WEBVTT 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.120 Good morning. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.559 Happy Sunday. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:36.079 I'm getting to the age where I have to send myself messages to remind me of things, and it's really sad. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.159 All the time, Pat said, don't you remember with blah blah blah. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:43.920 Really? 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:45.520 I said, Well, did I do good? 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:46.719 Pretty good. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.240 I can't remember nothing. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:54.880 So I have to write my song pages down. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.240 Page uh four ninety three. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:38.560 Going out to eat with some friends, and I was talking about getting older and always clearing my throat and everything clogs up and I can't sing any more and stuff. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.719 I didn't think I was anywhere near a computer or anything. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:50.000 This morning the first thing popped up on the computer was this stuff I need to take. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.200 That will uh get rid of all that. 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.040 It's amazing what they're listening to. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:04:20.240 Four ninety-three, oh me to his dream, all me to his name, all me to his name, heart with the bird, all me to his name. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:07:24.480 Jesus Lake was not so in a blessing, you are my home, with a full danger, with a hand that you feel like you are Jesus Lush, Jesus Lamb, Word Jesus Lamb for Annecessary Prayer. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.079 Does anybody have anything to meet you? 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:30.000 Patricia? 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.319 Um mom. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.279 Mom um wrecked Thirsty. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:36.720 Well, shall I say wrecked? 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:40.959 She hit a huge bowler at the office and pulled her car. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:47.120 And she is bruised and pretty pretty beat up and her pride's a little hurt. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:49.759 And she only lose her independence. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:51.920 So we just pray for her. 00:07:52.399 --> 00:08:00.399 And we had a friend um that we've known for a long time that uh he committed suicide last week. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.959 And we have to go to his funeral today. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:14.879 So if you can remember his family, and that situation is not good at all, and just pray for that precious family and what they're having to go through in the days ahead. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.120 Remember Miss Hunter and Jerry in their prayers. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:23.120 Miss Hunter's not doing good. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:44.000 Um Mom has me to pray for Lisa. 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:49.279 Is taking care of her mother that has Alzheimer's. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:09:06.879 Her husband is uh, which is Lisa's daddy, just a very hard man and he's not easy to deal with, and um he's not in his right mind, but Lisa sort of needs him there to help make sure that Bray Louie was okay for the night, but it's been very hard. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:22.159 Some of the things that he said to her to Lisa have really affected her love for him and that situation, and it's been a lot of stress on Chris having to watch his wife text in a verbal abuse from a man that's supposed to be her father. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.279 So just trade from that situation, too. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:33.679 If you will, uh bow your heads. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:43.919 Father, we come to you again this morning uh first and foremost to give you thanks for the many, many things that you do for us, Lord, each and every day. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:10:02.480 And uh also we'd like to bring our heartaches and our burdens and our problems to you, knowing that um to bring them to you means that uh we are definitely bringing them to the right place to have them taken care of, Lord. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:22.080 And we'd like to ask that you uh ease some of our minds and some of our uh ill feelings towards others sometimes, Lord, and try to smooth things up for us and just ease the uh the problems of our day-to-day situations. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:29.200 Um sometimes they're not as not the way that we uh would like for them to be. 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:39.840 We know that uh prayer is the best way to get them resolved and have them taken care of by you. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:49.759 And also we'd like to thank you for our most precious present ever, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for whom we pray. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:50.639 Amen. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:15.120 And now it's uh time for Thanksgiving prayer. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:18.080 Does anybody have anything they want to bring to our attention? 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:21.600 Yep, Pat. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:30.320 I'm as thankful that Mama wasn't hurting worse than she was, and that it didn't happen when she was on the rope somewhere that she cared hurt so much. 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:31.039 Yep, yeah. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:32.399 Just very thankful for that. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.600 I think God has been precious in that. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:36.000 Yeah. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:38.639 Yeah, it's hard to watch. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:51.200 I know uh, you know, you you I guess uh I've seen it with a few people that care about, you know, you don't want to it's like you give up at driving, and that's kind of like the independence. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:59.039 Yeah, it's yeah, it's that's rough, but uh which I know people my age shouldn't be driving. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.440 Anybody else got anything we want to bring to our attention? 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.000 Yep, Jim. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:08.240 Amen. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:11.039 Yes. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:12.720 Yep, Maryland. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:14.559 Thank God for his service. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.600 Certainly, certainly. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:18.559 Yeah. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.879 We're blessed more than we more than we deserve in this country. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:24.080 It's amazing. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:34.480 The things that uh that you know, it's obvious that we live in the the most blessed, wealthiest nation on the planet. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:42.720 I hate to see so many people just take, you know, just it's like they just don't care. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:50.240 They still feel like they're entitled to something, but they've never been in a ditch or in a swamp with somebody shooting at them, you know. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:13:06.639 Um I don't know, and I'm I don't I I'm I'll be the first to tell you I'm a political person because I think that uh that there is a right and a wrong, and I feel certain of that. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:18.480 And I know a lot of people's squealing about the gas being a little bit expensive, but I can't help but think when I pray about that, all my brothers and sisters in Iran and screaming, thanking Jesus. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:31.600 You know, for the first time in 30-some years, that there's actually a chance that uh they may not be gunned down or killed just because they speak the name Jesus. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:34.480 Anybody else? 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:35.759 Yep, Keith. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:46.879 Uh Pat had uh doctors put in this week and had some testing done, and uh, I think for the most part it it came back uh abnormal, but she's okay. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:47.759 Yeah. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.840 So just regular old path then. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.440 Yeah, just regular old pat. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:54.720 She changed man. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.159 Yeah, I think you know, was pretty good. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.720 Some things were high, but they weren't worried about. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.600 Yeah, it's just like if one thing's high, but the other thing's not, I'm supposed to be okay. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:06.799 So Yeah. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:16.720 Well, I've come to the under under understanding, I mean, throughout my trips, that regardless whether you feel good or not, there's something wrong that you need a pill for. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:18.480 No matter what. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.320 And it just so happens they have a pill. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.240 Yeah, and they've got another test. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:23.679 Right, right. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.679 Yeah, and if you're lucky, your insurance might pay for part of it. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:28.159 Yeah. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:29.840 Yeah. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:31.759 So anything else? 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.200 Well, let's bow our heads. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:42.480 Father God, again, we come to you just so grateful, so thankful for the many blessings that you pour out on us each and every day. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:51.519 And we're just an example of the generations of goodness and blessings that you have poured out on this country. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:15:10.320 And this this day, Father, we thank you for each and every person who has stood up to the challenge to defend what you've given us, to go overseas somewhere in some foreign world, and and just be brave enough to fight for the goodness and the freedoms that you've given us. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:13.120 And we just thank you so very much for each and every one. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:19.519 And pray that you would be with those who are actively in harm's way and just keep them safe. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:26.000 We just thank you so much, Father, for all the the wonderful blessings that you give us each and every day here. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:39.039 Uh it's just amazing how we look back over just the last 50 years and how you've increased knowledge in so many different areas and health care and just everything else. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.120 And we're just so thankful for it, Father. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.039 Again, we thank you for this rain. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:46.399 We thank you for the opportunity to come together as a family. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:50.399 As a church family, we pray that you be with us to bless us this day. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:52.720 Bless those that we care about, Father. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:57.279 And in all things, help us to reflect Jesus each and every day. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:01.840 Help us to be the light of the gospel that He's called us to be. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:03.919 And we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:04.799 Amen. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.840 And we'll have Jeannie. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:42.240 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:50.879 If anyone has complained against another, complain against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:03.919 But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your heart, to which also you're called, in one body, and be thankful. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:27.759 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and knowledgeing one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord, and whatever you do in words or deeds, do and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:29.920 Have church. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:55.519 But if when steps come up, if I don't have them off, I tend to face plant, so I'm oh goodness. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:04.720 Um, there was a couple of things I wanted to hit on today, and we've actually already talked about a couple of those, um, being Memorial Day. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:17.279 And um it's a day that we want to remember those that have um fulfilled that scripture, John 15, 13, and laying down their life for the brothers. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:32.799 Um if we don't have anybody in our immediate family, I think some of us, all of us, have someone that we know in our family that paid that ultimate price, that died on the battlefield uh for our liberties, for our freedoms here. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:38.880 Um, and then Richard spoke about Pentecost, and that's one of the things I wanted to talk about today. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.519 Um, it's the holy day, one of the feast days, and one of the most important feast days, actually. 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:47.119 And I know we're gonna speak on this more next week. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:53.680 Uh, but what I wanted to share with you today is better than what I can say about it or what I could write. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.000 And this is a young lady that I follow a lot. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:03.119 Her blog, her name is well, she goes by the farmer girl, and I'm gonna read you what she wrote about this. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.640 It's sort of just sat in the stage here. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:13.359 It says Jerusalem is already awake long before sunrise fully breaks over the horizon. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:29.599 The city swells during Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks, one of the great feasts commanded by God's generation earlier through Moses, and people have profound, I'm sorry, people have poured it from all over the known, poured in from all over the known world. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:48.559 The streets feel too narrow for the crowds pressing through them, and Roman soldiers stand watch from their stations while merchants shout over one another, trying to sell bread, oil, wine, lamb's cloth, I'm sorry, lamb's cloth, spices, and anything to a traveler that they might need. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:56.559 Um, sandals scrape against the stones that are polished smooth by centuries of other footsteps that have come and gone. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:07.759 Uh smoke rises from the cooking fires, and it mingles with the smell of animals and sweat and dust and incense and fresh bread bacon somewhere nearby. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.200 And languages overlap everywhere in turn. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:22.799 You've got the Greek, the Aramic, the Latin, the Egyptians, voices from places all over the world, and they feel Galilee like we've never seen in our lifetime. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.039 And Jerusalem feels alive. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:30.240 It's restless, it's loud, and it's heavy with anticipation. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.880 We've got to think about where this is happening at what we're reading here in Acts. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:45.200 Um happened just a few weeks after Christ had been crucified and raised, and actually ascended into heaven. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:52.319 And somewhere in the middle of all that noise and that movement come together in one place are the followers of Jesus. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:21:01.759 Maybe they're gathered in an upper room tucked somewhere in the crowded city streets, and the windows cracked open just enough for the morning air to move through. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:08.079 Maybe they're near the temple courts themselves among the gathering crowds around arriving to worship. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.680 Scripture doesn't fully tell us exactly where. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:18.400 But wherever they are, they're waiting together, exactly how Jesus told them to do. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:27.359 And imagine what they must be waiting for and how they had felt like at this point, after all they've already witnessed. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:36.480 Not peaceful, polishing, waiting like people normally do in the paintings that we've seen, but real waiting. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:46.400 The kind where your mind keeps replaying everything you've just witnessed over the last past several weeks until it barely feels real anymore. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.160 These are people who watched Jesus brutally executed. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:57.759 People who hid in fear afterward and behind locked doors because they were terrified it was gonna be them next. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:03.519 Um These are the people that saw him alive again. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.880 Not as a vision, not as wishful thinking. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:08.480 He was really alive. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:16.079 He was walking, eating, speaking, laughing, sharing his scars on his hands to others. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:24.000 And then just days earlier, they stood on the Mount of Olives, literally watching him ascend into heaven. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:34.079 While they stared upward in a stunned silence, trying to process how someone could simply rise into the light into the clouds before their eyes. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:41.759 And before he left, he told them, But you'll receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.319 And that's in Acts 1, verse 8. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.599 But what exactly were they expecting by that? 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.200 What do you think they thought it meant after what they had just saw? 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:56.559 Did they think they would feel stronger somehow, maybe, by this power? 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.759 Do you think uh maybe a prophet might arrive with a big old message? 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.799 Did they expect another miracle? 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:08.000 Like the loaves and fishes and the storms coming. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:12.799 Nobody fully understood yet what was about to happen. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.559 And Peter's there. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:21.200 The same Peter who swore he'd died for Jesus, and then he denied him, even knowing him. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:22.799 He denied him. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:27.440 He sat beside a fire in fear, and he didn't say a word. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:45.200 Thomas is there, Matthew is there, Mary, Jesus' mom, she's there, ordinary people, fishermen, tax collectors, men and women with no political power, no armies, no wealth, and no influence. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.559 Just believers clinging tightly to a promise that Jesus had made before he left. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:54.079 And then suddenly the sounds come. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:24:01.119 And this is the last um Sunday school lesson I have with my kids, and that's why I wanted them in here to hear this story. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.160 This is when the Holy Spirit shows up. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:10.000 It's not from the outside and not from the streets, it's from heaven. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:11.680 Heaven itself. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:21.039 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:23.200 And this is in Acts 2, verse 2. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.000 Can you imagine the shock of it? 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:32.720 One second the room is filled with quiet conversation, praying, probably, shifting feet, nervous anticipation. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:39.839 And the next a roar explodes through the air so violently it seems to shake the space around them. 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:44.400 Not ordinary wind and not thunder, something deeper and something louder. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:49.039 The sound of an overwhelming power crashing into the world. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:58.559 The kind of sound that makes every conversation in a nearby street suddenly stop and people look around trying to understand where it's coming from. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:08.319 It echoes through the stone walls and the narrow alleys, it raises goosebumps along your arms and your necks before anyone ever stands, understands why. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.000 And then they see it. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:18.079 Fire not spreading across the curtains or the wooden beams, not destroying anything, but resting. 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:24.559 And divided tongues as of fire appeared before them and rested on each of them. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:27.119 And that's Acts 2, verse 3. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:35.759 Can you imagine staring at someone you know and seeing something that looks like a flame resting above them without consuming them? 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:47.920 Imagine the terror and the awe colliding together in your chest as suddenly the presence of God feels as close and overwhelming as the fire at Mount Sinai. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.799 How it must have felt to the Israelite generations earlier. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:57.119 Because this is not the first time that God's come with wind and fire. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:05.200 At Mount Sinai, God descended in smoke, thunder, earthquakes, and trumpet blasts and fire when he gave the law to Moses. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:16.799 The mountain trembled beneath his presence while the people stood in fear at the base of God's holiness was there, overwhelming that boundary that had been set around the mountain itself. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:21.440 But now some thank somehow something astonishing is happening. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:30.160 God is no longer descending over a mountain or filling a tabernacle or settling above the Ark of the Covenant. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:32.079 He is filling people. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:41.599 And suddenly the room erupts into voices, not random sounds, not confusion, languages, real languages. 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:55.200 Men and women speaking fluently in dialects they had never studied and they didn't know, but they were praising God and pouring out into words completely foreign to the speakers themselves. 00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:16.799 And outside the crowds began gathering rapidly because Jerusalem has heard the sound too, and people push toward the commotion from every direction, and the confusion spreads through the streets because suddenly visitors from all over the world are hearing Galileans speaking perfectly in their own languages. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:24.160 Parthans hear their own tongue, Egyptians hear theirs, Romans hear theirs, Arabs here's theirs. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:30.240 And every single one of them knows that the people should not be able to speak this way. 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:36.720 We hear them telling us in our own tongues the mighty works of God, and that's Acts 10, verse 11. 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.440 We've went from 8 to 11 and look at what's happened in just those few verses. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:54.400 And you imagine standing there in that crowd, and you imagine hearing your childhood language spoken perfectly by our fisherman from Galilee who has likely never traveled more than a hundred miles from his home his entire life. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.920 Imagine the realization slowly dawning that this is not trickery. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.160 This is not a performance. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:06.079 It was something supernatural unfolding right in front of you. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:17.119 And like every moment in history, this is so human, of everybody that was there, where God moves powerfully, the crowd divides immediately. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:23.759 Some stand there amazed, trying desperately to understand what they're witnessing, and others mock. 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:28.559 But others mock him, saying they are filled with some new wine. 00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:30.640 And that's Acts 2, verse 13. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:39.759 Which honestly feels painfully realistic because humanity has always found a way to explain away the things that make us uncomfortable. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:48.480 God is fulfilling prophecy before their eyes, and someone in the crowd still crosses their arms and says, Yep, they're probably drunk. 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:50.799 And Peter steps forward. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:29:02.240 And maybe this is the greatest miracle of all in the entire chapter, because this is the same Peter who once crumbled in his fear of being associated with Jesus. 00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:12.720 This is the same Peter who denied him three times while standing there in front of another fire weeks earlier, and now there's no hesitation in him at all. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:22.960 He raises his voice above the crowd and he begins preaching boldly about Jesus Christ, his crucifixion, and he's risen. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:31.119 Fear has lost its grips on him, and suddenly the Old Testament comes alive right there in the streets of Jerusalem. 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:42.880 Joel prophesied about this earlier in Joel 2, verse 28, and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:48.000 Jeremiah prophesied about it in Jeremiah 31, verse 33. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:53.519 And I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:57.039 Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36, verse 26. 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:02.640 And I will give you a new heart, a new spirit to put within you. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.000 Everything is colliding together in moments. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:17.839 The promises and prophecy of the Old Testament, the longing that Israel had carried for generations, the hope that God would dwell among these people again. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.640 And then comes one of those details that's hardest once you notice it. 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:37.039 Back in Sinai, after Israel had rebelled with the golden calf, and this is when Moses had gone up to get the Ten Commandments, about 3,000 people died under the law. 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:47.279 But here at Pentecost, after Peter preaches Christ crucified and risen, about 3,000 people are saved. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.720 The Bible does not weave parallels like that accidentally. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:55.200 Can you imagine watching it happen? 00:30:55.359 --> 00:31:13.039 Watching people openly weep in the streets, watching strangers from nations scattered across the world suddenly united by one message, watching the ordinary believers transformed into a bold witness before their eyes, watching the church itself come alive in real time. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:22.799 Because before Pentecost, these believers were hiding behind closed doors, and after Pentecost, they carry the gospel across the world. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:27.680 And honestly, I think sometimes we imagine Pentecost far too quietly. 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:35.119 We picture soft, calm lights, music, stained glass windows, and a peaceful little flame hovering over everybody's head. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:47.920 But this moment would have felt overwhelming, loud, chaotic, holy, like standing too close to something powerful enough to change the world forever, because that's exactly what it did. 00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:55.119 Pentecost was the moment heaven crashed into earth and people became temples of the living God. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.480 Because that's exactly what it is. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:03.039 Pentecost was the moment that heaven took over. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:11.759 And you remember I said there were three things I wanted to talk about today, and this one I get to share with my sister in Christ. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:17.200 We took the Holy Spirit that day. 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:18.960 It's not been easy. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.160 It's not the following Christ has never been easy. 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:31.200 But God's still on the throne, He's still in control. 00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:40.480 When our lives feel upside down, He says, Go to this, be baptized. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:45.759 For me, for me is one of those important days in my life. 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:52.799 Christ did it with John the Baptist, not because he needed to be forgiven of any sin. 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:59.759 The Holy Spirit was already dwelling in him, but he did it as an example to us on something to do. 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:10.240 It's an outward expression of an inward transformation, allowing that Holy Spirit that appeared some 2,000 years ago to dwell in us. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:19.279 And I thank God for the Son that cleansed us with his blood for all my sins to allow that Holy Spirit a place to dwell. 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:23.920 I get to see heaven, and this old world will be calm. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:27.680 Happy Pentecost everyone. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:51.440 And next we have you keep it. 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:36.880 I believe we bought. 00:40:16.400 --> 00:40:19.360 Or more specifically, to follow Jesus. 00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:29.519 Now, I feel comfortable as most of you in here, we we are what you would consider probably mature Christians, each and every one. 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:41.440 So I'm not preaching a message to um to, I guess, uh what I would say uneducated Christians by no means. 00:40:41.679 --> 00:40:55.199 But I feel certain that each and every day, as we go throughout our lives, there are things that we need to be reminded of because we're the only Bible that some people around us may read. 00:40:55.440 --> 00:41:00.239 We're the only Jesus that some people around us may actually see. 00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:15.920 And regardless of what we consider ourselves, God, through his son Jesus, has placed each and every one of us in the exact position that he would have us to be to fulfill his gospel. 00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:24.880 So maybe you don't think, well, I'm really uh all that significant in the grand scheme of things. 00:41:25.119 --> 00:41:40.320 But I guarantee there's people in your circle, in your family, in your neighborhood, in your work, that God has placed you there for the very purpose of shining the light of the gospel for those people. 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:48.880 Believe it or not, not all people who identify themselves as Christians actually follow Jesus. 00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:55.760 One of my favorite teachers and preachers is a fellow by the name of Tony Evans. 00:41:56.079 --> 00:41:57.760 Some of you may have heard of him. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:10.239 He puts it like this it's one thing to simply believe that Jesus bought my ticket into eternity future, and another thing to follow him in the present. 00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:14.320 Many of us live as part-time Christians. 00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:22.800 We show up on Sunday and act like we're loyal to Christ, but on Monday morning we pull a Benedict Arnold on it. 00:42:23.519 --> 00:42:27.840 In other words, we believe, but we don't follow. 00:42:28.239 --> 00:42:37.360 And again, I think we can all identify with people that are in our circle that we know this of all too well. 00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:39.519 Yeah, I'm a Christian. 00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:43.039 I don't do anything that looks Christian, but I'm Christian. 00:42:43.119 --> 00:42:44.719 I believe in Jesus. 00:42:45.440 --> 00:42:51.039 Following Jesus requires more than just believing that he died for our salvation. 00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:57.039 Following Jesus demands action in our everyday relationship with him. 00:42:58.480 --> 00:43:05.920 Jesus has called everyone who would to come and be his disciple. 00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:15.679 We read in Matthew 11, verse 28, Jesus says, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. 00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:22.079 John 12 and verse 26, we read, Whoever serves me must follow me. 00:43:22.400 --> 00:43:25.199 And where I am, my servant also will be. 00:43:25.599 --> 00:43:29.840 My father will honor the one who serves me. 00:43:41.840 --> 00:43:47.840 All these gadgets, these things that have been created to make our lives easier. 00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:59.519 I don't know if any of you remember or not, but when the computer was first, well, I should say the personal computer was first coming out, you know, in the in the 80s, all this. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.000 Thing, it's gonna be so good. 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:07.679 They said it's gonna reduce, it's gonna eliminate half your day's work. 00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:09.119 This computer. 00:44:09.840 --> 00:44:18.239 Obviously, they didn't mean that to me because still at this day it takes me three times longer to try to do something on that dirt thing if I just wrote it out. 00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:21.039 But but that was the idea. 00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:26.880 Computers were going to pretty much just make our life so much easier. 00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:31.440 We're gonna have all this free time, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. 00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:37.280 But instead, the opposite has occurred. 00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:49.599 We find ourselves even busier trying to keep up with the Joneses and what we think are life's demands. 