SPEAKER_00: Friends, ladies, welcome back to Grove Women Live.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we it's been a while.
SPEAKER_00: It has been a while, and um, we are excited to be back.
SPEAKER_00: Lori and I absolutely love joining you every Tuesday morning and just hanging out with you for a few minutes and just sharing our own experiences of how we're trying to manage through this life with uh Jesus being the foundation of that.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna talk about that today.
SPEAKER_00: I am very excited about this new series.
SPEAKER_00: We are now launching into starting today um our third summer song series.
SPEAKER_00: And I know that's kind of a mouthful, but um basically um we are going to walk through some of our favorite worship songs that many of us sing on Sunday mornings, and we're going to um sometimes talk about the history of the song.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're gonna talk about just the meaning of the song or where the song came from.
SPEAKER_00: And um, listen, I'm gonna be really honest.
SPEAKER_00: The song that we're starting with, I like it.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I would not say that it's my favorite uh worship song, but it's a great song.
SPEAKER_00: It was written during the pandemic, so it makes the words just mean so much more.
SPEAKER_00: But um, we're talking about the house of the Lord um today.
SPEAKER_00: There's joy in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna talk through what that looks like in our own house right here and in our house of the Lord when we uh meet together um on Sunday mornings or at church whenever you gather with God's people.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're in, if you're joining us live, I would love for you to just give us a shout out in the comments.
SPEAKER_00: Um, hey, listen, we've got a lot of new women um just in the community that um maybe are coming to Hickory Grove or are friends of yours, maybe you're newer.
SPEAKER_00: Um so tag a friend and um help them find our group so that hopefully every Tuesday morning they can get a little encouragement as well.
SPEAKER_00: So welcome back.
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to get started this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Also, just a heads up, um, we're I'm in a new space um in my home, and I don't know how it's gonna work today, to be very honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we moved my office upstairs.
SPEAKER_00: So if you've been around for a while, you're like, ooh, there's nothing back there.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, there's nothing back there but a wall.
SPEAKER_00: But I will say that this room, um, and I'm just being real, this room butts up to my son's bathroom.
SPEAKER_00: So if you start hearing banging and clamoring and weird sounds, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Like it just is real life around here.
SPEAKER_00: So um unfortunately, now that he's graduated in the fall, it'll get a little quieter around this house.
SPEAKER_00: But um, but today, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know when he'll be up.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know when he'll start making noise.
SPEAKER_00: So you've been warned.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's start the morning with some prayer, and then I'm gonna dive right into uh finding joy um in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: All right, join me with me.
SPEAKER_00: Join uh join me in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, thank you for this opportunity that we can come together just quickly and get filled up with a little more of you.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, I just love how much you love us and where you will meet us in every situation, you will meet us in every heart condition, you will meet us wherever we are, and you will try to pour into us what it is we need from you.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for loving us in our mess.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for loving us exactly where we are.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I thank you for loving us enough that you don't want us to stay stuck where we are.
SPEAKER_00: You want us to move into more joy that is found in uh only found in you.
SPEAKER_00: So thank you for that.
SPEAKER_00: Lead us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Be every word that I speak, Lord, may it hit hearts and may we find joy in you today.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's in his name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's get going.
SPEAKER_00: Um so the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So just a very quick um a little bit about this song.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you were in church at Hickory Grove on Sunday, um, we sang this song.
SPEAKER_00: You got to see the video of this song, and I will actually post it in the comments if you decide after today.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I want to listen to that again now that I kind of know a little bit more.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was written by Phil Wickham, who is a very well-known worship uh leader um in our world, in our country.
SPEAKER_00: And he wrote this song um during the pandemic, which is wild.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, some of the words, I mean, you would not expect this song to be a song written in the pandemic, but the whole point behind it is in the pandemic, there was a time we couldn't meet as churches.
SPEAKER_00: We weren't allowed to gather together.
SPEAKER_00: We didn't know if it was safe, if it wasn't.
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of things we didn't know back then.
SPEAKER_00: And so when we couldn't meet as a big C church, is when we couldn't come together on Sunday, Phil wrote this song because honestly, the house of the Lord is right here within me.
