WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.879 Father, thank you so much for adopting us as your children. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.400 We praise you and love you. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.639 And Jesus, what could we possibly say to you? 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:11.599 You are the Messiah, name above all names, light of the world. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:18.480 Thank you so much for coming, showing us what our Father is really like. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:25.359 Thank you for giving it all so we could be connected with you and the Holy Spirit and our Dad, our Heavenly Father. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.320 So we praise you for that. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:27.039 We thank you for that. 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.000 Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher and our counselor. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.079 Please teach us this morning. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.439 And we thank you for that. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.920 And all this we say in Jesus' your wonderful name. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:36.799 Amen. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:43.039 Well, Ken Kington's here this morning, and he's going to share with us in uh in a few minutes. 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:50.960 Before I introduce him, I've got uh just a couple things that are going on uh this uh this afternoon, or right after we're done. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:52.560 Actually, it'll be this morning. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:54.240 We've got two groups meeting. 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:56.479 The business group is meeting in room three. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:06.319 It's uh a group of people that are just getting together, getting connected, learning God's ways of having success in the um, you know, in our careers and and in our businesses. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:08.799 And that'll be right afterwards in room number three. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.000 And then the motorcycle groups meeting in in uh room number two. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:19.280 If you're a motorcycle enthusiast or even an e-teen enthusiast, you'll fit right in with uh with this group. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:25.040 And uh part of the group, one of one of their big things is visiting people in prisons. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:30.319 And they've got an opportunity coming up October 9th that they would love for you to join them uh in. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:35.920 And you can learn more about that at today's meeting right afterwards in um room number two. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:37.920 Let's see what else. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:43.840 So those just two of our uh of our groups that are going on at different times and uh different places. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.719 If uh you can get info on all those at the infodesk in the front. 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:51.920 Uh Wednesday nights are rocking and going uh going strong. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.959 We've got two new classes that are starting this Wednesday night. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:02.640 Um, you know, I should say this isn't really you know a his hands announcement, but uh NFL season starts uh today. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.920 So the Falcons are playing the Stillers of one, so that's big. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:13.280 But um the um Go Dirty Birds. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.400 But uh Wednesday nights. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.800 We have two uh two new classes starting this Wednesday. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.240 One is a marriage uh class that Susan and I are gonna be uh teaching. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.159 We're gonna have a lot of fun together. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.400 I know that we're all gonna improve our relationships together. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.680 If you're married, uh please join us, invite your friends. 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:30.879 Anybody's welcome to come. 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:36.960 You don't need to sign up, just uh just show up on Wednesday at um seven o'clock. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:40.400 Um we're gonna meet in the His Kids, so how much fun is that? 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:42.479 And um we've gotten some questions. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:45.360 You know, what if uh what if we're married but our spouse is out of town a week? 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:46.240 Don't worry about that. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.240 Just whoever can come, you know, come. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:52.000 And that's really true of all our um classes on Wednesday nights. 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:54.080 You can join any of them at any time. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.319 And so uh just uh pick one and uh uh be part of it. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:03.199 It's a great way to meet other people and a great way to get closer to to God as well. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.800 And then our singles group is starting this Wednesday night, too. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.960 And uh Ken is uh Ken Kington's leading that. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:17.120 He wrote a group uh book that uh is entitled uh Searching for Superman, Watching for a Wonder Woman. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:19.919 It uh great, great book for singles. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:24.319 It uh won a big award, I think the Nobel Peace Prize for singles books. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.199 And so that's a big deal. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:29.439 But uh it's gonna be it's gonna be a great group. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.360 And we're not even sure what to what to expect. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:41.360 We know that we've invited a lot of people, we know that that Ken's invited a lot of people, and the the main thing that we're expecting is God to do something really huge in uh a bunch of singles people's uh lives. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:46.560 And and the only unique thing about uh the singles group is that it's starting at 7 30. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:48.400 All of our other groups start at 7. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:55.840 Um it's starting at 7.30, and that'll give us a you know time to it's meeting here in the uh in the big room. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:03.360 And Wednesday night we have child care for uh for all the groups, so please invite your friends and um and please come. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:07.599 Um oh I wanted to update you on where we're at uh finances-wise. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.800 I'm gonna try to do that uh at least once a month. 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:18.000 Last month I talked about kind of where we need to be, which is roughly, you know, there's different ways of of looking at it. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:26.720 Roughly we need to average about$20, or maybe a little less than$20 per person, adults and kids, on each uh Sunday morning. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.519 That'd allow us to uh meet all of our expenses. 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:35.120 You had a big volunteer team, Susan and I volunteer almost everybody in in most roles volunteers. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:42.160 We have a very small staff and and and I think a really great, very uh very tight uh budget. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:48.160 But it's a big building and it's in and it we're a bunch of people with uh with a lot of different uh needs and and different things. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:49.920 So that's about what it what it takes. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.480 And so it's about we've been averaging$13. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:00.720 What we really need to get is is$20, which is a big leap percentage-wise, but not a big leap um dollar-wise. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:04.720 And in August um we averaged right at$13. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:06.560 And that's kind of a good news, bad news thing. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:09.680 It's actually kind of good because there's five weeks in August. 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.480 So for the month, we did uh it was actually a big uh a big improvement. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.079 I think we're on the right direction. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:39.439 Um but uh the thing is, and the reason it's important, and it's just important, I think, that we all know this, is that when um we we bought this property and we did the building, um, we got a construction loan for five years, and it's an interest-only loan, and interest rates have been extremely low, and so we haven't, I mean, we're we're paying that every uh every month, but uh but we haven't been paying much. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.000 We started paying a little bit on on the principal. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:51.199 Well, that loan converts in February, and so it's gonna go to a uh to a uh a regular loan where we're gonna have to pay the principal. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:57.519 And the problem is is if we're not shown already that we can pay the interest and the principal, no one's gonna give us a loan. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.160 And so we'll be looking for uh another place uh to meet. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.519 But um I don't think that's gonna happen. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:14.240 And um it's just we've got this this really five-month window where if we can all just band together, and uh, you know, it's the way God does things a lot of times. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:20.800 If he's doing something really big, there's a small group of people that he counts on to get it started, then he brings a large group of people to carry the load. 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:28.560 And so right now I think we're kind of the small group of people, and so for the next few months, if we can, and for some of us it's reprioritizing, you know. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:37.600 I know we give different places and do different things, and if if this can can be a priority, and then for some of us it's just stepping out, really stepping out in faith. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.879 And um I know that for Sue and I, there's been many times that we've had to do that. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:50.000 The first time we ever started giving in any in any real way, I guess, was a huge stretch for us. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:58.720 And even now, uh it's uh it it continues to be a huge stretch for us as we prioritize our lives so we can so we can do more. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:00.319 But it but God's gonna do it. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:03.920 It's just the way that God works is is He does it, but He does it through people. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.720 So He's gonna do it, but He's gonna do it through us. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:17.920 And um and so I just encourage you if you haven't done that, the it will change your whole world if you will step out in true faith. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:25.040 We you know, because it w anytime we give, very few of us have so much that we're not worried about the future. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:31.439 And so anytime we give, it's a statement of faith, because we're counting on God to uh um to take care of our future. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:35.279 And the cool thing is he promises that if we do that, he will, and he does. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:41.680 And and I don't know how many times Susan and I have faced that stress and that tension and that decision, and he has never ever let us down. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:44.720 And so I just uh tell you that to let you know what's what's going on. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:58.399 I think we're uh uh on a track that's good, but we're in kind of a five-month band where um if you can really ask God um what you can do, we can all do as much as possible and we can do it together. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:00.639 It's it's important, but you can probably tell. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:09.519 I'm not uh um I'm not stressed about it because I know I know that God's gonna do it, but I also know that He's gonna do it uh through each of us. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:16.399 And then we'll look back years from now and thank God we ever had this opportunity to be part of this. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:19.439 Um you can get a lot of different ways. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:28.079 We got stations in the back, and you can write checks, or um there's electronic stations, and a lot of people give online if that's if that's easier for you as well. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:34.480 Next week um we're gonna start a new series that I've been uh I've been looking forward to talking about for a long time. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:36.799 There's this book in the Bible that's an autobiography. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.879 It was written 2,500 years ago. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:46.799 It's kind of a short book, but it's the most amazing book, and it is amazingly practical for today. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:57.279 In fact, when I look back on my life and and my kind of business career and and and in some ways our family life, this one book is has been truly life-changing. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:01.840 There's a couple principles that God used, I think, in some ways to make all the the difference. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.440 I've been looking forward to talking about it for for a long time. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:10.879 So we'll start that uh next Sunday and do that uh for a few weeks. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:14.080 Um I'm excited about this morning too. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:15.600 Ken uh Kington is back. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:20.240 You know, the last time he he spoke, for me it was very convicting and it was very encouraging. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.320 I've been looking forward to him um coming back ever since. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:30.480 Uh he's kind of a unique uh uh well he is a very unique uh guy, but uh he's uh got a unique career. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:31.600 He's a professional comedian. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:39.600 If you don't know Ken, and uh he's on XM and he's on different cable things and he travels all the time all over the country. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:48.480 But his schedule is such that uh there's times that he can come and be with us on Sunday, and he loves that, and it's uh um and we love that. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:50.799 Um he's here this morning, he'll be back in November. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:59.600 I think he's already planning to be back for um for a couple weeks in February, and so he's part of our extended family, and uh please welcome Ken. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:06.639 Wow. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.399 It is, it is an absolute, absolute joy to get to be. 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:12.960 It's it's this is like an oasis for me. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:19.679 Um several of you came up in the uh lobby and they said, you know, I've been following you on Twitter, and did you say you were in New Orleans last night? 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:21.759 And I was like, Yeah, I had a show in New Orleans last night. 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:23.279 And they're like, How are you here? 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.679 And I said, Well, they have this new invention called airplanes, and they fly different places. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:37.759 And uh I I was this is one of the few times I mean I was up at four or something this morning and uh just getting ready and getting to the airport, and and the big easy is not the big easy for no reason. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:43.600 I mean they're just not in a hurry for anything, and I'm just like really need to get to the airport this morning. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:48.720 So worked through that, and I gotta tell you another quick aside to pile on what Steve said. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:54.159 I am so excited about this Wednesday night and the singles book series uh for a couple reasons. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:11:02.480 One is it has been over seven years since I've had the opportunity to do that entire series and uh update it in different pieces to it. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:14.960 And I think the other reason why is just so near and dear to my heart is because it marks a time in my life, kind of what we're gonna talk about this morning, where I literally had come to this impasse of just frustration in my life. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.960 I was a single guy, I was in my late 20s, and I'm just like, God, I don't get it. 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:20.240 I don't get it. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.639 Um I I need help. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:23.759 I need help. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:30.879 And and uh relationally, I had been coming off about a year dating sabbatical, which is code for. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:32.480 I didn't have a date for a year. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:37.600 And uh and it was just one of those times where I'm like, Lord, what? 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:39.440 What do I need to change? 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.200 Give me some clarity. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:47.360 And that is what these next 10 weeks will be for those who are part of that single series. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.799 If uh if you're single, definitely try to make as many as you can. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:59.360 If you're if you're a couple, um, I want to encourage you, if you have single friends or no singles, tell them, hey, this will be one of the things I promise you, it will be great. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:04.240 And it will be an absolute uh blessing and investment of time, it will be worthwhile. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:12.799 And with that clarity, it took me about two and a half years, and what I got in two and a half years, I put into ten weeks of here's what I learned in that process. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:21.919 With that, I look back now and I talk to singles all the time, and I think, man, I wish I knew back then what I know now. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.039 Isn't that a common thread of life? 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:27.440 How many of us would not have loved to know? 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:30.799 If I would have known in middle school what I know now? 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:42.879 If I'd have known in high school what I know now, then I would not have experienced all the rejection relationally that I experienced if I only knew that then what I know now. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:44.639 And wouldn't it be great? 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:51.039 And here's what this morning is, wouldn't it be great if we could know now what we will know then? 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:54.320 What if we had that clarity in the moment? 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:03.279 Whatever your station of life, whatever your frustration is today, wouldn't it be great to know now what we're gonna know later? 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:07.600 Or at least know a few head steps ahead what that is. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:16.080 And what I want to share with us today is that how to find that, how to get that, that clarity, how to get that focus of where we are right now. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.200 And it's it's not something that I'm an expert on. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.320 I have not sold thousands of books on this topic. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:26.240 I'm in the middle of learning this on a whole new level. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:30.399 And I'll share some of those trials and frustrations this morning. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:38.080 But the way we gain this clarity, and today will be incredibly, amazingly simple. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:40.240 But it is not easy. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:42.639 Simple, but not easy. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:50.799 And and with that, there are two categories, two items, two commodities, if you will. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:14:04.399 And what we do with these commodities is a direct relation to how clearly we see where we are and where we can be, and the solutions to that, how we handle these two commodities. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:15.600 These two commodities also, there's a correlation between how we apply them and our level of fulfillment or frustration, and what we're doing. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.559 And every one of us has these two commodities, every one of us, and they are finite. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:26.159 And how we're doing this is determining am I frustrated or am I fulfilled? 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.600 Am I hopeful or am I hopeless? 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:32.639 And these two commodities are that critical. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:37.840 And then here's two of the greatest realities of these two commodities. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:51.600 My willingness to submit these two commodities to God will be a direct correlation to the fulfillment and joy that I'll experience in this life. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:52.879 Period. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.039 There it is, simple and easy. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:10.799 My willingness to submit these commodities is when God opens our eyes and lets us see clearly what we wish we knew now that we will know then, if we'll take the time to do this. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.159 Both are limited and finite. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.600 And I want to share the two with you this morning as I'm learning these. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:32.639 One of these commodities, you and I, although we are not promised them in full, but everyone here this year was granted 8,760. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:38.240 You have 8,760 this year, and you'll get the same next year if you live that long. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.480 But we're not promised that long. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:45.840 We're never promised that because it's 8,760 hours this year. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.960 Time is that first commodity. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:16:01.200 That first commodity is time, and what we do with our time and how we submit our time and the way we invest, spend, or waste our time will determine the level of fulfillment we have in this life. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:03.600 But the question is, what are we doing with our time? 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.600 And how do I open what is the key to opening that door to this greatness of time? 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:14.480 I did just a tiny bit of research, and I was quite honestly, I was depressed when I got done. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.600 Because the CDC has let out this information. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.360 What do you think the average age of a male is? 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.440 The average age a man lives. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.759 Somebody just showed over here, just an average age. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:27.039 76. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:28.960 76, 70, okay. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:30.000 Anybody? 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:30.879 65. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.960 65, okay, that's good. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.960 The average age of a male in America, as of the latest studies, is 75.2. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.440 That's how many years a man will live. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:43.440 Women, five years more. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:46.720 I don't know why that is, it just is, it's the facts. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.320 Now here's the depressing part. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:50.559 As I looked at that, I I don't know if it's my age or whatever. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:56.559 I was thinking it was like 80, 85, 90, the average age, because things are getting better, right? 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.279 And then the great reality hit me. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.759 I'm past halfway. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:04.640 That is not exciting. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.000 I don't even remember halftime, and I'm already in the third quarter. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:09.839 This is ridiculous. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:16.000 And it was depressing because now I'm thinking in a whole different way, going, what have I done? 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:17.119 What have I accomplished? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:18.559 Where am I now? 