WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:25.039 When I was 16, uh, I was driving our family car. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.480 It was a four-door Subaru. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:32.560 Um, not real cool, but got you from point A to point B. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:37.200 Not real fast either, which is a great thing for a 16-year-old driving. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.960 My older brother, who was in college at the time, he had what I thought was a much cooler car. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:44.399 Is it Nissan Datson? 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.640 Yeah, is the year that they kind of merged. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:53.359 Uh it was a 1981, um, like fire orange um hatchback. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.880 And in the 80s, for those who remember, Night Rider was really big. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.479 And so uh this thing, you'd open the door and it'd talk to you. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.479 I thought that was amazing, right? 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.359 And then it had this digital dash, and I was like, man, this is the coolest car. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:12.079 And it's probably cool just because my older brother drove it, to be honest, and I wanted to be like him. 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:24.000 And so, you know, there was this moment where he was in school in Arizona and I was up here, but that car, uh, though it was cool, it didn't have air conditioning, so it wasn't really all that cool inside. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:26.959 And he said, Hey, why don't we switch cars? 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:28.879 Because the Subaru had AC. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:30.000 I said, fantastic. 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.079 And I thought this was one of the coolest things. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:38.480 And so I remember the day he was home from break, he had driven the car up, and we're switching cars. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:47.280 Now, the only problem is the Subaru wasn't automatic, and the um the Nissan Datsun was a you know, manual, a stick shift. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.280 And I had never driven a stick before. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:02:01.120 And this is the interaction that we had, and this is the way brothers do it, uh, by the way, uh, is we're out there, I hand him the keys, and I'm like, oh hey man, I I don't know how to drive a stick. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:06.400 And he literally tosses me the keys, I catch them, and he says, it's easy. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.680 You just put your foot on the clutch down. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.479 For those who don't know, a stick, there's three pedals and not just two. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:22.240 Uh you put your foot on the clutch in, put it into gear, and then you just kinda go opposite like this. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.000 You're good. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:29.439 That was the extent of the training that I had in how to drive a stick shift. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:34.319 Now, today, if you have something that's a you know, today you just have little buttons, right? 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:39.919 But back then you had three pedals, you had, you know, a gearbox and a stick shift and all these sort of things. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:45.199 And so here I am spending months trying to learn how to drive a stick shift. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:46.400 And this is how it went for me. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.840 I remember getting it into gear, finally, getting it going, and then all of a sudden, you know, I try to get it out of, you know, into first and moving and go go go. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:56.639 And it completely shut down. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.599 Now, how embarrassing is that? 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:06.400 As a 16-year-old, these were the days obviously, then you could drive your friends around, and they uh stopped that for good reason as well. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:16.000 Uh, but I'm in the car with my friends or at the stoplight and trying to go and go and I mean completely stall out, cars honking behind you, frustrated. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.879 And then, like when you do shift, you ever done this before? 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:23.039 Those who've driven, how many, by the way, how many have driven a stick shift? 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:25.039 Fantastic. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.159 How many have an idea of even what I'm talking about? 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:29.439 Okay, all right. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:42.400 And and if you don't get the clutch all the way in, you do something called grinding the gears and you get it, and it's like and you're just like ruining the gears there. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:47.840 And so I I mean, I spent months trying to figure this out, broken, you know, stalled out. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:57.280 I finally realized um the way that I could get out of first, especially with friends in the car, was to gun it. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:59.199 And so that's what I did. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:10.960 And I, you know, I'd get at the stoplight and I just like gun the gas and pill out at every stop sign, every stoplight, and at 16, you can kind of act like you did that on purpose, you know? 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:12.639 And I'm like, yeah, look at this car. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.599 Woo! The reality is I couldn't do anything else. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:19.360 That was had no other option. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.360 Now, here's the reality. 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:28.399 Here's the reality is often here's how we feel in life is like we just got thrown the keys to life. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:42.639 And there's no instruction manual, there's no way, like, uh, hey, you go figure it out, and we're like trying to shift through life and figure things, and and you kind of have it, and you're like, and some of you feel stalled out in life, don't you? 00:04:43.199 --> 00:05:11.360 Like, like you're trying to get out of first gear, and especially after the last couple years, you just feel stalled out, or or maybe you're making some different shifts and there's decisions, and you just feel like that you're grinding the gears of life, where you're where you're just kind of like, oh man, or maybe the RPMs are so high, Silicon Valley, like you're just stuck in one gear, but you have to go faster and faster, and you just can't change it, or or you're just like going, like, okay, the only way I know to do this is to gun it. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:17.040 And we live in this space of trying to navigate life. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:30.480 And here's what I know to be true inside of all of us that there's this deep sense in our soul that knows and understands there's more to life than what we're currently experiencing. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.759 And the busyness, it can tend to crowd it out, can it? 