SPEAKER_00: I am the house of the Lord, I am his temple, I am his dwelling place, and so are you.
SPEAKER_00: And so finding joy in the house of the Lord, which is right here within my own heart, mind, and soul, um, that's the point of the song.
SPEAKER_00: Like when we have that joy here, then when we come together to worship or when we go to work or when we go wherever it is we go, we have that joy and we can share that joy.
SPEAKER_00: So that is where the song came from.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna take time to read all of the um the lyrics this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I I may pop in uh a few lyrics here and there as we chat.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh it's a great song, and like I said, I will post it in the comments um after we finish here in just a few minutes.
SPEAKER_00: So we're just gonna chat through how this has hit my heart, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully you can relate to that.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what these weekly devotionals are.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take the song, and Lori and I are gonna apply it to our lives, and hopefully that makes it authentic and real to you, and you can apply it to your life.
SPEAKER_00: So, as I was thinking about this song, here's where my brain went.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, my son, my youngest, my baby, just graduated high school.
SPEAKER_00: And so thinking through this song and what I felt like the Lord laid on my heart to share with you this morning is I was thinking about all the work we did on our physical house to get it ready for the graduation party.
SPEAKER_00: And and I don't know if you do graduation parties for your kids or if you did, or if you had one, or whatever, but um, but we've always we have four boys, we've always done a graduation party.
SPEAKER_00: And um the last two we've done at our home.
SPEAKER_00: So there has been work we've had to do to get ready for that party, to have people come over.
SPEAKER_00: And I I a lot of people have graduation parties for a lot of different reasons.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we always, especially in the line of work that I'm in, being a minister at a local church, I really wanted my last two boys when we had graduation parties here at our homes.
SPEAKER_00: I really wanted them to get to experience and come face to face with the village that surrounded them.
SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot of people pray for their lives, a lot of people pray for their journeys, a lot of people are still praying for them because of our small groups or because of our church family or because of the staff or the connections that I have.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's one of the reasons I feel like the Lord led me to this specific role I have at Hickory Grove as um discipleship minister.
SPEAKER_00: Like I want people to connect like I have been able to connect.
SPEAKER_00: I want people to have community like I've had community.
SPEAKER_00: I want people to experience Jesus in a way that's shared.
SPEAKER_00: And actually, the verses we're going to read today talk about that.
SPEAKER_00: So um, so we have wanted the last few years with these last two boys of ours to really give them the opportunity to experience that community that has come around them and supported them, even if they didn't know them.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I wanted them to confront that face to face.
SPEAKER_00: And it it made an impact on both our third boy and our fourth boy when they sit down and read those cards, and when they sit down or they share those moments with people that come and take time out of their day to celebrate with them, it matters.
SPEAKER_00: So, getting ready for this graduation party, uh, there were a few things we needed to do around the house.
SPEAKER_00: We needed, and if you live in a house or if you live in anything, it takes maintenance, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's non-going things that have to be fixed or maintained or taken care of.
SPEAKER_00: And oh my goodness, how that analogy relates to, or that metaphor, I don't know, I'm not an English major, how that relates to the heart conditions that we each have.
SPEAKER_00: There has to be ongoing maintenance.
SPEAKER_00: So a few of the things that we had to do, our deck was falling apart.
SPEAKER_00: This house, I think, is like, I don't know, we've not, we've only been here six years, but I think it's 19 years old, and I think the deck was original to the house when it was built, and it was fallen apart.
SPEAKER_00: There were pieces that were rotted, and if you stepped in certain places, it really wasn't safe.
SPEAKER_00: So we're like, oh ma'am, we're gonna have to replace the deck if we're gonna have people over here.
SPEAKER_00: Not cheap, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we we we did that.
SPEAKER_00: We replaced the deck before the grad party.
SPEAKER_00: Um, other things, man, it had been a couple of years since, and I'm just being honest, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But my favorite thing is not pulling weeds out of flower beds, right?
SPEAKER_00: So that was a mess.
SPEAKER_00: Like our our like landscaping and stuff, like I know that's a dumb thing, but but it was it was pretty messy.
SPEAKER_00: So we have friends that that we asked for their help to come and and clean those beds out and and help us find our flowers and our bushes again.
