WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.959 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:08.640 Helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:14.400 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit GrantParquay.org. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.079 If you have your Bible, please turn to Proverbs 3. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.679 And while you're turning to Proverbs 3, if you don't have a Bible, let me say this first. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.000 If you don't have a Bible, look to your left and your right on the pew. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.079 There is a black hardcover Bible. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.879 That is a translation I'll be teaching from this morning. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.399 If you do not own a Bible, please take that as our gift this morning. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:34.399 We would love for you to have one of those. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.759 We believe in its importance definitely. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:41.759 While you're turning to Proverbs 3, let me say a couple things by way of introduction. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:46.079 My name is Wade Collier, and I'm the missions and outreach pastor here at Grant Parkway. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:50.719 Normally, Neil McClendon, our lead pastor, would be preaching on a Sunday morning. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:55.679 He is out of town this weekend, and so I am honored and humbled to be up here. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:09.280 We are, as you've seen, if you looked at that worship folder you were handed when you walked in, or maybe the artwork of the tree behind me, we are in week two of a four-week season, our four-week sermon series rather, called Seasons of Faith. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.079 Last week, Neil started that sermon series with the season of winter. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.400 And this morning we will continue on. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.000 We're going to look at spring, summer, winter, and fall over these four weeks. 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:29.200 Like I said, we've already done winter, and we'll discover the different disciplines that accompany each season, how they help to shape our thinking and around what we are feeling. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:46.879 We do believe that these seasons of life, because they are seasons of faith, rather, because they are intentional, because God is at work in those, that feelings, the feelings that we feel in the midst of those seasons, and if you weren't here last week, hopefully you'll begin to understand that a little bit better this morning. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:57.840 Those feelings that come on us, although substantial and also although very legitimate, as Neil preached and then followed up with an email this past week, those feelings are not it. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.200 They are not the foundation of how we process. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.400 Those feelings are not the foundation of how we operate. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:09.520 Those feelings are a byproduct of leaning into what the Lord is doing. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:19.199 Neil made just a few introductory statements last Sunday that I want to tag on to and I want to put before you again as far as these seasons of faith. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.800 The first one that I want to briefly reiterate is the Christian life is seasonal by design. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:30.000 The Christian life is seasonal by design. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.800 That God has different seasons of life. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.680 We read throughout Scripture that God is bringing us in and out of seasons. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:41.680 There are passages dedicated just to this. 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:46.800 The second thing is that not every season is a fruit-bearing season. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:58.960 Not every season of our faith, not every season of our life is going to be a fruit-bearing season, which leads into the last one that all of the seasons are necessary to produce fruit. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:05.520 Because they're not all fruit-bearing, and they're all necessary, as Neil said last week, you have to go through winter to get to spring. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:12.080 We cannot enjoy the spoils of summer without first learning how to do the work of spring. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:23.599 And so Neil gave us a few map dots last week as to how to figure out if you are in that season of winter, how to identify it when that season comes on you. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:25.280 Maybe you're not in that now. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:31.360 Maybe you have never in your Christian faith been able to acknowledge the fact that you've been in a spiritual winter. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:35.599 Maybe you left here last week and said, that is exactly what I've been feeling. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:46.400 Everything that you said just landed on me, and it answers all these questions of why I feel the way that I do, why I'm responding to God the way that I am, why I'm responding to other people. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:47.840 It's because of this. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.319 And maybe spring is the same way. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:56.240 So in the same way that Neil pointed out a few ideas about winter, I want to do the same thing with spring. 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:04.080 Just a few thoughts to wrap your head around spring as you ask the question, as the season of spring leads us to to ask questions. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.360 Am I in spring? 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:11.599 Here's three points about spring: a thirst and an awareness for the things of God. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:20.319 A trademark of being in a season of faith that is spring is a thirst and awareness of things of God. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:24.800 Also, you're seeing hope replace hopelessness. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.160 Maybe you have been in a season where you have felt hopeless. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:33.839 You feel like that is hovering around you, but you're beginning to see hope enter into your life. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.800 You're beginning to see things in a different filter through hope instead of hopelessness. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:44.720 And lastly, a new, a renewed desire to respond to God's call. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.199 God's voice seems to be falling fresh on you. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:54.000 You seem to find yourself convicted by things that you were never convicted for or convicted about before. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:59.040 Maybe you find yourself excited when you hear things that He has made me glad. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:03.920 When we're going to talk about things this morning, that there is a wisdom that passes all understanding. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:05.920 You find yourself drawn to those. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.800 You find a desire to respond to God's call. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:19.279 Mark Perez says it this way Believers in this stage have come through the cold winter of doubt and disillusion, and have emerged with a simpler faith that is close to the heart. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:26.000 Love God, love your neighbor, seek first God's kingdom, and pursue whatever helps that end. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:34.160 Having weathered many seasons, they focus not on what is right versus wrong, but what is wise versus unwise. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:41.360 So this morning, as we examine spring, we're going to do that through Proverbs 3, beginning in verse 1. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:42.639 Read with me. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:55.120 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. 00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:59.199 Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:03.279 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.480 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:13.680 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.879 Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.879 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.439 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of your produce. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:32.319 Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:43.439 My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him who he loves, as a father, the Son in whom he delights. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:49.439 This morning we're reading from Proverbs, and Proverbs is an interesting section of the Bible. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:54.800 If you spend any amount of time there, you've heard some Proverbs, some of those lines in there might sound a little bit familiar. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:58.959 You can read Proverbs and have a multitude of reactions to that. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:01.680 Maybe you read Proverbs and you feel refreshed. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.839 You feel like your soul has come alive after you've read a Proverb. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:10.240 Or maybe you walk away going, this sounds a whole lot like the fortune cookie I got at lunch the other day. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.560 And maybe some of you land somewhere in between as you begin to understand Proverbs. 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:23.120 And so as you read this, and this is our text for this morning, as we're talking about spring, you read it and you say, Man, is that just a text that is good for me to cling to? 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.920 Is it a text that is enlightening and enriching? 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:29.839 Or in that, is there also promises that I need to hold on to? 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.839 What truth do I need to wrap my arms, my heart, my mind, my soul's affection around? 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:37.439 What do I mean by promises? 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:45.439 If you look at just those 12 verses, within those 12 verses, and there's a good chance I might have missed one, but just within those 12 verses, there are 10 promises. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:46.639 There are 10 promises. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:48.399 They're going to show up on the screen behind you. 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:49.439 You don't have to write these down. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:57.920 I just want to point them out to you by way of illustration and what it means to look in these proverbs and find the truth, find the promise. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:01.439 In just verses 1 through 12, it promises peace. 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:08.319 This proverb promises favor and success and respect, all in verse 4. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:19.279 It promises direction in verse 6, physical healing in verse 8, as well as physical rejuvenation or restoration in verse 8. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.680 In verse 10, it promises wealth. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.319 It also promises ample amounts of wine. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.319 We'll just go ahead and have our invitation now. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:27.600 You can all come forward. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:31.600 Easy. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.600 And also, we have God's love and delight. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:37.840 In the midst of that, you have promises. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:46.000 And so, as I said before, we are we're faced with the question: is this a proverb, just a good read, or is this a promise of God in here? 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:49.759 It's a promise that I need to understand and I need to cling to. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:58.960 If you're a thinking person and you've spent any amount of time studying your Bible, you think, well, wait, doesn't it say, doesn't the Bible say about itself that the Bible is good in all things? 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:08.320 Yes, it says in 2 Timothy 3.16, the Bible is breathed out by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:17.759 So with that being this absolute truth, how do we differentiate between a proverb that is profitable and a proverb that also includes a promise for followers of Christ? 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:23.440 And the reason I ask this question is Proverbs can be one of those books that we read, and we're like, yeah, that's that's that sounds good. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:24.399 That sounds wise. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:26.000 I don't know how much of that I need to apply. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.399 Here's a great example of how we view Proverbs. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.039 An apple a day keeps the doctor away. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:32.240 Right? 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:40.639 And this isn't in my notes at all, but if you haven't, man, the honey crisp apples this time of year, my wife brought home one about the size of a bowling ball yesterday, and I did work on that thing. 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:41.519 That is phenomenal. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:42.960 Go get a honey crisp apple. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:50.399 But that proverb is not saying that if you eat an apple every day, then you'll never get sick and you never have to go to the doctor. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:54.399 And we sometimes read Proverbs from the Bible in that way. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:54.960 We know that. 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:56.080 We're thinking people. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.960 We understand, hey, an apple a day isn't going to do it all. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:04.399 I can just not elect, I cannot elect not to exercise, and I can eat whatever I want. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.320 Eat four sticks of butter just as long as I eat an apple every day. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:09.519 It doesn't work that way. 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:12.960 And we approach, oh, that does sound like a delicious lunch. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.799 But we approach the proverbs of God that way. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:28.080 And as we are understanding, um, understanding this proverb as it applies to spring, um, there are great truths that echo in this proverb that you see echoing throughout scripture. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:28.960 Don't turn there. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:47.200 I just want you to look at verse five and six as it comes on the screen, and then I just want to show you how this promise and this truth of God, as we are in and talking about and understanding the season of spring, what does it mean to lean on God's truth and his promises as we live through and prepare ourselves to walk through a season? 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.559 It says in verse 5 and 6 of Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:01.840 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight, or straight your paths. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:03.279 Here's how it echoes. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:13.679 2 Timothy 2, 15, it says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.639 If you looked in Psalm 37, 3, it echoes again, it says, Trust in the Lord and do good. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.480 Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:32.960 If you look back in Proverbs 28, 26, it says, Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be saved and will be delivered. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:34.639 James 1 5. 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:44.399 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:54.879 So as we read these, as we see this echoing through, as we talk about moving from winter to spring this morning, let's take a few moments together and read the truth. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:59.919 The promise of the life-giving words and preparedness for the spiritual season of spring. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.879 Not only these popular verses of five and six. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.200 How many of you heard, lean not on your own understanding, he'll make your path straight? 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:09.120 We hear that. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.320 What is the implication? 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:20.000 Well, let's go all the way back to the beginning of this proverb in verse one and understand the context and understand what it looks like to understand this spiritual season of spring. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:25.840 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.840 For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.919 Right there is our first point for this morning. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.759 If you're taking notes, embrace the right peace. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:38.240 Embrace the right peace. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.559 What do I mean by embracing the right peace? 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:47.120 As spring comes on on the earth here in Sugarland or Richmond or Fort Bend County, I guess that's easier to say. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.360 Um there's a lot of euphoria that comes on people. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:50.799 We all have a favorite season. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:52.159 How many fall people here? 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.120 Raise your hand. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:54.159 Winter? 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:55.759 Spring? 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:56.720 Summer? 00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.919 Oh, you guys don't like yourselves very much here in Houston. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.039 Um my wife is a spring person, man. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.039 When spring comes along, she gets amped. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:07.279 She talks telling me there's a different green that comes when spring. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:08.159 I'm like, it's just green. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:09.120 I don't know what you're talking about. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:10.559 Oh, it's a spring green. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:11.600 Okay, whatever. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.639 But spring, there's there's certain seasons that bring about separate feelings and unique feelings. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:27.200 And with spring, there's this euphoria, and it's it's new, it's the greens of spring, and it's the return of songbirds, and it's puppy dogs, and ice cream and rainbows and baby laughter, and I don't know. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.960 But when we uh when we read into verse, when we read in verse 2, don't laugh. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.240 Uh when we read in verse 2, this is church, you're not supposed to have fun, remember? 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:41.600 Peace that will be added to us, the peace that has an absolute source. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:50.720 And so we have these feelings we have, and Neil talked about this last week, and I mentioned this before, and even sent out an email reiterating the fact that it is not based on our feelings. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:54.399 There is an absolute truth that everything comes subject to. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:59.200 Our understanding of winter, and now our understanding of spring comes from an absolute peace. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:00.720 And it has an absolute source. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.240 Look there in verse 1 in your Bibles. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:07.519 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:17.519 For length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you in this season of spring that is new life we hear about for the length of days and years of life. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.840 The source of this peace comes from three things. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.240 If you look at that text, there's a peace. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:28.240 And spring has to begin with peace, and there's a source, and you can break it down in those two verses in three ways. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.080 Look, God's character. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.600 He says, Do not forget my teaching. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:41.759 The peace that we long for comes from one person and one source, and it's God. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:43.440 Don't forget my teaching. 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:45.600 And then he says, to remember. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.000 Remember, don't forget. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:49.279 Are we all on the same page? 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:51.120 It don't forget and remember are the same thing? 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:51.919 Yes? 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:54.639 Don't forget my teaching. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.080 And then discipline. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:57.360 Where is the discipline? 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:58.879 Do not forget my teaching. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:01.279 Let your heart keep my commandments. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:02.799 Why is this a big deal? 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:09.360 Why the discipline of remembering God's character and his promises and living by his commandments? 