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Mission Sent
What’s the Secret to Knowing God’s Will? Spoiler: It’s Not a Secret
This episode invites you to explore the often misunderstood concepts of God's will and how it applies to everyday living. We delve into why understanding your purpose is crucial for spiritual growth and fulfillment in life. Learn how to engage with the world not through fear of falling out of God's perfect will but by actively seeking to be a light in the darkness.
• Discussion of Romans 12:2 and its implications for transformation
• Common misconceptions surrounding the will of God
• Understanding the nature of God's blessings beyond material gains
• Practical steps to fulfill God's will in your daily life
• The call to serve and shared experiences in community outreach
• Challenge for listeners to reflect on how to live out God’s will
Well, good morning. We are in our fourth week now of the same verse, so we're just going to kind of keep plugging away. I'll tell you right now it's not even the last week of the same verse, but I'm going to read, I'm going to pray and then we're going to jump in. So, romans 12, 2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Father, I ask and I pray that, as we study through this this morning, that, god, it is not my words I am saying, but yours. I ask and I pray, father, that for each and every one of us in here, that, god, your words penetrate to the deepest parts of our heart, to change us from the inside out, to look more like your son. Father, I ask that I am just a tool you use and that, father, you drop your spirit on each and every one of us. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:All right, so so far, we have looked at what it means to not conform to this world. All right, looked at what it means to not conform to this world. All right, the shirt I'm wearing, this is where it came from right. Do not conform, do not take this world and go. This is what I need to look like. Remember, we are what we consume. So if all we're consuming is this world, then what are we going to look like, this world? And then we looked at for two weeks to see the how and why we transform our minds. Right, that renewal of the mind. That is where spiritual warfare takes place. If you want to see different in your life, it starts with your mind. It doesn't start with behavior. Behavior is an overflow of what is going on in the mind. The mind is where it starts. And now we're going to jump into that next phrase. So we do not conform. We transform our minds so that we may know the will of God. And I will tell you right now of all questions I get asked as a pastor, this is probably this is definitely top, like three question. I don't know if it's two or three, but this is definitely up there and it goes a lot like this I just what is the will of God for my life? I just want to know what God wants me to do with my life. And I go and I get it. That's a that's a legit question, right, like cause I don't know about you.
Speaker 1:Some of you in here, you may have had that audible voice of God that went hey, this is what I want you to do. Some of you, you may have been like walking outside and like the shrub next to your door like just caught on fire, and it was like take your shoes off and you're like cool, and God just laid out his whole plan for you. The vast majority of you probably didn't happen. The vast majority of you never opened up your email and it went hey, look, this is God, here's what I want to do with your life. So I go, I get it. It's a legit question.
Speaker 1:But how do we know what the will of God is? The first thing we have to understand is this the will of God is not this like super secret, unknowable thing? It's not this like so specific thing and so secret that God keeps it from you. So secret that God keeps it from you. All right, think about this with children. The number one thing to get children to follow some rules is what Okay, not rewards. It's this clear expectation of the rules, like if you don't know what the rule is. It's kind of hard to follow said rule. So most of us, when we look at the will of God, we have to understand that God isn't sitting here going, hey, I'm going to hide my will from you, because if God went, hey, I'm going to hide it from you. Guess what? You'll never know the will of God, which means you will never live in the will of God.
Speaker 1:And I've met a lot of people. I've met pastors okay, and understand this. I have met pastors, people who do this professionally, who left their wife because they went. God had someone else for me. And I'm dead serious. Where you're looking at them going, you're kidding right. Like you guys want to know a secret.
Speaker 1:Debbie's the one. How do I know Debbie's the one? Because I'm married to her. Now, is Debbie the only one? Probably not. There's what? Three and a half, four billion different women on this earth. I'm sure I would have been compatible with more than one of them, but you want no secret. Debbie's the one because Debbie's the one I married. That's how the will of God works. It's not this super secret unknowable. If I could just have this secret knowledge. In fact, you know what we call that Gnosticism. It's like Paul talks about it in Galatians these Gnostic, these people that sit here and go, there's this secret information and secret knowledge. You got to hit, you got to take it off air and put it back on air and you can't move the computer around. I think that cord's going bad.