SPEAKER_00: And so we did a little like you know, cosmetic work uh with the with the landscaping.
SPEAKER_00: We fixed some of those things.
SPEAKER_00: Um, other things that we did, um, you know, we had to prepare, we we had to plan for food to celebrate, you know, we had to prepare the table and we had to um clean, we had to get things clean in case people came in and wanted to use my bathroom, which is fine, but y'all know, like you know.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so there were things we had to do around our house to prepare for people to come and celebrate with us.
SPEAKER_00: And I couldn't stop thinking about that when I was thinking about the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And today we're gonna take a couple of minutes to talk about two different houses, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And I think you've already kind of heard me touch on that.
SPEAKER_00: The the house of the Lord, which is my own heart, my own temple, my own soul that is his.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about that.
SPEAKER_00: We're also gonna talk about the big sea church, the the church itself, and why that's important and why when we have worked on our own hearts, then we can go and we can share joy in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So there's two different houses.
SPEAKER_00: We are the house that he is building, and then there is the house of the Lord that we go to.
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of times we sometimes only think of the house that we go to on Sundays, but there is so much more to what the temple of the Lord is.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of where we are gonna start today.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about our own personal temples.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, girls, guys, whoever.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, this Facebook now deletes these after a month, these videos.
SPEAKER_00: And so we put them on our podcast.
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know, there may be a random dude that listens.
SPEAKER_00: I doubt it because he's gonna hear, you know, me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
SPEAKER_00: But anyway, um, we're gonna start in Ephesians chapter two, and these are a couple of verses that were read on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: So if you were in church, they're gonna maybe sound familiar, but listen, here's what I know about God's word.
SPEAKER_00: You can read the same verses every single day for a year, and they're gonna hit different every single time.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna read those verses, and then I've got another one that I'm gonna read in a couple of minutes, but um, but we're gonna start here and we're gonna talk about our own temples.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm reading in the book of Ephesians, which by the way, if you're one of those people that you're like, man, I really want to start reading the Bible, I really I don't know where to start.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians is a great place to start.
SPEAKER_00: It's six chapters, it's it's a small book.
SPEAKER_00: You can you can accomplish it, even though you know, being in God's word, we're not trying to accomplish anything, we're just trying to grow.
SPEAKER_00: But it's it's a small book, it's chopped full of so much good um good stuff.
SPEAKER_00: So I would I would recommend it's a great place to start.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a great place to start.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna actually be in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 17 is where I'm gonna start.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what it says this is the ESV study bible, which by the way, if you start reading um in God's word, get yourself a study Bible, it explains so many things that are like, I don't understand what I'm reading.
SPEAKER_00: Well, study Bibles help with that.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone for through him, and he's talking about Jesus, through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
SPEAKER_00: You are part of his family when you say yes to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, all those that went before us and laid the groundwork for us so that we have a church to go to, um, so that we have the gospel of Jesus Christ dwelling in us.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so laid on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In him, and this is a great verse, listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So it talks in there, I believe, both about the actual building that we go to, which is what a lot of people consider to be church on Sundays, but also the temple that he wants to build within us, the church that is where he dwells within our hearts, our minds, and our souls.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're gonna talk about first.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about my own temple, your own temple, and maybe some maintenance, like we had to do on this house, maybe some maintenance that needs to be done to let it be a dwelling place where he can give you freedom and he can give you rest and peace and all those things that, man, we are so desperately craving in this world.
SPEAKER_00: So for me, my temple, here's what it looks like for me, and then I'm gonna tell you the reality of where I am, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because I can't, I can't lie to you.
SPEAKER_00: I can't like I won't tell you something that's not true, but but what it means to me is if I am creating that place for him to dwell in, then I'm spending day with him, I'm spending time with him every day.
SPEAKER_00: I am talking to him all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I'm in conversation with him.
SPEAKER_00: So that's prayer, but also it's just conversation.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think a lot of times we think prayer has to be in a box, it has to be done a certain way, it has to be specific.
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe that.
SPEAKER_00: Prayer is a conversation with your creator.
