WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.359 Thank you for listening to the Kelowna Christian Center podcast. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:08.080 Our desire is that today's message will be fresh and encouraging to you. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:13.679 For more information on KCT and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:16.320 Well, good morning. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:18.960 My name is uh my name is Malachi. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.120 I'm excited to be with you this morning. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:27.839 Um I have the honor of uh closing out this series that we've been talking about, this level up series. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:32.079 And uh I know Pastor Brody and uh some of the guys were out of the men's camp out. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:41.119 I know uh Pastor Brian made it in this morning to to to sing with us this morning so we can uh have an awesome time this morning. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.119 We I they I know they've been having a blast out there. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:49.679 I know Brian was telling us a story of the they had a quad and they had a couple axes and had some targets. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.679 I'm not gonna steal your story, but I'll let you tell it. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.119 But uh so it was a it was a genuinely good time. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.039 I think they had a lot, they did a lot of man stuff. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:02.640 I think I don't know if they blew up stuff or they were shooting guns, but um next year, he says. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:04.879 So you better you better make it out next year. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.280 But I I uh I love the series that we've been doing. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.879 How many how many of you enjoyed this this series that we've been doing, Level Up? 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.560 Is it is it encouraging to you? 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.920 Was it has it been awesome? 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:15.760 I I know that it's been encouraging to me. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.040 It's been helping me a lot and just kind of processing through things. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:40.159 And we've been talking about this this topic and this idea through all the areas of our of our church, and uh I've kind of come to this conclusion, and I think that um, I think that we can all agree on the same level, if you would, if you would, with me, um, that to some degree in our life, you could agree on this, that we want progression. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:41.439 How many agree with that? 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:46.239 You would you would say that to some degree in your life, you like to see progress. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:56.079 You like to see uh progress maybe in your job, you'd like to see a promotion, you would like to see progress maybe some of you are in school or you're doing post-secondary education. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.000 You would you like to see progress. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.599 You like to see that the year is ending because some of us don't like school. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:02.560 Um, like me. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:03.359 I never liked school. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.079 I would always sit there and be like, I just can't wait till school is done. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.560 Um maybe it's a desire for a relationship. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.759 We we desire progress. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:15.120 I know uh I just recently got married this summer and we our our relationship leveled up. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.280 Like we got rings and it was official, right? 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:18.560 This was this was cool. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:20.639 So we had progress in our relationship. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:32.800 But I I spoke this message, not this particular one, but I spoke a message in uh in youth and adults, and uh, and it was kind of on the same topic of we all desire progression. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:47.439 And hopefully that most importantly to us, you know, as Christians, maybe some of us aren't Christian here, but you're thinking about it, but hopefully that that most important desire is to level up with God, to that next level with God. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:50.000 We have these things that we would like to see in our life. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:03:01.280 We'd we have maybe, yeah, like we talked about, a job or maybe school relationship, but but hopefully, our most important relationship to level up is with God. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:11.120 And so the reality is whenever we we go to another level or whenever we try to go to the next level, there's always gonna be something in our way, right? 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.919 There's always gonna be an obstacle that we have to jump over. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:19.840 There's always gonna be something, an uh an opposing force that's gonna try and stop us. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:27.599 And spoke on this topic of uh, you know, what's stopping you from going to that next level? 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:30.240 What's stopping you from going to that next level? 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.960 And sometimes uh it could be, you know, it could be in our surroundings, right? 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:42.639 It could be in our environment, it could be in where we work, it could be our our friend group that you feel like, oh, I just wish I had different friends. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.639 I I then I could go to that next level. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:46.479 I'm I feel like I'm held back. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:55.199 But if we're if we're really honest this morning, if we're if we're just blatantly honest with ourselves, most often it's us. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.159 We stop our own progress. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.960 Like we're our own worst enemy, essentially. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.159 We are ultimately responsible for going to that next step. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:18.560 And uh, you know, within that thought, I had just we had discussed uh uh in our youth group and our in our young adults that that comfort comfort is an enemy of progress, right? 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:27.759 Like comfort, complacency, when I'm when I just kind of sit back and I'm just happy with where I'm at, if I'm happy with where I'm at, I'm not gonna move forward, right? 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:32.639 And so God is God is not calling us to be comfortable. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.120 You might be like, well, I don't want to be a Christian. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.199 Um so sorry, but he's not calling us to be comfortable, right? 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.240 He's called us to be world changers, right? 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:50.800 He's called us to be the he's in the in the scriptures it is it says that you are the salt and the light of the world, right? 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:54.079 And the salt being the flavor, you are the trendsetters. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:58.720 Christians, you are the trendsetters, you are the the influencers, right? 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:00.800 And you are the light of the world. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.839 You get to carry that hope with us. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.800 We get to carry hope into places where there is no hope. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:11.360 And uh he's constantly calling us out of our comfort zones. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.800 Like he's called me up here, and I'm not comfortable sometimes up here. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.160 And so I actually never thought I'd be in this kind of place. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:20.959 I thought I would still be working doing plumbing or something. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.160 That's you know, it's I feel like that's easier because I can I don't have to be in front of all of you. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.759 Um but what's stopping you from going from here to there? 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.680 From A to B? 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:39.519 And uh I want to title this message uh Under the Surface. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:47.759 It was probably already up there the whole time, so my there was no real build up to that, so thanks, Steve. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:51.439 It's okay, I can I can move on. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:52.240 We'll we'll keep going. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:56.399 I wanna I want to jump into the Bible, not literally jump into, but I want to read the Bible. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:01.279 Uh and if you're not familiar with the Bible, I hope you are, um, and you should get familiar with it. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:08.959 It's a historical account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all of creation. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:10.720 This is a really important book. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:16.639 Um if I was to sum up the Bible, it would be like it's it's a roadmap for our lives, right? 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.319 Um it's filled with stories and scriptures from multiple different writers. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:25.279 Um, but it says it says uh in the Bible that it that it's actually God breathed, right? 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:26.399 It's God-inspired word. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.000 Every single word written in here is inspired by the word of God. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:38.079 So um when we read the Bible, it not only has uh the power to give us life, but it also has the power to help change our life, right? 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.240 It has the power to help change our life. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:43.439 It doesn't change our life, it can help guide us. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.319 But we also we also get to learn from it, right? 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.079 And there's some tough, there's some tough stories in here if you're familiar with some of them. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:07:06.000 There's some there's some uh interesting stories, and one of the one of the ones that I want to read to you this morning, it's uh it's it's convicting, hopefully, it uh hopefully you can get where I'm going with this, but it's in 2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 1. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:12.879 And uh before I get into it, I just want to explain who I'm talking about because I like to give a lot of context of what's happening. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.120 And uh so here we have David, right? 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:20.160 Most of you probably know who David is, but if you don't, you know, David started off as a pretty normal guy. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.199 He started off as a shepherd, he was tending sheep. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:27.040 He was, I mean, he was a pretty cool guy because he killed bears and lions and stuff. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.000 But uh, like I would be terrified if I had to do that. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:34.079 But he eventually he he started as a shepherd and he and he became a king, right? 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:35.120 A very famous king. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:36.079 He leveled up. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:52.240 Um but I don't I don't want to go into his whole life story, but there was this, you know, this one moment that virtually changed his life, and and he went out to this battlefield where the Israelites and the Philistines were were were in this kind of war, and uh and he was bringing his brothers lunch, right? 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:53.920 He was like the skip the dish guy. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.439 I don't know if you guys use that. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.600 Yeah, he was the Uber of food. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:07.680 Um but and so he's he's going out there and he's probably not expecting to do anything crazy, but uh he ends up challenging this uh giant named Goliath, right? 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:21.439 And he kind of lips him off and he gets himself in a little bit of trouble, so he has to back himself up with a uh sling and a stone, and so he he goes out and he knocks this giant out, and then he actually, sorry, kids, but he decapitates him with his with the giant's own sword, right? 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:22.079 So he kills him. 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:27.120 And so Saul's like, Whoa, that guy's that guy's awesome! Like, how do you do that? 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.279 So he he actually noticed David, right? 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:31.199 The king at the time, his name was Saul. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.720 He uh so he brings him into his inner circle, right? 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.360 And uh and David plays harp for him. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:48.240 He's a really talented guy, um, and so he's a musician, so he's playing harp for him, and then eventually uh David begins to serve Saul and his army, and uh, but then then something happens, right? 00:08:48.559 --> 00:09:08.879 Saul uh becomes jealous of David, so he tries to kill David, and so uh David ran and hid, and he hid in this cave, essentially, and um eventually out lasted Saul because Saul uh fell in battle one day, and uh and so David then became the king. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:17.840 And so this is kind of where I want to start here, and it's in 2 Samuel 11, and I'm gonna read from one to five and read along with me. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:33.840 It happened in the spring of the time when kings go to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel, and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah, but David remained at Jerusalem. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:46.639 Then it happened one morning that David arose from his bed and walked onto the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:56.080 So David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:07.039 Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and she lay with her, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity and returned to her house. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:11.919 The woman conceived, and she sent and told David, I'm with child. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:17.759 And so, as you can see, like David's probably in a little bit of trouble at this moment, right? 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:27.600 He's he's probably panicking, and and maybe not just as a king, but his integrity as a king is at as at risk, right? 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.519 And so in verses six to thirteen, I won't read it, I'm just gonna paraphrase it. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.519 He tries to cover up his tracks, right? 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:47.200 He sends for Ariah to come uh from battle, and he says, he tells, he actually tells Uriah, hey, hey, Ariah, you know, you've been working really hard, you've been, you've been battling really well, you've been doing this war thing really, really good. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.279 I I like your style, Ariah. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:51.360 But you should, you know, you should take it easy. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.960 Take it easy, go home, and uh you should go home to your wife. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:00.559 And he's he's essentially trying to get Ariah to go home and sleep with his wife so he can cover his track. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.200 So he didn't, so no one knew that David did this. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.840 And so, but Ariah refuses, right? 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.559 David didn't see this coming, but Ariah's like, no way, man. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:11.200 Like, my brothers are out there, they're all fighting. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.399 I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go to the comfort of my own home. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:18.240 I'm gonna, I'm gonna actually, I'm gonna sleep outside this gate on the floor. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.080 And I'm just gonna, that's where I'm gonna be. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:25.919 And so David's probably frustrated and probably annoyed and being like, why does this guy have so much integrity? 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:29.919 Um, but David, you know, he attempts number two, right? 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.519 He he brings him in the next day and he actually tries to trick him. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:34.720 He tries to get him drunk. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:36.720 And uh some of you are like, Man, this is in the Bible. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:38.080 Yes, this is in the Bible. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.480 Um, this is pretty X-rated. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.120 So um that joke. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.639 Um, so David he tries again, right? 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.639 And same success rate as the first time. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:52.240 No, I I I can't do it. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.519 I need to I need to stay here, I need to sleep on the floor. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:56.639 I can't be comfortable. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.120 I can't be comfortable while my brothers are fighting. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.759 And so David's kind of left with this one option. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:12.159 And in the morning, in verse 14, it says, In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Ariah, knowing that Ariah wouldn't read the letter, right? 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:14.159 He knew of his integrity. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:18.080 So he he sent the this death note with Ariah essentially. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:26.639 He's and he wrote in the letter saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle or in a retreat from him, that he may be struck down to die. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:36.559 And so it was while Joab besieged the city that he assigned Ariah to the place where he knew there were valiant men, and the men from the city came out and fought with Joab. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:41.919 And some of the servants of David fell, and Ariah the Hittite died also. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.919 Let's just pray this morning. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:58.480 Father, we just uh we thank you for your word, we thank you for your your scriptures, God, that we can we can not only have life from them, we can we can get life from them, but we can also learn from your stories that you have in this book. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:12.720 God, that we would we would be able to just be spoken to by you, God, this morning, that our hearts would be open, our hearts would be soft, Lord, that we would we would just receive from you this morning, and we would laugh at all of my jokes. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.840 And uh, and God, we just pray all this in your name. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:17.519 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:18.480 Amen. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:20.720 You can say amen. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:21.519 Yeah. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.960 I like it when you guys are vocal because then I know that I'm saying something good. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:26.960 It helps my insecurities. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:31.600 Um let me ask you a question this morning. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.200 Um, and that was just my intro, so we're we're just getting into it. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.039 So buckle your seatbelts. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.600 Um, how many of you have ever forgotten something? 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.039 You can, yeah, you hopefully everybody. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:49.919 Uh you know, for all the moms out there, I know that the guys are well, not all the guys, but some of the guys are away. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:55.039 But all the moms out there, maybe you've uh and Thanksgiving's coming up, and maybe you put something in the oven. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:14.720 And uh, I know that timers help with with being on for uh with unforgetfulness, but uh, you know, you put it in the oven and you walked away and you got distracted by something because there's so much other things going on, and your host mind kind of kicks on and there's like this list that you're checking off, but then all of a sudden, ah, the the the food in the oven, and and you you pull it out and you have to throw it away because it's burnt. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:15.919 Have you have you ever had that happen? 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:16.799 Is that just me? 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.960 Okay, no moms have ever had that happen. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:20.240 That is amazing. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:33.120 But maybe, maybe you're like me and you uh you call this cooking, you buy a Delicio pizza, which is my favorite pizza, and uh and you throw it in the oven, you turn it on, and you st I still manage to burn the pizza. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:33.759 Right? 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:35.440 I I forgot about it. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:49.200 And and maybe maybe you don't cook, maybe, but we can we can all relate to this idea that I forgot to do this, or I forgot to do that, or you know, I started I started this and I and I didn't deal with it through. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:50.720 I I I I neglected it. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.200 There was something I had to do that was really important, but I forgot. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:02.080 But now, you know, now that I've forgotten, I'm left with a consequence, right? 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:06.720 My food is burnt and I have to put another pizza and I wasted five dollars. 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:13.120 And maybe uh, you know, maybe we just simply neglect to do something, like you know, the laundry. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.519 I uh I hate doing laundry. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:19.279 And sorry, Rebecca, she that's my job when I'm at when I'm at home. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.159 I do the laundry. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.000 And it's not that because I'm lazy. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:31.679 I I actually I feel like I can I can get through a day and and I don't I feel like I'm not lazy, but you know, the laundry, the problem with laundry is it just keeps coming back. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:34.080 Right? 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:39.039 Like it it doesn't end, and it's and it's like this cycle, Hans. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:54.879 It's like this cycle that just continually, continually comes, and it's like if I if I start to neglect, if my actions of negligence kind of take over, then I you know I'm left with the consequences now that I I have nothing to wear, right? 00:15:55.120 --> 00:16:04.320 Or my house starts to smell, which is really easy before I met Rebecca, but now it smells like lavender and it's and it's wonderful and peppermint. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.480 She bought all these essential oils and it's amazing. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.440 Our house smells awesome. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.240 You should come over. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:17.759 Um, but uh, you know, a number of years ago, I was uh I was at this bachelor party, it was a Christian bachelor party, don't worry. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:55.279 And uh we were out in the forest in the middle of nowhere, and uh and we kind of it was my buddy Mitchell, he was getting married, and uh I lived down here, so I drove up there, so I hadn't seen my buddies for a while, and we get into teams and they had this whole thing lined up, and uh we get into these like groups of like five guys, and there's four teams of us, and we have like these uh kind of like man style like uh competitions where they give each team a chainsaw and they give each team a hammer and they give each team like these like big spike nails, and they're like, Okay, now we have to go build forts because no one brought tents, no one, no one was allowed to bring tents or sleeping bags. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:58.399 So we're like, we had to go build a fort, we had to go build ourselves a shelter. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.919 This is like ultimate survival mode. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.759 I mean, some of you are like, that's not fun at all. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:03.840 But some of the guys are like, that would be kind of cool. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:11.839 And so we we were in this like big gravel pit, and uh me and then me and my old boss, he was a really handy guy, and so we like built this massive fort. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:16.480 It held like 15 people, and there was only like five of us, but we just wanted the biggest one. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:24.559 We didn't put a roof on it, which was our downfall when it rained that night, but we were in this big gravel pit, and like we were like, we need to make the coolest fort ever. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:35.119 So we we it was like 20 feet up, and we dropped these two trees down to the gravel pit from our fort, and it was like this cool drawbridge, and everyone was like super jealous of our fort. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:43.279 And uh, and you know, we did all these other things, we would go hunting, we had a a squirrel killing competition, so I'm so sorry for all the animal lovers. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:53.440 But the the loser had to eat one of the squirrels, so and uh you know, I just I we didn't our team didn't lose, but I just tried the squirrel just for kicks, and uh, you know, it's actually not that bad. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.279 So if you ever are in a in a pinch and you need to eat a squirrel, they're okay. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:02.480 They kind of taste like really greasy chicken, like like worse than KFC though. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:09.440 Um but uh you know at the end of the night, at the end of the night, we had this bonfire, right? 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.200 And uh you can't have a good camping trip without a bonfire. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.680 And so we had this big bonfire, and uh my dad, you know, why is my dad here? 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.720 Because he's that cool. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:22.640 He gets invited to all the birthday parties and all the bachelor parties of my friends. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.359 I don't know how he does, he's triple our age, but he's still that cool. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:36.240 So he was invited to this bonfire, and he uh he's like, hey guys, we're all just kind of watching, we're like standing around the bonfire eating and making marshmallows and and cooking hot dogs and doing all that good stuff. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.000 And my dad's like, hey, watch this, guys. 00:18:38.079 --> 00:18:44.480 And he and he takes this soup can and he tosses it in the fire, and he just starts sprinting. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:46.160 And we're like, what's going on? 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.720 So we just started running with them, and all of a sudden it's like, whoa! It was like this explosion. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:51.440 We're like, what? 00:18:51.519 --> 00:19:00.079 How did they and there's like there's soup everywhere, hot soup and like these embers of of burning wood, and it just like exploding, and we're just like, whoa, this is the coolest thing. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:13.440 So we're starting to throw these soup cans, we're literally throwing our food because we had squirrel, we're not hungry anymore, but we started throwing these soup cans in the fire, and my dad's just laughing because he's like, This is the best, and then uh, and so they're exploding, we're having a good time. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:18.640 But then my dad, you know, he comes up and he and he finds this hollowed-out log, right? 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:24.400 And this log's probably about this big, and uh, and it's perfect for three soup cans. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:28.559 They can just kind of fit three of them in there. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:29.599 Like perfect size. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.119 It was like God knew we were gonna have a good time tonight. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:43.039 And uh, and so my dad throws it in the fire, and this time we're all ready, we like we like backed up an extra 20 feet because we're like, this is gonna be a big explosion. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.799 And so we're like, we're standing there and we're just kind of waiting, right? 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:51.519 Five minutes goes by, we're still waiting. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:53.599 We're waiting. 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:58.559 It seems like an eternity, and we're just we're sitting there just telling you, like, is this gonna is this gonna work, Dad? 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:00.000 He's like, Yeah, yeah, it'll work. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:01.519 Yeah, it'll work. 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:02.319 Just wait. 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:03.759 We're waiting. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.680 And then nothing happens. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:09.119 And so we're like, okay, that sucks. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:33.440 Um, you know, we kind of chalked it up to be maybe that one of the soup cans had leaked out its pressure, uh, maybe it wasn't hot enough, you know, but we we kind of just like timidly walked back to the fire, and uh we realized that it wasn't gonna explode, you know, half an hour goes by, probably exaggerating, but uh this time goes by and we're just kind of hanging out by the fire again, and so we've kind of forgotten about the soup cans. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.559 And so I remember distinctly, I remember this. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:40.160 Actually, Jeff, you want to come up here? 