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:26.000 And I begin to ask a lot of these serious questions of life of going, what I don't want to miss what's most important. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.720 And I want to live life to the full. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:30.720 And am I on the right track? 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:32.960 Because I'm past halfway. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.440 And I want to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:43.440 I don't only want the clarity of what I'll have then now, I need the clarity of what I'll have then now. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.680 And we gain it a lot of different ways. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:49.440 We can do it from being mentored and being around others that are believers. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:18:00.960 But this one piece, the key that I want to just share with you this morning, that I am learning in a major way, is the key that unlocks that clarity in this commodity of time. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:05.039 It's called, and God put it this way, it's called Sabbath. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:10.240 And Sabbath is just a fancy spiritual word for day off. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.160 And God created it from the very beginning. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:25.440 I want you to see with me, and you can follow with us on the screen to write these downs, but in Genesis chapter 2, at the very beginning, first book of the Bible, God's making everything. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:29.359 Look what he says in chapter 2, verses 1 through 3. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:35.039 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.960 By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:44.160 So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:53.920 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.319 It's built in the beginning. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.599 That's where God put it. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.200 He's like, you know what, I'm gonna build it in. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:13.440 God all powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, if you and I want to experience and tap into that allness of God, omniness of God, omniscience of power and wisdom, we have to do it with his foundation. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:21.759 And that that Sabbath concept, if you flip over to Exodus in chapter 20, is the big ten, big ten commandments. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:34.319 Now, if I were to tell you, and just take a quick test, if what would your view of me be like if I were to tell you, you know what, I believe this book and I believe God and I follow him with the best of my heart, and I can go, oh, but you know what? 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.640 Three or four times a month I commit adultery. 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.599 Okay, it's just my vice, and that's just the way I am. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.079 And you'd be like, I'm not listening to you anymore about this book. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:45.680 So, you know what? 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.039 I'm a great guy, and I really do, I believe this book, but you know what? 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.279 A couple times a week I lie, cheat, and steal. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:55.279 That's what I do, and uh that's just who I am, and that's the way I am. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:57.680 That's ludicrous. 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:05.119 But out of the ten commandments, it's not the ten suggestions, or take three and do the best you can with the rest. 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:10.160 There's one that is written more about in the ten than any other. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.039 And listen to what it says about that one. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.839 In Exodus chapter 20, starting in verse 8. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.839 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:27.759 Six days you should labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:31.119 On it you shall do you shall not do any work. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:38.480 Neither you nor your daughters, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your animals, nor your aliens within your gates. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:45.519 For the six days of the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:50.079 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:52.559 Isn't it ironic? 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:08.000 And I don't know if it's a cultural thing, I don't know if it's an American thing, but not only do we not look at the failure to take a day off as sinful or as detrimental to ourselves, we almost celebrate it. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.839 We almost demand it. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:21.519 And I would dare say, if those of you who are in some kind of ministry capacity, we have decided that that's okay to violate that one on a regular basis. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:33.200 And I say that not towards you, but in a mirror towards me, is something that God has been convicting me of for years, and I've begun to set this out and say, okay, God, I want your clarity. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:38.160 And this commodity of time, I want to unlock your clarity and your blessing and your power. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:44.720 And God, I can't, I can't see where I can keep violating this, and yet you're gonna bless it and show me what I need to do. 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:50.160 So, what I want to do for just a second is share some of the pieces I am learning in this area. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:57.119 Before I do that, I do want to read one more verse in Mark chapter 2, verse 27. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.599 God is not a legalist. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:10.319 And those who would take the law of God and try to beat each other up with it, Jesus frowned upon greatly. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.319 And he said, You're missing the point. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:20.079 His disciples are walking through a field and they're hungry and they reach down and pick up some seeds and the legal, you're harvesting. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.240 You can't harvest right now. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.599 We're hungry and we're eating. 