WEBVTT 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:05.519 You are listening to the Gateway Franklin Church podcast. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:13.279 To learn more about Gateway Franklin Church, including our service times here in Franklin, Tennessee, visit us online at GatewayFranklin.com. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.000 And now, here is this week's message. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:21.760 My name is Tori. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.760 I'm the associate pastor here at Gateway. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:30.239 Uh, to those of you who are joining us online, wherever you're watching from, I'm sure so glad that you can be a part of today's service as well. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.079 To our new friends who are here. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:34.240 Uh, maybe you're here visiting after Easter. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.240 I want to say thank you guys for joining us again. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:40.000 We're so glad that you could be a part of what God's doing here at Gateway. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:46.000 We're gonna be starting something new this morning, and so we're gonna dig in today and to help in our digging. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:47.600 I brought a shovel. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:49.119 Um, it's not my shovel. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.920 My shovel got lost when I moved from Florida somewhere in the move. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:53.600 So this is my father-in-law's shovel. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:55.920 Thank you, Dave, for letting me borrow this. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:06.640 Uh, when we moved up to Franklin in let's see, October 2024, um, man, were we greeted with some beautiful weather. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.680 And we have the coldest winter I've had in six years because we live in Florida. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.799 We didn't have winter down there. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:15.200 But then when springtime came back, man, the weather was just so beautiful. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:17.760 I wanted to spend all of my time outside. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.799 And so we have this covered kind of patio porch area. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:22.319 It's it's slightly elevated. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:23.200 Uh it's great. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.319 There's just not enough room, and so I decided I'm going to build a deck. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.480 Um I've never built a deck before. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.640 Um, looking at me, you may not realize this. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.159 I'm I'm decently handy. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:45.920 You know, I'm not a construction or builder guy by trade, but I've done my fair share of DIY projects, and over the years I've collected an arsenal of tools, some of which I've brought with you this morning, uh, or brought with me this morning. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:52.079 I um, you know, watch some YouTube videos, which may sound kind of silly, but believe it or not, it's super helpful. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:57.120 And at the end of the videos, I realized, hey, I've got everything I need, so let's go ahead and take a stab at this thing. 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:01.120 So I've got my saw this morning, which now I need to point out. 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.280 You know, women, they have handbags, right, and they judge each other by the brands they wear. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:07.760 We men judge each other by the color tools we have, right? 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.159 So the who's the who's a yellow tool guy in here? 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:11.199 Anybody DeWalt? 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.439 All right, yeah, you guys are subtle and confident about that. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:17.120 Who's my Milwaukee people? 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:18.719 Yeah, yeah. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:19.919 See what I'm talking about? 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:21.199 And my budget brand. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:22.800 All right, here's the cobalt team. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.879 It's the blue packet lows, all right? 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:25.919 Got it on sale. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.039 Let's see what else I've got. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.159 I got my drill. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.639 Um, you know, I have an impact driver too. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:34.479 Uh I can, you know, double go after it, you know what I'm saying? 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:36.560 And so got my drill, gonna need that. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:41.599 I've got a tape measure to make sure I get everything aligned and square and everything's all good. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:43.439 I've I got a uh a wrench. 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:45.039 I needed that for carriage bolts. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:46.960 Anybody know what a carriage bolt is? 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.319 I didn't until I built a deck, and now I do. 00:02:50.479 --> 00:03:02.080 Um and then lastly, I've got you know, one of my favorite tools, and I gotta say, I'm a little reluctant to even pull this out because I know as soon as I do, I'm gonna catch some judgment from every guy in the room. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:08.240 Um so let me just say before I I had a real one, but it got lost in the move too. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.479 But but this is my hammer. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.360 No, this is not my four-year-old's hammer, this is my hammer. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:23.199 Like I mentioned, I'm a cheap guy, so I went to Harbor Freight for this project and I said, give me the cheapest hammer you got. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:24.400 And they said, Well, we got this guy. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.319 I'm like, I'll take it, you know. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:28.879 So uh so yeah, there's that. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.759 Before you judge me, I don't I don't do a lot of hammering, okay? 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:33.039 Leave me alone. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:40.479 So I'm excited to begin this project, and uh I do a lot of research, I go out and get all the supplies that I'm gonna need. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:41.759 It's time to get started. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:45.039 And the first thing I gotta do is take the measurement and dig the footers. 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:55.520 So if you're not familiar with building a deck, the footers are the concrete things that go in the ground that the vertical post is gonna come out of that's gonna support the whole deck. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:04.879 And so I take this shovel, which used to have a pointy end on it, um, and I start digging this hole, and I get about three inches into the dirt. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:11.360 And Morgan, who was out there with me, my four-year-old, I looked at him and I said, Todo, I don't think we're in Florida anymore. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:18.240 I mean, man, I was I was so underprepared for how hard that ground was gonna be. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:25.600 And so I'm out there and I'm laboring, I'm sweating, I'm almost crying, I'm not cussing because my son's watching me and got to hold it together. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:32.079 Well, I get about eight to ten inches deep into the ground after a not insignificant amount of time. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:43.439 And uh, I had encountered something that any person who's ever dug a hole in Tennessee probably encountered when you take that shovel and you strike it in and you hear tink rock. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.959 I didn't know what to do there. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:48.240 Alright, I'm from Florida. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:49.759 We got sand soil. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.639 All right, if you have determination and a plastic spoon, you can dig your way through the state. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:11.120 And what I realized, standing over this hole, is as prepared as I thought I was to build this deck, I have now encountered something that, quite frankly, I just don't have the tools for. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:16.800 Now, I hadn't gotten deep enough into this hole to just say, forget it and move on, right? 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:29.759 Because the footers are a structural part of the deck, they're not decorative, and so I wasn't deep enough, and there's this rock here, so if I build the deck on this foundation, that rock could slip or shift, and if that does, then it's gonna destabilize the deck. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:33.839 I'm not below the frost line, so if it gets really cold, that frost heave could come up. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:38.800 And there's just a number of things that could go wrong if I decided to call it quids. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:45.680 Now, we're gonna get back to the deck in just a minute, but today we're starting a brand new series about joy. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:54.160 What it is, how to get it, how to keep it, and how to deal with the things that seem to rob us of it. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.399 Now, the good news is we have a common starting point in this series. 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:01.600 And that starting point isn't how much joy you have, right? 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.800 Some of you may be coming in here and you feel like your joy meter's on empty. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.319 Some of you, on the other hand, have come in here and you're just overflowing with joy. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:11.199 It's just been a good season in your life. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:11.680 Right? 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:17.120 But the common starting point that we have is that joy is something that we all long for. 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:19.120 We all want it. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.319 And we want as much of it as we can get. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:27.519 And that desire for joy isn't by accident or coincident. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.519 It's actually an intrinsic part of our divine design. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:33.199 In the latter part of his life, C. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:33.439 S. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:39.040 Lewis was writing a partial autobiography about his journey from atheism into Christianity. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:39.680 And C. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:39.920 S. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:46.639 Lewis, if you're not familiar with who he is beyond maybe the Chronicles of Narnia, he was a very rational guy. 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.000 He was all about reason. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:50.879 He he logically worked his way into Christianity. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:07:02.399 And he recounts that while he was an atheist, he had this one thing that he couldn't seem to figure out, which was that he had this longing on the inside of him that he had no explanation for. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:10.399 It just didn't make sense that he would go through life hungering for something that he couldn't even put his finger on. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:25.439 And as he goes through life trying to satisfy this desire, he realizes there's not an experience or a relationship or an accomplishment or anything else that he can find under the sun that would satisfy this longing that he had. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:34.399 And in his book, Surprised by Joy, he eventually concludes that the longing itself is a clue designed to lead us back to God. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:41.759 He describes this longing as we long for joy, or this ultimate satisfaction. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:47.279 And that longing that we possess functions in each of us almost like a homing device. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:05.120 And so what I love about his analogy here is that scripture seems to confirm that. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:11.199 In Psalm 1611, the psalmist writes, In your presence there is fullness of joy. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:15.920 So what we see is that joy isn't created, it's found. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.079 And it's located in the presence of God. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.600 And how beautiful is this, right? 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:33.759 That God has designed us in such a way, designed us with such a need, that that need ultimately leads us back into relationship with Him. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.360 And here's what that means for you. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:43.039 No matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter what's been done to you, that God has not written you off. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:43.759 Right? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:50.480 That God is not in heaven arbitrarily picking who's in and who's out and who's on the team and who's getting cut. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:09:01.519 But each and every one of us have been uniquely fashioned by our Creator with this desire to find out who He is and enter into a relationship with Him. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:05.679 It's God's will that everyone would come to the knowledge of the truth. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:13.840 In John chapter 15, on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus is sitting with his disciples, and this is what he says about his mission. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:23.120 He says, These things that I have spoken to you, I've done so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.399 As we mentioned, joy is found in the presence of God. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:30.720 So it only makes sense that Jesus' joy is full because he is God. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:42.879 But what he's saying is that this joy, this connection and relationship that I have with the ultimate satisfaction, it's my heart and desire for each of you that you would have joy like I have. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.559 That you would feel as connected to God as I am. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.559 And that's his vision. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:48.960 Right? 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:53.759 His joy in you, filled to the brim with the fullness of him. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:56.240 That's the design. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.440 That's what God wants for all of us. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:06.480 And yet, when we look at the current state of our world, by all available metrics, joy is in free fall. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:07.279 Right? 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:15.759 Gallup had a recent global emotions report, just surveying people from all countries across the world and found that we are at near decades low. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:17.840 And you might think, okay, well, it's just a decade. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:21.519 I mean, we can have a bad season, the world can get a little crazy every now and then. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:28.720 But you zoom out of this data, right, and what you see is over several decades, it's just been consistently falling. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:29.440 The U.S. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.200 Surgeon General has declared that loneliness is an epidemic. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:34.639 Let me put that in perspective. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.600 The Surgeon General is in charge of health. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:44.639 And what they're recognizing is that we are so lonely as a people that it's creating health problems. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.759 That because of our loneliness, there are physiological effects taking place. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:57.600 We can see anxiety disorders are now the most common mental health condition in the country affecting roughly 40 million adults. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:12.879 The self-help industry, a large economy in and of itself designed to help people experience joy and how to help people deal with the lack of joy in their life, that they're expecting that market to exceed$50 billion this year. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.200 Put that in perspective, 10 years ago the market was$6 billion. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.879 I mean, we're talking about an almost 500% increase here. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:44.159 So what we see is that in spite of all these resources, right, we're living in the greatest full court press of us using the powers and information that we have available to us to help people live more fulfilled lives, but in spite of all of our efforts, it doesn't seem to be working. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:50.000 When we get to a point where things aren't working, then we move to the blaming phase. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:56.000 And at this point, I think everything has been blamed for the falling joy levels in our country. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.159 Some people say it's the food, right? 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:06.720 Or it's the screens, it's social media, it's big pharma, it's the economy, they're putting stuff in the water, right? 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.279 Like it's whatever you could possibly think of. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.200 There's somebody out there pointing their finger at that thing. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:15.919 Now, are there any validity to those claims? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:17.679 I don't know. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.440 You don't pay me to research that. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.039 You pay me to tell you this. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.120 I've read some pretty convincing Facebook posts. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:29.840 Here's what I do know. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:37.279 I know it could be a combination of a lot of those things, but I also know that it's not just those things. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:38.720 Right? 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.440 As we've already talked about, the fullness of joy can only be found in one place. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:54.720 Which means that while there might be some truth to these other issues in a lot of layers here, this issue is more spiritual than we realize. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:13:00.720 Now I know that when I say that, I can already feel some defensive walls going up in the room. 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:05.120 Because this is the kind of message that you have learned to be leery of. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:14.559 And if that's the case, it might be because you've had an experience in a church where you know maybe real help was neglected at the expense of faith. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:20.720 You know, you grew up in an environment that spiritualized everything, or if you're struggling with anxiety, then all you gotta do is pray harder. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.480 Right, if you're depressed, then you just need to speak life. