WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.959 Hi, and thanks so much for joining us on the Sierra Bible Church Sermon of the Week. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:10.000 We hope you enjoy this message by Pastor Ralph Mum. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:15.359 Let's get in my head. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:17.519 Thank you, worship team. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.320 Wow. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:28.719 Well, happy Fourth of July and uh happy 250th year of America. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:30.239 Happy birthday. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:37.119 And uh yeah, how many were alive in 1976 for the bicentennial? 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:38.960 Hey, yeah, quite a few. 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:39.679 All right. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:40.560 You remember that? 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:42.960 I was like 20, 22 years old. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:52.159 Um, so needless to say, uh, I probably won't be around for the tricentennial because I'd be like 100 and whatever. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:01:00.399 But some of you, if you're under the age of like 45 or 40, you probably may see the tricentennial, right? 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:01.840 Wouldn't that be awesome? 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:02.880 Cool. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:13.599 So my wife and I and my two sisters went to Europe in May and we um traveled around Germany, spent two weeks there. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:15.920 Germany and Austria, Switzerland. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.640 It was beautiful and had a good time. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:20.560 And I love going to Europe. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:27.920 And um, because actually my parents are from Germany, and so it's kind of going back to some roots. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:32.079 And um, my oldest sister, she was born in Germany. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:55.840 She's she was two years old when they uh my parents immigrated to the United States along with a lot of of her their relatives, and um my mom was pregnant with me on the boat, she was six months pregnant, uh, coming over on 11 days on the and they said the sea was pretty pretty rough, and she almost had me at sea. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:02.400 So, but I was born here and uh three months after the ship landed, and uh so I'm a naturalized citizen. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:09.840 But my sister, my parents made their citizenship, they were so happy to be uh citizens of the United States. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:14.639 My sister, when she became of age, she had to make her citizenship too. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:34.000 So, all that to say, when being in Europe was fun, but when we came back to the states and you go through the airport and through customs, and then you see on the wall, welcome to the United States of America. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:43.039 It's like I just get this warm feeling, like, yes, I'm a citizen, I belong here, and it's such a great feeling. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.479 And that's what we're talking about today, what it means to belong. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:47.919 We all belong. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:49.840 We want to belong, right? 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:55.680 We want to belong to uh to a family or in a marriage. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.800 But first off, talking about belonging, we belong to the Lord, first and foremost. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:04.400 We belong to the Lord. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.199 If you're filling out your outline, that's number one. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:08.960 We belong to the Lord. 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:14.639 In Isaiah 43 it says, Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:16.560 You are mine. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:18.879 Isn't that good news, Steve? 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:20.000 Isn't that good news? 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:21.840 Steve, you are his. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.840 He calls you by name, he knows your name. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.680 That's so awesome. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:37.280 And then in Philippians 3.20 says, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:48.000 One of these days, when I die, I'll cross over and whatever heaven is like, I don't know, but I know Jesus will be there. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.960 And um, maybe there's a big thing, you know, welcome to heaven. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:54.879 You are home. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.800 You are finally home. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:58.240 Uh, I've read this book. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:02.159 I mentioned it maybe a year ago, Imagine Heaven by John Burke. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:19.759 He's a Christian writer, he's written several books, and um he interviewed hundreds of people that have had these near-death experiences and they experienced like while they were like on the operating table or in an accident or underwater or something, they kind of went to heaven and back, something. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:22.800 And he interviewed uh lots of people. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:33.839 He put the hundred best stories, the most uh stories that have a lot of uh, you know, for him, the the credibility, I guess. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:42.079 And he says that almost to a person, people that have crossed over and come back said they felt more at home than they ever felt. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.160 That's amazing. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:51.360 And then he points out that Philippians 3 verse, that we our citizenship is not here. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:53.839 Your real home is in heaven, right? 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.199 And you're gonna feel when you get there, you're gonna feel at home. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:59.439 Like that's where you really belong. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.160 We also belong to one another. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:03.759 That's the second thing. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:12.480 We belong to one another, therefore, having put away falsehood, let each of you, one of you, speak the truth with his neighbor. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.160 For we are members of one another. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.079 We belong, right? 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:25.360 All of you, how many are in any kind of a relationship, friendship, or I'm sure all hands should go up, right? 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:27.920 You're all have relationships. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:40.319 Uh, one relationship is as early as uh Genesis, God saw that man should not be alone and create a helper and a helpmate, and he created woman. 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:41.680 So we have marriage. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:49.839 On the slide, you'll see this picture is my mom and dad getting married in Germany in 1951. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.040 And she's around it. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.639 They were there were eight brothers and sisters, so all of them are there with their spouse. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.639 Some Muslim had spouses. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.519 They all immigrated to the United States also. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:07.439 And um, I put that picture there because they came to America to start a new life. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:13.600 They heard America is a good place, start a new life, and um, and they did a great life. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:15.759 Some people said you shouldn't have kids. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:23.360 You know, war they came through the war, they saw a lot of death, a lot of destruction over there in Europe, in Germany. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:31.439 But they came over and had me and my two sisters, and the next picture is what developed. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.240 That picture was taken five years ago. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:42.399 And um, there's actually that picture was uh on July 4th in um 2021. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:56.319 And my son Nathan, who will be preaching next week, he uh is and his wife and kids are not in that picture because they were getting ready to have their third child, little Levi, over in San Francisco. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:00.560 And so their whole family, so six of them are gone out of that picture. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:04.319 But um, and Levi, if you see him this morning, he was here this morning. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:05.519 I think he's already gone home. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:10.560 But wish him a happy birthday because his birthday is July 5th today, turn five. 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:17.519 And there's also six babies who have been born since that picture was taken between my sisters and us. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:25.920 And so uh add 13 people to that picture, and it's still growing because two of the girls way on the far end, they're not married yet. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.920 And um, so who knows how many of there will be? 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.800 There's like 30, 31, I believe, now. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:38.800 So we're made for a relationship and another relationship or a community that we belong to a church. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:43.199 This picture is taken from the uh uh vacation Bible school. 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:44.480 How many of you are in this picture? 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:45.600 Are a few of you in there? 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:46.399 Yeah. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:57.920 So we there were like 200 helpers helping these 500 kids have a good week of vacation Bible school, and it's so great to be part of a church, a community. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.000 We belong there too, right? 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.639 And so I put that picture on. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:09.759 If you have come in here and you you're not part of a church at all and you're looking for a church, I invite you to come to see our Bible church. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:11.439 Make this your church home. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:16.000 You belong here, so make it your church home if you can. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:29.920 So, talking about relationships, uh a couple weeks ago I started looking up stuff, um, and I found a Harvard uh university study on relationships. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.720 It's one of the longest uh relationships on adult development. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:40.159 They started in 1938 and it's ongoing, it's over over 85 years old. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.360 And this study, you can Google it and you find it. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:45.919 You say, What's the secret for a happy life? 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.480 Harvard University, and you'll you'll see this study and you can get into it. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:55.440 But it was they studied, start off with over 250 guys like sophomores. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:56.159 Uh John F. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.120 Kennedy was part of the original study, I believe. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:12.720 But they uh studied these guys and their whole life, but they also decided not just Harvard type people, men, we should include um men like inner city, you know, like poor people. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:18.799 So they got another four or five hundred guys involved to go along with that study. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:23.360 And then they also included women eventually because Harvard was an all-men's college originally. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:30.320 So they included the wives of women, and then they started following their children and their children's children and everything. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:35.360 And what they did, they I mean, they go into the homes over the years. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.559 They kept having funding for this study. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:49.519 They interview people, they uh they give them questionnaires, they actually take uh medical records too, and they had over 10,000 pages of data and information. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.480 And when that's all said and done, this is what they came up with. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.919 This is so interesting. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:59.679 It revealed that the ultimate key to a happy and healthy life isn't wealth, money. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:04.399 It's not that fame or career success. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:17.679 Instead, the single most powerful predictor of a long-term well-being is the quality of our relationships, and that embracing community helps us live longer and be happier. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:19.600 Isn't that interesting? 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:34.639 It takes a study like that to prove the Bible because Jesus, I mean, talks about relationships to love one another, to get along with people, to have good relationships, and it's not the quantity of relationships, it's the quality, how you develop those relationships. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:38.240 You don't have to have a lot of friends, just maybe a few. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:45.679 I know there's a um, they're not here this morning, but uh, well, Craig uh is one of the men I meet with in John. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:57.600 We've been meeting once a week for over 30 years, and it's a relationship that just developed out of a the old Promise Keeper time, and uh we still meet. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.919 We don't do any big Bible study or anything, we just talk about our lives. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:09.120 We first we talked about our wives and our kids, now it's our grandkids and and them getting you know married and all that stuff. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:23.279 So anyway, it's it's a um I encourage, especially guys and and women too, to have friends like that that you can meet with regularly and that hold you accountable, that really care about you. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:27.600 You know, I'm not talking about friends like guys, you know, drinking buddies or something. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:31.360 I'm talking about guys that really care about you and really support you. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:39.679 If that when the chips are down or you're having problems in your relationship with your wife or whatever, they support you and they they help you. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.679 So I would highly encourage that for both guys and girls. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:56.879 They found that the four daily pillars or the four daily habits of people that are um happy and success or uh happy and healthy in the study. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.600 Number one, they practice their faith. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.440 That's interesting. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.159 Took a study like that to prove the Bible. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.120 Number two, staying close to your family. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.600 Number three, building real relationships or friendships. 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:16.320 I'm sorry, building real friendships, and then four, find meaning in their work. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.320 So I'll say those four again. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.639 Number one, practice your faith. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.600 Number two, stay close to the family. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:30.960 Number three, building real friendships, and number four, finding meaning in the work, in your work. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:40.639 So this summer we've been talking about the narrow path to um of life, you know, to a good life, the narrow path. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.120 And sometimes it takes that narrow path. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:53.519 And I I put down here three ways we follow that narrow path to positive and lasting relationships, because relationships are what it's all about. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:08.399 Matter of fact, they even in that study they said they can predict your long-term health, even into your 80s, by your relationships more than they could by their health uh medical records, you know, their cholesterol levels and stuff like that. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:16.000 They could predict, like this guy's got good relationships, they probably will live happier and healthier. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:28.639 So Jesus showed us in John 13, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:30.879 You also are to love one another. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:36.320 By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:42.240 He didn't just Jesus didn't just leave us alone and say, Oh, go, go love everybody. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.080 Be happy, love everybody. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.519 He said, Love them like I'm gonna show you how. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:49.759 And he showed us how to love. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:56.240 Now, wouldn't that be nice nice to have, you know, somebody show us how to love and how to get along with people? 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.279 Well, he showed us, and I'm gonna go through those. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.720 He showed us how, you know, it's like parents. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:10.879 You tell your kids, you especially you young parents, you tell your kids, no fighting, stop fighting. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.840 But are you giving the example? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:18.879 Are you actually like not fighting with your spouse, right? 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:36.960 Now, I understand some of you have grown up, you didn't have a good example, maybe at home, and I get that, and that does hurt, but the Bible does give us instruction, and you can go to the Bible, even if you've had bad examples, let's do it right. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:48.240 He's showing you the right way to do it, like you're you know, get along, share, share with your brother or sister. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:49.919 Are you sharing? 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.840 You know, what you're telling them, are you backing it up? 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:56.639 Say sorry, sorry. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.519 You've all heard that, right? 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.399 Are you apologizing to your spouse? 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.320 Do they see you apologizing? 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:09.120 Do they see you apologize to them or to their siblings, maybe? 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:12.799 It's all about the example, and Jesus sets the example. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.480 The first thing he shows us how is grace. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.240 Number one is grace. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:24.240 My daughter up in Seattle, Washington, she's 36 years old. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:31.600 She um she has three little ones, a little three-year-old, two-year-old, and a baby. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:36.960 And she's like, Dad, life is hard. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:38.639 I go, yeah. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:44.879 She said, I just, I mean, and she didn't know what I that I was talking about this this morning. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:50.080 She goes, Wow, you know, life takes a lot of grace, doesn't it? 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.080 With her husband and with the children, a lot of grace. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:55.840 And she mentioned that word two or three times. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.639 I said, Yeah, you know, you're just building my sermon for me. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.279 It takes a lot of grace for each other. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.720 In Colossians 3, we read those words. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:16.720 Uh, put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:25.039 And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.480 Remember, it's by grace we are saved, right? 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:29.919 It was by grace. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:31.440 We don't deserve it. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:33.600 And it was by grace. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:48.240 In his book, uh Paul Tripp, in the Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, he mentions this his grace, God's grace, results in reconciliation, restoration, and peace. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:55.840 The impossibility of sinners becoming godly become possible, becomes possible through his grace. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:01.440 By grace, parents can pursue rebellious teenagers with patient, persevering love. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.720 By grace, a wife can put away bitter memories and fully forgive her husband. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:14.400 By grace, people can exit the prisons of depression, anxiety, and compulsion to live in hope-filled freedom. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:24.240 And by grace, those bound by lust, greed, fear, or vengeance can live in the purity and courage of faith. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.519 Wow, it's all by grace. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:32.079 I have a picture here of um my wife and I. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.640 This one goes way back. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:40.400 It's over 50 years old because uh next month we're gonna celebrate our 49th anniversary. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:46.559 And um, but then we we actually were uh dating for quite a while before that. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.759 So we were, I think, our first year of college in this picture. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:54.640 My wife and I, we were our girlfriend at the time, we're dating, not married yet. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:01.119 We're part of a singing group in uh down in Southern California at a church where we uh attended. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:06.240 And I show you this picture, flip to the next one. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:26.559 There we are just a few months ago in Hawaii, and um I tell people that, especially when I counsel like uh married couples, and I tell them, I said, you want to get from that first picture to that picture, but it's gonna take a lot of grace. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.079 A lot of grace. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.240 People say, Oh, you have a great marriage. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:31.519 No, we don't. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:37.920 We have a normal marriage with all its ups and downs, all its problems. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:40.799 We have four kids, two boys, two girls. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:41.839 We had it all. 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:44.400 Now we got 12 grandkids, too. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.559 But you go through ups and downs, but you go through it together. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:54.720 No, we don't have a great marriage, but we have a great God who has shown us how to show grace to each other. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:57.599 So, one more thing. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:02.559 There are smiles on our faces because the next picture I thought I'd throw this in is hula pie. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.759 Because we just finished off dessert, that hula pie. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:16.720 And I tell you, uh, I can show a lot of grace to my wife, but when I order hula pie for dessert, she'll love me till the day I die. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:20.799 I mean, that is hula pie covers a lot of wrongs. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:25.440 And um, I know that's a verse in the Bible, but I I'll figure it out. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:32.400 But anyway, that's to make that relationship work, it takes a lot of grace, but also takes some fun too, right? 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:35.920 We put some fun in our marriage and we have hula pie. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:46.319 I wish they I wish I could find it here in the States, but anyway, number two the narrow path to positive and lasting relationships is humility. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:47.759 Humility. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:20:03.279 I would say that the greatest obstacle, like when I do counseling in my office, whether it's married couples or family or friends or whatever, I find the biggest obstacle is pride. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.000 Pride and self-centeredness. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.359 We could just care what we care about, and our culture is telling us the same thing. 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:13.119 It's about you, right? 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:36.319 You like I want what I want, how I want it, when I want it, and I'm not concerned with you, you know, and if two people, a married couple or whatever, it could be co-workers, it could be friends, it could be, you know, any number of relationships, two people are not getting what they want, you have a problem, right? 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.000 So, how do you solve that problem? 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:47.519 One of them is to be humble and maybe practice a little bit of humility in your life and get rid of that pride. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:52.240 There's a verse in Prov, I don't have it up here, but Proverbs 13 10. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.480 Proverbs 13 10. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:55.279 Four words. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:56.720 You should memorize this. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.319 Pride leads to conflict. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.759 Pride leads to conflict. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.599 It's through pride that we have all this conflict. 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:09.519 I carry a key around with me. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:19.359 I think I mentioned this, I don't know, a couple years ago I did the sermon about the keys to our hearts and how we give Jesus all the keys to all the rooms in our hearts. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:25.279 And but we sometimes reserve one key, one room, a closet or something we want for ourselves. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.880 And for me, I I'm not ashamed to admit it, it was pride. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:36.079 And I carry that around to let me know be humble, right? 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.279 Be humble. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:49.279 And so, um, and I don't know with you, but humility is something that we um it's hard, and that but that's the narrow way, right? 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:51.839 That's the narrow way that Jesus took. 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.599 James 4, verse 6, he said, He gives more grace. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:22:00.960 Therefore, it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to The humble. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.480 What if Jesus? 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:05.599 Think about this. 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:12.240 What if Jesus stood his ground and said, I'm not gonna do this. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.200 I'm not gonna die on this cross. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:16.720 I'm not gonna go there. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:19.200 Because it's not my fault. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:20.640 It's their fault. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.720 I hear that so much. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:24.480 It's their fault. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.440 And Jesus lived a sinless life. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:29.200 He could actually say that. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.359 It was none of his fault. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:34.319 Our human sin. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:35.920 None of it was his fault. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:37.200 It was all our fault. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.480 And it says here in Philippians 2, there's a misprint. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:47.279 I think here says Philippians 4, but it's Philippians 2, verses 4 through 8. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.880 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:57.200 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:02.240 See again, he offers us his mind, his way of thinking. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:26.960 Have this mind in youth, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:29.599 He surrend he surrendered. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.680 He submitted his body, everything. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:38.799 He said, you know, to the Roman authority he submitted, to he didn't have to, but he did. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:42.079 To the Jewish leaders he submitted, he didn't have to, but he did. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:44.480 To all the people he submitted also. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:46.720 He didn't have to, but he did that too. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:52.799 Sometimes we think we're a little more important than Jesus. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:53.920 We don't have to submit. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:55.039 We don't have to be humble. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:56.559 It's their fault, right? 00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:58.640 They started it. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.680 But you can end it. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.480 You can end it. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.079 You know, there was a conflict between God and man. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:10.240 That conflict was sin, right? 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:13.200 You've all most of you have heard about this. 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:19.039 That the conflict that and how how was that conflict settled? 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:24.799 It was settled at the cross where God sent his son, John 3.16. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:25.680 He loved the world. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:26.720 He did it out of love. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.559 I love the world so much. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:35.119 That he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not die but have eternal life. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:36.559 He gave us that. 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:46.319 He humbled himself, he ended it, he reconciled us by humbling himself for death on the cross. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.240 He humbled himself. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:56.799 Finally, number three, forgiveness, the narrow path to positive and lasting relationships. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:58.240 Forgiveness. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.519 This is especially a hard one. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:10.799 That's why I left it till the end, because forgiveness is something that it's hard to say, I forgive you. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:29.279 When I do any marriage type counseling or marriage service or you know, wedding, I say the most important words you can use or phrases you can use in your life in your marriage is forgive me, I forgive you, will you forgive me? 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:31.039 And I I love you. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:36.319 I'm sorry, I forgive you, will you forgive me? 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:37.680 And I love you. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:39.279 Those are the four. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.359 I don't say them enough. 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:42.720 I know I don't. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:54.240 So I wanted to um ask the communion servers if you could start passing out the elements because we're gonna be taking communion in just a minute. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:10.240 I wanted it's easy to talk about forgiveness and a lot of Bible verses, and I can throw, you know, you could I could throw a lot of Bible verses at you and tell you to forgive and all that, but I wanted to give you a personal example of what forgiveness looks like. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:19.200 Something that happened to me, and I shared this maybe a few years ago, but it's worth some of you may remember it, it's worth talking about again. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:21.839 This was some years ago. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:42.400 I owned a property in Merced, a corner property, and it was a commercial property that um I rented to a man, a gentleman by the name of Arturo, and he um he ran a uh it started off a good relationship, and he uh he did a like a Mexican ice cream with fruit and everything. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:43.440 It was really good. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:50.079 Every time I go down there, I'd love it because he'd give me free ice cream and all that stuff and had a good relationship. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:58.640 Then about almost a year later, he um he started not paying me my rent, you know. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:03.359 That we we you know, we have a lease agreement and everything, but he'd stop paying me. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:06.480 And it's like I would go down there and he would, I think he hid. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:11.359 Matter of fact, one time I went down there, I was gonna meet him, and his son, I said, Where's your dad? 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:15.680 His teenage son was working the ice cream place, and he said, Oh, I think he's gone. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:17.680 He's probably gambling your money away. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:20.079 I go, Well, that's great. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.640 You know, what am I gonna do now? 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:32.000 He said, Well, my dad got back into like alcohol and some cocaine and stuff, and he said, I'm sorry about that. 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:46.319 Well, it was probably a week or two after that, too, or a few weeks, that I get a call from my son who lived in Merced at the time, and he called me and he said, Dad, I think the uh that ice cream place is shut down. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:49.920 I don't, it's the lights aren't on, no power, no nothing. 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:52.480 And so I I go, oh wow, okay. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:57.519 So Jenny and I went down there and we found it was shut down. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.839 He left all the ice cream, the power PGE, he didn't pay that bill either. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:10.559 It power was off, the ice cream was melted, it's getting moldy in the freezers, and um, so my wife and I cleaned it up. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:16.000 And that night I was at Yosemite Church. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:28.559 Yosemite Church, uh, Pastor Jeff was given a message on forgiveness, and it just hit me like a I said, no, God, I'm not gonna forgive that guy. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:35.839 He owes me a lot of money by this point, and and God kept nagging me, you've got to forgive this guy. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:38.880 I said, Yeah, but I even met with an attorney. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:43.359 We talked a little bit about how to go about and try to get some of my money back. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:50.160 And I'm like, God finally, you know, won out in my life and said, You got to forgive this guy. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:51.359 So I called him. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:54.559 He he wasn't answering any calls or text messages. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:29:00.160 Finally, he he answered the phone and uh so what do you want? 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.640 I said, I'd like to just meet with you, Arturo. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:04.880 And he goes, uh, what about? 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:07.119 I said, just can I meet with you? 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:08.079 Can we just talk? 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.279 He goes, Okay. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.599 He met me at uh the the next Saturday, he met me at the uh that location. 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:25.920 And I said, Arturo, I what I did, I made this up so you can understand this. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.160 I I gave him an envelope, I said, here you go. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:31.839 And he he said, What is this? 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:44.000 And he opened it up, he looks at it, and he's like, It's a bill, and it was an itemized bill, close to ten thousand dollars, money he owed me for damages and everything. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:49.759 And I like he looked at it and he goes, You know, I can't pay this. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:52.240 I go, I know you can't pay it. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.559 So this is what I'm gonna do. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:59.440 I took it and I ripped it up. 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:03.200 I said, Your debts paid. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.359 And he looked at me, seriously? 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.240 You're not gonna come after me or anything? 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.119 I said, No, I'm not gonna come after you. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.039 Your debts paid. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:30.480 The next few minutes was full of hugs, tears as we embraced, and he was pretty overwhelmed by what I was doing. 00:30:30.880 --> 00:30:34.400 And I I even told him, I said, Arturo, it's not me doing this. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:38.480 I said, because Jesus forgave my sin, I'm forgiving you. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:43.839 And then he invited me to breakfast, and so we went to breakfast. 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:59.200 Of course, I paid for it, so he didn't have any money and went to breakfast and we had a nice talk, and then later on, I drove home by myself, and I had to pull over on J59. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:06.960 On that highway, I had to pull over because I was tears were welling up in my eyes for what just happened. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:13.519 Number one, I was thinking of what what happened between me and Arturo. 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:14.960 The relationship was restored. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:18.559 If he walked through that door right now, I'd give him a hug and he'd hug me. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:20.720 A relationship was restored. 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:23.519 Even though he owed me a lot of money, it released me. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:24.640 I don't care. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.440 The relationship was more important than that. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:35.680 But more importantly, is the lesson I learned of what Jesus did for me. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:37.759 He ripped it up. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:42.960 All my sin, shoot, it'd be pages, it'd be a book of sin. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:46.559 And that's what Jesus did on the cross. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:53.440 He ripped it up, said, You're forgiven, your debt is paid, you're free. 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:57.599 And we want to go back and say, Well, what about that little sin or that sin? 00:31:57.839 --> 00:31:58.720 It's covered. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.400 Well, what about don't worry about it, it's covered. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:17.519 And you know, sometimes hopefully, by what I'm talking about, this forgiveness and everything, as we enter into communion, you may have something against somebody. 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:23.519 They could even be in this room or sit next to you, and you need to make it right. 00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:33.359 Because, like, like I mentioned, you can say, Well, they started it, yeah, but you can end it. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:44.960 Jesus ended it, He ended it, you're forgiven, and now we belong to Him in heaven. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:33:03.200 So I encourage you, if you have a relationship, whether it be a husband, wife, or good friends, or sisters, brothers, mom, or you know, mom, dad, or parent, kid, or a kid with a parent, whatever, don't put it off. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.599 Don't put it off at all. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.920 You people say, oh, well, time heals all wounds. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.960 No, it doesn't, it gets worse. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.480 Take care of it, please. 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:17.920 Take care of it. 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:25.519 I wrote up a little prayer before we take communion, and I'm gonna pray it right now. 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:31.039 And maybe you could just, in your mind, just pray along with me. 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:38.799 Dear Heavenly Father, I humble myself before you and confess my sin. 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:47.039 I am so grateful for the grace that you have given me as your child and for forgiving me. 00:33:47.759 --> 00:34:08.079 Lord, grant me the strength to forgive those people in my life who have hurt me by the things they have done or the things that they have said, and help me to apologize to those who I have hurt by the things I have said or done, and show me how to make things right. 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.400 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:11.440 Amen. 00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:18.079 Take that little cup of yours, take the little bread out. 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:31.679 That night that Jesus actually was betrayed before he went to the cross, he was betrayed, and later that night, his own disciple Peter denied him three times. 00:34:32.079 --> 00:34:33.280 I don't know that guy. 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:34.639 Oh yeah. 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:41.360 Jesus knew all this was gonna happen when he did this. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:47.920