SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Refinery Church Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you've joined us today.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer is that this message will help you grow in your pursuit to love and follow Jesus in your life.
SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to learn more about the refinery, find ways to get connected, share a prayer request, or explore resources to help you grow deeper in your walk with Christ, visit us online at refineryohio.com.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's dive into today's message.
SPEAKER_02: Good morning, y'all.
SPEAKER_02: Tell you what, uh man, I had a great time at Block Party on Friday night.
SPEAKER_02: A few years back, um, Jay had come up with the concept and he said, Hey, what do you think about this kind of an all-church party?
SPEAKER_02: Blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_02: I said, like, what's that look like?
SPEAKER_02: And so he kind of mapped it out for us, and he's kind of taking the lead, and then a number of people all pitch in, obviously, to make it happen, but he's the brain child behind it.
SPEAKER_02: And so it's just a great time of just being together, of just connecting with folks.
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's an easy invite for folks.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, invest in invite is part of the culture around here, and if you don't, it is part of the culture around here.
SPEAKER_02: And so it's a way to invest in the lives of people, invite them into the story of grace.
SPEAKER_02: And so, hey, just come get some free ice cream, let your kids exhaust themselves on some inflatables and get a meet with folks.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're grateful for the chance to be together.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and man, we had just great weather and everything else, and so much fun to be together.
SPEAKER_02: Mountain Dew sponsored a golf cart for us.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, funny story there, you can ask the Hoffman's about it, but just a just a good time to be together.
SPEAKER_02: So thanks if you were able to come.
SPEAKER_02: If you missed it, we missed you.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but hope you had a great weekend nonetheless.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, so um I need some kids to help me out with a little bit of a game I've got.
SPEAKER_02: And so I just need like five kids.
SPEAKER_02: Let's see, let's see.
SPEAKER_02: I've got lots of opportunities here.
SPEAKER_02: We'll go one there.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: We'll go one here, two, we'll go three.
SPEAKER_02: Uh back there, yeah, that'll work for.
SPEAKER_02: All right, Beck, you can come up.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: Um, sorry.
SPEAKER_02: I've only need five, sorry.
SPEAKER_02: All right, kids, come on up on the platform here.
SPEAKER_02: We'll get you guys next time.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: Now, do you guys know the game Follow the Leader?
SPEAKER_02: Alright.
SPEAKER_02: So we're not gonna play that one.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna play a different game, but first we have to say hi to moms and dads and who's who.
SPEAKER_02: Alright.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, here you go.
SPEAKER_02: Let's say uh let's go with name and how old you are.
SPEAKER_02: Does that work?
SPEAKER_01: I'm Beckett and I'm 11.
SPEAKER_02: Beckett 11.
SPEAKER_01: I'm Violet and I'm five.
SPEAKER_02: Violet is five.
SPEAKER_01: I'm Reese and I'm seven and a half.
SPEAKER_02: Reese seven and a half.
SPEAKER_02: That's key.
SPEAKER_01: I'm Bryson and I'm eight.
SPEAKER_02: Eight.
SPEAKER_01: I'm Jackson and I'm twelve.
SPEAKER_02: Jackson is twelve.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, fantastic.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, so here's let's scoop back here a little bit so that way we have you.
SPEAKER_02: We're moms and dads, and everybody can see you really well.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, so the game follow the leader is pretty basic, right?
SPEAKER_02: How do you how do you play Follow the Leader?
SPEAKER_02: Anybody know?
SPEAKER_02: Go ahead.
unknown: So someone's the leader, and then you try to follow them and run away from them.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so someone's a leader and you have to follow them and kind of do what they say.
SPEAKER_02: Now, how many of you guys know the game Simon says?
SPEAKER_02: Alright, alright.
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna play a little game of Simon Says, and there are prizes on the line.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Now, and Simon says, follow the leader, you're trying to get them to do all the things you do and that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02: Simon says you're getting them to do what you do, but the leader's trying to get them out.
SPEAKER_02: So if Simon says, raise your hands in the air.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, Simon says, raise your hands in the air.