SPEAKER_00: So for me, letting him dwell within me means I am spending time with him, I'm trying to listen to him, I'm reading his word, I'm having a conversation with him, um, I'm taking care of myself so that I have a body that can serve him and be his hands and feet and do whatever it is he wants me to do.
SPEAKER_00: Those are some things that I think about when I think about this temple that he has given me to be a dwelling place for him.
SPEAKER_00: So let's kind of walk through some of those.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be really honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about time with him.
SPEAKER_00: It is summertime, and I am struggling with this.
SPEAKER_00: During the fall and winter, man, I had this going so good, so smooth.
SPEAKER_00: Like every morning I would um a lot of mornings go to the gym or take a walk outside, and then I'd come right in.
SPEAKER_00: And this is gonna sound silly, but I would make peanut butter jelly sandwiches for my son to go to school.
SPEAKER_00: I'd see him off to school, and then I would sit down with my coffee and I would read my Bible and spend time with the Lord and then go to work.
SPEAKER_00: Like every single morning, it was the same.
SPEAKER_00: But now it's summer, and my son is not going to school, and I'm not getting up to go and make peanut butter jelly sandwiches.
SPEAKER_00: And to be honest with you, and this is another part of my temple, I'm not going to the gym like I'm supposed to because yeah, gone it, it's summer and I want to sleep in.
SPEAKER_00: So bad.
SPEAKER_00: I know, but also maybe necessary, sort of.
SPEAKER_00: I am struggling with finding my summer routine.
SPEAKER_00: Now I know summer has just started, um, and I'm trying to work it, and I'm trying to figure out the slot that's gonna work for me.
SPEAKER_00: But to be very honest with you, my time with Jesus has been random.
SPEAKER_00: It's been a little sporadic.
SPEAKER_00: And I, if you know anything about me at all, I'm kind of a type A person.
SPEAKER_00: I like a rhythm, I like um structure, I like to kind of fall into place.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and it has been a daily struggle for me to find um that good rhythm.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm still working that out.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I hope that you hear today is that I don't have it all figured out.
SPEAKER_00: Even when I think I have it figured out, a new season comes or a new change in my life comes and it messes things up.
SPEAKER_00: And and I don't know, honestly, if that's sometimes the enemy throwing curveballs or if that's the Lord saying, Hey, don't get stuck in a rhythm.
SPEAKER_00: I am new and full of new things every day.
SPEAKER_00: Hang with me.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: But regardless, I am struggling with my time with Jesus every day.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's in the afternoon, sometimes it's in the morning, sometimes it's before I go to bed.
SPEAKER_00: And um, honestly, I hate that I have not figured that rhythm out.
SPEAKER_00: So I am working on that.
SPEAKER_00: But in order to have a place where he dwells, we have to have a consistent time.
SPEAKER_00: We have to make an effort each day to spend time with him.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we give our time to everything and everybody, but where we lack time is the one person who can be the source of everything, right?
SPEAKER_00: We wonder why we run around like chickens with our heads cut off all the time.
SPEAKER_00: And it's because we're not going back to the source.
SPEAKER_00: And the source is love, and the source is forgiveness, and the source is mercy, and the source is peace and contentment and all the things that the stuff we're doing around us is not gonna give us.
SPEAKER_00: He's the source of all of that.
SPEAKER_00: So we've got to figure out time to let to sit with him and be with him.
SPEAKER_00: Um, the other thing for me is talking to him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this I will say, this is pretty consistent in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I've joked on here before.
SPEAKER_00: So if you've been a follower of us for a long time, I joke all the time about my time in the shower.
SPEAKER_00: Like that, that is typically where for whatever reason he will lay ideas on my heart, he will lay people on my heart, and I just have a big conversation with him while I'm in the shower.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know maybe for some of you that's too much information, but that's just where we meet.
SPEAKER_00: That's where we start things off every day, be in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And I love it.
SPEAKER_00: I love that shower time.
SPEAKER_00: Typically, when I get out of the shower and I'm getting ready for work, and again, this is TMI, but I have shared this before.
SPEAKER_00: But I have a worship devotional that I listen to while I'm getting ready for work.
SPEAKER_00: Again, some mornings like today, I have not showered.
