on the outward shape and appearance. 00:07:39.391 --> 00:07:47.999 But transformed drives to the inward foundational shaping of your very core and character of who you are. 00:07:47.999 --> 00:07:53.605 There's a drastic difference between those two, not just focused on outward appearances. 00:07:53.605 --> 00:08:01.446 A friend of mine I worked with in publishing, she said, Let's say we had a book we needed to publish and the content wasn't very good. 00:08:01.446 --> 00:08:13.324 She said, Well, what we'll do, she said, We're going to put some lipstick on that pig, meaning we'll put a nice cover on it and maybe people will buy it then. We don't want to just focus on the outward appearance. 00:08:13.324 --> 00:08:20.665 We want to change from the very inward nature of our character, at our very core, to be transformed. 00:08:20.764 --> 00:08:30.274 In fact, as I was studying this passage, one thing I like to do, I encourage you, I usually have kind of we teach from the ESV, I have a base translation that I tend to read in my own Bible study time. 00:08:30.274 --> 00:08:32.677 But but I like to read a lot of different translations. 00:08:32.677 --> 00:08:37.048 I think that really brings insight into a passage is to read broadly. 00:08:37.048 --> 00:08:39.116 It's a great thing to do. 00:08:39.116 --> 00:08:44.121 One of the translations I ran across, I thought summarized up this idea so well. 00:08:44.121 --> 00:08:45.222 It's by Eugene Peterson. 00:08:45.222 --> 00:08:47.524 It's more of a paraphrase, but read this on the screen with me. 00:08:47.524 --> 00:08:52.029 Look at how he takes this verse and shapes it in kind of everyday language. 00:08:52.029 --> 00:08:58.702 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. 00:08:58.802 --> 00:09:06.043 But that becomes your default behavior, Whatever the culture says, whatever the mold at this age, that's just where I fall automatically without thinking, No, no, no. 00:09:06.043 --> 00:09:14.318 Instead, fix your attention on God, you'll be changed from the inside out. 00:09:14.385 --> 00:09:16.587 I love the way he said that. 00:09:16.587 --> 00:09:19.990 How do we become transformed? 00:09:20.057 --> 00:09:22.527 That word sounds like our English word. 00:09:22.527 --> 00:09:26.264 Metamorphosis, completely changed. 00:09:26.331 --> 00:09:30.802 How do we become transformed from the inside out? 00:09:30.802 --> 00:09:33.337 How does that happen? 00:09:33.337 --> 00:09:37.775 Well, part of the way that happens is right here in the verse, Look at how it continues. 00:09:37.775 --> 00:09:39.443 Do not be conformed to the world. 00:09:39.443 --> 00:09:44.783 Be transformed by the renewal of your mind. 00:09:44.883 --> 00:09:52.256 We have to renew our mind, renew our thinking, develop new thinking. 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:53.991 That's part of how we change. 00:09:53.991 --> 00:09:56.027 That's part of how we're transformed. 00:09:56.027 --> 00:10:00.298 Now, in order for our thinking to be changed, a couple of things need to happen. 00:10:00.298 --> 00:10:06.136 And the first thing that needs to happen is that you need to be convinced that you need to change. 00:10:06.203 --> 00:10:10.207 Have you ever tried to convince someone they need to change when they don't think they do? 00:10:10.207 --> 00:10:11.708 How does that go? 00:10:11.708 --> 00:10:14.011 It's called the toddler years, right? 00:10:14.011 --> 00:10:15.613 Doesn't go well. 00:10:15.613 --> 00:10:16.014 No. 00:10:16.014 --> 00:10:20.284 The first step is to be convinced that maybe I do need to change. 00:10:20.284 --> 00:10:23.354 And I've shared this story before, but this happened recently with a friend of mine. 00:10:23.354 --> 00:10:34.831 He shared the story where his wife came to him with a concern and they got into an argument about it and he ended up he said, John, I remember where I was standing, where I said these words, I'm not proud of it, but I can't get it out of my head. 00:10:34.831 --> 00:10:38.201 I said to her, I'm not the problem in this relationship. 00:10:38.201 --> 00:10:39.537 You are. 00:10:39.537 --> 00:10:41.706 You're the one who needs to change. 00:10:41.706 --> 00:10:47.245 And even as he was saying it, you just saw his shoulders droop and his head hanging down. 00:10:47.345 --> 00:10:49.514 So she actually calls his bluff. 00:10:49.514 --> 00:10:51.749 She goes to counseling. 00:10:51.749 --> 00:10:53.150 Okay. I'm the one who needs a change. 00:10:53.150 --> 00:10:54.217 Let me go work on myself. 00:10:54.217 --> 00:10:55.452 Goes to counseling. 00:10:55.452 --> 00:10:57.120 Counselor recommends a book. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:05.363 He, being a bit of a control freak, says, Let me read it first to make sure it's okay for you to read. 00:11:05.462 --> 00:11:07.264 And he's reading the book. 00:11:07.264 --> 00:11:15.306 And in the middle of the book he goes, Oh no, she's not the problem. 00:11:15.306 --> 00:11:16.707 I'm the problem. 00:11:16.707 --> 00:11:18.308 It's not her. 00:11:18.308 --> 00:11:20.878 It's me. 00:11:20.878 --> 00:11:28.318 And in a moment, he went from, I don't want to hear anything about changing to I desperately have to change. 