SPEAKER_02: Go ahead and put your hands down.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, no, no, because Simon didn't say.
SPEAKER_02: Simon didn't say.
SPEAKER_02: That's all right.
SPEAKER_02: It was tricked on purpose.
SPEAKER_02: Keep it in mind.
SPEAKER_02: All right, Simon says, put your hands down.
SPEAKER_02: Simon says, touch your toes.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, go ahead and stand back up.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay, almost.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: Simon says, stand back up.
SPEAKER_02: Simon says, dance like a ballerina.
SPEAKER_02: Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_02: Simon says, stop dancing like a ballerina.
SPEAKER_02: We use kids for this because you wouldn't play along.
SPEAKER_02: You all right?
SPEAKER_02: Alright, so you get the idea.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna try and get you out, but I do have I have prize money for you.
SPEAKER_02: I said, hey, how much do we have?
SPEAKER_02: And they said thousands, but I just got fives.
SPEAKER_02: So here's five bucks for you, five bucks for you.
SPEAKER_02: Go have a seat, go have a seat.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody give them a round of applause.
SPEAKER_02: Tell them thank you for helping us out.
SPEAKER_02: So I give away money or candy or something every time, and so that helps, I feel like, get volunteers.
SPEAKER_02: And so sorry, just tell your dad to give you five bucks.
SPEAKER_02: But like Lennon said, like, it's good.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the idea.
SPEAKER_02: Um, Simon says, hey, you were trying to get everybody out.
SPEAKER_02: That would be a terrible leadership strategy.
SPEAKER_02: If you are an employer, you are a leader in your organization, if you're a coach, if you're a teacher, if your objective was to try and get the kids out or get the employees out of your company, that's a bad approach.
SPEAKER_02: Leadership is this idea of how do I help people get to the places where they need to go?
SPEAKER_02: How do I guide them?
SPEAKER_02: And so this morning we're wrapping up our series through the book of 1 John, and we've been following John's lead to understand what does it look like to have a full relationship with God.
SPEAKER_02: Not just kind of a casual thing, but what's a full relationship with God look like?
SPEAKER_02: And if you're not real familiar with the Bible, it's all right.
SPEAKER_02: You could turn to literally to the very back.
SPEAKER_02: The last book of the Bible is Revelation and go a few before that, and you're gonna find the book of 1 John.
SPEAKER_02: We'll be in chapter 5 in just a moment.
SPEAKER_02: I want to walk us back through briefly where we've been, though.
SPEAKER_02: So in the first week, John makes this compelling statement.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Listen, I've investigated this, I've looked into it, I've considered it, and I've found this to be true.
SPEAKER_02: And so I've rooted my life in this story of what Christ is all about.
SPEAKER_02: So the invitation then is to believe deeply.
SPEAKER_02: Because once you believe deeply, you can confess freely, you can walk faithfully with God, and you can love other people well.
SPEAKER_02: And then in week two, we look at chapter two and this idea of remaining in Jesus and paying attention to what it is that shapes our loves.
SPEAKER_02: What are the voices that we consider?
SPEAKER_02: Week three, the idea was knowing whose family we belong to, and more and more allowing the ethos of the home of God to shape our lives.
SPEAKER_02: And then just last week, we considered the idea of Jesus as the measuring point for truth and love.
SPEAKER_02: God's love received becomes God's love expressed.
SPEAKER_02: Because there's a number of different ideas and philosophies and ideologies in the world, and so how do I know what's true?
SPEAKER_02: Because if they're competing ideas and they're trying to hold the same space, I don't just want to say, well, I mean, I'll do whatever I can, but God, what's true?
SPEAKER_02: And so Jesus becomes the measuring point for that, as opposed to culture or the shifting whims of opinion.
SPEAKER_02: So this morning I'd like to start in 1 John chapter 5, verses 1 through 2.
SPEAKER_02: And let's follow after John, kind of as our leader in the text here today.
SPEAKER_02: It says this it says, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
SPEAKER_02: And everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone who loves God the Father loves God the Son.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 2, this is how we know that we love the children of God.
