WEBVTT 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:10.240 I love when Adam plays that song. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.039 It's beautiful. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:15.679 We got some announcements this morning. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:21.280 We start women's Bible study uh next week, as well as our Kids Summer Fellowship. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:22.800 Uh, those are really fun. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:23.920 And that's it. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:27.120 Kids, were there any other announcements? 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.480 Benton? 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:31.679 Let's go. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:42.479 If you are here for the first time and you're wondering if we're a church of Scientology based on our you know, we're not. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:47.359 We're just uh a body of believers who really love VBS. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:52.240 And it's the best week of the year, and so you have come on the first day of it. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:58.000 So we are glad uh that you could join us uh and look forward to tonight. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.640 Uh if you're able, oh actually I actually do have a real big announcement. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.000 Uh going on a sabbatical, uh June 23rd. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:07.760 I think many of you are aware of that. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.040 I'm very appreciative and thankful uh for the session uh for allowing me, granting me the opportunity to go. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:19.120 I'm thankful for all of you for allowing me uh to go as well. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:28.799 I think what's really humbling about it uh is when I've talked to many of you, you you don't make me feel like I have to justify going. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:34.640 Um, you're all extremely supportive, uh, and that that means a great deal. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.480 I'm not going on it because I'm overworked, right? 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.640 You all work very hard. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.280 You all can make a case for being overworked. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:48.959 I heard in a podcast one time, and this kind of I feel like explains it well. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:58.799 Imagine if you were a paramedic, and every call that you went on, you had a personal relationship with that call. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:10.960 And maybe just the emotional toll it would take over years to always having an emotional investment in something that might be traumatic or just difficult. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:22.479 Uh, and I felt like that kind of accurately portrays maybe uh where I am a little bit emotionally, um, is just emotionally kind of tired. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.479 Uh it's been a wonderful, I've been here since 2014, right? 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:28.159 So wonderful 10 years. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:32.879 Um, but I'm happy uh to take two months uh to kind of recharge. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:34.240 And I get two questions. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:37.120 First one is how much golf am I gonna play? 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:40.879 Uh and not really as much as you would think. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:53.120 Uh that's pretty subjective, but um because the members here at our church, they've graciously uh provided us some opportunities to travel. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.280 Uh so we'll be traveling a lot for the first six weeks of it. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.639 We will basically not be in Birmingham. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:07.759 Uh, and then the last two weeks when our kids start school, we will be back in Birmingham, uh, but you still won't really see us around. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:09.840 But uh we're we're looking forward to that. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.639 Uh the second part is what am I gonna do? 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.800 Like, what am I trying to accomplish? 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:24.879 And the simplest way I can put it is, and this is kind of what this sermon is off of this morning, is being present in the moment. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.280 I am horrible at being present in the moment. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:37.520 Don't go ask my wife for evidence of that, but um I'm always constantly thinking about something else, right? 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:48.159 Or reaching out to someone else, or do something that needs to be done rather than maybe in the moments enjoying time with my family, uh, or even just time with maybe when I'm with one of you all, right? 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:53.919 Just the constant distraction of going and doing and being somewhere else. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:05.919 And so I'm excited for the next two months to just try and be present in the moment and to slow down uh and just and to enjoy, uh enjoy time with the family. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.879 So those are uh you know the main goal. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.599 And uh, like I said, I'll need a lot of prayer. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.159 Uh my family will need a lot of prayer and resting. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:20.399 That kind of feels like those people who are like posting maybe on Instagram, like, oh, we just have so much going on for a vacation. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:25.519 But uh we would really love your prayers uh as we endeavor on this. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:30.639 So with that being said, if you are able, please stand for the reading of the word. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.720 It's from 1 Timothy 12 through 17. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:49.199 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:57.920 Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:04.879 And the grace of our Lord overflowed for me and with the faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:15.680 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:36.959 But I received mercy for this reason: that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life, to the King of the ages, immortal and visible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:37.920 Amen. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:59.519 Early on he tells a story about his mentor, John Ortberg, uh, talking with Dallas Willard. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:05.519 Dallas Willard is a professor, and he's kind of written numerous books kind of about spiritual life. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:12.319 And uh John asked, What must I do to become the me I want to be? 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.399 And he said, Dallas Willard responded kind of with like a long pause. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:26.319 He said he always had a long pause, and he said, You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:29.279 And then John responded, Well, that's great. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:30.800 What else? 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.920 There is nothing else. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:39.680 Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:45.040 You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:48.800 That hit me right in the face. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:54.959 Uh, you know, hurry comes in seasons, right? 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:58.240 Sometimes maybe you feel a little more hurried and rushed than others. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:02.639 Uh, in our season, especially with kind of EBS coming up, we kind of feel hurried. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:08.000 But what I realized is when I feel hurried, right? 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:10.000 My prayer life suffers. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.480 My mindfulness of the Lord suffers, right? 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:20.720 My genuine love for others suffers because I'm focused on me. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:30.639 When I'm in a hurry, it's about me and what can be done for me to get to point A to point B or accomplish what I'm whatever I'm trying to do. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:32.720 So that quote hit me real hard. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:34.480 And then it got me thinking. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.720 What do we usually say when someone asks how we're doing? 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:40.480 Oh, we're good. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.439 We're just busy. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.519 I know you're like, I don't want to say it. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:47.199 We're just busy. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:53.040 Now, again, I understand in some essence that that's just a pleasantry, right? 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.000 That's just kind of something we say because it's relatable, it's kind of like talking about the weather, right? 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.040 But then there's other aspects of it. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:04.240 I mean, do you really feel busy? 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.920 Do you really feel hurried? 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:30.399 When I was teaching this Sunday school class series, this last one we're doing it off of Kevin DeYoung's book, Crazy Busy, and I just realized like I am really busy because my life doesn't show a lot of gratitude to the Lord. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:38.799 When you're hurried, when you feel rushed and busy and overwhelmed, how often do you feel grateful? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:44.799 How often do you feel like you express gratitude to the Lord? 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.440 And you know, it took me like six weeks teaching that Sunday school class to come up with that. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:09:07.679 And then when I was working on this sermon, I read a quote or a research from a journal of psychological science, which said, research found that the degree of patience exhibited was directly related to the amount of gratitude an individual felt. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.399 So I kind of read that and I was like, well, there you go. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.159 That's what I'm gonna preach on. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:22.480 But this isn't a sermon about, hey, you need to just scrap your schedule, right? 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.320 You need to just after work, go home till bed. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:28.799 If it's school, when school's over, you go home. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:30.080 On the weekend, you stay home. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:31.360 That's not what this is about. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.320 This is not clearing your schedule, right? 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.759 Jesus was very, his day was very full. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:38.799 Right? 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.559 I don't want you to associate this with like being lazy. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:49.039 But there's a difference, right, between being full, right? 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:59.200 Feeling called to do what the Lord has called you to do and being busy, which distracts us from the Lord. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:09:59.759 Right? 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:11.200 So today, this is a kind of a one-off sermon, like I said, things I've been thinking about as I go into my sabbatical of the importance of patience and its relationship to gratitude. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.600 And how gratitude leads to worship, right? 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.320 And worship leads to joy. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:25.519 And so, kind of that sermon title, like, are you patient enough in your life to be grateful? 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.399 So that's what we're gonna look at today. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:31.360 Why do you feel rushed? 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.000 Why do you feel hurried? 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.200 Why do you always feel pressured to go and do? 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:46.720 In that last Sunday school class, we asked that question, and what kind of came up was this pressure of should. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.919 I should be doing things. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.879 I should go and do that, I should be there. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:11:02.960 And we realize as a congregation, you're we're all very high-functioning, high accomplishing, right, high achieving individuals. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:03.679 Right? 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:05.919 Many of you have accomplished a lot. 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:13.360 So, and part of that means, because you're high functioning, you have the capacity to do more. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:14.159 Right? 