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:44.959 And yet there is still that whisper of the soul that says there's more, you have purpose and meaning, that your life matters. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.519 How do you shift? 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:53.120 How do we shift to the more we're made for? 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.800 How do we stop grinding gears and maybe stalled out in life? 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:05.360 Here's the wonderful reality is that God didn't just toss us the keys and said figure it out in life. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:12.319 He he, in fact, went to great detail in his word to say, I I actually want to help you and coach you and come alongside. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:13.439 I want the very best. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:17.759 I want to help you live into all that I created you to be. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.240 And so I'm not just gonna talk, hey, good luck. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:20.959 No, no, no. 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:25.120 I'm gonna teach you and show you and help guide you. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:40.399 And what we're gonna do over the next several weeks, we're gonna spend the next five weeks in an ancient book uh called the book of Jonah, and really discover how do we live the life uh that we're created to, the more you were made for. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:45.360 And we're gonna be looking at this prophet that's really kind of an anti-hero, if you will. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:07:00.639 Um, he's the Bernstein bears of some of the, you know, prophets in the Old Testament, meaning, if like you remember the Bernstein bear, some of you, like uh it was the father bear that would always mess things up, and then you say, This young bear is what you ought not to do. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:01.199 Right? 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:08.560 When we look at the life of Jonah, he's that kind of character that we see what he's doing and the directions or the different things he's doing. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:21.600 And it's such a helpful picture, one, because I so often identify that, man, I'm leaning in that direction, and then realize, okay, there's actually a different direction to take. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:24.079 And so we're gonna be looking at that for the next several weeks. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:30.560 And to do that, I want to actually first kind of help give you a background to the entire book of Jonah since we're spending so much time in it. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.240 And so if you got your notes, open them up. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.519 Let me give you just a backdrop to this book. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:40.720 First, Jonah is the fifth of the book of twelve or the minor prophets. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:51.120 And and here's in the if you got your Bible in the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures, you flip to the end of the Old Testament, what you find is these books of prophecy. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:08:00.160 And you have Isaiah and Jeremiah, they're major prophets, and they're called major prophets just because they wrote long uh, you know, uh books, if you will. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:04.079 And then there's minor prophets, and they're called minor because they're just shorter. 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:07.519 And in fact, it was can all condensed in one book. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.360 It's called the Book of Twelve. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:15.839 And so you would have one scroll that had all 12 of these books, and that was Jonah is the fifth of that book. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:19.759 And it's unique among the prophetic books as it's primarily narrative. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:26.480 It's telling the story of Jonah and his call to prophesy to the city of Nineveh. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:34.080 And what's fascinating is Jonah is probably one of the most well-known stories in the Bible, but it's not really well known. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.000 It's Jonah and the help me out. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.480 Well, yeah, the two of you. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:42.080 Um, Jonah, it's not that known that well, Ryan. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:44.480 Jonah and uh help me out. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.080 Well, you're like, I heard it earlier, thank you very much. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:49.519 Right? 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:57.440 And some of you with veggie tails, you're like, that's the only context that you have for Jonah, and uh along that line. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.159 Now let's talk about who is this Jonah character? 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:01.440 He's Jonah the prophet. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:12.639 When you think of a prophet, a lot of times we think about foretelling the future, and certainly that was some of the work that prophets did, but primarily what a prophet did was they proclaim forth the word of God. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:21.519 They would proclaim forth the very words of God to the people of God in general, uh, to call them back to the heart of God and the ways of God. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.000 That is what a prophet did. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:29.120 And Jonah, his name was uh Dove, literally son of Amitai. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.440 He was from Gath Hepher and Galilee. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:33.919 Just note that it's real close to Nazareth. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.279 So he he lived in the region later on where Jesus grew up as well. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:46.320 He prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, who was a wicked and evil king. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:10:11.120 And we see some of his story in 2 Kings 14, where, you know, this is where we get a picture of Jonah, and like, hey, maybe there's some interesting parts about Jonah we want to keep our eye on, is he prophesied to this evil, wicked king in Israel that the borders were going to be extended, and they were, but he had no problem uh with that and even calling Israel to repentance through that. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:19.919 He's like very happy, hey, our borders are being extended, and it gave him a great life because he's giving this good news. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:37.120 Well, later on, uh a contemporary of his, Amos, said, Yes, the borders are gonna be extended, but because of your wickedness, because of the way you've treated people, because of the way you've been unjust to others, they're not gonna last and it's gonna actually come back upon you. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:46.879 And so Amos and Hosea were contemporaries of the prophet, and God specifically what we'll be looking at is Jonah's call to preach uh to Israel's archenemy, the Assyrians. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:48.799 We'll talk about them in just a second. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:54.320 Now, something unique about Jonah is how Jesus identified with Jonah. