WEBVTT 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:06.080 Awesome. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:08.880 Good morning. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:12.720 I am so glad to be back with you guys. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.480 Um, just a quick note. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:16.399 I am not freakishly tall. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:18.239 This is a very short table. 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:25.120 Uh I love, I love that I get to be a part of a series that Justin told me about. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:26.559 We're doing John chapter 3. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:35.280 If you have a Bible, please turn there because there's going to be a couple words in an incredibly familiar verse today that I want to just kind of make note of. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.840 So if you have a Bible, I encourage you to look there. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.000 Um just got back from the beach. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.240 I'm going to ask you to raise your hands on this. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:46.799 How many of you, how many of you have been on some kind of vacation already this summer? 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:47.759 Raise your hands. 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.759 How many of you are like, man, I cannot wait to go on vacation? 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:52.880 That's awesome. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.960 That's that's almost 50-50. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:57.039 Um, it's just one of those times. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:00.159 Now, this will maybe the last time I'll ask you to raise your hands. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:11.920 How many of you have been on a vacation and you were probably a day, maybe even two days into it before you had this realization of I needed this way more than I realized. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:13.200 Anybody else like that? 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:14.000 Yes. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:15.599 That's where I was. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:25.280 This year has gone very quickly, a ton of great experiences, but I did not realize how worn down I had gotten. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:35.760 The first gentleman who mentored me had this incredible saying that uh if your output exceeds your intake, then your upkeep will be your downfall. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.680 And I was like, I can't even process that right now. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:47.519 But it really is true, and I've been taking one basically one day off a week, maybe a day and a half off, and that just catches up with you. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:57.760 And and the I guess the evidence of that was the second day we were there, uh, we went to bed and we were at the beach and we went to bed, and I woke up my body. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:01:59.840 Does your body clock ever wake you up? 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.840 Like, especially when you're in a habit. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.480 So it wakes me up at like 6:45, and I'm just like, oh man. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:08.240 So I go to the bathroom, I come back home. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:09.599 I was just gonna lay here for a minute. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:15.439 I woke up four hours later because I didn't have to get up for anything. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:20.719 And I usually get about seven, seven and a half hours a night, and I slept for 10 hours. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.599 I'm like, I can't remember the last time I did that. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.759 And just I just feel so, oh, it was just such a great week. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.039 Got to go to the beach. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:31.439 I love the beach, got to hang with family. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:37.680 I love my family, and as we're on the beach, this is this is kind of a pull together, it'll make sense in a minute. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:38.879 We're we're on the beach. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:40.000 It's the last day we're there. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:40.960 It's just my family. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.840 My wife and I, I've been playing in the surf with the kids. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.840 I've got a uh 18-year-old's about to go to college, 17-year-old about to be a senior, and a daughter 12, she's about to be in middle school. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.319 So I got a middle school, high school, and a college student. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.159 And my wife and I had been playing in there. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:59.120 I'm just sitting sitting on the beach next to her, and I'm like, just so content. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.039 I'm like, what a great week. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.479 I feel so rested. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:11.039 As we're sitting there and watching our kids play together and just be crazy in the water, I looked at her, I said, We made those people. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:13.759 How amazing is that? 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:21.520 And I said, and they're not in jail, and they're just they like each other, and she's like, Yes. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.039 And we just sat there and just enjoyed that moment. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:36.960 And as we did that, and we're about to walk back, start to pack up, go out to eat, and and it just it another piece hit me that we've been going down to this beach for years. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:40.319 Uh, my wife's parents bought a beach house, it's awesome. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:42.159 It's across the street from the beach. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.960 But I'll if you walk into this beach house, it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:49.919 Every year we take pictures during this family time. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:56.800 And every year, my mother-in-law will take one of those frames that has like multiple pictures in it, and she'll put that year's pictures in it. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:04:11.120 So everybody's in every one of these frames, but then all the way up the stairs is the years that we've been there, and then down the hall, and you can just see this chronology of history and see the kids literally grow up as you walk up the stairs. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:12.719 It's one of the coolest things ever. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:18.720 And there's this one year as we're walking off the beach that I'm remembering that a hurricane hit. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:27.360 Now, I'm not, I've never lived on a coast during hurricanes, but this particular one, it came landfall right there. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.120 It gulf shores. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:34.079 And it literally just overwhelmed this area. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:36.399 They closed the whole city down for about a month. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.160 The National Guard had to come in. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:39.680 It was just, it was crazy. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:51.759 But one of the effects of this was literally, you could drive down the road, and there were these new construction of houses being built, houses being reconstructed and refurbed. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:55.680 But then there were areas where there's a lot and it's just empty. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.439 There used to be a house there, and now it's gone. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:11.439 And it was all the houses that were older and had a bad foundation or were kind of dilapidated or even abandoned, and since the hurricane came through, they were just gone. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.240 And it was like, isn't that interesting? 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:21.439 And now, several years later, it's all built up, and there's these beautiful new places there, and it's colorful, and it's vibrant and growing. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:22.800 And I thought, how cool is that? 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:32.560 When a storm hits, it literally just kind of one of the bonuses, I guess, or one of the positives, is that it eliminates everything that's not great. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:47.439 And the verse we're gonna look at today is kind of in the in a way that that epicenter or that eye of the storm in California where I was born, uh, there's earthquakes, not so much hurricanes, but earthquakes. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:55.839 And they're always looking for the epicenter because that is where the most radicalness has happened. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:06:03.040 And this morning, the verse we're gonna look at is the literal epicenter of the entire Bible. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:17.920 And in the best possible way, the closer we can get to these four amazing components in this one central epic verse, the more we're going to experience that radical change. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:23.360 I call it letting God wreck our lives in the best possible way. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.480 Eliminate that which is old or dilapidated or not useful, and replace it with something that is amazing and wonderful and incredible. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.959 And the closer we get to that epicenter, the better. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:36.399 And this is the epic verse. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:37.519 This is the verse. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.240 If I could put it this way, this is a commercial. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.560 I don't even remember what insurance it was for, but I love this commercial. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:45.360 Love it. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:49.519 There's a guy sitting with his buddies by a pool, and there's some girls in the distance. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:56.240 It may be a reception, it may just be a party, and he is sitting there to his friends, I am never getting married. 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.160 Have you seen this commercial? 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:09.839 And then the next scene, he is sitting next to his wife on an airplane going to their honeymoon, and there's a kid behind them kicking the seat and screaming, and he's like, We are never having children. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:10.879 Have you seen it? 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:16.800 Because then the next scene is they've got a baby, and they're sitting in a and he's like, We're never having another child. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:18.319 She's like, I'm pregnant again. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:22.000 And then the next scene, they're in a living room at a very high rise in the city. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:24.480 We are never moving to the suburbs. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:33.439 And the next scene, he's got a hose on a minivan in the suburbs, and it's this just colossal, wonderfully paramount scene. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:45.040 And the last scene is him sitting on his couch with his wife under his arm, her head on his shoulder, and two children in their laps, and they're all asleep, and he is awake, and he goes, I am never giving this up. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:50.399 And I'm like, finally, something decent on TV. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:08:22.079 It's a shame it was only 60 seconds, but here's the deal: in our culture, they take the minuscule pieces of life, and they take that minuscule part, and they look at all the negative, and every dad is an idiot and insensitive, and every family hates each other, and every marriage is a chore, and every it just takes the negative, tries to spin it as funny, and I'm all into funny, but it's just like it's tragic because what God longs for us to have is life and life abundant. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:32.240 And as we look at that, that idea, this verse, this epic verse, and many of you know it by heart, you've memorized it, we've heard it thousands of times. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:37.600 I want us to look at it in a way with just a few components that are just amazing words in here. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:39.279 John 3, 16. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:43.440 It's probably the most popular verse of our culture. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:46.240 But there's some amazing pieces to it. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:51.759 If you have your Bible, I want you to open to John 3 because I want you to kind of make some notes on a couple of these words. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:09:03.440 It says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:04.960 It's all here. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.639 Skip seminary. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:07.679 This is it. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:10.639 You can you can get it all from this one verse. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:12.720 It all comes together here. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.480 And I love the way it starts. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.919 The first component is the third and fourth words. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.840 For God so loved the world. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.080 Not that God loved the world, He so loved the world. 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:27.600 He so loved it. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:31.840 Right now I am counseling a couple who is gonna get married in September. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.759 I don't do it often. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:39.759 As a good friend of ours, a unique situation, she said, Would you do our wedding and would you do the counseling? 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:40.639 I'm like, yes. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:48.399 So I'm meeting with them, and I, you know what, I want to do this at least once a year because I want to be around couples that are engaged. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:54.240 They are in our culture, this is what we have in mind of so loved. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:10:00.080 I'll ask them questions, and every question, if they're not already, they'll just look at each other. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:01.360 Oh my gosh, what do you think? 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:02.320 I don't know, what do you think? 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.919 I just, you're so smart. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:04.960 You just I love you. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.679 You're just I'm just like, wow. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:14.799 And I'm giving them some great questions to discuss, and I love because I'm making them discuss real parts of life. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:15.840 Have you guys got a budget? 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:19.600 A budget, well, you know, we're just you know, we're just we're in love, you know, it'll work out. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:21.360 And I'm like, no, it won't. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:28.480 And uh, and if you deal with it now, then you're gonna have this type of oh, love, even a deeper level. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:28.879 It's great. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.080 They're like, okay, we get it. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:31.840 And I love that so in love. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:36.720 I want to, on a regular basis, have that adoration for my wife. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:38.320 And I want her to feel that. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.519 That I really do. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:44.559 Gosh, I just adore you, and and I want to be around that to remind me of that. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:52.399 But that love is really just what's played out there a lot as being the only true love, and it's really not. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:11:02.000 Real love, so loved, is probably better portrayed in the in the area of being a parent and the idea of being a parent. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:07.039 And you got to see a glimpse of that as Justin baptized his son. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:09.200 That that was so loved. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.200 And here's the deal: as a parent, we've been through it. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.919 We can look at a child and say, I so love you. 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:20.159 My my oldest son, who's now 18 and eats a tremendous amount of food. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:26.960 He he, when he was born, I'll never forget, they came in, they said something's wrong with one of his lungs. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.960 We have to take him to the CCU for at least observation for a night. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:35.519 And I'm telling you, the the thought was in my brain, I have two lungs. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.480 Take one. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:37.120 Right? 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.679 I will do anything for him. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.080 That is so loved. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:46.879 But see, here's the incredible heart of God, and here's where so loved comes in. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.039 God wants us to call him father. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:57.360 It is a relationship, it is not a religion, it is all about knowing him as daddy and intimately and personally and trusting him. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:03.200 Because as children, we naturally want instead of need. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.679 And we actually look and we want, well, this is natural, this is who I am. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.279 I want this. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:13.679 And as parents, we go, well, that's that's not a bad want, but it's not a need. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:15.039 You don't need that now. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:20.399 And we parent our kids because we so love them, we know what they need. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:26.639 My kids, I've told my boys often, I said, I don't care if you're a great athlete, I want you to play and do all you can. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.360 I don't care if you're great at this or that. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:31.279 I want you to be a great man. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:40.879 And my job is to train you, and I'm gonna have you do some actions, make some decisions that are not gonna be easy, and they're not gonna be natural. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:53.840 You're naturally gonna want to take the easy way, and not all easy ways, but every one of us is faced on a regular basis with doing what is natural or trusting what is supernatural, and we have to make that choice. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:13:06.480 But God says, I so love you, I love you unconditionally, and I love you right where you are, but I love you too much to let you stay there because we have a sinful nature. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.000 We have a sinful nature. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.519 I'll give you two examples. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:20.000 One, uh, we went to Disney when we were uh when my boys were smaller, and my nephew, who was about eight or nine at the time, we get up, we're in the condo, we're getting breakfast, and he's like, I don't want it, bro. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:21.039 I'm not hungry. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:22.320 I'm not hungry. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:27.200 It's like, we gotta eat something, we're gonna go to Disney, but I don't want to, I'm not hungry, I don't like this food anyway. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.879 And he's been a little bit of a brat about it, and finally my sister just gave up. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:32.799 Well, then don't go hungry, that's fine. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.559 Well, we get into Disney about 10:30, and he's like, I'm hungry. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.000 I'm hungry. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:43.200 Well, honey, I don't think there's a lot you can eat right now, but I want cotton candy. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:50.960 And if you see there's cotton candy, there's ice cream, there's slushies, and and she bought it for all of it for him. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:56.399 Now, if you're a parent, you can kind of see where this is going, and if it's not obvious, let me make it obvious. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:01.120 He ate all of this, and we begin to walk around, and it's very hot. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:10.720 Cotton candy, ice cream plus hot plus eight-year-old, jiggle it around, and you're gonna have a rainbow coming out. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.720 And it did, and it was not pretty. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:19.759 And literally, he's getting sick, and my my sister's like, Oh my goodness, what's wrong? 