00:11:28.385 --> 00:11:34.158 That's the first step is to recognize even the starting point is maybe I should change now. 00:11:34.158 --> 00:11:36.726 Once you're there, what do you do? 00:11:36.726 --> 00:11:41.365 Well, the second step is you need new information. 00:11:41.466 --> 00:11:44.501 You got to where you are with the same old information. 00:11:44.501 --> 00:11:49.206 And if you keep relying on that, that's not going to make a difference. 00:11:49.206 --> 00:11:55.812 I think in addiction, they use this phrase if in addiction and recovery, if nothing changes, how many of you have heard this? 00:11:55.812 --> 00:11:56.647 Can you complete it for me? 00:11:56.647 --> 00:12:00.116 If nothing changes, nothing changes. 00:12:00.116 --> 00:12:03.421 Thanks, John, for the brilliant flash of the obvious. 00:12:03.421 --> 00:12:09.427 But you understand that if I don't change my friends, my patterns, my behaviors, the places I go, the things I do. 00:12:09.427 --> 00:12:12.897 If none of that changes, then your addiction is not going to change. 00:12:12.897 --> 00:12:15.298 Nothing's going to change. 00:12:15.298 --> 00:12:18.436 So how do we renew our mind with new information? 00:12:18.436 --> 00:12:19.971 This is what everything is driving to. 00:12:19.971 --> 00:12:27.345 We got to get God's word in our heart more and more and more and more. 00:12:27.345 --> 00:12:40.658 Let this be whatever goals you've set for 2024, let this be the highest goal you have for 2024 to get God's Word deep in your heart, deep in your mind, deep in your soul in fact, the verse. 00:12:40.658 --> 00:12:42.025 I love to quote. 00:12:42.025 --> 00:12:44.461 11. 00:12:44.461 --> 00:12:54.304 It goes like this I have hidden, or you could say stored up God's word in my heart so that I might not sin against him. 00:12:54.371 --> 00:13:06.417 It's that activity, that intentional activity of intake in God's Word, having it slowly over time, renew your mind, to change your mind, to transform your mind. 00:13:06.517 --> 00:13:15.826 We really try hard here at Valley View to make it easy for you to be in God's Word, because honestly, it's not always easy. 00:13:15.893 --> 00:13:18.696 I mean, many of us struggle to get in God's word. 00:13:18.696 --> 00:13:21.899 There's so many other things pulling for our attention. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:23.768 So we try to do a lot of things to make it easy. 00:13:23.768 --> 00:13:30.908 One of the things we do, and Andrew talked a lot about it this week, by the way, Andrew did a great job that last week was so grateful for him stepping up and helping out. 00:13:30.908 --> 00:13:34.245 But he talked a lot about our Bible reading plan as a church. 00:13:34.245 --> 00:13:36.013 We've got a new one this year. 00:13:36.013 --> 00:13:38.883 We do a different one now for the last three years. 00:13:38.883 --> 00:13:42.186 And I want to talk a little bit about that because that's on purpose. 00:13:42.253 --> 00:14:02.038 So our first one we did, three years ago now, was we read through the whole Bible in a year, many people have never read through the whole Bible that if you read through the whole Bible, even though it feels like a lot, and there's times where you're getting lost in it and you may have to skim and you might skip a couple of days because you got behind, but you end up getting the whole big picture of the Bible. 00:14:02.038 --> 00:14:07.443 And when you understand the whole big picture, that helps make more sense of all the individual parts as you go. 00:14:07.443 --> 00:14:20.724 So we read the whole Bible, but then, last year, we just read the New Testament because the New Testament really shapes the basis of our day to day faith, the Old Testament is the foundation for that, but more day to day in terms of how we live and act. 00:14:20.724 --> 00:14:26.764 We're going to go to the New Testament more as Christians, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs to give some daily worship. 00:14:26.764 --> 00:14:29.767 Well, this year, and as you can see, we're funneling down. 00:14:29.767 --> 00:14:32.535 We start broadly a little less last year with the New Testament. 00:14:32.535 --> 00:14:43.413 This year we're just going to focus as a church on the Acts and the Gospels, Psalms and Proverbs, and we're just doing it five days a week. 00:14:43.413 --> 00:15:00.697 And so that gives you more space to just meditate, dwell, chew on shorter passages, spend more time just reading about Jesus, all the different accounts of his life, and we'll repeat that cycle every three years. 00:15:00.697 --> 00:15:10.807 All Bible, New Testament, Acts, Gospels, funneling down, more focus, more time to meditate, more time to dwell on a passage. 00:15:10.807 --> 00:15:11.774 And you need both. 00:15:11.774 --> 00:15:23.253 You need to understand the big picture, but you need time just to soak in a few verses, just to soak it up to see what God is saying to you in that moment. 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:24.455 And so we try to make that easy. 00:15:24.455 --> 00:15:28.292 If you have your favorite Bible reading plan that you've done since 1984, that's great. 00:15:28.292 --> 00:15:28.991 Keep doing it. 00:15:28.991 --> 00:15:30.092 That's okay. 00:15:30.092 --> 00:15:32.261 But if you don't have one, we've made it easy for you. 00:15:32.261 --> 00:15:33.129 Those are out in the lobby. 