00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:58.239 I read that the average American spends between four to five and a half hours a day doing what? 00:45:00.800 --> 00:45:02.239 On their phone. 00:45:03.760 --> 00:45:07.760 Four to five and a half hours a day spent on their phone. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:11.599 And if my guess is right, they're probably not talking to Jesus. 00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:18.480 I guess that's one good thing about being in prison is they won't let me take my cell phone with me. 00:45:18.559 --> 00:45:22.960 So at least for eight hours a day, I'm at peace. 00:45:24.239 --> 00:45:43.679 Another poll that I read about this past week was done by Yahoo, and it found that of all the people who participated, I don't know how many it was, but they asked a certain number of people in this poll, if I gave you a million dollars, would you give up your cell phone for life? 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:46.800 I wish they'd asked me. 00:45:56.719 --> 00:46:01.280 Now, I'm not saying that cell phones and technology are bad things. 00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:02.320 Of course not. 00:46:02.559 --> 00:46:03.519 Of course not. 00:46:03.760 --> 00:46:20.559 Look at how far, like we said earlier, just in the last 50 years, how things have progressed in the healthcare, you know, and in medicine and in all these different things that would have been impossible a hundred years ago. 00:46:20.719 --> 00:46:22.639 You wouldn't have even thought about it. 00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:26.400 And now it's just, you know, second nature. 00:46:26.559 --> 00:46:34.400 Who would have thought 50 years ago that you'd be spending four to five and a half hours a day on a cell phone? 00:46:34.719 --> 00:46:36.639 Nobody would have thought that. 00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:50.719 I guess what I'm saying though is we have to be careful because the devil is a master at using people, situations, and things to get our focus off of following Jesus. 00:46:51.039 --> 00:47:02.639 There's always something that we're going to stare at each and every day when we get up that's strategically placed there to get our minds off of following our Savior. 00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:23.039 Following Jesus is an active daily journey of surrendering our own will, aligning our life up with Jesus' teachings, and walking in obedience to his commands to love others and spread the gospel. 00:47:26.159 --> 00:47:31.679 Luke 9 at verse 23 and 25, we read this. 00:47:33.360 --> 00:47:44.639 Then he, Jesus, said to them all, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 00:47:45.199 --> 00:47:52.800 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 00:47:53.119 --> 00:48:00.400 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? 00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:17.039 Simply put, following Jesus requires that we leave behind our old priorities and embrace a radical obedience to Jesus and adopt his mission as our own. 00:48:17.760 --> 00:48:19.360 So how do we do this? 00:48:19.679 --> 00:48:21.280 What does that look like? 00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:27.199 Well, first and foremost, we have to accept his invitation. 00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:34.880 He's invited all who would to come to him, to sign on, to be a part of this mission. 00:48:35.360 --> 00:48:39.679 Matthew 4, verses 18 and verse 20, 18 through 22. 00:48:39.760 --> 00:48:41.199 Here's what we read. 00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:51.920 And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 00:48:53.039 --> 00:48:56.639 Then he said to them, Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. 00:48:56.960 --> 00:49:00.880 They immediately left for nets and followed him. 00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:12.800 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. 00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:19.440 He called them and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed them. 00:49:22.159 --> 00:49:26.880 That to me just you just have to think about that a minute. 00:49:27.199 --> 00:49:39.599 What did that look like all those years ago when they're sitting there on the side of the bank, they're tending to what they've known all their lives. 00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:41.679 That's the only thing they've ever done. 00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:45.840 Like Pat said, they probably never traveled from here to Valdez. 00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:50.400 That's all they knew was fishing in nets. 00:49:52.000 --> 00:50:05.440 But notice that we're told that they, at Jesus' command, at his invitation, they immediately left behind their old priorities and followed him. 00:50:07.519 --> 00:50:09.840 Think about what that looked like. 00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:21.440 When Peter and Andrew were there, and this guy comes by and says, You may have done this all your life, but I got a new job for you. 00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:24.320 Turn away from it, follow me. 00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:30.079 And then James and John in the same boat with old dad. 00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:32.719 What do you think dad had to say? 00:50:33.119 --> 00:50:40.639 When this hippie comes down to the beach and his two boys run off after him, get your honey back in this boat. 00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:47.599 What would we do in that situation? 00:50:48.800 --> 00:51:05.280 If we had lived that many years ago, could we just cast aside all that we'd ever known, all that we'd ever did, all that we'd ever hoped in, all that we'd ever saved up for ourselves? 00:51:05.679 --> 00:51:10.639 Could we just walk away from it to follow Jesus? 00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:23.519 When Jesus called the first disciples, just as he has with us, he didn't ask them for a part-time, one day a week volunteer. 00:51:24.320 --> 00:51:29.199 He didn't say, Peter, come help me out this weekend. 00:51:30.159 --> 00:51:33.360 No, he told them, just as he tells us. 00:51:33.679 --> 00:51:36.480 He demands our total commitment. 00:51:37.199 --> 00:51:59.199 Just as Peter and Andrew, James and John immediately left their lives behind, we too must be willing to leave behind our perceived comforts and status that we think we have achieved, and place our trust and our identity in Jesus alone. 00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:17.119 Hebrews 12 and verse 2, we read, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and then sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:52:18.800 --> 00:52:27.920 Being a Christian, being a follower of Jesus, is more than just believing facts about Jesus. 00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:33.280 It's actively walking the same road with him. 00:52:35.280 --> 00:52:38.079 Someone is always going to say to us, though, what? 00:52:38.719 --> 00:52:41.920 No, I don't have to work for my salvation. 00:52:42.480 --> 00:52:44.159 I've heard that from so many people. 00:52:44.239 --> 00:52:46.239 Or you said, Yeah, yeah, I'm a Christian. 00:52:46.320 --> 00:52:51.360 Well, I don't have to work for my salvation. 00:52:51.679 --> 00:52:54.000 Oh, it says that it's by faith alone. 00:52:54.239 --> 00:52:56.159 And that's exactly right. 00:52:56.400 --> 00:52:59.199 We do not have to work for our salvation. 00:53:00.239 --> 00:53:06.960 But scripture is clear that Jesus died to save us so we could work. 00:53:08.239 --> 00:53:11.119 We ain't working to pay our way into heaven. 