Speaker 1:But I want to start our time correcting a couple of thoughts that I do hear a lot pertaining to the will of God. The first one is this God's will is God's will. All right, god's will is God's will. There are not multiple different wills of God. How it's normally presented is this there's a permissive will of God, things God will allow to happen, and then there's a perfect will of God. These are the things that God actually desired to happen. All right, and I hear this a lot.
Speaker 1:Now, the first thing we want to look at with that is it is not when everything in your life is going well that you are in God's perfect will, that you are doing everything you're supposed to be doing. If you look through the book of Job, okay, that is what Job's friends come to him and say hey, job, all these things in your life are going wrong because you have sin in your life that you have not confessed Because you're doing something in your life and hidden that you're not doing right and that's why your life is falling apart. And guys, there's a lot of Christians today that believe that still, that sit here and go like my life is falling apart because I have this. Now I will tell you this Does sin have consequences? Yes, 150,000 percent. And it has a life consequence too. Right, like going back to if Debbie is the one, debbie would not like it if I came home and went hey, I have a girlfriend. I'm pretty sure there would be consequences to that. And if you know anything about Latina women, I'm pretty sure those consequences would come to me in my sleep.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, sin has consequences. I'm not saying that sin doesn't have consequences. Your life could be messed up because you are messed up, that happens. But understand, it's not that you're in God's permissive will for your life. And if you just need to make your life better by doing better and then you get into God's perfect will for your life, okay, god only has one will. How do I know that? Because he's God.
Speaker 1:God doesn't look at me and go. You know, josh, me and you, we're like kind of on the same power level, so I'll give you some kind of control over your life. Same way, I don't look at my 17-year-old son and go, you know what? We're almost peers, because I tell him all the time I don't care how old you are, being a man's got a lot more to do with, more than just your age. Like, we're not at that peer level. So right now you're going to do daddy's will and you're going to live the way daddy tells you to live, because I'm telling you, at my age I know a little bit better than you do. So God doesn't look at us because, understand, if we had this permissive and perfect will situation working out, what does everything in your life depend on you? Are you good enough? Are you strong enough? Are you disciplined enough? Are you? You are at the center of all of that.
Speaker 1:Why would God who leads you, by the way, into green pastures for his namesake, why would he allow you to have that control if he's sitting here going? This is all about my glory Because, let's be honest, if you look at your own life, would you trust you enough to run it Like if you were God? And some of you in here are like I run my own life. No, you don't Like. God runs it. Think about it. Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at the time, literally sits here and says I am a descendant of Ra. The God of the sun, like that is, is I am raw incarnate. Why does the bible say that pharaoh was raised up? So that God may show his power? Because Israel was in Egypt for 400 years and they forgot who their God was and God went. No, stand by. I'll show you who I am, using the most powerful man on the planet to do it, just because I can See there isn't two separate wills.
Speaker 1:And if you notice, the entire time I've been talking about this, how many Bible verses have I used? Zero, you know why? Because there's no Bible verses that sit here and go hey, here are different wills of God. In fact, most Bible verses we see talk about the will of God. They go something along the lines of this one that's found in Matthew 6.10. The disciples come to Jesus and they go hey, how should we pray? And he goes into what we mostly refer to as the Lord's Prayer right, our Father, who art in heaven. But when you get into verse 10 of that, it says this your kingdom come, your will be done. See, god's will is done, and it doesn't even matter where we are, whether we're here or whether we're in a different dimension. God's will is done. Why? Because he is God. There isn't this whole permissive, it doesn't depend on you.
Speaker 1:Well, josh, does that mean, when my life is going crazy and it's falling apart, that that's God's will for my life? Sometimes, yeah, that is exactly what it means. Sometimes, yeah, it might have been you, you may have been the reason your life is falling apart, but, on the other hand, sometimes, yeah, it can be God. You know why? Because pruning hurts, because, as God is taking things out of your life that don't need to be in your life, it hurts. And sometimes your life falls apart because God's sitting here going hey, I got to change some stuff. So, yeah, sometimes it's our fault, sometimes it's sin, and sometimes it is God sitting here going. Yeah, it's going to fall apart and it's going to hurt for a little bit.
