WEBVTT 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:13.359 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.399 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:22.480 Amen. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:22.960 Amen. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:23.760 You can have a seat. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:24.800 Let's pray together. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:32.479 Lord, thanks for the reminder that you've put a little child on your lap and said, unless you become like this kid, you're not going to get a sniff of the kingdom. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:39.439 And so, Lord, rescue us from hiding behind our fears and calling it adulthood or maturity or whatever. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.280 We come today with childlike faith. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:46.479 We come to the Bible and we say, God, say something that has our name on it and say it in a language that we understand. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.600 We're grateful that you've not left us at the mercy of religion. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:53.280 You came, Jesus, to make possible and available a relationship. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:55.920 And a relationship with you changes everything. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:58.880 They had plenty of religion before Jesus was born. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.240 Before God left heaven and came to earth. 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.560 And so you didn't come to make more religion. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.040 You came to make possible a relationship. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:12.560 And so, Lord, speak to us today about some words that help inform and influence this relationship. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.640 We pray and we listen in Jesus' name. 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:16.640 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:17.120 Amen. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.719 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:22.239 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:23.680 If you don't have one in bring one. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:24.640 There's one on your row. 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:26.640 I'm on page 969. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:29.760 I want to talk to you this morning about some old words for the new year. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:34.000 Now, if you're a guest, uh typically what we're doing, we preach through books of the Bible, like right now. 00:01:34.159 --> 00:01:35.760 I'm preaching through the Gospel of John. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.200 We took a break for Advent. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.079 We'll pick back up in February. 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.359 Actually, we're going to do a little series in January on our core values. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:48.239 But I want to talk this morning about just this old words for the new year. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.359 I read the Bible not just because I'm a preacher. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.959 Mainly I read the Bible because I'm a Christian and I believe it's the truth. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.079 It's kind of like it's what sustains and nourishes me. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.319 And so I've been reading the book of 2 Corinthians. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:07.439 And so basically, I'm going to talk to you this morning about four words that just kind of jumped off the page to me that I've been kind of thinking about. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:13.280 In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I'll read the first six verses, but I'm really going to focus on verse 3. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:14.719 The Bible says this. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:16.639 I wish you would bear with me. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.080 Paul says to them, I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:27.599 Do bear with me, for I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:35.599 But I am afraid that as a serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:47.599 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:54.639 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these superapostles, even if I am unskilled in speaking. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:56.000 I am not in knowledge. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:00.639 Indeed, in every way, we have made this plain to you in all things. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:07.759 Now, I read all six verses so you kind of get the flow of thought in the context, but I really want to drill down on verse three. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:08.879 So let me read it again. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:23.039 Paul says to these people in Corinth, which is a city there, he says, I'm afraid that as a serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:27.039 And so there's four words, these old words I want to give you for the new year. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.400 There's four words I want to kind of pull out and invite us to think about. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:32.080 And the first one is just thoughts. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:32.800 Your thoughts. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:36.400 He says, My fear is that your thoughts will be led astray. 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:38.240 And so the first word is just thoughts. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:39.599 And let me just ask this question. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.560 You ever notice how random your thoughts can be? 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:45.280 I'm driving back from Florida yesterday. 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:52.000 We left at 4.15 in the morning, and my wife's like, I can't decide if you're excited about leaving or excited about getting home. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.400 To which I just said, Yes, yes. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.479 Just sit there and go back to sleep. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:07.599 Because what happens is I get up, we load the van, my kids and my wife get out of bed in their pajamas, get into the minivan, lay their seats back, and they my wife puts on a hoodie and a sleep mask. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.199 And I took a picture of her and I said to my kids, Your mom's the unibomber. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.360 And my kids had no idea who the unibomber was. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:14.479 I was like, What? 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:15.599 What in the world? 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:16.959 So we're driving down the road. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.120 It is eight hours and 35 minutes. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.079 I made it yesterday in eight hours, new record. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:23.600 I don't drive fast. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:25.759 The minivan is aerodynamic. 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:27.759 You cannot hold back the swagger wagon. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.720 Matter of fact, that thing gets closer to Sugarland. 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:32.079 It starts picking up speed. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.120 We were like bump drafter like NASCAR on I-10. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:40.959 I had 14 cars piled up, and I wasn't even, I didn't have my foot on the gas. 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:42.959 I was being carried along by the draft. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:44.480 My wife is mouthbreating. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:46.079 My kids are laid back back there. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:50.000 And for eight hours, all I had to do was drive and think. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:52.240 And let me tell you something, my man. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.079 My thoughts are all over the place. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:59.040 And so maybe this is one of the reasons my mind was drawn to this, just this word thoughts. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:03.439 Just, just, do you ever did just take notice of the things that you think about? 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:11.839 I'm driving down the road and I'm looking over, and all of a sudden the car in front of me hit his brakes, and so I hit my brakes, and then my mind immediately went to, I wonder what happened if we had a wreck. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:12.560 What happened? 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.639 Like if we had a wreck and my wife died, would I remarry? 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:15.600 I don't know if I'd remarry. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:16.480 I think I'd be great. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.240 But my wife says you should remarry because it's a sign that you had a healthy marriage. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.240 If you don't remarry, people are gonna think you weren't happy. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.600 And I'm just kind of like, eh, she's psychotic even when she is asleep. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.759 And so we're driving down the road, and then I see a sign that says Waffle House next exit. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:31.680 And I think, oh, the Waffle House, you're gonna be good right now? 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:33.839 A bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.240 I mean, I'm ping, ping, ping, bing, ping, ping. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:42.879 In about four minutes, I had like 60 thoughts, and I was just like, I think I've had too much sleep. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:44.319 That is my problem, okay? 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:51.439 And so we're driving down the road, and I'm just thinking about this, and I'm thinking about, and I just thought, man, this is crazy. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.600 And I knew I was preaching about this today. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:00.480 Let me tell you, the only other, the only place my thoughts get more away from me than when I'm driving long distance is when I pray. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:01.920 Have you ever started to pray? 00:06:02.000 --> 00:06:08.160 You start praying, you're really doing good for about 10 seconds, and then you're like, oh, I need to go to the grocery store. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:10.800 I'll just jot some things down. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:14.079 And I even get a pencil and I just jot down and I go back to praying. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.120 But if you're not careful, you're like, your mind will go, your thoughts will get away, and you go over here and you'll be like, oh, grocery store, yeah. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:20.560 Do we have milk and I'm gonna make queso? 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:21.439 Do we have rotail? 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.360 And pretty soon you're looking to the kitchen, and 20 minutes later you're like, what was I doing? 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:26.560 Oh, I was praying. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:28.480 Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, God. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:29.759 I'm not even a good Christian. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:31.759 Please don't send me to hell because I'm not good. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.199 I'll do better to pray. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:36.639 The issue is not prayer, the issue is your thoughts. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:50.639 And Paul says he understands this, which is why he writes in 2 Corinthians 11, he says, Hey, I'm afraid that as a serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:52.079 Now, let me just kind of say this. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:53.360 I don't have time to go into it. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.800 He says, I'm afraid that as a serpent deceived Eve by his cunning. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:03.120 When he talks about the serpent, he's talking about how the devil appeared to Adam and Eve in the garden in the form of a serpent. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:11.680 Now, by the way, we believe here at this church that the devil is a real spiritual being, that he exists, and that his plans for you are not great. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.959 Now, the Bible says in the ESV, which is a translation of the Bible I preach from, it says his cunning. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.519 Other translations say his craftiness. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:28.160 If you go back in Genesis, one of the earliest things the Bible tells us about the devil is that he was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.199 He has not lost that capacity, beloved, okay? 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:36.639 And the way that he attacked, the place that he attacks you first and foremost is in your thoughts. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:37.839 Let me say this again. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:39.120 I'm going to demonstrate. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:43.360 The place that he attacks you first and foremost is in your thoughts. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:52.480 For example, if you've had a thought this past year that was so shocking that you just thought, I don't want anybody to ever know that I had that thought. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:54.000 Would you raise your hand? 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:55.519 Hold it up real high. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.600 Above your head is high, people. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:07:59.519 Look around. 00:07:59.839 --> 00:08:00.959 Leave your hands up. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.240 You could be surrounded by axe murderers for all you know. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.079 You don't know what their thought was. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:11.040 Some of you are looking at your neighbor kind of like, I bet that weirdo thought some really dark things. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:13.839 Yes, your mind just goes crazy places. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:15.839 My wife wakes up and she goes, Well, what have you been doing? 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.879 Thinking about whether or not to remarry if you died in an accident. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:22.000 What are you doing? 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.279 I'm just over here thinking. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:24.319 Ain't nothing else to do. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:29.920 Here we go. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:30.639 Why? 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.919 Because your thoughts have this capacity to get away from you. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.679 He says, You'll be led astray by your thoughts. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:43.120 Now, the Bible doesn't leave us at the mercy of that, kind of like, hey, now, by the way, this is how it happens. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:48.320 Let me give you a real life example of the power of your thoughts. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:51.120 It sounds like this, men, your wife's being a jerk. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.799 You think about that girl you dated in college, and you think, well, whatever happened to her? 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:59.440 I'm just gonna get on Facebook just because I'm curious to see if she's still alive. 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:00.879 Oh, she's alive. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.559 Oh, well, she's kept she's taking care of herself. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.879 I'll send her a private message. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:10.799 Five thoughts later, the two of you are planning to meet somewhere in Des Moines, Iowa. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:12.000 Why? 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:14.159 It's just the power of thoughts. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:21.600 Your thoughts are expansive and they're overwhelming and they never stop coming and they have the capacity to lead you astray. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:23.840 But the Bible's not left us at the mercy of our thoughts. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:33.519 If you look back one chapter in chapter 10, about verse 3, the Bible says this Paul says, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:40.080 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to demolish, to destroy strongholds. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:47.120 We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.720 Be ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:56.000 Hear that phrase again there towards the end of verse 5, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.240 You have to learn to take your thoughts captive, otherwise your thoughts will take you captive. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:07.919 And you have this parallel reality with this kind of mental universe that you kind of live and flourish in that nobody knows anything about. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:14.879 It's just kind of your own private idol going on there, and no one knows, and no one says, and so it just kind of exists up here. 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:19.200 And Paul says, hey, the weapons that we fight with, and then they're not of the flesh. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:20.159 We don't do war. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:23.440 We live in the flesh, but in other words, but we don't do war. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:27.840 We don't come at, we don't go about changing our life the way everybody else does. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.159 He says the weapons we use have divine power to demolish strongholds. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:33.360 What is a stronghold? 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:40.399 A stronghold is a pattern, a mental pattern of the way you think that leads to a behavior. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:42.960 And if you're not careful, it'll get you in trouble. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:48.559 He says that we demolish arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:49.840 Now let me give you a visual. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.399 The Bible says the standard for you and I as Christians. 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:56.159 If you're a Christian, now if you're not a Christian in the room today, that's okay. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:57.440 This doesn't apply to you. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:04.720 But for the Christian, the knowledge of God, what the Bible says, what God has made clear about any and everything is the standard. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:05.679 Now look at me. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:13.600 We live in a culture that everything gets raised up against the knowledge of God and kind of appeals to us and says, hey, hey, look over here. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.039 This stuff over here is old and antiquated and outdated. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:18.799 How about this stuff over here? 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:20.720 This is what you ought to be thinking about. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.679 And your mind drifts and moves towards that. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.559 And so Paul says, hey, I'm afraid that like Eve, your mind's going to be led astray. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:29.519 Look at me. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:33.279 You drift in your thoughts before you ever act in your behavior. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:35.360 Let me say that again. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:40.159 You drift in your thoughts before you ever act in your behavior. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:46.399 And so one of the words I want to give us to think about as it goes into the new year is just your thoughts. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.240 Paul says, hey, we take captive everything that's raised up against the knowledge of God. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.240 Now, let me get nerdy for just a minute. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.720 There's two kinds of knowledge when it comes to God, okay? 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.600 When it talks about there's intellectual knowledge and then there's what's called moral knowledge. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:06.480 Intellectual knowledge, this informs and influences your thoughts, just in the realm of how you think. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:07.600 That's intellectual knowledge. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.759 It's like knowing the answers to a test. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:14.480 Moral knowledge informs and influences your actual living. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.559 Moral knowledge informs and influences your actual living. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:20.480 Ask yourself this question this morning. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:26.720 When I my knowledge about God, the things I know to be true about God, is it more intellectual or is it more moral? 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:33.279 Does it just inform what I think, or does it inform and influence what I actually do in my everyday life? 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.320 The first word I want us to think about is thoughts. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.759 Now, boys and girls, look at me. 00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:42.320 I know some of you in the room and you're like, uh, I miss children's ministry right now. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:43.120 No, no, no. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:44.159 You can understand this. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:45.679 Here's what I want you to do, okay? 00:12:45.840 --> 00:13:01.360 If you're under the age of 18, because old people, they don't have this problem at all, but if you're under the age of 18, I want you to say to your mom and dad, sometime between now and let's say New Year's Day, I want you to finish, just say this to your mom and dad. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:07.120 Hey, here's some things I've been thinking about lately that I haven't told anybody. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.120 And just finish that sentence. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:16.639 A friend of mine said to me, he was at our house, and he said, Hey, your kids seem to really enjoy you and they really like talk to you and engage with you. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.080 I can't get my kids to talk. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:19.759 My kids don't open up about anything. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:21.120 How do you get your kids to talk? 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:23.120 And I said, I ask them questions. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.639 And I don't just ask questions, I demand answers. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:33.679 Like I go into my kids' rooms every once in a while and I say to them on a consistent basis, hey, what's something you've been thinking about lately you haven't put words to? 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:35.679 Now my oldest is like, oh my God. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.279 48 minutes of word vomit. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:43.039 It comes out like the exorcist. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:50.080 My 15-year-old, it's like, why are you asking? 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:52.879 I'm just curious. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:54.000 I'm just curious. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.639 Now, here's why I'm asking, boys and girls, look at me. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:07.519 Because all of us, okay, old big people like Pastor Neil and little people like you, if you're eight, you can think things in your head that feel true and right and everything, and they're not true. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:08.480 They're not true. 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:22.480 Like you can hear your mom and dad get into a discussion in the kitchen, and all of a sudden your thoughts get away from you, and you think, oh, my mom and dad, oh my gosh, oh, like for example, my oldest, her name's Madison, when she came home from the second grade one day, boys a girl, she was sad. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.879 And I said, Man, I said, Well, what's going on, baby? 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:26.080 Look heavy, look sad. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:27.840 And she said, Daddy, I am sad. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.559 And I said, Well, tell me what you're I didn't say, don't be sad. 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:32.000 I said, tell me what you're sad about. 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:33.519 I may want to be sad too. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.919 And she looked at me and she goes, You don't get sad. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.279 I said, Sure I do. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:38.080 Absolutely. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:38.960 It's okay to be sad. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.080 Being sad is not a sin. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.360 You just can't just stay there and find your identity in being sad. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:44.559 What are you sad about? 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:51.039 Well, I'm sad because uh a friend of mine at school today, she said she was sad, and I said, What's wrong? 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:55.679 She wouldn't play at recess, and and and and and she told me her mom and daddy are not gonna live together anymore. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:57.600 They're they're getting this thing called a divorce. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:14:59.519 Oh, I said, okay. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:00.399 What do you think about that? 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.720 She goes, Well, it made me wonder if you and mom are ever gonna get a divorce. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:08.080 And I said, You think your mom's ever gonna leave this? 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:18.000 And and my second grader said, Well, mommy says sometimes you're hard to live with. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.639 And I said, Well, your mom drinks a lot and plays Indian bingo, but I stay with her. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.879 And she goes, No, she doesn't, Daddy. 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:27.600 I said, No, she doesn't. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:29.600 I said, Here's the deal, but you don't have to worry about that, okay? 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:34.000 Now, some people get divorced, doesn't mean they're bad people, it just means their relationship didn't work out. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:35.679 But I said, What are you afraid of? 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.240 And she goes, I'm afraid that you and mommy are never gonna live together. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:39.519 You're not gonna live together forever. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.039 I said, not the truth. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.559 Your mom's stuck with me, okay? 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.879 The two became one, we're stuck, we're not going anywhere. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.639 So take that off the list of things you worry about. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:47.919 What's something else you can worry about? 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.000 And she looked at me and she said, That's it. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.320 And I thought to myself, oh, to be in the second grade. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:56.960 Yes. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:58.399 Yeah, just simple. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:04.080 So, boys and girls, here's the thing: you're gonna have things that get in your head that stick in your head, and they kind of start falling down in your heart. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:09.679 They go from what you think about to what you kind of feel about things and people and yourself and life and God and the world. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.200 Like I watch the news every night. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:15.759 And I notice my kids like to watch the news with me. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.080 And sometimes when things come on the news that are kind of foreboding, there's a big adult word. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.159 I gotta circle back and check on my kids and kind of go, hey, you know we're gonna be okay, right? 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:26.000 Well, that was kind of scary, Dad. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:36.320 So here's the thing, boys and girls, between now and January the 1st, which is just a couple of days, I want you, or mom and dad, you can ask them, hey, what's something you've thought about lately you hadn't put words to? 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:43.840 Because we need to air our thoughts out with people that we know that know us and love us and we can trust, because they help us get perspective on it. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.039 You say, What do you mean? 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.480 Have you ever had the thought, like, I've been sick for two weeks? 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:49.039 Okay? 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:50.320 And I'm better. 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:52.559 You know, I'm hacking up a lung, but I'm better. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:54.399 But I don't do well being sick. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.559 I mean, I was laying in my bed sweating. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.919 My doctor gave me four prescriptions, I'm laying there with the pills all around me. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.519 And the thought just went through my head if I just took all of these, what would happen? 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:05.359 I mean, this is such a cruel world. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.559 I'm sick of being sick. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.119 Because here's why being sick is so hard for men. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.759 Because it's a threat to our necessity. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:14.960 The world moves on without you. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.119 It just does. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:19.119 Your family does well without you. 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:20.480 Your family will flourish. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:22.880 Now, if your wife gets sick, everything's over. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.839 But if you get sick, they just close the bedroom door and go on about it. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.319 My kids are out there playing weed with their mom. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:31.759 I'm laying in there dying. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.640 I'm like, hello. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:33.920 I didn't have a void. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:39.920 I'm like, and I can hear them laughing, playing Smarty pants, and I was like, I might as well just off myself. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.559 I don't even matter to these people anymore. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.240 I mean, they got insurance, that's all they care about. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:50.799 I mean, I'm in a dark place, and my wife walks in and I'm just staring at her. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.920 And she's like, hey, babe, what's up? 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:54.400 What's up? 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:55.599 You didn't hear me yelling? 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.839 No, no, you don't have a voice, we can't hear you. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.200 I like this. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.599 And she said, You actually sound like your mom who smoked her whole life. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:05.599 Oh, we're going there, huh? 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:06.880 What are y'all doing in there? 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.160 Oh, we're having fun playing weed. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:09.680 The girls want to play some weed games. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.319 We got out the old weed and we're just playing, oh, y'all just playing. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:13.759 I mean, you're dying. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.039 You're not dying, baby. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.079 You're just sick, okay? 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.519 And we don't want to be around you because we think you're contagious. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:22.960 This was my thought. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.799 I've loved this woman for 26 years, and this is the way she respects me. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.319 Tell you what, I ought to leave you tomorrow, woman. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.480 And she said, What are you thinking? 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:34.240 I said, You don't want to know. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.880 And she said, You're right, and closed the door and went back and played games. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:41.200 Look at me. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.920 Your thoughts do not create your reality. 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:45.680 Let me say that again. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.680 Your thoughts do not create your reality. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:55.359 And every one of you in this room, you need to say to somebody over the next couple days, hey, here's a couple things I've been thinking, I haven't put any words to. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:03.839 It will transform your relationship with people because you see that a lot of people, most of us I would say, we think things that aren't really based on reality. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.480 Here's a second word I want us to take into the new year. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:07.759 It's just the word simple. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:18.480 He says, Hey, I I'm afraid that the serpent, is he deceived Eve by his cunning, that your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:23.119 The word is sincere in the ESV, but the literal rendering is just the word simple. 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:26.640 Sincere sounds like, oh, I should try to be more earnest. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:28.400 That's not the right rendering of the word. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:29.359 It's simple. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:33.119 It simply means this it's not effort, but integration. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.039 Uh, it really is what it means. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.039 Let me say this, I'll come back to it in a minute. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:40.720 But the Bible is replete with simplicity, it's not a difficult book. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:43.440 Matter of fact, it's all about simplicity. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:47.599 But we have an aversion to this word in our culture because we love complexity. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.400 We love things to be nuanced. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:54.400 Uh so words like simplicity are easy for us to stumble over. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.079 And yet, this is how Paul describes himself to these people in Corinth. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.319 This is 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.039 I told you I've been reading the book of 2 Corinthians. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:03.680 That's what I do. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.359 I'll just get in the book of the Bible, I'll just read it over and over and over. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.799 I'll get to the end, I'll go back, I'll remember something, I'll go read that part. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.559 And just not because I'm a pastor, I'm not going to preach through 2 Corinthians anytime. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:18.559 I just want to understand what it says because it's really not hard. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:22.799 It really is simple, but I have to train my eye to see the simplicity of it. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:24.480 Paul introduces himself. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.160 Now, this is 2 Corinthians. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:31.039 If there's a 2 Corinthians, it stands to reason that there is a 1 Corinthians. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:37.039 Actually, there's there's 1 Corinthians, and then he wrote a letter to them where he kind of got after them, and we don't have that letter. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:46.240 He references it, references it in 2 Corinthians, but this is the way Paul, he has a relationship with his people, and this is the way he describes himself in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 12. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.079 He says, For our boast is this. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:49.759 Get a load of this, beloved. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:21:02.000 Our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we have behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom, but by the grace of God, and supremely so towards you. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:05.200 Hear that again. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:06.880 Our boast. 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:12.720 Our boast and the testimony of our conscience, the deepest parts of us know this to be true. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:19.200 Here's our boast that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity. 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:24.960 When you go home today, go in your garage and ask yourself, have I behaved in the world with simplicity? 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.559 I stood in my garage last night and I was like, I'm getting rid of most of this. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:35.039 And then my wife came out and said, What are you doing? 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:37.200 I said, I'm just thinking some thoughts. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:38.000 Like what? 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.119 Like I'd like to defrag our life and get rid of all of this? 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.680 No! This is my craft stuff! You don't do crafts anymore, okay? 00:21:45.839 --> 00:21:47.359 You have a job now. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.000 By the way, that's the wrong phrase. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.279 We just have racks in my garage with storage tubs, and no one knows what's in them, but it's all essential for life and godliness. 00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.759 And I said, Why don't we just get rid of all this and park our cars in the garage? 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.640 And she said, I don't think you're feeling any better. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.079 You should go lay down. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.400 Okay, whatever. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:13.680 Simplicity. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:20.160 We behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:27.599 I have some friends in the therapeutic community, I mean counseling, and they're always giving me a hard time because they say, Neil, you're very binary. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.480 Can I confess to you, I had no idea what that word meant? 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.519 I looked it up, and it means basically black and white. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:34.559 Yes and no. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.160 And they kind of mock me because they talk about counseling issues and they act like, well, it's so complex and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:44.799 And I'm like, yeah, some things are nuanced and complex, but a lot of life is really simple. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.200 We just don't like the answer to the problem. 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:52.319 And the Bible, I said a minute ago, that the Bible's really simple. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:53.599 You say, What do you mean? 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:55.519 And there's a guy named Solomon in the Old Testament. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.799 I'll give you an example of what I mean. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:02.160 Solomon in the Old Testament, he sets out Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:04.960