SPEAKER_02: By loving God and carrying out his commands.
SPEAKER_02: If we love God, then we'll follow God's lead, might be another way we could say it.
SPEAKER_02: To follow God's commands.
SPEAKER_02: Man, I love God.
SPEAKER_02: Man, I believe deeply in the things of God, and so then it should be borne out in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Bless you.
SPEAKER_02: Following God's lead is about loving people, as we considered together last week, and it's also about doing what He commands.
SPEAKER_02: Love has a way of ordering our lives.
SPEAKER_02: It's not a new idea, it's been on repeat throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: If you look in the very beginning of the story in the garden, you have Adam and Eve, and God says, listen, here's what you're to do.
SPEAKER_02: Like be fruitful, multiply, enjoy this land, avoid this, it'll kill you.
SPEAKER_02: Live into this, it'll bring life.
SPEAKER_02: And Adam and Eve for a time choose to follow the lead of God, but then there's a point at which they begin to question that lead.
SPEAKER_02: Can we really trust him?
SPEAKER_02: Is he holding out on us?
SPEAKER_02: And it's the same question that the enemy's repeated throughout time.
SPEAKER_02: Is there something better?
SPEAKER_02: And so they fall and they struggle.
SPEAKER_02: And then God would call Abram, who, and Abraham, who becomes Abraham, and he says, Listen, follow after me.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna bless you like crazy so that you can bless all the peoples of the world, because God's intent has always been to bless all people.
SPEAKER_02: But you can't bless that which is broken.
SPEAKER_02: And so he invites us to be made new and to be renewed.
SPEAKER_02: And Abraham does really well, but there's times where he's like, I don't know if I can trust God and he does his own thing.
SPEAKER_02: If you know the text, you know it.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't, that's the story, and you can look into it yourself.
SPEAKER_02: And this pattern continues then with the nation of Israel.
SPEAKER_02: And God says, Listen, if you want, I'll be your God.
SPEAKER_02: You can be my people, follow my lead.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna lead you in that which is life-giving, that which is life to the full.
SPEAKER_02: And at times they succeed, and at other times they're like, I'm gonna follow my own idea, I'm gonna chase after this instead.
SPEAKER_02: And then Jesus comes along in the New Testament, and Jesus comes and he declares to the disciples, to everyone else, what does he say?
SPEAKER_02: He says, if you'll just believe these things, no.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, Come, follow me.
SPEAKER_02: All throughout the story of Scripture, there's an invitation in a way to walk, in a way to live, in a people to be.
SPEAKER_02: Following God leads toward life even when the road itself is costly.
SPEAKER_02: Following lesser ways ultimately leads away from God and leads away from life.
SPEAKER_02: In my devotions this week, I was reading in the book of 1 Corinthians, it's in the New Testament, and Paul, he's the author of much of the New Testament.
SPEAKER_02: He writes this the same idea following the leader concept.
SPEAKER_02: 1 Corinthians 11:1.
SPEAKER_02: Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Follow the leader.
SPEAKER_02: It begs the question: who are you following?
SPEAKER_02: In your life?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you following when it comes to how you parent?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you following when it comes to how you live your life in relationship to a spouse?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you following when it comes to what it means to be in healthy relationship with other people?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you following when it comes to how you do your professional life well?
SPEAKER_02: Who or what are you following?
SPEAKER_02: Who or what am I following?
SPEAKER_02: It's quite simple, really.
SPEAKER_02: Who we follow or the path we follow or the route we follow will ultimately determine where we end up.
SPEAKER_02: Who we end up to be.
SPEAKER_02: So John tells us here at the outset of the chapter everyone who believes, everyone who loves follows after Jesus' example of his life and teaching.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone who believes, everyone who loves follows the example.
SPEAKER_02: Because if I don't follow the example, I don't really believe.
SPEAKER_02: If I don't follow the example, I don't really love.
SPEAKER_02: This is what it continues on in the text.
SPEAKER_02: 1 John chapter 5, verses 3 through 5, then we'll jump to 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: It reads this way it says, in fact, this is love for God to keep his commands.