Speaker 1:Think about it when your child does something wrong and you discipline your child, are they sitting here, going? You know what? Thank you, mother, Thank you, father. I know this is for my benefit. No, they run away, they scream, they fight back, they give you attitudes, they do all of the things. Why? Because they don't like that. The same reason why, when your boss comes to you, the first thing out of your mouth is a defense of you. Right, you're not sitting here going. You know what. You're right. I need to be better at my job. I need to have a better attitude. I need to smile more. I need to do all of the things. You're right, you're sitting here going. Uh, do you not know who I am? Why? Because that's who we are. Am why? Because that's who we are Now.
Speaker 1:That being said so there aren't two wills. It doesn't depend on you. The next misconception I want to talk about is this God's will is to bless you. The will of God is to bless you, and let's go to the verse that should have popped into everyone's mind Jeremiah 29 11. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Okay, I learned this in a different version, but we're going to talk about that, because I'm sure at some point I'll even be the first one to admit it in my garage, because I will not put it up in my house anywhere. Someone was nice enough to buy me a gift. Okay, oh, we know you're a pastor, we know you're into this Bible stuff here. We saw this at, probably, hobby Lobby and we thought you would like it. And it is in my garage sitting behind a cabinet. Not because it's like less than right. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful.
Speaker 1:However, this verse does not mean what 99% of Christians think this verse means, because if you were to read a couple of verses before this, it says this and you are going into bondage in Babylon for 70 years. So if you're sitting in here today and you're like, you know what Slavery is a blessing, yeah, maybe God's will is to bless you then, but understand, god is speaking through Jeremiah in this verse, going hey, here's what's going to happen, but don't lose heart, because I'm still with you. He's sitting here going. It's about to suck for you, it's about to fall apart for you. You are about to be slaves for an entire generation of you, but don't worry, I'm still with you. So again, if you look at prospering and you look at bondage and slavery as a blessing, then sure, that's what that means.
Speaker 1:But here's what it doesn't mean that, as a Christian, god's will for your life is candy and rainbows and just pure bliss, because that kind of contradicts directly what Jesus says in John 15. In this world you will have trouble, things will go wrong, but take heart, I have overcome the world. See, it's very different. But if we're walking through our Christian life going, god's will is just to bless me. God's will is just for me to have an amazing marriage and kids that hang on my every word and a career that is just super successful, and health and wealth and prosperity. If you think that is God's only will, that this is your best life, you think that is God's only will, that this is your best life, then we got something madly wrong. Because what am I putting at the middle of everything Me? You see how both of these misconceptions put me at the middle. They put my happiness, my material desires.
Speaker 1:And, if anybody in here knows, do you ever get to a point where you're satisfied Like I have a truck and a boat and if you have been with us long enough, okay, when we were in Lake Mary, I was preaching a sermon one day and I went man, it's not like you can just pray and you walk out and there's a truck and a boat and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and within like three months of that, like preaching that sermon, I had a truck and a boat and I went huh, a wife that doesn't nag and it you know anyway. But like I got that truck and I got that boat and and then you know what my prayer? But like I got that truck and I got that boat, and then you know my prayer was I need a bigger boat. And you know what happens when I get a bigger boat. I'm going to need a bay boat, and you know what happens when I get the bay boat Truck's kind of on its last leg.
Speaker 1:Now, see, think about it. We are never satisfied, ever. I had some delicious I mean like superb street tacos last night for dinner. You know what I did when I woke up this morning though? Frosted fudge cake and a Mountain Dew. Why? Because I'm not satisfied, and apparently I'm five, because we're never satisfied.
