WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 That's where we're going to be looking at probably the first half of the book of Acts. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:11.359 So maybe you're here and you're in high school, or you remember high school 20 years ago or 50 years ago, whatever it was. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.119 And maybe you went to homecoming. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:23.519 Or if you didn't go, you remember hearing about homecoming, or at least you'll know the feelings because the feelings are why am I wearing this oversized sports coat? 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.079 That's number one, because you're 16. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:29.359 And then does my body fit into this dress? 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.320 And for me, 22 years ago, I was uh I was incredibly scrawny. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:38.399 I mean, take like 30 or 40 pounds off of this frame, and that's what you saw. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:40.640 So a little bit of an oversized sports coat. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:49.920 And so that was me with my black and white checkered pants that I bought at DJ's at the mall, which I thought were so sweet. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.560 And I was 16 years old, and I picked up this 15-year-old girl to go with me. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:03.200 I'd asked her, and she went with me to homecoming, and she had red hair, and I married her, ended up marrying her, so be careful who you take to homecoming when you're 16 years old. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:04.400 I ended up marrying her. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:11.840 And she had big, big red hair and a shiny blue dress, really sequence, like that's a sequence. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.359 I think it was all sequence, actually. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:14.480 It was all sequence. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.439 And I can I can remember getting to the dance, and you've no you know this feeling. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.319 You you get to this. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:22.799 You walk into the cafeteria, you walk into the gym, you're worried about your sports coat. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:23.920 How's the dress? 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:24.879 How's the dress? 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:25.439 How is it? 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:29.519 You know, how in all the places, and you walk in, are people noticing me? 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:30.799 Who's here? 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.879 Are people looking at me? 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.879 Are we gonna go like straight out and dance? 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.239 Or are gonna kind of like warm up? 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:42.000 Are we gonna kind of like swing by the refreshments and say hello to a few people and kind of wait for some momentum to build? 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:43.599 Are we gonna go straight out there? 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:48.640 Maybe you're a straight out there person, or maybe you're a refreshment person, you're gonna warm up a little bit. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:56.159 But inevitably, at a homecoming dance or a dance like that at school, inevitably, at some point, you will end up out there. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:08.800 And maybe you're just out there in the blob, like in the middle, and you're just kind of, you know, you're so protected, you don't have to do a lot, you know, you know, you you know, you know, you don't have to do the hands, you can just kind of right? 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.919 But you're caught up, you're caught up in it, right? 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:13.759 Like you're caught up in that dance. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:19.360 And it's a great feeling, like that feeling finally when you're when you're in it, right? 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:21.759 Like, compare that to the feeling when you first walk in. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:29.120 You first walk in, you're anxious, you're afraid, you're nervous, what's going on, you're worried about yourself, how people are viewing you, and then all of a sudden you're caught up in that dance. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:38.319 And when you're caught up in that dance, there's this feeling like the anxiety goes away, the fear goes away, like you're you're you're in it. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.280 We forget to be nervous and anxious and afraid. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.360 And this is this is actually probably the best image of God. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:50.800 Because this is paracaresis, which we studied in Genesis chapter 1, the Trinity. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:54.240 This is this concept of God that we see throughout the scriptures. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:09.199 It took us to the third century to call it the Trinity, to understand that there is Elohim, there's God, there is Spirit, and then there's the Word, which we learn is the Christ, which we know in Jesus the Christ, and that this is showing up throughout the scriptures. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.879 And this is known as the Trinity, the paracresis, which means the dance of love. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:32.240 And so if you've if you've ever experienced when you're in that dance, that blob, and maybe you ain't really shaken up, maybe you're just kind of hopping a little bit, but at least you forget to be anxious and afraid and you're relieved and you're at rest. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:35.520 Like that's a little taste, right? 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:48.560 That that's what that's that's that's a taste of God, the flow of love that exists in three that dance together and overflow into creation in Jesus the Christ who lives and dies and resurrects. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:56.000 And then we're reading here in Acts chapter 1, ascends, and as he ascends, he says, By the way, when I ascend, I will send the Spirit to you. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:00.879 I will send the Spirit to you, and the Spirit will never leave you. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.560 So three persons God, Spirit, and Jesus. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:09.840 And so we're gonna look this morning at this spirit. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.159 Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, right? 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:14.000 Even in church says Holy Ghost. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:16.800 We've been in all different places when it comes to this topic. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:18.240 The person of the Holy Spirit. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:24.959 Maybe you're here, you've been in churches that talked a lot about the Holy Spirit, a lot about the gifts of the Spirit. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:29.839 Maybe you've been in churches that were incredibly emotive about the Spirit. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:36.959 Maybe there was like spirit laughter and there was like gold dust and stuff, and I have my cynical issues on that. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:38.079 I'll be honest about that. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:44.319 Or maybe you're here and and you're from a background like where like the spirit's work was always contemplative. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.879 And you're like, was the spirit ever excited? 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:51.439 You're not even sure if the spirit's ever excited, it's just always contemplative and intellectual. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:05:00.560 For me, I spent time in church, I was looking back at kind of my life, my life, spent time in a church where there was no talk of the Holy Spirit, church number one. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:08.639 Church number two, I was in a church where the Holy Spirit only existed to zap you when you screwed up. 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.920 And you're going, like, so this is somebody I want a part of my life. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.920 This is a spirit that I want to be engaged with. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:18.639 It never sounded real appealing to me. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:32.319 And then in college, the Holy Spirit was presented, the ministry I was a part of, was presented good ministry, but when it came to the Holy Spirit, it was presented as the Holy Spirit favored the ones who had their spiritual act really together. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:40.639 And that was determined by a predetermined list defined by the people who decided they did have their spiritual act together. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:44.959 And then what it created, what it created for the rest of us. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:50.560 And I know it created, not just for me, but for the rest of us, because we talked about it together as groups. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:52.319 Am I enough? 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:55.519 What's wrong in my life? 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.639 I mean, the spirit's doing all this in these people's lives. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:00.639 They're talking about it all the time. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:03.600 They're much more emotive than I am. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:05.519 So what's wrong with me? 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:07.759 What's wrong in my life? 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.480 What else do I need to do to be favored like that? 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:21.439 So, wherever you've been, whatever your particular Holy Spirit experience, knowledge, background is, hey, we're glad you're here. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:22.720 I'm glad you're here. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.720 And we're just going to look at this text this morning, Acts chapter 1. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:30.079 I'll reread verses 4 through 8, a portion of what Sam read. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:45.040 And while staying with them, this is uh talking about Jesus, and while staying with them, he, Jesus, ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.040 Now that word means to be immersed or to be overwhelmed. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:53.279 You'll be overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:55.120 Not many days from now. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.600 So something different is about to happen. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:06:58.800 Verse 6. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:04.399 So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.040 They're going like is everything gonna be fixed? 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.480 Are we getting the political power back? 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:28.879 And he says, verse 7, he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria until the end of the earth. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.480 So, what is this power? 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:34.319 Point number one. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:42.160 This is a reminder of who has always been there, and an introduction of what the relationship will now be. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.800 This is a reminder of who has always been there and an introduction of what the relationship will now be. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:51.920 Meaning this, the spirit was hovering over the waters in the beginning in Genesis. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:56.160 The spirit spoke through kings and prophets throughout the Old Testament. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:00.720 It's not like God was holding the spirit back and the spirit had no activity. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:06.720 I mean, even in chapter 1, verse 16, it talks about how the spirit had been speaking through people. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.199 But something here is still shifting. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:12.160 There's still some difference that's about to occur. 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:17.600 Now, if you remember the word for spirit in the New Testament, is the word pneuma or the word breath. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:23.279 So the spirit is the life force that's always with you. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.000 But also in the scriptures, these are personal pronouns for the spirit. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.639 So it's not an impersonal force. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.919 We can't take away the personhood of the spirit. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:43.679 So so it's a it's a person-like forever existence with us, and it's as close to you as breath. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:56.240 So the best metaphor for you to understand spirit is to think about breath because there's nothing closer, but it's like a person that's that close to you. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:08.159 And the spirit is coming to exist with us, humanity, here in Acts chapter 1, from this point on in history, and a new way to give us some sort of power. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:09.840 Some sort of power. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:15.840 Point number two the spirit is not earned or maintained, but given once and for all. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:19.360 These people didn't even ask for this. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:19.919 Right? 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.679 I mean, they didn't go to Jesus and say, hey, we're noticing we're not doing real well. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:25.519 Uh you died. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:26.720 We didn't do real well with that. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:28.000 We sort of all ran off. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.679 Now we're all afraid. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.240 Um, we're figuring you might go away at some point. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.879 Will you will you give us something? 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:36.399 No, they didn't ask for this. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.440 They definitely didn't earn it. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:41.840 I mean, they were they were a group that just sort of ran off, and Jesus finds them in a room. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.799 I mean, this is this is God's idea toward them. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:46.559 This is God's movement towards them. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:50.639 They're not courageous, they're not faithful, they're not brave. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:51.679 You know what they are? 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:53.360 They're you and me. 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:54.879 That's what they are. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:00.399 And the spirit in your life is not about you having your act together. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:06.720 The spirit in your life is about God's goodness to you as he has chosen to exist in you. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:18.639 The spirit works in the grace of God, existing in the gospel heartbeat, that by Jesus' death and resurrection in that work, the spirit's a part of your life, not your work toward him. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:21.840 Because the gospel, the gospel is not. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:23.120 It is not. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:28.159 You do more and be enough and do enough and maintain enough. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.440 And if you do all of that, the spirit will be a part of your life. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:36.080 And if you get your act together up to this level, then the spirit will be a part of your life. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.799 Then the spirit can do something in your life. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.480 The gospel is though you do not do those things perfectly, and you're not perfect. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:54.879 Jesus' work for you is enough, and he deems you enough, and he deems you righteous, and the spirit will work in your life because you are his. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:10:59.039 Point number three. 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:05.120 This is about walking with who already abides fully in you. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.799 This is about walking with who already abides full in you. 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.879 It's not about walking good enough in order to have somebody abide in you. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:17.519 This is about walking with who already fully abides in you. 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.200 So here we have this spirit. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:29.039 When we talk about the spirit, we have um we have complete objectivity, but we also have complete subjectivity, all at once, both objectivity and subjectivity. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.080 Here's what I mean. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:42.960 If you think it's all objectivity, it's objective, it's true, it's done, there's no personal experience to it, you can turn quite stiff and stale. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.159 Maybe you've known people like that, you've known churches like that. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:12:01.679 But if you don't understand the objectivity of the forever gift and take in some personal, right, some personal subjectivity, then you're just the stiffness, you're just the staleness. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:08.879 But without the subjectivity, if you're just the objectivity, if you're or you're just the subjectivity, no objectivity, right? 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.759 If you go the other way, then you're asking those questions. 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:13.679 What what else must I do? 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:15.519 It's all subjective. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:17.519 I have no objectivity, it's all subjective. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:19.200 So what else must I do? 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:20.240 Am I enough? 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:21.120 Am I enough now? 00:12:21.279 --> 00:12:23.039 Will God move in my life now? 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:27.279 And life turns into a lot of self-evaluation and anxiety. 00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:43.360 So maybe Tuesday traffic is bad, and maybe your coworker is a moron, and maybe your test is coming up, and maybe the boy dumps you, and maybe maybe the cancer is back, and maybe you feel ashamed, and you feel like a failure. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.679 So you're not feeling it. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:53.679 Maybe you're not feeling the spirit working in you today, or on a Tuesday, or on a Friday. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.080 That's fine. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:58.720 Right? 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:02.720 Like it's not all subjectivity, it's also objectivity. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:05.120 It's still true, right? 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.559 Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean it's not true. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:13.039 There's the gospel freedom for you, that it's the promise to you. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:20.879 To have to always feel it is bondage to always having to put yourself into the state of feeling it. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:30.879 But to live knowing you will flow in and out of the reality of the Holy Spirit's forever promised presence in your life. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:41.759 To know you're going to flow in and out of that, now, now at least you begin to have some freedom from the anxiety and the fear that so much church produces. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:48.960 Last week I watched the great Atlanta Falcons get whooped by the New England Patriots. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:51.600 Just salt in the wound, wasn't it? 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:53.039 Just salt in the wound. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.200 If you remember, by about the third quarter, I think, the game was way over. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:03.919 And about the third quarter, that fog set in on our hearts, and but no, really, fog set in on the stadium, is what happened. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:08.000 It's like literally, like it was just like a cloud came in. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:16.240 It was happening to you if you were watching it in your living room, but it was happening in the stadium, fog, and the main cameras up high that show most of the game. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:17.600 You could you couldn't even see the game. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.480 They had to switch to like the sky cam and the field cameras. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:27.840 And at one point they switched up to the camera, uh, camera like up in the booth with the commentators, Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:29.039 It's Sunday night football. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.039 I mean, this is the prime time spot. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.120 Like, like these are this is it. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.919 Like these are the best sports football commentators that exist. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:41.120 And they're calling the game, and it's getting toward the end of the game. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.000 I'm still watching it. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.360 The fog has settled in, the game is way gone. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:46.480 It's over. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.480 I'm still watching this. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:50.879 And I'm thinking to myself, why am I still watching this? 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:53.759 I'm not even that big of an Atlanta Falcons fan, to tell the truth. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.440 These guys are so good. 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:57.360 I'm just listening to them talk. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.600 I love listening to these two guys talk to each other. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:02.879 They're that good. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:04.320 They're incredible. 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:14.399 And then it got me thinking about these games on like SCC Network 4, you know, like on my TV, it's like channel 780, and you're like, I didn't know we had a 700s. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:16.960 I didn't even know it that existed. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:18.720 And it's like an 11 a.m. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:29.840 game, and it's sunny out, and the stadium is packed, and the game is tight, and it's fourth quarter, and the commentators are so bad. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:35.519 You just keep finding yourself changing the channel, or you want to turn it off. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:39.919 And it makes no sense that you would want to turn it off because the game is tight. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:47.519 I mean, the sunshine, the stadium's packed, but they're so bad that you just want to turn it off. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.039 And so, what is that? 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.399 What is that feeling? 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:56.960 Well, that's the feeling that the commentary occurring is so bad, it's ruining the experience. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:07.679 And I mention all that because I think it's a little bit of a good way to think about this fleshly self that the New Testament talks about, the false self. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:16.639 And it's the self that tries to justify or manufacture itself via any means other than God. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.919 It's a self-saving self. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:28.240 And it says, I don't need to surrender to God, I don't need Christ, I don't need Jesus' death, I don't need grace toward me. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:29.039 You know what I need? 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:43.360 I need religion, I need moralism, I need some rules, or I need sex or power or control, and I will do these things to justify myself or to manufacture myself. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:48.080 And it's the bad commentator, is what it is. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:50.559 It's the false self. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:17:06.240 And yet the promise is the that loving, perfect commentator, the gift, the spirit that births the new self inside of us, which is the true self, saved by grace and not merit, and secured by Christ's sufficiency for us. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:13.440 And that's that good commentator that is constantly speaking into our hearts and our lives. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:28.880 And Jesus actually teaches us exactly how all this works in John chapter 14, is the midst of much longer conversation, but verse 26 says this but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:34.720 See, there's that pronoun for us to go, oh, it's a person, so it's not just like an impersonal force. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:41.039 He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:51.279 Now that word helper could also be translated counselor, maybe in in your Bible, and it's even deeper than that because it means to stand alongside and declare. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:57.119 So let's imagine you are on America Ninja Warrior. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.279 Like you're the you're the contestant, right? 