SPEAKER_02: Hey, this is George Davis, and so glad to have you connected with us today.
SPEAKER_02: Do I have an amazing series that's gonna be a blessing to you?
SPEAKER_02: It's called Weapons of Mass Distraction.
SPEAKER_02: No, I didn't say weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass distraction.
SPEAKER_02: In this season, where I believe God wants us to have a fierce focus, the enemy of focus is distraction.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to walk you through and show what I believe are our four of the greatest distractions that we face as Christians or just as people in general.
SPEAKER_02: And I believe if we can get our focus right, keep our eyes on Jesus and don't allow these distractions to take us off course.
SPEAKER_02: God's got some amazing things awaiting us in our future.
SPEAKER_02: In fact, one of the very reasons you know God's got something great is that the enemy's trying his best to take your eyes off of the future and look back to the past or look around at something else.
SPEAKER_02: So buckle up, get ready for an amazing word today, because this episode today, this uh portion day is going to be a great blessing to you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that was a good moment in worship.
SPEAKER_00: I uh love spending time with God.
SPEAKER_00: Um love it, love it.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, my name is Evelyn Gonzales, and I have the honor of serving here at the ministry as a director of education, head of school.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I serve Impact Christian Academy, I serve Step Five, and I serve Impact College.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are interested, come see me after service.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Shameless plug.
SPEAKER_00: So we have started a new series.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the series deals with weapons of mass distraction.
SPEAKER_00: And the first week we learned about uh the strange man and the strange woman and how they slowly can pull you away from the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: And then last week we learned about emotional baggage, uh, whether it's disappointment or grief or offense, uh, whatever it may be, even loneliness, how us carrying that baggage around and not leaving it at the foot of the cross can be a distraction to what God has for us in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: But this week is a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we are going to talk about, like last week was more of an internal voice.
SPEAKER_00: This week we're going to talk about external voices.
SPEAKER_00: And one voice that uh has a profound effect on this generation is that of the digital voice.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the social media, Netflix, chat, Claude, uh, Gemini, co-pilot, and how that voice, oftentimes we have leaned in to hear that instead of leaning in to hear the voice of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Or we go on to social media looking for affirmation or advocacy or acceptance instead of sitting at the foot of the cross knowing that we've already been accepted by the one who loves us beyond our generation and beyond our shortcomings.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we have subscribed to a counterfeit community.
SPEAKER_00: And we have run to our Instagram or our thread to hear encouragement when the word of God is full of encouragement, or your small group is full of encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: So we're reaching out to someone in India or someone in California or someone in South Brazil, and we're posting our hurts and our desires and even our all a report card, thinking that that community is enough.
SPEAKER_00: And can I tell you it's a distraction?
SPEAKER_00: It's a distraction.
SPEAKER_00: You can stand up at the airport and announce, my mother just passed away, and there will be some people in the crowd who will come to you and have compassion.
SPEAKER_00: But for the most part, those people will go on with their day.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing with social media, but we don't realize it because we're looking for that next hit and we're looking for that next follow, and we're looking for that next share, share, and we're hoping that that will be enough to fill the void that only God can fill.
SPEAKER_00: It is a digital distraction.
SPEAKER_00: A digital distraction.
SPEAKER_00: And um Bishop gave us a couple statistics that I want to share with you.
SPEAKER_00: Um, did you know that 30% of people, 31% of individuals, uh have anxiety about leaving their phone at home?
SPEAKER_00: And uh the way he teaches it is that's because the other 60% didn't tell the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Or 40% of people would rather lose their voice for a day than not have their phone for 24 hours.
SPEAKER_00: That's a that is an addiction, ladies and gentlemen.
SPEAKER_00: That is an addiction.
SPEAKER_00: Uh this year, our our wonderful governor uh passed a law that middle school students could not bring cell phones to school.
SPEAKER_00: And we enforced it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Abby's here, but we enforced it.
SPEAKER_00: I have a couple ICA family in the front row, and ooh, it was tough.
SPEAKER_00: Because we enforced it for middle and high.
SPEAKER_00: It was tough.
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, the kids revolted, they kicked, they screamed.
SPEAKER_00: But by the end of the year, do you know they talk to each other at lunch now?
SPEAKER_00: They talk.