00:15:33.129 --> 00:15:36.232 And then also, any time you want to find it, it's on our website. 00:15:36.232 --> 00:15:40.504 We've been putting a ton of information on our website over the last two years. 00:15:40.504 --> 00:15:43.573 If you can throw up those images, this is going to be kind of hard to see. 00:15:43.573 --> 00:15:48.912 But there's a tab at, the top that says, Do you need help going through that up? 00:15:48.979 --> 00:15:49.913 Do you have a need? 00:15:49.913 --> 00:15:53.482 And then if you scroll down under that how to grow spiritually, it's a whole nother tab. 00:15:53.482 --> 00:15:55.586 And under there we have the Bible reading plan. 00:15:55.586 --> 00:16:00.490 You can download that there any time we have copies in the back, but any time you want, you can go there. 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:03.427 Obviously you can't read that, but you see that's where you find it. 00:16:03.427 --> 00:16:04.760 That's where it shows up. 00:16:04.760 --> 00:16:07.331 It makes it easy to find. 00:16:07.331 --> 00:16:13.269 Another thing we have under that tab, how to grow spiritually, is memorizing scripture. 00:16:13.269 --> 00:16:15.238 So as a church, we memorize Scripture together. 00:16:15.238 --> 00:16:19.842 Every month we have a new scripture memory verse. 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:25.014 And I bet if I went around everyone in here, each of us would say, I really need to memorize more scripture this year. 00:16:25.014 --> 00:16:30.721 I need more of God's Word memorized, sown in my heart. 00:16:30.787 --> 00:16:33.623 I think one of the challenges we face is we all know we should. 00:16:33.623 --> 00:16:36.994 But finding the time, making it easy is hard. 00:16:36.994 --> 00:16:43.432 And so with almost every single scripture memory verse that we've done as a church, we have a song attached to it. 00:16:43.432 --> 00:16:55.912 We've made it super easy, in fact, by just playing the songs, play the songs for a few minutes a day, by the end of the year, you'll have 12 new verses memorized in a year. 00:16:55.912 --> 00:17:01.017 And I think if we went around and asked How many versus did I memorize last year, it probably wouldn't be 12. 00:17:01.017 --> 00:17:08.724 For most of us, 12 may not sound like a lot, but look, that's a step forward of just hiding some of God's word in our heart. 00:17:08.724 --> 00:17:12.394 Those verses are going to come up throughout what we do in the church. 00:17:12.394 --> 00:17:13.529 I'm going to bring them up. 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:15.365 I bring them up in the mid-week update. 00:17:15.365 --> 00:17:16.266 I talk about them there. 00:17:16.266 --> 00:17:19.669 That's another way for you to just continue to grow throughout the week. 00:17:19.669 --> 00:17:21.872 Make sure you're signed up for the mid-week update. 00:17:21.872 --> 00:17:25.575 You'll see that scripture memory verse there. 00:17:25.642 --> 00:17:29.913 Here's another thing, though, about learning scripture through song. 00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:31.580 How many times have you memorized a verse? 00:17:31.580 --> 00:17:37.953 You've got it nailed, and then someone asks you do it next week and you have no idea what it is. 00:17:37.953 --> 00:17:44.160 You know, I remember in seminary we had this class where they were preparing you for the oral exam, which is high pressure. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:49.566 They can ask you anything for 30 minutes straight, and it's just rapid fire questions about theology. 00:17:49.566 --> 00:17:54.637 And to prepare for that, they're asking us rapid fire questions, creating this real intense environment and the guys asking questions. 00:17:54.637 --> 00:17:55.939 Nobody can answer them. 00:17:55.939 --> 00:17:57.539 We're all just scared to our wits. 00:17:57.539 --> 00:17:59.276 And finally he goes, okay, who can quote John 00:17:59.276 --> 00:18:03.078 16? And all of us are like, I don't even was that in the Bible? 00:18:03.078 --> 00:18:05.515 You know, we're all just frozen. 00:18:05.515 --> 00:18:06.215 Can't even remember 00:18:06.215 --> 00:18:08.218 16 In that moment. 00:18:08.218 --> 00:18:10.153 Look, that happens. 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:16.925 But when you memorize a song, scripture put to song, you'll never forget it. 00:18:16.925 --> 00:18:19.296 In fact, the worse the song is, the better. 00:18:19.296 --> 00:18:22.332 Right? The more likely you are to remember it. 00:18:22.332 --> 00:18:23.465 So we've tried to make it easy. 00:18:23.465 --> 00:18:24.567 That's on that same page. 00:18:24.567 --> 00:18:26.568 I think you already showed the picture of that. 00:18:26.568 --> 00:18:27.936 We list all those out. 00:18:27.936 --> 00:18:30.740 The picture he showed was from last last year's verses. 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:36.078 We're slowly rebuilding that page for the coming year, memorize Scripture together, get the mid-week update. 00:18:36.078 --> 00:18:41.984 And then lastly, let me make a comment about the sermons in terms of how you can continue to be in God's word. 00:18:41.984 --> 00:18:48.290 You know, we've been working through the Book of John and we've been working through it in small segments on purpose. 