SPEAKER_00: I, you're just getting me out of bed an hour ago.
SPEAKER_00: And I've barely, I've only drank half my coffee, girl.
SPEAKER_00: So you're getting half caffeinated, Missy, uh, today because it's summer and the routine is different.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I, as far as prayer and as far as conversation, I'm probably a lot more consistent in this area than a lot of other areas.
SPEAKER_00: Now, now we're gonna talk about my least favorite area of my personal temple, and it is taking care of my body.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, like this is hard.
SPEAKER_00: This is hard for women.
SPEAKER_00: It is hard because we take care of everybody else's physical, mental, emotional needs.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like we we do we do for everybody else, and and we don't take care of us.
SPEAKER_00: And so we've got this broken, beat up, you know, mess of a temple sometimes, and he's like, ah, let me help you make it strong and and and able to do the things.
SPEAKER_00: And and here's the truth, girls, and this is from one gal that understands to another, like if you are constantly pouring out of you and you are empty, because you've not allowed him to pour into you, you've not gone to the source, then your body is only gonna last, it's only gonna hold out for so long.
SPEAKER_00: You know, and and this even goes down to like simple details of if you're not drinking water and giving your body the fuel it needs, if you're not eating well and making sure that the insides are working the way they need to work.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not, I know, like, gosh, do I know?
SPEAKER_00: If you're not exercising, and I'm not, like, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_00: So this is a struggle for me as well.
SPEAKER_00: Some weeks are good, some weeks aren't.
SPEAKER_00: And I get it, but I do also know that I have to reset these things in my life.
SPEAKER_00: And the physical part is a big thing that I have to reset often.
SPEAKER_00: Because if I am not taking care of me, and if I am not going to the source and filling my temple up, I have nothing, nothing to give others.
SPEAKER_00: And then what you're giving them is anger and you're giving them resentment and bitterness because you've not allowed him to fill you up with the good things that he's the source of to then pour out into others.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, it's truth.
SPEAKER_00: You know it, I know it, we all know it.
SPEAKER_00: There is gonna take maintenance to even our physical bodies if we're going to be able to be.
SPEAKER_00: Temples of him, dwelling places of him, and then able to pour out into others.
SPEAKER_00: You know it.
SPEAKER_00: You know it's true.
SPEAKER_00: So be thinking about that.
SPEAKER_00: He may be wanting to do a work in you mentally or physically to create that temple where he can come and dwell.
SPEAKER_00: So, and I'm not saying that he can't come and dwell in a you know body that is struggling physically.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that at all.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: But what I am saying is the more we take care of this body he's given us, the more we can do for others and for him.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so there it is.
SPEAKER_00: There's my soapbox.
SPEAKER_00: I feel I'm feeling it too.
SPEAKER_00: I'm struggling with it too.
SPEAKER_00: All right, but it takes maintenance.
SPEAKER_00: Just like our house needed some things taken care of before we let people come over here for that graduation party.
SPEAKER_00: It takes commitment, it takes sacrifice, it takes consistency, it takes all the things that are so hard to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: But worth it.
SPEAKER_00: Worth it.
SPEAKER_00: And I can speak truth to you.
SPEAKER_00: When my mind is where it needs to be, and I'm in his word, and I am learning how he wants me to be and the kind of person he wants me to be, when I'm doing that, and when my heart is guarded because I'm in his word and I know the things to not let into my heart.
SPEAKER_00: And when my body is in good health, like when I'm walking or when I'm exercising, or when I'm eating what I need to be eating, or when I'm eating, period, or you know, getting enough water and not too many soft drinks, like I feel better.
SPEAKER_00: I want to do better.
SPEAKER_00: I I am able to do better.
SPEAKER_00: So it all works together.
SPEAKER_00: All things are through him and in him and created by him, and there's a purpose in all of that.
SPEAKER_00: So, all right, that's enough of that.
SPEAKER_00: It's so hard, guys.
SPEAKER_00: But once we do that maintenance, and we've had a week where we have spent time with him and we have talked to him and we have let him fill our souls, then listen, we respond differently to the world that is around us.
SPEAKER_00: And when we come to gather with his people in the building, that experience can be a completely different experience.