SPEAKER_02: This is love for God.
SPEAKER_02: I love I love God.
SPEAKER_02: Do you do what he says?
SPEAKER_02: No, not at all, not at all.
SPEAKER_02: But I love him.
SPEAKER_02: John says, this is love for God to keep his commands.
SPEAKER_02: And his commands are not burdensome.
SPEAKER_02: For everyone born of God overcomes the world, overcomes, remember what 1 John 2 says, the world that's driven by lust, or driven by brokenness, driven by deception.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone who loves God overcomes those things, refuses to participate in them, but also is not overcome by them.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever loves God overcomes the world.
SPEAKER_02: This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
SPEAKER_02: Who is it that overcomes the world?
SPEAKER_02: Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
SPEAKER_02: Which you could go back to last week, the whole idea of discerning what is true, discerning that which is good.
SPEAKER_02: If you follow the one who leads to life, you end up at life.
SPEAKER_02: If you follow a different way, you can't end up at life.
SPEAKER_02: Verses 11 through 12.
SPEAKER_02: And this is the testimony.
SPEAKER_02: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever has the son has life.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life.
SPEAKER_02: So we're to follow the leader.
SPEAKER_02: We're to follow God's commands.
SPEAKER_02: And this next part is crucial to understand.
SPEAKER_02: You don't want to miss this.
SPEAKER_02: His commands are not burdensome.
SPEAKER_02: This is an important idea to embrace, to lean into a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, it's not heavy or ill-fitting to us.
SPEAKER_02: When God says, hey, listen, this is what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_02: Adam, Eve, listen, I want you to enjoy the world.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to feel it, subdue it, kibosh it, bring it into order.
SPEAKER_02: Just enjoy all of the world that I have given you, the life.
SPEAKER_02: Just avoid the thing that will kill you.
SPEAKER_02: This is not a burdensome task.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, when you are called into marriage, husbands and wives, pursue each other, chase after each other, put each other first, even over the kids, because we want them to move out someday.
SPEAKER_02: Chase and chase and chase.
SPEAKER_02: This is a good thing.
SPEAKER_02: Because if you don't, listen, it's difficult.
SPEAKER_02: God says, listen, I want you to manage your money.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to order where your finances go.
SPEAKER_02: Your money should not drive you.
SPEAKER_02: It's just a tool.
SPEAKER_02: And if you order it well, man, life is so much freer, so much fuller.
SPEAKER_02: But if you are overwhelmed by it, it doesn't matter how much you have, you're always chasing.
SPEAKER_02: His commands are not burdensome.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus actually says this.
SPEAKER_02: This is what it looks like to kind of get it worked out in the normal day-to-day living.
SPEAKER_02: There's this joy in it.
SPEAKER_02: Matthew 11, 28 through 30, and I love the way the message translation reads what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_02: It says, Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion, or trying to make sure you're following all the rules just right?
SPEAKER_02: Come to me.
SPEAKER_02: Get away with me, and you'll recover your life.
SPEAKER_02: I'll show you how to take a real rest.
SPEAKER_02: Walk with me and work with me.
SPEAKER_02: Watch how I do it.
SPEAKER_02: Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
SPEAKER_02: Testify.
SPEAKER_02: I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
SPEAKER_02: Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
SPEAKER_02: There is a joy found in walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: There's a peace found in the way of living that follows after God.
SPEAKER_02: Walking in the way of Jesus leads to this abundance of patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control.
SPEAKER_02: It's not like I gotta be more patient, I gotta be more patient.
SPEAKER_02: I just gotta keep my eyes on Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And as I spend time with Jesus to learn from Jesus, I end up becoming like Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And so there's less place in my life for all those broken things of the world.
SPEAKER_02: Love seems to make everything easier.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you've noticed this, right?
SPEAKER_02: There's people that love to go running.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know why, unless a bear is chasing you, right?
SPEAKER_02: There's people that love to golf, people that love to fish, people that love to hunt.
SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you about running, though.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a runner.