SPEAKER_00: They talk, they clown around, they laugh, whereas before they would just sit on their phone.
SPEAKER_00: And I dare say that the 109 young people that gave their life to Christ by the end of the year is a result, is a result of us taking that addiction and setting it to the side, even for the seven and a half hours they're at the school.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy doesn't do anything new, he has tried to distract us from the will of God from the Old Testament on.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't do anything new, it's a voice, and it's a voice that we should not give heed to.
SPEAKER_00: In the book of Nehemiah, we hear how Nehemiah went to rebuild the wall.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and as they were building, they had built up the entire wall, but they hadn't added the gates.
SPEAKER_00: And three men came, two in particular, Sambalat and Tobias, and they called to him.
SPEAKER_00: They said, Hey, you need to come down and talk to us because we're hearing a rumor.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what he said?
SPEAKER_00: He said, I am doing a great work.
SPEAKER_00: Who am I to come down and talk to you and leave this work unfinished?
SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, social media is calling you out from whatever it is that you're focused on, because truth be told, the enemy does not want you to complete that great work.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us pick up our phone to check the weather?
SPEAKER_00: And then two hours later, we still are not dressed for work, sitting there laughing at dog videos.
SPEAKER_00: Or worst case scenario, we get up at three o'clock in the morning looking at who's wearing what and who said what and who's dating who the digital distraction is bombarding the lives of our young people, but dare I say that it is bombarding the lives of adults as well?
SPEAKER_00: How many of you checked Facebook or Instagram or threads before you came in today?
SPEAKER_00: Please be honest.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you checked your text messages?
SPEAKER_00: Look around.
SPEAKER_00: How okay, close hands down.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you opened your Bible to read some scripture this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Don't raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm not trying to embarrass anybody.
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with our first scripture, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, Someone will say, I'm allowed to do anything.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, but everything is not necessarily good for you.
SPEAKER_00: I could say that I'm allowed to do anything, but I will not let anything make me its slave.
SPEAKER_00: When you get up in the morning, if you have to reach for your cell phone first, and when you lay down at night, if you have to reach for your cell phone first, and when you have to make a huge speech and you have to confer with chat, sounds like slavery to me.
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like slavery to me or addiction.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: it's not the social media, it's not the digital distraction, it's whether or not we regulate ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because there are a number of things that we can do in moderation.
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's go to the book of Judges, Judges chapter 21, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, In those days, there was no king in Israel, Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes, when we want to make it known, when we want to, and I'm old school, give you a piece of our mind.
SPEAKER_00: We'll go on social media for somebody to support what we said.
SPEAKER_00: And she did that.
SPEAKER_00: I've I'll be honest, I'm one of those people.
SPEAKER_00: I'm here for the threads, I'm here for the comments.
SPEAKER_00: I will go into the comments and get a nice little laugh.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is, some of those people would never do that in person.
SPEAKER_00: So we throw off what we consider, yes, digital gangsters, as my husband would say.
SPEAKER_00: We throw off what we know is what God would require of us, and we say what we want to say, and we post what we want to post, and we attack people in this realm, or we are attacked by people in this realm.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, I want to expose four dangers of social media, four dangers of digital distractions, four dangers of been watching Netflix.
SPEAKER_00: Um, because you become what you behold.
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with that.
SPEAKER_00: And it is truly hard, first danger, it is truly hard to know God when we are constantly distracting or distracted by Facebook, Instagram, uh chat, Claude, Netflix.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not to say that these things are bad.
SPEAKER_00: The the rub, where the rubber meets the road, is when we can't put them to the side, when we can't just sit and be still.
SPEAKER_00: Scripture says in uh Psalms chapter 46, verse 10, it says, and I know you know this, be still and know that I am God.
SPEAKER_00: And we are bombarded by text messages and updates and notifications.
SPEAKER_00: So all of this noise is causing us to look there for an answer when God is the all in all.
SPEAKER_00: God is the great I want, great, great I am.
SPEAKER_00: God has the answer to whatever it is we're facing, but we have to be still.
SPEAKER_00: If we look at the Hebrew word for still, it there's certain things that it means, and I want to uh share that with you.
SPEAKER_00: It means to sit, be quiet, abandon whatever it is that you were trying to do and seek him.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God is asking us to do.
