WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:01.199 Good morning. 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:02.399 It's good to see all of you. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:04.799 Do I dismiss the children or are they just no to go? 00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:05.120 Okay. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:06.879 Okay. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.119 You can dismiss children. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:11.439 Yeah, see ya. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:15.359 Thrilled to be with y'all. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:16.640 Happy Father's Day. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.399 I am very, very nervous about this. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.800 Like but I'm thrilled at the same. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.399 Those two are not mutually exclusive. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:28.160 They're living true in my heart and in my voice that you can probably hear. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:34.000 So, anyways, just I'm I'm thankful, thankful for the this church and the people that I know and those that I don't yet. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.000 I look forward to get to knowing all of you. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.359 And um yeah, just really excited about what's ahead. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:46.799 This actually for me to preach today was was planned actually, I think, last summer uh because Larry knew this wedding was coming up and stuff like that. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:53.200 Um and so um it wasn't even kind of aligned with me coming and uh and being a part of this church. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.280 Uh it's just kind of like something the Lord's kind of set up. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.600 So I'm really grateful for that uh to be here today. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.799 So happy Father's Day, and uh yeah, I'm really grateful. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:02.799 So thank you uh for having me. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:08.400 Um the teaching text for today is uh from John 2, verses 1 through 11. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.560 It'll be on the screen. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:16.159 But this is uh interaction between Jesus and um a wedding that he's at. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:24.239 But John writes this, he says, On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there. 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.359 And Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:31.200 And when the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:33.359 Woman, why do you involve me? 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.760 Jesus replied, My hour has not yet come. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.359 And his mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:48.640 And nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used for the Jews for ceremonial uh cleansing, and each holding about twenty to thirty gallons. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.560 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water, and so they filled them to the brim. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:56.079 Then he told them, Now draw some out, take it to the master of the banquet, and they did so. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:04.159 And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had become that had turned into wine, and did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:12.159 And then he called the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink, but you have saved the best till now. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:19.120 And what Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.479 This is God's word. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:29.120 Uh back when I was seventeen, I was pretty set against God, Jesus, the Bible, the church, anything like that. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:32.719 I was um pretty much like, I don't want anything to do with that. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:44.479 Actually, uh, someone saw that I was gonna be a lead pastor at a church, and they were friends of mine in high school, and they were just marveled at the fact that, like, I can't believe that you're a pastor because of who you were back when you were in high school. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.199 And uh so that was uh fun to think about for a little bit. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.240 But um I was just against any of that stuff. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.240 Um, I just didn't want anything to do with God. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:08.879 I really felt like if I chose to follow Him and give my life to Him and become a Christian, that my life would basically just be miserable, that I wouldn't enjoy any of uh the fun things that you could have, and my life would go from like exciting to boring and miserable and things like that. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:19.280 Um But then there was this one day when I was when I was 17, I had given my life basically to anything I could possibly get my life to, so drinking and relationships and uh partying, whatever it was. 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:23.919 And uh one night I threw a party at my house when I was 17, all my friends were there, and we got really drunk. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.000 Um, and then my parents showed up and caught us, and we got in tons of trouble. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:34.479 Um and then the next morning I wake up and I'm hungover, and my parents forced me to eat food because they're cruel. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:41.360 And um and then they ground me for six months, like you're grounded for half a year, and uh, which was proper. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:45.199 Um and then they made me go outside and do yard work. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:55.439 Um and so I was in the in the process of like doing the yard work outside, and I was having this internal battle with Jesus, and I was just going, I felt like I felt like God was pursuing, like running after me. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:59.439 I really felt like God was running after me and saying, like, would you please just give me your life? 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.919 Like, just give me everything that you got. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:03.439 Like, you're making terrible decisions. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.039 I'd like to make your decisions from here on. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.599 I really did feel like he was just speaking to me and saying that. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:14.400 And it came to this point where I was having this internal dialogue between me and God uh and just saying, like, I don't want to do that. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:15.840 Like my life would just be miserable. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.360 Like, I what I'm doing right now, I'm I'm gonna give my life for those things. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.000 If I follow you, I just I just think you'll make my life miserable. 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:27.439 And um, it was just this thought that popped into my head, but like he was like, But aren't you kind of miserable now? 