SPEAKER_00: Like when we have found joy in him all week long, then we can come and let that joy be an outpouring of worship when we meet together on Sundays.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, I know that there is a lot of people that think I don't need to be in a church to have a relationship with Jesus and to worship God.
SPEAKER_00: And you're right, you don't.
SPEAKER_00: But we are not meant to do this alone.
SPEAKER_00: And coming on Sundays, I can't, I don't know if I have the adequate words to describe what happens when I gather with his people.
SPEAKER_00: I am encouraged, I am filled, I find out I'm not the only one.
SPEAKER_00: Like I hear a message that has been inspired by the Holy Spirit that hits my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Like all these things kind of help my temple be filled to the brim so that when I have to face the world on Monday, I know I'm not doing it alone.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm doing it with more that has been poured into me.
SPEAKER_00: So do you have to go to church?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: But should you go to church?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: Find a place where you can belong because he doesn't want us to do it alone.
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, that last verse in chapter two that I just read, I'm gonna read it again.
SPEAKER_00: In him, you also are being built together.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes those messages that we hear on Sunday mornings, or sometimes those songs, or or the next steps that we hear, or whatever it is, that helps us learn to be built together so that then we are stronger in the community or in our families, or to spread his gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Like we can do it together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Man, when we I cannot even imagine, and I'm just gonna be real honest with you.
SPEAKER_00: I would love actually to imagine what it could look like if all week we've been working on our personal temple, and then we come together together on a Sunday or Saturday or whenever your church meets, and you're able to just be free and bold and worship because of what he's done and how he showed up all week.
SPEAKER_00: Like I, wow, I want to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like that's that's what heaven's gonna be like, guys, when we're all free from all of these things the world ties, I don't know, attaches to us, I guess.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, personal temple, then the the corporate temple, the church.
SPEAKER_00: It's both are necessary, both are important, but you gotta start here in this temple.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this song, I'm gonna read a couple of lyrics about it.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I'm running out of time already.
SPEAKER_00: I do that often, and I got a few things I want to tell you about, so don't log off on me.
SPEAKER_00: This song is there's so many good lyrics in here, but I want to sing.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just said that.
SPEAKER_00: I told you I'm only half caffeinated, guys.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna sing.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read these lyrics.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to some of the lyrics of this song.
SPEAKER_00: We sing to a God who heals.
SPEAKER_00: Do you need healing today?
SPEAKER_00: We sing to a God who saves.
SPEAKER_00: What kind of salvation do you need today?
SPEAKER_00: We sing to the God who always makes a way.
SPEAKER_00: I know some of you don't believe that that's true.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are stuck in anxiety and depression and grief and loss and debt and um so many things.
SPEAKER_00: But he is a God who heals, saves, and he makes a way.
SPEAKER_00: He really, really does.
SPEAKER_00: But you won't know that if you are not allowing him to build his temple from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: You won't know that.
SPEAKER_00: He hung up on that cross, he rose up from that grave.
SPEAKER_00: Our God is still rolling stones away.
SPEAKER_00: There is joy in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: There is joy in the house of the Lord today, and we won't be quiet.
SPEAKER_00: We shout out your praise.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, friends, we will not be able to be quiet when we start allowing him to do the work inside of us that he wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: And what's amazing is we will come and gather together on Sunday, and we won't be able to be quiet in that either, because of how good he is and how he's healed and saved us and he's made a way this week.
SPEAKER_00: So what you do, the maintenance that you do today, is gonna lead to the joy that you can experience today.
SPEAKER_00: And he'll keep building on that because that's who he is, and that's amazing, that's how he amazing he is.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to read another verse to you real quickly, and then I'm gonna tell you what's coming for the rest of the summer, okay?
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians, nope, just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians chapter 3, uh, verses, I'm gonna read verses 17 and 18.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what it says.
SPEAKER_00: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
SPEAKER_00: If you are not allowing the Spirit to dwell within you, and you're not creating a place for him to dwell in you, then he cannot give you freedom from whatever it is you're working on or feeling or dealing with.
SPEAKER_00: And we all, this is verse 18, and we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, into his image, uh, from one degree of glory to another.