SPEAKER_02: And if you ask me, hey Landon, you want to go running?
SPEAKER_02: My answer is gonna be, why?
SPEAKER_02: Like, is somebody chasing us?
SPEAKER_02: No?
SPEAKER_02: Why are we doing this?
SPEAKER_02: You think about like the pitch of running.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you like to run.
SPEAKER_02: Bless your hearts.
SPEAKER_02: You're like, I'm gonna extend my life five years.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're gonna waste them running.
SPEAKER_02: The idea behind running is typically like to get up early in the morning, like before you're supposed to be up, before God really allows it.
SPEAKER_02: And then you go run for miles.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you run more than I drive.
SPEAKER_02: And my car gets tired.
SPEAKER_02: It overheats, right?
SPEAKER_02: But you're like, no, this is fun, like this is enjoyable.
SPEAKER_02: And you try and convince people, but you're exhausted and you're like sweaty.
SPEAKER_02: What are you doing?
SPEAKER_02: But again, there's some people that years ago I actually uh got into running for a little bit, it was a month, and I ran three miles every night.
SPEAKER_02: So I put the kids to bed and Lene's head to bed, and so I would go get a run-in, because I don't like being up in the morning uh early at all.
SPEAKER_02: And so I would go run at night, and so I would run, I was doing three a three-mile kind of circuit, and it was it was like miserable, but I was like, oh, I'm getting in better shape and this is good for me, or whatever.
SPEAKER_02: And so I would run my three miles, and by the end of the month, I actually got like where you break through the wall or the barrier, or I don't know, whatever the word is.
SPEAKER_02: Nirvana, I think is what it technically is.
SPEAKER_02: And I got to the third mile and I still felt good, so I ran a fourth mile and then I ran a fifth mile, and I finally just went in because like I was like, it's after midnight, I should go to bed.
SPEAKER_02: But then my knee started hurting and I gave up the sport.
SPEAKER_02: But you get the idea, right?
SPEAKER_02: But there's some people that legitimately love to run.
SPEAKER_02: Let me tell you about another one.
SPEAKER_02: There's people that love to golf.
SPEAKER_02: But think about if I were to just pitch golf to you.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, listen, I got an idea.
SPEAKER_02: I got a collection of sticks.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna go hit a collection of white balls, hundreds of yards.
SPEAKER_02: What do we do after we hit it?
SPEAKER_02: We go chase it.
SPEAKER_02: What happens if it goes in the trees?
SPEAKER_02: We go into the trees.
SPEAKER_02: What happens, like, if there's bugs, there's bugs.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you have played golf on courses where gators will attack you.
SPEAKER_02: And it's like, well, okay, well, but what's the purpose?
SPEAKER_02: Well, we hit it in a hole.
SPEAKER_02: What happens after we hit it in the hole?
SPEAKER_02: We go and pick it up out of the hole.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: That and then what?
SPEAKER_02: We do it again and again and again and again.
SPEAKER_02: Well, at least it's free.
SPEAKER_02: No, it's very expensive.
SPEAKER_02: You pay people a lot of money.
SPEAKER_02: And then there's people behind you hitting at you and yelling at you and hurrying you along.
SPEAKER_02: It's a great thing.
SPEAKER_02: Who wants to go?
SPEAKER_02: But there's people they love golf.
SPEAKER_02: People that love hunting.
SPEAKER_02: People love hunting.
SPEAKER_02: They get up at hours where it's not morning, it's night.
SPEAKER_02: And then they dress themselves in dirty clothes and put deer urine on themselves.
SPEAKER_02: If your hobbies involve putting the materials of other animals upon your body, you should change hobbies.
SPEAKER_02: And if it works, you go sit in the wood for hours in the cold, in the dark, and if it works, you take the life of an animal where you then get to field dress the animal and drag it back in.
SPEAKER_02: And some people like this.
SPEAKER_02: Do you not know they sell meat at Kroger or Aldi or Giant or any store?
SPEAKER_02: Now, we could do this with the hobbies and stuff like I enjoy and things.
