WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:01.840 Well, welcome this morning. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:03.279 Glad that you're here. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.679 You know, the real ones come to church in October during full fall break. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:08.160 Am I right? 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:09.679 Can I get amen to that? 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:11.279 You're the real ones. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.439 All the way through October, man. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:14.560 Fall break. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.800 For some reason, moved to a town where there's apparently three weeks of fall break. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.120 Um, yeah, that's different. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:24.640 But I'm glad that you're here during fall break this week. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:36.719 Uh excited for you to be in the house as we are finishing up uh our series that's called Here to Stay, where we've been talking about going deep, having deep roots here at Multiply. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:39.200 And I'm excited about this week to come and what's coming up. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:45.759 I'm really excited about what's happening Saturday with the hurricane relief and be able to pitch in and help with that. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:55.679 Our uh told you all last Sunday, our very own Marcus, who dropped a truck, has gotten a truck and is going to be receiving those items and then the same day driving them to Tennessee. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.119 And I just love that he stepped up. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:02.640 We're partnering with another church and just excited to see what we do, but also the fact that Marcus stepped up to do that. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.200 Isn't that awesome? 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.879 Can we give it up for Marcus right now? 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:08.480 Them stepping up. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.120 Obviously, we can't not help with every natural disaster. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:12.400 Uh we just can't do that. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:16.239 But thankful that we get to serve our neighbors in Tennessee uh this week. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:20.879 The the title of my message today is We Bring Our Best. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:22.560 Everybody say we bring our best. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:32.400 This is the last of the 10 values that we're going to be looking at during this series, and I'm excited for us to dig down into it today. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:51.519 Uh Elon Musk blew our minds again this week when uh he unveiled the at-home robot Optimus at an event that they had where this robot was talking with people, serving party favors, serving drinks. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:58.959 There's videos out of this uh all over the internet of these robots that now are gonna be mass-produced. 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:03.040 Elon said that he thinks that this is gonna be the biggest product ever. 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.000 And I don't know about you, but I've seen this sequel. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:07.599 It's called Terminator. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.360 Um I don't know where really this is all going. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:22.159 But um I do know that there are about to be these robots that you can use in your house for the same price as a new Kia, you can have a robot. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:31.280 $20,000 or$30,000 is what the price tag is going to be on one of these robots that can help you with your housework and you can talk to. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:34.479 What's crazy is you could have gotten this robot for$100. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:49.840 And that would be by way of if you had bought$100 of Tesla stock when it went onto the market in 2010, those same shares of stock would now be worth over$20,000 today. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.439 That's what compound interest is. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:02.319 Einstein said it's the eighth wonder of the world, compounding interest, whether it works for you or against you, it stacks up. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:09.599 Now, what I know is of the things that compound in our life, also in a spiritual life, these things also stack up. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.520 So when you read God's word every day, it stacks. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:19.120 When you show up for your kids, for your family, for your friends, it stacks. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:28.080 When you have integrity at your work, in your relationships, at your school, at your job, it stacks. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:45.520 And as we focus in on what it looks like for us to bring our best and what that looks like in the life of Multiply Church, we dig down and we focus into it today because we know that as we bring our best to the Lord, it stacks. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.520 And there's a compounding effect that comes from us bringing our best to God. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.599 Now, do I have any uh fellow procrastinators in the house this morning? 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:57.199 Any procrastinators yet? 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:58.719 Why in the world do we do that? 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:00.240 I don't know why we do it. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.000 Is it laziness? 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:04.400 Is it fear of failure? 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.080 Is it low motivation? 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:08.560 Maybe so. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:18.720 What I do know is true is this is that there is there is an endless amount of obstacles that are trying to get in our way from bringing our best. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:22.800 What does it mean to bring our best? 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.000 Well, it means that you do the most with what you have. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:30.319 And that's what we're striving to do here at Multiply together. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.040 Do the best of what we have, what we have. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.360 Here's what it means. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:36.639 We bring our best. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:40.240 We have an attitude of gratitude because Jesus deserves our best. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:45.519 We get to bring our best to God because he brought his best to us. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.240 We do our best with a little, knowing that God will provide a lot. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:05:02.000 We bring our best to be ready for guests, and we will be good stewards of the blessing the Lord has given us to see others be blessed in return. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:03.600 Romans 12 1. 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:05.360 Here's what Romans 12.1 says. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:17.040 It says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:19.040 That's how it looks in the NLT. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:28.480 It is so uh so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:36.879 Then let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind that he finds acceptable. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.000 This is truly the way to worship him. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:06:15.600 Paul pleads, pleads that we would give unto God because he has given unto us, that we would return back to God and that we would give him our all because of what God has done for you and for you and for you and for me, that in return of that that we would then bring to God ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice presented before God as we bring our best to him because he has blessed us so richly. 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:39.120 The more time got close to him entering into Jerusalem, the more and more blunt Jesus became. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:57.600 The more and more clear he became with the people who were his detractors, people who were against him, people who rejected him, the Pharisees, the religious leaders who didn't understand what he was doing, who were coming against him, were trying to stamp out his ministry. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:06.560 And as he goes to Jerusalem, these detractors, these people who were against him, they were already beginning to plot his murder. 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:15.279 And Jesus is telling stories, these parables, and these parables are getting more and more intense. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:19.600 They're becoming more sharp, they're becoming more offensive. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.720 Because he's trying to get his point across. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:23.920 Now, what is a parable? 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:26.480 Jesus spoke in parables basically in this time. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.879 They would speak in these stories, and a parable is a small story with a big truth. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:45.759 But what Jesus is trying to accomplish by speaking these parables is that he is trying to show people and to give them insight into the upside-down reality of the kingdom of God through a story. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:08:01.439 And so Jesus is heading into Jerusalem eventually to be crucified, and he gives a story that symbolizes how Israel and how the Pharisees have fumbled the kingdom of God. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.079 Now, I'm going to push you all a little bit this morning. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:06.639 Is that okay? 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:09.600 It's okay for me to push you a little bit today. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:19.120 Are you interested in hearing this blunt parable that Jesus told these Pharisees right before he headed into Jerusalem? 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:20.000 This is what he said. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.879 This is Matthew 25, verse 14. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:32.559 For the kingdom of heaven is he speaking about, says, For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his property. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:40.799 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability, and then he went away. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.840 He who received the five talents went at once and traded with them. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.480 And he made five talents more. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:49.600 Verse 17. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:56.000 So also he who had the two talents made two more talents, two talents more. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:05.360 But he who received one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Now, Jesus is telling a story and giving us a uh a business analogy. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:20.879 He's talking about these servants that were given a talent. 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.000 And what this talent was was a bag of gold. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.039 It actually was a very high amount of money. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:34.799 Just one talent would have been equal to 20 years of wages for a common laborer, just for one. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:42.559 Now, we get an added benefit by the fact that this word talent also brings to mind the things other than finances in our life. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:48.080 The giftings God given us, the talents, the things, the skills that we have. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:59.759 And Jesus is beginning to give this story, and there's more going on to the story than even he's letting on, but the master returns home in the story to have a look at his accounts. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:09.440 And in verse 20, the servant in whom he entrusted five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:11.840 The master was full of praise. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:13.840 Well done, my good and faithful servant. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:19.919 You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:21.840 Let's celebrate together. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:31.039 And the same thing happened with the servant that had the two bags of silver came forward, and he had then made it into four, and the master celebrated him. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:34.720 And then the third servant in verse 24. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:44.799 And the servant who had one bag of silver came and said, Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn't plant, gathering crops you didn't cultivate. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.879 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:50.720 Look, here's your money back. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:51.840 Verse 26. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:01.679 But the master replied, You wicked and lazy servant, if you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:03.840 At least I would have gotten some interest on it. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:04.879 And verse 28. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:10.320 Then he ordered, Take the money from this servant and give it to the one that has ten bags of silver. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:18.240 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:23.679 But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:30.720 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.919 Jesus gives us a business lesson, a lesson in investing. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:46.480 But there's more to the parable that meets the eye, because these parables of Jesus, they have a surface meaning, the principle that is shared, but then there's also a secondary meaning as well. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.159 There's something under the surface. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:12:03.120 So yes, this story, this parable that Jesus is teaching us, it shows us that there's a principle of us being good stewards of what we have, to bring our best effort to God, yes. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:12.960 But also, he's also telling us what it should look like for us to receive and multiply the blessings of the kingdom of God as well. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:29.440 That he is desperately wanting to entrust to us, that these Pharisees refused to receive, but instead rejected. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.519 Rejected him all the way to murdering him. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:47.120 And Jesus speaks so plainly of the one that rejects and the one that is lazy in the story is cast out into outer darkness. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:56.639 But Jesus is wanting to entrust us with his kingdom. 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:06.879 I don't know if you're like me, but I feel like a lot of the times that I'm like one of those people in the circus spinning all those plates around up in the air. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.000 You know what I'm talking about? 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:22.320 And you're spinning the plates and you're trying to keep them all going, and you're you know that if one more comes into the performance, it's all gonna fall down and crash. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:25.840 But I know I'm the only one who ever gets overwhelmed in here, right? 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.039 I'm the only one who has a full calendar, a full plate, a full schedule. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.399 No, we all at times have felt that way. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:39.840 You may be feeling that way right now with all the responsibilities and the roles and all the things that you have to do. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:49.039 But the question that God is asking us, despite all of those things that try to distract us, is can you be entrusted? 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:54.799 Can he trust you? 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:03.279 If God wanted to get a blessing to you, could he trust you to multiply it? 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:10.720 Or have you found yourself being unfaithful with a few things? 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:19.279 Maybe God wants to give you a financial blessing, but can he trust you to be generous? 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:25.360 Maybe God wants to give you leadership, but can he trust you to serve? 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:32.080 Maybe he wants to give you a wife or a husband, but can he trust you to be unselfish? 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:46.879 See, God wants to give us things, but he wants to also know that if he can give it to us, can he get it through us to be a blessing to others? 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:59.840 And the voice in our mind all the time just we get into that mindset of I can't handle any more. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.399 No more. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.120 I can't add one more thing to my plate. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:13.039 But I wonder if the plates that you're spinning, they are my plates, they're your plates. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:25.840 Things that you've put up in your life and made a priority when God wants to slide a real blessing over to you and you can't even receive it because you're not able to handle it. 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:31.200 But here's the thing, here's the thing God knows you better than you know you. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:37.519 And he knows what you are able to handle and what he can entrust to you. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:46.879 And so as he slides things over to you, you be one who is able to be trustworthy. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.559 Here, here, here's an example. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:50.320 This is one of my favorite stories. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:55.600 When I was in the fourth grade, I was using this mechanical pencil like we all did. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:05.440 I don't know why we wanted to use a pencil that you had to get lead and put it into a mechanical pencil when there's a regular pencil that has both the lead and the pencil together that you just go sharpen. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:14.159 But for some reason we wanted to use these mechanical pencils, and I found myself one day and uh I had run out of lead for my pencil. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:26.159 And Matt, who was sitting next to me in class, I saw that he had his little package with lots of lead in his package, and I said to Matt, I said, Matt, can I have a piece of lead from you, please? 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:27.679 And he said, No. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:33.039 And I had all this work to do and all this stuff for the day. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:34.799 I didn't have any lead, and I was mad. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:35.759 What do you mean, no? 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:37.600 You got all those pieces of lead. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:47.679 When Matt got up to go and do something in the class, I reached into his desk and I grabbed one of those pieces of lead and I put it into my pencil because I was like, you know what? 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.919 I need this piece of lead more than he does. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:00.639 And then Matt got back to his seat and he pulled out his little container of lead and he started counting every single piece of lead individually. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.600 And then he said, I'm missing a piece of lead. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:05.920 Somebody stole my piece of lead. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.759 And he went and told the teacher. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.839 And she said, Forrest, did you steal a piece of lead? 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.880 I said, He didn't need it. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.599 I needed to use one. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.440 And she said, I'm calling your parents. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.559 And I'm like, wow, this escalated really quickly. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.359 So now call my parents like, please don't call my parents. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:30.400 Please don't do that. 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:32.400 And she said, I'll never forget it, Miss White. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.160 She said, Forrest, this is how a life of crime begins. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.200 And they did call my parents. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:43.200 And you know what? 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:47.039 If it hadn't been for that, I don't know where I would have ended up in this life. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.839 I might have ended up under the jail or something. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.519 I don't know where I would have ended up if that hadn't happened. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:55.359 This is. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:04.720 Can you be faithful with a few things? 