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:18.480 You know I can do more, I can handle more, I can get it done. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.320 How much of that pressure do you put on yourself? 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:24.240 Because think about it. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:35.440 If anyone had the pressure of feeling I should do, it would have been Jesus. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:36.639 Right? 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.120 You think of like God the Father. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:40.399 Right? 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:48.799 When you read scripture, you know, they never feel rushed, they never feel hurried, it's always measured, right? 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:50.399 It's always intentional. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:54.559 I think about uh the creation, right? 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:59.279 He spent six days creating everything. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:05.840 I mean, if if my Amazon package is in here in three, like I'm getting upset, right? 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:08.399 He took six days. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:13.360 What happened in the garden right after Adam and Eve sin? 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:14.879 Right, Genesis 3.8. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:22.000 It says they hear him, and he's walking in the garden in the cool of the day. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.080 He's not running after them. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.080 It's not like an action movie, right? 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:33.360 Where it's like slow-mo and they're about to eat the apple, and God is just kind of trying to run in and scream, like, stop, don't do that. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:37.679 Like, he's calmly walking. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:41.600 It's immense patience. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.039 When Moses is like, Who are you? 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:47.279 Who do I say that you are? 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:50.960 What he announces I'm steadfast. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.679 It's one of the first things he says. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.440 I I'm patient. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:57.840 I'm a patient, loving God. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:00.720 Or Jesus, right? 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:01.519 The son. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:08.240 I mean, can you I I thought about this this morning. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:10.799 For 30 years, right? 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:14.000 Jesus kind of lived just a private life. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:14.559 Right? 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:22.000 I mean, so much so that the people in his hometown were like, when he kind of was revealing himself as a side, were like, that's just the carpenter's son. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:23.519 Like, there's nothing special about him. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:32.320 But can you imagine at some point the pressure, the social pressure he started to feel when people are like, You've been God the whole time? 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:40.240 Like, we could have used that, you know, like could have helped me here, right? 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:44.559 Could have plowed that field a little, you know, like all of these things. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:49.200 But for 30 years, what did he do? 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.159 He patiently endured life. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:55.039 And he lived like us, right? 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.440 So they could sympathize with us. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:06.559 Or in John 11, when Lazarus is sick, does he just run off and say, guys, we have to go? 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.159 What does it say? 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:10.799 He waited two days. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.080 Two days before he went there. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.120 And then what's Martha's response? 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.919 If you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:21.440 Where are you? 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:22.240 Right? 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:27.360 So it's not like we just necessarily live in a culture that probably has more pressure of hurrying and doing. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:28.960 He felt it immensely. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.559 But he didn't succumb to it. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:33.919 Right? 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:40.639 He was never distracted by his schedule. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:47.919 It was always, I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing because the Lord has called me to it. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:49.759 And I rest in that. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:57.679 And that's why he comes off as patient and not frazzled and not anxious and not stressed. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:04.720 Corey Ten Boom says, if the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy. 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:09.120 How true is that? 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:11.039 Why? 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.279 Because busyness is a distraction. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:25.679 Again, we are separating out you having a full schedule and doing things you need to do versus are you thinking about things that you're doing that are distracting you from the Lord? 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:28.240 Right? 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:35.120 Because again, I know when I get busy, I get distracted for my walk from the Lord. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:44.480 Michael Ziggorelli, who's a Charleston Southern University professor, did a survey of over 20,000 Christians and kind of the obstacles of growth. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:46.960 This was his conclusion. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:16:21.039 Christians are assimilating to a culture of busyness, hurry, and overload, which leads to God becoming more marginalized in Christian lives, which leads to a deteriorat with God, which leads to Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to more conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry, and overload, and then the cycle begins again. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.600 Does that not describe our culture? 