WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.160 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:12.560 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:15.599 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:19.600 It really is all about Jesus, right? 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:26.960 In uh in our kids' church on Sundays, they they do this thing where they announce all the volunteers and everyone in there is Mr. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:28.879 or or Miss somebody, so you know I'm Mr. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:29.760 Justin or whatever. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.159 And uh and they'll go through and they'll say, Let's hear it from Mr. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.479 So-and-so, let's hear it from Miss So-and-so, and all the kids clap. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.079 And then at the very end, we've done this for years, they'll say, Let's let's hear it for Mr. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.159 Jesus, and all the kids just go nuts, right? 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:41.280 They go crazy. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.560 And it's and it's amazing, but in reality, we are his kids. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:46.000 He is our daddy. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.759 And there is nothing like us getting together as a family and just telling him that it is all about him. 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:53.679 He's the reason we have life. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:54.320 It's so wonderful. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:55.679 Uh so glad that you're here this morning. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:56.960 It's gonna be an amazing morning. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:01.280 Uh already is, but Ken Kington's with us this morning, and that is uh it's always good. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:05.519 I've got a few uh just a few quick announcements. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:13.439 Uh first off, uh, if you're in a small group, we just want to remind you, in case you weren't here last week, that all the discussion questions that go along with those groups are now online. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:15.439 You can just go to hishandschurch.com. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:18.159 You'll see a link to groups and it'll say discussion questions. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:23.599 So if you've got a group this week, you'll get all the verses that were used this morning as well as some questions that kind of help you prepare. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:29.280 You don't have to do that stuff to prepare if you don't have time, but it's a great way to just kind of get yourself there before the group time starts. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:33.040 If you'd like information about groups, you can go to the Connect Desk afterwards. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.840 Well, we also have some places you can sign up for teams there. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.519 We have amazing teams, amazing teams here at His Hands. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:45.599 Uh that's how I've actually got to know more people than through anything else, is helping alongside different people on different teams. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.079 And you can sign up for any team on any Sunday morning. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:49.519 We will take you because we need help. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:54.560 Uh, one of the teams that we're really focusing on for the next few weeks that definitely needs help is our nursery team. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:58.640 And that's the team that works through with our kindergartners down through our our babies. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:04.879 And uh and they have the honor and the privilege of being the ones that get to introduce Jesus to these kids for the first time. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.040 And it's it's an incredible thing. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:11.199 I've gotten to see my son over the last few years go from you know learning about it for the first time. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:17.039 I remember two years ago, I asked him what he learned, and he said, we learned about Jacob or Joseph or Jesus, I don't know. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:20.240 But all three of those were were I was impressed. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.560 That those were accurate options, at least. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:30.479 But in the last year, really, ever since he's been three, I've seen his eyes start to light up when he talks about Jesus. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.280 And I've seen him start to tell me things like, Dad, did you know that Jesus did this? 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.840 And it's and as a dad, man, it it blows me away. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:46.400 And so for all of you that help with those young kids, first off, I want to say thank you uh personally, especially if you work in the Buds room. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:47.439 That's the room that my son is in. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:47.919 He's a bud. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.159 So those of you that are Buds volunteers, thank you. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:51.360 But everybody, thank you for doing that. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:57.680 And if you'd like to be part of that team, uh, it's a once-a-month commitment, and you can go to the Connect Desk and sign up, and we will be blessed to have you on that. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.319 Also want to say a thank you to everyone who gives financially. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.319 Uh, there's four columns at the back of the room you can do that through, or go to his handschurch.com. 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:09.120 Uh, God is using it and we need it, but God's using it to do more than just bless us here at His Hands. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:10.400 He's using it for this community. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.080 Uh, and if you ever want to find out more about that, go to our website and go to His Hands Helps. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.680 There's a link about that, about some of the ministries that we support in this community. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:18.879 He's doing amazing things. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:21.919 Let's pray, and we'll bring Ken out this morning. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:31.360 Daddy, thank you so much for uh for giving us uh a place to worship you and a family to worship alongside. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:36.639 You say in your word that one day in your house is better than a thousand elsewhere. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:43.280 God, I know that that our hearts echo that and and we believe that you are with us this morning. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:44.560 Holy Spirit, you are here. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:45.360 We know that. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.199 We know that you're not just here to be with us, but you're here to speak to us. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:50.479 You're here to teach us. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.680 You're here to know us better, for us to know you better. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:04.560 And so, Lord, we ask that uh through canon, through your word, you would speak right to our hearts, that you would you would draw us closer to you, that we would leave this morning, more more ready for the life that you have for us than when we came. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.879 We ask all this in your name, Jesus. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:07.840 Amen. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:08.879 All right. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:16.800 Thank you, Justin. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:18.000 That was incredible. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:23.360 I'm just curious if three-year-olds are the buds, or the two-year-olds the bud lights. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.879 Um I mean, just I was just curious about that. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:32.000 Um, that's the way my brain works. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.319 It's just, I can't help it. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.040 Well, I want to I want to open with a couple thank yous. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:41.759 One, thank you for not only letting me be here, but specifically this morning. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.160 God's timing is amazing. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.839 And every now and then, God will just heap how much he loves us intimately and individually. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.480 And this morning is kind of a culmination of a week where God is doing that for me. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:05:02.160 Um, for those of you who are my friends on Facebook or Twitter or wherever, you know that this week was one of those weeks, a once-in-a-lifetime week. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.759 My my father passed away on Tuesday this past week. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:10.720 And it was one of those weeks where it wasn't a shock, it wasn't an unexpected death. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.879 His his uh physical had declined over the past several months. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:37.519 So we've kind of had the blessing of being able to mourn over time a little bit and and to grieve, but uh then the day came and and it was it was just amazing because I look at my schedule over February, the busiest month of my year, and I literally would was waiting for that call that it could happen at any moment, and I was on two different tours, and I'm like, am I gonna be able to fly back and get there? 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:41.600 And I don't want my mom to be alone, and God's just perfect timing. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:55.279 I finished my last tour, I landed on Monday, uh, got to see my mom, got to talk to her, my family got to see my dad, and and literally my mom said goodnight on uh on Monday night, kissed him on the head, said goodnight, and he died in his sleep. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.079 And and I think all of us would go, that's the way I want to go. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:02.240 You know, I just I I want to just wake up and go, Jesus, what are you doing here? 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:04.959 You know, that's that's that's what we want. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.120 You know, that's where where we want to go. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:15.439 And and I I it has been a week of reflection and and in much grace, Justin and Steve, they said, Ken, I heard about your dad. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:17.360 You know, we don't expect you to be there Sunday. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.879 And literally something just left in me going, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.319 How about I I need to be there Sunday. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.199 I need to be. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:28.560 Who doesn't want to be around the people that love and appreciate them? 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:44.399 And I've had it this week with family and friends, but even on a Sunday, this is just that kind of a special place for me to just, I just, I don't know how you are when you come here, but I just feel accepted and and loved with my junk and my failures and my hopes and and all that. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:46.560 And that is his hands to me. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:48.720 And uh, yes, you can applaud that. 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:49.600 Good. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.439 I'm I'm glad you feel that same way. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:07:04.399 And uh this week, one of the terms, and I I think I may have shared this concept before, but I've been to some funerals in the past couple years, and I hear two phrases over and over. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:07.120 People usually don't go, you know, he died. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:12.399 They they they try to soften it, they passed away, or they passed on. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:15.040 And those two terms really hit me. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:24.720 And and God just challenged my heart after one of the funerals I was at and really just kind of brought the question like Ken, are you passing away or are you passing on? 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:26.560 And I think about my dad. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:37.839 My dad was not perfect, and there are faults in all of us, but I think of what did he pass on to me and my family and my friends, and and I think of two good qualities. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:46.879 One was that he was committed, he was an unbelievably committed man, and and it came out through this week some of the details that blew my mind of this idea of commitment. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:08:00.879 My my mom shared with me, this was before technology, okay, when they were dating back in the 50s and 60s, that his father was killed in a train accident when he was eight. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:10.879 And so he was raised pretty much without a dad, and then came to the point where he's graduating high school, and there was enough money, his mom would set aside money from the insurance so that he could go to college. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:15.920 He got a four-year degree in a little over two years because that's all the money he had. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:17.600 And it was amazing at that. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:19.360 And then he was dating my mom long distance. 00:08:19.600 --> 00:08:20.480 My mom told me this. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:22.079 This blew my mind. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:34.639 Before technology, before phones, before texting, over a two-year period, the two years before the day they got married, those two years, they saw each other cumulatively two weeks' worth of time. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:35.919 Two weeks. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:42.879 And she said, every now and then, maybe two or three times a year, I would get a phone call because long distance was so expensive. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:44.480 Do you remember those times? 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.480 If you do, you're old, okay? 