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.879 Like you're grounded for six months, things aren't going great. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.839 And uh, as much as I hated to admit that, I was like, that's exactly right. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:41.920 Like I I had given myself to everything, and everything I'd given my life to at that particular moment never actually doubled down and helped me in any way in particular. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.199 Like everything that it promised, it always underdelivered on all of those things. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:49.279 And so I had this moment where I was sitting there, I was like, yes, I guess I am currently miserable right now. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:51.680 I haven't thought about that until this moment. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.920 And uh and then I just thought, well, okay, um, I'm grounded for six months. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.240 I'm basically gonna be living like a monk, anyways. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.920 I might as well just give God six months and we'll see how it goes. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:03.120 And uh and so I did that. 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:06.800 I prayed, I was like, I'm giving you six months to run my life. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:12.879 Um and uh and six months now has turned into 17 years. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:28.399 Um because in those six months, like I started going to church, and then I felt called into ministry, and then it led me to move to Memphis, where I met this man named Larry who was gonna mentor me, and then I met his daughter, and we got married, and now we have this kid uh that we love and this incredible thing. 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:30.319 And like it was like one step after another. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:39.680 Six months turned into a year and a year into two, and then on and on until I'm 17 years into following Jesus, and I'm like, man, I didn't my life has been anything but miserable. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:43.600 I I gave my life to him, and it's been this amazing, amazing thing that I've been able to experience. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:57.920 And just to think about like that moment, I can because whenever I go home to Georgia and I drive by that space at my house and I see where I made that decision leaning on the fence, it feels like it could have gone one of two ways, like super simple just to be like, no, I'm so sorry, I'm not gonna do that. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:01.839 And like where I would have wound up on my own, I probably would have been a drunk. 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:06.079 I probably would have been on my second or third marriage, heading towards my next divorce. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:16.480 I probably would have just constantly been searching for something more to fill me, and likely I would have been reminiscing about the glory days of high school baseball, which nobody loves that guy. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.240 Um and like that would have been that's like the peak. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:26.399 That's where I would have wound up, and yet what I'm experiencing now is far greater than anything that I could have ever done on my own. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:32.959 And when I, you know, Father's Day and I celebrate my son this morning, like I'm just grateful to be his dad and all the different things that are happening there. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.399 I'm like, I almost missed out. 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:43.759 Like I he wanted to bring me into this thing that was really wonderful, and I almost missed out on all of that just because I didn't believe that he would actually lead me into a good space. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:57.600 And it was a number of years ago where I kind of realized it was like Jesus was calling me and commanding me to obey him, but it wasn't like obey me or else, or or like you need to follow me because you're living badly and you need to do something better. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:59.519 That all that stuff was true, but it wasn't like that. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:08.079 It was more like I have this picture for you of this life for you and your in your future that I have for you, and I'm just inviting you into it. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:14.720 Like when I'm asking you to give your life to me, all I'm asking you to do is like what I have for you is far greater than anything you could ever do on your own. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.839 It's the stuff that I'd love to lead you into, but I'm just inviting you. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:24.480 If you would give your life to me, I would just, you would allow me to lead you into this life that I have for you, and that's what I want for you. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:30.399 And so for me, it was one of those things where I realized, like, oh, it's it's not, I'm commanding you because I'm guilt-tripping you, it's nothing like that. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:33.360 It's like, I have something for you, and I'm just inviting you into it if you want it. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.639 I'm not gonna force you, I'm not gonna force your hand or anything like that. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:45.839 You don't have to follow me if you don't want to, but I promise you, what I have for you is something that when you look back 17 years later, you'll be like, thank God, I said yes to this thing. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:57.360 And I think consistently among the scriptures and in all the different things that we read, when Jesus calls us to things, when he asks for our obedience, one of the ways that we can look at it in this like, you need to do this and not this. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:07.439 We we can see it as a guilt triple, we can see it as some of those things, but I think realistically, what it is, when he calls us to be obedient, he is calling us like, I'm just, I'm just inviting you into something better than what you could do on your own. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:19.680 And so anytime he's like, I'm I'm asking you to do this, I'm asking you to follow me, I'm asking you to experience some of these things, it is a call to, I would just, I'm just welcoming you and extending the invitation to you to experience a life that I actually have for you. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.680 And I think you see that in this text here. 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:26.480 These servants are, you know, just there at the wedding and all these different things. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.079 Um, and Jesus' mom is kind of funny, it's like, do whatever he says. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:31.439 And I just love how random it is. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:32.320 Like, do whatever he says. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:34.080 Like, honestly, it's been weird for 30 years. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:34.720 I don't know. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:36.240 It started weird, it's weird now. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:37.519 Like, I don't know what he's gonna say. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:38.720 He could say anything. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.000 And yet there's this space where like they just do whatever he says. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:46.879 And in the midst of that, they're invited in to experience his power breaking out among them. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:52.559 He's they're invited to experience a closeness with them, and then they're a part of this thing of displaying God's glory in the world. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:04.320 And so, what I want to do there is I just want to look at their storyline here and the ways that Jesus just gives them some really simple, random things to do that ultimately leads to them being invited into a life that he has for them. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.559 And so I just want to look at uh three real fast. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:14.639 The first is when Jesus calls us to um do something, it's an invitation to experience his power in our lives. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:15.759 And so you see this here. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.840 The mother of Jesus says, Do whatever he tells you, do whatever he tells you. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:21.200 And again, I love how random that is. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.480 But he says, fill the water jars with water, and they filled them to the brim. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.120 Then he told them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.080 And then they did so. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:31.200 And I like how simple it is, like do this and then do this, and they just do it. 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.759 They're not doing, they're not going above and beyond, they're not doing anything like that. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.840 They're just, here's what I want you to do. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:42.320 And then in the midst of all of that, they experienced the power of God breaking into their story and breaking out in their lives. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:50.399 And it wasn't because they did something powerful, it's not because they were special, they didn't experience God's power in their lives because of anything like that. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:10:00.559 They just they experienced God's power breaking into their lives and that water being turned into wine, not because they are powerful, but because they just did what he said, and the power of God began to break out among them. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.120 And I think for us, this is available to us. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.360 It's not, hey, I need you to turn water to wine. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:06.960 It's just, I just need you to be obedient. 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:10.240 And you will see these things actually taking shape in your life already. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:20.240 And what's difficult for us when when God commands us to do something, from for many of us and for me, is like some of the things that we want to see happen in our lives, it's like, okay, I want you to be obedient in this way. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.720 We just wonder, like, okay, I could do that, but what would that produce in my life? 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.080 Like, it seems so powerless. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:31.039 These things that you're asking me to do just seem like that there's just nothing in there that seems powerful at all. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:32.639 Like, what could this possibly do? 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:36.879 And I think for them, they had to be wondering probably the same question and going, like, what is this gonna do? 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:38.159 Like, we have a real problem. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.559 There's no wine, and we don't need more water, we don't have a water problem, we have a wine problem. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:43.840 Like, this doesn't make any sense. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:44.559 Why would we do this? 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.399 This doesn't seem to have any power in it. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:54.799 And yet, even though they don't know exactly what's going to happen and all those different things, like what they ultimately end up experiencing is God's power breaking into their lives. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:02.000 And it's just this simple, simple obedience that they step into, and then they're a part of this thing and see this thing take shape, and it's like, this is amazing. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:05.759 Like we didn't do anything, we just did what he told us to do, and we see this stuff breaking out among us. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:09.919 And I think for us, this is what God is calling us into simple, random obedience. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:15.200 It's like, just trust me, the thing itself might not be powerful, but the power exists because it's in my word. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:27.440 And I think we see this all throughout the scriptures how God has operated consistently, just asking people to do really simple things, and then allowing God's power to break in among them just from being obedient to these small things. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.840 So, for instance, I got a couple on the screen here. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.039 So, Abraham. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.679 Abraham was like, hey, here's the simple thing. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:35.360 Keep trying to have children. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:37.039 Like, that's what I want you to do. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:43.759 Like, you're about to experience a miracle, a child being born, and you're 99, and uh, I need you to keep trying to have children. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:49.200 And it's an it's important to recognize that like Isaac, Abraham's son, is not like Jesus, Immaculate Conception. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:54.799 And so the the command of God to Abraham is keep doing that thing which leads to babies being born. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:56.000 Like, keep doing that. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:01.679 And it's like this amazing like for from you have to imagine the conversation between Abraham and Sarah, like, look, lady, you're 99. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:02.960 I don't want to do this either. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:08.320 But but we but we gotta be obedient. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.960 Like we gotta do, it's like every man's dream. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.480 Happy Father's Day. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:18.559 Like, we gotta, like, it's the Lord, he said it, and Sarah, anyways, we can I gotta move on. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:23.039 Um, but that was, I mean, it was like keep keep trying to have children. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:25.120 That's how the power of God's gonna break into your life. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.679 You're gonna have a miracle baby when you're 99. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:29.519 Moses, go speak to Pharaoh. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:30.879 Like, how do I get the plagues? 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.000 How we take over a nation? 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:33.039 How do we destroy a nation? 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:34.159 Do you need me to do anything? 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.120 It's like, I just need you to speak, which for Moses was actually challenging. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.960 He's like, I just need you to say words. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.000 Just tell him what's coming, and then what you say will ultimately come. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:42.960 Because that's from me. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:43.840 That's stuff I'm doing. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.399 I'll provide the power, you just provide the words to Pharaoh. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.320 And it's like, well, now we're stuck at the Red Sea. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:49.440 How do I split the Red Sea? 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:50.720 It's like, can you do this, Moses? 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.039 Can you lift your hands in the air with a stick in one hand? 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:54.320 Like, do this, that'll do it. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:55.679 And he's probably like, what is this gonna? 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:56.799 And then it happens. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.240 He's like, Oh, that did pretty good. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:59.039 That was really strong. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:02.000 And it would have been this space where it's like, I just this is all it took. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:06.240 And it's like this really simple thing, and it's not Moses' power, it's God's power breaking out among him. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:08.559 The undrinkable waters at Mara. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:14.480 And it's like, how do we how do we change this water from undrinkable to feed these 600,000 or however many Israelites we have? 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:15.679 It's like, oh, you see that stick? 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:18.080 You just grab that stick and you throw it in the water. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.000 And like a child could have run over there and been like, this one right here, okay, and then done it. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:23.360 Like, and that that that's it. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.480 It and it changes the entire thing from something that's undrinkable to drinkable. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:27.279 And it's like, how? 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:29.279 Like, what was so powerful about the stick? 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.279 And it's like, there was no power in the stick. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.960 It was just this is what he's called you to do, the simple thing that children do. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:36.240 Just grab the stick and throw it. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.320 My kid throws sticks in water all the time. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:43.759 Never turned it from you know bitter to sweet, but still, like that that's how simple it is. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:48.879 Joshua, walk around the city walls, uh, and that's how you're gonna take over Jericho. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:50.080 That's how the walls are gonna fall. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:57.600 So walk around on day one, walk around once, two, three, four, five, six, walk around one time, and then on the seventh day, let's throw in seven times around. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:59.039 And that's how the walls are gonna fall. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:00.000 All you have to do is walk. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:00.720 Can you walk? 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.840 Just tell them to walk, and then that's that's what you'll do. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.679 And you have to imagine the other, you know, the people in the army just going, like, hey, I know that Moses is dead. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:11.440 But was Joshua the best choice? 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.039 Because this guy's kind of a lunatic. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:18.799 He's just telling us to walk, and he seems like a commander, but his battle cry is let's just walk a bit. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:23.840 And yet, sixth time around, and then all of a sudden the seventh time around, and they experience the walls crumbling down. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:27.200 And they had to imagine on the sixth time around, nothing's changing, nothing's happening. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.360 But then on that seventh time and the walls fall down. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.720 It's like, oh, we were just obedient to this thing. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.919 Jonah, oh, excuse me, Elijah and Naaman the leper. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:41.679 Naaman comes to Elijah and is like, I want to be healed, and his servant goes and it's like, okay, great, just go take a swim in the in the water. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:42.960 And he gets mad. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.440 Like Naaman's like, I that's dumb. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.799 I don't know why this would be the thing that, like, how is this gonna heal me? 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.840 I've I've taken swims before, this isn't gonna do anything. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:15:00.240 And yet there's this space where it's like his servant comes to him and says, Look, if if Elijah had asked you to climb a mountain or do something incredible, you would be like, Great, I'll do that hard thing. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.000 But he's asked you to do this easy thing, just do the easy thing and see what happens. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.120 And he takes a dip in the water and then all of a sudden he comes out and he's healed. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:08.799 It's a small thing that's happening. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:10.480 Jonah, go preach to Nineveh. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.399 He's like, I don't want to go preach to Nineveh. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:18.320 But he goes and he preaches probably the shortest sermon and maybe the worst sermon ever, which short sermons and good sermons can go together. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:22.320 But he preaches like really short stuff, and he's kind of a racist and doesn't want to go. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:30.960 And so he winds up in this space with the shortest sermon, worst sermon of all time, and doesn't want to go because he's a racist, and yet he does it, and the whole nation is cut to the heart and turns to the Lord. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:36.480 It's like this really, I'm just gonna be obedient, and it took a bit, but I'm gonna be obedient, I'm gonna see these things happen. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:39.120 Ten lepers in Jesus' day, how are we healed? 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.960 Like, take a walk, go show yourself to the priest. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:44.799 And as they walked along, they experienced healing breaking out among them. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.039 Disciples feed the 5,000. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:47.679 How do we do that? 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:48.799 It's like, can you do this? 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.720 Can you basket and just this do this a couple of times and then we'll be good? 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:55.919 And you have to imagine on the 30th, they were probably like, we're gonna run out here in a second. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:00.559 But then 5,000 people later, they're like, wow, I we this was a I mean, I don't know how this happened. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.279 But all they did was just pass it out among them. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.600 James says, confess your sins, one to another, pray for each other so you may be healed. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.279 How do you receive freedom from your sin? 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:10.879 How do you kill sin in your life? 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.759 Talk about it. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:12.960 Just confess it to death. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.480 Just say it over and over and over again. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.720 Like this is consistently throughout the scriptures. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:23.279 God is never calling people to like, hey, something big needs to happen, and I need you to be the person to do the big, giant, miraculous thing. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:24.080 It's never that. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:30.720 It's like I have these small things that I want you to do, but I want you to do them in obedience to me, and then you'll see the power actually breaking out. 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:34.399 The 3,000 that come to faith, and it's like, what must we do to be saved? 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.000 What must we do to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light? 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:39.440 And it's like, I need you to repent. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:43.120 Say, turn away from your sin and then believe in Jesus. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:49.919 Like our whole faith is built on this simple thing that children can do, that old people can do, that the thief on the cross can do right before he dies. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:51.759 I just repent and believe. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.759 And then we're transferred from this dead in our sins to alive in Christ. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.600 Simple stuff that ultimately leads to power breaking out among us. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:04.720 And I think for us, the testimony of the scriptures is that this is the way it works. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:15.440 God has seemed to package his amazing power into really small things that children can do, that old people can do, that wherever you're at along the spectrum, his power is packaged into these small things. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:19.279 It's like just do these small things, and you will see the power of God breaking out among you. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:25.519 Not because you conjured it, not because you earned it, but because I said if you would do this, then you would see these things actually taking shape in your life. 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:29.519 And this is the call to us to see some of these things happening among us. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:32.640 Like if you want to see God's power break in your life, you don't have to do something amazing. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.720 You just it's just small, simple obedience that ultimately leads to those things happening. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:37.920 That's what happens for the servants. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:46.319 And so the first thing for you, like when when Jesus says, like, I want you to be obedient, we can see it as like, you need to be obedient, you need to stop doing this, and you need to, it's like, it's not that. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:51.359 It's like I'm inviting, I have I have things that you're longing for that you can't in your own power do. 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.400 I'm inviting you to experience those things happening in your life just through small, simple, obedient things. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.920 And so I'm calling you to in I'm inviting you into this space where you can experience my power among you by doing simple things. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:03.039 So that's the first one. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:09.920 The second one is when God calls us to do whatever He asked of, uh asked us to do, He's inviting us to experience a closeness with Him. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.359 The space with Him where we're actually really tight and we're really close. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:20.640 And we see this kind of this passage in verse 9 that you could kind of skip over, but it says, The master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:24.960 He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:29.039 And I love that the servants in Jesus they just shared this secret. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:32.480 Like nobody else knew exactly what happened, except the servants. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.000 Like they understood what just took place. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:41.359 And I just imagine them taking the water to the guy and watching him drink it, and then he drinks it and he likes it, and he looks at they look at Jesus like he likes the wine, that's really good. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.039 And Jesus winks at him or something. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.680 Like I like it's just this secret thing that they share back and forth that nobody else is privy to. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:59.920 And it's this really sweet closeness that these people who don't even get a name, they are called servants because they are servants, and yet they have this space with Jesus, it's like me and you are tighter now than anybody else in this whole celebration. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.480 We're the closest because we share a secret together. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:06.880 One of the Psalms says the Lord confides, he tells his secrets to those who fear him. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:13.039 Like he wants to do that, he wants to be close to people, close enough to where he can whisper and the person hears. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.440 That's how close he wants to be, and that's what he has with them. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.759 And when they do this, they ultimately share in that closeness. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:24.000 This is why Jesus says in John 15, 10, he says, If you obey my commands, if you obey my commandments, you will abide in my love. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:26.160 If you obey, then you abide in my love. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:31.920 And people can read that and think that, like, oh, Jesus is saying, If I if I obey, then he will love me, but that's not what he's saying. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:33.759 Like we read it wrong if we read it that way. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:35.119 Like, obey me and then I'll love you. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:35.680 But it's not that. 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:40.000 It's like if you if you want to be close to me, I'm I'm telling you how to get there. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:47.759 And the way to do that is ultimately to experience doing these small things so that we draw closer together and we experience some of those things closer together. 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:49.519 This is how we draw close. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:20:03.519 And I think one of the most effective lies, I know I dealt with this and I think people consistently deal with this, one of the most effective lies that the enemy has placed into the minds and the hearts of believers is this idea that God is always constantly halfway mad at us. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:14.160 Like he's probably, he's like a coach or a father who's never all the way pleased or a parent or something, like you do something good, and he's like, Yeah, but you could have done better, and like constantly pointing out flaws and stuff like that. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:15.759 But that's not who he is. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:19.599 That's not how he displays himself in the scriptures, and that's not the testimony of what he's saying here. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.799 He wants it to be, he delights in us and desires to be close to us. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:24.559 That's who he actually is. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.000 And this is why he gives us commands not to see, let's see. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.200 Let's see if they screw up, let's see if they like it's not that. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:33.359 It's like, I want to be really close with you. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:38.559 And the way to experience that is to walk in obedience to me so that we share this closeness together. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:43.440 His commands are not to shackle us, but to show us the way to actually experience closeness with him. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:47.519 He wants us not only to experience his power, but to really be close. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:49.279 And I think the scriptures testify to this. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:55.279 In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:04.400 Like, I just want you to experience my presence so that the joy that you're longing for and the pleasure you're seeking in other things, you would actually find that stuff, and you wouldn't be searching for it in harmful things and stuff like that. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.240 Like, I actually want you to find those things in me. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:10.000 And so consistently, what he's after, he's like, Yes, I do want you to be obedient. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.160 And it's not because, or else you're gonna burn. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:13.119 Like, it's not that. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:17.200 It's like so that you and I can share this thing together that I've longed for. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.160 All of the Bible basically tells the story of God wanting to be with us. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:23.839 Genesis, he creates, and he doesn't have to, he creates people to dwell with him. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:24.960 We screw that up. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:30.319 Then the tabernacle shows up in Moses' day so that God can dwell among his people, and then they screw that up. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:35.039 Then they have the the temple there that Solomon builds so that God can once again dwell among his people. 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:36.079 We mess that up. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:50.000 Then we get to Jesus, and it's like now God, he is Emmanuel, he is God with us, and we kill that man, um, and then you know he rises from the dead, and then the tit the temple curtain is torn, and then the Holy Spirit is given, so it's not only God with us in Jesus, but now it's God within. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:51.359 It's God within us. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:58.880 And so you walk through the entire scriptures and you get to this space where it's like all he's wanted to do from beginning to end is just to spend time with his people. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:08.960 And then you get to The end of Revelation when everything's finally pieced back together, and the cry of the cell, the celebratory cry is look, God dwells with his people. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.960 Like that's the first thing that they say when the new heavens and the new earth come down. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:15.519 God dwell, he finally, finally dwells with his people. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:19.839 The first thing that he does is he says that he wipes away every tear. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:32.000 He's finally close enough to take away all the pain, to take away all the suffering, to remove all of those things that just that we've hated for our entire lives, and the longest we've been able to try and fill, but never able to actually fill. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.960 Like he's finally able to be the one that actually meets all of those needs. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:41.279 And the cry from the throne, it says there's a cry that from the throne room is, I finally get to dwell with my people. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:42.319 That's what he wants. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:50.720 And so Jesus has this space where he's going, Yes, I want you to do these things so that you experience my power, but so that you can actually experience my presence with you. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:51.920 I want us to be tight. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:52.960 I want us to be close. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.279 I don't want you living with some lie, making you believe that like I'm halfway mad at you all the time. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:58.799 That would keep us apart. 00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:03.359 That keeps you at that keeps God at arm's length, not somebody that you actually want to draw close to. 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.160 And so consistently that's what he's offering to us. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:20.559 Richard Foster, author of a number of books on spiritual discipline, but um, he describes why God commands us to pray by telling a story about uh another father and his son, and and I just love this. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.480 It's it's rather long, but I want to read it to us. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:28.160 He says, one day a friend of mine was walking through a mall with his two-year-old son, and the child was fussing. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:30.960 The father tried everything to quiet his son, but nothing helped. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.880 The child simply would not obey. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:40.079 Then, under some special inspiration, the father scooped up his son and holding him close to his chest, began singing an impromptu love song. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:45.519 None of the words rhymed, he sang off key, and yet as best he could, this father began sharing his heart. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:47.200 I love you, he sang. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.599 I'm so glad you're my boy. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.480 You make me happy, and I like the way you laugh. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.599 On they went one store to the next. 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:58.640 Quietly, the father continued singing, making up the words as he went. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.680 And the child relaxed and became still, listening to the strange and wonderful song. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.160 And finally they finished shopping. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:12.559 And as the father lifted his son into the car seat, the child lifted his head and said, Sing it to me again, Daddy, sing it to me again. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:14.640 And he says, Prayer is like that. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:20.880 In prayer, we allow ourselves to be gathered up into the arms of the Father and let him sing his love song over us. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:22.880 I love that vision of prayer. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:30.160 And I feel like, man, when we of among all the spiritual disciplines that exist, prayer is one of those things like, yeah, man, I gotta praise more. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.599 I gotta I I should be praying more. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.279 Praying a little bit, I should pray a little bit more. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.240 City's in some trouble, people in my life are hurting, I should pray more. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:39.680 And so the driving force is guilt. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.240 And it's like, it's it's not it's not this. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:48.880 Like prayer is being gathered into the arms of a father and receiving the love and affection that we've been longing for from birth till now. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:50.720 Like, that's what this space is. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.960 And so it's not like, yeah, get in there and do the prayer thing. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:54.079 It's like, no, no, no, no. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:25:02.079 You you get to you get to experience this tightness and this closeness with me that you're looking for and longing for and can't find anywhere else, but you can find it here. 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.480 And I've just created a space for you to experience it. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:05.839 This is where it's at. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:16.079 And I think consistently, when he calls us to pray, when he calls us to sing in worship, when he calls us to hear God's word preach or to read our Bibles or anything like that, it's like, I just want to be close to you. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:17.519 I want us to be close. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:19.200 And you need that and long for it. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:22.319 You search for it in other things, but you can find what you're looking for in me. 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:24.880 Jesus wants this with us. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:26.480 All right, last thing. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:33.920 When Jesus calls us to do whatever he asked of us, he's inviting us to partner with him and making his glory known in the earth. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:44.079 Verse 11 says this what Jesus did in uh here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:49.279 And I love this the fact that like the servants get zero credit, which is right, they shouldn't get credit. 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:51.039 This is Jesus' power, not theirs. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:26:01.759 But they forever are told in the line of this story of like the people who did part of the servant part in order to experience the glory and allow that to be seen by others. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:07.440 Like their story will be like, oh yeah, I was a part of helping Jesus display his glory and leading people to believe in him. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.079 Like this is forever going to be a part of their stories. 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:19.359 And I think one of the most significant ways that we see people actually being obedient and then helping display God's glory ultimately, that's something that we can do. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:23.039 In being obedient, we just get to be a part of God displaying his glory in the world. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.519 We make our obedience, God's invisible glory, visible to other people. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:31.920 And I think one of the most significant ways that we see this is in the life of Jesus, or really in the death of Jesus. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:36.240 If y'all remember in the crucifixion, all the gospel writers write about it. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:42.960 Um, and all of them basically there's there's two thieves crucified, one to his left and one to his right, and they basically tell that story and they're mocking him. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:52.000 Um but Luke captures um the end of some of the story with um one of the thieves that everybody else doesn't really talk about. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:27:02.960 And so at the at the beginning, all the thieves are mocking, two thieves are mocking Jesus, but at the end, one of the thieves changes his tune and he goes from mocking Jesus to actually wanting to be with Jesus. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:15.680 And we don't really know why, other than the only thing that we can speculate is like he just watched Jesus die, and the glory of God was on display for him, and it led him to go, like, I was mocking before, but now I believe. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:21.839 And so if you look at like what he would have seen, the only explanation, like he would have watched Jesus forgive those who were killing him. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:29.839 He would have watched Jesus care for his aging mother and been like, hey, John, this is your mother, mother, this is your son, that kind of thing, taking care of those. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:35.680 He's dying on the cross and he's helping, making sure his mother has a life to live and people to care for her. 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:38.960