WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 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. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:20.000 Great to be with you. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:26.239 If we've not met, I'm Ryan and thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:32.960 This, I don't really have any place for this to fit, but um TikTok is banned. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:42.159 I just was curious what you're gonna do with all that extra time. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:43.759 I don't know. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:44.320 I don't know. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:45.600 Think about it. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:53.920 Um Friday, January 10th is known as Quitter's Day. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:58.399 The second Friday in January is called Quitter's Day. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:02.560 It's widely recognized as the day many people give up their New Year's resolutions. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:09.359 Studies show only about 8% of people actually achieve their New Year's resolution. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:17.359 The term Quitter's Day first originated and was popularized by Strava, that social network for athletes. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:32.719 Analyzed over 31.5 million uh global January activities, and they identified the second Friday in January as the day when motivation significantly declines. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:38.719 We're in a series called Cultivate, The Secret to Spiritual Growth. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:42.239 And we've been wrestling and talking about this question. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.519 How do you experience growth that truly lasts? 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:57.680 How do you experience growth that sustains and doesn't wane through the emotions and motivations that you feel? 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:07.840 You know, we long for it, we see it, but it feels like it can be fleeting or just beyond our grasp. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:11.039 Um, Jesus gave an incredible parable. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:20.400 A parable is just a story with a point or a purpose to it, and and Jesus gives this parable and he gives us the secret to spiritual growth. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:24.319 It's called the Parable of the Soils, and we've been working our way through this parable. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:33.199 And he he tells about a farmer that that has some seed and and he begins to scatter it, and he scatters it everywhere, generously, liberally. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.199 He says, The farmer represents God and who's generous and scatters it. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:41.439 And he says, the seed actually represents the word of God. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:48.960 And as he scatters it, it lands on four different types of soil, a path where the birds come and eat it. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.919 It doesn't have a chance to take root. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:03:01.039 Then it lands on rocky soil and it sprouts up quickly, but it can't survive the harsh sun and it withers and dies. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:07.599 It lands among the thorns and it grows, but it gets choked out, and then eventually it lands on good soil. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:19.439 Good soil, Jesus tells us it produces a harvest one single seed, 30, 60, or even a hundred times what was sown or planted. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:27.120 And here's the whole point, Jesus is saying, good seed plus good soil equals an exponential harvest. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:35.199 Good seed, and Jesus says you have good seed, you have the word of God, plus good soil equals an exponential harvest. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:36.479 Growth that lasts. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:37.599 Now the inverse is true. 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:42.000 It doesn't matter how good the seed is if the soil is bad. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.240 And so here's what we've been doing. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:48.800 Good soil doesn't happen by accident, it's cultivated. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:57.759 And so we're taking time, working our way through each of those soils, and how do we cultivate the soil of our heart? 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:07.280 Because our the soils, Jesus tells us, represents our hearts, the state of the condition of our heart, and our receptivity to God's word. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:10.400 How do we cultivate the soil of our heart? 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.840 And so today we're looking at the rocky soil. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.720 Would you go ahead and say the rocky soil with me? 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.160 If you got your Bibles, would you turn to Matthew 13, verse 20? 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:25.199 If you want to just follow along in your notes, it's in there as well. 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:34.480 Jesus explains the rocky soil this way: the seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.439 Say receive. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:37.600 Receives it with joy. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.160 But since they have no root, say no root. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:42.160 Yeah, you're with me this morning. 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:42.800 I love it. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.120 They last only a short time. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.759 When trouble or persecution comes, because of the word, they quickly fall away. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:51.120 Say fall away. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.560 Rocky ground, versus someone who hears the word, receives it with joy. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:03.839 But because there's no root, there's no depth, when hard times or persecution comes, they fall away. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:11.839 This last week I just came across Open Door International's uh research on the persecuted church. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:20.160 Um in 2024, they said 380 million Christians faced high levels of persecution internationally. 00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:24.240 One in five in Africa, two in five in the continent of Asia. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.839 200,000 were forced from their homes and into hiding. 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:33.839 7,600 churches were attacked, 4,500 were killed for their faith that we know of. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:45.759 The most dangerous place to be a Christian in the world, number one most hot place to be a Christian is North Korea, then Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:50.399 If you want to see the top 50, you can go and see their research there. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:55.920 Um America didn't make it on the list. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:59.120 Here's what's interesting, by the way. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:03.600 Um we talk, some of us do. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:08.240 Some of us we talk that Silicon Valley is so hard to be a Christian. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:15.600 And in some ways, I go like, yeah, I don't know that it is. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:19.920 You know where it's hard to be a Christian? 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:36.480 North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, where if you found out to be a follower of Christ, you will be imprisoned. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:38.399 Or worse. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:44.720 See, I the reality is actually in Silicon Valley, it is not hard to be a Christian. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.839 It's just uncomfortable at times, isn't it? 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:57.439 Today, as we're talking about the rocky soil, I want to talk about, okay, what is a shallow heart? 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:58.879 How do we identify it? 00:06:59.040 --> 00:06:59.920 What are the symptoms? 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:01.120 What causes it? 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.720 And then what do we do to cultivate a shallow heart? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.879 And this is personal to me. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:08.639 This is deeply personal. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:18.319 In July this last year, 2024, uh, it marks 20 years of full-time pastoral ministry for me. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:19.279 It was exciting. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:20.399 I'm like, yeah, thank you. 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:21.360 I appreciate that. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:22.399 Thank you. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:46.480 The thing that has grieved my heart more over the last 20 years are those that have come to Christ and have fallen away, have abandoned the one they once passionately so followed, whether it's friends that I grew up with, people in the church who once served and walked away or fell away. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:56.800 That word fall away means to abandon, to begin to have hostility towards. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:02.959 And so as we talk about this, let's begin to unpack what is a shallow heart. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.600 Now, when I think about rocky soil, the picture that comes to mind is a rock, right? 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:09.040 Anybody else? 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:11.120 Like, this is like the picture. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.560 I'm like, okay, so there's some rocks in the soil, and you gotta get them out. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:20.480 And that's what I think when Jesus tells this parable, and yet it's not that picture. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:27.040 Uh, in fact, it brings a very specific image to mind for the people who are listening to it. 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:36.240 Listen, the landscape of Palestine, many places had a shallow layer of topsoil with a limestone shelf just beneath the surface. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:41.600 Plants would sprout up quickly, yet the roots couldn't grow deeply to withstand the harsh summer sun. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:42.639 Now, listen to this. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:50.639 Farmers often, with the help of community, would spend time clearing the land, removing the rocky terrain underneath. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:57.360 If a farmer doesn't dig below the surface, the topsoil would have looked like good soil. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:05.039 And so we're talking about some stuff, friends, that for a lot of us, there's a shelf of limestone, and we got it just a minute. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:14.720 There's a shelf of limestone here that on the surface and to other people, it just looks like good soil, but our roots can't get deep and can't dig deep. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:18.960 It just gets stuck, and we, you know, if you get a shovel to it, it's just gonna stop. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:20.799 Oh, I hope I didn't break that. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.720 Anyways, um, it's just gonna stop. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:35.600 And you need more than a shovel to break through it, and by the way, you need something like this or even sharper where you're digging at it, and that's painful. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:38.240 That's hard. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:51.120 And I just want to give us a heads up that there's gonna be a little bit of convicting things as we go through here because it's breaking through the hard places, that shelf of limestone that we need. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:52.000 Okay? 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.919 Are you with me? 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.360 You ready? 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.200 All right, here we go. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.720 What is a shallow heart? 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:08.720 A shallow heart begins with passion for Jesus but avoids the deeper work of spiritual formation, clearing barriers, growing roots, building resilience. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:17.600 It thrives on enthusiasm, but falters under testing, abandoning the faith it once eagerly embraced. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.600 So, what are the symptoms? 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:20.320 How do I know? 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:28.080 How do I begin to discern, test, and to find out where are those shelf of limestone in my own heart? 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:32.080 Personal assessment, first uh uh symptom of a shallow heart. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.480 Jesus is my life coach, not king. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:42.799 I love the idea of Jesus as my savior and friend, but I resist surrendering every aspect of my life to his lordship. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.120 I tend to follow Jesus' advice when it aligns with my preferences. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.120 But when it requires sacrifice or change, I hold back. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:57.200 Symptoms of a shallow heart is when feelings fade, so does my faith. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:07.200 My faith thrives in emotional highs, an amazing worship set or a moving message, but struggles when life gets hard, routine or mundane. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:13.120 When I don't feel God's presence, I begin to doubt or drift. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:19.840 And for some, we live from one mountaintop experience to the next, one emotional high to the next. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.240 We we pursue it and run after it. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.559 And and what, friends, mountaintop experiences are wonderful. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:35.039 Our emotions are meaningful and they matter, and yet we cannot allow our emotions to be the engines of our lives. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:40.799 And so often life is lived between the mountaintops in the valley places, isn't it? 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:53.039 Um sometimes talk with people, this comes up, it's like, Ryan, you know, when I was a believer, um I used to feel his presence in ways and experience him. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:59.200 And now I'm just in a season where I can't experience, I'm not experiencing them in that way. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.120 And it's really the process, this is one of the processes of maturity. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.240 Babies go through this. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:08.000 It's called weaning, by the way. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:16.480 Babies go through this where you wean a baby off the mother's milk so that what the baby can grow into adulthood and eat food. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:21.519 It's actually very hard for the baby and traumatic at the beginning, but it's needed. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:28.080 Uh, my former, well, not former, he was my former boss, but my mentor, he's still my mentor, not my boss anymore. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.519 Um, Pastor, uh, he he said it this way. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:37.519 He's like, Ryan, when my kids were little, we used to throw a party every time they went on the potty. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:39.039 You know? 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:43.360 You just throw a party, you give them candy, you're like, whoa, this is amazing. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.759 Now that they're adults, we don't throw parties anymore. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:58.559 See, because there's some things where God used to show up and he would go and we'd experience him going, yay! And then now we're in that same season, we're like, God, what's going on? 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.799 He's like, No, no, no, I'm celebrating other things. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:06.799 There's maturing, there's other areas where I'm gonna show up and move in your life, but you're stuck back here. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.399 And let's just talk about that word doubt up there for a second. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:16.960 You know, doubt is part of faith, part of the process. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:22.159 Because you wrestle doesn't mean that you don't have faith. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:29.039 In fact, I remember growing up feeling like uh to question or to wrestle with things. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.679 I wasn't able to ask those questions. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.039 And then I went through a really difficult season of doubting. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.000 I was actually studying to be a pastor. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.039 I wasn't an emotional, it was an intellectual. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:55.120 Spent months and months wrestling, wondering all those big questions around God and Jesus, and is this really real? 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:04.320 I gotta tell you, if you're in that space of doubting, you are not in a bad place at all. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.559 You're in the process of God. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:09.360 Would you continue to wrestle with him? 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:20.720 Because here's my conviction, and here's what I found out is that I have a God that is big enough for any question that I bring and greater than any doubt that I have. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:26.320 When feelings fade, so does my faith. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:31.519 Another sign or symptom is Jesus exists to make me happy. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:38.320 I follow Jesus for what he can do for me, expecting him to make my life easy and comfortable. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:48.000 When my life includes struggles or difficulties, I feel let down by God or susceptibility to cultural trends. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:55.120 I often adopt cultural philosophies or values without asking, does this align with God's word? 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:59.679 Maybe the motivation behind it, I don't want to stand out. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:05.120 So I let cultural values dictate my choices rather than God's word. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:09.759 Another symptom is outsource spiritual nourishment. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:20.159 I rely heavily on spiritual leaders or podcasts, but lack the personal initiative to seek God and understand his word for myself. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.600 So I never get into this on my own, but you know what? 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:32.559 I come on a Sunday, I hear a sermon, or I, you know, I'm gonna podcast, or whoever you're following on social media. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:34.960 These are the signs of a rocky soil. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:35.759 What causes them? 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.159 Let me just give you a let me give you maybe the top four in our day today. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:44.799 I think the number one cause of rocky soil is consumer Christianity. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:58.399 Consumer Christianity reduces faith to a transaction, treating God, church, and the gospel as product designed to meet personal needs rather than a life-transforming relationship with Jesus. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:07.360 Priorities comfort over commitment, my preferences over God's purposes, myself over surrender. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.360 At its core, consumer Christianity asks, what's in it for me? 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:21.120 What came before consumer Christianity was what we call the prosperity gospel. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.360 It kind of undergirds this. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:34.559 The prosperity gospel is a false gospel declaring that God's primary purpose is to make you happy and to give you the good life, as defined by health, wealth, and American dream. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.480 It is a formalistic faith. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:42.399 If I give blank, if I do blank, then God will give me. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:55.039 I can't tell you how many have bought into a formalistic faith and have walked away because God didn't show up in the way they thought he was supposed to. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:06.240 And by the way, friends, God's primary purpose in your life is not to make you happy. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.400 It's to make you holy. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.279 If you are holy, you will be happy. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.480 If you are holy, you will be healthy. 00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:30.240 If you are holy, you will flourish because everything holy is in alignment with who God is, in alignment with his good character and the way he's designed the universe to function and to work. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:39.759 And so when we align ourselves and begin to become more like him, we actually are happier people. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.200 But his fundamental goal is not your happiness. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:49.200 He ain't against it, but he longs for you and I to be holy. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:54.240 Third, selective obedience. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.640 It's a pick and choose theology. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:12.319 Obeying God when it aligns with my personal preferences and desires, avoiding difficult teachings that challenges lifestyles or values, God's word as suggestive, not authoritative. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.279 You know, we talk about the great commission. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.160 Jesus gave the great commandment, love God, love one another, the great commission. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:25.599 The great commission was therefore, you know, go into all the world and make disciples. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:26.480 You know this? 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.559 Some of you are familiar with this. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:33.759 And he says, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.279 And then he says this next line. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:36.079 We missed this. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:42.400 We're like, make disciples, okay, and then this is how you do it: baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.359 This is identification into the family of God. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:46.480 I'm in. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:48.079 It's a public identification. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:52.160 I'm a follower of Jesus, and I want everyone to know it. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:19:00.960 When you are baptized into the family of God, often your family who was not Christians in that day would disown you. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:12.640 And then he says this, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.319 Everything. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.799 You know, we really like Jesus' teachings on love, don't we? 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.359 Like, they're awesome. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:29.279 Like, he's such a good guy. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:30.960 Love is so good. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:37.839 Until, until his definition of love conflicts with the way we want to really love. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:41.119 Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:42.400 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:43.759 That sounds fantastic. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:44.559 Really good. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.839 You know, the golden rule do unto others as they would have you do unto me. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:49.200 Yeah, that's really good. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:50.400 Oh, yeah, I love that. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:52.079 Love your neighbor, don't love that one. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:55.200 Love your enemy, I mean, don't love that one. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:57.200 Pray for those who persecute you? 00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:58.559 That's dumb. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:00.720 Right? 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:01.680 Why? 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.839 They're persecuting me. 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:07.119 I'm gonna pray against them, not for them. 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:08.240 Right? 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:15.920 Forgive as you've been forgiven? 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.160 I don't want to. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.759 Jesus says, He doesn't care. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.680 It's not about whether you want to or not. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:26.720 Are you forgiven? 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:28.559 Have you been forgiven by Jesus? 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:33.440 And those who recognize that they've been forgiven much, forgive much, Jesus says. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:38.319 And if you cannot forgive, you do not recognize how much you've been forgiven. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.559 That is the word of Jesus. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:48.480 And if we struggle to forgive, and I'm preaching to myself because I have an area that I've been struggling with, I keep taking back my forgiveness. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:59.599 When we struggle to forgive, we actually are struggling with understanding the forgiveness God has given us. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.920 And then finally, inconsistent spiritual practices. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:25.519 You know, it's amazing the persecuted church, North Korea, areas of the Middle East, Afghanistan, North Africa, Libya, Sudan, they don't, many of them don't have a complete Bible. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:32.079 And to keep an entire complete Bible is dangerous, and so they have portions of it. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:40.240 You know, maybe they have the book of Ephesians or a couple chapters of it, or the book of Philippians, or part of the gospel. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:42.240 And do you know what they do? 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.079 They memorize it. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.839 Not a verse, the book. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:22:03.680 There's a whole community because they can't gather together publicly and they do it in secret, but they'll pass the different parts of the Bible that they have and Share it and they'll memorize it, and once they got it, they'll pass it to somebody else. 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:10.400 Because if they're ever taken away or in prison, they want to have God's word because it's good feed. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:16.960 This I I know it's already convicting. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:17.599 I'm sorry. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:18.960 I'm just gonna go there. 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:20.720 I I had this thought this morning. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:21.519 I'm sorry. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:27.440 All across social media, across Instagram, all I saw was like the, you know, TikTok banned. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:28.240 You know what I mean? 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:29.519 It's like immediate. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:31.200 Everybody knows TikTok's banned. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:35.519 I just had wondered, like, if the Bible app was banned, how long it would take for us to notice? 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:41.920 We have more access, and yet we're more apathetic. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:48.240 Okay, Ryan, that's enough. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:49.279 Help me out. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:49.839 Gotcha. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:50.559 Gotcha. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:51.119 I'm with you. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.079 I'm with you. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:59.279 So, how do we cultivate the soil to deepen our roots? 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:01.279 Just want to give you three things. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.960 How do we cultivate the soil? 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:08.240 There's a breaking that needs to happen, friends. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:15.359 There's a part of this, I get the reason it feels that like, oh, that's convicting. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:23.680 Because there's the hard part where we're hitting it, and it's just needing to be broken through. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:30.240 We need to take the time to allow this to sink deeply for his word to penetrate. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.359 Okay, how do we cultivate? 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.200 First, embrace an internal perspective. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.599 We live with a temporal perspective. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:46.079 Life today is all that matters. 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.160 An internal perspective says this one, life is hard. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:58.559 Yes, life is beautiful, life is good, there's wonderful things about life, but life is hard too. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:04.400 Jesus said, in this life you'll have trouble. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:16.079 James, he'd say, consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:19.519 That word perseverance is the Greek word hypomento, to remain under. 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.599 It's like the idea of weightlifting, strength training, remaining under that weight. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:25.440 It produces perseverance. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:31.680 Perseverance must finish its work so that you might be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:41.759 If we don't embrace that life is hard and that God will take and use what those things that we're walking through to mature us, we will be shallow Christians. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:47.759 And we're producing it all across America. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:53.279 Life is hard, but God is good. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:03.279 A little bit later in James, he would say, Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:09.359 Every good thing, the sunrise to water, hot water. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:10.960 I took a hot shower this morning. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.400 It was a cold day, wasn't it? 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.599 Praise God for hot water. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.039 And we get a gather publicly, friends. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.519 It's an incredible gift. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.400 And we get a worship together. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:40.240 John 3.16, I pray, will always move you to tears, whether you're a new believer or you've believed in Jesus for 70 years. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.559 For God so loved you. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.359 It's his disposition that he gave his one and only Son. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:52.319 That whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.359 Life is hard, but God is good. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:58.640 And eternity's long. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:02.079 Eternity's really, really long. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:05.759 Life's hard, but eternity's long. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:19.680 In fact, the way the apostle Paul would say it in Corinthians here, he'd say, Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:20.319 Why? 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:26.559 For our life and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:28.160 So we fix our eyes. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.480 Where are your eyes fixed? 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:34.400 Not on what is seen, not on the temporary, but on what is unseen. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:39.039 Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:42.079 How do you cultivate a soil that deepens your root? 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:44.640 We must embrace an eternal perspective. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:49.839 Life is hard, God is good, eternity's long, so let's start living like it. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:59.440 Secondly, get into God's word daily. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:03.039 Get into God's words daily. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:05.759 What a gift, friends. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:12.480 What a gift that we have God's word, that we have access to it. 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:20.480 Psalm 1 talks about the man or woman that's deeply rooted. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:25.279 Says that he delights in the law day and night. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:31.440 Romans 12, 2 talks about how do we experience transformation. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:34.480 It says, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:39.200 Don't be molded in or pressed in by culture and the world around us. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:43.519 Instead, be transformed, metanoia, that's the metamorphosis. 00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:44.319 Be transformed. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:44.640 How? 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:46.880 By the renewing of your mind. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:49.519 And then notice this. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.640 Then your life will test and approve what God's will is. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.480 His good, pleasing, and perfect will. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:01.200 When we begin to allow our minds to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, our lives transform. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:06.720 Our lives are a testimony we experience his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:10.480 Would you get into God's word daily? 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:15.759 James Clear in his book Atomic Habits says it this way consistency over intensity. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:23.440 I think rocky soil or shallow story, shallow soil, our tendency is to go intense. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:24.079 I'm gonna go. 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.359 I remember, what is that even? 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:30.319 I don't even whether we was that, I don't know. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:36.240 Consistency, consistency, consistency. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:40.880 That's the reason we're doing 50 days in Genesis, the reason we're doing a little one-minute devo. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:42.000 Consistency. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:44.960 Just get into God's word daily. 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:47.680 And then finally, number three. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:51.440 Make Jesus the Lord of your life. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:57.519 Jesus said some things, friend. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:08.079 He said, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:12.000 Then he says, Everything else will be given to you as well. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:13.920 Seek first. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:19.839 Today I wake up and you are my first allegiance, my first affection. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.599 You have everything. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:36.640 Jesus said, if anyone wants to be my disciple, they must deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow me. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:38.559 And then he goes on. 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.400 Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:47.440 But if anyone loses their life for my sake will find it. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:58.880 It's the upside-down reality of the kingdom of God that in denying ourselves, we actually find our true selves in Christ and we truly begin to live. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:06.000 Would you make Jesus the Lord of your life? 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.240 What does that mean? 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:15.359 Well, that he's not just a life coach, but he's actually king. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.480 Many of us have made the decision, Jesus, you are my savior. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:24.160 Would you be my rescuer? 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:32.079 And at a point in time, you need to make the decision, Jesus, you are my Lord, be the leader of my life. 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.279 And for some today, that is your next step. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:42.240 Lordship means, Jesus, you have it all. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:43.839 In the old days, this is what it looked like. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:45.599 Okay, you guys remember a checks? 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:46.640 You remember checks? 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:48.559 Yeah, you remember you write a check? 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:50.480 Yeah, okay, let me explain this. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:31:01.279 Um, a check is a piece of paper where you would write your name on it, you know, and you would um sign it, and then you'd write what it was for. 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:12.880 Like lordship is the blank check of your life and handing it over, going, like, okay, I've signed the check, but I didn't fill in it anything in how much it was, and I'm just gonna hand it over, Jesus. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.720 You get to fill in the check. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:18.880 Now, today I think what it is is I think it's our phone. 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:23.759 Imagine handing Jesus your phone. 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:26.880 Unlocked. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:30.799 You get it all. 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:32.480 You have it all. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:36.480 How you tell me to do relationships is the way I'm gonna do relationships. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.759 How you tell me to do finances is the way I'm gonna do finances. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:45.440 Uh how you talk about how I'm supposed to interact with my coworkers and friends and family is the way I'm gonna do it. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:52.240 You are the Lord over my sexuality, you are the Lord over every single area of my life. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:57.839 You get the first and final say. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:00.960 So let me ask you. 