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.400 Can you have integrity with your life right now? 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:22.559 See, I think oftentimes that God wants to entrust things to us that He has planned for us, but we're too busy worried about what everybody else has. 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:25.519 Looking at everybody else. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:32.880 Jealous, covetous of the life that we wish that we had or we think and deserve that we should have. 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:38.000 And out of this, that that type of comparison, it kills. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:40.640 It kills our capability. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.240 It kills our joy. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.559 It kills our motivations. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:52.559 And I don't know about you, but for me and probably you too, a lot of times that starts with this, the scroll. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:58.160 That person got? 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.799 Oh man, I really wish I had that. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.680 Do you see that new house that they just bought? 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:06.160 Did you see that trip that that person just took? 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.720 With the pastor, it's like, you see all those people in that picture of that church and that service? 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:11.599 When did they start? 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:13.039 What child when did that church start? 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.880 How many people they got coming? 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.519 And that comparison, it kills your joy. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:21.440 And it kills your capacity. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:24.319 Jesus put it this way in Luke 10, Luke 16, 10. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:28.559 He said, Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.920 And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:40.160 Paul puts it another way in Philippians 1.27. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:41.599 I'll push you a little bit more here. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:50.000 Whatever happens, whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:20:03.920 Then whether you come, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:09.039 Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.480 The gospel, the redemption of this world. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:19.680 The gospel, the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the power that He walked out of the grave. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:23.599 The gospel message that split time in two. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:35.200 The gospel that we know and that we are set free by, the scripture says that we should be living in a manner worthy of the gospel for whatever happens. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:43.119 The words that come out of our mouth, the things that we do, and so what that means is that we must be faithful with a few. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:46.799 We must be faithful with a few. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:21:09.680 Now, I don't know if this was the case, but I could imagine that third servant that got the one bag of silver could have been looking over at the one who got the five bags of silver and thinking to himself, well, what am I supposed to do with just one bag of silver? 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.519 This first servant, they got five bags of silver, and now he's got ten. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.880 What in the world can I even do with one bag? 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:21.200 What can I even do with this one bag of silver? 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:22.079 What can I invest in? 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:22.720 What can I do? 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:23.440 You know what? 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.559 I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna bury it in the ground. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:46.640 And maybe he was looking over that way, maybe he wasn't, but I do know this is that God doesn't want somebody else's best from you, he wants your best. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:59.519 We can spend so much time looking at other people and thinking about all the things that we don't have. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.079 Well, I don't have the education. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:04.079 I don't have the credentials. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:05.759 I don't have the resume. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:07.759 I don't have the finances. 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:08.799 I don't have the account. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:09.440 We don't have the ability. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:10.160 I don't have this. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:11.119 I don't have that. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:22.000 On and on and on and focus on all the things that you don't have instead of being aware of the blessing that God has placed into your hands to see you multiply it. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:22.960 Amen. 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:23.920 Amen. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:28.319 Y'all have seen this video before, maybe I've seen it a number of times. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:44.480 There's a guy that's in a bicycle race, and he's got all the bicycle stuff on, and this thousands of dollars bicycle, and they're just a few yards away from the finish line, and there's another biker that's coming up behind the guy who's in first. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:54.799 And as they're getting closer to the finish line, it's the very end of the race, the guy that's in first place keeps looking backward at the guy that's gaining on him. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:13.119 And he looks backward a couple of times, and when he does, his handlebars start to wobble, and his bike just flips over in a crash, and the guy that was right behind him zooms past him to win the race. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:15.279 What I'm saying is run your race. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:17.519 Run your race. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:29.200 Don't spend time looking around at other people, who's behind you, who's beside you, that you're missing out on what God is leading you to forward in your life. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:40.559 In my home, my five-year-old gets frustrated a lot. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:43.599 At like the smallest of tasks. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.480 You know, you ask her to clean a room, she gets overwhelmed. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.839 Now I know as Dan that she's capable of that. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:06.640 And my wife Emily has been working with our five-year-old with cleaning her room or taking her plate to the sink, all the different things, and they have been saying together, I am capable. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:11.039 I've been working on saying, I am capable. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:17.359 And I wonder if at times God's looking at us like a kid. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:33.200 Knowing full and well what your potential is, what you're able to do, and you're frustrated, and you're overwhelmed with the task that he has equipped you for already. 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:42.079 You are capable in Christ. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:44.240 You are. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.759 If you're with me, say I'm capable in Christ. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:50.799 We are capable. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:57.440 And though we may be capable, we have to give our best effort. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:00.480 We have to show up. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:04.960 It's a choice whether we bring our best. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.319 It's a choice whether we give our best. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:13.359 It's a choice for us to show up and to give the effort. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:16.240 I can go to the gym. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.000 I can sit on all the machines. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:26.799 I can look in the mirror at all the gym clothes I bought. 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:34.480 I can flex my muscles, talk to other people about supplements and nutrition. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:39.440 But unless you're willing to give the effort, you will never grow. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:51.920 You can be in this place, you can be in church, you can show up and you can be in the right spot, but still not willing to give the effort because you're being held back. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:57.359 You're right there. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:25:58.799 You're right there. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:01.920 And it's a decision that you make. 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:08.240 Paul tells us this in the context of finances in 2 Corinthians 7 9. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:17.599 He says, Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.119 That you make the decision. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:34.799 Okay, God, I'm going to bring you my best, my best effort and my finances and my talents, and I'm going to allow you to flow through me for your glory. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:41.680 And I'm going to be faithful with what you've given me, and I'm not going to bury it in the ground. 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:47.920 Don't bury your best. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:52.000 Don't bury your best. 00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:57.759 I don't have time. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:01.519 I've got too much going on. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:07.119 You mean, Forrest, you want me to come to church on Sundays and go to a small group during the week? 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.880 Are you crazy? 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.759 Could you, Forrest, don't you know my schedule? 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:16.319 Don't you know what I've got going on? 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:19.200 I'm not able to do that. 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.799 What do you mean you want me to show up early on Sundays and serve at church? 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.640 Like, are you serious, Forrest? 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.359 You can't possibly be asking me to do that. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:37.359 But God has something in you that isn't just for you. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:39.440 It's for him. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:42.240 And it's for others. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:46.079 And don't dig a hole in the ground and bury it. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:46.960 You want to know why? 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:47.440 Listen to me. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:48.480 Listen to me close. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.359 God cannot multiply what you refuse to give him. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:54.480 Go ahead now. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:55.359 Go ahead. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.319 He won't. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:27:59.519 He can't. 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:08.000 You have to be willing to be someone that God can trust to invest your best. 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:12.799 If you're with me, say, I'm going to invest my best. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:23.519 A few weeks ago, my friend Trey, who I love, he's on the K-State football team. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.359 Got two sacks yesterday, by the way. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:26.960 And K-State won, by the way. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:28.720 Go Breads. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:36.720 Trey's been in the church for some time and served on the Usher and worship team or Usher and prayer team. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.119 And Trey is a man of few words. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:39.599 Okay. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:41.759 He's introverted. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.480 He doesn't say a lot, especially in crowds. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:46.640 That's not his context. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:50.319 He's going to be so mad that I'm talking about him right now. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:50.880 Okay. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:55.200 But a few weeks ago, well, let me just say this. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:09.039 Trey on the Usher team and on the prayer team, he has prayed for multiple of his friends, even some of the players who gave their life to Christ back in April. 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:11.200 He was the one to pray with them. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:25.920 And a few weeks ago, I asked Trey if he would pray at FCA that we have in the field house with the team and with other teams now on campus a few weeks ago. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:31.839 And I asked him, hey, would you pray to open things up in front of everybody? 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:36.000 And I knew that he did not want to do that. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:38.640 He did not want to do that. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:41.200 But you know what he did? 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:47.920 He got up there in front of everybody and he prayed a powerful prayer and he sat down. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:57.039 And probably a lot of people in the room didn't think anything of it, but I knew, I knew that Trey knows how to pray. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:29:59.759 He knows how to pray. 