00:18:48.290 --> 00:18:50.894 There's a there's a reason behind that. 00:18:50.894 --> 00:19:01.371 That allows you, when you go home Sunday afternoon to just throughout the week, continue to read over that passage. 00:19:01.371 --> 00:19:04.441 You might just pick one or two days during the week. 00:19:04.441 --> 00:19:05.541 Let's say we just studied 00:19:05.541 --> 00:19:09.645 1-11, 12- in that range. 00:19:09.746 --> 00:19:15.218 If you read that passage a couple of more times that week, you're going to see some more insights you didn't see. 00:19:15.218 --> 00:19:21.990 You're going to absorb a little more from that and that makes it easy for you to just continue to go deep in God's word. 00:19:21.990 --> 00:19:36.471 I think a number of us, when by the time we get through the Book of John, you're going to have learned a lot about the Gospels, about Jesus's life, because you've meditated more and you've spent more time in it. 00:19:36.573 --> 00:19:36.838 All right. 00:19:36.838 --> 00:19:42.679 Those are some of the practical things we do as a church to try to help you get into God's word. 00:19:42.679 --> 00:19:47.182 Now, I'm going to talk a little bit about the science of building a habit just for a moment. 00:19:47.182 --> 00:19:48.084 There's a great book. 00:19:48.084 --> 00:19:51.520 I'd recommend that I'm pulling some of this from called Atomic Habits. 00:19:51.520 --> 00:19:52.588 Have any of you heard of that book? 00:19:52.588 --> 00:19:55.391 It's pretty popular right now. 00:19:55.391 --> 00:19:56.893 This is written by a guy named James Clear. 00:19:56.893 --> 00:19:57.759 It's not a Christian book. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:00.762 It's just on how do you, anybody, build new habits? 00:20:00.762 --> 00:20:08.805 Apart from many of the Christian books I've read over the last five years, that's been probably one of the more influential books in my life and in the life of a lot of other people I know. 00:20:08.805 --> 00:20:12.375 I've probably read it four or five times, been in different discussion groups. 00:20:12.375 --> 00:20:24.886 And one of the things he talks about is that when you want to start a new habit, so if you've not been regularly in God's Word, if you want to build a new habit, there's a few key things you can do to make it easy to start the habit. 00:20:24.886 --> 00:20:36.865 Now the focus here is on starting the habit, that’s what you want to do, you want to focus on starting the habit. A lot of times when I want to start a new habit, I'm also focused on the end game. 00:20:36.965 --> 00:20:38.601 Yeah, I've never read the Bible before. 00:20:38.601 --> 00:20:41.336 I want to read the whole Bible in the coming year. 00:20:41.336 --> 00:20:42.337 That can be daunting. 00:20:42.337 --> 00:20:43.506 That can be overwhelming. 00:20:43.506 --> 00:20:45.575 Instead, let's focus on just getting the habit started. 00:20:45.575 --> 00:20:48.678 So here's some practical ways to start a new habit. 00:20:48.678 --> 00:20:52.949 Of course, my hope is that you apply that to reading God's Word regularly. 00:20:52.949 --> 00:20:54.817 But here's the first one. 00:20:54.884 --> 00:21:12.067 If you want to start a new habit, start by attaching it to an existing habit connected to something you already do regularly without even thinking. Like, so for instance, you might say, When I turn on the coffee pot, I'm going to read a verse of the Bible. 00:21:12.067 --> 00:21:24.614 I might lay my Bible reading plan right there, right next to the coffee pot, might put my coffee mug right on top of it or it on top of my coffee mug, or when I brush my teeth and I know you do, right? 00:21:24.614 --> 00:21:25.981 I'm sure you do. 00:21:25.981 --> 00:21:29.285 When I brush my teeth, I'm going to read a verse of the Bible. 00:21:29.285 --> 00:21:35.590 You attach it to something that you already do without fail and connected to it. 00:21:35.590 --> 00:21:38.894 That makes it easier to get over the emotional hurdle of starting a new habit. 00:21:38.894 --> 00:21:40.195 So that's one. 00:21:40.195 --> 00:21:43.665 The second habit- way to start a new habit to make it easy. 00:21:43.665 --> 00:21:44.467 Look at this next one. 00:21:44.467 --> 00:21:46.602 Flash the next one up on the screen. 00:21:46.669 --> 00:21:50.239 Make it super easy to begin with. 00:21:50.338 --> 00:21:58.713 So don't try to start a new habit, and if you never work out, I'm going to start into this three hour a day workout program tomorrow. 00:21:58.713 --> 00:22:00.750 No, no. 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:05.121 Make it so easy to start with that you can't not do it. 00:22:05.121 --> 00:22:09.858 So instead of I never read the Bible, let me read the whole Bible next week. 00:22:09.892 --> 00:22:12.862 No, what can I do that seems like I can't not do it? 00:22:12.862 --> 00:22:14.195 It's so simple. 00:22:14.195 --> 00:22:16.766 Can I read a chapter of the Bible? 00:22:16.766 --> 00:22:17.298 I don't know. 00:22:17.298 --> 00:22:21.336 That seems like a lot too. What about half a chapter? 00:22:21.336 --> 00:22:22.104 Maybe. 00:22:22.104 --> 00:22:23.105 What about one verse? 