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.360 Or don't say anything at all, because God forbid you speak something negative, then you're gonna speak that into existence. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:32.399 Are you having a bad day? 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:33.519 Just rebuke it. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:38.320 And if it doesn't work, go find the woman who doesn't miss prayer meeting, ask her to rebuke it, she'll take care of it. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:43.600 Have you heard these messages before? 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:49.039 Look, the church never bats a thousand, right? 00:13:50.240 --> 00:14:14.320 But I think when we look at how the church has handled some of these issues, even if your experience has been bad or maybe there's been some disappointing experiences, I don't think it's to our benefit to take the church's failures and use that as an opportunity to hand this issue over to a secular world that would keep God out of it altogether. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:18.879 Of course, this is a spiritual issue. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.519 Maybe not exclusively, but definitely. 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:24.480 Right? 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:32.559 To say that our lives have our spiritual lives have nothing to do with our emotional health or a mental health or our capacity for joy. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.480 That would just be naive at best. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:43.200 And so while we can gather here together, I think it's perfectly fair to recognize there are a lot of great tools out there. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.159 Therapy and counseling can be great. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:46.799 Right? 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.320 Medication, when properly administered, is a blessing. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:51.440 Rest, right? 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:53.519 Just getting enough sleep is a real thing. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:55.039 Exercising is great. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:56.799 Being a part of a community is great. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:03.519 And I don't think any reasonable person would argue that those things aren't helpful tools in experiencing joy. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:13.519 But in our search for joy, just like building my deck, I think we've got to get to a point where we realize we have all of these great tools that are available to us that can do a lot of great things. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:19.039 But we're dealing with some foundational issues that we just don't have the tools for. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:36.080 And if we don't get serious about solving what's beneath the surface of a lot of these issues, then we're gonna find ourselves in a place where we're hurt and disappointed and we build something only to be crushed when we see it fall apart because it never had a good foundation. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:42.080 So this series is not going to be addressing all of these other tools out there. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.759 But for the next three weeks, what I want us to do is identify some rocks, right? 00:15:47.919 --> 00:16:02.159 Some things that we gotta take on if we want to live a life of sustained joy, that we gotta clear out of the way, make room for God to come in and move, and access the tools that really only God can provide. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:04.399 And so we're gonna start this first week. 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.919 It's gonna be a difficult series. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.080 We're gonna talk about a lot of tough topics, and so we might as well just come out the gate swinging. 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.559 Today we're gonna get ready for some old school preaching. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.000 We're talking about sin. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.480 Look at your neighbor, say sin. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.679 Look at your other neighbor say don't do it. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.360 Man, y'all preach that message better than I can. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:25.039 We can go ahead and get out of here. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:27.519 No, I'm kidding. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:29.279 What is sin? 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.759 Sin's been described a lot of different ways. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.639 It's been described as missing the mark. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:42.720 This comes from the Greek word hamardia, which was a uh archery word, right? 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:45.919 It means we have to aim at the bullseye and to come up short, right? 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:46.879 To miss it, right? 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:51.440 That that gap between what you're aiming for and where you landed, that that sin. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:57.919 Some people have said it has nothing to do with missing the target, it has everything to do with taking that arrow and shooting the person beside you. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:16:58.720 Right? 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:08.880 It's not that you were given your best effort and you came up a little short, it's that you actually use the free will that God gave you to advance your own good and not shoot for the things He was pointing at. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:09.519 St. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.400 Augustine had a unique understanding of what sin is. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.519 He he described it essentially as disordered love. 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:24.480 It's to love lesser things more than greater things, and the actions that come as a result of that love, right, that would be sin. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.440 So, like when you love pizza more than you love your family. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:29.359 But that's not good. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:30.480 Right? 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.680 But when you love, unless it's Bob's pizza, I heard you, Bob. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:36.400 That's funny. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:42.640 Right, but on a more serious note, what if you love your family more than you love God? 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.160 It doesn't seem bad, but it's disordered. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:49.759 And the fruit that comes as a result of that would lead to sin. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:50.640 And of course, St. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.440 August or St. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:55.839 Thomas Aquinas, who's one of my favorite, he kind of takes the more legal academic approach here. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:00.559 He said, sin is an act, word, or desire contrary to the eternal law of God. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:10.720 And if that's too sophisticated, I can give you the VBS version of that, which happens to be my favorite, which is sin is anything I say, think, or do that makes God unhappy. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.880 Simple enough, right? 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:34.400 So the question is: if sin makes God unhappy, if it's disordered, if it disrupts our relationship with Him, if we believe what Scripture says about it, which is in the end it leads to death, then I think it's only a fair question to ask, why do we keep doing it? 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:39.039 And we could have a lot of conversation here. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:47.039 We could talk about sin nature, we could talk about the curse of Adam, we could talk about the perversity of the human heart. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:55.200 But I think if you just boil it down to, you know, meat and potatoes, what you're left with is that sin is fun. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:02.480 Not in a not in a silly, arbitrary way, but in the technical way. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:05.519 It gives us pleasure. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.079 It offers something real, it gives us a feeling that we're trying to get. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:14.400 It creates real relief. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.640 It it scratches an itch. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:24.400 There's something inside of us that we're longing for, and we think that sin is this shortcut to give us that thing that we want. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:32.160 And and if sin wasn't fun, if it didn't actually deliver those things that we were longing for, the truth is we wouldn't keep doing it. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:41.839 The problem with sin is that whatever pleasure it seems to offer, that pleasure is never sustained. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:43.920 The enemy's not dumb. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.680 In his temptation, he never leads with the cost of sin. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:51.119 He only leads with the goods that it provides. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:51.920 Right? 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.680 He he shows you what you're getting and he hides what it's gonna cost. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.000 Well, Romans reveals what it costs. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:00.720 He says, the wages of sin is death. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:04.640 And there's a guy who said this, I'm not sure who it was, but I love that he said it. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:09.279 He says, you know, if the wages of sin were paid immediately, there'd probably be a lot less of it. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.599 Happened to agree with the guy. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:12.319 Right? 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:14.000 But that's not the way it works. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:18.160 When it comes to sin, the bill always comes later. 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:20.000 But it always comes. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.799 And when it shows up, it it always has fine print that you didn't expect to see. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:30.720 It always comes with consequences that you couldn't have foresaw, it always comes with baggage that you're not prepared to carry. 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.880 So we can say with confidence, yeah, sin is fun until it isn't. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.799 But by the time you get to that point, often it's taken you further than you wanted to go. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:43.200 And now you're stuck. 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:47.680 Hebrews 3.13 calls this the deceitfulness of sin. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:55.920 And so while sin is deceitful, what we can trust is that the pattern of sin is always the same. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:00.640 And James 1 lays out this pattern so that we can go through life informed. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.599 He says, desire is what leads to sin. 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:13.440 And it's when we capitulate to that desire, and sin runs its course in our life, ultimately that's when sin leads to death. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:22.480 And there's a temptation for all of us to dismiss the effects of sin when we haven't seen them yet. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:32.880 To assume that we've escaped, or that we dodged a bullet, or that we are the exception, or that something about us is different. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:38.160 But can I tell you, while the the timing of the bill may vary, right? 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:40.480 The destination never does. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.839 In the end, it always leads to death. 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.960 And here's what I want you to stay with me because this is important. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:55.279 Oftentimes, when we talk about the consequences of sin and we talk about death, most of the time we think of that in eternal terms. 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:58.720 This is a matter of heaven and it's a matter of hell. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:08.000 We have a responsibility to get that bill settled up before we cross the great horizon and find ourselves in one of two forever locations. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:10.960 And while that's true to a degree. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:24.240 The consequences are also temporal, meaning they're physical and they're here and now and they have a real effect on our lives. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.559 And it's not just spiritual that you might feel this sadness in your heart. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.720 The effects of sin are felt all around us. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.200 And it manifests in very real, tangible ways. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:45.920 And the reason that's what happens with sin is because of this really fancy theological word that we're going to use today called hylomorphism. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:54.880 And I don't like using words like this because I think it can take something practical and make it feel too abstract. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:58.400 But the meaning of this word is simple and it really has real effect in our lives. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:10.160 And what hilomorphism states is that our body, our physical form, and our spirit, this part of us that has a capacity for a relationship with God, that these aren't two things that just exist. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:18.240 But while we're alive on this earth, our body and our spirit are inextricably linked together. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.920 And what happens in your spirit actually affects your body. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:45.759 What this means for us is that it's just not possible to live in ongoing sin, and be that something we're saying or thinking or doing, and not be affected by that in the present in both a spiritual and a physical way. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:55.359 And while the effects of sin might be subtle at first, they they always build and they're always moving in the same direction, which is away from peace and away from joy. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:05.920 We could spend an infinitely long series talking about the consequence of our sin in eternity. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:12.720 When sin enters the picture, it's like a stone in a steel pond, it just creates ripples that go further than you can see. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.160 But what I want to talk about for this series is what are the effects of sin in our life now? 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.400 Because there's a temptation to bite off more than we can chew. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:27.680 But what I want to show you is that there's a better way to do this thing. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:34.799 And whatever joy you think sin is bringing into your life, it just doesn't match the joy that God can bring. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:37.440 So I want to give you three immediate effects of sin. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:40.079 Here's the first one: shame. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:44.720 And not just shame, but the isolation that it produces. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:50.000 Typically, in the order of events, shame is the uh the first effect we experience as well. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:57.519 If we go back to Genesis 3, the moment that Adam and Eve eat of the fruit that they were told not to eat from, what do they do? 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:10.480 They hide before God shows up, before he ever delivers a consequence, before they even know that God knows what they did, they're hiding. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:16.319 Notice that the shame that they feel, the response wasn't just emotional, it was physical. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:21.359 It caused them to run from God, and just as they were hiding, that's what we do today. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.720 We we hide. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:29.119 We hide from God, we hide from the people closest to us, we hide from the people who would actually want to help us. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:34.000 Because shame makes us feel like a relationship with those people is impossible. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.759 To be known is to be seen, and what shame does is convince you that uh being seen is like the worst thing ever. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:50.400 Because if they could actually see you as you are and in all of your hurt and all of your failure, then there's no way that they could ever love you. 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:54.480 You know there's really only two lies that the enemy tells. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.359 The first lie is that sin isn't a big deal. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.640 That's how we get you to sin. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.839 Of course it's a big deal. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:09.519 You are offending an infinitely holy God, incurring a debt of cosmic proportion. 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:12.880 It's a massive deal. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:20.799 But the second lie he tells after you've committed this offense is that now there's no way God could ever forgive you. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:31.920 Out of the same mouth, he speaks both of these, and of course, that's a lie too, because yes, while you did incur a cosmic and divine debt, that debt has been paid because it was nailed to the cross. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:37.359 But shame prevents us from seeing that. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:42.240 And it isolates us from the only one who can make us whole. 00:26:43.680 --> 00:26:44.960 What does Psalm 16 say? 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.720 That the fullness of joy is found in the presence of God. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:59.200 So the isolating effect of sh sin isn't that you just feel guilty and you feel a little bad, it's that it is moving you away from the only one who can help you. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:04.640 So I want you to see in this regard, joy isn't just something we generate, it's a proximity problem. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:12.559 And the more we isolate ourselves, the more we're going to find ourselves lacking in that joy that we're after. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:16.720 Here's the second effect anxiety and angst. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:21.279 You know, the word anxiety has become almost ubiquitous in our culture. 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:30.960 I mean, it shows up everywhere and in conversations and social media and marketing and jokes, and it's it's almost because of its popularity become kind of a junk drawer word. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:41.359 You know, it does it it's it's hard to almost take it seriously because it's used so much, and that's not a good thing either, because for those that experience it underneath the word is something very, very real. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:42.400 Right? 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.440 The last thing we want to do is minimize that or dismiss that. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:49.920 And I want to be careful here because what I I don't want you to mishear me and hear what I'm not saying. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:50.480 Right? 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:55.519 I'm not telling you that if you struggle with anxiety, that it's just because you're a filthy, rotten sinner and you need to repent. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:57.039 Right? 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.160 If you just repent and stop doing that thing, then you'd feel better. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:00.640 Right? 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.880 Because we've we've heard that message before. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:03.359 Right? 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:06.400 Anxiety is complex, it has layers. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:06.799 Right? 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.279 So today's conversation isn't even about anxiety and all of its causes. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.359 Today's message is about sin and its effects. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:32.160 And I know that this can be a hard conversation, but the truth of the matter is we do a huge, huge disservice to ourselves if we don't recognize the very real connection between the choices that we make and the lifestyle that we live and the anxiety that we feel. 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:40.079 Listen to how Isaiah describes the state of those whose lifestyle are outside the boundary lines of what God says is good. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:48.240 He says, But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:51.759 There's no peace for the wicked, says my God. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:53.440 And notice the image here. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:57.599 The image is not a storm which blows in and can blow out. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:03.680 The image is a sea that that won't relent, that just won't be quiet. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:12.880 It's it's it's constant, it's the agitation that just follows us follows us everywhere we go, even when nothing is outwardly wrong. 00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:20.000 In Proverbs 28, verse 1, the the writer says uh or describes another perspective on this angst. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:23.039 He says, the wicked flee when none pursueth. 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:27.519 Have you ever been in a position where you were doing something you know you weren't supposed to do? 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:38.160 And you just like knew that you're gonna be found out, you're constantly like looking over your shoulder, you're just anxious, you're uneasy. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.519 This is how I feel anytime I'm driving through Spring Hill. 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:45.200 Because those police are relentless. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.000 I'm not even sure what I'm doing, but I know I'm doing something wrong. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.079 But I'm speeding, I'm texting, I'm doing something. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:51.920 Don't do that. 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:52.799 That's sin. 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:56.799 Um, but seriously, you know what I mean? 00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:58.160 You're you're nervous. 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:00.960 That's not a way to live. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:01.519 Right? 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:06.960 And so what we see here is that that no peace goes hand in hand with no joy. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:12.000 Because peace and joy are linked together, they're inseparable. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:16.000 Now, the third effect we see is physical and emotional exhaustion. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:25.519 In Psalm 32, David writes about a season in his life when he was engaged in behavior that he shouldn't have been, and he was just holding on to this and not confessing it. 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.599 And uh, this is what he writes about this. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.759 He says, When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:38.079 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.839 My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:43.519 This guy is down bad. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.799 Bones wasting, strength drained, groaning all day long. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:51.359 I mean, that is depression language. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:31:00.079 And notice how David is connecting this physical experience that he's having directly to unconfessed sin. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:04.799 All right, this isn't just mopiness, this is physical debilitation. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:07.279 How many of you have ever been heat stroke before? 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.000 And we just feel completely zapped. 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:11.279 All right? 00:31:11.680 --> 00:31:13.119 That's what sin does to us. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:19.599 I mean, you might be better than me, but I can remember times in my life when I was engaged in behavior that I shouldn't have been in. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:32.799 I was living a life that was really double-minded, where I had one foot in this camp over here where I wanted to be, you know, a follower of God, I wanted to be used by Him, and this other foot over here where I wanted to live my life and do things my way and make decisions the way that I want to make them. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:37.119 And can I just tell you, in that season, there was no joy there. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.519 I felt heavy. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:41.119 I felt tired. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.680 I felt like I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to do any of the things that bring me pleasure. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.000 It was like this cloud that was following me. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:56.799 And if you live under that conviction and state of guilt for long enough, this has a way of having a real effect in your body. 00:31:56.880 --> 00:32:02.240 I mean, I say this not jokingly, but seriously, I mean, it has a way of aging this prematurely. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:15.039 I mean, some of you know this experience, and I'm not trying to be unkind when I say this, but but when you think about people that you know in your life or your circle that just have a real ugliness on the inside of them. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:16.240 Right? 00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:25.519 They could be just angry or mean or unkind or spiteful or resentful or unforgiving or whatever topic you want to use. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:32.640 Have you ever noticed that the people who live like that long enough, it just has a w that ugliness that's on the inside has a way of coming out. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:35.119 Right? 00:32:35.200 --> 00:32:36.640 You can see it on people. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:42.640