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:05.840 Now, Jesus quoted and spoke of four different prophets uh from these books uh in his earthly ministry, but there's only one prophet that he identified with, and that was Jonah. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:16.879 And what he did is he identified himself with Jonah's three-day sojourn in the belly of this great fish as a foreshadowing of his own death, burial, and resurrection. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:29.519 And let's be honest, as we start this conversation, isn't it part of the hookup or hang-up rather, of Jonah and the well, or Jonah and the fish is Jonah and the fish. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.960 You're like, come on, could that really happen? 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:45.759 In fact, some people are like, yeah, it's probably just, you know, uh allegory or you know, a made-up story with a point to just try to make this really good, meaningful point. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:52.320 Now, there's been several occasions where people actually have been swallowed by a fish and survived. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:54.399 That's a whole nother story for another day. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:09.440 But here's what's fascinating: Jesus, we're a group of people who gather around a resurrected savior who died, predicted his death, wrote and was buried, and then rose again from the grave. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:20.799 Okay, so so if Jesus rose from the grave, it's not too big or too big of a jump to think that Jonah could survive a couple days in a well by God's grace in that area. 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:30.159 And then the other side of it, just for me and when I read this book, is if Jesus took this as historical, I'm gonna take Jesus' word on it. 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:31.279 That's just my my thing. 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:42.159 I'm like, if you predicted your own death, burial, and resurrection, uh, and then actually did it, I'm gonna be pretty confident on whatever you said and go with what you said on that. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:44.240 So this is who Jonah is. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.399 Well, who are the Assyrians or the city of Nineveh who he's called to preach against? 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.399 Well, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, uh, the Assyrian Empire. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:13:01.759 This is an ancient superpower located uh on the east bank of the Tigris River, modern-day Iraq, about 550 miles east uh of Jerusalem. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:02.720 Now think about this. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:03.600 Imagine this. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:08.000 It had a hundred foot high walls, 50 feet thick. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:21.440 And when we think about that thickness, there were also homes and different things built in the city walls, so it wasn't just like straight uh, you know, uh stone 50 feet thick, but this huge and seven and a half miles long. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:30.799 I mean, just immense, about over 600 people, estimated scholars, of how many people were in the city and around the surrounding areas. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:36.399 This is an immense, huge, massive city in the ancient day. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:45.360 And unfortunately, the Assyrians were renowned, well known for their cruelty and brutality. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:53.039 In fact, one historian says it this way it is as gory and a blood-curdling a history as we know. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:14:07.679 Like the things that you watch, and I feel like today, and whatever kind of TV show, I feel like things have gotten especially gory and especially, you know, brutal, and this makes it look PG. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:13.519 In fact, let me just read just a little bit because this is gonna set the context for the entire book. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.360 One historian writes this records brag of live. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:19.919 Oh, sorry, this is gonna be gruesome. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:21.440 I just want to give you a warning. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:31.039 Records brag of live dismemberment, often leaving one hand attached so they could shake it before the person died. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:36.879 They made parades of heads, requiring friends of the deceased to carry them elevated on poles. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:42.480 They boasted of their practice of stretching live prisoners with ropes so they could be skinned alive. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:46.159 The human skins were then displayed on city walls and on poles. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:54.799 They commissioned pictures of their post-battle tortures where piles of heads, hands and feet and heads impaled on poles, eight heads to a stake, were displayed. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.159 They would burn young ones alive. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:05.440 This was their common practice, and they boasted, their kings wrote uh boasting about this. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:14.720 Those who survived the sack of their city were tied in long lines of enslavement and deported to the Assyrian cities to labor on building projects. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:22.879 Tens of thousands in hundreds of cities suffered this fate over the 250 years of the Assyrian reign of terror. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:28.639 This is the city Jonah was called to preach to. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:41.679 And what we do know is about 50 years later, after Jonah of Syria, then does conquer the northern kingdom and deport the city of Israel, and they accept this fate. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:46.480 Now, what is the purpose of Jonah for us? 00:15:47.039 --> 00:16:07.360 Well, one is it reveals an incredible thing that's woven from the very beginning of scriptures all the way to the end, and it reveals God's expanse of love and mercy for every single person on the planet, especially those we feel do not deserve mercy. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:19.759 And then when we see Jonah and his life and his response as the reluctant, as the rebellious, as the anti-hero prophet, it so often acts as a mirror for our lives. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:31.120 As we see it in the word, and we get to see ourselves and how we respond, and it's a clarion call for us to shift our lives onto God's purpose for this planet. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:36.799 So that's the history, that's the foundation, that's the background of the book of Jonah. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:38.559 Are you ready to dive in? 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.799 How do we, how do we shift to the more you're made for? 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:48.000 If you got your Bibles, would you open up to Jonah chapter one and we'll dive in and begin? 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.200 Jonah chapter one begins this way. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:55.840 The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amitai. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:02.000 Like God came up and said, I'm speaking to you, I have a call for you, I have something to say. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.160 And I think we get excited about that. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:15.920 In fact, we were talking with my small group and uh the other night, and they're saying, you know, we so want God to like reveal uh his will, like in just such clarity, wouldn't it be great? 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.359 But then this is what God says to Jonah. 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.519 Go to the great city of Nineveh. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:25.680 I'm sorry, come again. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.480 We just talked about what that city is. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:41.359 Go to that city, um, the arch enemies of Israel, Assyria, which borders the northern border of Israel, the ones who are constantly encroaching on our territory. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:43.359 You want me to go there? 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:45.200 Are you kidding me? 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:54.079 And then preach against it, or literally the text in Hebrew is just proclaim, it's just speak forth, it's just utter this. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:59.839 Because it's wickedness, wickedness has come up before me. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.319 And Jonah's going, like, no kidding. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.240 Are you yeah, thank you. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:09.119 About time, God, you caught up with where we're at on this. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:19.200 This is the call of God on Jonah, the prophet, and I think he responds exactly the way that we respond. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:34.559 When we when we experience God's clarity or God's word in an area that we particularly disagree with or dislike, and don't want to do. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:35.599 It says but. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:39.599 Generally never good, by the way, is the butts in scripture. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.839 Some of them are very good, but this one is not. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.880 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshus. 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.759 Tarshus is like exactly opposite. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.920 If uh Assyria, Nineveh is northeast, Tarshus is southwest. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:19:02.799 We don't really know exact identity, but somewhere in Spain, across the sea, and he's gone as far away as he possibly can. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:04.640 He heads for Tarshus. 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:08.720 He went down to Joppa where he found a ship uh bound for that port. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.319 And after paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshus to flee from the Lord. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.559 He's like, God's got a call in his life. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:26.079 He shows up, but he doesn't like the calling, he doesn't like the direction, he disagrees with God's direction in his life to go to a people that he hates and that hate him. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:27.359 And so what does he do? 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:32.000 He runs the opposite direction and says, Well, I don't want to do that. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:34.319 And so I'm not gonna do that. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:42.160 In fact, I'm gonna get as far away from there so that you can't make me do that. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:44.240 That didn't work out. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:52.480 No, I want to say something that's so obvious, but we have to say it. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:20:00.400 Something that we I think intuitively we know this, but we don't really live this. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.799 When we run from God, we shift away from the more we're made for. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:16.240 When you run from God, it's shifting that gear and it's shifting to a direction from the more you're made for. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:30.240 When you say, you know, I don't like that assignment, I don't like that call, I don't like that direction, I don't like the way you're telling me to do relationships, I don't like the way you're telling me about to go about my finances, I don't like the way you're calling me to engage and be uh at my workplace. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:38.640 When we shift away from God, here's what happens: we are shifting from the more you're made for. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.319 And you know this, you get this. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:51.200 Because if God made you, designed you, created you, in my men's morning group, we're talking about this in Ephesians 2, where it says that you are God's workmanship. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:21:05.839 The Greek there's poema, you're his masterpiece, his poem, designed with intention, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, like like he has just some incredible things for your life. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.640 And the calling isn't always what you want, the calling isn't always the way you think it should have been. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.720 The calling isn't like, oh man, oh, I'm just gonna live my best self. 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:16.559 He's like, No, I'm calling you to Nineveh. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.319 No good. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:22.720 I don't want that one. 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:31.759 See, anytime we run from God, we're shifting away from the more we're made for. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.559 You know, in the text it said that he went down to Joppa. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:35.359 You remember that? 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:39.519 And then something that didn't get translated, maybe some of your translation has this. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.960 When it says it went aboard the ship, you know what Hebrew word that is? 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:44.640 Down. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:50.400 And then in verse 5 again, do you know it says that he went down into the ship? 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:54.480 And the reason in the English they don't translate it is because it's kind of awkward. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:07.279 You don't go down and down, and but here's what the author and the writer is trying to Help us to say is that when you run away from God or when you shift from God, when you say that it's not neutral. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.680 And I think that's what some of us think is like, no, I'm just in neutral, it's not a big deal. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.000 I'm just gonna coast and it's not a big deal. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.119 He's saying, no, no, no. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.599 And you shift away, you're actually on a downward ascent. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:40.000 And it might seem like you know best in that season, best in that relationship, best, and we say, no, no, no, it's a downward ascent that's gonna create great harm on your life when you run from God. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:44.880 It's always a shift away from the more we've made for. 