00:22:23.105 --> 00:22:25.207 Can you read one verse a day? 00:22:25.207 --> 00:22:26.275 I can't not do that. 00:22:26.275 --> 00:22:28.510 That's ten, 15 seconds. Of course. 00:22:28.510 --> 00:22:29.979 Make it. 00:22:30.046 --> 00:22:34.416 When you're trying to start a new habit, make it so easy that you can't not do it. 00:22:34.416 --> 00:22:37.920 Because the goal is to start the habit. 00:22:37.987 --> 00:22:38.820 Here's an example of that. 00:22:38.820 --> 00:22:43.893 I read the story in that book of a guy who needed to lose 100 lbs. 00:22:43.959 --> 00:22:48.596 He had let himself go, was in a bad state, and he knew to do that. 00:22:48.596 --> 00:22:53.736 Part of the issue for me is I need to exercise, I need to get into the gym. 00:22:53.736 --> 00:22:58.207 So he he just made it his goal here was his goal for one month. 00:22:58.473 --> 00:23:02.944 My goal is just to arrive at the gym every day. 00:23:02.944 --> 00:23:05.181 And so he went to the gym that first week. 00:23:05.181 --> 00:23:12.387 He walked in, set a timer on his watch for 5 minutes, and when it went off, he left. 00:23:12.387 --> 00:23:16.458 That whole first week, didn't do a thing sit there scrolling through his phone. 00:23:16.458 --> 00:23:20.095 But I'm at the gym, I’ve developed that habit of being at the gym. 00:23:20.095 --> 00:23:23.999 Second week, same thing, five minute timer. Done. I'm out. 00:23:23.999 --> 00:23:27.236 I put in my time here at the gym today. 00:23:27.336 --> 00:23:32.974 The third week he goes in, sets his timer, and he goes, You know what? 00:23:32.974 --> 00:23:33.709 I'm already here. 00:23:33.709 --> 00:23:35.978 I might as well do something. 00:23:35.978 --> 00:23:40.648 And he starts doing a little bit exercise, starts doing a little more. 00:23:40.648 --> 00:23:47.522 Few people get to know him, show him what to do, and a year later, he had lost all 100 lbs. 00:23:47.588 --> 00:23:54.762 Now, when he was trying to start that habit, it seems silly to say I just went in there, sat down and left. 00:23:54.829 --> 00:23:59.468 But the goal was to develop the habit of showing up to the gym regularly and that's what he was doing. 00:23:59.468 --> 00:24:01.903 He made it easy to start with. 00:24:01.903 --> 00:24:08.509 Of course you don't want to stay there a year from now, just showing up for 5 minutes and leaving, but you want to get that habit going. 00:24:08.509 --> 00:24:09.877 That's one of the methods of doing that. 00:24:09.877 --> 00:24:11.713 Make it easy to begin with. 00:24:11.713 --> 00:24:12.114 All right. 00:24:12.114 --> 00:24:20.255 Now, the third way, practical tip for starting a new habit and again, I hope we're applying this to the reading and study of God's word. 00:24:20.255 --> 00:24:21.789 And this applies to a lot of different areas. 00:24:21.789 --> 00:24:24.358 Determine your next physical action to take. 00:24:24.358 --> 00:24:28.630 You can apply this whether it's a new habit or just something hard you need to tackle. 00:24:28.630 --> 00:24:31.767 Don't leave it this big, vague thing. 00:24:31.866 --> 00:24:34.303 I need to be a better person. 00:24:34.303 --> 00:24:36.204 Well, what does that mean? 00:24:36.204 --> 00:24:42.743 What's the next physical action you need to take if it's my car isn't running right? 00:24:42.845 --> 00:24:46.315 I don't say I need to get my car fixed. 00:24:46.414 --> 00:24:50.018 First If I'm new to the area and don't know where to go, I need to find a mechanic. 00:24:50.018 --> 00:24:51.019 Well, how do I do that? 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:52.019 Well, I need to call someone. 00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:53.121 Well, who do I call? 00:24:53.121 --> 00:24:54.756 Call Bill. Do you have his number? 00:24:54.756 --> 00:24:56.525 No. Call Steve and get Bill's number. 00:24:56.525 --> 00:24:59.228 That's my next physical action. 00:24:59.228 --> 00:25:00.194 Call Bill. 00:25:00.194 --> 00:25:05.767 Get Steve's number so I can either way, so I can ask him for a recommendation. 00:25:06.034 --> 00:25:15.576 What makes it even better is if you then write it down and tell someone tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., I'm going to call Steve and ask him for Bill's number. 00:25:15.576 --> 00:25:16.444 Honey, did you hear that? 00:25:16.444 --> 00:25:19.280 That's what I'm going to do tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.. 00:25:19.280 --> 00:25:21.583 I'm going to do it and you lock it in. 00:25:21.583 --> 00:25:27.122 But you've made it one super simple step clear next physical action to take. 00:25:27.122 --> 00:25:30.826 There's a lot of power in that in terms of getting a new habit started. 00:25:30.826 --> 00:25:41.636 So reading God's word, being in God's word, hearing God's word, that's that first part of letter H that we're unpacking here in terms of building new habits for the coming year. 00:25:41.636 --> 00:25:51.380 And if there's one thing you do this year, get in God's word, let it transform your mind so that in fact, it says in verse two, you may discern what is the will of God. 