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.319 I said imagine. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:01.359 It's a stretch. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:01.839 I know. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:07.279 For most of us, just like walking upstairs to the platform, we all sort of act like I'd like to give that a go. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.200 Yeah, that would go really well. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.119 All right, so that if you rem if you remember, you've seen it, right? 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:24.880 Because I I can't figure out how this works, but they're always like there's always a new round, and I don't know how the ladder works, but they're always like divisional, and then oh, he's out, and I can't figure it out. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:34.319 I wish they would lay that thing out for us constantly, but there's always somebody qualified, lots of qualifiers going on in this American Ninja Warriors, what I figured out. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:47.440 I so obstacle course, like like intense, crazy fitness buff obstacle course is always at night, lots of lights, there's water underneath, and there's like crazy stuff for them to go through, and it looks really, really, really hard, right? 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:51.759 And so imagine you're you're on it, it's you, and they always have the loved ones, right? 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:56.079 One or two or three people right down, right up front, and the camera's real close to them. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.039 And so they're down front, and you're about to go. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:03.119 Your loved ones are down there, and off you go. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.440 And you can hear them, your loved ones. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:07.839 You can do this, but they always make sure they can be heard. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:35.920 You can do this, you got this, you were made for this, you can do this, you got it, you can do it, go, you can do it, and you like you do the little leap, the angled leapfrog, and then you go over the the the turning wheels and I don't know, whatever it is, and then you have like several things you hang on to, so your arms are tired, and then you get to like like this plexiglass, vertical plexiglass, and it has these like little hand holds you go across, and you just see it, and you're already worn out, and so you just you're you're done. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:37.039 You you you just sit down. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:37.839 You sit down. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:42.160 You're thinking about quitting, you're kind of shaking it off, but in your mind you're going, I should quit. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.680 There's no way, I can't do this. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:46.559 And so you sit down, but you hear you hear your loved one again. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:51.920 You hear them calling out like, no, like, get up, get up, you can do this, you got this, get up, get up, get up, get up. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:20:05.519 And so finally you get back up, and you begin across that thing, and you get about halfway, and it just ain't gonna happen for you in the Denver qualifier of American Ninja Warrior at night over water. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:14.319 And so you drop, and you fall into that pool of water, and you you you climb out of the pool, and you go over to your loved one, and the camera's there. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.519 And what's the first words out of the loved one's mouth? 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:19.039 It's always the same. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:20.799 You do great. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:23.039 Oh, we love you. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:23.839 You did so good. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.440 You can get it next year, you can get it next year, you can train more, you got it, you got it. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:27.759 Right? 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:33.839 The loved one the entire time is standing alongside to declare. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:40.000 Declaring comfort and declaring correction in love. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.319 And so Jesus says in Acts chapter 1, you're getting this. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:46.400 This is what you're getting. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:21:00.799 And if you're still enough, if you are still enough amidst life, you will hear the Spirit in accordance with the gospel and in accordance with the scripture, whispering and speaking to you. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:03.599 Comfort and correction. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:15.599 Thursday night, Chris and I went to uh Ellie Holcomb concert in Atlanta, and it was at this this venues, it's called City Winery, and so you sit at tables and you eat while the artist sings. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:31.440 And so we go in, and Christy had bought the tickets, and so we're going down there, and as we're walking in, I see all the tables, and I just turned to her because I started computing, and I realized we're not with any friends right now, and there's tables of four. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:36.319 And so I got I just turned her, I said, like, are we sitting with strangers? 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:38.480 Like, is that what's about to play out here? 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:43.200 And I'm gonna like for the next hour, you know, be Mr. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:43.680 Friendly. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:47.440 And I'll be all I wanted to do was eat and listen to the concert, right? 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:50.000 Like, you know the feeling, I'm not being obnoxious, right? 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:51.119 You just know the feeling. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.319 And I just turned to her and I said, Are we are we sitting with strangers? 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:56.720 And she said, she said, Yeah, we've only bought two tickets. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:58.799 I'm like, Oh, great, this is gonna be this is gonna be great. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:00.720 I can't wait for This. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:06.240 And we sit down and we meet Billy from Cornelia. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:14.319 And she was 55 years old, and her daughter was with her, and we start chatting it up, and it doesn't take long. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.160 And me and Billy start having a great time. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:17.519 And I said, Well, where are you from? 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:19.680 You know, were you originally from Cornelia? 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:20.160 Where are you from? 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:21.839 She said, No, I grew up off of Pleasant Hill Road. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.720 I said, Well, I grew up like right by there, and she said, Oh yeah. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:34.880 And we talked about, I said, Yeah, I grew up off of Highway 29, and she said, Oh yeah, well, I've lived on that side of Pleasant Hill Road, and we'd be getting going, she said, Well, my in-laws own the RK one stop, and then you gotta be kidding me. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:39.519 I used to ride my bike to the RK one stop to buy gum and Coca-Cola. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:40.799 I'm having a blast. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:44.640 We are talking about dirt roads we rode our bikes on. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.920 Me and Billy, we are having so much fun. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:55.759 I'm feeling ashamed for my bad attitude because me and Billy is, and then finally I said something about, you know, I went to Bethesda Elementary. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.799 She said, Oh, my in-laws live like two doors down from there. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:03.440 And I said, Oh, is that toward Miss Beatty's house because she was my kindergarten teacher? 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.160 And she said, Oh, you mean this Miss Beatty? 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.240 She pulls up a picture on her phone of her and Miss Beatty like a week before. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.559 I can't believe Miss Beatty's alive. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.200 Because really, when I had her, she and I thought she was further along in the process. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.440 And I'm like, she's alive. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.039 And she's like, Yeah, she's alive. 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:24.240 I'll tell her you said hi. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:25.680 We're having so much fun. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:32.720 And then so Ellie Holcomb comes out and we have to stop talking, which I wasn't happy about at that point, we're having a good time, we were best friends. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.559 And Ellie Holcomb comes out and begins to sing. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:45.680 And for me, uh, who gets to come to a lot of church, but not have a lot of church. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.240 Like I was having me some church. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:58.480 Because that girl can sing, that girl sings some gospel songs, and then like in between the songs, she pretty much kind of preaches some gospel. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:04.480 And I'm just sitting there and I'm I'm just soaking, I'm just soaking it up. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:06.880 And the Holy Spirit begins, right? 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:19.920 The counselor who corrects and who comforts and loves, who stands along beside you to declare to you, begins to just declare to me. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:23.680 Because she's singing about God being faithful. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:39.680 And the Holy Spirit just begins to declare into my heart like a lot of lies, like revealing a lot of lies I was believing and have been believing about me and my life, and so I'm receiving that. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:52.079 And then she starts singing the song Magnolia, and the Holy Spirit shifts from correction to comfort, both in love, but shifts over to comfort. 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:55.759 And she's singing these words. 00:24:55.839 --> 00:24:59.599 And by the by the way, uh you and I are Magnolia in this song. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:03.519 Um I think it sounds more poetic than like Steve. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:06.400 So, you know, if you're a guy, work with it. 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:09.039 Keith, you know, it just doesn't work as good. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:11.759 So if you're a man, just work with it. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:18.000 You've been working till your hands they bleed and your eyes can't see. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:23.839 You've been hoping that you could make it right, but the more you try, the more you're failing. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:25.359 Oh Magnolia. 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.400 You've been walking through this world alone. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:31.519 No place to call your home except your heartache. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.079 You've been trying to make it all work out. 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.200 When the sun goes down, your soul is burdened. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:40.160 Oh Magnolia, won't you please come home? 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.519 Oh Magnolia, you don't have to walk alone. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.519 Oh Magnolia, won't you rest your head on my shoulder? 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.200 My brothers and sisters, may you hear the spirit this morning. 00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:53.519 You do not have to walk alone. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.119 We have a counselor. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.960 Let's pray together. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:04.640 God, thank you that we are deemed beloved and you give to us your spirit that is as close to us as breath. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:13.839 And that you care for us enough in all of our imperfection and all the ways that we run and ignore you and your saving grace. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:17.279 You just keep loving us. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:24.640 May we hear those words of correction and comfort. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:30.079 May we yield and repent as to no greater life in you. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:31.599 In Christ's name we pray. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:32.319 Amen.