Speaker 1:So if you think that God's will is simply material blessings, we do not understand. But see, something happens when we do not conform to the ways of this world. We see God as the blessing instead of the material things. If you go all the way back to Romans 1,. That's what it says. And they worshiped creation rather than the creator. In other words, we don't want Jesus, we want his stuff. To quote Matt Chandler, we just want the things that come with it. We want the good careers and we want the good marriages and we want good kids. And we want the things. We want the house, we want the blessing. Think about it. Just listen to, like, certain radio stations and I'm not going to call anyone out but if you listen to all of the songs they kind of start to sound the same right. God blessed me and God blessed me and God blessed me. Sometimes God doesn't bless that way.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but like Debbie and I have walked through some times in our life where we literally were homeless. Like it's hard when you're sitting here going hey, we got three little kids, two of them in diapers, and we don't know where we're going to live, we don't know the food we're going to eat, we don't know when the next paycheck's coming in, but yet we still went. But Matthew 6, jesus promises that if our Father, who is in heaven, feeds the sparrows Burrows, how much more does he care for me? And then it dawned on me I can catch, kill and clean my own food Like. Understand, the zombie apocalypse can happen today.
Speaker 1:And even though Debbie and I only have one pack of beef stroganoff that is freeze-dried, we could still live Because I can eat that, that and they can eat all the seafood. Like we'll be okay. Why? Because I have a heavenly father who loves me and went look, I made some creatures out here that you can go ahead and tear up Like think about it. Any of you in here eat shrimp. Like if you look at a shrimp up close, it looks like a bug. Okay, ain't Looking at bugs crawling around going, that looks good, but man, they float in the water All of a sudden. It's a delicacy. They eat the same things too. They're decomposers, right? See, when I see that God blesses me, not in the material, but that he blesses me because I get him, that even though I was still a sinner, christ loved me enough to die for me, then I can see Jesus for who Jesus is and I can better understand the actual will of God.
Speaker 1:And are you ready? Here is the actual will of God, very clear and concise. It's found in Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. In verse 14, jesus says this you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house In the same way. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven. See, god's will is not unknowable. That is God's will. Think about it.
Speaker 1:You go to John, chapter 16. It talks about the Holy Spirit coming and like here's what the Spirit's going to do. He's going to convict the world of sin, he's going to guide us in all truth and he is going to glorify the Son Like. That is the role of the Holy Spirit. And why is he going to do all of that? To bring glory to the Son. You want to know God's will for your life. You ready? It's super complex. Bring glory to God, that's it. Yeah, but where should I work? It doesn't matter. Bring glory to God.
Speaker 1:Can you do that as a construction worker? You can. Can you do that as a teacher? No, and if you're like, yes, you can work with kids, yes, you can as a teacher. It's just harder as a teacher? Can you do that in the military? Yes, can you do that. Underwater welding yes. Can you do that as an accountant? Yep. Can you do it as a manager? Yep, and if you really want, I can start looking at everyone in here and go through your careers and go. Can you do it there? Oh, what can you do it as a manager? Yep, and if you really want, I can start looking at everyone in here and go through your careers and go. Can you do it there? Oh, what can you do as a stay-at-home mom or dad? Yep, in fact, I would argue you have the easiest time to do it Now.
Speaker 1:That being said, that is the will of God. God doesn't care where you work. God doesn't care where you work. God doesn't care where you live. God doesn't care what it is, how many kids you want to have, what you do for hobbies, like none of that. Here's what God's will is Be a light. Be a light in the darkness. Be a light in the darkness. Shine for Jesus. That is God's will for your life that when others look at you, they see Jesus.
Speaker 1:We read 1 Corinthians 10, going all the way through chapter 11. Right, paul says this. So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, give no offense to the Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many. That they may be saved, be imitators of me as I imitate Christ. Did you hear what he said right there? I do not seek my own advantage and I try to please everyone in everything I do, did he say? I try to please, like my friends. No, you know what Paul's about to say in Romans, chapter 12? If your enemy is hungry, feed him. See, understand, can you bring God glory on social media? Yeah, you can Do most of us. No, god, no, why? Because Paul's sitting here, going. I try to please everyone. I try to please the people that I don't even like, like. I try to please the people that I know talk about me behind my back, that I try to please the people that talk to me in front of my face, like everyone, and not for my own advantage. Why? Because, see, I do all of this so that they may know Jesus. Think about it.
