WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.000 So a few years ago, the Tim Tebow Foundation started this event called A Night to Shine. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:10.800 And what they do is they put on essentially like a prom this to the nines incredible experience for special needs kids all over the world. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:15.279 And this year we're partnering with the Tim Tebow Foundation and Woodstock First Baptist, which is really cool. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.519 Church is working together, like that should happen a lot. 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:23.199 And we're putting on a night to shine together here in Woodstock, and it takes place here in just a couple of months, here in February, actually. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:28.239 And so we talked about it a lot at the end of the year, but in case you weren't here, there is still time to get involved. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:29.280 We need volunteers. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.320 It's gonna take about 2,000 volunteers to pull this off. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:34.000 That's how big it is, which is exciting. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:37.920 And we need people to help with everything from parking to setting up and tearing down. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.840 And if you're someone that does hair and makeup, like they need they need help with that. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:48.640 Um, every single special needs child that comes to this event has has a buddy, has someone that's with them the whole time to make sure that they have everything they need. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:50.000 That might be something you want to do. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:51.920 There are so many different ways to get involved. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:56.000 If you want to get involved, do us a favor, go to our website, hishandschurch.com. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.479 You'll see a link to a night to shine right on the homepage. 00:00:58.560 --> 00:00:58.960 Click that. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.759 You can fill out a form, or you can text Shine to that number. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.879 It's the same number we always have you text to, and we'll give you the information. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.079 We'll send you a link that you can sign up via that route if you want as well. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:18.879 But that's coming up soon, so let's just be praying for that, praying that God uses that to touch a lot of people, to show them who they are in his eyes, just like we we just sang, to show them who they are in God's eyes, who he says they are. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.959 All right, I want to start the message this morning with a weird question. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.719 I'm just gonna let you know on the forefront. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:26.400 This is a very bizarre question. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.239 Um, what are your thoughts on cannibalism? 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.480 That's a weird question, right? 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:40.640 So someone just said delicious in the front row and makes me nervous. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:41.599 All right. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:56.560 So that that question actually has uh like a personal connection for me, oddly enough, because when I interviewed here to work here 12 years ago, the very first question that Steve, who was the the lead pastor in those days, the very first question he ever asked me. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.799 I'd never met him before, never talked to him, not once. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.079 First question out of his mouth. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.000 What are your thoughts on cannibalism? 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:04.480 And uh I didn't I didn't know what to say. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:06.560 I'm like, what in the what kind of question is this? 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.800 I I was so nervous about interviewing here. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:10.080 I wanted to be here so badly. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:12.240 I I saw what God was doing here, and I wanted to be here. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.599 I was 23 years old, very little experience, didn't think I had a chance. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:18.240 I thought through all the possible questions he might ask. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:19.520 I I, you know, practiced. 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:27.280 I was like, oh, if he asked about this, I'll say this, you know, and and I was thinking maybe he might ask something like really deep and theological, like, what are my beliefs about this and cannibalism? 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:28.319 That's the question. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:32.080 And it caught me off guard, and I think that was the purpose, that was the point. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:38.800 We have always had a culture as a church where we take God very seriously, but we do not take ourselves very seriously. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.319 And I think he wanted to make sure that I was I was okay with that. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.039 Um, my answer, by the way, was I'm against it. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.159 I took like three seconds and I said, I'm against it. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:49.360 And hopefully we all are. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.280 Hopefully that's something we're all against. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:52.719 You know, it was just a joke. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:58.479 He asked it as a joke, but but honestly, for those of you who are employers, it is really good to have a cannibal free workplace. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.319 So feel free to throw that question in your interview process. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:07.919 I'll never forget the process of me interviewing to be here because it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:08.960 It was just bizarre. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:10.479 I I never had anything like it. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:12.800 I interviewed with like 13 different people. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.080 I kept talking to different people. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.000 They'd be like, hey, we want you to meet with this person and talk. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.080 And I'd be like, okay, and we go out to lunch, and I go out with this person, and then hey, this person wants to talk to you. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:21.120 Go talk with them for a little while. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:27.039 One day, they had me come to the building because they wanted me to meet with a guy named Penn, who was our children's pastor back in those days. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.960 And Penn had two electric scooters, and he said, Hey, hop on, let's ride around the building as we talk. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.759 I'd never ridden an electric scooter in my life. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.400 I was like semi-terrified because they go pretty fast. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:44.879 And I was not prepared to ride around this building on an electric scooter having a conversation with a man I'd never met before. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:46.719 It was just, it was just odd. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:47.680 It was just odd. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:52.240 And it culminated, it culminated with Megan and I getting in our car to go back to Kansas City. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:59.120 Steve and Susan, who started the church, they said, Hey, we'll be in touch, but but before we talk with you again, we want you to listen to these three messages. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:00.879 And they handed us three CDs. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:05.840 And they said, Listen to those three messages because those messages will really help you understand the culture of our church. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:07.520 And we want you to listen to those before we talk. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.280 We said, okay, we decided we just listened to them on our drive back to Kansas City. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.000 And I remember we put the first CD in and it was blank. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:14.960 There was nothing on it. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:17.680 And Megan was like, oh, someone made a mistake. 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:19.920 And I said, Oh, no, no, no, not these people. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:22.480 You know, no, no, no, no. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:26.240 Not these electric scooter cannibal question people. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:27.040 No, no, no. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.160 This is right in line with the way this whole process has been. 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:31.360 I bet this is a test. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.759 They're gonna say, What'd you think of those three messages? 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:35.839 And if I say they're great, they'll go, aha. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.160 One of them was a decoy. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.040 You're a liar, and we will not hire you. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.399 Um turns out no, one was just a mistake. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.360 Um wasn't a big plan. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.319 The second message we listened to, I do not remember at all. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:52.000 I can't tell you what Steve talked about. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:54.079 I can't remember a single thing about it. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.920 That's probably because the third message deeply, deeply impacted my life. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.639 The third message was this teaching that Steve gave on the tree of life. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:11.199 And it was a message that really became a foundational teaching for who we are as a church. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:19.439 You walk around the building, you see all the tree paintings, our youngest area of kids is called the garden, then we have the grove, then we have the tree house. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.160 There's all this tree imagery, yet we're his hands. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:37.040 And that's because that the Holy Spirit gave Steve this teaching on the tree of life really early on in our church's history, and it became a huge foundational part of who we are and the way that we want to relate with God and approach God and know God. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.319 And I'm a I'm a kid who who grew up in church for the most part. 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:42.560 We started going to church in the fourth grade when I was in the fourth grade. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.759 My parents were way older than that. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:53.360 Um, started going to church when I was in the fourth grade because our neighbor invited us to church, and the very next week he was arrested by the police, and so he seemed like a really nice guy. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:55.759 He invited my family, he said, You guys should come to our church. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:56.959 And we said, Okay, he's great. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:05:59.040 And then the police came and took him away, and we never saw him again. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:00.319 But we kept going to the church. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:01.920 Kept going to the church. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:09.199 And so, you know, maybe he's in a jail cell right now, being like, I really messed up, but he's got something working for him. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:10.319 Like, our family went to church. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:11.120 That's good. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.439 And I grew up in church, and I remember the story of Adam and Eve and the tree of life. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:16.639 You probably heard the story. 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:23.920 Even if you haven't grown up in church, you've heard the story of the tree of life, the garden of Eden, the forbidden fruit, all that stuff. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.519 It gets told all the time in lots of different ways. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:28.399 We find it in scripture in Genesis chapter 2, really early on. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:30.240 It's one of the first stories that we're given. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.680 It says, Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:35.759 And there he placed the man he had made. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:40.800 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground, trees that were beautiful, that produced delicious fruit. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:45.040 In the middle of the garden, he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:48.319 There are these two very, very specific trees, very important trees. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:53.600 In Genesis 2.15, it goes on to say the Lord God placed man in the garden to tend and watch over it. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.720 But the Lord God warned him, you may eat freely from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.279 If you eat its fruits, you are sure to die. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:09.680 One of my downfalls as a leader sometimes is that I'm really bad at giving specific instructions. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:11.759 I speak in very general statements. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.879 So I might say something to the team like, Hey, let's really bring out the big guns. 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:15.920 And they're like, What does that mean? 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.120 I'm like, I don't know. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.759 Um I think just do your best, you know? 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:20.800 Like, yeah. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.240 Uh God's not like that. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:24.399 God gives very specific instructions. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:26.959 He's like, hey, see all these trees? 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:28.079 Have at it. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:29.519 See that one tree? 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.240 Don't. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.079 If you do, you'll die. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.000 You cannot be more clear than that. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:35.839 And yet, you know the story. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:37.040 You've heard this before. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:37.920 How does it end? 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:39.759 They stay away from the tree. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:41.120 They listen to God's warnings. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.399 They they live connected to Him. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:43.279 It's great, it's wonderful. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:43.759 No. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:46.639 They eat from that, that stupid tree. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:48.639 They eat the forbidden fruit. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.319 Everything kind of goes to pot. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:52.160 It's just it's the story of humanity. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.560 And that's how I read that story growing up in church. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:00.480 Every time I'd hear it, every time I'd open up my Bible and read Genesis, I'd be like, oh, that's a story of how mankind just can't get it right. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:05.360 Mankind messes up, God makes a perfect world, He hands it to us, and we just mess it up. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:06.560 That's what we do. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:10.319 That's about as deep as that story had ever penetrated my heart. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:12.240 That's about it. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.920 But I put this CD in my car driving to Kansas City, Missouri, 12 years ago. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.879 And I heard Steve give this message on the tree of life. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:34.480 And it's a message that used the tree of life to frame God's God's heart for people, his intention for our relationship with us, this symbol of what it actually looks like to have a life-giving relationship with God. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:36.960 I never heard a teaching like it. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:38.480 It literally changed my life. 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:40.559 It became this filter that I started looking at life through. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:42.240 Am I living at the right tree? 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.720 And this morning I want us to go back to that teaching. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:52.879 I want us to revisit something that the Holy Spirit gave us years and years ago. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:09:00.960 You know, at the beginning of a year, we have a lot of words that begin with the letters Ari that we get excited about, or maybe we don't get excited about, but we think we need them, like resolution. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.840 You know, we want to be re-energized, we want to be renewed, we want to be rejuvenated. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:11.519 Well, sometimes the best way to have that happen is just to revisit something that God has already said. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.080 And so I want to do that this morning. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:16.480 And and some of you maybe you've never met Steve before. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:23.120 Um, a couple years ago, Steve came by here and we sat down and interviewed him and we filmed him talking about the history of our church. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.879 We were having our 10-year anniversary at the time. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:35.600 And so we brought Steve in, and one of the things he talked about at length was the tree of life and this teaching that God gave us, gifted to us as a church that's defined who we are. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:42.399 And so what I want to do for just a few minutes is show you a clip from that interview, give you a chance to hear it directly from the horse's mouth. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.240 In this case, the horse is Steve. 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.559 Um and uh, you know, he's probably gonna listen to this and said, You call me a horse, and you know what? 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:49.600 He owes me ten bucks. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:54.000 And so I'm he actually doesn't uh at all. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:55.039 I don't know why I said that. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.679 But uh but he's he's the horse in this analogy. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.120 So let's listen to the horse and then we'll come back together and keep talking. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:02.159 Sound good? 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:16.559 Understanding the tree of life and God's word, I think, is the key to understanding all of God's word. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:20.240 It's actually the key to understanding our relationship with God. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:27.759 Um there's a tree at the very beginning of the Bible in the garden, the tree of life. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:36.320 There's two trees of life at the very end of the Bible in Revelation, they're on either side of uh of a river. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:47.039 In fact, those leaves of those two trees of life heal the world, it says, that heal the nations, or the world is as we would say it. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:57.759 But the story of the tree of life is so misunderstood, and God so clearly started uh his communication with us with that story. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:59.360 And so you know the story. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:07.919 The there's this uh beautiful garden, Adam and Eve are there, they've got a relationship with God, they walk with him in the morning, they talk with him. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:15.039 Uh they're completely free, they're not worried about what they're wearing, they're not worried about their appearance. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:25.440 Uh they've got someone that they love, they're in a loving relationship with God, they're in a beautiful place, they've got responsibilities that they enjoy. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.080 And there's two trees in the garden. 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:31.919 One is this tree of life that God says, you know, you can eat freely from this tree. 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:37.600 Come, you can, you know, picnic under the tree, you can just uh be with this tree of life. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.399 And uh the other tree had this forbidden fruit. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:47.279 It was the one that if you eat from this tree, it it says you will surely die. 00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:53.120 And so when we think of this tree, we have a lot of things to jump in our mind. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:54.720 You know, what kind of forbidden fruit? 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:56.240 Is that a sexual sin? 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:57.600 Is that greed? 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.519 Is that envy? 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.919 You know, what what types of possible things could be this forbidden fruit? 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.639 But the tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.600 Uh it was simply the rules. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.960 Uh that is the tree that would cause death. 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:21.679 You know, Satan came along and said, hey, this will make you like God or godly, we would say, if you just know the rules. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:28.799 But God and his ultimate wisdom and how he created us, uh, he knew that we had this choice. 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:37.519 The choice was do we want to be in relationship with God, a life-giving, loving relationship, or do we want to focus on the rules? 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:48.879 And so Adam and Eve got to choose for us, and they didn't do so bad because we've all made the same choice, probably would have made that same choice in their position. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:55.039 But they chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and immediately uh things changed. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:02.240 Uh, all of a sudden, you know, what they wore was good or it was bad, how they looked was good or how or or or was bad. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:06.080 Everything was through this filter of good or bad. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.799 And and and so from that sprung the old law. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:36.480 And so we look at God, many of us, I would say most people, and we view God as schizophrenic, and we don't really understand it, and we're not sure which God to believe, because we've got this harsh, mean God in the Old Testament that would uh wipe out nations, he would do all these types of things, he would demand all these types of things, and then all of a sudden Jesus comes along, and he's nothing like that. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:43.120 You know, he's loving, he's merciful, he's compassionate, he's for the uh for the for the underdog. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.759 So so what should which is the real God? 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:50.320 And the question is not which is the real God, the question is which is the right tree. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.480 Because what God was giving us was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:55.600 Here's the rules. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:14:03.440 This is what happens when you decide that you're gonna justify when I decide I'm gonna justify myself by the rules. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:10.080 And you know, sometimes whole nations aren't living by the rules, and so in that case, I guess they get wiped out. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:17.120 Thankfully, the New Testament talks about Jesus coming and and and preaching to people and saving whole nations. 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:21.919 But the the point is God has never been a schizophrenic God. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.679 He's never been an unloving God. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:31.440 That even in the Old Testament, a lot of people he healed, a lot of people he blessed weren't even necessarily Jewish people that even knew his law. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:34.480 There are people with good hearts that were seeking him. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:45.759 Um and so the the idea that we can pursue right and wrong, that where most religion falls. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.320 It's this is good, this is bad. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.600 Do good, you're good with God, do bad, you're not. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.039 And that is living at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:02.000 Well what we need to do, and I think with his hands, what we try our best to do is live at the tree of life. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.480 We're encouraging each other. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.080 We're talking about the good things. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:10.480 You know, Paul goes on to discourse in the New Testament saying, he lists all the all these good stuff. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:12.639 He says, think on these things, you know? 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:17.600 And so that's that's the place to live, is at the tree of life. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:22.639 And so when Jesus comes along, over and over he calls himself life. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:28.320 Um, and then now all of a sudden, we're not under this curse that Adam and Eve chose. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.320 We get to choose ourselves. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.799 We get to decide where we want to live. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.320 Do I want to live in shame? 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:36.080 Do I want to live in guilt? 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.320 Do I want to live in remorse? 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.759 Do I want to live separating myself from God's love? 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:45.200 Uh or do I want to pick the tree of life? 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:46.399 Is that where I want to live? 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:52.000 Do I want to get back where I can picnique under that tree, where I can eat that fruit, where I can hang out with God? 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:58.559 There's a natural pull in the world to get away from the tree of life, to get back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:06.000 But if somehow together as a family, we can all say, hey, no, we're gonna live at the tree of life, it it changes everything. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:13.200 And and God sharing that with us has changed my life, it's changed the church, you know, it's done so much. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:24.879 I think that uh Marlin took that uh message from from the Holy Spirit and uh painted all these beautiful uh trees. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:35.679 The the first one uh he did um was when When God Laughs, and it's one that I have, and and uh cherries, you can see them all through the halls. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.399 And if it's somebody's first time here, you might be what's with all the the trees, and that's what it is. 00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:49.039 It's just different depictions of the tree of life and how we're committed uh with God's help to live at that tree. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:50.000 And thankful. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.440 I'm I mean, just thankful that God would show that to us. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:03.039 And so we can no longer be living under that curse of the rules, but enjoy the freedom and life of a real relationship with God. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:16.880 You know, Steve's still one of my absolute best friends and uh this mentor in my life. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:18.319 He was my pastor for seven years. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.000 I'm really grateful to him, and I'm grateful that he heard from the Holy Spirit. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:27.599 That's one of the things that I learned from Steve and Susan is to value what God says above anything else. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:35.200 And if God speaks something and it's clear and it's discerned, and and wise people who are godly, who walk closely with the Lord, they they are in agreement with that. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:38.000 Then you you go with that even if everyone else disagrees. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:47.359 And they did a great job starting this church, and I'm so glad that that teaching is something that God gave to them because, like I said, it became this whole filter for my life. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:53.599 I heard that teaching for the first time and I realized that even though I love the Lord greatly, I was living at the wrong tree almost all the time. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:18:08.400 That my life was really defined by striving, by me trying in my own strength, out of my own effort, out of my own desires and willpower to live the life that God wanted me to live. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:20.319 Or sometimes it was some goal that I had in my mind, something that I wanted to accomplish, not something that God had necessarily told me to do or put in my heart, but just something I wanted to do, and with my own strength, my own willpower, I'm gonna make this happen. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:27.839 And every time I did that, I was making the same choice that Adam and Eve made, the same choice that I looked at and condemned and thought they were idiots for making in the first place. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.119 I made that choice all the time. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:45.200 Because I live my life essentially saying, hey, I can figure this out, I can do this, I've got this, I can work hard enough and I can strive and I can I can apply myself and I can use all that I have, all my intellect, all my ability, all my talent, and I can make it happen. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:50.880 And when we do that, even when we're doing that for God, we're living at the wrong tree. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.000 And that kind of life, that's exhausting. 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:55.359 That's exhausting. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:57.200 I mean, how many of us have started a year? 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:58.799 Here we are at the beginning of a year. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:02.160 How many of us have started a year having this list of things that we're gonna do? 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:03.680 And maybe they're all good things. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:05.519 I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:06.480 Maybe they're they're great things. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:19.680 Maybe it's like I'm gonna be a better father, I'm gonna be a better mother, a better spouse, I'm gonna be a better employee, I'm gonna work harder, I'm gonna be healthier, I'm gonna spend more time with God, and we we have all these things that we want to do, and they're good things. 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.880 But remember, it wasn't just the tree of the knowledge of evil, it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:31.200 Even us striving to do good things in our own strength is often our downfall. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.480 And we get tired and burned out. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.200 That's why Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary, who are burned out on religion. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:49.039 How many of us have started a year with lofty expectations and goals, and just a few months out, we're exhausted because we're doing it in our own strength. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:55.440 I don't know about you, but I want to have a life that's spent at the right tree. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.240 I want my 2019 to be a tree of life year. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.279 I want to live at the right tree. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:08.079 I want a relationship with God that's defined by the love and the work that He wants to do in and through me. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:09.839 You can think about a healthy tree. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:14.400 There's never been a healthy tree or a tree if it could talk that would tell you if you asked it. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.839 If you walked up to a tree and in this scenario, this this tree can talk. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:18.720 Are we are we all together? 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:19.440 Were you with me on this? 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:20.240 It's a weird scenario. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:22.240 So you go up to the tree and you say, Hey, are you tired? 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:24.000 And that tree says, I'm exhausted. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:25.119 Because you know what? 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:26.960 At the beginning of the year, I set some goals. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:39.119 I decided at the beginning of the year that I'm gonna grow two feet and I'm gonna I'm gonna develop new branches, I'm gonna produce more fruit than I've ever produced before, and I have been busting it since the beginning of the year, doing everything I can, everything I can to accomplish this. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:44.160 But the weather is not cooperating, and there have been storms and it's been really hard, but I'm just I'm spent. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.880 There's no tree that would answer you like that. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.880 Because the growth that a tree has, it's organic, it's being done within it. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.960 It's this beautiful, mysterious thing. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.839 But the Bible describes the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives very much the same way. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:10.160 That the Holy Spirit, God's actual spirit that lives inside of you when you give your life to Jesus, that the Holy Spirit will produce wonderful fruit in your life, that the Holy Spirit will grow you and mature you. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:15.279 It's not on your own strength, it's the work of God in you, and it's relaxing. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:16.799 There's freedom. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:18.960 You can breathe, it's enjoyable. 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:31.039 I spent my 2018 doing a lot of reflecting, a lot of prayer about where we are as a church and who we are and where we're going, because in so many ways we've grown. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:37.519 We've got a lot more people, we've got a lot of things that we're doing in the community that a few years ago we were never doing. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:38.880 I mean, we're doing a lot of good. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:39.920 I'm proud of this church. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.599 I believe God's proud of this church. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:44.559 And it's good for us to have all these things. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:51.279 In the next few weeks, we're gonna talk about the start of community groups, and we're gonna talk about classes that we have coming up and all kinds of things that are gonna happen this year. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:53.519 We're gonna have so many ways for you to get plugged in and get involved. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:54.319 It's gonna be great. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:58.480 But I want to make sure that even as a church, we don't try to do a lot of good things. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.279 With good intentions, but wander away from the tree of life. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:13.440 That we need to be intentional, corporately and individually, that we're living at the right tree and we're letting God do the work in us and through us. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:16.319 And so we're gonna talk about our church this way. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:17.920 Really simply. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.039 We're his hands, a tree of life church. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.680 We're a tree of life church. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:30.640 In fact, I talked to a few artists who go here, there's so many talented people here, and uh and asked them if they could come up with like a graphic, an image that just represented that. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:32.559 And this is actually what they they came up with. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.160 Um I'm actually wearing it on a shirt. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.200 You can get those at the source if you want, but any second, there you go. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.599 Um that cool, by the way. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.359 Don't you wish if you're someone who can't draw, you're like, yeah, draw. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:49.359 And so Marlin painted a painting, and then he took that and we gave that to Matt, who leads our worship team. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:55.920 A lot of you may not know this, but Matt's like, he's super annoying because he is hyper talented. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:05.759 He can he can sing, he can play guitar, he can play, he's an amazing drummer, he can paint, he does all the digital art for the church pretty much, and he's like the most humble person I know, which makes him like super annoying. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:06.480 You know what I mean? 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:09.920 Because like just a little bit of pride would be okay, but none. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:10.799 He's got like none. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:25.200 No, he he took that from Marlin, he did some work on it, and then he got to a point where he handed it to this artist named Britney, who actually lives in Nashville, but she's been part of our church for years, still comes back here when she visits, and she kind of finished it up, and this was their collaborative effort, is is his hands a tree of life church. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:29.519 We're going to spend our year at the tree of life. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:35.200 And my prayer for you is that this year would be a tree of life year for you. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:48.160 That you would spend your time sitting at the feet of Jesus, letting him speak into your life, letting him breathe his spirit into you, letting him do the work, letting him do the heavy lifting. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:54.799 That you could come to him and give him the burden of being the one who has to do it all and accomplish it all, and you could rest and let him do the work within you. 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:58.559 I want I want all of us to spend our year at the right tree. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:06.799 Back in in June, I was praying about this and reading the Bible, which by the way is a really good thing to do, especially in tandem. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.480 Pray, read scripture, pray, read scripture. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:09.759 It's like God speaks through it or something. 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:10.960 It's what he does. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:12.319 He speaks through his word. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:18.000 And I get to Isaiah, who's this prophet that lived centuries before Jesus, yet talked about Jesus a lot, which is really cool. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.799 And I read this collection of verses, two verses. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:24.960 They jumped off the page to me, probably because I was praying about this very thing and the tree of life. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:26.480 And Lord, have we gotten away from this? 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:28.640 And how can we really intentionally get back to this? 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:30.720 And what does it even look like to be a tree of life church? 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:32.799 And God, why aren't we just called tree of life church? 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:38.960 Because we're his hands, and there's all these paintings of trees, and it drives me nuts, you know, and I hadn't seen that picture yet, or this picture, whatever. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:41.680 So I was just praying about all this stuff, and that's probably why this jumped off. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:43.200 The Holy Spirit spoke through it. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.759 Isaiah 37, 31 through 32. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:55.119 You who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, he's prophesying about the people of God at that time who had been greatly, greatly hurt. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:01.440 He says, You will put roots down in your own soil, you will grow up and flourish. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:06.160 For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.920 The passionate commitment of the Lord of heaven's armies will make this happen. 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.039 And if you look at that, it's a picture of a tree. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.119 He's painting this picture of a tree. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.440 He says, You will put your roots down. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.039 You will grow up and flourish. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:25.680 Some translations say, grow up and bear fruit, you'll mature. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:27.200 He says, You will spread out. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.240 Think about the branches of a tree. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:28.799 What are they doing? 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:29.519 They're spreading out. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:32.000 We might say in our vernacular, reach out. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:38.079 And here I am in June, and I'm I'm praying about coming back to the tree of life and how we all need to do that. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:39.039 We've got to live at the right tree. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:40.000 And Lord, what does that look like? 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:40.559 What does that mean? 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.000 Because I need things broken down for me. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:42.960 I'm I'm that person. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:44.799 Like I'm not an artistic person. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:47.839 I don't look at paintings and go, oh, I see the juxtaposition of light and dark. 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:48.880 And I'm like, what is that even? 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:50.480 I need like charts and lists. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.160 That's the kind of person I am. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:56.319 And I'm so grateful to the Lord because it's like He showed me this is what it looks like, Justin, to live at the tree. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:58.880 You have deep roots in your relationship with me. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:00.160 You're rooted down. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.039 You're growing up and maturing. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.359 And you're reaching out. 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:09.599 And it's established by God. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.279 That's what it says at the end, right? 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:13.200 This will happen. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:16.960 This is going to happen because the Lord of heaven's armies will make it happen. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:20.240 One of my favorite things about our church is that God established this church. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:23.119 He did miraculous, crazy things for us to be here. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:27.440 He's done really crazy things, some things you may not even know about, for us to continue to exist. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:30.720 It's established by God. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.920 Your relationship with Jesus, it's been established by God. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:34.720 That's the cool thing. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:36.000