SPEAKER_00: Seek him.
SPEAKER_00: You know the story about Martha and Mary.
SPEAKER_00: And Martha was about it's not that she was in sin, she was just trying to take care of business.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that you're in sin.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just trying to check the weather, I'm trying to check my appointments, I'm trying to check my text message from Bishop this morning at 6:30.
SPEAKER_00: Love you, bro.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to get everything done, I'm trying to get information out, I'm trying to get information in.
SPEAKER_00: But God is saying, be still.
SPEAKER_00: Martha was trying to serve everybody, but what did Mary do?
SPEAKER_00: She was still and she sat at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: She didn't know about God, she knew God because she was still.
SPEAKER_00: It is very difficult to truly know God when we are constantly distracted.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even bring my phone up here.
SPEAKER_00: That's so funny.
SPEAKER_00: But everybody hold up your phone.
SPEAKER_00: When we are constantly distracted by something in our hands, but the issue with lacking intimacy with God, it actually leads to our next danger.
SPEAKER_00: And that is a difficulty really understanding who you are.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you know whose you are, you can better ascertain who you are.
SPEAKER_00: So the second danger I want to talk about is it's hard to view yourself properly when you are listening to the voices that are attacking and invading your space through digital distraction.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you know there's nothing new under the sun, so I'm gonna take you back to the Old Testament because I love the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And most of you know this story, so I'm not gonna have you turn there.
SPEAKER_00: But when you read the historical account of Saul and David's interactions, and I know you all remember this, and they came back from a battle, and the women cried out, Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands, and Saul grew angry, listening to external voices.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us at one time or another, and we'll just say in the last 30 days, have looked down at some type of thread or post and read the comments, and on the inside was like, What?
SPEAKER_00: How dare they?
SPEAKER_00: Who do they think that who cares who they think they are?
SPEAKER_00: We're listening to external voices, and for this generation, it is a digital distraction.
SPEAKER_00: We know that Saul grew so jealous that he eventually lost the kingdom listening to outside voices.
SPEAKER_00: Social media and what what happens in this digital sphere is so much about comparison that we begin to feel inadequate or insufficient or intimidated by what we see.
SPEAKER_00: As I was talking yesterday over what we were going to share today, I was talking to my husband.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we we compare our real life to their real life.
SPEAKER_00: We compare what's really happening to their edits in the best light, with the best background, with the cutest outfit, with the right angle.
SPEAKER_00: But we see what is really going on in our life and we think it doesn't match up.
SPEAKER_00: And that comparison causes us to question ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And that's just comparing to a couple of stills in a video.
SPEAKER_00: What happens when we we log on to somebody's blog who isn't born again, who doesn't know the word of God, and now their theology is washing over us.
SPEAKER_00: We become what we behold.
SPEAKER_00: So instead of lining it up and testing it against the word of God, that's good.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good word.
SPEAKER_00: Minister Donna and I were talking the other day, and she shared with me that she saw something online where they compared Jesus to a worm on a tree, and the worm gave birth, and then the the blood that came out of the worm was the blood that was on.
SPEAKER_00: What in the world?
SPEAKER_00: You want views that bad that you would compare my personal Lord and Savior and the atonement for my sin to a worm, but it catches and it goes viral.
SPEAKER_00: And now I'm looking for digital distraction when I have the word of God right here.
SPEAKER_00: Now that's not to say that there aren't very, very good clips online of men and women of God sharing the word of God, but again, everything should be done in moderation.
SPEAKER_00: We have the word.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, study to show yourself approved, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
SPEAKER_00: We cannot expect the digital realm to rightly divide the word of truth for us.
SPEAKER_00: It's a distraction, it is indeed a distraction.
SPEAKER_00: And please understand that nobody's life is as amazing as it appears online.
SPEAKER_00: And can I help you?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm stealing this from Pastor Chris Sean.
SPEAKER_00: And it ain't about you.
SPEAKER_00: It's about the Father, it's about the Son, it's about reaching the loss for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Um which brings me to our next uh danger of digital distractions, and it it deals with being bombarded with sound.
SPEAKER_00: When we are distracted in this digital realm, it is hard for us to hear God speak.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm gonna give you an example.