SPEAKER_02: We could poke fun at it.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the idea: when you love something, it really is easier.
SPEAKER_02: If you have a friend that you genuinely care about, like just a relationship that matters a great deal to you, and you find they're in a tough spot and they're like, Yeah, you know, like the storm that hit a while back, and you check in, hey, you okay?
SPEAKER_02: It's like, ah, I got a tree down, I'm gonna be out dealing with it all day.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, yeah, I can take the day, I'll come help you.
SPEAKER_02: And you'll end up cut up and tired and exhausted and everything else, but you'll love it.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because you love the person.
SPEAKER_02: What you love shapes the way you engage the things you do.
SPEAKER_02: Who or what we love will lead us to gladly order our lives around it.
SPEAKER_02: Love doesn't make everything easier, it just makes it lighter.
SPEAKER_02: Love can lead us to gladly do things that are genuinely costly and difficult.
SPEAKER_02: The runner still is tired and aches from the run.
SPEAKER_02: But there's something about it that fuels them.
SPEAKER_02: The hunter still is up at the earliest hour, but there's something about it that fuels them.
SPEAKER_02: The point isn't that love takes away the challenges, rather, love changes how we see and experience those same challenges.
SPEAKER_02: What would otherwise feel like an unwanted imposition becomes something we're willing, even glad, to order our lives around.
SPEAKER_02: His commands are not burdensome.
SPEAKER_02: But we're to keep God's commands, and they shouldn't feel like a tax on us.
SPEAKER_02: They shouldn't feel like an unwanted imposition.
SPEAKER_02: They should feel like what they're intended to be, a gift.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, man, my work is stressing me out.
SPEAKER_02: I'm exhausted and everything else.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, but why?
SPEAKER_02: Like, who are you working for?
SPEAKER_02: Are you trying to impress a boss?
SPEAKER_02: Are you trying to get to a bottom line?
SPEAKER_02: Or are you working for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who has already said, man, you are my dearly loved child.
SPEAKER_02: That changes the way you work.
SPEAKER_02: It changes the way you pursue things, it changes the way you steward challenges and obstacles and difficulties.
SPEAKER_02: When we view God's commands the way they're meant to be, they're life-giving, they're this solid foundation for life, they're sustaining, there's this quiet confidence that steadily grows in us as we live in Him.
SPEAKER_02: And so life just looks different.
SPEAKER_02: So the person that says, Well, I just don't like to read the Bible, but if you will commit yourself to the engagement of the scripture, what happens is there's no longer, I can't get anything out of it.
SPEAKER_02: I just find that it's shaping me.
SPEAKER_02: Like you got up early or stayed up late or rearranged yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because I met with the God who knows me.
SPEAKER_02: I order my finances around him, I order my calendar around him, I order my view of self around.
SPEAKER_02: Is it really hard to follow after all those things?
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because it's life-giving.
SPEAKER_02: I love these couple of verses found near the end of 1 John 5, 13 through 14.
SPEAKER_02: It says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
SPEAKER_02: Not hope, not a wish, not you know, maybe if I balance the scales just right, I do more bad than good.
SPEAKER_02: And this is the confidence we have in approaching God.
SPEAKER_02: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
SPEAKER_02: A good leader longs to hear from those they lead.
SPEAKER_02: Like I've mentioned this before, but man, I love to like meet with people from the church.
SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, what's your story?
SPEAKER_02: What's going on?
SPEAKER_02: How's God blessing?
SPEAKER_02: How's God stirring?
SPEAKER_02: How's God challenging?
SPEAKER_02: A teacher should long to hear from their students.
SPEAKER_02: You ever have one of those teachers that you felt like you were inconveniencing when you asked a question?
SPEAKER_02: They should change jobs.
SPEAKER_02: They should not be a teacher.
SPEAKER_02: Or a healthcare physician or anything else like that.
SPEAKER_02: There should just be this idea, like, yeah, how can I help?
SPEAKER_02: When we pray, we don't have to shout to get God's attention.
SPEAKER_02: Because God loves us.
SPEAKER_02: So God is eager to hear from us.
