WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:08.960 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:16.879 Amen. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:17.760 Let's pray together. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.199 Lord, that's what we've come to do. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.879 We've come to worship your holy name, to make much of you, and to open up the Bible and see that you make much of yourself. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:26.879 And you invite us to do the same. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:40.799 You invite us to live lives that uh that demonstrate uh to the culture around us, to our neighbors and to our co-workers and to our classmates and to our friends and to our people that we meet for play dates, the sufficiency and the reality of God. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:57.119 And so, Lord, we ask as we open up your word this morning, Holy Spirit, that you would illuminate the word and cause it to give light and understanding so that we can give expression to the truths of the gospel in our lives and in our lips and in the way we love and who we love in every part of our being, God. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.600 And we want to reflect the worth of the gospel. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:04.159 So, Holy Spirit, brood over your people today and apply the word where necessary. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:11.840 Bring healing where healing is necessary, reconciliation where reconciliation is necessary, and repentance where repentance is required. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:15.519 Lord, we just submit ourselves to you because you are over us. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.480 With your blood, you purchase men and women for God. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:23.040 And so you own us, and so you have the divine right to tell us what to do. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.000 And that is not oppressive, that's liberating. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:31.200 And so, Lord, let us understand that simple truth today from your word and by your spirit. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:32.799 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.560 And all God's people said, Now do me a favor, don't sit down yet. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:43.599 Uh if you know this is a come up, you're like, oh, you really uh uh this is a family worship day, which means we have some little people here among us. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:51.760 And so Pastor Neil uh littered the front of the stage with lollipops because it's easier to get soul candy sometimes if you have a little candy. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:02:01.040 So, boys and girls, if your mom says it's okay, you can slip out right now out of your seat and come get your little something, something off the edge of the stage, and then go right back to your seat. 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:02.159 Yes. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:05.280 Yes, are there others to bust us away? 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:07.040 Get your old self out of here. 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:14.479 Yes, come on, Lily, grab you some. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.560 Don't get your mom any chocolate, she doesn't need any. 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.120 And by the way, uh adults stay seated so they can slip. 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:31.120 I mean, say standing so they can slip back in around you. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:31.759 We'll be okay. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.280 I'll get you out of here on time. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:35.840 Alright, boys and girls, be be earnest. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.120 Grab something and make your way back to your seat. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:40.319 There you go. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:41.360 Take as much as you want. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:42.719 There's not a limit. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:46.639 Your parents are gonna be up all night anyway. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:52.879 All right, how are we doing? 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:53.520 There you go. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:54.560 Come back for some more. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:55.599 There you go. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:57.120 Here, here. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:58.319 Open your hands up. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:02:59.120 Take all that. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:02:59.759 Go. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:04.560 Man's trying to singly grab everything. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:07.680 Just just double, just two-fist it and have a good time. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:17.520 Uh now, by the way, today's a family worship day, which means that uh our kids are here with us, and it's a good thing because what we're gonna talk about, I want your kids to understand, and you can help them understand that. 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.080 I want to talk to you this morning about a New Year's prayer. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.840 Uh my New Year's prayer for our church, and I'm gonna invite you to pray these things. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.159 And you say, What do you mean invite you to pray these things? 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:29.439 Uh, there's seven points in the sermon today, one for each day of the week. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.360 And here's what I want us to do as a church. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.280 Men, if you're married, I'm talking to you. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:36.240 I want us in the new year to get better about praying with our wives. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:37.520 And I'll start with a confession. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:39.520 My wife is the hardest person for me to pray with. 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:41.439 And because I think I pray all day. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.439 I've prayed for a living, so I'm gonna go home. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:50.719 It's not one of the things I naturally think about until my wife uh uh says something that makes me angry, and then I think I'm gonna pray for her. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:56.479 Matter of fact, there's a class on Wednesday nights called, it starts this Wednesday night called Lord Changing My Attitude. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:57.919 I signed her up for that already. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.960 Uh just to say, is that passive aggressive? 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:01.599 I never know. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:07.120 Uh anyway, uh and so what I want you to do is you listen, is I want you to think, hey, this is a great thing. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.280 On this day we can pray for these things, okay? 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.400 And so if you got a Bible, I want you to open up to Ephesians chapter 4. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:13.599 Ephesians chapter 4. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:15.520 If you don't have a Bible with you, you forgot yours. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:19.920 I'm on page 977 on the Bible that's there on your row. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.759 And I just want to read the first 16 verses of Ephesians chapter 4. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:25.120 And this is my prayer. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:35.839 Uh I this is my prayer I've been praying this past week for our church going to the new year, and it's our prayer, it's a prayer I'm gonna continue to pray as we get into the new year, and I invite you to pray this with me. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.600 This is what the the God's word says in Ephesians 4, verse 1. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:53.519 Paul writes, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:05:05.120 And there's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.959 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:14.000 Therefore it says, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:20.079 In saying he ascended, what does it mean that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:26.319 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:32.560 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, the teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:51.839 We're building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may long no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:06:09.360 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.319 This is my prayer, and this is my seven parts of my prayer that I've been praying. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:15.360 I'm inviting you today. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.959 I'm gonna preach this prayer because I invite you to join me in praying it for our church. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:25.199 Now, when I say our church, I don't mean the institution or the organization, I mean the people, because that's what the church is, okay? 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.680 The first thing I'm praying is this is that we leverage everything against the gospel in the new year. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.680 We leverage everything against the gospel. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:32.399 What do you mean? 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.000 It's the first three verses. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.959 Paul says, I therefore a prisoner for the Lord. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:41.920 Paul is in prison as he writes the book of Ephesians, and so that's not just a figure of speech. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.879 He says, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:55.759 And by the way, when he says in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, that word calling in the Greek, one of the word picture definitions behind that is a feast. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:59.360 And so you're not called to a famine when God calls you to himself. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:01.680 It's not like, okay, you're done having fun. 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.839 Now come be miserable and for a long time, then when you die, you get to go to heaven. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:06.800 That's not the gospel. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:07.920 That's not Christianity. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.160 The Bible says you're called to a feast. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:19.439 And he says, I urge you to walk, to live in a manner that's in keeping with this feast that you've been called to experience as a Christian. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:44.160 So when I say leverage everything against the gospel, whether you're in prison, whether you're free, whether you're rich, whether you're struggling, whether you're happy, whether you're sad, whether you're fat, whether you're skinny, short, or tall, all that, you hold that up to the gospel and you leverage your behavior in all of those moments, all of those circumstances, all of those situations, you leverage the fulcrum upon which you leverage your life is the gospel. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:49.199 And you ask, we ask ourselves, how does the gospel inform the way I do this? 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:54.000 How does the gospel inform the way I respond to this circumstance or this situation? 00:07:54.240 --> 00:08:00.079 Or more down to earth, how does the gospel inform the way I speak to this person? 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.560 Is my speech full of grace and seasoned with salt? 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:05.759 Because here's what he says. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:16.000 He says, after he says, Hey, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness with patience, bearing with one another in love. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.439 The humility and the gentleness and the patience is not what we have that's not on the front end. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:31.920 It's like, hey, have humility and gentleness and patience, because the church for years has taken on itself the responsibility of trying to teach you, hey, here's three things I want you to do in the new year. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.000 Have humility and gentleness and patience. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:43.039 And I'm saying to you, and that more importantly, the Bible's saying to us, those things are the byproduct of having leveraged your life against the gospel. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.120 That's what the gospel produces in us. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.639 The gospel produces humility, it produces gentleness, it produces patience. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:55.519 So my first prayer for our church is that we would leverage everything against the gospel. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:00.799 You get in a situation at work that's frustrating, that you don't just act out of the flesh. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:10.879 But the first thing you say is, how does the gospel, the gospel being the good news of Christianity, all the way from Genesis 1.1 to the end of Revelation, where he says, even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:17.679 How does the whole council of God's word inform and influence the way I respond in this situation? 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:26.320 Can you just fathom a city that is experiencing a group of people who are leveraging the gospel in every facet of their life? 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:29.679 The second prayer is simply this: be led by the Spirit. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:30.960 Be led by the Spirit. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.159 Look at verse 3. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:33.039 He says this. 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:35.200 He says, uh, bearing with one another in love. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.919 Verse 3, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.279 Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:51.120 Notice that we don't have to create or establish something, we just have to maintain what the Spirit has already produced in us, and that's unity. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:52.240 Let me say that again. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.759 We don't have to create or maintain uh anything. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.799 We just we we are create or establish. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.919 We just have to maintain, we have to just walk in what the spirit has already produced, and that's unity. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:05.440 That's where peace comes from. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:20.159 So basically, if you have a group of people that are leveraging everything in their life against the reality of the gospel, and these people are being led by the spirit, then just kind of imagine what kind of happens in a culture when this is happening. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:21.279 We'll get into this. 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.159 Uh the more I study John, the longer we're going to be in John. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.840 Uh we've been John for four years. 00:10:25.919 --> 00:10:36.240 Uh, but in John chapter 7, Jesus stands up and he says, uh, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, and out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.720 And by that he's referencing the Holy Spirit. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:44.080 Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a city where there's a group of people that are led by the Spirit? 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:48.480 In other words, they have this reality flowing out of them like a river. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.960 Would that not begin to influence things in and around everybody else? 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:58.080 Now, let me bring it down to where we live, since your children are here with you this morning. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:04.559 Uh, let me just, by way of reminder, when your children are converted, they don't get a junior version of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.320 No, this should change your parenting, and I'm not kidding. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.919 Your kids don't get a junior version. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.320 They don't, if they're converted at like seven years old, they don't get a seven-year-old Holy Spirit. 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:16.799 They get the same Holy Spirit that adults get. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.759 And one of the priorities of parenting is to teach your kids what it means to be full of the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:30.000 And Dad, mom, the way you, the way you teach them is about you being full of the Spirit and you walking in the Spirit. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:34.080 And Dad, you leading your family in a spiritual way, not just in a financial way. 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:44.639 If the greatest thing you do is take your kids on great vacations and give them good stuff, your kids are gonna grow up, leave your home, and leave the faith because there's nothing alluring about it. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:54.240 But if they grow up with a mom and dad that are full of the spirit and are led by the spirit and say things to their kids like, hey, before we eat, we're gonna thank God for the food because we that that that's a given. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.320 But also, mom and dad are praying. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:58.000 We kind of sense God doing this. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:06.240 We want you as a family to be praying and speak out whatever you sense the Lord's kind of putting in you because we want to make this decision as a family. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:10.000 All of a sudden, your kids find that more compelling than Disney World. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:13.600 Now, when our girls were younger, uh, they're like five and a half years apart. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.240 One of them came to faith before the other one, and I would tell the older one, hey, your sister doesn't know Jesus. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.639 So she's selfish because she's a sinner. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:21.679 You don't get that excuse. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.600 And she's well, that doesn't seem very fair. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:25.759 And I was like, Well, that's just the reality. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.600 You got to demonstrate the fruit of the spirit. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.480 And she looked at me when she was nine and she goes, Well, what's the fruit of the spirit? 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.799 And I said, That's a great question, let me tell you. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:38.159 And I did not say you've got to be loving and peaceful and joyful and self-controlled and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:40.720 Because that's just behavior modification. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.600 Stop using the Bible to try to modify your kids' behavior so they don't embarrass you in public. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:48.559 No, I just said, Hey, this is the deal. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.639 And she was kind of like, huh? 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:52.799 And I went in the kitchen and I said, Come here. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:58.080 Got a glass, put it on the counter, filled it with milk, got the Hershey's chocolate syrup and squeezed it in there. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:59.840 I said, This milk is your life. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.919 This syrup is the Holy Spirit. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:03.600 God comes to live inside of you. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.559 I stirred it up and I said, You want to drink this? 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:07.279 Uh-huh. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:13.840 There's people in the world that want to know about the God you know when you live out this changed reality. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.639 Okay, you understand what the Holy Spirit is? 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:17.840 God lives inside of you? 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.440 Yes, and I want that. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:20.399 Yes. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.679 That's the desired effect that the Spirit has upon people. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:32.879 And so I just want to say, uh, circle back and just kind of say, uh, mom and dad, and say to myself, our kids did not get a junior version of the Holy Spirit. 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:34.399 They just didn't. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:42.159 Teach them what it means to be full of spirit, to walk in the spirit, to be sensitive to the spirit's leading, and to know what it's like when they grieve the spirit. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:47.759 Uh, we would say this to our children, and we still do to this day, but the older they get, the less we have to say it. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.960 But when they would do something wrong, we would say, that's not just wrong, that's sin. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:52.240 And they would say, I feel bad. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.799 Yeah, you feel bad because you've grieved the Holy Spirit. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.320 The spirit in the Spirit of God inside of you is not happy with what you did. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:07.519 Now, not to shame our children or whatever, but to teach them, hey, even when mom and dad aren't looking, you have a governing reality that lives inside of you, and it is the Spirit of God. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:09.840 You need to live in tune with that. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:16.080 Because here's the thing: if we taught our kids more about the Holy Spirit, you wouldn't have to worry about their morality so much. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.879 Now let that sink in for a minute. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:20.480 You're like, hey, my kids are four. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:21.360 I don't worry about that. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.039 Wait till they get to be 14. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:25.039 Wait till they get to be 17. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.080 Now let me say it again. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:33.600 If we taught our kids more about the spiritual realities of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian, you would not have to worry about their morality and about their behavior. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.399 When they get 16 and get a car and 19 and go off to college, like, uh, here's why. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:45.519 The Bible says this in Galatians chapter 5: Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:54.720 If you teach your kids about what it means to walk in the spirit, they find a really fascinating Jesus and a fascinating life that the Bible describes as Christianity. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:55.519 And guess what? 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:58.639 Just as a byproduct of that, they don't want to sin anymore. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:03.120 They don't want to fulfill the desires of the flesh because that doesn't appeal to them the way it once did. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:03.519 Why? 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:10.240 Because they found a reality in the spirit that they don't find by walking in the flesh, and they want more of that. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.639 Does that make sense to anybody besides me? 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:14.240 Hello. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.240 I know it's New Year's Eve. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.799 Please tell me you haven't started partying already. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:20.799 Y'all kind of like last week. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.120 It was Christmas Eve, and now it's New Year's Eve, and you're all like, oh. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:27.279 Yeah. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:27.919 Yeah. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.840 Because I want us to go into this new year, just kind of being led by the Spirit. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:35.039 Third thing I'm praying for our church is that we think rightly about God. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:36.320 Pick it up in verse 4. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:47.840 He says, There's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.080 To think rightly about God, go no further than those last three little phrases. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:54.960 Over all, through all, and in all. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:02.559 A part of parenting is to raise your children to think rightly about God, and you do that by demonstrating that you think rightly about God. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:07.919 You have a biblical orthodoxy and a Christology and an understanding of who God is. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:17.200 Otherwise, he's this sentimental, permissive grandpa that sets in a big recliner in heaven and winks at sin and excuses everybody. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:27.919 And yet, if you read the Bible, and that'd be nutty, the Bible talks of because here's my concern: that we're parenting our kids and we're teaching our kids about a God that doesn't exist in the Bible. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:42.720 Because when you read in the Bible and you see in Revelation 19 that Jesus is coming back and he's riding a white horse, and the armies of heaven are dressed in white and they're coming behind him, and he says that he treads the wine press and the wrath and the fury of God Almighty. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:47.679 That he means business and he is going to lay down business on all his enemies. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:56.559 Don't raise your kids to believe in this sentimental little glowy Jesus that walked around in a white speedo, just kind of giving away free stuff. 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.480 Give them a fully orbed view of God. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:01.519 What do I mean? 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:02.879 Those three phrases. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:03.919 Overall. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:05.440 Overall, what does it mean? 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.759 God has authority over you if you're a Christian. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:08.880 Start there. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.519 God has authority over you. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:12.960 This will happen tomorrow. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.519 Happens every year in my neighborhood. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:16.799 There's kids in my neighborhood. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:17.359 I like them. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:28.079 They're for the most part good kids, but they shoot off a billion dollars worth of fireworks, not like bottle rockets like we had, like big cannon things that make that noise, and about three seconds later, boom. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:29.920 And it goes on way past midnight. 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:31.759 I'm like, hey, New Year's is here. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.559 Go to bed. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:40.000 Come myself, don't text me tonight at midnight and wish me happy new year because you will wake me up and then I will have to get in your business, okay? 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:40.960 Because I'm old. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.799 I don't care about Mariah Carey getting a second chance to sing in New York City. 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:45.920 I don't care. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:47.119 I don't care. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:48.079 I don't care. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.599 I'm not mad at the world. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.960 I just like to sleep and get up and go to work, okay? 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.160 But I tell the kids, hey, y'all we're gonna shoot stuff out in the street. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:59.279 I said, get it out of people's yards and clean up your stuff out of the street. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.799 They never clean up the street. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.160 It looks like I mean it's carnage, paper tubes everywhere. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.440 So I just go over and ring a doorbell by 6:45 tomorrow morning. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:08.799 Ding dong. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:11.759 Hey, remember y'all say you're gonna clean your stuff up? 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:13.359 We can't even drive down the street. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:13.599 See? 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:14.400 That's them right there. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:15.599 They're already started. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:17.440 We can't even drive. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.160 What do y'all do? 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:19.200 Oh, yeah, we forgot. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:20.240 You forgot. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:24.319 Hey, teach your kids common sense and common decency. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:26.079 It will go a long way. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:30.240 We have become a barbaric culture because parents have gotten lazy. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:35.759 And here's the thing: here's why we've gotten lazy is because in the American church, this is free. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:40.480 The American church has adopted a gospel of self-fulfillment, and that's what gets preached in most churches. 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:41.839 It's just self-fulfillment. 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.759 It's just you doing what makes you happy. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:46.799 And so the two relationships, here's where it manifests itself. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:52.000 Here's why you know that we've been sold a bill of goods, a gospel of self-fulfillment and self-worth. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:58.480 The two relationships that cost you the most, marriage and parenting, are deficient in America. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:01.440 Just look around at kids nowadays. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.599 I'm not indicting all kids. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.480 I'm just saying for the most part, no respect for authority. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.640 They think they can question everything. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.359 It's just kind of like, hey, who are you telling me what to do? 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:12.799 I'm not your mom and dad. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.200 I'm the man that will whip you in the middle of Chick-fil-A. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.039 Yeah. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:24.079 If you want to see it, just go to Chick-fil-A and watch a lazy Fort Bean County mom sit there and gossip while there's seven foot kids in the play area. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.599 Where it clearly says on the door, if you are this tall, you are not allowed in here. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:32.640 Because I'm the parent that will get your kid by the ear and drag him out. 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:33.519 Whose kid is this? 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.799 He's like, ah, that's my son. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:37.599 What are you doing? 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.519 Hey, what I'm doing is parenting your kid. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:41.920 And what you're not doing, he is seven feet tall. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.119 He doesn't belong in here. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.559 Well, he likes to be in there. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.279 So do pedophiles, but your kid ain't staying in here. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.279 Yeah, I said that right up here in the Chick-fil-A in Greatwood. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.039 So after that, when I would come in, them big kids would all scramble out. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:56.559 Oh, here he comes. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:59.359 Yeah, the lifeguard is in the pool now. 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.759 I'm gonna drown some fools. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.319 Because you're not gonna be around my kids. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:04.960 Why? 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:09.759 Because I'm not intimidated, I'm not impressed, I'm not a bully, I'm not a mean person, I'm not whatever. 00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:12.240 I believe in civility in the culture. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:20.960 And I believe because we've swallowed this thing of self-fulfillment and self-worth, the two relationships that require the most of us marriage and parenting. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:24.160 And not just parenting until they're 18, because you're not done parenting. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.160 That's when you gotta do some of your best parenting. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:30.079 Because here's the deal children by nature are inconvenient. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.400 Yeah, we're talking about you kids. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.839 Yeah, that's not a complaint, that's just an admission of reality. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.720 If you didn't want to be inconvenienced, don't have them. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:45.440 I wish I could see y'all's faces. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.839 Y'all like, come on, man, it's New Year's Eve. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.079 Come on, man, let us up. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.200 I'm not mad at you. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:52.880 I'm just saying, think rightly about God. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:53.839 See, here's the thing. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:06.319 When he says overall, when I say God has authority over you, if you're a Christian, and I say, start there, hey, it's easier for your kids to believe that God has authority over them, mom and dad, if you exercise authority over them. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:13.680 It's hard to believe in authority you can't see if you don't believe and respect authority you can see. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:15.599 Overall, secondly, through all. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.480 God's design and desire is to work through you. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:20.000 Let me say that again. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:23.440 God's design and desire is to work through you. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:25.200 You say, Oh man, you don't know who I am. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:26.160 It doesn't matter. 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:27.680 That's the way you were created. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.359 You're created in God's image to reflect God's glory in this world. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:33.839 His design and desire is to work through you. 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.799 So overall, through all, and then in all. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:37.759 In all. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.839 God lives inside of you by his spirit. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:49.279 If you read the Bible, one thing you'll see is that most of the teaching about morality, about what we do with our body, is not about behavior and about morality versus immorality. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:52.480 It's about in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:54.240 Let me give you a simple example. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:57.440 This is from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18 to 20. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.519 Paul says, flee from sexual immorality. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.559 Every other sin a person commits is outside the body. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:05.759 But the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:11.039 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.839 You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.000 So glorify God in your body. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:19.839 If you want to make a New Year's resolution, make that last sentence your resolution. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.319 I want to glorify God in my body. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.319 So glorify God in your body. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.519 Don't go home today and research the latest fat diet. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.079 Just say, I want to glorify God in my body. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:32.880 It really gets down to being that simple. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.240 Fourth thing I'm praying is this is that you would exercise your gift. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.079 You would exercise your gift. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.799 Look at where we left off in verse 6, verse 7. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:44.640 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:45.680 Now hear that. 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:50.160 But grace was given to each one of us and according to the measure of Christ's gift. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:56.640 When we talk about Christ's gift, he's talking about you, you, every every Christian was given what's called a spiritual gift. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.400 It's this endowment and this capacity to do certain things. 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:03.039 And they're listed in the Bible. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.200 And so you can read that on your own time if you say, Hey, I don't know what that is. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.079 Come to one of us. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:09.759 We'd love to show you that in the Bible. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:11.519 But here's what I want you to understand. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:19.119 I say exercise your gift, you got this spiritual gift, and you've got a measure of grace that's proportional to your gift. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:25.119 Because to exercise your gift without grace is to be destructive and not instructive. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.400 Grace is always proportional to the gift. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:30.240 Like there's a couple ladies in our church. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:37.440 We had a funeral here on Friday, uh, and it's over the holidays, and so I emailed two ladies in our church that I know have the gift of hospitality. 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:39.920 And I said, Hey, are either one of you available to help with this? 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.400 I'll do whatever I need to do to make it happen. 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:45.279 Both of them wrote me back and said, We got this, Skippy. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.119 You do the funeral, we'll take care of this. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.559 We need nothing from you. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.799 A couple days later, I emailed them just to follow up and said, Do you need anything from me? 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.119 And they both said, We need nothing from you. 00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:56.559 Stop asking us. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.920 Now, you may hear that and kind of go, dude, they're kind of snarky. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.400 No, they have the gift of hospitality. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:04.160 I do not have that gift, okay? 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.640 My gift is prophecy, not hospitality. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.359 And so those women, because their gift is hospitality. 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:12.559 I walked into the fellowship hall, it was just beautifully laid out. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:14.240 Food for 50 people. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:20.079 There were centerpieces, and they had pieces of wood and garland and candles. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.839 And one of them said, Yes, you eat first with your eyes. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.599 And I thought to myself, Nah, I've never thought that in my life. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:34.079 Because if I was in charge of that reception, it'd been some round tables and some chairs. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:34.960 Here's the food. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:35.680 Help yourself. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:36.559 Let's pray, Lord. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.559 Good God, good meat, good gravy, let's eat. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:39.519 Let's go. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:41.440 It was elegant. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.839 I mean, you walked in, I kind of just found myself slowing down, like, oh, this is pretty. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:47.359 Why? 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:50.000 Because those women have the gift of hospitality. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:51.119 Not my gift. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:59.200 But when I say exercise your gift, the church becomes who we are capable of becoming when everyone exercises their gift. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:00.400 So, two questions today. 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.240