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.279 Just thinking about like how do how do we run? 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.960 How do we run from God? 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:53.680 I think it's in the areas where his will doesn't make sense. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:59.359 I think it's honestly most of the time, don't don't don't we have a better plan than God's? 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:11.680 I know you like created the universe and all that stuff, and um it seemed like you had some pretty good old testament plans, but I got a pretty good plan for my life. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.960 I got it from here. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:26.000 We run from him when we resist what God has clearly shown us or revealed to us in his word. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:37.200 We go, okay, there's much that when he said this is how life is to operate, how life's to work, who you're made, that he's been so clear on. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:41.039 And when we just go, no, I I just I pick and choose the parts that I like. 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:46.079 And I don't like this part, but I like that part, and it's when we run from God. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.279 When we run from God, we shift away from the more we're made for. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:52.640 Well, then how do we shift into the more we're made for? 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:56.799 Let me give you two things that God has shown us clearly. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:06.960 These are two fundamental shifts we need to make in our lives to live out the who God has made you to be and into uh the person he's created you to be. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:11.440 The first is simply this shift, the shift to God's heart for the world. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:19.599 God's heart for the world, to embrace his heart for the world and the way he sees the entire world around you. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.720 I I John 3.16 is probably one of the most famous verses in the entire world. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:31.119 And even if you don't go to church, uh you'd know this verse. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:38.160 And it says this for God so, help me out, loved the world. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:55.680 For God so loved, like the attitude, the intention, the disposition of the God of the universe is not that he's against you, out to get you, down on you, but loves you. 00:24:57.119 --> 00:24:58.640 And who does he love? 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:00.720 The world. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:19.920 Every single person on the planet, regardless of whether you agree with their politics or not, regardless of where they live, regardless of what they're doing, regardless of how they're living, he says, I love them with an everlasting, passionate, all-consuming love. 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.319 Whether they're Nineveh or Israelites, I love them. 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:26.559 I love them. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.000 That he gave his one and only son. 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:38.079 Isn't it a fascinating thing that God calls this prophet to Nineveh and he runs the opposite way? 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:45.680 And God sees the great heartache and pain of the world, and he sends his son right into the heart of it. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:49.039 Right into the heart for you and for me. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:59.680 That whoever believes puts the weight of their life on him, shall not, and will you say this word with me, perish? 00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:10.000 Like God's heart is that you would not perish, but have eternal life, or it's the eternal life now. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.160 Notice that it's present tense, have. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:22.160 It's the eternal kind of life of peace and joy and hope that begins now in the presence of Jesus, the spirit deposited inside you, and forevermore. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:27.039 And his heart's desire is I so love you, I so love you, I'm so for you. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:38.319 And there is a sickness of the soul that has separated you called sin from my presence, and there's a direction and intention that that pathway is destruction. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:41.759 And this is my heart for you. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:47.680 My heart is to keep you from harm and to bring you into my family. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.720 I love you. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:57.519 You know, I was wrestling this week of like, why didn't Jonah want to go to Nineveh? 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:06.880 And um, you know, I think my human kind of first reaction is like, well, Nineveh, and you heard who they are. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:08.640 It's like, you're gonna die. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:10.880 You know, you got a word like that, isn't it? 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:12.160 That ain't good. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:25.759 But at the end, chapter four, Jonah tells us, he says, I knew you're a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.880 He's quoting Deuteronomy, the very character and nature of God. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.920 Because he knew that you he's going to Nineveh to proclaim this news. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.680 What has he given them? 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.599 He's given them a warning. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:40.480 He's given them a heads up. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.039 You ever wonder why you give somebody a heads up? 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:48.559 Hey, heads up! I was playing golf the other day. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:49.519 Four. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:51.599 Look out. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.880 Why do you give somebody a heads up? 00:27:55.119 --> 00:28:06.240 Well, you give them a heads up and let them know that harm is coming, destruction's coming, a ball is flying through the air, and if you don't look up, you might get hit in the head with it. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:11.119 And so I'm gonna give you a warning, I'm gonna yell it out because I wanna keep you from harm. 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:13.599 Heads up. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.480 And Jonah says, I don't want to give them a heads up. 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:25.839 Because I'm afraid they'll listen and repent and they won't get what they deserve. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.279 Because I was thinking, like, okay, so who do I give a heads up? 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:30.880 Who do I say, look out? 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:32.480 Who do I let them know? 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:35.599 Man, don't go down that direction. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:40.960 Well, certainly people I love, and I was like, well, it's just people you love, and I start like, no, it's more than that. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.079 It's more than just people you love, it's people I like. 