SPEAKER_02: Whether we're thanking God for the good things in our life, and I always recommend actually that you begin prayers with praise.
SPEAKER_02: It just couches prayer in an impactful way, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_02: I think you should always begin with praise.
SPEAKER_02: Or whether we're coming to God with like our concerns and our needs and our doubts and our struggles, or we're asking God to just bless us or meet some need or give discernment or whatever it might be, God longs to hear from us.
SPEAKER_02: And we can be confident that He does hear us.
SPEAKER_02: When we pray, God listens.
SPEAKER_02: See, who or what we love will gladly lead us to order our lives around it.
SPEAKER_02: And so it's important when we think about our life, when you think about your life, who is it that I'm following?
SPEAKER_02: What is it that's shaping me?
SPEAKER_02: Something my wife and I, Lene, we love to do.
SPEAKER_02: We have three boys, and we love to be able to have family dinner together.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, it doesn't always happen.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure how often it happens in your home.
SPEAKER_02: Um, it varies because there's sports schedules and work schedules and meetings and extracurriculars and all that.
SPEAKER_02: And then sometimes, honestly, just keeping them fed is hard, right?
SPEAKER_02: You just but we love to be able to sit down together.
SPEAKER_02: And not too long ago, my youngest son Beck was like, Dad, we need to like have family dinner, because apparently it had been a bit.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, Dad, when we have like eat all together, can we do the thing where like you ask us something good about our day?
SPEAKER_02: Because like the typical pattern, we'll sit together and be like, hey, what was something good from your day?
SPEAKER_02: Like, and if if you can't find something, I'm gonna help you find something.
SPEAKER_02: There's something good in your day.
SPEAKER_02: And what was a challenge or what was a hard thing in your day?
SPEAKER_02: And we'll just go around.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because we love to hear from our kids.
SPEAKER_02: Well, God longs to hear from his kids, and he sets up kind of this same idea a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: God set up communion.
SPEAKER_02: And so as you came in, you saw communion cups, and uh, if you didn't get one, we've got a couple of people with them.
SPEAKER_02: Just raise a hand and they'll bring it to you.
SPEAKER_02: And if you have your kids with you and you're like, hey, how old should my kids be to receive?
SPEAKER_02: Um, if they can hold it themselves, it's fine.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you'll we'll just explain.
SPEAKER_02: Like, we do this because God loves us so much and we want to love God, and it can be that simple for now.
SPEAKER_02: But I'd like to read a little bit of scripture from 1 Corinthians 11.
SPEAKER_02: Just keep your hand up and they'll they'll get that to you.
SPEAKER_02: It says this, it's it's Paul and he's writing, and he says, For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, he took bread, which we'll do this in a minute.
SPEAKER_02: And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_02: In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
SPEAKER_02: Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.
SPEAKER_02: For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
SPEAKER_02: Here at the refinery, um, the only requirement to receive communion is this that you would say, Man, I want to follow after Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Like I declare Jesus as Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'd love to invite you to go ahead and um take the bread, and you can kind of help your kiddos around you, and just have them hold it for a second.
SPEAKER_02: If you're like, oh, they ate it too fast.
SPEAKER_02: That's fine, it's okay, it still counts.
SPEAKER_02: And then take off that cup off the top and just hold it for a second.
SPEAKER_02: And in alignment with the message today, I want to ask a couple questions.
SPEAKER_02: When you think about the totality of your life, I want you to ask yourself this question: Am I following Jesus' lead?
SPEAKER_02: When it comes to my relationships, when it comes to the obstacles or the shortcomings in my life, when it comes to stewarding the graces and the gifts and the opportunities, when it comes to my professional life, am I following Jesus' lead?
SPEAKER_02: Am I following his lead in every area of my life?
SPEAKER_02: So I'd like to take a moment, go ahead and close your eyes and just and quiet your hearts for a moment.
SPEAKER_02: I want to read back 1 John 5, 14, one more time.
SPEAKER_02: This is the confidence we have in approaching God.