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:59.287 If you want to know God's will for your life in 2024, let His Word transform and renew your mind. 00:25:59.354 --> 00:26:01.655 So that's the first half of letter H. 00:26:01.655 --> 00:26:24.011 Now let's look at the second half, and this is in verse three of Romans 12, verse three For by the grace given to me, I say to every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 00:26:24.011 --> 00:26:28.316 So first half of letter H, hear the Word of God. 00:26:28.316 --> 00:26:32.953 Second half develop a heart of humility. 00:26:33.020 --> 00:26:40.929 In 2024, one of the spiritual habits we want to develop is a heart of humility, a heart of humility. 00:26:40.929 --> 00:26:42.596 And how do we do that? 00:26:42.596 --> 00:26:45.166 How do you develop a heart of humility? 00:26:45.166 --> 00:26:47.769 That's not always easy. 00:26:47.836 --> 00:26:57.546 It says here not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but also don't think of yourself in contrast to that more lowly than you ought. 00:26:57.546 --> 00:27:00.648 The contrast to that is not to then think you're the worst. 00:27:00.648 --> 00:27:09.057 If you thought you were the best when you weren't, we don't ...No instead, what it says is think with sober judgment is the word that’s used, sober judgment. 00:27:09.057 --> 00:27:12.059 I love the use of that word. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.797 In fact, my father in law, he calls alcohol liquid courage. 00:27:15.797 --> 00:27:23.438 You ever heard that? Meaning for some makes him think maybe you could do a little better than you really can? 00:27:23.438 --> 00:27:25.073 You take on a little more than you really should? 00:27:25.073 --> 00:27:28.676 In fact, you've probably seen those memes, Hold my beer. Right? 00:27:28.676 --> 00:27:32.079 That's the famous last words for someone who goes, Watch me do this. 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.115 Watch me take this on. 00:27:34.115 --> 00:27:46.394 Instead of overestimating, think with sober or sound judgment, clear thinking, thinking rightly about the moment. 00:27:46.461 --> 00:27:48.829 That's where humility starts. 00:27:48.829 --> 00:27:54.201 I have to assess rightly where I am with accurate thinking. 00:27:54.201 --> 00:27:56.503 That's hard to do. 00:27:56.503 --> 00:27:58.740 I don't know about you, but I don't always like to do that. 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:02.176 Sometimes I'd rather just live in oblivion. 00:28:02.277 --> 00:28:16.423 As a kid I loved, I loved, I lived for the summer as a little kid when I could just kick off my shoes and run all summer through the cold, cool grass and just run and play and run and run and run. 00:28:16.423 --> 00:28:21.628 And I thought, because I love to run so much, I thought I was fast. 00:28:21.796 --> 00:28:25.666 That was a little too much laughter. 00:28:25.732 --> 00:28:27.769 And so we did a track meet here at church. 00:28:27.769 --> 00:28:31.105 We used to have our royal ambassadors for Christ and they would do these track meets. 00:28:31.105 --> 00:28:36.344 And the first one I go to, I'm thinking, I'm going to murder everyone here, destroy... 00:28:36.411 --> 00:28:38.779 dead last by a long shot. 00:28:38.779 --> 00:28:40.448 Not even close. 00:28:40.448 --> 00:28:41.583 It must have been a fluke. 00:28:41.583 --> 00:28:42.416 Must have been my shoes. 00:28:42.416 --> 00:28:45.118 Next track meet, same thing. 00:28:45.118 --> 00:28:47.454 That's humbling- that hurts. 00:28:47.454 --> 00:28:49.656 I had to deal with reality. 00:28:49.656 --> 00:28:51.392 I thought I was fast. 00:28:51.392 --> 00:28:54.295 I thought of myself more highly than I ought. 00:28:54.295 --> 00:28:59.166 Now, the contrast to that is not to then think I'm the worst person on earth. 00:28:59.166 --> 00:29:00.701 No, you're just not as fast as you thought. 00:29:00.701 --> 00:29:06.641 You got to deal with reality to move towards humility. 00:29:06.708 --> 00:29:23.156 Another challenge, though, with developing a heart of humility, coming back to that idea of being formed by our age, it is not a positive attribute to be called a humble person in our world in general. 00:29:23.156 --> 00:29:32.000 I remember reading Winston Churchill talk about a man in Parliament, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, during World War Two, and he he described him this way. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.403 He said he's a humble man with much to be humble about. 00:29:36.403 --> 00:29:39.707 That wasn't a compliment, right? 00:29:39.773 --> 00:29:44.112 We don't normally say, he's a very humble person. 00:29:44.112 --> 00:29:45.913 You might. 00:29:45.913 --> 00:29:52.252 But in our age it's all about self-promotion, not humility. 00:29:52.252 --> 00:29:58.025 You know, it used to be that the president, presidential candidates, wouldn't actually go around campaigning for themselves. 00:29:58.025 --> 00:29:59.359 They would let other people do that. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:04.832 It was considered inappropriate for you to go around self-promoting. 00:30:04.898 --> 00:30:07.268 That's not the case anymore. 00:30:07.268 --> 00:30:13.775 The game is all about whichever side you pick, any politician at all, part of the game. 00:30:13.775 --> 00:30:15.009 Here's how great I am. 