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:47.440 Like, well, no, it's even more than that. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.480 Man, you see a ball coming at a total stranger, what are you gonna say? 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:56.319 Heads up, watch out! Why? 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.839 Because you're just a good person, and that's what you should do. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:05.200 So, who are the people that you would not say heads up or look out to? 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:09.680 The people you hate. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:14.000 The people you want to get hurt. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:21.599 Now, chances are you don't have any Ninevite at your workplace. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:29.119 And these extremes sometimes cause us to miss out on the moment. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:41.359 You know, in Jesus' day, in the cultural customs of their day, when he said, Love your enemy, an enemy defined was simply one whom you would not have into your home. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.279 All of a sudden, it expands. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.720 And heads up, there's heartache coming. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:30:00.240 I don't think we do a good job at this because we live in the world of like you do you, and you you know what? 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.079 You're gonna get what you deserve. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.799 Like when we get God's heart for the world, he so loved that he gave, he sent. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:10.640 He's like, I don't want any harm. 00:30:10.799 --> 00:31:12.720 I so love the Ninevites, and I know what they're doing is so broken, but I'm gonna send you there to give them a heads up because I love you, God's heart, and we take this verse so personally, and it's wonderful, and that's absolutely true, but we have to expand it out to your neighbors, to your coworkers, to your classmates, to that person who posts that just annoys you online, to the person of the opposite political party, and where we begin to get God's heart that he has this everlasting, all-consuming love, and he sees that there's a direction and a path that you're headed, there's a process of the state of your heart that you perish, destruction, harm is coming, and we can't help but say we love you heads up. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:18.720 First fundamental shift is that we have to embrace God's heart for the world, he's clear on that. 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:23.599 Secondly, is then respond to God's calling on your life. 00:31:23.759 --> 00:31:26.559 If that is true, then what am I to do? 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:29.279 If that is true, then what am I to do? 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:31.119 God's calling on your life. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:33.599 And you're like, well, Ryan, I don't have a calling. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:35.200 Thank you very much. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:38.880 You're a pastor, you have a calling. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.200 In fact, you're paid to be good. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:42.640 I'm good for nothing. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:43.519 No, wait a second. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:44.640 That's not wind. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:47.599 Right? 00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:50.799 That's for prophets. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:54.559 Notice what Jesus said. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:58.720 Final words to his disciples, we know it as the Great Commission. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:06.079 And Jesus came to them and said, Therefore, all authority or all authority has been given to me. 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:13.039 By the way, real quick, all authority, that word authority means Jesus has the final say. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:23.680 Jesus gets to say, and be able to be the one who is like, hey, this is what is going to happen. 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:25.119 He's in charge. 00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:28.079 He has all power, all authority in heaven on earth. 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:29.279 It's been given to me. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:34.079 Then he says, This, therefore, in light of that reality, go. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:38.160 Not just pastors. 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:41.519 Us. 00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.519 Go and make disciples. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:47.759 Go and tell people heads up. 00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:54.720 Go and let them know that he loves them with an everlasting love and has done what we could not do. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:05.200 And you no longer have to work your way to God, but God has worked his way to you, and he's done and covered the cross and the pain and the punishment and invites you into the family of God. 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:06.559 Therefore, go. 00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:10.640 And then when we hear the go, we're like, well, is it Nineveh? 00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:13.759 550 miles away from home. 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.519 So one day I'll go do that, Ryan. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:18.720 Thank you very much. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.359 It's interesting the tense of that word in the Greek go is actually while you go. 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:25.519 While you go. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:31.839 Therefore, as you go about your day, make disciples. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:38.720 Therefore, as you're going to work, make disciples. 00:33:38.880 --> 00:34:05.519 Therefore, as you go to your school, therefore, as you go to your CrossFit, therefore, as you go, you know, to uh your spin class, as you go to the coffee shop, as you go wherever you go, as you go, that you embrace, you are a called one by God, separated out, immensely loved to share and express his love to a hurting and broken world, one in which he died for, he died for you, you experience his grace, and how could you not share that? 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:08.079 Friends, that is the more. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:10.559 That is the more. 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:16.960 In fact, the apostle Paul, when he was writing to Philemon, he said this. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:32.159 It's a short little book, it's a letter to this church leader, and he says, I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you'll have a full understanding of every good thing you have in Christ. 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:42.320 Like there's something about this that when we're active and sharing, when we begin to just share what God has done in our life, we experience the more we're made for. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:48.960 It sets your heart afire and you begin to experience him in unique and profound ways. 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.199 I think we run from that. 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:55.920 I think we're running from our calling. 