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:08.079 And so he stepped through the uncomfortable and stepped up and prayed in front of everybody. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:15.839 And other people weren't thinking about that, but I was thinking about it because I knew that that was a step of faith. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:23.599 And I I just was so encouraged by him doing that. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:32.480 To take that step let's just recap for a second. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:37.680 Can you be trusted with what God's given you? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:42.559 Will you be faithful even with the little things? 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:48.880 Will you avoid the temptation to bury your gifts in the ground? 00:30:49.119 --> 00:30:53.839 Now I'm gonna I'm gonna hit you with some ways for you to start small with this. 00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:54.400 Okay? 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:57.200 So bear with me for a second. 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:11.359 You can just start small by using your talents in small ways and gradually building up to bigger and bigger opportunities because each step that you take, no matter how small, they lead to your growth and you growing in your confidence in Christ. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:12.160 Amen? 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:22.880 You can strengthen in prayer by asking God for his guidance to help you to overcome fear, to show you how you can use your talents for his glory, to trust him and his wisdom. 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:30.880 You can shift your perspective from being a perspective that's stingy and filled with fear to an attitude of gratitude. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:44.000 You can step out in faith, that you take a step of faith and trust that God will equip you and the talents that he's given you so that you can take a step in the direction that God's leading you to. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:52.799 That means that there's probably somebody in the room today that you need to grab the card underneath your seat and you need to check the box baptism because you need to take a step towards him. 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:54.960 You need to take that step. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:32:05.759 You need to surround yourself with supportive, saved people who can encourage you, who can speak into you, who can walk with you and encourage you, hold you accountable. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:21.359 And then be willing to receive and seek out feedback because there's people in the life of this church, leaders who in the life of this church who have stepped out and said, okay, God, I'm gonna let you, I'm gonna let you take what I have in my hands to see it be multiplied. 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:28.400 And there are people in the life of our church that they're just, they would love for you to ask them, what way do you think I should be growing? 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:34.559 What do you think is next for me in my journey of faith? 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:37.920 Now, I want to end by saying this. 00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:44.880 Is it possible for us to bring our best every time, always? 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:45.839 No way. 00:32:48.559 --> 00:32:49.680 We're not able to do it. 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:53.519 But we're bringing our best effort to God. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:33:48.880 And it's Jesus and His power that's able to fill the gap between my imperfections and his glory, so that I'm stepping and able to be used on this side of heaven to see his kingdom come, his will be done, and through your life, and your family's life, and your children's life, and your children's children's life, so that you can be a very best effort, so that it can bless it, and so that it can be in a multiplied life, not by your own power because you're so great, but because God is so great, and because Jesus went to the cross 2,000 years ago to die in your place, to forgive you of every single sin, if you will just receive it, not hear it and bury it in the ground, but if you'll take hold of it and receive this free gift of salvation that can set you free. 00:33:51.200 --> 00:34:04.160 Or for you to bring your very best effort to him in the small thing that you think is small, but God has literally placed it in your hands and is waiting on you to trust him with it. 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:11.039 Now, some of you may be in the room, and you're asking the question, can I trust God? 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:16.000 I feel like God's not showed up for me. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:20.239 That person died when I didn't think they should have. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:25.599 I didn't get fill in the blank that I thought that I deserved. 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:38.400 And Jesus who promised to us in this world we will have trouble. 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:42.239 But take heart because he's overcome it. 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:56.320 As he stepped out of the grave, the broken system that is in this world right now, because of the disease of sin, Jesus has the power to heal it and to turn it around. 00:34:58.159 --> 00:35:07.679 And when you have water rushing you on every side, you don't drown because Jesus delivers himself to you on the water. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:21.920 And when you're in the fire, he's beside you in the fire with his hand over you from this life into the next. 00:35:23.119 --> 00:35:25.679 So stand to your feet now as I pray over every single one of us. 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:30.960 God, I thank you, Lord, for the amazing work and that you're doing in the life of our church. 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:38.400 And God, I just want to just give you glory, honor, and praise, Father, for the way that we have seen you move powerfully in such a short amount of time. 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:44.800 And God, I thank you, Lord, for using us as broken people, as imperfect people. 00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:49.599 God, to see your glory be made known and God to see your kingdom grow. 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:55.920 Father, we pray, Lord, that you, Lord, would continue to do that in and through us. 00:35:56.079 --> 00:36:12.559 And Father, I pray, Lord, all across this room, for every home that's represented, every mother, every father, every student, every grandparent that's in this room right now, God, that we would be people that would bring our best to you because you've brought your best already to us. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:24.239 And so, Father, I pray right now, Lord, that all across this room, as we bring our broken pieces to you, God, that you would use them for your glory. 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:29.760 So, God, I pray right now, Lord, over the generations to come. 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:45.280 I pray over workplaces and schools and homes, God, that Father, your kingdom would invade those spaces because we're willing just to give you what's in our hands. 00:36:45.599 --> 00:36:48.719 We thank you, we praise you, we love you. 00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:52.320 In the strong name of Jesus, everybody said, Amen, amen, amen.