WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.240 Wanted to come out from a Christmas tree. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:04.080 It's one of my dreams. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:05.839 How are you guys doing this morning? 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:06.639 Good? 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:07.759 Excellent. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:14.320 I'd love that for those of you who don't know my background, my wife mixes up words a lot and it also permeates my family. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.559 And after Thanksgiving, my my dad, we're watching a football game. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.359 He's like, wow, starting to fade a little bit. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.160 The serotonin's really kicking in. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:28.559 I said, the serotonin's kicking in. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:33.039 I always thought it was tryptophan that did that, but it's the serotonin, evidently. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:38.159 This morning, if you want to have one verse, I encourage you to open to Hebrews chapter 13. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:42.719 And this is kind of a word that I hope really permeates where we are. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:54.000 Quick overview of where we've been, and a little bit of a background is that a friend had recommended a book, wanted me to speak on a part of it called Beautiful Outlaw. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:01:06.560 And I know that the men's group here has kind of gone through that, but it is guided me to a radical view of who God not only is but wants to be for all of us. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:11.439 And two weeks ago we looked at the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh. 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:18.079 And that if we don't see his personality, we miss who he is. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:24.959 If we don't see his amazing generosity and his just pointed honesty, then we miss who God is. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:31.040 Last week we looked at one of my favorite experiences in Scripture is that was Jesus funny? 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:32.480 And is God funny? 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.879 And the bottom line is to ask a simple question. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:43.040 And for those who may have trouble with that concept that it's irreverent to think of God as funny, then I have to ask the question I did last week. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:47.519 Are you, if you're thinking that, are you better than God? 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:55.599 And if the answer is obvious, well, of course I'm not better than God, then God is funnier than you will ever be. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:02.959 He is more playful than you will ever be, because that is what he created, and the creator reveals himself in creation. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:05.200 There's some great fun in that. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:13.919 And this morning I want us to hopefully get to the point where we see that God wants us to experience him and what keeps us from that. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:22.159 Hopefully, these last two weeks have convinced us to say, man, I really do want to know God in the fullness of who he is and what he does. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.080 And how do I do that? 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:25.039 How do I get there? 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:35.919 Well, part of it is not only the investment of time, and I can give the illustration of this Thanksgiving was another great experience with my wife. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:40.159 I love my wife more and more every day because I see more of her every day. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:41.439 I love her more intimately. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.039 I learned who she is more. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:53.680 And this Thanksgiving let me know her full and complete commitment at a level that I guess I always knew, but I'd never experienced. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:00.960 We went to visit my family, which was a sacrifice on her part because we do split up time, and that's pretty normal. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:24.639 But my sister lives in South Florida, my brother lives in South Georgia, we live here, and we all met in Orlando and we had these little condo things, and uh my family is pretty normal from the standpoint of we're dysfunctional, everybody's dysfunctional, and and we get there and it's kind of divvying out, and and my mom and my sister kind of make these plans up, and the rest of us just kind of go with it. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:28.159 She's the oldest, and it's like, okay, well, sure, if that makes sense to you. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:35.360 And what it kind of filtered down to was there were three bedrooms, and so my mom and dad get the main one. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.759 That's very cool, that's theirs, that's awesome. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.479 And then it came down to, well, there's four boys. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:46.240 There's my two boys and her two boys, and uh, so they get the room with the two double beds. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.240 Well, okay, we got we got that. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:59.280 And then my sister and her husband got the other bedroom, and so my brother sleeps on a couch, and then me and Heather get the living room with a blow-up mattress and a couch. 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:00.639 And that's where we slept. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:26.319 I slept on a floor for three days, and my wife slept on a couch, and if that is not sacrifice enough, what really showed me her undying devotion to me is that we went on this trip and we did this, and for the second year in a row, last year we were on a mission trip, and this year, for the second year in a row, she voluntarily gave up Black Friday and just let it go. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:30.240 Did not complain, did not moan, just let it go. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:36.639 And she did remind me that she was giving it up, but did not complain about it. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.959 And I'm just like, wow, that is a different level of love right there. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:45.519 And I see her more intimately now through this. 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:46.800 And I long. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:58.480 So the other part of this week was I told her on the way home, the kids are in the back, they're asleep, we're driving back from Orlando, and I told her, I said, this was so fun, but I miss you. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:00.399 And she goes, I know. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.920 And I said, We've got to just get away. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:04.800 Me and you. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.199 I don't care if it's in the city for a night, I don't care. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.600 We've just, I want to be with you. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.000 And she said, I totally agree. 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.519 And so we're working on that because I just long to be with her. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:27.839 And if you can take that concept, multiply it, that is the exact feeling that God Himself has for us individually, you and me. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:30.240 He longs to just be with us. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.319 He longs to do life together, and he longs for us to experience him being with us in the midst of that. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:43.439 And if there's one concept I could get across is that we would need to decide in our hearts who God really is. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:50.160 If I could just give you a barrage of simple truths, that the word became flesh and dwelled among us. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:51.759 Jesus, God became this. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.319 But he says this in John 8, 32. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.920 Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:01.360 Unfortunately, that's become religiositized. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:06.000 It said, well, if I just know the word, then the word will set me free. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:07.680 Well, that is true. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:12.000 It is truth, and it is the way God speaks, but it's not this. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.199 It's the living and active part of the truth. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:26.800 It says in John 14, 6, where Jesus himself, and Jesus is speaking because it's in red, that's the way we know it, and he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:27.920 It's me. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.600 This is me, and I'm the truth. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:40.879 And then he says further on in John 10.10, he says, I came that they would have life and have it to the full. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:45.439 The whole reason Jesus came was so that we could have this life to the fullest. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.079 I love the way the message translation puts it. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:56.240 He said, I came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better than they ever dreamed of. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.319 That's why Jesus came. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:03.439 That's why we're here today to say, okay, really life more than I can even dream of? 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:04.879 Yes, that's it. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.600 But see, we get things mixed up. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:14.079 And unfortunately, we've made an unconscious or a passive choice too often to get pieces out of order. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.279 Jesus said, I didn't come to abolish the truth, I came to fulfill it. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:17.839 And he did. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:22.560 He says, I'm not here to get rid of the rules and the laws and the precepts. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:27.680 That's from me, God, now in the new form, Jesus, and I want you to see the truth. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:30.879 But here's the reality, you gotta keep it in order. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:34.079 And he said, and I love this, Jesus said, What's the greatest? 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.800 I'll give you the whole thing wrapped up in two laws. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.360 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:40.800 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:41.600 That's it. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:46.720 See, because it's not about the rules, it's about the love and the relationships. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:08:03.439 And this morning, if if you and I could just realize that it's so easy to slip into the religious side and lose the meaning of how to find this incredible life to the full, we have choices that we're making every day. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:06.399 And usually it happens slowly. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:12.240 We either are moving towards rules or more intimate relationships. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:20.240 And ask yourself the question as I'm doing right now, Lord, please let me see when I'm slipping towards the rules. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.720 Because there's something comfortable about rules. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:27.279 They're black and white, and we kind of get in this grade mindset. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:32.960 Well, if I do most of it, then that's an A or a B, and that's passing, and that's good enough. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:34.960 But that's not the point. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.480 The point is not having the rules, the point is having the love and the relationship. 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:54.320 And I want us to look at the way God views this important decision of the rules that He gave, the laws that He created, but in relation to the relationship with Him. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:01.440 In Matthew 15, 1 and 2, he says, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:03.360 They worship me in vain. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:07.519 Their teachings are but rules taught by men. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:10.879 It's become religious. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:19.039 We've taken this incredible living word that Jesus fulfilled and became in the flesh and said, Okay, uh, okay, Jesus, thank you for this. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:20.240 We'll take it from here. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:22.720 We'll just do the rules. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:25.200 And when we do that, we miss it. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:26.879 We miss the whole point. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:29.679 It's like taking the wrong ingredients. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:32.399 I have a good friend, my best friend in high school. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.320 His brother was just infatuated with this young lady. 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:40.799 Infatuated he was in love, as in love as you can be at 17. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:42.399 And it was her birthday. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.360 And he said, I'm making her a birthday cake. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:46.639 Like, dude, you cook? 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.480 No, I've never cooked in my life. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.240 But I'm making her a cake. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.559 And his mom said, Hey, well, let me help. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:53.919 He said, No, I'm doing this. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.440 I want it to be from me. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.720 And so he got all the, he said, Well, here's a recipe. 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.399 She gave it to him, told him where the stuff was, and he gets it all and he puts it together. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.679 And then after he's made the cake, he said, I took a small bite. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.759 It just doesn't taste quite right. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:14.240 The texture's a little off, and it doesn't taste like your cakes, mom, but I did it just the way you wrote. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:20.559 I did the recipe just the way you said the recipe, and I did it, and yet it doesn't work just right. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:22.559 And she said, Well, let me see. 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:26.080 And she walks through it and goes through it and walks through step by step. 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:30.240 I did this, I did this, I grabbed this, I grabbed this, I did the measurements, I did it all right. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.759 Except the containers in the cupboard. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.600 One was flour, and next to it was cornmeal. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:40.799 Yeah. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.080 He made this beautiful cornmeal cake. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.240 And it was not good. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:11:02.000 And the truth is, is if we take this word and we do it on our own and we try to flesh it out, it's just like cornmeal cake. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:19.679 It's gonna look similar and it's gonna be kind of, but when you ingest it and you take it in without Jesus and that relationship, it's just it's empty and it tastes bad and it's not what it was meant to be. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.759 We get it out of order. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:28.000 God is not about us following rules as much as He is letting that be an overflow of the relationship. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:33.440 The relationship is the paramount part that we have to take into consideration. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.559 I tell my kids, I give my kids rules. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:38.720 I give them rules every day. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:42.639 But it's not out of, hey, this is gonna make your life better. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:47.440 It's to protect them, it's to put them on a path, it's to develop the relationship. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.840 I tell them they the one rule they don't understand. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.039 I want you to make your bed and clean your room every day. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.519 Because I want you to get in the habit of being responsible. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:56.559 I want you to get in that. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:57.759 They don't understand it. 00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:00.159 I kid with them every day before they leave. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:01.120 They walk out the door. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:04.240 I'm like, hey, be careless, take chances. 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:07.120 And they're they're like, what? 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:20.960 Because I want them to live free, but I want them to realize that with freedom comes responsibility and that there are rules for a reason. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:31.759 And that reason is because of the love I have, but just take the rules as themselves, and they are empty, and they are demeaning and they are life-taking. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:40.799 But within the relationship, once I get that, and the rules are there, then I can experience God to the full. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.600 It's based on that relationship. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:54.799 And if I could put it this way, there's one place, one place in Scripture, one place in the New Testament where Jesus was angry. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.919 It uses the word anger in the Greek anger, and it's only used once. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:07.840 And as I began to read this and think, okay, angry, it had to be when he turned over the tables in the temple and beat him out and did all that, but it wasn't. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:10.720 That wasn't the place where he was angry. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:16.320 The word anger was used one place, and it was in Mark chapter 3. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:23.279 And wouldn't it be important to us to know whatever makes God angry, we should probably know that and maybe avoid that part. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.480 And it made Jesus angry. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.879 Listen to what made him angry. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:34.480 Another time he went into the synagogue, a man with a shriveled hand was there. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:43.039 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:45.919 Their rule, the Sabbath. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:56.720 They had taken it from this great rule of rest and connecting with God, and then they'd piled on all these rules to it, one of which was you can't heal on the Sabbath. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.720 And Jesus said to the man with his troubled hand, stand up in front of everyone. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:09.840 Jesus asked them, Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill? 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:12.559 And don't miss this next part. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:16.320 But they remained silent. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:26.080 He looked around at them in anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, stretch out your hand. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.080 And he stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:39.279 When rules go over the relationship and the love of God, it makes God angry. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:47.360 And when you and I, if we are so passive and look at what happened here, they remain silent. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:48.879 They did nothing. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.279 For us to just sit back and take the truth and sit, okay, I agree with that. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:54.320 Yep, I agree with that. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:15:03.679 For us to do nothing with that truth, if it doesn't enhance the relationship with God, then we miss what he meant by the instruction. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.960 Without that instruction, we miss God's best. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:11.440 I would just ask you and I to consider, wait a minute. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.279 Is God real? 