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:18.246 Here's why you should depend on me. 00:30:18.311 --> 00:30:20.647 It's a different age. 00:30:20.647 --> 00:30:24.652 How do we move towards a heart of humility? 00:30:24.652 --> 00:30:31.192 How do we develop a heart that honors Christ and all we do? 00:30:31.291 --> 00:30:43.538 It says here, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think with sober judgment each according to the measure of faith given to him. 00:30:43.538 --> 00:30:45.205 How do we develop sober judgment? 00:30:45.205 --> 00:30:50.944 How do you begin to think about yourself rightly in the moment? 00:30:50.944 --> 00:30:59.586 Going back to that book, Atomic Habits, he uses this phrase that we should over time develop what are called identity based habits. 00:30:59.686 --> 00:31:01.087 And this is a helpful phrase. 00:31:01.087 --> 00:31:07.595 It takes a little bit to get our mind around, but identity based habits versus activity based. 00:31:07.595 --> 00:31:09.163 Let me explain a couple of things. 00:31:09.163 --> 00:31:10.798 We've all done this. 00:31:10.798 --> 00:31:18.439 You use statements about yourself that talk about your very core identity, even when you're just only talking about an activity. 00:31:18.439 --> 00:31:21.075 Like, for instance, I'll run into people. 00:31:21.075 --> 00:31:24.912 And by the way, I've even done it this morning of forgetting someone's name. 00:31:24.912 --> 00:31:26.012 It happens. 00:31:26.012 --> 00:31:29.950 But the more people you meet, the more names you'll forget. 00:31:30.017 --> 00:31:35.423 But I'll run into someone and here's the phrase. They'll say, I'm not good at names. 00:31:35.423 --> 00:31:37.258 I'm not good at remembering names. 00:31:37.258 --> 00:31:38.425 Who said that? Here. Come on. 00:31:38.425 --> 00:31:40.260 We can own up to it. Right? 00:31:40.260 --> 00:31:41.761 Many of us have said it at times. 00:31:41.761 --> 00:31:42.663 Do you hear that? That's. 00:31:42.663 --> 00:31:44.565 That's an identity statement. 00:31:44.565 --> 00:31:46.567 That's who I am. 00:31:46.567 --> 00:31:50.738 I'm no good at names versus you know what? 00:31:50.738 --> 00:31:53.673 I just forgot this person's name in the moment. 00:31:53.673 --> 00:31:57.478 You know, I could have just said I didn't remember their name. 00:31:57.478 --> 00:32:03.683 Now, instead of making an identity statement about who I am at at my core. 00:32:03.784 --> 00:32:05.719 Now, that's one example. 00:32:05.719 --> 00:32:13.661 And when we come to develop an identity based statement, going back to the example of a guy who just showed up at the gym every day, here's the phrase he began to say about himself. 00:32:13.661 --> 00:32:17.765 I'm the kind of person who never misses a day at the gym. 00:32:17.832 --> 00:32:19.465 That's who I am. 00:32:19.465 --> 00:32:23.369 That's part of my core, my character. 00:32:23.436 --> 00:32:35.982 And so when it comes to developing a heart of humility, we've got to be reshaping our identity, the way we see ourselves, with sober judgment, not too highly than we ought, but with sober judgment. 00:32:35.982 --> 00:32:41.755 Here's who I am and let me give you an example of ways I've done that in my own life. 00:32:41.755 --> 00:32:47.894 There's seasons when I really struggled with very negative self-talk. 00:32:47.961 --> 00:32:50.798 My default tape would be when I did something wrong. 00:32:50.798 --> 00:32:53.334 What a moron you are. 00:32:53.334 --> 00:32:54.835 What an idiot. 00:32:54.835 --> 00:32:56.836 How stupid could you be? 00:32:56.836 --> 00:32:59.740 Have you ever done anything right in your life? 00:32:59.740 --> 00:33:03.210 That's the immediate Thank you for no amens, by the way. 00:33:03.210 --> 00:33:05.645 I appreciate that. 00:33:05.645 --> 00:33:07.480 I'm sure if I ask for a show of hands, I won't. 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:08.449 There's some of you who would go. 00:33:08.449 --> 00:33:12.452 You know what? Yeah, I've talked to myself that way too. 00:33:12.452 --> 00:33:16.856 Do you talk to yourself worse than your worst enemy would? 00:33:16.957 --> 00:33:19.259 How dumb can you be? 00:33:19.259 --> 00:33:25.298 Now we've got to reshape that identity, that thinking that is not true of you. 00:33:25.298 --> 00:33:27.233 The response to that is to not go. 00:33:27.233 --> 00:33:29.336 I'm perfect, all right? 00:33:29.336 --> 00:33:32.605 I can never do anything wrong. 00:33:32.705 --> 00:33:38.945 We don't overreact to that more highly than I ought, I think, with sober, accurate judgment. 00:33:38.945 --> 00:33:41.548 So instead of that, what an idiot. 00:33:41.548 --> 00:33:42.382 What a moron. 00:33:42.382 --> 00:33:44.151 You never do anything right. 00:33:44.151 --> 00:33:46.854 Here's where it goes. 00:33:46.854 --> 00:33:48.654 Again, it's not, I'm perfect. 00:33:48.654 --> 00:33:49.757 I never do anything wrong. 00:33:49.757 --> 00:33:50.824 Here's where it is. 00:33:50.824 --> 00:34:02.368 It's more along the lines of I'm someone who continues to grow and improve, even in the midst of challenges, depending on Christ through that. 00:34:02.435 --> 00:34:04.770 You see the difference there? 00:34:04.770 --> 00:34:06.440 It acknowledges that you make mistakes. 