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:08.079 What areas of your life maybe are you resistant to let Jesus lead? 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:13.119 Jesus doesn't want to fit into your life, friends. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:14.880 He is your life. 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:20.960 How do we cultivate the soil of our souls? 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:26.559 Embrace an eternal perspective, get into God's word daily, make Jesus the Lord of your life. 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:30.079 It is a decision, and you return to it each day. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:41.119 Romans 1 says, therefore, in view, or Romans 12, 1 says, therefore, in view of God's mercy, present or offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the Lord. 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:43.200 This is your spiritual act of worship. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:44.400 Like it's a daily thing. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:48.000 Today, God, here's my body, here's my time, here's everything. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.759 I presented to you, and this is my worship. 00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:57.759 Friday, January 10th, it's Quitter's Day. 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:11.920 One week prior, Friday, January 3rd, was graduation day for one of our beloved members at Awakening. 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:16.720 Arlette went home to be with the Lord. 00:33:18.720 --> 00:33:23.279 I told a bit of Arlette's story last fall. 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:30.000 Teacher for 32 years, taught at my my boys' school, they're junior high. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:38.480 In uh the end of 2021, the beginning of 2022, she was diagnosed with ALS. 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:44.240 It's a I it's just a horrific disease. 00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:55.279 She went from walking and talking to losing certain functions of her legs and then her arms. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:03.920 By the end, just being able to move her eyes and control the speech with her eyes. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:05.759 Incredible the technology. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:13.119 In September, she wrote this on a Facebook post. 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:25.519 I've been asked, how can I have joy and gratitude while living with the death sentence of ALS? 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:31.840 My response is, how can I not have joy and gratitude? 00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:35.679 If I didn't, I don't think I could. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:38.320 Oh gosh, I can't even see I'm crying. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:42.239 If I didn't, I don't think I could get through the day. 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:46.639 Gratitude is a choice, and I choose to see the blessings that surround me. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:53.039 One thing I loved about my photography was I slowed down and noticed the details of the world around me. 00:34:53.519 --> 00:35:02.320 I encourage you to slow down the trajectory of your life, to see the blessings of your family, the beauty of creation, the blessings of friendship. 00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:06.400 No amount of money or promotion or popularity can ever bring you joy. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:15.440 True joy and contentment is knowing I'm loved by my creator, that he sees the bigger picture of my life, that he knows how my story ends. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:22.639 I can't stop ALS from taking my physical body, but in the end I still win because of my creator. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:33.519 And on January 3rd, Arlette heard from her savior, well done, good and faithful servant. 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:42.480 A new body, no more pain, in the presence of her savior forever. 00:35:46.960 --> 00:35:50.800 Last time I was with her, a group of us prayed together. 00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:58.800 She wrote with her eyes with ALS, it's a hopeless end. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:10.239 But with Christ, I have an endless friends. 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:12.719 Would you embrace an eternal perspective? 00:36:17.519 --> 00:36:32.400 And I think in this moment for many, the call and the invitation is to examine what places in your heart and life Jesus is not Lord. 00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:43.599 And not in shame and not in I'm terrible person, just go, this is it, and Jesus, I just bring it to you. 00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:46.719 I've been holding this back. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:48.079 I want to be the leader. 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:49.519 I want to have the say. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.960 In fact, if I'm honest, I just don't trust you. 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:57.119 I'm afraid that you'll mess my life up. 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:00.239 I'm scared. 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:04.559 But I'm right-minded. 00:37:05.039 --> 00:37:08.239 Every good and perfect gift comes from you. 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:16.239 Oh, I can trust the God who came for me, who died for me, who gave everything for me. 00:37:20.559 --> 00:37:27.679 Who said, I I work all things together for good. 00:37:28.079 --> 00:37:30.800 To those who are called according to my purposes. 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:54.320 And as we worship, I want you to take the very physical response of a closed hand like this. 00:37:54.639 --> 00:38:00.400 And I want you to visualize the things that you're holding on to, that you're holding back. 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.599 And as we worship, would you simply do this? 00:38:03.760 --> 00:38:05.440 Would you open your hands? 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:07.119 Would you be willing to go, Jesus? 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:08.960 I give them to you. 00:38:09.199 --> 00:38:10.880 I give that relationship to you. 00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:12.159 I give that addiction to you. 00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:14.159 I give that hurt and pain to you. 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:16.239 I give my future to you. 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:18.639 I give my longings to you. 00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:24.159 Would you be the Lord of my life? 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:31.360 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:36.000 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:38.239 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:44.239 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.