00:22:27.839 --> 00:22:29.359 We're not harvesting. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.960 Harvest! Break the law. 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.440 Jesus is like, You're clueless. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:44.319 In Mark 27, chapter 2, verse 27, he says simply this. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:49.279 And then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.640 So the Son of Man is the Lord even of the Sabbath. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:56.000 He's like, don't get on the legalistic bend here. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.240 I know the Sabbath. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.599 News flash. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.960 I created the Sabbath for you. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:05.359 You're not creating it for me. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:07.279 Get over it. 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:14.079 Now, you can talk to theologians and you can get the details far greater than anything I'll share. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:20.880 But here's what I'm learning about this key that unlocks power and clarity in this area of time. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:22.240 And that is simply this. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.319 I find if I don't plan it, I don't do it. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:27.599 Period. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:30.799 And I had a friend of mine as we were sitting down talking over lunch. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:34.240 He says, Ken, not only do I have to plan, I have to plan about a month in advance. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.440 And I put on my calendar, here's my Sabbath that week. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:38.400 He's in ministry. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:41.759 He says, Sunday is not a day of rest for me. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.200 I have to have another day. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:45.279 And I'm like, well, that makes total sense. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.359 And so I started marking out my calendar. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:53.519 I do it in a month in advance, and I found an incredible attack on that day, whatever I pick. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:01.759 But I find that if it's on the calendar, if I make an appointment, it's much more likely to be fulfilled. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:03.839 I treat it as such. 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.359 What I've also found is a day of just complete freedom. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.240 I don't plan that day out. 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:17.839 And it's very difficult because what I want to do is I want to get stuff done. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.559 And what God is just piercing my heart with, this is the day to not. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:24.880 It's to not. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:28.480 It's the day to turn off, unplug, check out, slow down. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:30.240 Just rest. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:36.000 But Lord, it's my it's you know I can accomplish, and no. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.079 My buddy shared with me also. 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:41.839 He says, you know what, Ken, what you need to do is you need to do stuff that you would never do. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:43.759 Do something you enjoy. 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:46.079 I'm like, I'm at the point. 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:54.000 I've got three kids and a wife and two dogs, and I've got a career and I got fun hobbies, and I just, I'm like, how do I do that? 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:57.599 He goes, what you'd normally do for work, don't do that that day. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:24:59.359 Just turn it off. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:00.799 I tried this several times. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.880 And boy, you want a radical step to it? 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:08.319 Take your phone, your cell phone, and believe it or not, these things actually have an off button. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:08.799 Okay? 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:10.319 They actually do. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:13.119 And you can turn them off. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:18.799 And the first day you try that, should you be so bold, it will wig you out. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:23.039 And you will think, but what but what if there's an emergency? 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.680 And what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if? 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:26.880 You know what? 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:33.359 What ifs happened 20 years ago when cell phones were the size of a car battery and nobody had them? 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:34.000 Okay? 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:36.319 They'll find you. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:39.279 You know what I'm discovering as I unplug? 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.240 I am not nearly as important as I thought I was. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:49.759 And God just let me see that. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:58.880 I'm also realizing that I am extremely out of practice at just resting. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.519 And that idea of doing something you enjoy. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:06.240 And one of the days, one of the weeks, I said, okay, Lord, you know, what do I want to do on a Sabbath? 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:07.920 Do something I haven't done that I enjoy. 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.799 God, I don't even remember what I enjoy that is not. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:12.559 And I thought, you know what? 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:14.000 I enjoy playing golf. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.359 I haven't played other than a tournament for a charity in forever. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.400 I'm gonna go play golf. 00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:21.119 I called a buddy, he was off, he's like, let's go play. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:23.200 And I played horrible. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:27.759 But I was with a friend and I was not in a hurry. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.559 I didn't have to get to something. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:46.720 And there's something about that lack of rush that restores our soul and heightens our focus and gives us clarity that we don't have otherwise in this rushed and hurried world. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:49.039 But we have to take that choice. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:50.960 We have to make that choice and do it. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:58.960 I have a dear friend who is a pastor out in Omaha, Nebraska, and I asked her one time, I said, hey, Dina, what you're, I mean, she's like super smart. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:03.119 She got her theology degree from Princeton, and she is just brilliant. 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:05.200 I'm like, what is the Sabbath? 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:10.160 I said, it like in really smart people terms. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.920 You studied the Old Testament, the New Testament, what is the Sabbath? 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.079 And she goes, Oh, I've got a great definition. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.160 And I'm literally, I'm ready to write it down. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.519 And she goes, wasting time with God. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:32.799 She says, when you walk around and you just feel like you're wasting time and all you're doing is being in God's presence, that's the Sabbath. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:34.319 Wow. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:37.279 And how profound is that? 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.160 If we'll take that to heart and say, you know what? 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:42.640 I want to simplify. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:45.119 And I want to get to that point where I see the clarity. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:51.279 Well, if we really believe that and we really want it, ask ourselves a very simple but difficult question. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:53.599 Am I taking a Sabbath? 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:58.319 That's God's key to unlocking the clarity of our time. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:13.039 If I'll do that, because what I found as I'm looking back, and we've got to move on to the second commodity, but what I found as I'm looking back is that I was spending an inordinate amount of my time building a lifestyle. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.640 And not enough time building a life. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.880 There's a big difference. 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.119 That's what I'm discovering, and that's what I'm learning. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.640 There's a second commodity. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:25.279 The second commodity is also finite. 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:28.799 But this one we have different amounts. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:33.039 Where time we all have the same, the second is one that we're very different. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:37.200 And it's a very touchy subject, especially within in our country. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:41.680 The second commodity is simply resources or money. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:42.880 Money. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:44.160 It's limited. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:52.880 Now, if there's someone here that you have a limit, limitless supply, then you know some of this isn't going to apply to you, but the rest of us, it is limited. 00:28:53.039 --> 00:29:01.359 And there's a skewed, unfortunate spiritual depravity of mindset that I've seen. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:06.640 And too many of us have seen this on TV, and I've got to get on a soapbox for just a second. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:10.240 I've shared this one other time I know here, but it's just my soapbox. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:18.240 And that is that I get so frustrated with those who share the concept of giving from a getting perspective. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:31.599 And I've seen it on TV several times where they're like, go to your phones right now, and you give to us in our ministry, because if you give to us, God will bless you ten times, pressed down, shaken together, rolling over. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:34.559 And so if you give, God will bless you in that way. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:48.880 And my thought, and maybe it's just the way my brain works, was if you really believe that, then you should be on the TV going, hey, go to your phones, get your phones, call us and tell us how much money you want, because we're gonna give you as much as you want. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:54.000 Because we believe God's gonna bless us seven, ten times, press down, shaken, blowing over. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:55.039 See that. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.640 So I say that to say I am not telling you what to do. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.440 What I'm sharing is this concept of money. 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:08.559 It is a resource that God designed this way. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:11.839 In and of itself, it is completely powerless. 00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:21.039 But our view and our use of it will either cause great good or great destruction, depending on how we take it to heart and what we do with it. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:33.440 And I do want to validate this real quickly before we move on, and that I am so impressed with the way this infrastructure is built, and I'm so impressed with the way Steve puts it out there, the concepts. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.039 If you're here for the first time or the first few times, I want you to notice something. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:39.839 There was never a plate that passed in front of you. 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:42.559 It's not there. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:47.839 Because the concept is the reality of the way things are done. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:51.920 In 1 Chronicles 29, 11, there's a beautiful verse. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:55.680 And we can, and I want to challenge us to grab it and believe it. 00:30:55.759 --> 00:31:00.960