WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.919 How many of you needed to wear your stretchy pants and shirts this morning? 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.599 There's a few of you that were straight up honest. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.039 The rest of you are like, not me. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:20.160 Before we actually move on, uh, just to let you know, for those of you that are new here, my name is Pastor Brown, I'm one of the on the team here at KCC, and it's a real pleasure to be able to share with you this morning. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:25.600 I actually want to start with something that I felt the Lord sharing with me this morning as we were going. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:34.320 And it's interestingly enough that our welcome or our huddle team, Trish and Mel, actually spoke this morning, and it was actually from Galatians chapter 6, verse 9. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:41.039 Let us not become weary and well-doing, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.920 I think the Lord was speaking to me this week. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:48.640 It's been a bit of a I feel like the Lord's moving this morning. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:52.399 There's people here that want to give up. 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.600 That you're into church this morning. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:08.079 Maybe not why you're sure why you're here, you come every week, but I feel like the Lord's saying on the other side of your standing tall and digging into who he is and finding out your identity in Christ, there's gonna be victory. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:11.359 Don't give up. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:16.079 And even as I was thinking, like, Lord, how do I tie that into what I want to speak? 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:20.799 But it actually really strongly ties into what I want to talk about this morning. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.840 And before we move on, I just uh let's just pray. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:27.040 Lord, thank you for who you are and what you've done for us. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:37.280 Thank you that we get to come together, we get to celebrate together on the very last Sunday of this year, moving into 2020, knowing that you have great things for us. 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.640 This morning, let our hearts be open to hear what you want to say. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:48.000 Lord, that your word would not uh fall on shallow ground, Lord, that it would fall on fertile ground, ready to hear and to move into what you've called us to. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:52.640 Lord, that as a church, as individuals in this place, Lord, we're gonna hear from you this morning. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.599 Know that you're speaking in this place and the hearts will be touched. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.319 In Jesus' name. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:56.959 Amen. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:10.719 Um Pastor Brody, the last few weeks has been uh, well, actually, I'm gonna say the last few months, has been really preparing our church every single week with a little bit more of all hail King Jesus. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:31.840 And it kind of culminated into this last month's series where we had the entrusted offering, and thank you guys for your extravagant generosity as uh as a church that you gave, but also just some of the the foundations that he's been laying for us of our core values of who we are and moving church forward, not just moving church forward, but um and what God's called us to do. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:39.280 And so today I really struggled with the title of what I wanted to name that because you know James is doing our slides and he's like, hey, I need a title. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:40.319 I'm like, I don't know. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:44.240 It's grateful in the grind, grind it out, be the gift of the grind. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:54.960 And I'm talking about what God's called you to do in the moment, and how sometimes we're looking so far forward that we forget to see what God's doing in here. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:01.199 That God's doing right in front of us that maybe what's around us is we're just we're missing. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.560 And so uh yesterday we went up to Silver Star Mountain. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:06.560 How many of you have been up to Silver Star Mountain? 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:08.080 It's an amazing mountain. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.240 Um, I went skating. 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:14.800 I don't skate like I did when I was 20. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.800 Um, my nine-year-old nephew whooped me at hockey. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:28.400 My sons whooped me at hockey, and I walked away not being able to walk straight, and my legs were sore, ankles were hurting, but I had to appear manly, so I didn't say anything to anyone. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:37.759 Uh, but it was just, and what I realized is we're sitting at uh at that night, we're all together, we're all stiff and sore because we all played hockey and we all went up to the do the tubing. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.800 But what I realized is I'm watching uh hockey. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:45.680 I'm watching these guys on the ice that are so fast and they're powerful and they're moving forward. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.879 Uh and they're always, and I can't do any of what they're doing. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:56.879 I can do a little bit of it, but what I'm saying is if what you don't hear is how to where they are in the NHL, how they ground it out. 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:10.080 So what we're watching is the culmination of years and years and years, sometimes from the time that they're like two or three years old, and the to I'm getting a plan for my kid to be in the NHL at three. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:11.199 I hope he makes it. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:11.599 Right? 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:14.400 Then I'll be set for like that's not really the anyway. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:26.000 But the what we hear is they you don't hear about how they had to grind it out, how many times they had to go to coach, how many times it hurt their knees, how many times they bled when they were on the ice when they got and they fell or they got hit. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:32.560 What you don't hear is all of the the hard stories of what they had to do to get to where they were. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.319 And in order to get to the NHL, you can't give up. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:40.240 You can't give up. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.519 The thing that we want to do sometimes is just give up. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:49.600 And so even as I was I was watching them, I said this morning, there could be. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:55.839 I want to give you some context to grind it out so that you have you know where I'm coming from when it comes to grind it out. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:10.160 Grinded out means that it could be a single mom living life and she's crying on the other side of the bathroom door, listening to her kids talk to her, not feeling like she can't move on, feeling like she wants to give up. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:19.519 Or a father who works his tail off for the same company for years and years and years, and then one day he gets the word saying, Hey, you're fired. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.399 And he has to go home and tell his wife and his family that he's fired. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:24.160 He had to grind it out. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.759 All of these things that we do in our life, sometimes we're are we in university and you're just thinking, man, I don't want to do this. 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:32.800 This is crazy. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.000 This is so hard. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:35.439 What am I giving up? 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:37.279 You're having to grind it out. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:43.040 And the other side of your pushing through is where God's gonna move you into something new. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:44.800 Right? 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.000 So we have to grind it out. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:55.040 And sometimes, even as we're grinding it out, we get under the illusion that there's something better just around the corner. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:07.759 That there's something bigger, that there's something more, that what I'm doing right now has no value, has so little value to what I'm doing, that there's something bigger and better just around the corner than what I'm doing right now. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:14.000 That what I'm doing right now doesn't have as much importance as what could be. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:22.480 That we're sitting in 2019 and we're looking at 2020, praying to God, Lord, I hope 2020 is a better year. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:27.600 So I want to launch us this year into a shift of perspective. 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:31.920 Maybe we need to look at how we approach this just a little bit differently. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.759 And so, like I said, we feel like maybe there's something around the corner. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:39.519 If I even look back into when I was in high school, I don't want to go earlier in that, we'll go into high school. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:42.959 When you're in high school, when you're a dude, what do you want? 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:44.480 When I have a girlfriend. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:52.240 If you would have seen me with my tall hair and my silver chains and my thug sweater, you would have been like, man, good luck. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.560 And it didn't, it we don't want to talk about that. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:57.839 I have some bitterness. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:03.759 But when you're out of high school, you're like, when I what Lord, when I get out of high school, then I got into Bible school. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.040 And I wasn't Bible school, I'm like, Lord, when I get a girlfriend. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.279 Again, tall hair, chains, thug sweater, still didn't happen. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:13.839 Well, Lord, when I get out of Bible school. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.199 So then I get out of Bible school, and you're like, Lord, I still want a girlfriend. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:18.480 I want to be married. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:19.839 Lord, I want to be married. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:20.879 Just let me be married. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:28.959 And then I met my lovely wife, and she happened to be able to look past the big hair, the chains, and the thug sweater, and we're married, and we're it's been amazing. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:30.399 Right? 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:36.000 But then when we have our first child, we're like, yeah, they're gonna be out of diapers. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.319 Then you have a second child, and it's more diapers. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:42.879 And so you have two in diapers, and then one's finally getting out of diapers, then you have a third one, you're still in diapers. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.000 Seems like you're in diapers for years and years and years. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.519 It never ends. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:54.000 And then when they're old enough to buckle themselves up in the car, you're like, man, when they can buckle themselves up, life's gonna change. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.040 You know, when they can feed themselves, they can change. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:59.839 When they finally go to college, I get to eat again. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:00.480 Right? 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.560 Like all of these things, when, what if? 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:06.959 What's around the corner? 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:14.160 Said, and the thing is that just around the around the corner will be something more that you have to do. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:24.000 There's another achievement, there's another promotion, there's another possession, another thing that you have to do, another event. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:35.440 And one day you you realize is that as you're going through these things, I have a I think in my own life, I have a real weakness uh when it comes to this particular grinding it out. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:37.679 I want everything to be about me. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.519 And if we're all honest, and maybe it's just me being honest, that's okay. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:46.159 For the sake of this, I will be honest with you. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.120 I have a real weakness with I want what I want. 00:08:49.919 --> 00:08:53.200 And I always say there's two times in your life when you're gonna realize how selfish you really are. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:56.720 First time is when you get married, second time is when you have kids. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:09:03.279 Because all you want to do is sit and have a nap, but you can't because the kid's crying, you have to change a diaper, right? 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.360 But we live in this life where it's what I want. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:16.639 I want to fulfill my dreams, I want to do what I'm want to do, I want to go on that vacation, I want to have that smartwatch, I want to have that iPad, I want to have that car. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:17.600 It's all about me. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:19.120 What am I gonna do? 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:26.639 And culture does nothing, does absolutely nothing to dispel this. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.519 When I look on Instagram, I feel like a failure. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:33.679 Because Instagram tells you that at 40 years old you should look a certain way. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.080 40 years old, you should have certain things. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.320 40 years old, you should do certain things. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.039 40 years old, you should have this, this, that, and the other thing. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:42.399 You should look that way. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.559 But that's not what God says. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:50.799 What's most important is what God's view of me is, not what culture says. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.279 Culture will never give you an accurate view of who you are. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:57.120 Only Jesus will. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:09:59.519 Only Jesus will. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:06.559 And the thing about being a believer is that the Bible says if you're gonna follow me, you need to deny yourself. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:14.240 We're gonna deny ourselves those things, and we're gonna focus on what God has for us to do. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:17.440 So you're gonna take up your cross and you're gonna follow me. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.240 As a believer, we take up our cross and we follow him. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.559 And here's the scripture that kind of is the linchpin for everything we're gonna talk about. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.960 It says, whatever you do, you do it for the glory of God. 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.360 So here's the perspective shift that I want us to shift out of. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:43.759 Is that I want us to look at 2019, and maybe you're even thinking 2020 has to be better than this. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:49.360 But the perspective shift is we want to grind it out and be grateful in what God's done now. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.240 Not to say, you guys, I'm not saying, oh, Pastor Brian's like, don't plan for the future, just go with now. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:55.600 That's not what I'm saying at all. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:58.559 I'm saying plan for the future, do what God's called you to do. 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:01.360 You're working in what you need to do. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:09.279 But right now, let's take a perspective shift looking at the next phase of what God's called for us and see whatever I do, I will do it for the glory of God. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.200 That means if I'm doing laundry. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:25.440 If I'm picking up my kids, if I'm changing diapers, if I'm going into college, if I'm riding my bike, whatever it is, you do it for the glory of God. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.960 Because your perspective shift or your shift comes from, I'm not looking at me anymore, I'm looking at him. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:35.679 Pastor Brody for months has been pushing us in the direction of having a deeper relationship with him. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.919 He is building the foundation so that our eyes aren't on us, they're on Jesus. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:46.879 Because the most success that we will have isn't about the things that you end up with, it's about the relationship that I have with Jesus and him working in me. 00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:48.000 Amen? 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:54.559 Because we're not we're not here just to live life and do what we want to do if we're a believer. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:56.720 We're gonna deny ourselves and we're gonna follow him. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:08.000 And if I look at my life and I'm I'm actually at the age now, which is I don't like saying that, but I'm at the age now where I talk to our our young parts of our team and they don't know some of the bands. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.559 I'm pretty sure they don't know what a VHS is. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.360 Or cassette tape for that matter. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:17.759 So I can actually say confidently, I can look back now and look at my own life. 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:20.879 And here's something that is the real truth. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:28.639 The prize isn't what you accomplish occasionally, the prize is what you do daily for the glory of God. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.360 I'm gonna repeat that. 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:37.039 So the prize isn't what you accomplish occasionally, the prize is what you do daily. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.679 The occasionally is that raise, the next thing that you're doing, the thing that you want, that's about you. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:47.840 The prize isn't what you do occasionally, the prize is what you do daily for the glory of God. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:57.039 So every year, my family gets together and we do this. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.039 We write every year around New Year's things that we want to accomplish. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:08.320 And uh we write a long list, and then we get together sometime in the next few days and we open them up, and sometimes we share with each other because we're proud of it, and we're like, eh. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:13.279 Other times we hide it and we realize that nothing was accomplished that we wanted to. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:21.919 And so the the three questions that I want to frame today that I want you to look at as we're moving this forward is this. 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:26.240 What if the work was the reward? 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:33.039 What if the prize is in the process? 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.879 And what if you can be grateful in that grind? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:58.559 What if whatever you do, whatever you do, you can find divine satisfaction, that you can find fulfillment, that you can find life in whatever you do, instead of chasing that one thing that society says, oh, you have to find your passion. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.679 That is the worst thing that we can tell people. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.360 Not because it's not good to follow your passion, yes, follow your passion. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:09.840 But what that tells you is that if you don't have that one thing, society tells you you're a failure. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:11.840 Oh, you missed it because you didn't get it. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.200 Instagram influencers are a nightmare for this. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.799 They're telling you that you didn't reach your goal because you're not following your dream. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:21.519 Well, I did these five things and I made five million in five minutes. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:22.559 Good for you. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:24.879 That's not for everyone else. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.320 For you, this is this is the thing. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:29.759 Being a believer isn't easy. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:31.360 Grinding it out isn't easy. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:34.639 And all of those ones that are successful in life had to grind it out. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:42.639 Not to say they didn't, but what you don't see is all the heartache and all the misery and all the the late nights and everything that they had to s to work through to get there. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:56.879 And Paul, if we're gonna look into 1 Corinthians 15, says, For I am the least of the apostles, and do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:01.840 Now, Paul, being Saul before he was Paul, was like a massive hunter of Christians. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:02.639 That's what he did. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.679 He hunted Christians, he followed them, he wanted them, he killed them. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.559 That's what his his job was before he was a believer. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:16.320 But here's here's what the the thing is that but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.720 No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:25.840 God's grace was not without effect. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:33.519 When we look for the grind and we're actually grinding it out, he gives us the grace needed to do the task that we've we need to do. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.039 How many of you have the same story? 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:43.759 You weren't good, you weren't righteous, you weren't good enough, but you were affected by the grace of God. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:53.279 You were affected by his forgiveness, you were affected by his mercy, you were affected when you gave your life to Jesus, you said, Lord, I want to be affected by you. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.080 Lord, your grace will not be without effect. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:03.039 And the the the really harsh reality of that is that we can be Christians for years and years and years. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.679 And the sad thing is that maybe that that grace without effect hasn't hit your heart yet. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:16.159 That it's sitting here in your mind, you've read the scripture, you've heard the pastor speak it, but the grace to no effect has not actually affected your heart. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:26.399 And so because we we may not let God work in that particular area, we're not grinding it out the way he wants us to. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.559 And he's saying, Here, I got blessings for you in this moment. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.919 This storm that you're in is nothing. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:36.960 I got this. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:40.480 But we're so focused in on us. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:43.279 We're so focused on what I want that I miss what God wants. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.000 Verse 10. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:53.279 In 1 Corinthians 15, 9, and 10 says, But by the grace of God I am what I am. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.279 He was not worthy. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:56.159 He wasn't good enough. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.600 His grace, he found God's grace, but I worked harder than all of them. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:01.519 Yet not I, like you said. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:09.440 I would love to be able to sit down with Paul and ask him, What did you mean by I worked harder than all of them? 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:23.039 Because it seems like Paul, being who Paul was, uh, 30 years of possible experience working towards what God's called him to do, and when he says I'm the least of these, it's a bit of a humble brag. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:26.640 Right? 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.839 I'd like to ask the question, Paul, what does it mean you worked harder? 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:35.680 He said, Well, others were sleeping. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:38.640 He was getting up early and he was grinding it out. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.640 He was strategizing, he was praying, he was spending time in the word. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:46.880 When all the others around him were idolizing comfort. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.359 He was beaten, he was shipwrecked. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.880 I can tell you, he got bitten by a snake. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.079 He didn't like that. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:54.960 He's like, Oh yeah, I got bitten by a snake for the gospel. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.000 Woo, good for me. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:57.359 I almost died. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:00.960 Like he was beaten, shipwrecked. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.000 When others took a shortcut, he was working harder. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.519 He was grinding it out. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:06.799 He wasn't giving up. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:16.799 He was letting I'm sure that Paul at any one of those times when he's when he's sitting on a beach after his boat destroyed in the storm, was thinking, what am I doing here? 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.559 But he knew he was called to a greater purpose. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.559 Right? 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:32.319 And what you don't read if you've read anything about Paul, even a little bit of scripture that I read about that, is he didn't wish it away. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.000 We spend so much time of our current season wishing it away, dreaming of what's next. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.519 That we miss what's in the current. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:48.559 So we're sitting in 2019 wishing that 2019 was better than it was. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.119 Lord, 2020 has to be better. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.799 What is God saying to you now in this moment? 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:01.519 Paul, when he went to prison, didn't say when I get out. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:02.720 What's on the other side? 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:03.519 What am I gonna do? 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:04.319 He didn't say that. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:06.640 He said, When I get out, this is what I'm gonna do. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.119 So when I stop being beaten, this is what I'm gonna do. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:13.440 When he was shipwrecked, he didn't curse God, he didn't forget him, he didn't do any of those things. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:15.200 He said, God, what can I do? 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:17.440 I'm in this season. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:19.279 What do you want me to do? 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:28.799 When him and Barnabas got in a fight in Acts chapter 15, instead of just being angry, they decided to part ways, but he didn't get offended. 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:33.920 He didn't leave, he didn't quit Sunday school because Barnabas hurt his feelings. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:38.640 He didn't do any of that, he kept on grinding it out. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:49.839 Even though that was probably an awkward situation with him and Barnabas, someone that he fought with, that he worked with, that he loved and he cared for, he still ground it out. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:51.359 He didn't quit. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.599 So there's three enemies of the grind. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:01.279 There's three enemies of the grind. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.400 One, Pastor Brody made the statement. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.440 You can have comfort or you can have growth. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.680 But you can't have both. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.960 And the real truth is that the problem with comfort is that comfort becomes our purpose. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.440 Is that we're fighting daily for the comfort that we want. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:27.440 We're fighting daily for that heated tile, the heated bun warmer on your in your car. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:32.960 We're going for the newest phone. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:35.599 We're going for the newest, whatever it is. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.200 We're always seeking comfort. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:39.039 We want more comfort. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.720 Comfort becomes our purpose. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:45.920 Instead of denying ourselves, instead of doing what he wants us to do, we're doing these things. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.599 We're we're looking for comfort. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.039 And we forget what God's called us to do in the mission. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:54.160 So we don't have purpose. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.599 And so comfort becomes what we look for. 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:00.799 And the the the real truth is easy never changed the world. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:13.599 How many times in your life, how many times in your life did you look at something that you had to go through and on the other side of you're like, oh, that was way too easy. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.400 You said, oh man, that that that struggle that I had was the easiest struggle I've ever had. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:24.960 On a scale of one to ten, this was a seven on the struggle scale. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.759 If there is such a thing as a struggle scale, I don't know. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:33.759 But we're sitting in a place where the struggle is what brings us the blessing. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.559 Because the prize, what's the prize? 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:42.960 Enemy number two is distractions. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:46.000 How many of you have been working towards something? 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.839 Picked up your phone, and you see Netflix? 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:53.359 Woo! This show was recommended for you. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:56.240 Oh, it must be the Holy Spirit telling me you need to watch that show. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.839 You all laugh and you're so uncomfortable. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.799 You're like just like that. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:08.480 That's a thing that happens. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.000 Distractions get in her way. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:13.279 You're looking. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.720 How many I have a I have a new phone. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:19.279 Meanwhile, I'm talking about new phones. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:22.480 But it has this program on there called Action Dash or something like that. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.319 And it actually tells me per day how much time I'm online. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:30.559 Tells me how much I'm on Chrome or Instagram or Netflix. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.519 I won't tell you my embarrassing amount of numbers. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:45.039 But if we take that time that we're being distracted and used it for working the mission and doing what the purpose is that God, whatever we do, we do it for the glory of God. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.400 I don't know how much glory of God there is on scrolling through Instagram. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:53.759 Or looking at Facebook or watching Netflix. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:00.240 I feel like when Paul's talking about these things, he's not talking about the electronic devices of the entertainment. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:02.640 He's talking about when there's real work to be done. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:03.680 Where are you? 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:04.799 What are you doing? 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.559 Are you looking to see when I get to this place? 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.200 Are you focused in on what God's called you to do now? 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:13.599 We talk about this a lot at church, moving church forward. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:23.119 And I think that Pastor Brody has laid such a great foundation for us to grind it out and see that God has something greater than you could possibly imagine. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.000 Grind it out. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:34.160 Here's the the next sin, the next temptation is the perpetual opportunity to quit. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:39.680 Even when I was reading Galatians this morning, it says, You want to quit. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:43.680 We always get to this place, it says, marriage got tough. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.759 The relationship got tough, so I'm going to quit. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.640 I can't get out of debt, so I'm going to quit trying. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.880 Parenting is really, really difficult, so I'm going to quit. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.640 University is difficult, so I'm going to quit. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:02.880 My job, I just don't like my job. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:04.079 My job is too hard. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:05.200 I don't want to do it. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:06.559 I'm going to quit. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:13.920 The perpetual temptation in all things that we do to quit is the enemy of what God has for you. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:23.759 Comfort, distractions, quitting are the things that the enemy wants for you so you don't fulfill what God's called you to do. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:34.480 Who you are, the way God made you, is so much more important than what the enemy has for you, what Netflix has for you, what Instagram is saying about you, who he created you to be. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:40.559 The identity that you have in him is so much more important and valuable than anything you could possibly imagine. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:44.240 You are a new creation in Christ. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.200 You don't wear the coat of being righteous. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:48.720 You are righteous. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:50.480 He made you righteous. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:51.440 That's who you are. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.799 And with him, you can do anything that he's called you to do. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.839 He gives you grace in those times to be able to accomplish the thing that he's called you to do. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.839 He doesn't leave you without. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:04.880 He may leave you with less, so you have to depend on him. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:07.279 But he's not going to leave you without him. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.880 You're always gonna, he's always gonna be able to be like, I give you this job to do. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.960 You man, you're gonna be walking in that job. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:15.759 And he's gonna give you the strength to do it. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:20.640 Maybe not all of the tools or the skills to do it, but you will be doing it with him as you walk through it. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:22.480 That is good. 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:25.519 The temptation to quit. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.359 They didn't appreciate me. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:29.119 I tried, uh this one was funny. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:40.079 I was reading an article about people that quit just being in relationship with people or Christianity is like, well, I went to church twice, it didn't work for me, so I quit. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:44.000 I couldn't find a parking spot one Sunday, so I quit. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:49.039 We have opportunity in whatever thing that we're doing, you'll be presented. 00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:50.799 I don't want to continue. 00:25:53.119 --> 00:26:04.319 How many of you have to grind it out in that moment, knowing that the thing that He's asked you to do is difficult, but you have to grind it out. 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:14.960 You can throw in the towel, you can give up, you can walk away, or you could pick up the towel and say, I'm gonna use this to wipe the sweat off my face and move forward. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:21.039 That 2020 will be better because I'm focused on Lord, what do you have for me in this storm? 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.839 The work is the reward. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:29.839 The prize is in the process. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:34.240 And we will be grateful in the grind. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:48.640 That we won't miss that calling, we won't miss that opportunity to deal with that difficult child, to deal with those things that we have that we know that are just gonna be tough, that we don't quit, that we just grind it out. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:53.279 Selfish passion, selfish passion is about us. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:56.799 But God is calling us to selfless purpose. 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:03.039 And the real truth about being in selfless purpose with and relationship with God is that passion follows. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:05.359 And here's uh an example of that. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:09.039 In Acts chapter 20, 25 to 31, I'm gonna read this. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:15.359 It said, About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to him. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.359 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, and the foundations of the prison were shaken. 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:24.640 At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone everyone's chains came loose. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:33.839 The jailer woke up, and when he saw prison doors open, he drew his sword, and he was about to kill himself, but he thought about the pr because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:36.799 But Paul shouted, Don't harm yourself, we are all here. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:41.279 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.839 He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:52.240 Paul replied, They believe in the Lord Jesus and you'll be saved, you and your household. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.160 Passion follows purpose. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:58.640 In that moment, Paul knew what his passion was. 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:00.400 He knew what his purpose was. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:06.480 And in that purpose, as he's doing what God's called him to, do you think he wanted to be in stocks in prison, beaten with rods? 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:09.200 Previously in that chapter, he had cast a demon out. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:13.119 She had gone to the magistrates and said, This is what he did, and he got beaten with rods. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:15.359 You think that's what he wanted to do? 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:17.599 That that was what he had he had to do. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:18.559 So he's in prison. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.480 He'd already been beaten, he stocked up. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:30.880 The earthquake came, and instead of saying, Hey, I might have an opportunity to escape and run away from my current problem, he saw an opportunity to share the gospel with a jailer. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:34.880 And because that he did that, that jailer got saved. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:40.319 His purpose was do whatever, whatever I do, I will do it for the glory of God. 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:44.960 That was Paul's mission, was to do whatever he did for the glory of God. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:49.920 I can guarantee you that Paul didn't want to be shipwrecked, didn't want to be bitten by a stake, didn't want to be beaten. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:54.640 For all we know, we know that if you read the history of Paul, he actually was a tent maker. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:56.640 He had experience building tents. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:01.359 For all we know, he could have been like a professional lute player, if that's a thing. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:02.000 Right? 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.559 Who knows what his passions were? 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:09.759 But in that moment, because his purpose was to follow Jesus, his passion shifted. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.440 And his passion was, I'm gonna share the Lord with this person. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:23.119 I'm gonna grind it out in this moment when I can possibly escape the storm and move into something else, I'm gonna grind it out and share the love of God with this man. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.519 And his whole family was saved because of it. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.799 Because he didn't give up, he didn't run away from the purpose that God called him to. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.240 He stood tall and said, This is my mission, this is what I'm gonna do. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:43.279 So instead of pursuing some of that selfish passion that we have, we we pursue God's purpose. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.079 And in pursuing God's purpose, passion will follow. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:48.240 And this is what he says in Acts chapter 20. 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:51.039 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me. 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:56.720 My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:00.400 The task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:08.000 His task, his mission, his purpose was to follow in what God has called him to do. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.319 Is to finish the race. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:25.599 And the thing is, is that once you become aware of I'm gonna do these things for Christ, and I'm gonna do with everything in me that all the strength that I have is that those things that you have purpose for now and the passion that follows, the ordinary things become something that you're passionate about. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:36.640 The ordinary things become something that you're passionate about because you're moving in what God's called you to do, you're giving him all the glory and the small things that you're doing. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:42.880 And purpose, Paul gives us such profound images as to what he's called us to do. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:45.519 Don't run like someone else is running aimlessly. 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:56.160