WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.720 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:12.560 Hey, good morning, guys. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:13.759 Happy Mother's Day. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:16.320 It's good to see you guys. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.719 Hey, if it's your first time, my name is Christina. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:20.640 We're so glad you're here today. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.399 And it is Mother's Day. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.519 I am a mother, but this message is not just for the moms. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.760 So if you're not a mom, you don't have to feel like you're excluded from the message this morning. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:36.320 And I also do realize I this week was walking just through life with two close friends who are really struggling this week. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.240 One lost her mom a few years ago, and the other one is desperately wishing to be a mom. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.719 And so if you're kind of in a place that just doesn't feel, woo, moms, it's okay. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:45.600 We love you anyways. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.079 We're really glad you're with us this morning. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:53.039 Um, guys, two weeks ago, the Papulius family hit a milestone. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.920 The children went back to school. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.320 You guys are not very supportive. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:15.120 We're gonna try it again because what you don't know is that after 13 months in a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house, distance learning and working and zooming, and we you know we had to upgrade to like all the internet situation to like have four of us together. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.439 The children went back to school. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:19.439 Yeah. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:20.799 Thank you. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:26.959 Now you understand, and I have to tell you, since the children went back to school, it has been wonderful. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.799 It has been quiet, it has been peaceful. 00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:35.760 I will like tidy a room and it stays clean for hours. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.439 It's it's insane. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:38.959 It's absolutely amazing. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:46.000 But also, um, it's really quiet and it's really lonely at the same time. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:47.120 It's kind of both of those things. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:54.879 I actually, the first day when I dropped them off, I cried the whole way home, like huge tears, like that kind of crying situation. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:57.760 Um, because I just kind of I kind of miss them already. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:04.480 Like I miss knowing that my eight-year-old, like that she got the answer wrong and her teacher told her it was wrong, and then she's crying because she's so embarrassed in front of the class. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.920 Like, I'm so I'm so glad I got to like be a part of those situations. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:12.400 Or my 11-year-old doing his PE in his room that the whole house would shake, you know. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.960 But we're all we're like all doing PE or listening to the way he would like lead a little small group. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.599 I don't know if he was supposed to be the leader, but it happened. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:23.439 And just like hearing be like, that's a really nice answer, Sebastian. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.759 I think that was really, you know, I just I miss hearing that. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:38.960 I miss knowing which um YouTube video my 13-year-old's watching, you know, and who he's chatting with, because you know he was very central in the house so that my eyes were very aware of when he was in science and when he was, yeah, moms are nodding. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:39.280 Yeah. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:42.240 I I just I miss kind of knowing all of those things. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:51.520 And I missed delivering them the snacks when like the moods were getting low, when the Wi-Fi would like check out and we were having like some emotions, being like, okay, let's have some food now. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:58.080 You know, just I miss that, I missed the backyard being recessed central, like rollerblades and basketballs, a lot of fires. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.960 There was a lot of fire building going on early on in COVID, and then it was like obstacle courses. 00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:07.120 I just I missed that noise and that excitement and the celebration at the end of the day. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:09.280 That was a hard, it was a hard year. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:10.960 And for some of us, we're still in it, right? 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:18.240 It was a really hard year, and it was really hard balancing it all together, trying to be like mom, teacher, all the things and the responsibility all the time. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.719 But it was also a really, really sweet year. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:25.520 It was really sweet, and I really miss that day-to-dayness that we had together. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:32.479 Just that freedom to be together and know what was going on and know how they're feeling and being able to be there to take care for them. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:34.400 And now it's quiet. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:37.280 And even though when I pick them up, I ask them, How is your day? 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.080 Ask all the questions, because I'm like that. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.719 And they try to answer, but it's like there's six hours of their life every day I have no clue about now. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.360 And I just, I kind of, I kind of miss that. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.680 I imagine this is what it feels like for parents when their kids go off to college, right? 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:58.159 Like you kind of lose that day-to-day in and out, how you doing, what's going on, closeness with your kids. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.639 And then all of a sudden you're like, I don't know how they are. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.240 I don't know who who they're with, I don't know, I don't know what they're doing, are they okay? 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.919 That feeling is just kind of rough. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:12.879 And I think the reason why I feel this way is because the life of a parent, any parent, is just all about their kids. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:14.639 It's just, it's all about their kids. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:31.040 I think it doesn't matter if a mom grows a child inside of her for nine months, or if a mom grows the desire for a child inside her heart and she fills out paperwork and she does home studies and she does everything she can to adopt a child, our lives are just all about our kids. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:32.800 We walk through life with our children. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:47.040 It's like this beautiful front row seat to their first words and to their first steps, and to them learning how to tie their shoelaces, and then we get to watch them just develop their sense of humor and their personalities and their interests and their friendships. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.600 We just see it all unfold right in front of our eyes. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:51.199 We get to watch their hearts grow. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:02.639 And as parents, you know, we get to perceive and anticipate their needs and care for them and protect them, and and we desire to be their home, to be their safe place, to be their security. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:07.600 I've been thinking a lot about this the last two weeks, you know, as I've been missing my little ones. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:17.839 And I've been reflecting on like what my role as a mother is like and how that compares to my role as a daughter, as a daughter with Jesus. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:25.839 You know, as I do the day in and day out with my kids, I reflect on what it's like to do the day in and day out with Jesus. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:39.040 In the same way that parents walk through life with their kids, we're invited to walk through life with our heavenly parent, our perfect parent, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.399 Now, we've been in this series on Acts, as you guys know, we've been talking a lot about the Holy Spirit, but just a little recap of the Holy Spirit. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:47.839 What is the Holy Spirit, right? 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:54.319 I feel like we we know God the Father, we know Jesus the Son, but I want to talk a little bit about the Holy Spirit that we're invited to walk through life with. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:58.800 Remember when Jesus was about ready to ascend to heaven, he said to the disciples, just wait here, right? 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:04.879 Wait here until God the Father, He's gonna give you a gift, someone that will never leave you and never ever go away. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:17.600 In John 14, 26 and 27, it says, But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.759 And then again in Romans 8, 26 and 27, this is how Paul describes the Holy Spirit. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.319 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, helps us. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:34.720 We do not know what we ought to pray for sometimes, but the Spirit of God intercedes for us with world wordless groans. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:43.040 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:47.920 So God has given us his spirit to walk through life with. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:57.279 This definition of spirit, I have to be honest, this is the definition of a guide, a helper, a comforter, a teacher, an interceder. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.240 This sounds a lot like my role as a mom. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.399 That's what it really reminds me of. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:17.759 And it makes me think that as I mother my kiddos, I am being mothered by God the Father through the Spirit, walking with Jesus every day, just like Jody just said up here, their desire for their sweet little son, just to walk with Jesus all the days of their life. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.720 This life that's intertwined with the spirit. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:35.439 Walking daily with the one who knows our cries, the one who knows the sound of our laughter, who knows our fears and our hopes and our desires and our pains and our addictions and our struggles and our deepest needs. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:42.879 Walking daily through life with the one that knew us before we even knew ourselves, the one that knows every single hair on our heads. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:45.120 That's what it says in the book of Luke and in Matthew. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:47.040 That's how well he knows us. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.240 The way a parent walks through life with a child. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:08:03.199 And today I just want to share just a couple observations, just like four thoughts that I have on the similarities between how I get to walk with my little ones through life, and then how I get to walk through life with Jesus. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:05.759 So the first similarity would be this. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:15.199 As I deeply know my kids, as I know so much about them, I know that I am deeply known by God. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:16.720 I am deeply known. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:23.759 For those of us in the house who are parents, one thing you learn early on with your newborns is which cry is the cry of your baby, right? 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.519 You can like be in a nursery and hear all the screams and you know which one is yours. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:32.000 And then after a few really painful weeks, maybe months, you learn what the cries mean. 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.799 Like you know when they like when they're really hungry or when they're just fussy, or you know, you start to learn their cries. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:42.960 And then as soon as this little bundle of joy starts to laugh, the sound of their laughter, it's just like marked in your mind, right? 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.279 You know the sound of their laughter. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:50.559 Um, on the par at the park or the schoolyard or anywhere, I you can spark your kids. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:55.200 Parents know which kid is theirs, and not just because of their clothes, but the way they walk, the way they interact. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:56.799 You know your kids. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:59.200 I can spot my daughter on the dance stage real quick. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:01.039 I know exactly which one is hers. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:06.639 When I go to back to school night and you walk through their classrooms, I can I can find my kids' handwriting on the wall, right? 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.200 I know which handwriting is theirs, which picture is theirs. 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.279 I know them that well. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.559 I know what makes them laugh, I know what makes them cry. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:20.240 I know how, well, I try to know how which ones need different things for discipline or communication, right? 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:21.120 I know them. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.159 Moms know their kids, and we also kind of know what they're doing. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:24.639 Amen? 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:26.480 Yeah, we got eyes in the back of our heads. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:28.000 It's actually a thing, right? 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.399 When they're little, you know when they're quiet too long. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.799 And when they're big, you know when they're quiet too long. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:33.279 Mm-hmm. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:33.919 We know. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:39.039 A parent of a little one knows exactly the last time they had a feeding or a bottle, the last diaper change. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:40.399 It doesn't change much as they get older. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.200 It's just more like how much milk is in the fridge, how much cereal's in the cupboard, right? 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.519 These are the things we just know in our minds. 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:50.240 Um, from my kiddos' birthmarks to their forming personalities. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.200 I just love getting to learn and know more about them. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:54.639 I just absolutely love it. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:57.840 And in the same way, the Lord knows us, right? 00:09:58.000 --> 00:09:58.720 The Lord knows us. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.240 If you have your Bible, I want you to just turn to Psalm 139. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:04.240 If you have a phone, you can peek at it too. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:05.679 I'm gonna read this to you guys. 00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:10.559 I love this scripture written by David of how the Lord knows him. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:16.240 And he says this you have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.840 You know when I sit and you know when I rise. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:22.399 You perceive my thoughts from afar. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.600 You discern my going out and my lying down. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.399 You are familiar with all of my ways. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:33.679 Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, you know it completely. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:39.360 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.919 Such knowledge is it's too wonderful for me, it's too lofty for me to attain. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.159 Where can I go from your spirit? 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.080 Where can I flee from your presence? 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:50.080 If I go to the heavens, you're there. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.200 If I make my bed in the depths, you're there. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:00.879 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, your hand will guide me. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.440 Your right hand will hold me fast. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.440 If I say, Well, surely the darkness will hide me in the light, it will become night around me. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.720 Even the darkness will not be dark to you. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:17.279 The night will shine like the day, for darkness is light to you. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:27.600 For you, you created my inmost being, and you knit me together in my mother's womb, and I praise you because I'm fearfully and I'm wonderfully made. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:41.679 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, and when I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body, and all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them can be. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:43.519 Lord, you know me. 00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:44.879 He knows everything. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.799 And friends, I think I think we can respond in several different ways to this. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:52.639 Two ways I want to talk about is that I think first we can find comfort in that. 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:56.559 We can find comfort in knowing that we're truly known. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.159 Like the mysteries of our own hearts. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:11:59.679 Sometimes we can't even figure ourselves out. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:00.159 Am I right? 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:01.120 Like, why am I doing this? 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:01.840 Why am I acting like this? 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:02.639 Why do I feel like this? 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:03.279 What's going on? 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:04.320 The Lord knows. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.519 He knows. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:09.279 And yet he still loves us and he still chooses us. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.320 In verse 17 and 18, he responds this way. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:20.159 He says, So now that you know, and he's claimed all these things that the Lord knows, he says, so how precious to me are your thoughts, God? 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:22.559 How vast is the sum of them? 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:26.159 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:29.679 When I awake, I am still with you. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.279 There's that comfort in that. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:32.720 When I awake, I'm still with you. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.519 I am comforted by this knowledge that the Lord knows me. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:41.120 And then secondly, I think we can respond with being extremely humbled. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:42.159 Right? 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:53.360 To know that we can't hide, that our thoughts aren't known, our words are known, our bodies are known, that this there's this beautiful intention that the Lord created us for purpose, and it is known. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.600 And our response to that, is it humbling? 00:12:58.080 --> 00:12:59.039 Does David hide? 00:12:59.279 --> 00:12:59.919 Let's read. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:03.679 He says in verse 23, So search me, God. 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:07.679 So search me, God, and know my heart. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.320 Test me and know my anxious thoughts. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:16.399 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:18.000 He says, You know me. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:18.879 So search me. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:20.159 Lead me, God. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.559 Lead me, walk with me. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:27.120 The one who deeply knows us wants to walk with us. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:29.279 Friends, we're deeply known. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:30.879 Deeply known. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:37.200 My second observation is that as I strive, hear me here. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:46.080 As I strive and try and rely on Jesus to be a good listener to my children, God is a good listener to me. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.080 And I am fully heard. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.399 I am fully heard. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.399 I love how young kids kind of cry out with no inhibitions to their parents, right? 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:55.919 From the time they're newborns. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.879 If they're hungry, I don't care if it's 2 a.m., there's no scream. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:00.960 And they're gonna scream until you take care of it, right? 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.120 And when your toddler needs help in the bathroom with the toilet situation, they're just gonna yell. 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.360 They're gonna yell really loud, right? 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.000 No inhibitions that they need help with their shoelaces. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.360 Mom, I need help with my homework. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:12.320 Mom, mom, mom. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:15.120 Any moms in the house get tired of hearing their own name? 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.320 Yeah, I'm with you. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:16.639 Yeah. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.159 Sometimes I'm like, it just no, just I'm just no, I'm that's not me anymore. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:21.279 I'm changing my name, right? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.679 It's kind of a lot to be needed all the time. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.519 But here's what I do know. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.440 As a mother, I do want to know the needs of my children. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:31.279 I want to know the needs of my children. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.720 Yes, I want them to be independent. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:39.519 I want them to grow to be self-sufficient, but in the meantime, I don't want them to carry a weight that's not theirs to carry, right? 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:43.679 I don't want them to try to combat life with something that they're not skilled to do yet. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:45.519 I need to know, I want to know. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.159 I want to help them face the battles and the hardships. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:54.000 Like I love it when my little one kindly says to me, kindly, Mom, can you help with my bed? 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.080 It's just too messy and I can't do it. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:56.480 Right? 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:00.080 You hear that desperation of like, it's too much for me, I just can't, you know? 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:01.360 I want to help with that. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.960 Or when my 11-year-old asked me to help with his math, dude, I love helping with math. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:06.399 It's one of my favorite things to do. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:12.080 Or even this last week, my 13-year-old said, and I loved it, he said this with like a sweet boldness, like, hey mom, I'm gonna need your help. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:12.879 I gotta write a speech. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:14.080 Got time for that? 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.000 It's like, yeah, right? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:19.200 I love how children know where to go to get their help. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.399 With a boldness and an awareness of that. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.559 I love to listen also to my children talk, right? 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.320 I love to listen to their thoughts. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.240 I want them to be fully heard by me. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.200 I love hearing about their relationships and their feelings. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.600 And as they get bigger, it gets more interesting. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:39.279 And I want to listen and I want to know what they're thinking about things. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:41.840 I don't always want to know about this at bedtime. 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:46.159 That's not, that's not really the time I want to know, but that's usually when they want to talk. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:52.960 But friends, that desire to care for their needs, to know where they need me, that desire to listen to them, that's not me. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.759 That comes directly from the heart of God, right? 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.399 And we have that same access to God. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:02.720 And here's the thing that I love: He does not grow weary of us calling him. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:07.120 He does not get tired of us calling his name the way I'm like, nope, I'm not mom anymore. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:08.559 Go find your father, right? 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.159 God doesn't do that. 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:12.320 He likes us when we cry out to him. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:18.080 I remember um growing up, I had just the great joy to grow up in a family where my parents really loved Jesus. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:26.799 And I remember growing up, there was times that my mom, just as she was going about her day, no cooking or doing whatever, that I would just hear her kind of call on the name of the Lord. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.559 She'd just say, Oh, Lord Jesus, kind of under her breath. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:35.200 And I didn't know what she was saying, I don't know what the prayer was, but I knew that was something she did. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.279 And you guys, I did the exact same thing this week. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:38.559 I didn't realize I was doing it. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.919 I was in the car, and I just said, Oh, Lord Jesus. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.240 And my 11-year-old said, What's what's that, mom? 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:46.240 He's a very intuitive little guy. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:47.200 What are you writing about? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.840 And I said, Oh, you know, my heart's just really heavy, and I just needed some comfort. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:53.759 I just needed some comfort. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.159 Friends, that's the access we have to God. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:58.879 That's the access that we have day to day. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.039 Lamentations three. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.799 And then verse 55 through 57, Jeremiah says this. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:09.680 He says, I called on your name from the depths of the pit. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:11.279 You heard my plea. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.480 Do not close your ears to my cry for relief. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:14.960 Right? 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:15.599 That's the plea. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:18.000 Saying, Lord, don't close your ears to me. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:19.680 Listen to me. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:25.920 And you came near to me when I called you, and you said, Do not fear. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:31.200 That's God's response when we're in the pit and we're like, God, help. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:33.119 He says, Do not fear. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:35.519 I love the worship song that we sing, you guys. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:39.519 Um, you remember the words that go, I called you answered. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:40.559 You know this one? 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.279 And you came to my rescue and I. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.599 The words are, I want to be where you are. 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:46.799 I want to be with you. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.839 When I call to me to you, you're there with me. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.440 We are fully heard and completely comforted. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.720 Isaiah 66 says it this way in verse 13. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.319 It says, As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:07.680 As we walk daily with Jesus, we can be confident that God hears us. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:15.200 When we cry out to Him for help, for comfort, anytime we need to talk to Him, friends, even if we just cry out in boredom, right? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:17.839 God doesn't just want to hear from us when we're a wreck. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.359 Even if we just, hey God, I'm just here. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.200 He wants to hear us, and we know that we are fully heard. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.920 So as I walk daily with Jesus, I know I'm deeply known. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.559 I know I'm fully heard, and I know I'm entirely treasured. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.039 I'm entirely treasured. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.799 I remember the moment with each of my kids that I found out I was expecting. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:51.039 This might be TMI, but I just remember that moment when I knew, oh my gosh, there's a baby coming. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.720 And then quickly the nausea sets in and it doesn't feel quite as fun. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:00.000 But there's something in the moment, that joy, that anticipation, that gift. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.279 And I remember the first time holding each of my kids and looking at this little stranger. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.400 And they're kind of ugly the first time you look at them, let's be honest. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:13.599 But you look at this little stranger and you're like, I just love you because you're mine. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.240 Like, there's no other reason that I love you and know you. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:17.359 You're just mine. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.599 My children, they're a treasure and they're a gift, and they're the joy. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.039 They're just the joy of life. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.920 I remember when my husband Steve and I brought home our firstborn. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.839 Um, his name is James, he's 13 now. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.599 But y'all, we couldn't stop staring at him. 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:36.880 His bassinet was at the foot of our bed, and I remember laying on our stomachs on the bed, just looking at him, just like just watching, watching him sleep. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:41.519 He would like do a deep breath, and we'd be like, oh, that was so we were just we just loved him. 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.400 I know it's kind of strange. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:43.680 We did that with all of our kids. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.240 And even now, I love to look at my kids when they sleep. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:47.759 It sounds a little stalkery. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:48.240 It's not. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.160 It's yeah, it they're peaceful when they sleep, they're quiet and calm. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.319 It's a wonderful time to pray over them. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:55.759 But I just adore them. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:02.000 I think you hear often from parents of like little kids, they're so stinking and exhausted by the end of the day, like bedtime cannot come soon enough. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.279 But then, do you know what we do? 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.680 And I have older kids, but younger kids parents used too. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.400 They get their phones out and they look at all the pictures they took all day with their kids, right? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.319 Like the second they're in bed, then you miss them. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.680 Like, our children are such, such a joy to us. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:19.039 And I think if this is how I feel about my kids, gosh, guys, how does God feel about us? 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:19.759 Right? 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.599 How does he feel about us? 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:30.160 In Isaiah 49, verse 14, it says, But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me, right? 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.119 This is an accusation. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.839 The Lord has forsaken me, He's left me. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.720 And then the response is this in verse 15. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:43.200 Can a mother forget the baby at her chest and have no compassion on the child that she has born? 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:47.279 Though she may forget, I will not forget you. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.079 See, I have engraved you in the palms of my hands. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.880 The words of God, I will not forget you. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.839 I've engraved you in the palms of my hands. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:00.880 You are my treasure, you're my treasured possession. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:08.720 It says in a few different places, Joshua, Deuteronomy, and Hebrews, the words of God saying, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:11.839 Because we are his greatest treasure, church. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:13.759 We are his greatest treasure. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:16.079 And he went to an extreme for us. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.319 As I walk through life with Jesus, I know I'm his I'm his treasure. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.079 I know I'm heard by him. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:23.599 I know I'm known by him. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.839 And then lastly, I know I'm fiercely loved by him. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:30.079 I am fiercely loved. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.519 Jeremiah 31:3 says, I have loved you with an everlasting love. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:40.079 I have drawn you in with an unfailing kindness. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:22:01.519 And Romans 8 38 and 39, one of my favorite verses of all time, it says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, no powers can ever separate you from the love of Christ, which is In Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:08.640 Guys, these verses tell us that the love of God is everlasting, unfailing, never-ending, and inseparable. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:18.880 And my understanding of this selfless, fierce, and sacrificial love of God, it drastically changed when I had my first kid. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:25.119 Like I thought I got it and I did get it, but I understood it in a whole new way when I had my first kid. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:28.400 I remember my husband and I have been married almost 17 years. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:32.240 And one time when we were newlyweds, we were having this conversation with some other newlyweds. 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.720 We didn't have kids yet, like a little hypothetical conversation. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:41.279 And the question was: if you had to choose between your spouse or your child, you could only choose one of their lives, who would you choose? 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:42.880 I mean, why do we even talk about these things? 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.880 I know a mom in the front's like, no, this is not okay. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.960 I don't know why we were talking about we didn't have kids yet, so like we didn't even know what we were talking about. 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:50.000 But we all were in unison. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:51.599 Like, of course we'd choose our spouse. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:53.599 Like, spouse, like that's the right answer, right? 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:54.880 You're supposed to choose your spouse. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.000 Well, I can tell you this. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.400 The second I saw my firstborn son, I knew Steve was toast. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:03.839 Like, just sorry, sorry. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.920 And Steve, the same for you, right? 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:06.559 Absolutely. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:06.960 Yeah. 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.839 He would, like, I'm gone in an instant, right? 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.079 Because that's just the heart of a parent. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.160 You do anything to protect your kid. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.160 You do anything to protect your kid. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:21.279 When your baby is tiny, you stop sleeping, you stop eating, you stop using the bathroom, you stop brushing your teeth. 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:22.160 There's not showers. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.640 I mean, that's just like what you do right off the bat. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:29.119 You just quickly learn to lay down your life for your children. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:33.680 Last week I got a text from Rachel Divendorf, our amazing worship admin here. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:34.400 I adore her. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.000 And this is what the text said. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.240 I think I broke my toe, but the baby is fine. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.640 This is her from the ER. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:45.599 I'm like, okay, well, I'm prank, so I don't, yeah. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:50.480 Come to find out, she fell down the stairs with sweet little baby Silas in her arms. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:51.759 And what does she do? 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.440 Just goes into protective mode. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:55.440 She told me later, she goes, Oh, Silas didn't even cry. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:56.960 He didn't even know we fell down the stairs. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.839 But her big toe got, the bone got split in half. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:01.359 Right? 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:04.240 But would she have even like done it differently the next time? 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:05.039 Of course not. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:07.039 That's just the heart of a parent. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.000 See, as a mom, there's there's like this part of me that wants to protect my kids from everything, right? 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:14.799 Any earthly pain, any knowledge of evil. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.400 I don't want them to know like the horrors and the atrocities of our world. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:26.720 I want to protect them from the pain of sin, heartbreak, the consequences that come when you make choices outside of what God desires for us. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:31.599 I don't want them to stumble into addictions that they're gonna suffer with for the rest of their lives. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.519 I so badly want to share with them the wisdom, the guidance. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.599 I wanna help them see what's down the road, right? 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:38.640 They can only see this part. 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.440 I wanna be like, oh, but I see what's around that bend. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:43.440 I can see it, and I wanna warn you. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.440 I wanna help you avoid that. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:47.759 I don't want you to have that pain. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:52.079 I know I I can't actually walk through life with them like this and like this. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.680 I kind of want to, but I can't. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:55.359 I know I can't do that. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:00.319 But that's the fierce warrior type of love that parents have. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:02.559 That's the kind of love we have. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:11.119 I have watched moms dive into swimming pools at superhuman strength to pluck a child whose head was underwater, right? 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:22.960 I've seen them go to the extreme, and in the same way, I've seen friends as their kids get older, college, beyond, who go to the farthest extreme to protect their kids, right? 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:23.920 To help them. 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:30.079 When there's addiction or eating disorders, really messy relationships and damaging things. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.119 That fierce love shows up and it shows up strong. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:38.400 It's the parents that are praying and fasting and fighting for the hearts of their kids. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:40.319 Guys, this is fierce love. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.599 Who does that sound like? 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:43.279 That sounds like Jesus. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:44.720 Doesn't it? 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.359 That fierce love, that sacrificial love, this protective nature. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:50.880 Guys, that's not me. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.079 That comes from the heart of God. 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:53.519 I get that from my daddy. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:56.079 That is God's love. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.960 God wants to protect us from evil. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:01.839 He gives us the choice, but he wants to protect us. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.039 He's given us this book. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:04.559 He's like, hey, I can see. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:06.559 I can see what you can't see. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:08.000 Let me help you. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:08.400 Right? 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:15.680 And he goes to the greatest extreme to sacrifice his son, Jesus, for us. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:18.400 Because he knows the devastation of sin. 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:24.400 He knows what a ruined life can look like outside of the abundance that he can offer. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:29.359 And because of that, he's invited us to walk with him every day. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:31.200 Every day. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:36.319 As I daily walk with my kiddos, I also get to daily walk with Jesus. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.319 I know I'm deeply known. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.000 I know I'm fully heard. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:42.240 I know I'm entirely treasured. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:45.039 And I know that I am fiercely loved. 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:55.920 And as I reflect on this beautiful knowledge of God's heart towards me, I'm more and more aware of my own shortcomings and my need for Him. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:02.559 Because even though I know all these things, I don't get to offer the same thing to my kids. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:04.960 I'm not God, right? 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:08.400 Some days I'm just a really rotten mom. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:14.319 I hurt them because I'm broken and there's sin, and I need Jesus. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.440 We as parents all kind of do this. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:18.480 We need Jesus. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:22.079 And I think we're kind of a tired bunch, us parents, right now. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.640 And I also think those of us in the house that aren't parents, I think we're a tired bunch too. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:29.200 It's been a rough year plus. 00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:30.559 We're still in it. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:36.240 Some of us are coming out of it, but we are a tired people, and life is really hard right now. 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:46.240 I was chatting with some friends recently, and we're talking about this transition back to school for some of our kids and back to sports and masks and are we gonna get vaccines or are folks getting vaccines? 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:47.440 You know, all of this stuff. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:54.960 And the words that just keep coming up were like exhausted, tired, weary, discouraged, depressed. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:03.599 At one point in the conversation, someone even said, I don't know if I need to go on antidepressants or if I just need a really long nap, right? 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.880 Last service when I said that, everyone kind of laughed a little bit. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:09.359 And I was like, Yeah, because I think we kind of all feel that. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:11.440 It's like, what do I need? 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:16.559 We're just so weary people, and to me, that just points to the fact that we need Jesus. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:21.440 That this life is hard, and it's going to be hard. 00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:23.920 And we're not supposed to do it on our own. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:28.799 We're supposed to do it walking every single day with Jesus. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:30.880 I mentioned my kiddos went back to school. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:31.759 I don't know if you remember that. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:32.799 We all cheered together. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:35.039 Yeah, I'm coming back to that again. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:40.319 So on the second day, I asked my eight-year-old, Lenny, how is school today? 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:41.920 Did you hang out with your friends? 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:42.880 What did you eat for lunch? 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.079 You know, I'm being the annoying helicopter mother that I am, wanting to get all the answers. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:46.880 Thank you for the nod. 00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:47.519 I appreciate it. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:48.079 Yeah. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.920 And she's kind of quiet. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.000 And I was like, Oh, was it okay? 00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:53.279 And she's kind of quiet. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:55.119 I said, Well, were you lonely? 00:28:55.359 --> 00:29:00.480 She goes, Mom, I want to tell you, but I don't want to hurt your feelings. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.440 And I said, It's okay, you won't hurt my feelings. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:09.119 She said, Mommy, sometimes when I go to school, I don't even think of you at all all day. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:12.000 So cute. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:13.440 And you know what, guys? 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:15.759 I could not have been more delighted. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:17.680 I could not have been more delighted. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:19.519 I don't want her to need me all the time. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:21.039 I don't want her to want me all the time. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:24.319 I want her to have a beautiful life outside of me, right? 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:26.559 Because here's the painful truth about parenthood. 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.960 My kids aren't gonna always need me, right? 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:34.799 There is a time to grow them, there is a time to birth them, there's a time to feed them, there's a time they feed themselves. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:38.640 There's that day you drop them off and they don't turn around and wave anymore. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:41.279 And I know that someday they're gonna leave. 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:46.880 They're gonna get in their car and they're gonna go, and I don't get to be in the day-to-day of their lives anymore. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:52.000 But it's beautiful and it's painful and it's wonderful, and it's life. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:57.279 And this is where it actually is quite different with me and my kids and us and God. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:06.000 Here's where it's different because we do not outgrow or mature our need and our dependency on Jesus. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:07.680 We don't. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.559 God is not raising us up to be independent. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:13.680 We never outgrow that need for Him. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:19.359 The more mature we grow in our faith, we actually become more dependent on Him. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:22.799 I think sometimes we we get kind of confused about this. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:28.400 In our self-sufficiency and our independence, our worldly knowledge and our power. 00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:37.039 We stop walking closely with Jesus, and then his voice gets more faint, and we don't strain to listen anymore. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:41.680 And before we know it, we're walking a whole different path, going a whole different direction. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:47.759 Our helper's not there, we're not listening, we're not following, we're not pursuing, we're not hearing. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:31:03.359 And then we kind of change the rules for who it is we want to be, what our standard is for living this life in this world, and then we start to measure ourselves the wrong way, maybe by what we do, by what we produce, by how we contribute, by how we appear. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:08.880 See, independence from Christ is not a sign of spiritual maturity. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:13.519 Spiritual maturity, it's not found in our ability to not sin anymore. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:18.640 And spiritual maturity is not found in our knowledge of the scripture or our knowledge of theology. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:24.960 Spiritual maturity, it's not found in our ability to judge ourselves or judge others and their choices and lives. 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:32.480 And spiritual maturity, it's not even found in how we serve and give and lead and how we pray in our small group, right? 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:34.400 Those are all good things. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:39.680 They're all a sign of our maturity, but that's not where our spiritual maturity is found. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:47.920 Our spiritual maturity and our spiritual growth comes through our day-in and day out process of walking with Jesus. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.400 Just walking with Jesus. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:56.079 So, church, today, I want to call you to that. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:08.400 To simply walk with Jesus every day, all day, from the morning to the evening, even when you wake up in the night walking with Jesus. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:12.240 This is what the Christian life is. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:14.400 This is what it is. 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:24.240 We believe in God the Father, we believe in his work of Jesus Christ on the Son, we receive the forgiveness for our sins, and then we surrender our life every day, and we just walk with Jesus. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:28.319 I think sometimes we try to complicate things, we try to make it more than what it is. 