SPEAKER_00: I have known Hannah Hervey since, oh God, but I knew I had a personal relationship with her when she moved here, and I was your teacher in 10th grade, yes?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I have heard her sing since 10th grade.
SPEAKER_00: I can sit at home and my husband can turn on a video of service, and I can be in a different room and I can say, Oh, Hannah was leading worship that day.
SPEAKER_00: I can hear her.
SPEAKER_00: I know her voice.
SPEAKER_00: I know her voice because I know her, and she's been in my life for years, and I've watched her grow and develop into the beautiful young woman that she is, wife and mother.
SPEAKER_00: But I know her voice because I've spent time with her voice.
SPEAKER_00: When we spend more time, everybody hold up your cell phone again.
SPEAKER_00: When we spend more time on our cell phone, go ahead and put it down.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know what I'm checking to see because if it's lit up, that means you were on it at some point.
SPEAKER_00: It's old teacher trick.
SPEAKER_00: Old teacher trick.
SPEAKER_00: Or what you do is you turn off the lights in the classroom and you can see the phones glowing underneath the desk.
SPEAKER_00: Old teacher trick.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm able coming back, coming back, but I'm able to differentiate her voice.
SPEAKER_00: Sarah kind of messed me up a couple times, I'll admit that.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm able to differentiate her voice because I know her.
SPEAKER_00: Um, are we able to clearly hear God's voice with all of the noises around us?
SPEAKER_00: Can you sit there and honestly say, I hear the Lord saying to me, A, B, C, don't go there, don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Please speak to that person, give to that person.
SPEAKER_00: Can we can we honestly say, I hear it clearly?
SPEAKER_00: And if the answer is no, that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we're here today.
SPEAKER_00: But we want to position ourselves so where we can hear the Father.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna take you back to the Old Testament and they'll put this up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: First Kings chapter 19, verse 11 and 12.
SPEAKER_00: And we are picking up in the historical account of Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: Now, uh, most of you know that Elijah was a great prophet who um who became intimidated and afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Now, he he went into a whose God is bigger battle.
SPEAKER_00: And uh he said that the God that is God will answer by fire.
SPEAKER_00: If you all remember this, and um the other the prophets of Baal were just, oh, come on, they danced and they prayed and they shouted and they cried, and God would not answer by fire.
SPEAKER_00: So Elijah took water and threw it on the altar.
SPEAKER_00: He he drenched it, and this is the middle of a drought, so he's taking something precious to prove that his God is the true living God, and he called on the name of the Lord, and fire licked up all that water.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the rest that people don't realize.
SPEAKER_00: Then he killed all those prophets, and then a woman, one woman said, You killed them, and I'm gonna kill you.
SPEAKER_00: And that man picked up his hind apart and ran.
SPEAKER_00: He listened to the voice of one woman after he had killed and manifest the presence of God, and he listened to the voice of that woman and he ran.
SPEAKER_00: And he ran and he ran and he ran to a cave, and that's where we're picking up.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and this is the message uh paraphrase, and it says, Then he, Elijah, was told, Go stand on the mountain at attention, fiercely focused.
SPEAKER_00: That's uh Bishop Davis added before God.
SPEAKER_00: God will pass by a hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn't found in the wind.
SPEAKER_00: And then an earthquake came, but God wasn't found in the earthquake, and then a fire came, but God wasn't found in the fire.
SPEAKER_00: Now they should have the scripture up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read it together.
SPEAKER_00: God wasn't found in the fire, and I need you to pick up with me, but God and after the fire, a gentle and quiet whisper.
SPEAKER_00: We need to find a place of stillness so that we can hear God whisper into our ears.
SPEAKER_00: Married people, we call it pillow talk.
SPEAKER_00: That intimate place where he'll turn to you with funky breath and say, Babe.
SPEAKER_00: Can you get me some water?
SPEAKER_00: I love him.
SPEAKER_00: I make light of it.
SPEAKER_00: But God wants to have that intimate moment with you where he can whisper not sweet nothings, but he can whisper prophecy and he can whisper promises and he can whisper promotion that's coming your way and he can whisper provision that is on the onset of your life.
SPEAKER_00: But we're not able to differentiate his voice from the other voices that are bombarding us each day.