SPEAKER_00: For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I love about that?
SPEAKER_00: From one degree of glory to another, it's just a step at a time.
SPEAKER_00: One degree at a time.
SPEAKER_00: One step at a time.
SPEAKER_00: So we I've talked about a lot of things I'm working on for me, but that's my journey.
SPEAKER_00: That's me personally.
SPEAKER_00: What is that one degree today that may make all the difference tomorrow for you?
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the Lord is saying to you today, my sweet sister, my you know, my friend, I need you to come and meet me in my word.
SPEAKER_00: I've got a message for you today.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe he's saying, just come talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: Just come talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe he's saying to you today, listen to this song and hear the words, or maybe he's saying to you today, just come and sit and be still and quiet with me.
SPEAKER_00: Let me speak to you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's saying, Come and take a walk with me today, or maybe he's saying, girl, go get yourself a glass of water and care for this body.
SPEAKER_00: I have given you one chance to use for my glory.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what he is saying to you today.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that one degree could be for you today, but I would bet that if you have heard any of these words, he's prompting your heart with something.
SPEAKER_00: So do that today.
SPEAKER_00: Do that one thing today.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before I close this in prayer, I want to just give you a heads up.
SPEAKER_00: So we've got nine weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Today was the first week.
SPEAKER_00: We've got eight more weeks to go.
SPEAKER_00: Lori is gonna pop on next week, and she she likes to meet us a little earlier on more on uh Tuesday morning.
SPEAKER_00: So she's gonna be live at 7:30.
SPEAKER_00: But here's what's awesome about this platform.
SPEAKER_00: You can show up anytime through the week.
SPEAKER_00: Now, these videos are only gonna last on Facebook for a month.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we're putting them on our podcast so that if you want to share it um with somebody, you can do that um anytime.
SPEAKER_00: If you thought of a friend that that needed to hear what the Lord said today through me, then yes, share that, do that.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm gonna I'm gonna link the song and I'm gonna also put our podcast link on here just in case you want to share it that way, um, so that this doesn't disappear on you um at some point.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but also tag a friend.
SPEAKER_00: We've got a lot of new women in this group.
SPEAKER_00: We've got a lot of new women in the community or at Hickory Grove.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are not sure that your friend um is linked into this conversation we try to have every week, man, invite her.
SPEAKER_00: Um The reason Lori and I do this is because we don't want you doing it alone.
SPEAKER_00: So even if this is this is how you show up and you get filled up, man, I'm so glad that you do.
SPEAKER_00: So show up, come in here every Tuesday morning throughout the summer.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we'll be here next week.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, Lori is gonna chat through, and I have no idea how the spirit is gonna lead her.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but we are gonna talk about one of my favorite songs ever.
SPEAKER_00: Great is thy faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: It's old, it's beautiful, and she is gonna be with us next Tuesday to walk through that.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that is it for me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray this out, and I hope, sorry, I'm a couple of minutes late.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that you have a great Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00: And here's how it can be a great Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00: Figure out what that one degree is to build the temple within you so that you can come and celebrate what he's done with us on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Not just Taker Grove, wherever you go and worship.
SPEAKER_00: That's okay too.
SPEAKER_00: All right, let me pray and then we're gonna get on with our day.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna drink the rest of my coffee.
SPEAKER_00: I need it.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, you are awesome.
SPEAKER_00: You are amazing, and you have so much that you want to pour into us.
SPEAKER_00: So help us make the decision today to allow you to build that temple within us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we cannot face this world and the things that are thrown at us without you and all the things that you are the source of.
SPEAKER_00: Love and joy and peace and goodness and kindness and compassion and faithfulness and all those things.
SPEAKER_00: Self-control, Lord, you are the source of all those things.
SPEAKER_00: So help us find time with you today.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for loving us in the messy, messiness that we are, and thank you, most of all, for what Jesus has done for each of us.
SPEAKER_00: May He be honored and glorified today.
SPEAKER_00: It's in His name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Have a great Tuesday, and I will I'll be on next Tuesday listening right alongside of you.
SPEAKER_00: We'll see you then.
SPEAKER_00: Bye.