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:36.799 We wonder why the church as a whole in the West is deteriorating, is becoming more like the culture. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:44.879 Is it perhaps because Satan was like, I don't need to tempt you with just necessarily lots of sinful things. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.559 I just need to distract you enough from my word that you'll forget it. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:54.320 That you'll just be too busy to remember who I am and what I've called you to do. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:17:01.519 And then you'll just slowly kind of melt together into doing what you think is right in your own eyes. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:20.799 You know, Romans 12, 2 says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:25.759 I think sometimes we've got conformity to this world, it's like, well, I just don't want to do that sinful behavior. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:38.160 But maybe part of the conformity of the world is us filling up our lives with distractions, of things pulling us away from the Lord. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:39.599 Right? 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:46.799 Realizing that being the new person that we are and the new mind that we have, like we can discern. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:49.119 Do you want me doing this? 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.640 Is this something I should do? 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:51.680 And I get it, right? 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.920 Like half my life right now has been dedicated to six-year-old baseball. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.720 I was talking to Andy McMacon about it today. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.240 And my son loves baseball and we love to play it. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.240 And so I understand the pressure of my my child loves this. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:11.119 So why would I not want to do it for them? 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:11.759 Right? 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:18.160 Why would I not want to give them as many opportunities to enjoy things that I enjoyed or that they're good at throughout? 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:20.960 Again, I'm not saying you scrap all that. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:37.279 But I am saying at what point do we discern what is and isn't the will of God and things that point us to Him, that make us more like Him. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:47.039 Are we modeling a conformity to culture that says go, go, go, do, do, do? 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:51.759 And then when you have time, think about Jesus. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:58.799 When your schedule permits, yes, Jesus needs to be in there. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:00.079 Right? 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.480 Is that what we model to our coworkers? 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.279 Is that what we model to our neighbors? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.440 Is that what we're modeling to our children? 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:14.799 Right, Philippians 4, 5 and 7. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:20.319 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:22.559 The Lord is at hand. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:31.680 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:40.079 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.240 Your reasonableness. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:43.200 Right? 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:50.880 Your reasonable a bit of that Greek word kind of has this like gentle and kindness and kind of these patient undertones. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:59.440 What does your reasonableness say to people when they ask, why aren't you doing this? 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.359 Hey, are you signed up for this? 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.279 Or why are you doing this? 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.759 What is the reasonableness of the response? 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:10.160 Right? 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:11.039 Is it? 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:13.359 Hey, we're, you know what? 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:14.400 Yeah, we are doing that. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:15.519 You know why we're doing it? 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:17.119 It was a great opportunity with the Lord. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.200 We feel like it really draws us to him. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:20.400 Or, hey, you know what? 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:21.119 We said no to that. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:22.720 We have a lot going on on our plate right now. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:24.160 We're too distracted. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:29.279 It wasn't something we thought was edifying or would build us up as a family. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:31.359 Right? 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:39.519 This just gospel patient reasoning of we don't need that right now. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.359 I mean, the Sabbath, right? 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:58.880 The Sabbath is there to show people our reasonableness and why our lives look different and why they show more patience, and why they show more steadiness and steadfastness to rest. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:14.799 It's really, I mean, again, as hard as it seems to think back then, and I always think of when they're in the wilderness, right in Numbers 15, uh, the guy goes out and he picks up sticks on the Sabbath and they stone him. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:19.920 And when you kind of read that, right, just on the surface, it makes it sound like, well, that was really harsh. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.559 They're in the wilderness, they need firewood. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.400 He's doing something honorable, right? 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:25.920 Now he there's more to that. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.480 You look at the context, it was a very rebellious act. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.359 He was intentionally doing it to say, I don't need the Lord, right? 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.440 It it was a justifiable uh punishment uh for the sin. 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:38.000 But you still think about that, right? 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:42.240 To truly rest in a gregarian culture. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:55.359 But now we're not in a great culture, but we're in a culture of I expect you to respond, to be able to do something that I ask work wise, right? 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.759 For you to continue to go and pursue whatever life endeavors you. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.960 Need to do. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:04.640 We feel that pressure. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:15.359 But yet the Sabbath is there, right, to help show this culture, our reasonableness to everyone that the Lord is at hand. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.039 The Lord has it. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:24.640 I'm not going to be anxious about what I might or not feel like I should have accomplished in this moment. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.680 And here's the thing: we all want more patience. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.880 I'm the chief center of impatience. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:33.039 And this is the hard part. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.160 I only think about patience when I'm impatient. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:37.359 Right? 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.319 Which only comes from difficult situations. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:41.680 Right? 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.599 Difficult situations are what show your lack of patience. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:23:00.079 But if we start getting kind of a little deeper into this, these difficult situations, how much of it is a lack of patience, but how much is it also tied to maybe it's a little lack of faith and trust in the Lord? 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:04.079 I mean, you think about work. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:06.079 Hey, we got to get this done. 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:07.519 This has to be finished. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:09.279 I need this on time. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:10.799 Or else what? 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:12.160 What? 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:15.279 What's going to happen? 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:15.920 Right? 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.359 Well, I might lose my job. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:18.319 Then we're going to be homeless. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:19.440 Then we're not going to be able to, right? 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:21.039 You spiral. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:24.720 You spiral like the worst possible things that can happen. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.279 But again, how much is that really again? 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:35.839 I'm not saying the need to not be a hard worker and to be diligent and to finish task on time. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:36.319 Right? 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.079 I think you all understand that. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:45.119 But if your mind starts going to just the utmost, your life's going to spiral out of control. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:48.319 You're not showing a faith and trust in the Lord. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:50.640 Right? 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:52.400 There's a disconnect there. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:24:06.160 Again, I'm not saying you're not mindful of consequences when things aren't finished when they're supposed to be, but when your faith and trust is ultimately back in the Lord, of look, he's put me here, he's equipped me to be able to do this. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:07.680 We'll get it done. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:08.319 Right? 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.359 There's more of a patience that comes from that. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:15.200 When you think of Israel, right? 00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:22.559 It was seven weeks from when they walked out the front door of Egypt to Mount Sinai. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:22.880 Right? 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.559 Seven weeks isn't that long. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:26.000 What happens? 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:28.960 Moses goes up for 40 days and 40 nights. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:37.839 And then it uses the language when they saw that Moses was delayed in coming down. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:47.039 They ran to Aaron and they said, Up, make us an idol, make us a God that can go before us. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:50.559 That's kind of remarkable that you have delayed, right? 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:51.359 They're in patience. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.319 Like, where is he? 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:54.720 Why hasn't he not come down yet? 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:55.359 Right? 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:58.640 This impatience, this lack of trust. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:04.319 And then it's they run to Aaron, hurry up, get up, make us a God to go before us. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:19.359 You can see how maybe you're starting like if it's sometimes just blaming other people for your impatience, how much is it possibly tied to just a genuine lack of faith and trust and the Lord's providence and sovereignty in your life? 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:27.440 Patience is also a display of love. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:30.240 Right? 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:33.279 You have probably heard 1 Corinthians 13, right? 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:36.559 The way of love read countless times at weddings. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:45.680 When you start in verse 4, you'll remember love is patient and kind. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:26:00.319 Love does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:08.240 Love bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, and it endures all things. 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:12.960 When you're impatient, are you ever rude? 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:14.480 Yes. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:19.519 Do you insist on your own way when you're typically impatient? 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:21.759 I do. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.519 How many of you are irritable when you're impatient? 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:29.359 All the time. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:34.960 How many of you resent the people who have caused the situation for you to be impatient? 