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.120 Does he really want to relate to me personally? 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:19.039 Individually today? 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.399 Is that what he wants? 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:29.440 Then I have to continually ask myself, am I looking for more rules to be the trick to get what I want? 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.279 Or am I letting it become an overflow of the relationship? 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:39.919 The relationship is first, Lord, and then show me what you want to teach me through your truth. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:41.759 You wrote it, you lived it. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.639 Which leads me to the second decision we have to make. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:47.759 Do I want religion or do I want what is real? 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.759 And that's the real definitive. 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.360 And there's something comfortable about religion. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.840 It's what we've always grown up with. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:03.759 Some, but then there's something that says, you know what, it's empty because there's this fog. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.080 Men take it and kind of add their own to it, and then it becomes something. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.840 And I guarantee you, no, I can't guarantee this, but I would say this. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:28.000 Most of us have had some experience with religion that was heaped and imposed on us and showed us where we were not good enough, we were not right enough, we did the wrong thing, we wore the right thing, we said the wrong thing, we did the wrong thing, and because of that, God was not happy with us. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:33.600 And it was just vain made by man. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.440 But that's not God. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.480 This fog creeps in. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.799 It's a glaze, if you will. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:48.159 And and and we know the truth is out there, we know what is real, but it's a fog, and and I don't want the fog, I want what's real. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:54.879 But something happens, and I see it in our culture, and John Eldritch did a wonderful job in his book. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:59.440 He says it's as if we decide to live in a house and never leave. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:10.480 We have everything that's there, we're comfortable, and the only interaction we have is through the back window, and we look out that window every now and then. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:22.720 The rest of the shades are drawn, and we look out the window, and people will come by, and we can even talk to people and we converse with them, but we stay in the house, and that is our view of the world is through this one window. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:27.759 Well, it's ludicrous to think for you and I because we've been outside the house. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.400 We see there's this huge world out there. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:41.279 But if you will for just a moment take to the reality that some people, and and I think some of us even at some point have decided, okay, well, this is the way God works. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:43.279 It's in this box. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:45.599 And and and I see God moving. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:49.680 Yes, that that's God, yes, that's Him, but we never get outside the door. 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:58.400 We never see this explosion of experience of how stunning God is and how personal God is. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.119 And and we're safe in the house. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.960 We're safe, but we're not free. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.680 And Jesus came to set us free. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:12.240 You'll know the truth, Jesus, and the truth will set you free. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:14.240 I want that freedom. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.000 I want the freedom to say, okay, I don't have this all figured out. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.000 I want the freedom to know that God really is a best friend. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:31.119 If I could put it this way in Hebrews, and I did blow by this one, Hebrews 13, 8, it says this, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:32.079 Really? 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:33.759 Really? 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.279 He will interact with me the way he did to the disciples? 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.160 I would say, I'm gonna make this leap, he was their best friend. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.079 Because Jesus, he knew. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:49.680 He knew their favorites, he knew their weaknesses, their potential, their dreams, their hopes, their regrets. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:50.720 He knew them all. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:19:01.359 And he said, I want you to, I want you to fulfill a potential you can't even imagine, but you gotta come out of the house, out of the religious house, into the relationship with me. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:07.519 I know it's gonna feel unsafe, but I'm with you, and I've been out here, I created it, and I'm gonna be with you. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.240 Step outside the religious door into the realness that Jesus longs for us to have. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.039 Could it be that that's why God came? 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.559 Christmas is around the corner. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:27.200 And if you can remember two verses, Isaiah 7.14 and Matthew 1.23, the whole reason Jesus came. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:32.799 And it says, You will have a son, he will be born of a virgin, you will call him Emmanuel. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.160 God with us. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:38.720 That's who he is. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.799 He is God with us. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:46.319 God became a man, and then Jesus died, and he says, I'm sending the comforter. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:50.079 I will come and I will be with you right where you are. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.880 God gave me a glimpse of this the other day. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:20:01.519 We stopped on our way back and stopped at one of the outlet malls on Saturday, and it was an outlet mall during shopping season. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.160 And we kind of split up in different groups. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:06.240 My oldest son Graham went with me. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.480 And I noticed this about my son. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:13.680 When he is in a crowd, he wants to be that near that which he knows the best. 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:20.160 And we had been crammed together in a room, and I mean he was right here, right behind me. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.720 It's like my shadow was stuck to me in physical. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:27.359 And after a few, after four or five stars, I'm like, dude, you've got to stand with me. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.599 You can't just stay right here the whole time. 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.799 I can hear you breathing, and that's it's just I'm tired. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:34.559 Be with me. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.000 Not here, here. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:37.200 Be with me. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.279 And that is exactly what God is wanting for us to experience. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:42.720 Him right here. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.240 Literally, right here with us. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:50.400 To the point where we say, Okay, God, you're with me, right with me. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.799 Well, what does it mean to be real? 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.519 Let me give you an example of what it means to be real. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.880 The decision to make to say, you know what? 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.160 God, I want to be real with you about you. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.400 Last week, my my wife was here with us. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:08.000 We were about to head out, and she said, You know what? 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:13.119 I I really appreciate what you said, but I could never tell when you were speaking and praying. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:13.599 I didn't know. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:14.720 Is he are we praying? 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:15.680 Are we speaking? 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:16.480 No, it's praying. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:18.079 What are we supposed to do? 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.519 I couldn't tell when you were speaking or praying, and I said, Thank you. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:22.559 She goes, What do you mean? 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:25.359 I said, That means I'm doing it right. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:32.559 Because I want it to be real, not a show, not piety, just real. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.720 God, thanks for being here. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.160 I want to treat God as if he's here because he is. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:40.480 That's what that's the way I want to get. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:47.279 I want to be treating him like that, to the point where this is so freed me up to realize I want to lose the religious. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:48.240 I want to get real. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:51.680 I want to say, God, I don't measure up and I want to get honest. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.599 Why did you say be holy? 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:54.559 For I am holy. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:55.440 Why'd you say that? 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.200 You know I can't do that. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:58.799 You know we can't do that. 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.440 We can't be perfect. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.640 Can't be holy. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:02.400 Why would you tell me to do that? 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.319 And then I listen. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:09.119 And then he says, Because you can't do that without me. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.000 I have to be in you for you to be holy. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.480 I have to be with you to be holy. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.559 You have to rely on me to be with you to be that. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:19.680 That's why I told you that. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:20.240 Oh. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.839 And then I get to that temptation, and then to be able to be real and just be honest with God. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.160 And I don't know if any of you can relate to this. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:33.279 And I hope you get to, but here's a divide between that which is religious and that which is real. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.920 To know the truth and to realize that I am drawn to that which is not true. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:41.359 And to be able to say, God, I okay, I'm going to be honest. 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:42.400 I'm tempted. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.000 Right now, tempted. 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:46.079 And I'm not going to lie. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.960 This would feel good. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.960 And I desire that. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.960 So help. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:54.559 There you go. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:56.160 I'm just being honest. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:01.440 And then to experience God's power and his provision. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.000 And for him to go, I'll carry you through this. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:13.920 And then to realize on the other side of it, Lord, okay, what a coincidence these things happened and it didn't come to fruition and I didn't fulfill that temptation. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:14.960 Okay. 00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:15.519 Thanks. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:17.440 Thanks for getting me through that. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:19.440 And Lord, give me the clarity here. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:27.200 And then to after the relationship, after the relationship, to realize God's drawing me through this, going, okay, Ken, here's why I said that. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.799 It's not because I don't want you to have pleasure. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:31.119 I want you to have pleasure to the full. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:38.240 I realize you're tempted, but the reason why I put these parameters in is so that you can experience to the full. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:40.720 I see it now. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:46.559 See, because Ken, if you do it and you give in to the temptation, then it is a moment of pleasure. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:47.200 It is. 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:49.359 I created that and it's pleasurable. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:24:01.039 But if you do it outside of my will, then it becomes this emptiness, and it becomes more empty and more empty, and you keep trying, and it becomes more and more empty to the point where it is a black hole and it destroys you. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:05.839 And then the verse comes to my mind the thief comes to steal, rob, and destroy. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.240 But I came that you would have life to the full and can. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:17.599 The reason I say don't give in to that, and I will guide and give you the power through it, is so that you can have the fullest possible beyond what you can think or dream. 00:24:17.759 --> 00:24:19.440 That's why I gave that to you. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:21.279 Now I get it. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:23.279 Lord, thank you. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.720 But I can tell you this, Lord, tomorrow I'm gonna be tempted again. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:28.319 Please remind me of that. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:29.519 Don't leave me. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.200 Remind me of that. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:33.440 Because I need you. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:35.039 I need you every step. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:46.240 And then here's the bottom line: the the greatest choice of all, if we really do want to experience life to the full beyond what we can imagine, which he desires for us, we have to make a choice. 00:24:46.880 --> 00:25:05.759 If you're here today, and it appears like most of you are, if you're one who is maybe seeking and maybe had that bad religious experience, and you're like, gee, okay, Jesus like real, like literally here, yes. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.400 How does that happen? 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:18.240 The same way as it happens for those of us who have known him for years, even decades, and yet we we fade into this fog of religiosity. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:22.880 We have to come to him the way he came to us. 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:25.119 Humble. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.599 That's the decision. 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:33.920 We have to humble ourselves and say, okay, Lord, how do I tap into this power? 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.119 How do I get this perspective? 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:40.400 Well, you you have to come to me the way I came to you. 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:47.839 See, the God who controlled everything relinquished his power to be totally dependent. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.160 And he became a child. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.160 Helpless, all powerful, completely helpless. 00:25:54.480 --> 00:25:55.519 He chose that. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:03.039 The God who never tires decided to become a human and need sleep every day. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.799 He chose that. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.640 The God who can be everywhere chose to be one place. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:15.519 The one who could ride on the wings of the wind decided, I'm gonna walk everywhere. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:17.680 He chose that. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:20.079 He chose to humble himself. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.599 I love the way he puts it in Philippians chapter 2. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:28.480 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God something to cling to. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:32.079 Instead, he gave up his divine privilege. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:37.920 And he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.240 He chose to be human, God with us. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:48.319 And in Hebrews 2.18, this is one of the most, two of the most powerful verses. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.119 I'm sorry, Hebrews 4.15. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:27:03.119 We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:12.559 And then if you go back two chapters to 2.18, because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:15.839 In other words, when we tap into that relationship, he goes, I suffered. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:22.480 I know not only know what you're going through, I've suffered for it so that I can help you in the midst of this. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:24.880 That's the God I want. 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:42.799 Jesus has the best life possible for us and wants us to experience it fully, and it comes only from knowing him personally, living honestly, and begins by connecting to him humbly. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.039 Are we willing to do that? 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:53.440 I want to leave this morning with two people, and I hope we realize we have a choice which one we're going to be. 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:57.359 Jesus interacted with a group of twelve guys. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:06.400 In those twelves, he knew their biggest fears, their regrets, their failures, their hopes, their dreams, their weaknesses. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:07.519 He knew them all. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:10.720 And he literally spoke into them. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:13.599 He says, I know, I know who you are. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:21.519 To one, he said, I'm going to fall to the hands of sinful men, and I'm going to be crucified. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:26.559 And Peter stood up and he goes, No, uh, not on my watch. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:29.440 And Jesus said, Okay, you don't get it. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:30.559 I have to do this. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:34.960 He's like, but but no, I I'll I'm gonna do it with you then. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.599 And he says, Peter, you're not only not gonna do it. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:42.640 You're gonna deny you even knew me. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:48.480 He's like, and then we know the story. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:52.319 He denied that he knew him three times before the cock crowed. 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:54.000 He failed. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:55.680 He denied Jesus. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:57.119 He failed. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:28:59.759 We all fail. 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:07.359 But then there was another man in that 12, and they're all sitting around, and he says, one of you is going to betray me, and they're all like, not me, not me. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:09.599 And he looks at Jesus and he goes, Yeah, you. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:10.640 You're the one. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:11.599