SPEAKER_02: That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
SPEAKER_02: You could be in the room today and you've never followed after God, but you're like, I want to, I want to in on the table, and he hears you.
SPEAKER_02: You could have been following after God for decades and he's not grown tired of listening, he hears you.
SPEAKER_02: You could be the youngest in the room or the oldest in the room.
SPEAKER_02: He hears you.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'd love to invite you just with eyes closed and hearts quiet for a moment.
SPEAKER_02: Is there anything you need to confess today?
SPEAKER_02: That you say, God, I know I'm supposed to follow your lead, but I've been driven a little bit more by I'm trying to impress somebody.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to chase a certain number in the account.
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to get to a certain position.
SPEAKER_02: I'm I've been more worried about a number on a scale than about the way you see me.
SPEAKER_02: God, I want you to lead my life and just confess anywhere there's a shortcoming.
SPEAKER_02: And then just ask for God's grace.
SPEAKER_02: God, I pray for your healing grace.
SPEAKER_02: I pray for your touch in my life, first as your child, then as a friend or as a spouse or as a parent, as an employee, as an employer.
SPEAKER_02: God, I need your grace.
SPEAKER_02: Open your eyes, look up here, take the bread.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus' body was broken for each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_02: Take and eat and remember.
SPEAKER_02: And his blood was shed for each and every one of us.
SPEAKER_02: Drink and remember that his grace is sufficient for you and me.
SPEAKER_02: I'd like to invite you to stand with me.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna pray and the bands come and they're gonna lead us in a song as we prepare to head out for the week.
SPEAKER_02: My invitation, follow his lead.
SPEAKER_02: The temptation at times is.
SPEAKER_02: Can I trust him?
SPEAKER_02: This area of my life, I've got to do this part.
SPEAKER_02: I promise you, God has good in mind for every area, every facet of your life.
SPEAKER_02: When we trust him, when we love him, we'll follow his lead.
SPEAKER_02: And when we follow his lead, we find that his commands are not burdensome.
SPEAKER_02: They are literally life-giving.
SPEAKER_02: And you can test it.
SPEAKER_02: Check areas of your life where you've had the greatest struggles.
SPEAKER_02: Was it because you were following God's lead and it led you to a bad place, or was it because you followed the lead of someone or something else and you thought it was going to end well?
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, we want to follow your lead in all of life.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, that's my heart.
SPEAKER_02: That's my prayer for myself, for my family, for our church.
SPEAKER_02: At times I've trusted other things, and I've followed the lead of other people or other thoughts or ideas, and it's led to broken places, some more severe than others.
SPEAKER_02: But help me to know I can trust you.
SPEAKER_02: Help each and every one of us in the room know we can trust you, to follow your lead.
SPEAKER_02: To have this quiet confidence that you hear us, that you know us, that you love us.
SPEAKER_02: To find that when we manage our schedules, our time according to your word, everything seems to fit.
SPEAKER_02: That when we manage our resources, that when we manage obstacles and challenges according to your word, there's enough.
SPEAKER_02: That when we deal with the challenges that inevitably face us relationally with other people, that there's a peace that comes in submission to your ways.
SPEAKER_02: Help us to follow your lead.
SPEAKER_02: And Lord, I pray for moms and dads, I pray for teachers and coaches, I pray for aunts and uncles.
SPEAKER_02: That they would remember there's also people following after them.
SPEAKER_02: And they will not do what we say.
SPEAKER_02: They'll do what they see.
SPEAKER_02: So help us to say we believe.
SPEAKER_02: Help us to choose to love you, and then may our lives match what we've said we believe and what we say we love.
SPEAKER_02: I thank you for your grace, from the youngest to the oldest, from the newest in the faith to the oldest in the faith.
SPEAKER_02: Help us to honor you in all of our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Help us to follow your lead.
SPEAKER_02: It's in the name of Jesus, we always pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Bailey, would you lead us?
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast.
SPEAKER_00: If you're ready to take a next step in your faith, please reach out to us through our website, refineryohio.com, or you can email us at office at refineryohio.com.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you have a blessed day.