00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:01.440 I think we're running from our calling in our day, the same reason maybe that Jonah ran. 00:35:01.760 --> 00:35:08.000 See, he he prophesied that Israel would be, you know, successful in this campaign and expand their borders. 00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:09.519 Well, you know what happened to him? 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:11.039 He's a hero. 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:15.440 The wealthy, the elite, the noble loved him. 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:17.519 He, I'm sure he got paid handsomely. 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:19.440 He had a very comfortable life. 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:26.559 Can you imagine what they would think of him if he went to their arch enemy and gave them a heads up? 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:29.760 He'd be hated, wouldn't he? 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:41.199 See, I think we get so concerned about what other people think, so concerned at what they might say, that we say nothing and we don't give anyone a heads up. 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:47.199 And you're like, Ryan, don't you know there's so many crazy Christians out there? 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:48.719 Don't you turn on the TV? 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:51.280 Like, people are gonna think I'm one of them. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:54.079 Crazy Christian. 00:35:56.559 --> 00:36:06.400 Well, yeah, if you don't start speaking up and showing Jesus and the light and what it really looks like to be a follower of Jesus. 00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.280 Friends, in this area, let's just be real. 00:36:09.519 --> 00:36:23.599 You at your workplace, at your campus, or wherever you're signing onto Zoom is probably the only follower of Jesus, the only light that they know, and they don't even know your light oftentimes. 00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:29.199 Where we begin to say, no, no, no, God's heart for the world. 00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:32.000 God, would you begin to knit my heart with your heart? 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:34.480 Would you begin to allow my heart to be with your heart? 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:37.679 May I begin to see others around me the way you see them. 00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:47.920 May I begin to have that heart desire that you love them, every single person that came across my path, and then you called me. 00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:50.480 Not somebody else. 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:52.159 Called you. 00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:54.239 Called you. 00:36:57.039 --> 00:36:58.480 You're his game plan. 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:03.119 Go and make disciples. 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:08.480 I want to give us just a very simple application. 00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:20.400 And if you would pull out your three by five card, I believe this is one of the most profound, powerful spiritual tools that you've ever held in your hand. 00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:24.480 Might be an overstatement, but here we go. 00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:39.599 I want to call our church to what I'm calling the three by five challenge, where you'd write down three people that's in your life, in your world, who do not know Jesus. 00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:43.519 And then pray for them every single day for five weeks. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:47.280 Remember when John, John, and Christy were here? 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:54.800 There are missionaries to Haiti, and Christina asked him, like, hey, do you have any kind of final word or word for a church? 00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:56.800 And he just said three words. 00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:58.239 Remember that? 00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:00.559 So simple, but he lives it out. 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:03.280 I've gotten to know him for the over the last decade. 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:04.079 He lives it out. 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:08.880 He said, prayer, care, share. 00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:11.360 It's as simple as that. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:15.760 Prayer, care, share. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:18.880 Say that with me. 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:23.039 Prayer, care, share. 00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:25.920 See we complicated. 00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:29.920 Would you write down three names? 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:33.519 At least and pray for them. 00:38:34.159 --> 00:38:40.239 Like, isn't it the least you could do, the least caring thing you could do is at least pray for somebody? 00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:44.960 Like, if you really long for them to know Jesus, like, like, can't we do that? 00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:47.199 And you're like, Ryan, I don't know three people. 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:49.519 I'm living the like little holy huddle of church. 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:54.239 I've been here, I don't know any non-Christians, so get a new hobby. 00:38:55.119 --> 00:38:57.920 Seriously, get a new hobby. 00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:00.880 Join the CrossFit crew. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:02.800 Spin cycle. 00:39:02.880 --> 00:39:04.400 Start going to a coffee shop. 00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:06.159 Get to know your barista. 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:11.519 But and you're like, okay, well, maybe there's one person who cuts your hair. 00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:19.840 Just imagine what God wants to do in and through you and use your life to be a light to those around you. 00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:22.559 Prayer, care, share. 00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:28.320 Would you, on the backside after you write this, then on would you write John 3.16? 00:39:29.519 --> 00:39:32.719 And then the prayer that I have underneath there. 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:37.360 And this is a prayer that we've prayed as a church often throughout the years. 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:40.639 But I want to invite you to pray this on the daily. 00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:48.320 Heavenly Father, would you give me an opportunity to share with someone in some way about you today? 00:39:48.559 --> 00:39:53.599 Heavenly Father, would you give me an opportunity to share with someone in some way? 00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:59.199 It's not like I'm sharing everything and I'm breaking out the Bible and going through all the scriptures. 00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:00.400 No, just some way. 00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:02.159 How can I encourage you? 00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:09.280 I've found if you ask somebody if you can pray for them, even in Silicon Valley, they don't say no. 00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:12.880 Everybody's pretty open to that. 00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:17.840 That's an incredible way to share in some way about Jesus today. 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:22.960 And it's amazing that when you pray for somebody, God changes and shifts your heart. 