SPEAKER_00: Don't pick up your phone, just look down at it.
SPEAKER_00: When we are digitally distracted, we live in a generation that is overstimulated, emotionally exhausted, constantly connected, and quite frankly, spiritually drained.
SPEAKER_00: Drained.
SPEAKER_00: When we stay up for hours on end scrolling our phone, we don't realize it, but it is draining us.
SPEAKER_00: Anytime we feed on junk food day after day after day, our health begins to diminish.
SPEAKER_00: Quite a bit of what we scroll, what we see, it's junk food.
SPEAKER_00: A little bit of good in there, but it's junk food.
SPEAKER_00: And our spiritual health is beginning to diminish.
SPEAKER_00: We have to set the distractions to the side because whether we want to admit it or not, the bombardment of all of that noise begins to desensitize our spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And God can speak to us, and we won't hear it because we're too busy watching someone else talk about Lord knows what.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, Old Testament, because that's where I love to live.
SPEAKER_00: If we go to the Old Testament and we look at the historical account of Samuel and how he was resting in the temple, and he was just laying there and he heard God call him.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't even realize it was the Father.
SPEAKER_00: But it took a man of God to engage him and tell him, next time, go back and lay down and say, Yes, Lord, here I am.
SPEAKER_00: That is the type of community that we need.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be in community with people who can say, Hey, you're hearing God's voice.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to press into that.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to find out what it is that God has for you to do.
SPEAKER_00: Because quite frankly, somebody in Bangladesh may not be able to speak into your life.
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna believe every little bit that you put online, too.
SPEAKER_00: So their wisdom will be wisdom from the natural, whereas the wisdom of God sees all things, knows all things, and can direct you through all things.
SPEAKER_00: But we aren't gonna find that in the digital realm.
SPEAKER_00: We find that in the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Digital distraction can be dangerous.
SPEAKER_00: It can make it hard to know God.
SPEAKER_00: It can make it hard to really understand who you are, it can make it hard to clearly hear what God is telling you because of the noise.
SPEAKER_00: And even when you do, being so digitally distracted can desensitize your heart to actually act on what it is that God is telling you to do.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not gonna leave you there.
SPEAKER_00: There are solutions, and I'm not gonna sit here and say, put up all your cell phones, put them on the altar, stomp on them.
SPEAKER_00: I am not saying that you need to be abstinent.
SPEAKER_00: No, we need to flee fornication, but you are not gonna be able to flee your cell phone.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a run.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not asking you to run.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm asking you to do is do things in moderation.
SPEAKER_00: That is one of the first solutions I would ask you to implement in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a quote here that says the problem is not social media or the digital arena, the problem is man's proclivity toward addictive behaviors.
SPEAKER_00: We are built to crave, we're built to crave God, but when something starts to tickle our fancy, we begin to crave it instead.
SPEAKER_00: So what we need to do is as soon as we see that we have to reach for something, we need to walk away from that thing for a period of time.
SPEAKER_00: And I know this is hard.
SPEAKER_00: You like, but I'd use my phone for work.
SPEAKER_00: I understand that when it's time to sit down and eat dinner, don't use your phone.
SPEAKER_00: Or I I use my phone to check the weather.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, check the weather the night before and get up and start your day in the word, or start your day in prayer, or start your day in worship, or start your day talking to your loved ones at home.
SPEAKER_00: There are ways to invest in moderation so that the cell phone or the streaming video on the TV at home does not run your life.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to run, we want to regulate.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we want to use moderation daily.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you a scripture.
SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians chapter 9, verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.
SPEAKER_00: Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
SPEAKER_00: This moderation will help us lock in to what God is saying so that we can hear clearly and that we're sense enough, sensitive enough to move on what it is that he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: So the first solution, the first step I'm asking you to do is regulate.
SPEAKER_00: Use moderation daily.
SPEAKER_00: The next step I'm asking you to do, and oh Lord, Pastor Rodney calls it a cuss word, is fast.
SPEAKER_00: Fast periodically.
SPEAKER_00: And if you are sitting there saying, I cannot fast my cell phone, I have too much.
SPEAKER_00: You are the very person that needs to fast.
SPEAKER_00: If you think that you are unable to do it, then that shows that there's an attachment to creation that should be attached to the creator.