00:53:11.280 --> 00:53:13.760 We're working because he already paid it. 00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:17.199 And he commands us. 00:53:17.840 --> 00:53:22.000 Hey, look, I've come and set the example for you. 00:53:22.159 --> 00:53:23.119 I've saved you. 00:53:23.280 --> 00:53:25.760 You don't have to worry about anything else. 00:53:26.159 --> 00:53:31.199 All you have to do is share the gospel. 00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:35.679 Don't let anything in this life scare you, because you've already won. 00:53:36.320 --> 00:53:39.039 You already have life eternal. 00:53:40.559 --> 00:53:47.039 James 2, verses 18 through 20 will read, But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. 00:53:47.440 --> 00:53:54.000 Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 00:53:54.320 --> 00:53:57.360 You believe that there is one God, you do well. 00:53:57.679 --> 00:54:01.199 Even the demons believe and tremble. 00:54:01.760 --> 00:54:07.119 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 00:54:10.880 --> 00:54:22.639 The second thing that we have to do in making Jesus' mission our own, he says, is we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. 00:54:23.760 --> 00:54:28.320 That's the hardest thing for any disciple of Jesus to do. 00:54:29.920 --> 00:54:32.960 Because our human nature tells us what. 00:54:33.199 --> 00:54:35.920 We're the most important thing in our lives. 00:54:36.239 --> 00:54:38.400 I know I'm my biggest fan. 00:54:39.119 --> 00:54:41.280 Galatians 5, verse 24. 00:54:41.599 --> 00:54:49.199 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:52.000 That's something that I have to do daily. 00:54:52.159 --> 00:55:01.920 I have to crucify my spiritual nature several times throughout the day, especially dealing with people working for state government, i.e., engineers. 00:55:02.960 --> 00:55:19.599 Truly following Jesus means that your life is no longer centered around our own desires or our own feelings or our own personal agenda, but rather it's focused on what Jesus has called us to do. 00:55:21.760 --> 00:55:30.239 Galatians 2 verse 20, we read, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 00:55:30.639 --> 00:55:40.079 The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:55:40.719 --> 00:55:49.519 Each and every day I get up, and I'm sure most of you probably the same way, and I thank God for every day that I get up. 00:55:49.679 --> 00:55:50.960 Years ago I made it a habit. 00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:54.000 Before I get out of the bed, I say, Thank you, Lord. 00:55:54.800 --> 00:55:57.360 Thank you for another opportunity to serve you. 00:55:58.480 --> 00:56:04.639 And that was something just totally uncommon for me 30-something years ago. 00:56:04.880 --> 00:56:10.719 You know, I wanted to get up and now, don't get me wrong, I still struggle throughout the day. 00:56:10.880 --> 00:56:18.559 You know, on the way to work, thank you, Lord, for saving me, but I would really like it if you would let that 18-wheel run over that idiot that just cut me off. 00:56:22.639 --> 00:56:23.840 It's a struggle. 00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:25.280 We all know that. 00:56:26.079 --> 00:56:33.599 But what an honor we have to serve the very one who come and bled and died for us and gave us the opportunity. 00:56:34.559 --> 00:56:39.360 What does Jesus mean when he tells us to take up our cross daily? 00:56:40.320 --> 00:56:51.360 Well, I think we've all probably heard something, you know, sitting around at a gripe session, you know, poor mouthing about this that hurts and that that hurts, and they can't pay you this and that. 00:56:51.440 --> 00:56:56.159 And somebody always pops up and says, Well, we've all got a cross to bear. 00:56:58.880 --> 00:57:01.039 I see some of you have used that there. 00:57:04.800 --> 00:57:08.960 Simply put, though, what does it mean to take up your cross daily? 00:57:09.199 --> 00:57:10.719 The cross was what? 00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:15.599 It was a Roman instrument of execution. 00:57:16.239 --> 00:57:18.000 It wasn't a burden. 00:57:18.480 --> 00:57:22.800 It wasn't an inconvenience, it was a death sentence. 00:57:24.400 --> 00:57:38.400 When Jesus tells us to take up our cross daily, he's telling us to be ready to die each and every day to our own desires and our own agenda and follow him. 00:57:40.320 --> 00:57:43.440 That's what taking up your cross daily means. 00:57:44.239 --> 00:57:50.559 Following Jesus, we've all as we've already said, following Jesus isn't easy. 00:57:53.599 --> 00:58:02.480 How many of you, as Pat was saying earlier, I know people who, you know, talk to them about you know going to church or you know, stuff like that. 00:58:02.719 --> 00:58:03.840 No, no, no. 00:58:04.719 --> 00:58:08.320 No, as long as I keep online like I am a devil, at least me along. 00:58:10.079 --> 00:58:15.119 And there's truth to that because whenever we focus on following Jesus, what happens? 00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:18.400 He unleashes hell. 00:58:20.480 --> 00:58:22.880 Because he knows his days are about hurt. 00:58:25.039 --> 00:58:27.599 And he knows that our father loves us. 00:58:28.239 --> 00:58:33.599 And when he can cause us to sin, he knows that it grieves our Father. 00:58:35.679 --> 00:58:38.960 But we've already won. 00:58:40.960 --> 00:58:53.760 Following Jesus isn't easy, but it means that we have to be willing each and every day to choose kingdom values over conforming to the rest of the society around us. 00:58:54.079 --> 00:58:56.320 We have to be willing to be the weird person. 00:58:56.400 --> 00:58:59.360 We've got to be willing to be the Jesus freak. 00:59:00.079 --> 00:59:06.000 I can remember in my teenage years, I spent a lot of time, as you know, with my granddaddy. 00:59:06.239 --> 00:59:09.440 My granddaddy, bless his heart, was a Freewill Baptist. 00:59:09.679 --> 00:59:14.000 And in his later years, his inner preacher came out. 00:59:14.400 --> 00:59:20.400 I guess that you reach a certain age, which I can see that already in my own life, you just don't care. 00:59:20.800 --> 00:59:22.480 Your field is gone. 00:59:22.960 --> 00:59:25.039 We would go into the grocery store. 00:59:25.280 --> 00:59:27.199 And the little girl taking us out. 00:59:27.519 --> 00:59:31.599 Young lady, do you know the Lord Jesus as your personal savior? 00:59:37.360 --> 00:59:41.760 It didn't matter where we went, but he didn't care. 00:59:42.559 --> 00:59:46.639 And in his heart, he was doing exactly what he was called to do. 00:59:47.199 --> 00:59:50.400 And when I find my own self doing that anymore, I've got the point. 00:59:50.719 --> 00:59:51.760 I don't care either. 00:59:52.000 --> 00:59:53.360 What are you gonna do? 00:59:53.599 --> 00:59:55.119 You know, call me a freak. 00:59:55.280 --> 00:59:56.239 Who cares? 00:59:57.280 --> 01:00:00.239 1 Peter 1, verses 15 and 16. 01:00:00.480 --> 01:00:05.199 Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do. 01:00:05.840 --> 01:00:09.280 For it is written, be holy because I am holy. 01:00:11.199 --> 01:00:15.920 That is impossible for you and I to do without the Holy Spirit living in us. 01:00:16.639 --> 01:00:18.559 Jesus has called us to follow him. 01:00:18.800 --> 01:00:21.519 Jesus has called us to be a holy people. 01:00:21.760 --> 01:00:27.280 And he's equipped us with the Holy Spirit that lives in each and every one of us to do just that. 01:00:27.679 --> 01:00:29.519 Does that mean that we're going to slip up? 01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:30.320 Of course. 01:00:30.480 --> 01:00:31.519 We all know that. 01:00:32.480 --> 01:00:34.000 We all know that. 01:00:38.320 --> 01:00:45.199 The third thing in following Jesus is we have to do what he did. 01:00:46.000 --> 01:00:49.039 We have to do the things that Jesus did. 01:00:49.280 --> 01:00:52.960 The word follow means to walk the same path. 01:00:53.920 --> 01:00:59.440 And this requires constant alignment of our actions with his word. 01:01:00.559 --> 01:01:04.000 What did Jesus do when he walked the earth? 