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:16.799 If you were here last week, or even if you weren't, uh, Neil, when Neil was talking about winter, he talked about spiritual disciplines, and I love the way that he described it. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:23.679 He said, These spiritual disciplines are holy habits that help me order my life around what I value. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:32.639 We cannot, church, order our lives around what matters and ensure our values without the discipline of remembering God's character. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:41.279 Because if it's not, if if if if if our peace is founded on what we believe or what we feel, it is not sustaining. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.519 And it's not true peace. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:48.320 As we'll talk about in a minute, spring can lend itself to a theme of busyness. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:52.960 But before we get down to the work of spring, we have to first start with peace. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.559 And why all the peace stuff? 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.120 What am I spending so much time on peace? 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:04.639 Yesterday I got a phone call from one of our members and asked if I could come and spend some time with her dad that was in the hospital. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:12.799 And um driving out to Kingwood, and you know, there's there's no rhyme or reason somehow to how we approach hospital visits and go and spend time with families. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:18.240 Sometimes listen to music, and Clear Isabelle as I was uh driving out to Kingwood, and I had my own soul. 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:23.039 I mean, I got all this time in the car and I can listen to the Aggies beat up on Auburn, it'll be glorious. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:23.759 Yes, thank you. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:24.799 Whoop, indeed. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:30.399 And uh, but Clear Isabelle, God said, Hey, turn your radio off, monkey, and I just want to talk with you. 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:35.200 And just spend some time talking with God in the truck on the way over here, on the way over there, rather. 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:42.159 And Clear Isabel, God said, Hey, when you go and you spend time with that family, I want you to talk about the peace that comes from me. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.720 And when you when you pray for that man, I want I want you to pray for peace. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:17:01.279 And when you're talking with the family and spending time with them, and they are um at their end and they are brokenhearted seeing their dad go in and out of hospital, and grandfather and husband, father-in-law, um, they're just tired of seeing that happen. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.079 You you pray and you talk to me about peace. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:08.799 And so that um changed the trajectory of my sermon. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.079 I got down, got back, and started working on my sermon, and my wife's like, Where are you? 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:17.039 I was like, I'm back at ground zero now, because I feel like God has redirected me around this peace. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:21.920 And so I want us to understand in the season of spring, where do we find peace? 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:28.160 And up on the screen, and the first server said I went through it too fast, so I will try to um slow down just a little bit. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:34.559 Here's a list of what the peace of God promises what it's promised as and what it promises. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:41.599 The first thing is it is given by God, and it's unlike any other peace the world has. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:44.079 It is given by God. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:46.640 The peace of God is given by God. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:48.799 And that might sound you like, wait, I get it, right? 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:49.839 I'm not kindergarten. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.400 But do we? 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:57.839 Because if we truly believe that it's given by God, then we would look to God for peace and nowhere else. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.920 It's given by God and unlike any other peace the world has. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:06.400 It surpasses all understanding and guards your heart. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.000 The peace of God surpasses all understanding. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:13.119 That means that it surpasses your desire for justice. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.039 I mean you're justice people and you're doubt yourselves. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:17.359 Come on. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:35.279 It surpasses our desire for justice, it surpasses our timing and our clock and what we think God should deliver and who he should withhold things from and who he should give things to, and where he should bring peace and where he shouldn't, because it surpasses all understanding and it guards your heart. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:38.400 You're called to submit to the peace. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.079 Colossians 3 15. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:46.480 You know the fruits of the Spirit song, you know the peace is near the front of the list. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:47.680 It's a fruit of the spirit. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.160 It leaps out of you when you spend time with God. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:19:00.000 That's why time and time again, as you read through scripture, you see that God is calling and directing the men and women of peace. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:05.839 And lastly, from Romans 5:1, it comes through Christ's sacrifice. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.480 There is only one source of peace. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:18.400 There's only one source of spring, and it's the only one who can lay down his life as an ultimate sacrifice and deliver it. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:31.759 So whether you're transitioning from winter or spring or in the midst of a spiritual season of spring, God's promise of peace is the soil, it's the seed, it's the fertilizer, it's the shoot, and it's the fruit. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.480 If you remember at the beginning, we said the traits of spring were a thirst and awareness for things of God. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:43.279 You're seeing hope replace hopelessness, and you're seeing a new and renewed desire for response to God's call. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:45.920 And it comes from a discipline. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:49.680 A discipline to remember God and his character. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:51.519 And it should be the heart of spring. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:52.160 How do we know this? 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.119 Look back in Proverbs. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:53.839 Look at verse 3. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:54.960 You still with me? 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:56.319 Verse 3. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:00.799 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:03.680 Bind them around your neck. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.720 Write them on the tablet of your heart. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.359 God is the only one capable of steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:12.880 You understand that, right? 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:14.799 Because look at verse 3. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:18.720 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:22.559 Who is the only one capable of steadfast love and faithfulness? 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:24.480 I already gave you the answer, people. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:25.119 Let's try that again. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:26.480 I'm gonna step back over here. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.480 Alright, and then I'll step out here and I'll ask again. 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:28.960 Are you ready? 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:29.519 Hold on. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.759 I got someone raising their hand over here. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:32.559 Yeah, come on. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:34.160 Come on, grown-ups. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:36.640 Who's the only one possible? 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:37.680 God. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:40.079 God said, I'm the source. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.240 I'm the only place you can find this. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.200 And he's so why so much time on peace? 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:46.960 Because God is so serious about it. 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:48.720 He's so serious about his character. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:50.480 He's so serious about his love. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.519 He says, bind them around your neck. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.880 Write them on the tablet of your heart. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:00.559 My parents are in town this weekend, and I don't know how it is at your house. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:01.920 Most families are this way. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:03.759 I know mine is, I know my wife's is. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:12.000 You get your family together, and you find yourself telling the same stories over and over and over again every visit, and then over again, and then four more times the next day, right? 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:19.440 And we're telling some stories, and this is um a story that I've never said out loud with my parents in the room, and I outed myself in the first service, so I might as well out myself here. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:26.640 Um the second service, when I was um in junior high, there were a couple things I really wanted to be, and one of them was uh uh like a rodeo cowboy. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:28.319 I know that's funny, most of you. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:32.640 Uh and so there were a couple things that uh that didn't that we weren't allowed to do in our house. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:42.319 There weren't many with a lot of freedom in our house, and one of the things um was riding motorcycles, and the other one was riding bulls, and and my and my dad was pretty adamant about us not doing either of those things. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:50.400 Um, and so I really wanted to do that, and um, and so I because I was it was forbidden, so of course I wanted to do it, right? 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:51.680 I know I'm the only one. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:59.200 Um and so a couple other stories I haven't ever told before, so you only get one story with my dad staring at me in the room. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:04.400 Uh One is I had a couple buddies that were riding rodeo, and so they had put together a barrel bull. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:06.880 If you don't know what a barrel bull is, it's a moron contraption. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:07.359 All right. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:14.960 You take an old oil barrel and you take a rope and you take a garage spring and you string it up between two trees, and then one moron gets on it, and the other one shake it. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:15.519 Alright? 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:27.599 And so we had one rigged up, and uh we were all training to uh what we thought were gonna be cowboys, and we were all training to do that, and uh I took a bad fall off of that thing. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:32.480 Um I took a bad fall, and uh couldn't really turn my neck, couldn't really move my shoulder. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:43.599 Um, so I stayed out real late, came home late on a Friday night, and I think my dad probably knew what was going on and knew something was up and I wouldn't get out of bed and he messed with me like I would mess with my son if he did the same thing. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.799 Um and but I don't remember what story I told them, so I'm confessing now that I'm sure it wasn't the truth. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:53.680 Um But I know that I ended up going to the doctor and having to wear one of those collars. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:54.880 You know what I'm talking about? 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.200 Like junior high isn't hard enough. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:00.799 Uh and had to wear that thing to school. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.880 How many of you ever had to wear one of those collars before? 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:04.240 Or a halo or anything? 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:05.759 It restricts your movement, right? 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:08.960 You can only you have to turn your whole body to do things. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:10.720 Why do I share that? 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:26.880 Because God tells us to bind love and faithfulness around our neck to where it controls us, to where the purpose of our life in spring and beyond is controlled by the love and the faithfulness and the peace of Christ. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:32.240 He then goes as far as to say, write them on the tablet of your heart. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.759 It doesn't say take a big pen and scribble it on a piece of paper. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:38.720 It says, take a tablet and write them on a tablet. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.559 You ever seen how you write on a tablet? 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:42.799 It involves a chisel and a hammer. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.319 That is a permanent marking that God is calling you to. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:57.759 It is not dependent on how you feel, it is not dependent on the season of life you are in, it is dependent on the fact that God says, bind it around your neck and and write it on the tablet of your heart. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:00.960 So we spent so much time on peace. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:01.920 Suede, move on. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.240 The cowboys kick off at noon in London. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.319 Oh, Texans fans, that's funny. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:11.680 How's that how's that how's that uh never mind. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:12.480 All right. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.240 The first service got violent, by the way. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.680 You guys need to start cheering for the real Texas team. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:20.240 All right. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.839 Why so much peace? 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.200 I said to make sure you're still with me. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.119 Hey, hey, I have a microphone. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:25.839 All right. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:30.319 Why so much time about peace? 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:32.559 Um, because it leads right into our second point. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:38.000 The understanding of peace allows us to do number two well, and that is spring is a season of work. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.400 Spring is a season of work. 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:46.240 It's a season of tilling soil, planting seed, and handling new growth. 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:52.079 And in the midst of that work, there needs to be a right motivation for that work. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:57.119 There needs to be a right motivation for the fruit that we desire to see in our lives. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:04.480 There needs to be a right motivation as we enter into the season of spring, or if you are in the middle of spring as you lean into it. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:10.640 And that peace comes from the discipline of remembering God's character. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:14.319 And because of the work, we see growth. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:17.279 And it's sometimes our desire to take credit for the growth. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:19.119 We know in here, right? 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:19.680 No one does that? 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:21.279 No one takes credit for their own growth. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:26.160 God reminds us through his character that he is the one that brings growth. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:33.279 If we can remember in our spring that he is the planter, the harvester, we can find peace in him. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:36.240 It's this that allows us to do the work of spring. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:39.839 Look at verse five there in Proverbs 3. 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:45.920 Verse 5 says this: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:51.119 In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:54.480 The right work is found in trust. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.880 It says, Trust in the Lord. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:59.680 This morning, look at me, church, this morning. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.519 Starting with this morning, you have to ask yourself the question, do you trust in the Lord? 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:07.519 Because here's the other alternative. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.680 You lean on your own understanding. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:12.799 Think about this for a minute. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:17.599 Do you trust in the Lord or do you lean on your own understanding in most cases? 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.400 A little still in here. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:31.440 Because what we like to do, and I'm I'm I'm just as bad as anybody else, is God, you make me glad, your ways are good. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:36.799 I trust you, except when I don't understand it, and then I lean on my own understanding. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:43.359 But it doesn't say that we are capable of steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:45.039 I didn't remember reading that. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:46.240 I didn't see my name in there. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.160 I saw that God is capable of steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:54.240 And so it tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:01.119 We want to say that we trust God, but we also want to lean on our own understanding. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:06.799 Um, as a kid, we we bumped around a lot, and one of the places we lived was in Midland for a little less than a year. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.880 We did the uh the oil family shuffle around uh Texas and Colorado. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:12.559 Um, and one of those stops was Midland. 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:16.079 And I remember being in first grade and going to church, and they had a uh like a children's moment. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:18.720 You guys remember those where the kids would all come forward? 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:23.119 And I think the pastor, actually, I know the pastor was teaching it, and I don't remember exactly what the sermon was on. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:25.759 I think it was childlike faith or something to that extent. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.759 And he said, uh, can I get a volunteer? 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:35.920 And I was just as obnoxious then as I am now, so I was the first one to raise my hand and um came up on the stage and he brought me up and what's your name and all those things. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.240 And um he said, Well, I'm gonna put this blindfold on you. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:40.480 Now I had an older brother. 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:43.279 How many of you have older brothers in here? 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:48.319 So I I grew up with not a lot of comfortability and vulnerability. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.720 Um and so I was told to put a blindfold on. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.960 Um and then he said, Open your mouth. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:57.039 No, sir. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:02.319 And I'm immediately blowing up this poor guy's sermon because he's got this perfect illustration. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:05.680 He wants to get the goofy kid up, do this, get off the stage, move on, right? 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:07.279 And he says, Well, you know, I'm your pastor. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.559 I'm like, I don't know, you man. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:09.279 All right. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:15.279 And I think he wanted to give me the piece of candy, and you know, it's a good reward for having faith. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:15.680 I don't know. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:17.359 And I was wouldn't do it, I don't know how long I was up there. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:18.480 It felt like an eternity to me. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.359 I'm sure it wasn't him. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:24.319 I could hear my brother laughing, I could blindfold it, but I could feel my mom's disapproval and embarrassment. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:27.759 And then um and then he just finally just had to give up and and move on. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:31.759