SPEAKER_00: Fasting reveals where your attachments are.
SPEAKER_00: And fasting can refine you so that you shift back to the God of Israel, to the God of the universe, to your creator, to the one who loves you.
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say, because them jokers don't love you, but I didn't want you to slip back to what we used to say.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: They don't.
SPEAKER_00: I once had someone tell me, Well, Jesus is my rest.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, he is, you can rest in him while you sit Johind parts down at least one day a week and disconnect.
SPEAKER_00: Yesterday I turned off my phone.
SPEAKER_00: I turned it on this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I had 15 missed text messages.
SPEAKER_00: Salt and air is having a sale if you all like salt and air.
SPEAKER_00: And my Timu delivery made it last night and I didn't pick it up from the door.
SPEAKER_00: And Amazon, of course, let me know that my three packages are waiting for me at home.
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't need to know all that last night when I was spending time in the Word and spending time with my husband, and neither do you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you have children.
SPEAKER_00: I understand you need to keep your phone on because you have a child away at college or you have a loved one.
SPEAKER_00: I understand that.
SPEAKER_00: Get a special ring, but you have to take time away.
SPEAKER_00: Where it's just you, just quiet, no rings, no notifications.
SPEAKER_00: We are not the notification generation.
SPEAKER_00: We are a royal priesthood.
SPEAKER_00: We are purposed and called to serve God, not Apple, not Samsung, and not whatever bootleg pickup phone that you might have in your purse as your bat phone, your throwaway.
SPEAKER_00: We're not called to serve them.
SPEAKER_00: We weren't created for them.
SPEAKER_00: There's a quote that Bishop uh wanted us to cover today, and it says, We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, socially isolated, fast food laden, and sleep-deprived, frenzied pace of modern life.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, we were not.
SPEAKER_00: We were not.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the message paraphrasing, and it says, So here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: God helping you.
SPEAKER_00: Take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going to work, and working and walking around life and place it before God as an offering.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about Sabbath, we're talking about fasting, we're talking about moderation.
SPEAKER_00: Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.
SPEAKER_00: Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, fix your attention on God.
SPEAKER_00: You will be changed from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: Your focus will form you.
SPEAKER_00: What you behold, you will become.
SPEAKER_00: So let us behold Him.
SPEAKER_00: Let us set our eyes and affection on Him and not on the noise around us.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have just ever felt overwhelmed?
SPEAKER_00: Like it doesn't stop, it just keeps going.
SPEAKER_00: And when you wake up, it just keeps going and it keeps going and it keeps going.
SPEAKER_00: There's no break.
SPEAKER_00: I can't even breathe sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: And I know I'm not alone.
SPEAKER_00: But I have to turn down the thing that's pulling on me constantly.
SPEAKER_00: And that's social media, that's digital distraction.
SPEAKER_00: When I turned off my phone last night, I had so much peace.
SPEAKER_00: It was quiet, and I could hear God clearly say, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: Tell them I love them.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to hear their voice.
SPEAKER_00: I want them to hear my voice.
SPEAKER_00: The devil doesn't bring distraction just so that you're out there like Peter sinking in the water.
SPEAKER_00: He brings distraction so that you can't connect with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The wind was always there, the waves were always high.
SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't until Peter took his eyes off of Jesus that he began to sink.
SPEAKER_00: And can I say this?
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to close on this.
SPEAKER_00: The challenge may always be there.
SPEAKER_00: The attack, the persecution, the walk of faith.
SPEAKER_00: But when you keep your eyes on God, he is the make away out of no way kind of guy.
SPEAKER_00: He is the great I am, whatever you need.
SPEAKER_00: Provision is already there, kind of guy.
SPEAKER_00: He's the guy that knows the guy, that'll bring the guy that'll take care of the situation for you.
SPEAKER_00: That's who he is.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to have a conversation with chat to get revelation of what God has for our lives.
SPEAKER_00: We need to seek him.
SPEAKER_00: So we we walk away from the strange man and we walk away from the strange woman because they want to pull us away.
SPEAKER_00: And we let go of the grief and we let go of the depression and we let go of the loneliness and we let go of the offense because, again, they want to shift our attention and our affection to something that is other than the one that loves us.