00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:28.960 And when you pray for an opportunity, God changes and shifts your lens and how you see those around you. 00:40:29.679 --> 00:40:41.440 When we begin to pray this, and we just begin to do the three by five challenge, and we begin to align our heart with God's heart, and we embrace that we have been called, you have been called by God. 00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:48.880 When I was a senior in high school, this became a reality. 00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:53.679 It was the summer before my senior year that God got a hold of my heart. 00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:59.679 Um in high school, I wasn't really walking with Jesus and was trying to, you know, just fit in. 00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:01.760 I mean, uh I just want to fit in. 00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:03.440 It was so intimidating, right? 00:41:03.599 --> 00:41:08.079 Um I wasn't popular, I just was trying to like hang out with anybody that would hang out with me. 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:13.039 And then over the summer, like like Jesus got a hold of my heart. 00:41:14.559 --> 00:41:24.079 And and there's something that happens, like when you encounter Jesus and he gets a hold of your heart, like it's like you're so excited, and you want everyone to experience what you just experienced. 00:41:24.159 --> 00:41:26.239 You're like, this is amazing. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:32.800 And so I was sitting in my US Gov class at the beginning of school, or football coach was teaching it. 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:38.559 It was dreadfully boring, and there's like we're sitting around tables, there's like five of us at a table. 00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:46.559 And so, like, I have this newfound passion and excitement and faith in Jesus, and I turned to Preston Caffrey. 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:50.000 Now, Preston was the most popular kid in our school. 00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:53.760 I mean, like, he knew everybody, everybody knew him, everybody wanted to be him. 00:41:53.920 --> 00:41:57.920 He was like, I mean, so cool, and I was so not. 00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:05.360 And I just turned to him and I said, Um, this is how sophisticated I was at 17. 00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:09.840 Um, has anybody told you about Jesus? 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.079 Now, mind you, the football coach is lecturing on about something, who knows? 00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:16.239 Has anybody told you about Jesus? 00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:19.199 And then Preston kind of looks at me and goes, No. 00:42:20.719 --> 00:42:23.360 And I ask, can I? 00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:25.920 Sure. 00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:34.719 And I gotta believe it was just simply because we were stuck in class and it was boring as all get out. 00:42:34.880 --> 00:42:35.760 And he's like, Yeah, why not? 00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:36.079 I don't know. 00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:39.119 This crazy kid sitting next to me, I've seen him around, and sure. 00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:41.760 And I just began to share how Jesus changed my life. 00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:43.280 That was as simple as that. 00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:46.079 At the end of class, you know what he said to me? 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:49.440 He's like, Could we talk more about this? 00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:51.840 I was like, Yeah. 00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:57.119 And he's like, Could I come over to your house and talk about this? 00:42:58.079 --> 00:42:58.719 Yeah? 00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:02.239 Could I invite some friends? 00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:04.400 Sure. 00:43:06.239 --> 00:43:15.360 And all of a sudden, a guy who doesn't know Jesus started a Bible study at my house to know Jesus. 00:43:17.599 --> 00:43:24.559 And I began on a three by five card, and I wrote down the names of every one of those guys. 00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:29.840 And I just began to pray for them every day. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:32.639 It just sat by my bedside table. 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:48.000 And I know this isn't the way it always ends up because sometimes we're praying for people for years and years and years, and eventually God shows up, but I gotta see every single person on my three by five card comes to know Jesus. 00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:54.960 Preston, was April 24th, 1999. 00:43:56.239 --> 00:43:58.079 It's tattooed on his arm. 00:43:58.639 --> 00:44:04.159 Years later, he'd get married on that day because it was so significant in his life. 00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:26.400 To this day, one of my dear friends, my wife from my 40th last year, had people share, send in videos to share who are significant in my life and pressons on there, thanking me for a moment that a 17-year-old kid just got out of sight of himself because Jesus had changed his life and couldn't help but share it in probably the worst way. 00:44:28.320 --> 00:44:30.000 And God honors that. 00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:33.760 Thank you. 00:44:34.719 --> 00:44:37.119 The entire course of his life. 00:44:39.119 --> 00:44:42.159 God, it's hard for the world. 00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:43.360 He loves. 00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:53.440 And where we would embrace that God's calling on our life is the people in your world to just simply begin to love them. 00:44:54.639 --> 00:44:55.519 That's the more. 00:45:00.079 --> 00:45:12.719 Oh, that we'd be that people and we'd get to share these stories together and get to see people 20 plus years later and their story of how God met them. 00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:17.760 Because you had the most powerful spiritual tool. 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:19.760 A three by five card. 00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:21.760 It's as simple as that. 00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:25.280 Jesus, thank you so much for our time. 00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:27.679 Thank you for your grace. 00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:35.760 Thank you for your incredible love that has extended and poured out to us. 00:45:37.519 --> 00:45:44.480 Thank you that you have called us to be a part of what you're doing on this planet. 00:45:45.199 --> 00:46:02.079 And Heavenly Father, I just ask right now, because I think there's names that are popping up into people's minds that they haven't even thought of or uh recognized for years, that they would write them down and they'd reach out, and your spirit's prompting would be uh there would just be a responding to that. 00:46:02.320 --> 00:46:15.440 God, that you would get our hearts beating with your heart, even a quickening of our spirit to lean into what you have as make us this kind of church for your name's sake, for the world's sake. 00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:16.960 In Jesus' name. 00:46:17.280 --> 00:46:17.920 Amen. 00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:21.280 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:25.920 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:46:26.079 --> 00:46:28.159 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:34.239 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.