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:34.880 Walking with Jesus is a day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment relationship. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:43.119 A relationship that we turn to in joy, in struggle, in boredom, in indifference, in frustration. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:46.559 A relationship that we just continue to turn to. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:50.640 See, our Heavenly Father doesn't just want us to come to Him when life's a wreck, right? 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:54.480 Walking with Jesus is not just crying out when we're desperate. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:58.640 It's not just pausing before a meal to pray or praying before bed at night. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:03.119 It's an interactive life back and forth every day. 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:08.000 I'm gonna invite the band to make their way forward as I just hit this last little bit here. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:12.799 But here's what I think it looks like this day-to-day walk with God. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:20.000 It's connection, it's communication, it's praying, it's listening, it's asking. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:24.000 When we walk with Jesus, it's like we have little touch points throughout the day. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.240 It makes me think back to my kid analogy, right? 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:33.839 Of when kids are little, when they're little, little, little, they'll uh kind of veer away from a parent a little bit, but not too far, and they kind of glance back. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:34.880 You guys know what I'm saying? 00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:36.160 They kind of keep their eyes on you. 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:37.440 They know where you are at all times. 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:42.240 And if you're trying to drop them out of daycare or the nursery or something, they're gonna scream, they're gonna know. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:47.519 And then as they get a little older, they'll they they go a little farther, but they they run back every few minutes. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:49.119 Just a little touch point, right? 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:50.720 Just touch point throughout the day. 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:59.039 It's like when your kid is, I don't know, out on the field or on the stage at school or something, and they see you and they do a wave like, hi, I'm here, I'm here. 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:03.200 It's just like a touch point, a little acknowledgement of a relationship. 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:11.039 It's like this last week when I got to my kids' baseball game, my 13-year-old, and I got there late, and I didn't know if he knew I was there. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:15.360 But you know, when they're 13, you don't want to stop at the dugout and be like, hi, mommy here, right? 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:17.840 So I just like quietly took my seat in the stand. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:20.480 See, see, I'm okay, I'm doing this right. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:25.599 And then when my kid got up to that, I didn't know if he knew I was there, and he turned to me and gave me the. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:34.239 It's like, yeah, he knew I was there, and he shot a glance at me, right? 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:35.360 It's a touch point. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:38.239 I think that's what it's like with Jesus. 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:47.280 It's maybe a cry for help, it's a request for insight, it's a plea for patience, it's this day in and day out conversation. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:52.400 Maybe it's when you wake up in the morning and your alarm goes off and you just can't even muster up the energy to go. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.119 Maybe it's like, Lord, I just need you right now. 00:34:55.360 --> 00:35:02.400 Maybe it's that point in the day when you're just feeling the frustration rise, and it's just like, Lord, what's going on in me? 00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:04.000 Search my heart, God. 00:35:04.239 --> 00:35:10.400 You know, I feel like for me, sometimes I'll be going about the day, the part of life, and I all of a sudden realize like, I don't have a joy. 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:11.599 Where did my joy go? 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:13.760 Like I'm something doesn't feel right. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:17.519 It's just that pause and being like, hey, God, something's not feeling right in my spirit. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:18.400 What's going on, Lord? 00:35:18.559 --> 00:35:19.199 Did I say something? 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:20.480 Did something happen? 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:25.599 Just touch points with the Lord, just walking with Jesus, opening him up to speaking to us. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:30.400 Sometimes walking with Jesus is um like a stroll through a rose garden. 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:33.199 It's a walk through a beautiful national park, right? 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:42.079 Just like beautiful peaks and waterfalls, and there's breathtaking views every way around, and you're just like, wow, Lord, this is awesome. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.559 So glad I'm walking this with you. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:57.760 And sometimes walking with Jesus is like a walk in a really hot desert where there's just not shade, and it's just feeling all uphill, and there's just not water to be found, and you're just like, Lord, help me, right? 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:02.559 But it doesn't matter which path you're on, what matters is who is with you, right? 00:36:02.880 --> 00:36:04.559 It matters who is with you. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.840 Sometimes in parenting, I realize that I don't always know what's coming next. 00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:11.519 And I think it's a good thing in parenting, you don't always know what's coming next. 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:13.760 Because it can be really a challenge. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:15.599 I think in our faith it's the same thing. 00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:20.639 When you're newborn is screaming and you just don't know what to do, sometimes you just change the diaper. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:25.599 You just try a new pacifier, you just do the next thing. 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:27.199 That's what you do in parenting. 00:36:27.360 --> 00:36:31.920 You read another bedtime story, you say another prayer, you pack another lunch. 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:34.559 And sometimes in our faith with Jesus, it's the same. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:40.800 We don't see what's six miles ahead, we don't see what's around the curve, we don't see where the next water is coming. 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:43.840 We just take the next step with Jesus. 00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:46.159 Just take the next step. 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:50.079 Just keep walking, just keep going. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:53.679 Because it doesn't matter where we are, it matters who is with us. 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:56.320 And that, friends, is the Christian faith. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:59.599 And that is what Jesus is offering to us today. 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:03.199 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.480 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:10.960 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:17.039 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.