Speaker 1:Jesus came, and we'll get to this verse in just a second so you don't have to put it up, jt. But in Matthew 20, 28, jesus says this I came not to be served, but to serve and give my life a ransom. For many Is that your motto, like, do you sit here and go? Hey, you know what I came to serve. I came so that your life may be easier. No, that's not us, because the will of God for my life is my life. I am the center of that. And yet the Bible would argue the very opposite of that, that your will or God's will for your life is not you but him. This is it.
Speaker 1:Paul ended that section by saying imitate me as I imitate Christ. Look like me as I look like Jesus. See that the more I see Jesus, the more I will show Jesus. The more time I spend with Jesus, the more I will know Jesus, and the more I know Jesus, the more I will be on the same mission of Jesus which is found in Luke 19.10,. Right, I did not come for the healthy, but I came to seek and save what is lost. That's the will of God. I came to redeem creation. Ephesians 1 would say this that before the foundations of God, I came to redeem creation. Ephesians 1 would say this that before the foundations of the world, before God ever went, let there be light. This was the redemptive work and will of God to redeem a fallen creation for himself. To sit here and go. I'm going to fix what the devil broke. That is the will of God. And the more I see that, the more I will clothe people who need clothes. I will feed people Like I wasn't playing in the announcement video.
Speaker 1:Guys, we need that table to overflow with food. Like we had some people my mom, like was running, you know everything over here in the sharing center. So if that's something you're interested in, make sure you see my mom before you leave, just so you guys can work out, because she's not up here every day. But if you're looking for a place that like you're like hey, I want to give back, like it's a perfect place to do it. You're looking for a place that, like you're like hey, I want to give back, like it's a perfect place to do it. But I'm telling you right now, like we had a young lady that was helping out this week and she walked in, she's like, wow, this is a lot of food. And I went.
Speaker 1:Not really Like when you really stop and think about it. You know, a family of five comes in here and goes hey, we don't have food. All of all the sudden, half of this spaghetti is gone, half of the mac and cheese is gone, three boxes of cereal is gone and all of a sudden the shelves that look like they're full are now looking like they're empty. But see, I want you to understand, like that is an area where we can sit here and go. Hey, we are working out the will of God, how, by feeding others, we don't need any more clothes. So, like, if you have clothes, just hold on to them until we start getting rid of some of the clothes by clothing others, by being Jesus to the world, by being the light that Jesus can shine through Not that you have, like if that came out like you have power over Jesus to shine through you. That's not how I meant it at all. Like Jesus is going to shine, whether Jesus, whether you want him to or not. But understanding that is the will of God. It is not this super secret thing.
Speaker 1:And now that we've cracked the code for God's will, what are some practical ways we can work that out? First and foremost, like I said, we were coming back to Matthew 20, 28. Jesus tells us this even as the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. If anyone in the history of man ever deserved to be served, don't you think it's the creator of the universe? Like I don't know how your house works and I thank God every day for Debbie because she is the one that really established this in our house. If I don't know how your house works and I thank God every day for Debbie because she is the one that really established this in our house.
Speaker 1:If I don't want to get up, I never have to get up in my house. Like, if I need something to eat or drink, I don't have to get up to go do that. All I have to do is go hey, deb, can you get me something to eat or drink? And if Debbie's not there, she has trained our daughters well enough to go get Daddy something to eat or drink. And if they're not there, my son is still afraid of me to a point where I go go get me something to eat or drink. Why? Because, as the head of the household, there's a reverence right, and I'm not comparing myself to Jesus, I'm just kind of showing an illustration. Some of you guys should not elbow people at that point, by the way, like you heard, that right Get to work Anyway. But if we look at this, if we look at this and we go, but yet in steps, the creator of the universe, as the head of the universe, don't you think he deserved to be served Like he is the one who created all things, who holds all things together, and yet Jesus goes. But that's not why I came. I came to give my life a ransom.