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:36.240 Every time. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.200 Right? 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:38.480 Every time. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:45.200 You're not loving in those moments. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:46.160 Right? 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:47.759 It's a bigger deal. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:54.400 Impatience is a bigger deal than just being annoyed by someone else causing your schedule not to run as you expected. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:26:59.200 It means you're not being loving. 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:05.839 I mean, the first thing it's describing is love is patient. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.240 And here's part of that. 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:16.480 When it finishes with, it bears all things and endures all things. 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:24.480 How much of your impatience is that you just keep forgetting that we live in a fallen world with fallen people? 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:31.599 I get, for whatever reason, I've been here 41 years and I still haven't figured it out that you know what? 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.799 We live in a sinful world and that causes problems. 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:40.000 But for me, I'm like, I shouldn't have to suffer through this. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:44.960 You're gonna make me wait 15 minutes Chick-fil-A for my nuggets? 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:47.440 You want me to go park in the parking lot? 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.799 I just went through the drive-thru not to park in this parking lot. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.799 Cannot stand, we're like, hey, go park over there. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:57.279 Like, that's all you know I was ordering chicken. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.279 It's all you got out on the menu. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:05.599 I forget. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.960 And I'm not saying waiting for your nuggets of Chick-fil-A is suffering. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.200 That is a huge virtual problem. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:30.559 Um Jesus Christ knew before the creation of the world he was going to suffer. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:35.519 And it's why he was perfectly patient. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:37.759 I mean, nothing ever frustrated him. 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:40.640 Think about his life when he's doing ministry. 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:51.119 All of the people continually impeding him, getting in his way, lying about him, trying to undermine him, trying to kill him. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:57.279 That seems like things that would make me pretty impatient and irritable. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:02.720 But he doesn't act like that because he realizes I'm here to suffer. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:04.640 You're here to suffer. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:07.920 What's a powerful witness to people? 00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:13.119 It's countercultural is you being patient. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:17.680 You being patient with the waiter, you being patient with your coworker. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:20.480 Because that doesn't happen anymore. 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:22.240 What happens in sports now? 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.359 If you're a coach, you didn't win the first season, you're out. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:26.000 Right? 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:29.920 If you're a quarterback, you didn't win the first few games, you're out. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.279 That's it. 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:43.119 But when you, understanding that things are going to be hard, endure all things, and you bear all things, it allows you to be more patient and loving. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.920 Which brings us to our actual passage. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.599 This was that was not a 25-minute introduction. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:52.400 This one. 00:29:55.759 --> 00:30:07.920 And starting in verse uh 14, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:23.039 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:34.880 Scott Hubbard, who's an editor for Desiring God, said, in Christ, your life tells a story of divine patience. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:43.200 In Christ, your life tells a story of divine patience. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:49.920 Think how much patience gets tested with your own children. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:56.799 Now imagine Christ, God the Father, and all of his children. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:03.920 And if you know you're like me, I absolutely live a life that could bring irritation and impatience. 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:07.440 And what did he do? 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:17.680 In you, in your sinfulness, in your rebellion, in your hard heart, and your stiff neck, he displayed his perfect patience for you. 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:27.279 It's countercultural to be patient, right? 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:30.400 For people to see the kindness and the gentleness. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:33.599 It shows Christ. 00:31:35.359 --> 00:31:37.839 Because he didn't remove himself from us. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:43.119 He didn't say, he hasn't said, I've tried with you, I've tried with you, and I've tried with you. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:46.559 You've promised me, you've promised me, you promised me. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:49.920 You keep failing, you keep failing, you keep he doesn't do that. 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:52.079 He doesn't say it's over. 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.599 He keeps drawing us to himself. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:00.480 He keeps revealing himself to us. 00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:14.880 Because this patience is eternal. 00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:20.000 When I think of Ephesians 4.32, right? 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.680 It says, forgive each other just as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you. 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:26.480 I feel like you could also insert patience. 00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:34.799