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.399 That's just wow. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:53.600 And I said, Well, how did you stay in touch? 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:54.720 She said, We wrote letters. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.080 She said, I've got stacks of letters that we wrote back and forth. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.159 And I was just like, that's amazing. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:06.159 Two years, cumulatively two weeks, and they get married for 54 years. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:08.799 That commitment was incredible. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:14.080 I learned that from my dad, what commitment was like, even when it's not what you want, to be committed. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.480 I learned also what diligence looked like. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:20.960 He got that four-year degree in literally a little over two years. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.320 And uh that with diligence becomes human, though, also. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.840 My dad was an engineer, a bit of a reclusive personality. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.840 And uh, with that diligence, I don't know if you know somebody who's diligent, but also stubborn. 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.279 My dad was stubborn, and I'll never for I'll give you one of my favorite examples. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:36.799 We went down to Hilton Head. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:44.240 My parents had a uh condo down there that they they had once a year, and it was my family, my sister's family, our kids, all that. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:51.519 And my dad never really liked to go out and do, he liked to sleep late and drink coffee and just kind of relax and never do a whole lot. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:55.840 And and so I just asked him one day, I'm like, Dad, what why do you like coming here? 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.759 I mean, because you're not really doing a lot with the grandkids, you're not really going out and being a part. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.879 He's he said, I just I said, What are your favorite parts? 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:05.600 And he goes, Well, my favorite is watching sunset. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:06.320 I'm like, really? 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:10.159 He goes, I just love watching the sunset over the ocean. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.840 And I went, we're in Hilton Head. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.159 I said, You mean the sun rise? 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:18.399 And he goes, No, I love watching the sunset over the ocean. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.080 This is how stubborn my dad was. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:26.639 I'm like, so God turns the entire planet backwards while you're here. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:27.919 And he's like, What do you mean? 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:31.279 I'm like, the sun rises over the ocean down here. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:32.799 He goes, No, it sets too. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:39.679 And and he spent 20 minutes explaining to me in engineering terms how that was possible. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.759 And I just shook my head and went, okay, you know, I'm not gonna win this one. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.039 And uh, and I realized that we're all human. 00:10:47.120 --> 00:11:00.720 And with that in mind, I realized also, well, Lord, and I love this series that we're in the idea of I love the strange things Jesus said, because one of those that just stuck out in my mind this week was, honor your father and your mother. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:09.600 And I literally have prayed through that, going, God, how how am I gonna take what he passed on the good, filter that which was human, and be what you made me to be? 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:13.039 I'm thankful for my father and his commitment and his diligence. 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.639 But Lord, as a father, as a friend, as a husband, Lord, I want to know that I'm doing it right. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.320 I want to know that I'm here. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:26.720 And uh there's there's actually two of the sayings that Jesus had that I want us to kind of take a peek at this morning. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.639 One's in Matthew and one's in Acts, if you want to find those and put your fingers there. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.639 But to lead into that, I want us to see, ask a simple question. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:40.480 Who is the most spiritual person you know or have ever heard of? 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:42.960 And I want to get them firmly in our minds. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.279 Would it be somebody like Billy Graham? 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:47.120 Maybe it's the Pope. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:50.399 He gets paid to be perfect, you know, and he's that's his life. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.960 Who is the most perfect Christian? 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:54.639 Maybe it's Mother Teresa. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.960 And I want you to get that person, that iconic person in your mind. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:09.519 Because the the strange words that Jesus is about to share with us in Matthew chapter 5 is really uh disturbing, if you will, when we think it in that term. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.759 Think of that person, and then here's what Jesus said. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:21.360 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.600 Well, the Pharisees and the word, the teachers of the law in our time modernize that. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:28.000 It's the most perfect person you know. 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:34.799 And what he's saying is, unless your righteousness surpasses theirs, you don't have a chance. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:40.480 Which, on the surface, my initial reaction is bummer. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:44.080 I'll never be that good. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.279 I'll never get there. 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:46.960 So why would Jesus say this? 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.960 Why would he go to that point of really doing that surpasses? 00:12:51.279 --> 00:13:02.000 And then I thought back to my dad, and and I thought, if our goal is to now, okay, tighten the belt, let's let's work at this, let's try to be righteous enough. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:10.399 I'm gonna take, okay, in my world, Billy Graham, and I'm gonna be better than Billy Graham, and I'm gonna spend the rest of my life trying to be better than Billy Graham, we missed the point. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:14.240 And and and to be honest, I really had that mindset. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:22.960 Reverse back about 27, 28 years, I got out of college, and I literally, my goal was my dad was an aeronautical engineer at Lockheed. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.559 My dad worked at Lockheed for 42 years as an engineer. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:34.559 That commitment thing kicked in, and and I remember getting out of college, and my goal was to surpass my dad in success. 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:38.000 And the only measuring tool I had at the time was financially. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:44.399 So I worked incredibly hard for two or three years to surpass my dad, and I accomplished it. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:14:00.080 I remember hearing uh this is what he makes, and I was in sales and marketing for a top 10 company and uh the Fortune 500 growth companies, and I was in the top 10 in sales, and I had surpassed what my dad had made, and I thought that is it, I'm gonna surpass it. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:14.720 And I can tell you this, without any hesitation, once I got to that point, after about a year of living in that success, I can't remember ever being more empty and more, this is it? 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:19.440 This is all there is, and I surpassed it. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:24.720 And the truth is that I surpassed what I had said in that left me only empty. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:36.159 And if you and I, in our walk, in our minds, said, okay, I'm gonna be more righteous than those who are the most righteous I know, if that is our goal, we will get there and we will find it completely empty. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.279 Because that is not the point of Jesus speaking here. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:45.200 The point of calling us to that is echoed in Matthew chapter 5, verse 48. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:49.679 He says, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:51.360 Well, double crud. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.440 If I can't be better than Billy Graham, how am I supposed to be better than God? 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:57.600 I mean, really? 00:14:58.080 --> 00:14:58.879 Perfect? 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:06.080 And it's the point is to get us to that point of exasperation that realize you can't do it. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:17.200 It's not about you being perfect, it's about you turning to me and letting me be perfect through you, letting me with you. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.720 Perfect is not even possible, and that's really the first point. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.679 Perfect without God is impossible. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.240 But I want us to look at our mindset really quick. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:33.840 I don't know how you are, but if you live in our culture, we are bombarded with this idea to just be better. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.399 It's kind of the concept of the two little kids, and I love this story. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.480 It's definitely not original with me. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:50.960 The two little kids that came upon a bear in the woods, and the bear is sitting there, and it's a grizzly bear, and my parents are from Montana, and that's a real uh situation that can happen. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:53.279 And they said, uh, they said, Oh my gosh, it's a bear. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:58.159 And it's one little kid starts tying his shoes and stretching, and the other one goes, dude, you know you can't outrun a grizzly. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:15:59.440 They run 60 miles an hour. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.080 And he goes, I know, but I'm gonna outrun you. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.320 And that's that's that's the mindset. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.879 That's really kind of the mindset we have, and we've been bombarded with this idea of just be better than others. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:18.559 And they did it, I love this survey. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:26.720 They did a survey of compared to the rest of Americans, where do you fall in the idea for the rest of America's how do you rate yourself? 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:28.399 And they did all these categories. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:33.120 You realize that over 90% of us consider ourselves above average. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:37.440 How? 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:41.360 And it's why reality TV is so big. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:49.200 Because we oops, because we watch this, and I'm convinced we watch it, so that we can go, well, I'm not that bad. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.200 I watch the biggest loser. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.279 I start to watch it and go, I'm not that bad. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:58.559 When it gets the end of the season, I'm gonna turn it off because now they're better than I am. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:00.720 So I stop. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:13.119 We're in this comparison mode, and what God is trying to do through this is just obliterate it, hit the dynamite, blow it up, and go, okay, you want to compare yourself to something? 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:14.160 Perfect. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:19.839 More perfect than the most perfect person you know, and if you happen to start getting there, more perfect than God. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.039 Are you done comparing yet? 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.440 Because it's not about comparison. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:32.000 This strange, amazing, wonderful statement is so that we would realize our desperate need for Him. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.519 That it is about a personal, intimate relationship. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:50.720 It's going back to Philippians, and I would encourage you right out of the margins, Philippians 1, 6, where Paul is saying, I am confident that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:55.279 In other words, it's coming alongside and going, God, I can't. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:56.640 I can't be perfect. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:57.759 Will you help me? 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.680 Will you help me in this? 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.400 I'm gonna stop comparing, I'm gonna start looking. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.519 I wanna be everything you made me to be. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:07.440 I want to, I want that. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:12.400 And this is one of my favorite verses over the past couple months in Isaiah 41, 10. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:15.519 I was praying and just going, God, can I have this verse? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:20.880 I know you were writing it to Israel and that, and God really whispered in my heart, Ken, this is what it's all about. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.799 He says, Do not fear, for I am with you. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:26.720 That's my favorite word right now. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.359 Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.759 I will strengthen you and help you. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:35.599 I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:40.559 I've not experienced that more than I have recently and specifically even this week. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.200 Of God going, I've got this. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:44.079 I'm with you. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.759 We're gonna do this together. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.079 Because, Ken, I made you. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.279 I have a plan, and you are part of my plan. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:54.079 And I can say that of every person in this room. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:57.119 God says, I have a plan, and you're part of it. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:19:04.079 And I want to work with you and on you until you become everything I made you to be. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.400 And that's why he says, be perfect. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:19.519 Because he knows we can't do it, but he knows, like a loving father, he longs to shape us and mold us and teach us and train us and lift us up and carry us until we are everything he made us to be. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.279 That's his desire. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:25.759 Perfection is impossible without God himself. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:33.680 But I know this, and I used to read this verse almost as a condemning verse, and I've heard it a thousand times. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.519 And it was always condemning. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:37.359 It was always, look what Jesus did for you. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:38.799 Now, do this. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:42.319 And it was simply this in Matthew 4, 17. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:49.119 It says, From this time on, Jesus began to preach, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is it is near. 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:55.599 And I heard that that we're all sinners and walking this way, and repent is to turn from that sin, and that's what we need to do. 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:58.799 And I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hands. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:06.000 But how many of you would be like me that would say, you know what, I there's there's this part of my life, it's just who I am. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:15.359 I was born this way, and I have this propensity towards this sin or fault or whatever you want to call it, and just drawn. 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:21.680 And as much as I I long to turn, and as many times as I've turned, it's still there. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:28.079 I've heard it called a besetting sin or that natural, and everybody's is different, but everybody has one. 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:31.359 And I believe that God allowed that for a couple reasons. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:33.279 One, for us to have a choice. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.000 For true love to exist, there has to be a choice. 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:40.000 For us to all see that I have to choose to have that relationship. 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:47.200 But even within that relationship, God I have to choose to let Him work within me and His power to overcome that area. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.319 That idea of repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.079 I don't believe it's a condemning. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.359 I don't believe God is saying, turn from your sin now. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:58.079 It's not a condemning tone. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.160 It's Jesus walking with us. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:11.359 The best way I can describe it is this idea of the kingdom of heaven is near, is that Jesus is right with us, going, I know who you are, and I know who I made you to be. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.240 You walk in the wrong direction here, but the kingdom's right near you. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:19.839 And I want to show it to you, but you get to choose. 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:21.920 Keep going down that path. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.680 Do the best you can, but I just want you to just turn because it's right here. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.759 It's so near, you can feel it. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:29.599 I got to see this first hand. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:30.799 I've shared this example. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.640 I'm gonna share a short version of it. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:42.880 When my boys were three and four, we took them to Disney, and it was this process, and I'm not gonna go through the whole process, but I'll never forget that we were at breakfast and they saw Mickey and they're like, Well, this is great. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.359 And we're like, there's a train, and we get on the train and we go to the front entrance of Disney World. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:55.759 And it was not, it was not the Kodak moment I had in mind because both of my boys were going, I want to go back to the train, and I want to go see Mickey Mouse. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:58.880 I'm like, you don't understand, Disney World is right here. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.319 And I'm dragging two children to the front gates of Disney World. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.200 We're going to, we spent all our savings. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:08.480 You're going to Disney World. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:09.839 We're going to have a good time. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:12.640 And just, it was, it was not it. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.640 And they're literally weeping, and I'm leaning down and I'm saying, look at me. 00:22:16.799 --> 00:22:19.039 And I said, Would you at least look at the castle? 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.000 And they went, I want to go back to the train. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:24.319 Whoa. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:27.839 And they see the castle. 00:22:28.079 --> 00:22:29.359 And they see Disney. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:31.519 And it's just like, just turn. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:32.400 Just turn. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:34.559 I want you to see why we're here. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.720 I don't want you to hold on what you know. 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.359 I want you to see what you don't know in your potential. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:42.079 And there's this world you cannot imagine. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.279 It is literally mind-blowing if we will just let God. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.039 That is this repent, for the kingdom of God is near. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:23:08.559 And if you're here this morning, and it appears like most of you are that struggle, that besetting sin, that whatever it is, maybe it's even the relationship. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.400 I've heard about God, but I've never heard him this intimate and this personal. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.359 That is where God is saying, just turn. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:16.480 I'm right here with you. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:17.039 Turn. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.599 I promise it's for your good. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:23.599 Because I want to work on you, work with you. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:25.839 Don't fear because I'm with you. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:26.960 I'm going to help you. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:27.839 I'm going to teach you. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.400 I'm going to carry you with my righteous right hand. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:35.759 That is that impossibility that God longs for us to encourage us with. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.359 I want to give you one personal example here recently. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:43.359 I shared a few weeks ago at another church. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.559 I was walking through 1 Corinthians 13. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.519 You know what that chapter is? 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:48.880 If you've been to a wedding, you've heard it. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:50.799 13 of Corinthians is what? 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:51.920 The what chapter? 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:53.200 The love chapter. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:53.920 The love chapter. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.279 And I just talk about how we know where it is and we say we want love. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:04.720 We know we need love, and love is just love and we want it, and yet we know where it is, and we don't really spend much time there. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:16.319 There are 15 qualities of love, and I shared that we can't give what we don't have, and that we need to let God, this is the way God loves us, and it's the way he longs for us to love others, and that is true. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.720 And I said, but we can't give what we don't have. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:20.960 And I challenged that group that day. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:29.920 I said, every day, take one of these qualities and say, God, let me understand how you love me this way and help me live this to someone else. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:34.240 Now I will say this, I've said it a thousand times, especially when I was single. 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:37.200 The first word in that, does anybody know what that is? 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.440 Love is patient. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:40.799 I hate that. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:43.680 I hate that love is patient. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.720 I don't want to be patient. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:45.599 I just want love. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:46.960 I just I just hate that. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.039 And I literally have said that for decades. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:50.960 I hate that love is patient. 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.440 And then I got to taking my own medicine. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.720 The Monday came and I said, God, I want you to love me this way. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.799 So, Lord, love is patient. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:24:59.920 Thank you that you're patient. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:01.359 Now, Lord, help me to be patient. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.640 And literally, it was like God in my soul is going, stop. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:06.000 Stop. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.000 Well, Lord, you are patient. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:12.000 Thank you for being patient with me because I know that I've struggled, and thank you for that. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:13.039 Help me to be stop. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.640 I am patient. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.200 I am ultimately patient. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:25.519 I have an infinite ability to endure. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.079 And then he brought to my mind the struggle that I had, my besetting sin. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:34.559 I'm not sharing it with the one that I struggle with for years and decades. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.920 And God said, Can I am patient there? 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:40.319 I'm not surprised. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.000 I have no wrath. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.240 That was all poured out on Christ. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.240 I'm perfecting you in that area. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:51.519 And every time you turn, every time you fall short, every time you struggle, I'm right there with you. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:53.839 Every time you cry for help, I'm with you. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:59.200 And I'm committed until the day I come back to walk with you through this. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.440 And Ken, I'm not, I'm not disappointed. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:02.960 I'm patient. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.200 I'm ultimately patient. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:10.240 You cannot do anything today that's gonna stun me or cause me to shun you. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:11.759 I'm patient. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:16.640 And I sat there in that moment and I just I couldn't take it in. 00:26:18.079 --> 00:26:20.079 But God, what a what about this? 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:24.400 What what about what about the year? 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:26.079 I'm patient. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:27.759 I'm with you. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.400 I'm gonna hold you up with my righteous right hand. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:34.960 I'm gonna carry you every time you turn, I'm gonna remind you it's already forgiven. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:38.799 Every time that you struggle, I'm gonna remind you that I have the strength to carry you through it. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:40.240 All you have to do is ask. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:42.160 I am patient. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.160 I can tell you that I never got to the point of trying to be patient that day. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.519 All I wanted to do was just ask. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:54.640 And God's ultimate patience. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:27:01.200 And by the next Sunday, I had to confess, I said, guys, I love patience. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.880 Because I need patience. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:09.839 And it's just this juxtaposition when God says, be perfect, for I am perfect. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:15.440