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:20.799 And he goes, I don't know. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:25.600 And he's he's doing what you do in that situation, and she's like, I don't understand. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:28.320 And I'm thinking, I didn't say it, but I'm thinking, really? 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.519 You don't understand this. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.559 I know, I just I don't understand. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:35.440 Maybe something's wrong. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:36.480 I'm like, no. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:44.240 You don't drink, you don't eat cotton candy and ice cream for breakfast, and then go out in the heat. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.480 This is the natural result. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:48.960 But that's what he wanted. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.559 Doesn't matter. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:56.159 Naturally, eight-year-olds want sugar. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.159 That's what we wanted when we were eight. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:00.240 Every one of us wanted sugar. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:04.080 None of us wanted vegetables, none of us wanted food that was good for us. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:05.840 We just want sugar. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.399 And it is natural, but it is painful in the future. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:12.320 Sin is no different. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:18.240 God says, hey, you're gonna have tendencies, and I'm gonna give you the freedom to do whatever you want. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:22.159 But if you want to know what is best, you gotta come to trust me. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:30.960 And when you trust me, I so love you, I so love you that I will only share what is best when it's best. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:32.960 But it's up to you to trust me. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:34.879 For God so loved us. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:36.080 I'll give you another example. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.279 I have two dogs. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:39.360 Once a week I give them a special treat. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:42.159 It's kind of a bigger bone, and it's they love them. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:43.679 And I'm just like, who wants a treat? 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.360 And they go nuts, and they run to the back door, and I'm like, okay. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:57.039 And we have this little Shizu Chihuahua, and she's down there, she's like a dust mop with eyes and a tongue, and and I said, Princess, you want a treat? 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.360 And she's like, Yes, yes, yes, yes. 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:02.320 And I reach down and I give it to her. 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.919 She takes it in her mouth, and I go to pet her. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:15.679 In that fraction of a second, she went from yes to getting in her mouth, and I went to pet her and she's like, and I was like, You have got to be kidding me. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.279 Have I ever taken a bone back from you? 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:22.240 I don't even want this. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.679 All I'm giving you is a treat, and you're gonna growl at me. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.440 And yet, that is our nature. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:42.720 It is to say, and if you have little ones, two and three years old, the favorite word of a three-year-old is mine, mine, my the hardest concept on the planet to teach a three-year-old is share. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:59.440 Because we are selfish by nature, and we want to do what is natural in every situation where God is saying, Hey, sin is sin, and if I want to show what I don't know what yours is, you don't need to know mine, whatever our struggles are, but God says, I love you so much. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:05.119 What so loved is is probably best wrapped up in John 15, 3. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:10.960 For no greater love is this than a man lay down his life for his friends. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:22.160 He said, I so loved you that I will do anything to give you forgiveness and to give you perspective and have a relationship with you. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.240 That's what so loved is. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:26.720 Emotions sometimes, some not. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:28.000 But he so loves us. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:34.400 And then the next word I want us to see, the next component of this, he so loved the world that he gave. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:36.559 He gave. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:45.759 One of the key components of love, of this life, and you see this in Jesus' life over and over and over again. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:49.519 And he says it in Acts chapter 20, verse 35. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:55.119 It says, remember the words of our Lord Jesus, who said it's more blessed to give than receive. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:04.880 Now, this is not just a monetary piece, it is it is literally a mindset that God is saying, Hey, you want to find the greatest joy in life. 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.799 It's not gonna come from what you get, it's gonna come from what you give. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.279 Something happens when we give. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:18.720 And and whether it's our talent, our time, whatever it is, when we give, we start to see this is where joy comes. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:20.480 We try to put it in our children. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.519 When you're screaming, mine, mine, we're like, share. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:28.960 And then if you've ever done this with a three-year-old, they're looking at you like, what do you mean, share? 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:30.480 What is this word you are saying? 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.559 This is mine, and you want me to let them play with it. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:36.319 Are you out of your mind? 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:38.240 Because it's mine. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.839 And to teach them that concept, we did it with gum. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:49.920 We had our our our kids, they love their favorite gum, and and we would just look to catch them sharing it. 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:52.880 And when they went to say, Hey, do you want a piece to somebody? 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.759 When they're like four and five, we're like, here's another pack. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:56.400 What? 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:57.359 Here it is. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:18:59.119 Take it the whole thing's yours. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.279 When you give, I will make sure you always have more. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:08.079 And there's something about that that I think is directly from God. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:11.759 And Jesus said, somebody tells you to go a mile, give them another one. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.799 They ask for your shirt, give them your coat too. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:20.400 And and he's not being metaphorical there, he's saying literally the greatest joy is when we give. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.000 Because here's what I've discovered. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:42.799 Here's just a couple minor pieces that when we say give in a time where I am frustrated, and I don't know if one of you, any of you are there frustrated with any part of life, if I will say, okay, I'm frustrated right now, but I'm gonna give, I'm gonna focus on giving, what happens is we start to experience freedom from that frustration. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:48.000 And that frustration turns to freedom and then it turns into fulfillment. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:20:00.319 If if we're if we're in a point of pain in our life and we decide, I'm gonna give, then we start to discover there's a purpose behind the pain when God's involved with it. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:04.640 And we start to see those, and that purpose turns into peace. 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:06.480 And the key is that giving. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.400 Giving just unlocks it. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:11.039 Or maybe there's confusion, I don't know what to do. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.799 When I give while I'm confused, it doesn't make sense. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:19.839 It turns into clarity of the situation and ultimate confidence. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:23.039 One of the greatest reasons I love one need. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:29.359 And if you've been around here a little bit, you've known this one need is a partnership we have that meets real needs. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:36.559 Somebody comes in, you know, somebody with a need, I mean a real life need, send them here, we'll get them online, we'll get one person. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.920 Rodney will call him and say, hey, tell me what's going on. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.359 How can we help? 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:54.319 And then he vets the needs and he puts it out to those of us who are deeders, which are thousands all over the country, because we know it's been vetted and we know that it's a legit need, we're like, yes, and we can do something. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:02.000 I love those emails that I can click five bucks, ten bucks, whatever, and I'm part of meeting a real need. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.960 I love that. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:08.079 And there's something about perspective I've given of how God loves me as I'm giving. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.240 I'll give you one of my favorite examples. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:26.559 I may have shared this here before, but it's a different twist on why we had gone down to Costa Rica to serve some friends of ours, to lead a basketball camp, and I was having to come back to go on tour and my oldest son, and we're saying goodbyes. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.079 He's like, Dad, man, I wish you were staying. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:28.880 I'm like, me too. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.240 And he said, But we're gonna go surfing. 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:30.960 I said, I know. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.039 I said, Do you know why we're here? 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:37.039 And he said, Yeah, you know, to share the love of Jesus through basketball. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.400 I said, Yes, that's one of the reasons, and I'm glad we're doing that. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.640 We're also encouraging our friends who are missionaries, but you know why we are here? 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.799 And he said, I don't get what you're getting at. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:50.319 I said, We're here. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.640 We could we could have let a basketball camp anywhere. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:55.359 We could have sent support to them anytime. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.359 I said, but we're here because you told me. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.319 That you wanted to go surfing. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:09.920 And yes, we're serving and having a great time, but you told your dad, Dad, I would love to go surfing. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.079 And this is literally one of the best beaches to surf in the world. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:17.279 And we're here because you wanted to go surfing. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:21.440 And my heart is full when I watch you surf. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.240 And he's like, thanks. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:25.759 And I'm like, yes. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:36.799 And as I left and I got on a plane and I'm flying back, it left this mark on me, and I believe God whispered in my heart, Ken, do you think I am any less than you are? 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:45.119 It brings me joy to give to you, to overwhelm you with what only you love to do. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:48.240 And I just sat there and went, wow. 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:53.680 God, I think I'm starting to understand your favor a little bit more. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:59.680 That when we give, we start to experience more than we can imagine. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:01.759 I would put this one line. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:05.599 If you miss everything else today, don't miss this one line. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:07.359 It's this simple concept. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:19.119 When we wake up tomorrow morning, we are going to function today, that day, either living to get or living to give. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:20.640 One of the two. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.839 If I'm in the live to give mode, I'm going to give a place for my family to live. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:28.079 I'm going to give to the needs that we have. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.799 I'm not just working to get, I'm living to give. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:34.079 I'm going to give my time. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:41.119 I'm going to look for those opportunities to see somebody in need and do something about it, to give something some way. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:44.160 Because that's where joy comes from. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.759 That's the epicenter. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:52.960 For God so loved that He gave His one and only. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:59.039 The next component is the clarity of every religion that's empty. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:01.440 The one and only Son. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.440 Jesus is it. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.640 When people say, man, Christians are hypocrites. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:07.839 I'm like, what are you talking about? 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.680 They said, well, you guys say that Jesus is the only way to heaven. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:13.359 And I'm like, no, I didn't. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:14.720 I didn't say that. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:16.319 Jesus said that. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.400 He said it many times. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.160 I just believe it. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:21.759 Because here's the deal. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:24.799 Well, we believe Jesus was a good guy and he was a good teacher. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.079 No, he wasn't. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:31.200 Either he was who he said he was, or he is a raging lunatic. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:33.039 One of the two. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:34.880 There is no in between. 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:38.079 You can't walk around saying, I'm God. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:40.799 No, I'm God in the flesh. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:44.799 I can give you what nobody else in the world can give you. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.559 And then he backed it up over and over and over. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.319 I didn't say he was that. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:51.680 He said he was that. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:56.079 In John 14, 6, he himself said, I am the way. 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:57.680 I am the truth. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.119 I am life. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.759 Nobody gets to the Father but through me. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:06.480 And he repeats it over and over and over throughout Scripture. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.319 I'm the one you're looking for. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:09.519 The woman at the well. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:10.319 She said, You know what? 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:11.839 We hear about the Christ is coming. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.839 He goes, That's me. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.359 And she went, Wow. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:24.480 He claimed it and he declared it over and over, and they killed him for it. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:29.200 Did they kill him because he was a lunatic, or did they kill him because he was Lord? 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:30.559 One of the two. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:31.920 There is no difference. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.240 There's one and only, one and only. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:35.759 And here's the incredible part. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:42.400 No other religion, no other faith, no other situation has ever declared that God became a man. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:49.599 Oh, we have a prophet about a man, about God, and he's the one that's deified, but that's not God. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:50.640 And I love this. 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:58.240 He not only says that he came, I love the way he puts it in Hebrews 14, I'm sorry, 4.15. 00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:12.799 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:17.680 He said, I'm not only just going to come and let you serve me, I'm going to come to serve. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:21.200 I'm not going to come to abolish the law, I'm going to come to fulfill the law. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:30.079 And then I'm going to live within you to empower you, to help you live from what is natural to what is supernatural. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:35.440 If I will trust in the one and only one, this one's not on the screen, but I love this. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.799 In Isaiah 41, 10, it says, Do not fear, for I am with you. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.839 Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:49.279 I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will hold you with my righteous right hand. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:51.119 I'm with you. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:56.000 No other religion set of rules could ever do that. 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:57.920 And see, here's the incredible part. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.960 I've had people say, well, you know, Christians are hypocrites. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.680 I'm like, by what definition? 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:09.279 Because a true Christian is one who comes to Jesus and says, I need help. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.480 I need forgiveness. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:12.000 I'm not perfect. 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:14.559 I did a radio show a few weeks ago. 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:22.640 I do one a couple times a month called Faith Talk Live, and had one of my comic buddies, uh Josh Harris, on there, and he told his story. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:29.839 It's one of the greatest examples of for God so loved that he gave his only son that whosoever believeth in him. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:31.599 It's that story. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:33.759 He said, Ken, I was I was messed up. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:35.599 I came from this mixed weird family. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.079 And he said, I realized I'd hit the bottom. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.880 I didn't come to God with my act together. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:43.200 I didn't clean up at all. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:44.880 He says, I came to God. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.359 He says, I was out and I was so wasted. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.279 I don't even remember getting in the cab. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:54.000 They would tell me later that I had some money and I passed out in the back seat. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:57.839 And the cab driver looked through my stuff and he goes, okay, here's an address. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.599 Well, I'd moved, but when I got my license renewed, I was at my mom's house. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:04.079 So he drove me to my mom's house. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:05.759 Yeah. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:14.960 And he said, I paid him, and he said, I literally passed out on her sidewalk going up to her house. 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:20.720