SPEAKER_00: And now today, what I'm asking you to do is use moderation.
SPEAKER_00: Fast your digital life, even if it's just for a little bit, and then at least one day a week, pause and sit like Mary did at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: Listen for his voice like Samuel did when he laid in his bed.
SPEAKER_00: Ignore the voices of the people in the street.
SPEAKER_00: Don't fall short like Saul did, because God has amazing things for us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now I do have one additional question.
SPEAKER_00: As part of seeking God's face and pulling towards him and drawing close to him, there's a step that we all must take.
SPEAKER_00: Some have already taken that step, and some you may be considering it now, and that is accepting him into your life.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 10, it says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.
SPEAKER_00: And there's some people that believe that he's Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Even the devil knows that Jesus is Lord, and he knows it, but he's not saved because he doesn't confess him as his Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And then there's people you might run into on the street and you have them repeat after you and they say it, but they don't actually believe it.
SPEAKER_00: This is a two-part deal.
SPEAKER_00: You have to believe that he died for your sins.
SPEAKER_00: And you have to confess with your mouth, be my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if that is you and you would like to come into intimate relationship with the Father, I'm gonna ask everybody to close their eyes because this is no one's business but your own.
SPEAKER_00: There is a card in the pocket in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: There's a seat in front of you, and there's a card in the back pocket.
SPEAKER_00: And it says say yes to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to come into a relationship with God, an intimate relationship, I'm gonna ask you to pull that card and just hold it up for me.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna pray over you.
SPEAKER_00: Again, all eyes are closed.
SPEAKER_00: I just need you to reach for the card and hold it up and wave at me.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I see you.
SPEAKER_00: And so does God.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna say a very quick prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your time today.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for speaking into our lives today.
SPEAKER_00: And we say in our heart that we believe that your Son Jesus died for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: We confess him as Lord of our life.
SPEAKER_00: I add my faith to my dear sisters and brothers who raised that card and those who may not have raised it and should have.
SPEAKER_00: And I ask that you continue to speak a word in due season, to whisper in their ear in the middle of the night, to send laborers across their path.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_03: Did you just make a decision for Jesus?
SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the family.
SPEAKER_03: We're so excited.
SPEAKER_03: Trust me, we're clapping for you.
SPEAKER_03: And we believe that you've made an important decision today.
SPEAKER_03: We'd like to help you on your journey.
SPEAKER_03: So if you'll follow the directions that are on screen, there is a free book you can download.
SPEAKER_03: It's going to take you five to ten minutes of your day for the next seven days.
SPEAKER_03: But our pastors have put together some amazing resources that we believe will help you on the journey ahead.
SPEAKER_03: If you don't want it, nobody's going to email you, text you, bother you, anything like that.
SPEAKER_03: We just want to make sure you are successful in your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: Now, let me tell you, one of the things you should consider is baptism.
SPEAKER_03: And if you're in the Jacksonville area, we do baptism after our first weekend service every month.
SPEAKER_03: And you can just scan the QR code that's on the screen, sign up for that.
SPEAKER_03: I'd love to be a part of that journey with you, or any of our ministers would.
SPEAKER_03: If you don't live in town, we do believe you should find a Bible teaching church and at least go get baptized, even if you're still going to watch our service.
SPEAKER_03: But download that book, it's free.
SPEAKER_03: We're excited for your journey ahead, and we can't wait to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_03: Now, this is a part of the service where we also demonstrate our generosity.
SPEAKER_03: If you're just checking us out today, you don't feel any pressure to give.
SPEAKER_03: But for those of you, this is your church, you know that we are generous is one of our core values.
SPEAKER_03: And so you can give online or you can give through our app, which I really like.
SPEAKER_03: You have the Apple Pay option right on our app.
SPEAKER_03: Just go to your Google store or your Apple store, download the We Are Impact app.
SPEAKER_03: It's also a great way to study notes that come from the sermons that you watch on here.
SPEAKER_03: And there's a lot of events on there as well.
SPEAKER_03: But you can give through that app.
SPEAKER_03: It's super easy.
SPEAKER_03: And we're just grateful that you partner with us week after week.
SPEAKER_03: Well, we're so excited you joined us today.
SPEAKER_03: Hope you have an amazing weekend, and we'll see you next time.