00:34:06.440 --> 00:34:10.277 You don't pretend that you mess up, that you don't, or whatever. 00:34:10.277 --> 00:34:12.445 You know you're not perfect. 00:34:12.445 --> 00:34:18.885 But I am someone, when challenges come, I'm going to continue to grow. 00:34:18.885 --> 00:34:32.099 I'm going to continue to get better dependent on Christ through that and where that takes us is that shapes your identity and ultimately helps you grow in a heart of humility. 00:34:32.164 --> 00:34:39.005 All of this comes back to the reality that for that to happen, you've got to be in God's Word. 00:34:39.005 --> 00:34:52.119 That's the only place where you're going to find sound judgment, sober truth, everlasting principles, especially in our crazy, crazy world where who knows what is right or wrong, and it's going to change next week. 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:56.222 An absolute truth in our culture today will be changed the next week. 00:34:56.222 --> 00:35:02.695 In fact, you will be vilified for believing what you believed last week, a month ago, two months ago. 00:35:02.695 --> 00:35:04.898 It's like that. 00:35:04.898 --> 00:35:10.137 I don't know about you, but I desperately want an eternal truth to stand on in the midst of that madness. 00:35:10.137 --> 00:35:13.306 That's why we get in God's Word. 00:35:13.407 --> 00:35:15.842 That's what will change you. 00:35:15.842 --> 00:35:17.309 The goal of developing these habits. 00:35:17.309 --> 00:35:18.911 I've given you these tips and tricks. 00:35:18.911 --> 00:35:27.621 The goal here is not just so that you'll know more of God's Word so that you can appear as someone who knows God's Word, or that you can appear as a humble person. 00:35:27.621 --> 00:35:37.630 No, the goal of all of that is to know Christ, is to know Him personally, is to know His love for you day in and day out. 00:35:37.630 --> 00:35:40.634 And he loves you so much. 00:35:40.666 --> 00:35:45.472 And there's so many days where we don't realize that. 00:35:45.472 --> 00:35:46.873 He loves you. 00:35:46.873 --> 00:35:50.643 He loves you more than anyone else has ever known or loved you. 00:35:50.643 --> 00:35:55.114 He loves you no matter what you do, He loves you. 00:35:55.114 --> 00:35:58.451 We need to know his love. 00:35:58.518 --> 00:36:01.487 That's why we look to be in his word. 00:36:01.487 --> 00:36:05.057 Develop a heart of humility. 00:36:05.157 --> 00:36:06.960 So our memory verse 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:10.530 10. 00:36:10.597 --> 00:36:15.467 He who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much. 00:36:15.467 --> 00:36:19.438 You see the connection between that verse and our series on habits? 00:36:19.438 --> 00:36:23.108 One who is faithful with little will also be faithful with much. 00:36:23.108 --> 00:36:30.215 Maybe I can't change my whole life in a moment, but I can focus on this one thing right now. 00:36:30.282 --> 00:36:32.251 I had an uncle. 00:36:32.251 --> 00:36:40.059 In fact, he was my great, great, great uncle Emory Reese, you can show the picture of him and his wife, Deborah. 00:36:40.059 --> 00:36:45.297 They were missionaries to Africa in western Kenya, 1900-1925. 00:36:45.297 --> 00:37:03.215 They translated-- amazing couple-- all that they did in this area, translated the New Testament into this local tribal language, brought the first printing press to the area, developed the language learning curriculum for the tribe in that area, built the first brick factory. 00:37:03.215 --> 00:37:08.320 They developed the finest bricks in the area, very active people serving. 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:16.596 And by the way, this was a time when when you went overseas for missions, it's a little bit cliche, but people pack their stuff in their coffin. 00:37:16.596 --> 00:37:18.664 We're not coming back. 00:37:18.664 --> 00:37:19.498 They did come back. 00:37:19.498 --> 00:37:28.775 But most people, they buried two or three children there. No guarantees that you'd even make it there. 00:37:28.775 --> 00:37:30.543 And he's there. 00:37:30.543 --> 00:37:34.079 I've got a collection of letters between him and family members back. 00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:37.449 They were lived in Illinois. 00:37:37.516 --> 00:37:39.452 He's there struggling, as you can imagine. 00:37:39.452 --> 00:37:42.088 You're going to have ups and downs. 00:37:42.088 --> 00:37:47.827 And he writes his dad asked him for advice, asked him for wisdom. 00:37:47.927 --> 00:37:49.027 Am I making a difference? 00:37:49.027 --> 00:37:52.030 Is this what God has me to do? 00:37:52.065 --> 00:37:54.567 And he writes him this one simple line 00:37:54.567 --> 00:37:57.402 10. 00:37:57.402 --> 00:37:59.438 Here's what he says to his son overseas. 00:37:59.438 --> 00:38:01.206 Serving the Lord, giving his life to missions. 00:38:01.206 --> 00:38:03.208 Doesn't know if we'll ever see him again. 00:38:03.208 --> 00:38:04.710 Here's what he says. 00:38:04.710 --> 00:38:06.778 Do the littles. 00:38:06.778 --> 00:38:12.318 Do them well and watch them multiply in your hands. 00:38:12.418 --> 00:38:14.152 Habits. 00:38:14.152 --> 00:38:18.791 Small change producing big results over time. 00:38:18.791 --> 00:38:19.291 Let's pray.