01:01:04.400 --> 01:01:06.079 Particularly during his ministry. 01:01:06.239 --> 01:01:07.360 What did he do? 01:01:07.760 --> 01:01:20.239 He fed people, he healed people, he rescued people, both spiritually and physically. 01:01:20.719 --> 01:01:22.159 These are the things that he did. 01:01:22.320 --> 01:01:25.280 Now you might say, well, I can, yeah, I can help out. 01:01:26.000 --> 01:01:27.360 I can feed people. 01:01:27.840 --> 01:01:30.320 But I sure can't heal nobody. 01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:34.880 And I have to type to rescue somebody. 01:01:39.599 --> 01:01:52.079 Jesus instructed us how to live so that we might draw others into the kingdom because they see how we live out our Christianity. 01:01:53.679 --> 01:01:58.480 One preacher that I listened to frequently told a story whenever he was in school. 01:01:58.719 --> 01:02:00.159 In college, I think it was. 01:02:00.239 --> 01:02:04.480 And there was this big bully guy, you know, and he was just mean all the time. 01:02:05.199 --> 01:02:09.280 So he makes it his mission to just overwhelm him with grace. 01:02:10.239 --> 01:02:19.199 Even though, you know, he was called all sorts of names and treated all sorts of ways, and probably had his underwear pulled over his head several times in the locker room. 01:02:20.079 --> 01:02:26.639 He still, still, just poured grace out on him each and every day. 01:02:26.880 --> 01:02:30.400 And he said one day that he came to him and told him. 01:02:30.800 --> 01:02:34.159 He said, I don't care nothing about that Christian stuff. 01:02:34.559 --> 01:02:38.000 But if I ever was gonna be one, I'd want to be one like you. 01:02:39.679 --> 01:02:41.119 That such a lot. 01:02:42.079 --> 01:02:48.239 How many people in our lives, in our circles, are Christians because of what they've seen us do? 01:02:49.760 --> 01:02:51.199 I guess I could work both ways. 01:02:51.280 --> 01:02:56.320 I mean, a lot of people might see what you've done and say, I'm gonna get right with the Lord because you don't stand a chance. 01:03:01.119 --> 01:03:03.599 Ultimately, Jesus loves people. 01:03:04.480 --> 01:03:08.880 Throughout his life, throughout his ministry, Jesus loved people. 01:03:10.239 --> 01:03:13.280 Just as our Heavenly Father loves us. 01:03:13.679 --> 01:03:23.039 And he tells us, we all know by heart, John 3.16, for God so loved us, the whole world that he gave us is one and only son. 01:03:24.159 --> 01:03:28.800 That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:35.440 God didn't send his son in the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. 01:03:37.760 --> 01:03:42.719 A lot of people just read over that, just like singing a song. 01:03:43.440 --> 01:03:48.559 Jesus didn't come to condemn, he came to save. 01:03:57.760 --> 01:03:59.519 That's the ultimate sign. 01:04:00.800 --> 01:04:08.400 Unfortunately, that's something that you and I have to work at each and every day of our lives to master. 01:04:10.639 --> 01:04:40.239 Finally, if we accept Christ's call for us to become his followers, if we deny ourselves and follow him, and if we commit to doing the things Jesus did and walk the path that he walked, he has promised us an eternity filled with his presence, both his physical presence and his presence presence. 01:04:40.719 --> 01:04:43.920 Each and every one of us has a crown waiting on us. 01:04:45.280 --> 01:04:55.280 Jesus promised us, as we read back in Luke 9, that whoever tries to save their life on their own terms will lose it. 01:04:55.760 --> 01:05:00.559 But whoever loses their life for the sake of his purpose will find true eternal life. 01:05:00.800 --> 01:05:05.920 That's a scary thing when you get up in the morning and you say, all right, Lord, what do you want me to do today? 01:05:06.320 --> 01:05:07.119 Here I am. 01:05:08.000 --> 01:05:09.519 The checkbook's empty. 01:05:09.599 --> 01:05:11.039 You write it out. 01:05:11.440 --> 01:05:13.119 That's a scary thing. 01:05:13.360 --> 01:05:14.880 I know for years it scared me. 01:05:15.039 --> 01:05:19.760 I'm thinking, Lord, I want to do whatever you want me to do, but as long as it ain't too bad. 01:05:21.360 --> 01:05:24.000 And then you get to worry, well, what if he calls me to do this? 01:05:24.079 --> 01:05:25.920 Or what if he calls me to do that? 01:05:27.039 --> 01:05:30.320 There again, I guess as time goes on, you just simply don't care. 01:05:30.480 --> 01:05:31.119 You know? 01:05:31.679 --> 01:05:35.199 Lord, if you give me an opportunity to serve you, that's what I want to do. 01:05:36.480 --> 01:05:40.639 And I think that should be each and every one of us's goal. 01:05:40.960 --> 01:05:44.239 Because each and every one of us is a preacher of where God's put us. 01:05:44.480 --> 01:05:54.320 Whether it be in the factory, whether it be in the convenience store, whether it be in the community, wherever He's placed us, He's placed us there with purpose and with intention. 01:05:56.000 --> 01:05:59.760 Philippians 1, verse 20, we read I eagerly expect and hope. 01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:46.960 Glorify you and glorify the king. 01:07:47.199 --> 01:07:48.320 We thank you, we pray you. 01:07:48.880 --> 01:07:50.239 We have some signs in Jesus. 01:08:37.039 --> 01:08:38.319 Seven sixty two. 01:08:57.119 --> 01:08:58.720 Seven sixty-two. 01:09:13.840 --> 01:09:19.520 There is come a day with no harm. 01:09:36.479 --> 01:09:37.680 One a day. 01:09:43.920 --> 01:09:49.840 One a day that to be with my Jesus passions. 01:09:54.560 --> 01:09:57.840 The one to say my strength. 01:09:58.479 --> 01:10:00.720 We changed the battle. 01:10:01.760 --> 01:10:05.920 We should love. 01:10:13.039 --> 01:10:15.439 There'll be no sound. 01:10:16.880 --> 01:10:20.000 No more birth to day. 01:10:20.640 --> 01:10:22.399 No more stupid. 01:10:24.319 --> 01:10:26.960 No more honey over there. 01:10:28.079 --> 01:10:34.319 And the wheel with the body that will be. 01:10:35.439 --> 01:10:49.199 What a day! Glorious day that will be What a day that will be when my Jesus passes you. 01:10:50.079 --> 01:10:57.039 And I will want to save me by his grace. 01:10:57.359 --> 01:11:03.920 When we change me by the hand, it brings me through the promised land. 01:11:04.720 --> 01:11:09.600 What a day, glorious day that would be. 01:11:12.319 --> 01:11:17.359 What a day, glorious day that will be. 01:14:56.239 --> 01:15:00.880 And her gods is on her nose. 01:15:01.760 --> 01:15:02.960 These are from her wheels. 01:15:05.520 --> 01:15:09.199 And that was here, too. 01:15:09.279 --> 01:15:12.159 I'm not sure if you turn on to his comfortable seat. 01:15:19.279 --> 01:15:22.399 If that hadn't been her, it looks better than all the things. 01:15:22.479 --> 01:15:25.119 I don't know how much she does be bad deal. 01:15:26.560 --> 01:15:28.159 So as hard as it is. 01:15:42.479 --> 01:15:42.960 It frightened. 01:15:46.880 --> 01:15:50.159 Oh, I think that's the drive again. 01:15:51.840 --> 01:15:52.800 I've got some wire five. 01:15:57.039 --> 01:15:57.920 I know home before. 01:16:49.279 --> 01:16:50.560 I know, and that's all right. 01:16:56.319 --> 01:16:57.920 Which literally is two miles from the wheel. 01:16:58.560 --> 01:16:59.520 Stuff like that. 01:17:00.079 --> 01:17:01.600 Places that she's comfortable going. 01:17:05.119 --> 01:17:05.439 Oh, of course. 01:17:05.600 --> 01:17:08.399 And I think that's really pretty perfectly. 01:17:11.920 --> 01:17:15.039 I'm like, I'm all extracts from the birds. 01:17:16.560 --> 01:17:18.000 Ryan's mad and I works out there. 01:17:21.039 --> 01:17:28.000 Um I can't hear me. 01:17:28.319 --> 01:17:29.520 They do, I know. 01:17:29.840 --> 01:17:32.720 But I don't really want to heal me. 01:17:33.680 --> 01:17:37.279 I mean, I promise you. 01:17:37.600 --> 01:17:38.399 I don't know about you. 01:17:42.079 --> 01:17:49.520 Oh, you say each rather or two.