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.119 I need you as an example. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:42.880 You're like the perfect height. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.119 Sorry, I didn't tell him I was gonna do this. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:48.319 What's up, Jeff? 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:49.200 This is Jeff. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:50.319 Yeah. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:52.799 So, yeah, you actually are at perfect height. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:54.720 You're the perfect height of my friend Jeremiah. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:55.680 Or we called him Cubby. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.039 So I was standing there talking to Cubby, and we're just like having a good time. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:00.640 You can have a good time with me. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:08.799 And uh, and it was like, it was he was talking to me, and then all of a sudden, like, it was this explosion happened. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:09.920 Boom! Right? 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.119 But it was slow motion. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:13.119 It was like I I could remember it in slow motion. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.759 I don't know why, but I feel like it just always happens to me. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.759 But he's he's kind of explaining the story. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.480 You can put your hands like this, he's explaining. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:26.480 And uh and this piece of wood is my Bible, is like going like this. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:36.960 And I'm like standing here looking at this piece of wood, but looking at him, and he's still smiling, and then it just like boom, like smokes him in the face. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:37.920 You can sit down. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:52.000 Um but like this, it was like this chunk of wood, it was burning, and it like exploded, and then all of a sudden, we're it everything goes into fast motion, and everyone's like panicking and running, and there's hot soup flying everywhere, and everyone's getting burnt. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.559 And it was just this kind of awful experience, but it was also awesome at the same time. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.680 And this is probably why uh women live long. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.559 Than guys, but and some of you might be like, What is he talking about? 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.119 Why is this have anything to do with the sermon? 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:15.039 Um, but you know, the thing I want to talk about this morning, and there's the obvious, we talked about it, is that you know, when we forget something, there's a consequence. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:30.240 When I neglect to deal with a problem, there's a consequence, but you know, sometimes in that forgetfulness, it kind of leads to uh that negligence, and it often negligence can can almost lead me to purposefully not dealing with something. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:38.400 It kind of leads me to to a place, maybe it's it's something that I've I've you know, I use the term maybe it's something that I've hidden, right? 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.160 And I'm like, I don't want to deal with that. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.759 And we almost try to just, you know, we push it down, and we push it down, and we push it down, we we forget about it. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:59.359 It's or the things in our life, you know, maybe we're ashamed of it, or maybe it's something that's happened to us, or maybe it's something that we've done, and we just kind of like we take it and we try to just push it, push it, push it, and it's and it's gone. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:01.680 It's kind of like out of sight, out of mind. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:09.200 And and when in reality, when things become hidden in my life, there's consequence, right? 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:12.240 And maybe it maybe doesn't happen in that moment. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.200 Maybe it's like the soup cans that just are sitting boiling and they're boiling in the fire, and then all of a sudden your life explodes. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:26.160 And the longer those things stay under the surface of my life, the bigger the consequence. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.680 And I just want to I want to share a couple thoughts with you this morning. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:36.720 And uh, it's on the thought you know, what holds you back from going to that next level with God? 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:42.160 And uh, and my first thought is hidden things stop progress. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:50.720 Hidden things, things that are under the surface of my life, unchecked habits, you know, things that maybe I don't want anyone else to know. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.680 Maybe, maybe it's things that I just don't want to deal with. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:55.920 Maybe it's things that I just don't think are a big deal. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.319 I'm just like, eh, I can put that off. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:07.759 Or maybe you've had the thought that, you know, maybe you know, you look around and and and you're in a big room and you're like, man, I'm I think I'm the only one who struggles with this insecurity. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:10.640 I think I'm the only one who struggles with this shame. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:13.599 I think I'm the only one who struggles with this thing. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:16.319 So I'm just gonna keep it hidden. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:35.839 Or maybe, you know, you you think to yourself, or you had this thought, you know, if they only knew what I thought, if they only knew what was going through my mind, if they only knew what I had did, or if they only knew who what I was what I was doing, you know, if they knew about me, they wouldn't, they wouldn't accept me. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.400 So I'm gonna I'm gonna hide it. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.960 And things become deeply hidden in the in the surface of our lives. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:47.599 And and and in King David's instance here, we're dealing with this hidden sin, right? 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:49.680 It's pretty, pretty blatantly obvious. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:25:02.640 And and in Psalm uh 32, verses 3 to 4, it kind of teaches about uh it teaches us what the experience of hiding our sin is and what hiding things under the surface of our life can do. 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:07.119 And it says, When I kept silent, my body wasted away. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:12.559 This is King David uh speaking about this this sin that he was hiding and he was covering up. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:16.960 It said, My body wasted away through groaning all day long. 00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:24.720 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my vitality, my life was drained as a fever, heat of the summer. 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:29.200 And then it says, Saylah, and it what that means, selah at the end, is means like think about it. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.480 Think about this, let that sink in. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:39.440 Things not dealt with, things that I stay silent about, hidden under the surface. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:44.000 Maybe it's unforgiveness, maybe it's offense, maybe it's you know, it's sin. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:48.640 And our but our natural tendency, you know, even as Christians, we all deal with something. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:50.160 We all struggle with something. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.039 We all have this thing called a thorn in our side. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:03.359 I mean, Paul, he wrote about it, but our natural tendency is to actually just hide it and not deal with it and treat it as like, well, that's that's an insecurity. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:08.799 I don't want to show that, so I'm just gonna hide that so people can see me for what I want them to see, right? 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:10.400 It's like Instagram filters. 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:12.559 We put a filter on everything. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:15.200 And then we do our best attempt to hide it. 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:19.119 We blame shift, we tell ourselves, you know, what's I don't I don't deal with that anymore. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.119 I I have it all under control. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:23.200 Um, it's not that big of a deal. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:29.759 But the reality is that hiding this stuff, hiding that you know, under our surface, it actually drains us, right? 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:34.319 It drains us of our resources, it drains us of our life, it kind of eats at our conscience. 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:38.720 Um, and we have no energy left there to actually give to others. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:41.599 We have no energy left to give life to others. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:47.039 We're just constantly kind of just like hiding this, what's really inside of us. 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:49.839 And we're kind of like this instead of this, right? 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:51.200 We're not open. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:56.960 And uh, and in David, David uh he spent all his time and energy, right? 00:26:57.119 --> 00:26:57.839 We read it. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:00.799 He spent his time and energy just trying to cover up the issue. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:02.640 Ariah, come home, man. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:05.039 You've worked so hard, go home, go home to your wife. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.359 Just just I just need to cover this up. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:08.319 Go home to your wife. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:11.680 And you know, Arih stays and he's like, nah, I'm gonna sleep at the gate. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:13.039 I'm gonna sleep outside. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:20.000 And this and David tries again, tries again, and eventually, he's almost like it's almost like David's at this crossroads. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:26.880 It's like either I come clean or I go darker, I go down this darker path. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:29.920 You know, bad choices lead to bad choices. 00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:34.160 I I saw this really thing, this really stupid thing that I it really bugged me. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:45.839 I was I was just looking at Instagram and uh and it was on this person's like uh little description of their info or their bio or whatever, and it says, bad choices lead to the best experiences. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.039 And I was like, what are we coming to? 00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:56.559 Have you ever in your life made a bad decision and was like, well, that was the best thing I could have done? 00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:59.039 And you walked away being like, that was awesome. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:03.200 I feel terrible, but I I also feel good because it's it was the best experience. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.839 I mean, we can we can learn from things, but we never tell ourselves after we've done something really stupid. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:12.720 And I'm saying like really dumb, and it's and look back and be like, that was awesome. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:16.319 No, we feel terrible about it, right? 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.599 And so we you know, we we try to sweep those things under the rug, though, right? 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:25.359 David's trying to, all he's trying to do is forget, right? 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:28.880 He has this thing on his mind and he's like, man, I just need to forget this. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:32.240 I just need to cover it up and bury it down deep enough so no one can find it. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:39.200 I just don't want to worry about it because worrying will give me gray hairs, and I don't I don't want to worry about it anymore, so I'm just gonna sweep it under the rug. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:42.079 But here's the thing about truth, right? 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.880 The nature of truth is to rise. 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:50.559 The nature of truth is to always rise to the surface. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:59.599 You know, the truth of who we are will eventually rise to the surface, no matter what we cover it with or what others try to cover it with. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:10.160 Maybe someone's trying to uh rub your name in dirt and cover it with mud, and they're trying to bad talk you, but the truth of who you are will rise. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:18.000 But if you're trying to, if you're trying to cover up things in your life, you're trying to cover up the truth, it's gonna rise. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:20.559 And uh and this happens to David. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:32.880 I don't think he actually uh fully thought this was gonna happen, but uh Nathan actually confronts him in chapter 12, his buddy Nathan, and uh he tells him this convicting story, and he says, Hey, hey David. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:34.559 David's like, Yeah. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.640 Hey, so there's this there's this rich guy, right? 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:43.759 He has he has all this wealth, and he has all these uh sheep. 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:47.359 He loves sheep, so he collects sheep, and it's and it's awesome. 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:48.319 His life is great. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:52.640 He has tons of money and tons of sheep, but then there's this poor man, right? 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:55.519 And this poor man has nothing but one sheep. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:04.240 He raised the sheep, he was almost uh like a father-son uh relationship between the sheep, which is kind of weird, but this is just how he is explaining it, right? 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:16.240 He says, This sheep was really close to this poor man, and the rich man has a friend that's coming over, and he doesn't want to spare one of his sheep, so he actually goes out and he steals this poor man's sheep. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:22.640 And David's response, and this is kind of where I where I came to the conclusion that David's actually just trying to forget what he did. 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:32.880 I don't know how many uh months went between this time of confrontation and the time of when he tried to hide it, but I think he's actually forgotten what he's done. 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:39.759 I think he's actually covered it enough that he's forgotten because his response is like, hey, we should we should kill that man. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.279 We should kill that rich man. 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.319 Like, how dare he take that guy's sheep? 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.480 And I'm like, David, you're such an idiot. 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:47.680 Like, what are you thinking? 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:52.720 But then, you know, Nathan's response to him is like, hey, David, wake up. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:54.400 You're the rich man. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:30:58.960 And how you know, how would you like to be in that conversation with a friend? 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.680 How would you like to be Nathan in that conversation? 00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:06.720 You know, but Nathan didn't confront David to hurt him, right? 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.240 He said it because he wanted David to be free. 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:16.000 If that, you know, if that information had gone out to anybody else, maybe it would have been worse. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:18.559 But but Nathan was a close friend. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:26.880 He was someone that could see David's blind spots, he was someone that could call David out, he was someone that could call the truth out. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:30.079 You know, truth is gonna rise one way or the other. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:32.559 And I don't say that to scare you, but it's just it's simple truth. 00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:34.559 It's what truth does, right? 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:49.839 And uh, if we want freedom in our life and if we want to progress to that next level, if we want to have those moments with God and we want to get free of those things that are kind of dragging on us, we have to stop hiding. 00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:51.680 And I'm not saying this is what I'm not saying. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:32:04.240 I'm not saying you need to lean over to your neighbor right now and tell them everything you did yesterday or or past the past years of your life and all these sins that you've committed, or or whatever you've whatever you've been thinking and all these things that are shameful to you. 00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:07.359 I'm not saying lean over to your neighbor and just spill your garbage out. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:08.799 I'm not saying that. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:14.400 You know, it's one of the things that Pastor Brody has said that in small church, that's where we can grow. 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:15.759 In small church is community. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:26.720 In small church, we can have people in our lives that we can really trust, like a Nathan, someone that can call us out of that, someone that can help us out of that, not for our detriment, but for our freedom, right? 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:35.200 And so our priority is not to go to the Nathan, it's not to wait till the Nathan comes, it's actually to go to God. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:40.880 Our first priority is to deal with this relationship right here, right here first. 00:32:41.039 --> 00:32:47.440