WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:06.879 Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:17.839 If you don't know, um, we found out when my wife was 18 weeks pregnant, we found out that uh Samuel had a pretty significant heart condition. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:29.199 And uh at about 30 weeks, our 30-week appointment, we found out that his heart condition was even a little worse than we originally thought, a little more complicated and complex. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:33.280 And um it rocked our world. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.280 And we Samuel was born and he was beautiful. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.159 He came in one hour and all natural, eight pounds, five ounces. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:43.759 Shout out to my wife. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.479 I told the service yesterday, shout out to all the crunchy people. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:54.079 Respect, we personally love epidurals. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.359 Um and she didn't get one. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:14.319 So he came out, he looked amazing, and he spent 10 days in the in the NICU, and then he went in to have his first of what will be several open heart surgeries, and our surgeon who is amazing, incredibly kind. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:25.760 And I just gotta say this: if you're in here and you work in the medical field, I have watched God work through our medical professionals over the last month, and so I honor you today. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.159 Thank you for what you do. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:38.640 Um, our our surgeon he brought us in and um he he listed out everything that Samuel had, and uh and we asked him before, we want you to be honest with us. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:40.640 Like tell us, tell us what we're looking at. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:02:05.280 And he he listed out everything that Samuel had, and and he looked at me and Hannah and he said, I want you to know, it doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be his story, but what we see globally statistically for babies like Samuel is that um he'll have based on his conditions about a 50-50 shot of making it out of the first year of life, and it wrecked our world. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:22.560 And we walked out of that room and we went to my parents and we told my parents, and Samuel went into surgery at the same time that we were mourning this news, and he went through the surgery, it was bigger than we anticipated. 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:28.400 He had about three major things done in this first surgery, and he did amazing. 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:34.240 He he crushed it, he's so strong, and um yeah, thank you. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:41.120 And I have a picture, this was a couple of days after Samuel's surgery. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.759 This is him in his hospital room. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.360 He recovered, um thanks. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:04.479 I like that. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:09.039 I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna I'm gonna eat that clap buffer a lot today. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.840 Samuel, uh, he he began recovery, and I brought this next picture. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:21.199 We were still at the hospital, but Hannah got to hold him on this day. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:23.439 There's Samuel, our little girl Everly. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:30.240 And about two weeks after that, we spent 40 days in the ICU, and we finally got to bring Samuel home. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:35.120 And this is a picture of Samuel and Everly. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.879 And Samuel, he's actually in the building today at the South Lake campus. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:53.360 So my daughter is too, but she's probably tearing up the two and three-year-olds' room right now. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.560 I just gotta tell you, thank you for praying for us. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:04.319 And uh I and also just gotta say this um we're not out of it. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:15.439 And we're we're still about 10 months away from beating that 50-50 statistic that we heard, and uh life has been incredibly overwhelming. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:18.560 And life has been overwhelming. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:43.040 Even 30 minutes before I came out here, Samuel had a a little thing, and um we had to call the hospital and make sure we gave him his medications the right way, and life is just a little a lot going on, and and I've had people ask me, I've had our team ask me, I've had our elders ask me, are you sure you want to do this this weekend? 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:52.160 Samuel's only been home for eight days now, and um they were basically like, Abram, this is a this is a crazy way to come off of FMLA. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:53.040 Are you sure? 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.439 Are you sure you want to do this? 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:06.079 And uh this was planned several months ago, and I told the team, and I and I really was planning on not, and I I was totally prepared to back out. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:14.160 And um, the only reason I'm up here today is because I'm I'm trying to be obedient with what I feel like the Lord told me to do, and and I wanted to stand. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:30.959 Um I saw when Pastor Mark, when he was doing oversight, he asked for people in the room who needed healing, and I don't know if you saw, but it looked like probably 30, 40 percent of the room raised their hands, and I just wanted to stand in front of my church family. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.360 Um, I I grew up a pastor's kid. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:45.040 I I I know um it can be easy sometimes for pastors to get up on a platform and tell the congregation about what they went through years ago. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:56.000 Um and I told the Lord, God, if you give me a platform, then I will get up in the middle of the storm and I'll tell my church that God is still good and he's still faithful. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:04.240 So if you're in here and you're one of those people that raised your hand and you need a miracle, I need a miracle too. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:06.079 I need a miracle too. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:26.720 So this is what I want to say to my church, um, not just to Southlake, but to NRH and NFW and Justin Frisco, Dallas, Plano, GRP, Prosper, Jackson Hall, our prison campuses, our online gatherings, and everybody in this room is. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:29.600 I just wanted to stand up here and say welcome to Gateway Church. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:35.759 If you didn't know, we are a non-denominational, spirit-filled, Bible-believing church. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:45.600 And we believe and we gather because we think that the Holy Spirit's still moving, and we we don't think he's weird, but we think he's moving. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.519 And we gather because today I believe that God is gonna speak to us. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:58.399 And I know this that if I can stand up here and preach in my weakness, then you certainly can belong here in your weakness. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.279 And so we're gonna have some church today. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:05.439 My son, he um he got several nicknames in the hospital. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:14.079 If you've ever had a kid over an extended period of time in the hospital, I think the nurses just can't remember their names all the time, so they give them nicknames. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:19.519 You know, I had a doctor come in one day, he said, This is uh, man, Samuel, he's a fighter. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.560 I call him Rocky, and I was like, Y'all hear what they call him? 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:33.839 One day we were in the NICU, and I was I was sitting at a place where the nurses, I could hear them, but they couldn't see me. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.279 And Samuel came out a pretty big boy, eight pounds, five ounces. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:42.879 And um when you're in the if you've ever had a child in the NICU, there's not a little big baby's in there. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:47.040 So when they see a big baby, it's like, what happened with this baby? 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:48.399 This is a big baby. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:58.160 And so the nurses, you know, they're they're taking blood from Samuel, and I'm around the corner and they're just talking about him, and they're like, look at this chunky little kid. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:06.879 He's so big and fluffy, and look at those cheeks, and they're like squeezing him, and and then I walked around the corner and they said, Well, you must be dad. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:16.079 And I have been counting calories ever since. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.120 I really am counting calories, that's it. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:29.680 That was tough to hear. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:49.440 But in the ICU, they do these things called cardiac rounds, and the doctors and the nurses they'll go around to each baby's room and and they'll go to each baby's room, and they basically give an update to all the specialists, all the surgeons, and um they'll stand in front of a baby's room and they'll say their name, and then they'll just update everybody. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:53.279 This is what he's got, this is how his night was, and this is the plan moving forward. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:54.399 That's kind of the process. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.320 And so Samuel was born on a weekend, so they don't do it on the weekends. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:02.720 So we got to Monday, and it was the first time they were doing cardiac rounds. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:04.399 And if you're the parent, you can sit in. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:16.000 And so I'm standing in front of Samuel's room with all of these incredible people, and they walked in front of his room and they said, uh, this is Samuel De Praying. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:21.440 And they listed off all of his all of his things that he's got going on. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:26.000 And they said, Samuel is the boy who doesn't know he's sick. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.879 And when I when I heard it, I was so proud of him, you know. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:33.039 I was like, that's my boy. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.200 Because you probably tell from the pictures, Samuel looks incredible. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:42.639 Like, even when we brought him in here last night, everybody that saw him was like, God, he's so perfect. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:43.759 He's so beautiful. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:48.720 The nickname, the boy who doesn't know he's sick, became a mantra for my family. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.480 People would come to the hospital and check on us, and they'd be like, Hey, can you give me an update on Samuel? 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:54.799 And I'd be like, Yeah, he's the boy who doesn't know he's sick. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:58.080 I'm texting my family, they're calling him the boy who doesn't know he's sick. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:05.360 And so days would go on, and every time you get a new nurse or a new doctor, um, and they'd come in, they go, Samuel looks amazing. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.759 I go, Yeah, they're calling him the boy doesn't know he's sick. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.440 And if you're in the hospital, sometimes you're saying things to nurses because you're trying to get some good news in return. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:17.919 Like, tell me he's a miracle child, you know, like give me something. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.279 And I just wasn't getting the response that I wanted. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:26.000 They'd walk in and I'd say, Ah, this is Sam, he's the boy who don't know he's sick, and they'd say, Yeah. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.440 And so one day we got particularly close to one of our nurses. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:30.559 She was amazing. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.799 We will be forever grateful for her. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.679 And um, I just asked her to be really honest with me. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:43.679 And I said, Hey, from your perspective, what does it mean to you guys when you say he's the boy who doesn't know he's sick? 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:51.519 And she looked back at me and she said, Well, that that nick it's a cool nickname because Samuel looks amazing. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:11:12.000 But the there's a dangerous part of that nickname because for for babies who are born with Samuel's particular congenital heart defect, if you don't catch the disease prenatally, there's a chance that they can be born and they can look so good, their vitals can be so good that they might get sent home. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:22.399 And if they get sent home in a span of about two weeks to a month, there will be an artery in their heart that naturally closes for normal babies. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:28.720 And when that artery closes, there won't be anywhere for Samuel to pump blood from his heart to his lungs. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.080 And when that artery closes, it will be fatal. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:35.600 And she said, Mr. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:42.000 Dupree, Samuel looks amazing, but Samuel's in heart failure. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:46.399 And I said, Okay. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:50.559 And I went back and sat in the room and I just started dialoguing with the Lord. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:55.600 I've had a lot of honest conversations with God over the last 50 days. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.200 And this verse popped into my mind. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:04.240 It's a verse that I've I've lived by, that I've I've preached probably a hundred times. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.759 It's in Proverbs 4.23, and you might know it too. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:16.320 It says this, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:32.159 And I told the Lord, God, is the reason is the reason that you put so much emphasis on us guarding our heart because you knew that our heart can be sick and we can still give the appearance of health. 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:44.159 And I felt like the Lord said to me, Abram, I know that you're mourning because you've got a little boy who doesn't know he's sick. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:52.559 And I felt like he said to me, Abram, as a father, it mourns me when my body doesn't know that they're sick. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.000 God, who's your body? 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.679 Well, we're his body. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:06.799 Colossians 1.18 says that we are the body, the church, and he is the head of the church. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:11.440 But the body is made up of many members with many parts who do many different things. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:28.960 That's us today, and I felt like the Lord told me, Abram, it it breaks my heart when it breaks my heart when the body has a sick heart, but it still looks good. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:46.720 And I walked out of there and I knew, I knew that I knew, and over the next two weeks, I wrote the message and sit next to my son in the ICU, and I knew I had to come deliver it to my church today, and because here's what I want to say. 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:50.720 Man, I love my church, I love the church. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:55.200 Not just the people in this room, of course. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:04.720 I'm gonna lay out favoritism because I know a lot of you, but according to Gallup.com, the 80 million people that are gathering today is the body. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.879 And I just feel like I have a message for the body. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:15.840 And so today, um, I I've got a message based off my son, the boy who doesn't know he's sick. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:21.279 And the message titled today is When the Body Doesn't Know That It's Sick. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:22.399 Let's pray together. 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:24.639 Lord, thank you so much for today. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:28.080 God, thank you that you are still good in the middle of a storm. 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:34.399 And God, thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are moving here today and you want to speak to us in Jesus' name. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:35.519 And everybody said. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:36.879 Amen. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:47.039 If you've got your Bible today, the physical one, the real thing, we're gonna be in Mark chapter 2, and we're gonna jump around from place to place, but this is where I'm gonna start. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:52.080 Mark chapter 2, verse 13, it says this, and the height of Jesus' ministry. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:15:02.960 It says, Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:18.799 These were many people of this, there were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers, but when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, why does he eat with such scum? 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:22.960 When Jesus heard this, he told them healthy people don't need a doctor. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:24.480 Sick people do. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:32.720 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.320 I told you I grew up in the church. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:37.600 I think it's funny what the church has done to this verse over time. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.159 We've turned this into like an outreach scripture. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.600 Hey, look at sweet little Jesus going to eat with all these terrible people. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:50.399 Even if you've got kids in here who love Jesus or say they love Jesus, whatever you fall on that spectrum. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:58.399 I was a youth pastor for a long time, and this is the verse that teenagers justify hanging out with people they shouldn't hang out with. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:02.639 And that's what we've made it. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.759 Like, look how good, look at Jesus going to eat with the scum of the earth. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:08.639 Look at him go. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:18.879 And and the reason I think the Lord drew me here and it breaks my heart is because I think over time we have accidentally misplaced ourselves in this story. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:29.200 And over time we've become the Pharisees in the story, because if the truth is, is that this is not a scripture about Jesus eating with random sinners. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:33.440 This is not a story about Jesus doing good outreach. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.440 This is a story about Jesus eating with me. 00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:51.840 Sometimes I think even you think of the story about look at Jesus, he left the 99 to find the one, and we like read this story like we're cheering him on, go get the one, Jesus, and we forget that we're the one. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.399 I'm the one that he left for. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:02.720 You know, I think the body, the church, has been through a lot over the last couple of years. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.440 It's not just here, it's everywhere. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:09.119 And if you're like me, it's broken my heart. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:22.000 And you know, we can go on social media and you see people who will post and they'll post these things like, Look, God is purifying his bride. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:27.599 And if you're a part of one of these brides that you feel like he's purifying, it can hurt a little bit. 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:28.960 It's like, ugh. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:34.559 And I don't know what your experience has been, but for mine, it hurts a little bit because I know it's true. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.079 But here's the half-truth, because I think it I think it's true. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:39.759 I just don't think it's all the way there. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:46.400 Because the truth is that if God is purifying his bride, that means that God is purifying me. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:53.519 There is nowhere in scripture that calls God's bride the pastors, preachers, teachers, and communicators of the church. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.200 When God talks about the bride, he's talking about me. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.119 So if God is purifying his bride, it actually means that God is purifying his bride. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:08.480 If God is dealing with shepherds, then he must have something to say to the sheep. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:16.160 And I don't want to find myself as the Pharisee and the story, going, look at what God's doing, go get them. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.920 When I'm the one that he's going to get. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:39.279 So today, I just want to tell you, as someone who over the last seven, eight months, people have called me because I've I grew up the last 11 years in this building. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.079 They'll look at me and be like, Abram, you're a son of the house. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:43.359 You're a son of the house. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:47.599 And I didn't know what that meant. 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:54.000 And then I learned what that meant as I've grieved what's happened to the body over the last several years. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.000 Because I didn't grieve it as someone on staff, I grieved it as a son. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.480 And I'll tell you a fear I have as a son. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:21.200 The fear I have as a son is that us as a church, not just us, but globally, this Americanized church culture, westernization, feel-good, casual Christianity, that we would be a body that has a sick heart, but the body still looks good. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:33.519 And so today, I want to go through some things, I'll call them symptoms, because I'm here today and you're here today because I don't want to be a body that doesn't know it's sick. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:39.920 And I think that God is pretty clear in scripture on some symptoms that he gives us that we can identify. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:46.079 And so my my hope is not that we would go through these today and think about people that we know. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:55.440 My goal is that this would be a Psalms 139 message when David says, God, search me and know my heart. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:07.680 I hope as you sit here today and we walk through these symptoms that you'll be able to look at your own life and don't bump your husband, but ourselves and what we do. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.519 What does a body looks like? 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.359 What does a body look like that doesn't know that it's sick? 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:14.880 Well, here's number one. 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.920 It works hard to keep up its appearance. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.039 It works hard to keep up its appearance. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:26.079 I'm gonna talk about Samuel in Scripture for a second, not my son, two very different people. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.079 Okay, Samuel in scripture is a well-respected man of God. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.960 He led Israel judicially and spiritually. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.240 God used him to call the nation of Israel back to him. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:42.160 Um, he is a respected man that God has appointed to go and anoint the next king of Israel. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:46.240 I don't know what you've done in your life, but it's probably not been this big. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.000 This is a big job. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:52.960 And Samuel, we're gonna resume in the story in 1 Samuel 16, verse 6. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:21:04.079 Samuel has approached his sons who are standing there, and I don't know, in my mind, it's like the first fashion show, and the sons are standing there, and here's what happens. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:12.480 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, surely, this is the Lord's anointed. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:16.880 Now, what we need to know as a church family is that Eliab is the man. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:20.559 Eliab had facial hair in the seventh grade. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:23.039 Eliab is talented. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:25.599 Eliab has got it all together. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:28.400 If Eliab was a teenager today, he'd drive a Tesla. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:32.880 If he was a teenager in 1987, he would drive a Pontiac Firebird. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:38.000 I asked my mom that. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.200 Oh God, Mom, it landed. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:46.079 That was good. 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:57.279 So Samuel looks at him and says, Surely this is the Lord's anointed. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:05.599 But the Lord said to Samuel, Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:08.400 The Lord doesn't see the things the way you see them. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:14.559 People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:22.160 The story goes on, and David is selected as king, and we love this story because we love to look at David. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.039 David, a man after God's own heart. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.839 I found myself in my quiet times praying sometimes. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.039 God, make me a man after your own heart. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.240 But the scripture we just read is not about David. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:36.480 This is an indictment on Eliab. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:49.680 God looks at the man that Samuel's about to choose to be the next king of Israel, and he sees his outward appearance, and God goes, healthy body, sick heart. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.759 I have rejected him. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:23:00.880 And I'll tell you, my fear for us as Christians in this day of age is that we have perfected the way of Eliab and not the way of David. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:07.839 I have people ask me all the time, Abram, why isn't Gen Z following Jesus? 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:10.880 Or Jin Alpha or whatever the Jinn is now? 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.720 Like, why aren't they following Jesus? 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.000 What do we have to do? 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:16.079 Go to your local Barnes and Noble. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:20.400 There's a gajillion books on how to reach Gen Z, and I'll give you my opinion. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:22.960 Gen Z does not have a problem with Jesus. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:26.400 They have a problem with the Eliabs trying to lead them to Jesus. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.400 And I'm not saying that to judge anyone. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:41.200 I'm saying that because I've had friends my entire life who have walked away from Jesus because they think they're mad at Jesus, but they're not, they're mad at Eliad. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.680 And we've got to be real careful not to blame God for something that Eliab did to us. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:59.039 And my plea for you in here, if you've been hurt or anybody watching online or any campus, my plea for you is this don't blame God for what he didn't do. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:04.640 Because he still wants you and he still knows you and he still wants your heart. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:07.440 And he's the reason that we're still here today. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:08.400 Amen. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:18.160 We don't know much about Eliab outside of the book of 1st and 2 Samuel, but here's what I can imagine: he had to have been exhausted. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:27.519 Because to look that good and have a heart that sick, he must have been working extra hard. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.839 They told us when we asked, hey, why does my son Samuel look so good? 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:41.359 They said, Well, we give him a medication that makes his heart squeeze extra hard so that it can pump blood to the rest of his body so that his body can still look good. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.559 His heart's working double time just so it can look good. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:49.119 How many of us spiritually are working double time just so we can look good? 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.000 A body that doesn't know it's sick, number two. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:57.200 It boasts in strength, not weakness. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:59.279 We're going to be in 2 Corinthians. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.920 This is the Apostle Paul talking, who's going through a struggle. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:08.559 He says this three different times, I, the Apostle Paul, begged the Lord to take it away. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:14.640 Each time he said, My grace is all you need, my power works best in weakness. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:21.359 So now I'm glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:28.319 That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults and hardships and persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.000 For when I am weak, then I am strong. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:38.319 I want to be really honest with you, and I want you to know me, and I need you to know that I hate the hiccups. 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:41.359 Anybody? 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:44.079 I hate them so much. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:51.839 I when I get them, it's like this hiccup burb combination that takes over my body, and I can't stop them. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:57.680 Like if I had to rank things I hate, it would be Satan when my mom doesn't answer the phone and hiccups. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:01.200 I hate them. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:09.599 And I was sitting with my little boy a couple days after his surgery, it was 3 a.m. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:26.400 and around that time, and we had just fed him, and and he was sitting in my arms, and Hannah was home with Everly, and he's sitting in my arms, and it's just me and him in the room, and Samuel has a big scar down the middle of his chest. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:31.599 And after his surgery, when he would get the hiccups or sneeze or anything, he would cry. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:35.599 And because it's he had a lot going on and soreness and stuff. 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:41.119 And um I'm sitting there with him and he's looking up at me, and Samuel gets the hiccups. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:45.440 And I had a real honest moment with God. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:47.599 Now, this was a week and a half ago. 00:26:50.559 --> 00:26:58.319 And I was sitting in that room all by myself, and I said to the Lord, God, if you won't heal his heart, will you take away his hiccups? 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.000 And I believed with all my heart. 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.880 After every hiccup, I was like, That's the one. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:05.839 That's it. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:11.279 I'm gonna get on a platform, I'm gonna tell my church God miraculously took away my kids' hiccups. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:14.799 Samuel probably had the hiccups for 10 minutes. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:18.880 And I was so mad at God. 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:25.359 And I don't know why God didn't take away his hiccups because I know he has the power to do it. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:29.039 And I don't know why it hasn't healed his heart, but here's what I can say. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:40.319 If I would have acted strong over the last 60 days, then I would have suffocated God's ability for his power to work best in me. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:46.000 Because scripture is clear, his power works best in weakness. 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:58.400 And here's my thing is I think I can relate that to us is that I don't want us to be a group of people that walks around every Saturday and Sunday across all of our campuses. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:07.039 I don't want to be a church, the church, globally, that shows up every single Sunday wondering, God, why am I why am I not seeing your power move? 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.160 Because it might be that we're all just trying to act strong. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:15.920 And if we're all trying to act strong, then we can't allow God's power to work best. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:17.359 This scripture is clear. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.200 His power works best. 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:22.400 Pretty, pretty cut and dry. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:23.200 Pretty there. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:30.559 So if we're not seeing God's power move how we want it to move, then we might not be honest with ourselves. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:35.839 Because his power is working best in our weakness. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:41.599 I don't want to be a community of people that shows up on Sundays acting healthy. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:45.119 Because healthy people don't need a doctor. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:50.640 And the struggle that I have with myself sometimes, I don't know if you can relate. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:52.880 It's not that I wake up every day knowing that I'm sick. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:55.920 It's that sometimes I wake up forgetting who I really am. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.200 And I think I'm healthy. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:03.599 Have you noticed the obsession in culture with health? 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.440 Mental health, spiritual health, emotional health. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:08.799 Do this, do that, do this. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:16.240 You put on YouTube, there's another commercial about some other type of health, and we're the most unhealthy we've ever been, and it's the most we're ever talking about health. 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.599 Because maybe that's not the strategy. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:25.279 Maybe the strategy is go is I am the sick person that Jesus came for. 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.799 We are the sick people that Jesus came for. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.759 And I want to admit that to you because I also want to call out to my doctor. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:40.640 The third thing of a body that doesn't know it's sick. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:43.039 A body that doesn't know it's sick. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:44.319 Here's the third symptom. 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:48.400 Prayer is commodity, not necessity. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:51.359 We've been in a great series on prayer. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:56.880 Pastor Max and Pastor Lisa have done an amazing job. 00:29:57.039 --> 00:29:59.200 Um and it's impacted us. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:07.119 Me and my wife were here last week listening to Pastor Max and or two weeks ago, and it impacted us greatly. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:11.279 But I noticed my pattern of prayer in the hospital. 00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:15.920 The more stable Samuel got, the less desperate I prayed. 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:18.720 It was like something natural in me. 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:23.039 Like the more sick that he was, the more I was on my knees. 00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:27.039 And then the less sick he got, I just got a little less desperate. 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:44.720 And there was a day, um, there was a day where Samuel was he was getting weaned off some medication after his surgeries, and he was on a breathing machine, and it was the day that they were gonna take off, take him off his breathing machine. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:46.240 They called extubation. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:51.039 And they're just gonna take the tube and all the equipment out for him to breathe on his own. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.559 And Samuel showed every sign that he'd be able to breathe on his own. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:59.119 And they were so confident in it, and it's such a quick procedure that they just told me. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:03.279 I was back there with them, and they told me and Hannah, like, hey, do y'all want to sit back here for this? 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:04.960 And Hannah was like, no. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:09.279 And she made a great decision because I did. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:19.920 And there's a couple of doctors and nurses surrounding Samuel, and they they they pulled out his tube. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:29.519 And it was about two minutes in where I realized everybody's a little bit more urgent than I thought they'd be. 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:32.640 And Samuel wasn't breathing on his own. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.200 And his body turned a different color. 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:49.839 And there were three people in the room, and all of a sudden there was 20 people in the room, and I watched them keep my son alive and hook him up to a temporary breathing machine and pump oxygen into his body. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:55.039 And I'm watching it from afar as his father, and I'm like, what is going on? 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:56.240 And let me tell you something. 00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:57.839 I prayed different. 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:04.319 I prayed different because in that moment I didn't just want God, I needed God. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:10.400 There is a huge difference between wanting God and needing God. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:18.240 We have entire ministries in America built around wanting God, and that's beautiful. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:21.839 But we can't just want him, we have to need him. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:27.200 Listen, wanting, I want the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl. 00:32:28.400 --> 00:32:30.160 I want Luca back. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:33.599 I want the Mavs to draft Cooper Flag. 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.319 God, thank you for the number one overall pick. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.759 I want it, but I can't treat God like my favorite sports team. 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:47.200 We have to know the difference. 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:55.119 God did not leave, Jesus did not leave his seat in heaven for people that wanted him, Jesus left his seat in heaven for people that needed him. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:03.759 Jesus left his seat in heaven to come and sit with the sinner. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:04.960 It's me. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.039 Jesus has come to purify his bride. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:11.440 Not a person, his bride. 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:12.400 Me. 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:15.839 How are we gonna see God move in this church? 00:33:15.920 --> 00:33:20.480 I'm gonna tell you, it's not because Martin Smith can sing beautifully. 00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.839 It's not because I can, I'm gonna come up here and try to do my best to show you my heart. 00:33:26.079 --> 00:33:32.799 A couple of people aren't gonna initiate this revival or this healing that we want in our church. 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:39.119 The way that that comes is when the people who make up the body all have individual experiences on their own. 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:48.960 And then we come and gather together as one in our weakness, not trying to be Eliad, not trying to act strong. 00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:51.920 And let me tell you something, we'll pray different. 00:33:54.160 --> 00:34:01.200 Because prayer will not just be something that I want, something that I love, and something that's convenient for me. 00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:03.279 Prayer will be something that I need. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:05.279 I need it. 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:12.639 In Psalm 103, it says this: bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. 00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:15.679 Bless His holy name. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:20.960 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all of his benefits. 00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:22.639 Now we're about to learn his benefits. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:24.079 That's a big deal. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.679 We love Jesus, pretty good idea for us to know the benefits. 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.280 Here's the benefits. 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:43.360 Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:46.400 And let me just tell you a theme I've seen in my life. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:50.559 It's easy for me to accept benefit two, three, and four. 00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:58.639 And I can accept those benefits because God can heal my diseases, and obviously I'm not responsible for that disease. 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.800 God can save my life from destruction, and somebody else might have caused the destruction. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:11.199 Of course, we all want a crown of loving kindness, but in order for me to accept benefit number one, I've got to be honest with myself. 00:35:11.679 --> 00:35:15.679 He who forgives your iniquities, your iniquities. 00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:19.039 Iniquity in the original Hebrew is a word Avan. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:23.920 It means this, it means guilt, perversion, or moral crookedness. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:32.880 So in Isaiah 53, when it says, All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:39.199 And the Lord has laid on him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all. 00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:50.159 The Lord has laid on him the guilt, perversion, or moral crookedness of me, of you. 00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:53.760 Don't get it twisted. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:36:08.000 Jesus left his seat at the right hand of the Father to come and live a life, a perfect life that we can never live, and die a death that we deserve, so that he could save me from me. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:14.000 Jesus saved me from me. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:24.639 I find it interesting that in Proverbs 23, God would say, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:28.079 It's actually not a super smart strategy for the Lord. 00:36:28.159 --> 00:36:35.119 Like if I told someone in here I wanted something from you, I probably wouldn't tell you to guard it above all else. 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:43.679 But God says, hey, guard your heart above all else, because he knew that I can give the appearance of health and my heart can still be sick. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:49.199 And he also told you to guard it because he knew if you'd give him a chance, he'd take the whole thing. 00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:54.239 What is a body that doesn't know it's sick? 00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:55.360 What do we need? 00:36:55.599 --> 00:37:14.880 You might be in here today, and you might be a husband that nobody knows you're sick, and you might be a dad that nobody knows you're sick, or a wife, or a mom, or a grandma, or a grandpa, or a successful business owner, and everybody's looking at you and your net worth's higher than it's ever been. 00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:18.800 But you know your heart's sick. 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:20.159 What do we need? 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:21.039 What do we do? 00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:24.880 Well, I'll tell you, we need a spiritual heart surgery. 00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:33.760 Ezekiel 36 says this I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:38.400 I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:41.599 She says, I'm gonna take your hard heart, I'm gonna make it soft. 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:49.599 The morning of my son's surgery, I was sitting in the room with him and the nurse came in and they were amazing. 00:37:49.760 --> 00:37:51.679 And um, this was a hard day for us. 00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:57.679 This was day 11, and the NICU, this would have been hours before the surgeon gave us our hard news. 00:37:57.840 --> 00:38:05.280 And um the nurse walked in, and when the nurse walked in, she had all these consent forms. 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:13.679 And if you've ever been responsible for someone who had a major surgery, they come in and give you, they need your consent for everything, and half the stuff you don't even know what it is. 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:16.239 And so I'm going through this with the nurse. 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:24.960 I'm in the hospital room, I'm sitting next to her, and she's going through all these things, the bypass machine, and all these things. 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:30.639 And it got to be so many things that at one point I looked at her and I and I kind of chuckled. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:40.880 And I said, Hey, uh, I'll sign whatever the surgeon needs me to sign in order for him to make the repair. 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:46.159