WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.679 We're in a series right now. 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:04.000 We started it last week called 2020 Vision. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:07.919 And it's a little on the nose, it's a little obvious, but sometimes you got to do what's obvious. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:15.119 Like I proposed to my wife on Valentine's Day, which is almost like it was cool though, it's so cheesy that she didn't see it coming. 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:16.800 You know, she didn't see it coming at all. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.280 She's like, I would never have thought you would propose on Valentine's Day. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.719 I was like, well, you know, I just I did. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:21.600 It just made sense. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:23.920 Sometimes you have to do what's what's obvious. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.399 And here we are in the year 2020, and that that verbiage, 2020, it refers to clear vision. 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:36.479 And so we're going to talk for the next few weeks about what it means for us to live with 2020 vision. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:40.079 But here's the reality: we don't. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:45.520 We do not, in and of ourselves, have 2020 vision. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:46.479 We don't. 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.079 We don't have the ability to see what's ahead with perfect clarity. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:51.679 We get surprised all the time. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:55.600 And we find ourselves in situations very often that we just really can't see a way out of. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:56.960 We can't see and discern. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:01.359 We don't have the wisdom to recognize how to navigate that situation. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:03.520 We don't have 2020 vision. 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.959 If 2019 taught me anything, it's that I don't have 2020 vision. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.719 Because at the beginning of 2019, I told my wife, this is going to be a simple year. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:12.560 This is going to be a year with no surprises. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.239 I was tired of surprises. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:16.959 I was surprised when I became the pastor here. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:18.640 It was a little over five years ago. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:22.159 And I found out and it was like, surprise, you're in charge. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:23.280 Cool. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:28.319 And uh and in the first five years that I was the pastor, we had three children in that five-year span. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:31.280 So it was a very, very busy, very busy five years. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:33.760 And our last child came to us 2018. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.079 Eli was a surprise. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.079 A lot of people find out I have four kids and they think we planned that, that we dreamed that. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:40.959 No, no, no, no. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:41.760 No, no, no. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.200 We just, we overshot. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.319 That's what happened. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.200 Um like we were good with three. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:48.480 We were totally good with three. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.879 And then surprise, Eli 2018, and he's amazing. 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:54.480 He's a really good surprise. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.000 I actually can't imagine life without him, but he was a surprise. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.280 So 2019 starts, and I'm like, Megan, no surprises this year. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:02.480 We need a year of simplicity. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.799 We need a year where everything is just sort of chill. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:11.039 And if you would have talked to me at the beginning of last year, literally a year ago today, and you would have said something like, Hey Justin, what do you think of your house? 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:12.560 I would have said, I love my house. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:14.639 I can't even picture moving anytime soon. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:19.680 I can't even picture leaving this house until maybe a few of our kids have grown and we need to downsize. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:21.919 And then we moved out in February. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:40.879 Um because uh because surprise, the land behind our house, which was just it was just a forest, it was just woods, privacy, it got sold to a development company, and they were gonna bulldoze all of that and build condos, and that was really gonna change our backyard and three years of construction going on behind our house, and we were like, eh, I don't, I don't think that's what we want to do. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:45.840 And so we said, hey, well, I said I made a mistake, and men just hear me on this. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.719 If you ever say to your wife, why don't you just look around and see if there are any houses you're gonna move? 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:54.400 Like, if you say that, because I was like, well, we may not move, it may not be that bad. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:55.199 Why don't you just look around? 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:58.080 And if you find something that you love, then we'll we'll we'll talk about it. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:02:59.919 No, you say that, you're moving. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:02.240 You are moving within three weeks. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:06.800 And so I said that to Megan and surprise, she found a house she loved really fast. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.680 And but it was great, it was really great, and I was actually excited about it. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:17.520 So we went ahead and we put an offer in, got accepted, moved out, moved in with her parents, all six of us in my family. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.240 Just imagine you empty nesters, your kids are gone. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.479 They might be back with four children one day. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:34.400 All right, so do not downsize until you're sure, or maybe downsize on the front end, so that you're like, ah, we would love to take you, but ha ha, we just have a one-bedroom, you know, it's not gonna work. 00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:37.280 Um we moved in, but here was the thing. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:38.800 We were only gonna be there for three weeks. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:48.560 Three weeks, it was gonna be three tough weeks, but the offer was already accepted, everything was in motion, our house was sold, everything was good, but uh, surprise. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:55.199 The the inspection on the house came back with some weird things, and the appraisal was all wonky, and and it sort of gave us pause. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:59.840 And as we thought about it more and learned some things, we're like, I don't really think so. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.520 And so we said, you know what, this just isn't the right house after all. 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:08.879 And surprise, took us another five months to find the right house. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.039 And so we lived with her parents for six months last year, supposed to be three weeks. 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.639 Surprise, six months later, we moved into our house. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:18.639 It was a year full of surprises. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:19.680 And I didn't want any. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:20.639 I didn't want one surprise. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:21.920 That was my whole goal last year. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.399 No surprises, predictable year. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.639 The crazy thing is that the one thing I was more certain of than not moving at the beginning of 2019 was not having more children. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:35.040 And in December, surprise, we've I'm just joking, we're not pregnant at all. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:39.360 Oh. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:45.839 Oh man, I'm sorry. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:47.600 The setup was so good. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:48.800 It was so good. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.720 Like, I saw you guys, you're like, he's got another, what are they doing, you know? 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:53.839 Man. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:00.639 Just so you guys know, like, those of you that don't have kids, some of us in the room, you're you want kids one day and you don't have yet, what happens is this? 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:02.800 You get pregnant with your first child, everyone freaks out. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.079 You tell your family members, your friends are like, oh my gosh, we're so excited. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.800 You know, the the excitement level goes down each child. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:16.399 By the time you get to your fourth, if you share with your friends and family that you're pregnant again, they they respond the same way as if you've just told them something tragic has happened in your life. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.439 You're like, we're pregnant again, they're like, oh, I'm I'm so sorry. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.000 Or you're gonna be okay. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:23.519 We're we're good. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:24.000 We're good. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:25.759 But it was a year of surprises. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:31.439 And that's the the truth is that we all we all deal with surprises all the time because we don't have 2020 vision. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:33.439 There are just certain situations we can't see it coming. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.480 There's no way we could, no matter how hard we try, we can't see it coming. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:41.279 How many of us have found ourselves in situations in life where we thought I never thought I would be here? 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:43.279 I never thought I'd be in this situation. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:44.959 I could not have predicted this. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:48.240 The hard thing is sometimes it's good. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.680 Like, like I was in love with my wife a long time before she was in love with me. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:56.800 That's this is the truth. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:04.399 I noticed Megan early, and I thought she was just awesome, and she showed zero interest for a good bit of time. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:04.879 None. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:06.480 I mean like none. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:11.439 And I never I never thought when we were together, it was like I never thought this would happen. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:13.519 I never thought I'd be in this place, and I was so excited. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:22.160 But then where the rubber meets the road is that often we find ourselves surprised not by good things, not by pleasantries, but by by hardship. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:27.120 We're surprised and we're thinking, man, I never thought I would have to go through this. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:33.600 I never thought this would be my situation, and I don't know exactly what to do. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:41.360 If we had 2020 vision, we would never find ourselves in those places because we would have seen it coming a mile away, but we don't. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.759 In and of ourselves. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.120 Here's the beauty of being a Jesus follower. 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:54.000 And I know that not all of us in the room are, but the beauty of being a Jesus follower is you don't have to live in and of yourself. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.920 In fact, you shouldn't. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:05.279 Because you have a relationship with the God who made you, and you have the ability now to live in and of Him. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.079 We call ourselves a Tree of Life Church. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:09.120 It's language that we use. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:11.439 It's been part of our history from pretty much the very beginning. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:15.439 There's a lot of language in Scripture of trees, a lot of metaphors you find. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:16.959 For example, I read this one pretty often. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:25.040 Jeremiah 17, 7 through 8 says, Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:29.120 They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:35.759 Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought, their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:44.800 That's what it means to live of God, not for God, not you doing your best in and of yourself to live a life that that pleases God. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.680 But it's you living of God, saying, Lord, I need you to to empower me. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:57.680 I'm rooted in a relationship with you, and so now it's your power, it's your love, it's your wisdom, it's your vision, not mine. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.279 We have the ability to live that way. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:13.360 And for the next few weeks, we're gonna talk about what it would look like for us to do that as much as possible, for us to live, not with our vision, which is greatly impaired, but but can we actually live with his vision for our lives? 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:16.879 Can we learn to see things the way that God sees things? 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.920 Can we learn to have his vision, his perspective? 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.439 And the answer is we can. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:22.720 We can all grow in that. 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:25.680 We can all have clearer vision than we have today. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.839 Because vision is pretty important. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.039 We've used a verse last week. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:35.840 It's the King James version of Proverbs 29:18. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:40.000 We don't use a lot of King James, but this is actually the most famous and well-known version of this verse. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:48.320 It says, Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth, you gotta love those iths in the King James, he that keepeth the law, happy is he. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.200 I want to park here for just a second and guys actually leave that up. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.480 I want you to focus on that word happy. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:57.440 Often gets translated joy. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:59.679 It's the Hebrew word for joy. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:01.759 Everybody wants to be happy. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.679 I've never met a person who doesn't. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.240 Everybody wants to be happy, everyone wants joy. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:13.360 The problem is, many people, most people in our world, their joy is it's at the discretion of their circumstances. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.600 And so they're happy when things are going really well, but when things aren't going well, not so much. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:23.200 And the hard thing about that is that the negative experiences in life tend to outweigh the positive, at least as far as the weight they carry. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.519 Maybe not in terms of how often they happen, but like think about it this way: you could be having an amazing day. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:33.200 Like a great day, and everything's going well, everything's clicking, and then one bad thing happens, and you're like, my day was horrible. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:33.840 You know? 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:34.320 Why? 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:35.840 Because one bad thing happened. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.080 Those negative situations, they they tend to carry a lot of weight for us. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:49.600 And so if our happiness, if our joy is at the discretion of our circumstances, that means we are actually making our circumstances our God and saying, please be good to me. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.919 And sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:57.759 But this does not tell us that our our happiness, that our joy is dependent on our circumstances. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:07.600 I have known people who have gone through circumstances and situations that by any logical standard should have them broken, should have them depressed, and yet they have hope and they have joy. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:13.279 And it's because they are not living in and of themselves, they're living by the power of God. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:18.720 It says where there is no vision, you know, didn't see that coming. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:19.679 Didn't see that coming. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:20.480 Tell you that. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.519 When there is no vision, the people perish. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.320 But he that keepeth the law happy is he. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:31.360 I want us to understand that joy is the end goal for God in your life. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.120 He wants you to enjoy your life. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:38.960 And so if you're not enjoying life, you're not living the life God has for you. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.600 Even if your circumstances are difficult, God's desire is that you would have joy. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.679 He wants you to enjoy 2020, he wants you to enjoy this decade, the 20s. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:49.279 We're living in the 20s now. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.279 He wants you to enjoy the 20s. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.080 He has good things for you. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:02.080 Experiences with him that he wants you to have that that you will always hold on to. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:03.200 That's his goal. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:09.440 But but what this is telling us is that in order for us to experience many of those, we gotta stay on track. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:10.960 A couple key words here. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:12.480 The word, the word perish. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.039 We hear that, we probably think of like physical perishing, you know, like you dying. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:20.720 Well, that's actually not what that word means in the original language. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.000 In the Hebrew language, the the word is literally to loosen. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.039 So with there's no vision, the people loosen. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:29.120 And it's it's talking about moral integrity. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.960 It's what it's always related to, that word. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:37.679 It means that without proper vision, people sort of go wild, spiral out of control. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.360 People kind of become their own gods. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:43.120 They just start doing whatever they feel is is best, whatever they feel is good. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:48.320 Our culture, by the way, tells us all the time that we should just trust our feelings and just do what we feel is right. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.039 Feelings are very elevated in our culture today, right? 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:52.080 We see that everywhere. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.639 And those of us in the room who are young, many of us are young, um, young is relative, obviously. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.960 We have a very diverse church age-wise, which is awesome. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:00.000 That's how it should be. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.759 But those of us who are young, just understand that your culture lies to you all the time. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.720 A lot of us are just old enough to have realized it at this point. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:10.559 And so your culture tells you that you should be yourself, and that's that's celebrated. 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.720 Your culture also tells you you should find yourself. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.240 How do you be yourself and find yourself at the same time? 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:18.159 It's impossible. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.320 And there's no way for me to be myself while finding myself because I haven't found myself. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:26.960 But if I don't know who myself is, how am I supposed to find myself and be myself if I've got to go find it? 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:28.639 It just doesn't make sense, right? 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:36.240 See, our culture tells us that in and of ourselves, we're the one that has the authority and the key to discovering what's going to bring us joy. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:37.279 Nope, that's not what this says. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.279 It says if you want that joy, you want that happiness, you need vision. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:46.879 Without it, you're just gonna go off track, off course, and it's gonna become self-destructive. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.960 That word for vision, that word does not mean your own personal vision. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:52.639 It doesn't mean like make goals for your life. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:57.039 Some of you guys are really goal-oriented people, like show of hands, and to remind me that you're still here. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.440 Uh, how many of you set a resolution at the beginning of this year? 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:07.200 You have a goal, a resolution, and you're working toward it for wow, we are not a goal-oriented church at all. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:12.000 Funny thing, and I don't know if there's anything to this, the first service was it was a lot more hands. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:13.759 And those are the people that wake up early. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.200 I'm just saying, okay? 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:16.559 Set goals. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.879 You guys are like, I just kind of get up and I don't know, just going with it. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:31.600 You know, how many of you are like, no, I've I've I've done the resolution thing, and my resolution is to never have another resolution because, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot more hands, a lot more hands. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:35.600 This this is not talking about that kind of vision. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:41.440 It's not talking about like you generating a vision for your life and setting goals and having dreams and aspirations. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:42.240 Nothing wrong with that. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.000 It's just not what this is talking about. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:47.759 This is not vision generated, it is it is vision given. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:52.399 In fact, more modern translations actually get the Hebrew better. 00:13:52.960 --> 00:14:02.080 So the New Living Translation, for example, says, Proverbs 29, 18, when people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.039 But whoever obeys the law is joyful. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.000 Now that that phrase law, that's referring to scripture. 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:16.240 That's what the people at the time of Proverbs being written would have called, would have been their shorthand version of the Torah, which was their Bible. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:19.440 It was just a long time before it was done. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:28.559 So what it's telling us is that if we if we want joy, if we want real joy, then we need to stay on track. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:39.120 And not just on a track that we have decided for ourselves, but we need to stay on a track that our God has prepared for us and wants to guide us through. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:41.919 That is the key to joy. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:47.120 And that that divine guidance comes in a variety of ways, but there are a few main ones. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:48.559 There's the Holy Spirit. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:59.840 Jesus promised us that if we put our faith in him, that God's Spirit would join with our spirit, that we would actually have the Spirit of God with us guiding us, teaching us, reminding us where to go, reminding us who he is, who we are, those kinds of things. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.240 And next week we're gonna talk a lot about the Holy Spirit. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:11.519 But the other the other primary means we have of divine guidance is what we usually call scripture, God's word, the Bible. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:13.919 Really important that we know that. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:23.120 I have found that when we don't know scripture, and this applies to me, when I don't know scripture like I should, it's very hard for me to discern whether or not I'm hearing from the Holy Spirit or my emotions. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:29.039 The better I know God's word, the better I am at recognizing, like, no, that's God. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:30.559 That's God. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:48.320 What this verse is telling us is that in order to have joy, in order to stay on track, to not go off track, to not spiral out of control and self-destruct, we need to accept, value, submit, learn all the words you want to use to the divine guidance of God. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:53.200 We have a word that kind of sums up that divine guidance thing, it's called revelation. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:54.480 Revelation. 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:59.200 There are certain truths that we cannot observe on our own. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:01.360 We need them to be revealed to us. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:06.960 There are certain truths about life that we can just observe, and we we can learn the hard way. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:12.240 We can have life happen to us, and we we take our lessons and we go, and there's a lot of value in that wisdom. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:16.960 You can read books, galore, about human wisdom, and human wisdom has its place, absolutely. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.840 But there are certain things that human wisdom just can't figure out. 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:21.360 We need something more. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:31.840 For example, 1 Corinthians tells us this, chapter 1, verse 21, since God and his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.799 He's used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.759 The message of Jesus was considered by many to just be foolishness. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:52.399 Like, you tell me, you tell me that God, all right, God, because for centuries people had thought about God, talked about God, theology was a thing, and people had come to all kinds of conclusions about who God is and what God must value and how God would operate, and most agreed that God's up here and we're down here. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:59.519 One of the things that makes the faith of the Hebrews really unique is that God loves us and is for us. 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:10.240 In most cultures, most ancient cultures, the gods or God, like didn't have a high opinion of people at all and would often do things to us almost to torture us for their amusement. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:18.079 But but no one, didn't matter if it was the Hebrew culture or or or the other cultures, no one envisioned God as like Jesus. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:22.720 The idea that God would give up being God to come and be one of us. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:24.720 That's crazy. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:30.640 And when Jesus showed up, the people who were supposed to be the experts on God, they took one look at Jesus and they were like, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.640 No, no, no, no, no way. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:36.960 There's no way that God is a carpenter's son from Nazareth. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.119 Nazareth was Jesus' hometown. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:43.680 It literally translates in the language of the culture at that time to stick town. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.000 Jesus was from the sticks. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.640 Like, seriously. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:49.759 Seriously. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:57.039 I I heard a pastor talk about that years ago, and it like blew me away because you know, I'm someone who's lived in cities and I've also lived in the sticks. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.039 Like I'm from the Ozarks in Missouri. 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:00.240 It's the sticks. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.640 I can't, you know the show, my name is Earl? 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.240 You ever see that show back in the day? 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:05.119 I can't watch it. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.160 It's my family. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.079 It's like I can't do it. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:11.279 It just reminds me of cousins and uncles, and it's weird. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.519 I gotta turn it off. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.559 You know, like I've I've experienced both of those. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:22.559 And no one would expect God to live in the sticks. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:29.839 So Jesus shows up, and the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they're like, nope, their human wisdom made them blind to who Jesus actually was. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.039 But what we have to understand is that this is what the plan was from all along. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:36.160 God says, no, no, no, you're never gonna figure out what I have in store. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:40.480 You're never gonna figure out who I actually am by means of your own observation. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.400 Human wisdom, it falls short. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.920 You need me to reveal to you things that you can never observe. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.799 Revelation is greater than observation. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:55.920 And if we really want to have the joy that God has for us, we need to value the revelation of God. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.440 We need to value his word. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:03.039 God's word is, guys, it's powerful. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.759 It's so, so powerful. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:14.720 Psalm 119, verse 105 says that God's word is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:18.720 I know you guys got up pretty late, but uh, I'm just teasing you. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.319 I'm sorry I stopped. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:23.680 But is anyone get up early enough this morning to experience the fog? 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.519 It was it was really intense. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:26.799 It's really intense. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:36.960 So I got up super early this morning, and I one of the things I do on Sundays is before before the sun comes up, I'm in my car and I'm driving to Dunkin' Donuts to get donuts for my family. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:47.839 We're very health conscious on Sundays, and and uh that way whenever the kids wake up, it's like here, have a donut, and uh, you know, it's our way of saying, we're sorry you have to get up so early because you're pastor's kids. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:58.160 And uh, and so, you know, the the sun wasn't up yet, and man, when it was dark and foggy, if I didn't have lights on the front of my car, like there's just I would I'd be dead. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.680 It was, and it was like I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:09.920 Well, this is telling us that God's word, that the truth revealed in scripture, it's like a it's like a light, it's like headlights for life. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.640 And without it, we are we are blind. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:14.480 We really, really need it. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:24.720 2 Timothy 3.16 says that all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is right, what is true, to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:28.720 It corrects us when we are wrong and it teaches us to do what is right. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.160 Now, many of us have the wisdom at least to know that we need some correction from time to time. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:39.599 Like, I doubt many of you get angry at your GPS when it tells you that you've made a wrong turn. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:46.480 Like maybe you do for a second, but aren't you grateful that it tells you to turn around before you get too far in the wrong direction? 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:53.599 I'm I'm double blessed in life because I have my my phone, it the voice it talks to me in is a female voice. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.839 It tells me that I need to reroute, make a U-turn. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.440 But I also usually have my wife next to me who just piles on. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:05.839 And so I make a wrong turn and it says rerouting, make a U-turn, and Megan's like, hey, you're on the wrong road, you need to turn around. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:07.440 And I'm like, I I know. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.839 And I'm just great, I have two voices telling me that I did the wrong thing all the time. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:13.759 It's great, it's wonderful, I love it. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.200 And uh, because I I need that, I actually I need correction, I get off track, I need rerouted from time to time. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:31.119 We all do, and scripture has this amazing ability, because it's truth, to reroute us in life, to keep us from going off track, from running wild. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:39.440 Now, I recognize that this is not a culturally uh valued opinion. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.880 That like we should really just do what scripture says more often. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:50.799 That's not something you're probably gonna hear spoken by our culture, because it kind of goes against the idea that we're our own gods and we can do whatever we feel is best. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.960 And you are the authority, like young people in the room. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:58.079 You live in a world telling you that you, all of us really, I think young because I'm old enough finally to not feel young. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.359 Um, it's first time I've been able to say, Young people and it not apply to me. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:01.920 It's great. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:07.279 And here's how you know, by the way, when that happens the moment you have a doctor that is younger than you, that is a crazy experience, by the way. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.880 Happened to me like two months ago. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:18.160 I'm I'm in a doctor's office, and this guy comes in, and I'm like, he's like, I thought is your boss about to walk in the door? 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.880 I never had a doctor younger than me, and it freaked me out. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:22.160 I'm like, oh, I'm old now. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:22.880 Okay, cool. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:23.440 This is good. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.200 I got gray hairs, it's all happening. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:35.200 Um but like those of us who are young, you're you're told so often that you are the authority for your life, that it's up to you to figure out who you are. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:41.599 It's up to you to figure out who you really are deep down inside, and then project that to the world and tell the world, this is who I am. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:46.079 And I just want you to understand that don't make yourself your own God. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:47.920 We are not good at being God. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:52.720 History is literally littered with stories of people who tried to be, and it never goes well. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.440 You're not the one who created you, you're not the one who wired you. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:02.319 And the closer you are to the one who did those things, that's how you find out who you really are. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:08.720 But our culture doesn't tell us, yeah, yeah, just open up the word and study it and do what God says. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:10.319 That's not something you're gonna hear. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:16.480 Our culture goes far the opposite of that, and what's really cool is that it gives us the ability to test whether or not scripture is true. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.400 There's a verse in the Bible that says, test everything and hold on to what is good. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:28.240 We can test this because Proverbs 29, 18, it says, hey, when you don't value divine guidance, when you don't follow the law, the word, right? 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.559 All these are synonyms, if you don't go that way, then you'll you'll be out of control and everything's gonna crash. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:34.480 And and we can actually say, okay, is that actually true? 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:35.440 Is that how things work? 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:38.880 And and we have example after example in our culture of how that is true. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.079 For example, this is kind of awkward. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.319 Um, the sexual revolution of the 1960s. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.920 Let's talk about that for a minute in church. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:52.000 Um, what was great is in the first service, uh, the the band came out, like right now, this would be the moment. 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:55.839 And I was like, guys, please do not start playing music while I talk about sex. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:58.799 That's just gonna be real weird for everybody. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:01.599 And they were like, oh, all right, Miss Q, cool, we're good. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:03.440 And so it's not happening now. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:23.599 Um you know, I want to say this real quick disclaimer anytime we we talk about a specific type of sin issue, there's a tendency for many of us in the room to begin to feel discouraged, shame, guilt, things like that, because when we bring up things like this, um the child just ran across the hall. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:25.519 I was freaked me out. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:34.880 Um we uh we have a tendency to if if we're someone who has had missteps in that area, we're like, oh, I'm gonna sit here, I'm gonna feel guilty, I'm gonna feel shame. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:40.720 I want us to understand in order for us to experience the life God wants us to have, we've got to talk real life sometimes. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.359 But when we talk real life, it brings up baggage because we've we've all made mistakes. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.319 Shame and guilt have zero place in this room. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:53.279 If you ever feel shame or guilt in this room, that is not from God, that is not from God. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.279 Because all of us have gone off course. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:59.440 I mean, Romans 3.23, it's classic scripture. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.599 Everyone has fallen short, everyone has sinned. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:03.119 We've all fallen short of God's glorious standard. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:03.920 That's all of us. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:11.519 And so if we talk about something and this is a part of your life where you're like, oh man, I've I've made mistakes in this, whatever, um, yeah, join the club. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.920 You should never feel shame or guilt here. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.640 And here's why: God has given us boundaries for life. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.559 And he's also given us the choice to operate within those boundaries or to go outside them. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:25.920 Now, when you go outside of the boundaries of God, you are stepping outside of his wisdom, and that does put you at risk. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.799 But it never puts you outside of the boundaries of his love. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:35.039 You are never ever at risk for being outside the boundaries of God's love for you because his love has no bounds. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:39.200 Jesus accomplished that on the cross, it was paid for by his blood. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:44.559 So no one in this room ever gets to feel like God doesn't love them. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.039 And if you do, we get to be like, stop it. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:48.480 Because he does. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:56.960 But many of us can say, yeah, I've I've stepped outside of the boundaries of his wisdom, and there's prices to pay there because what he wants is he wants the best for us. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:58.079 And this is an example of that. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.920 So here's what I'm talking about. 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:15.519 For most of our country's history, the cultural sexual ethic, we might say, lined up very closely with what we find prescribed in in scripture in the New Testament, which essentially is like find your person, marry them, be monogamous in that order. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:16.720 Do it that way. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.079 Now, not everyone did it that way. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:19.599 Some people tried and fell short of that. 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:21.359 That's that's a difficult thing to do. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:22.880 Some people didn't try at all. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:29.200 Uh, some people didn't try at all, but acted like they did try, and some people did it and then made other people who didn't do it feel ashamed. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:29.759 Right? 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:36.000 So a lot of people get it wrong, but the point is the culturally prescribed way of doing things would have lined up with scripture. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:39.920 People in culture would have said, yeah, yeah, that's it, it's not easy, but that's definitely the way to do it. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:41.039 Do it that way. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:43.359 Until about the 1960s. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:47.039 And then the sexual revolution of the 60s happened and everything changed. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:50.000 And all of a sudden it was like, forget that. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.640 Let's just figure this whole thing out ourselves. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:03.279