Speaker 1:And then, in Philippians 2.3, paul reminds us do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility. That is not a bad, evil word, but in humility, count others more significant than yourself. Both of these verses tell the same thing your life is not yours, not if you're a follower of Jesus. If you're a follower of Jesus, your life isn't yours. Your life was given to pour out for others. That's why you have life. How do I know that? Because that's the same thing as Jesus' life.
Speaker 1:It's kind of hard to go. Hey, I want to look more like Jesus and not do the things Jesus did. Those two statements can't go together. They contradict you can't sit here and go. I want to look more like Jesus, but I'm going to live my life for me. Like seriously I don't know if you watch Parks and Rec in here, but they have like Treat Yourself Day, treat yourself 2011. Like it's amazing, like funny, ha ha ha ha. But understand there are people in life that that is how they view their life. Right, but understand there are people in life that that is how they view their life. Right, it was all about me. Gotta go get my nails, did I go?
Speaker 1:And, and whatever, I'm not saying don't take care of yourself absolutely, because if you're not good, you, you definitely aren't going to be good for someone else. Right, like you're in an airplane. Right, the things pop down. You have to put your mask on to save someone else first of all. Like you're in an airplane, right, the things pop down. You have to put your mask on to save someone else First of all. If you're a man in here and you put your mask on first, shame on you. I know that's the instructions they gave you, but you know what you should be like. And right on to your wife, kids, whatever. You can always have more of those. But your wife? She's a playing back up Right. At least think that way. But think about this.
Speaker 1:People nowadays are sitting here going. There's something fundamentally wrong inside of me. I just can't seem to get happy. I have no purpose. I hear it all the time. I just want to have purpose. I just want to have fire. I just want to have. You want to know what your purpose is Serve others, Share the gospel of Jesus and live your life on mission. That is your purpose. That is the will of God. That is why you were created so that one more could be added to the kingdom. That's why we exist. That's why we exist. That's why we do everything. You feel empty because you're living for you and you're trying to fill a hole that can never be filled.
Speaker 1:Like I remember when I was way younger in Sanford if anyone in here is familiar with Sanford if you're going up up Sala right and you get right there there's a Church of the Jordan on your right and you make this big curve to the left and 417 is running right here. 417 right there is built over a landfill, like that's what used to be there, and I remember being younger and going to this landfill and it was so cool because they had this hole that had to have been every bit of like 1,500 foot deep. That being said, keep in mind, I said younger, I was really small. It was probably only like 20 feet deep. But at the bottom, if you got there at like a certain time, you could see at the very bottom there was like this one square square and it had these like mashing things that would like hit. And if you got there and it was empty, you could take the stuff that you were throwing and you would throw it down and you would aim for this square because you just wanted to see it like smash and then blow everything up, right, and this is why you take young boys to go do work, because stuff like that is cool.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to lie, I'm not going to call his name out, but it's someone in here who does mulching, like he was mulching, and to me, I could stand there for like hours and just watch the mulcher go down, like if he would just drop it, pick it back up and then, like, move forward a little and drop it again, just so you can see everything spit out Like I just go. There's just something about that that does something for men, right? Like you're like, how many horsepower does this thing have? Like could you cut down that tree? Like could you do this? Like that's what our life turns into, right? Of course it breaks if you hit a little piece of metal. So I go. It's not even that impressive anymore. But think about it.
Speaker 1:This hole never got filled. Like I remember going to the dump time and time and time again and just like, how come this hole isn't overflowed by now? Like our trash cans were overflowed when we came, the trailer was overflowed when we came, but this hole isn't. That is our heart. It will never be filled. Why? Because Ecclesiastes tells us that God has placed eternity into the heart of every man, which means when you live for yourself and you're trying to fill up this hole, just like me trying to fill up this hole at the dump it will never be filled, ever.
Speaker 1:And you know what it's going to leave you feeling Empty and anxious and sitting here going. I can't get enough for me. However, if I live as God's will has actually been for my life, and I live not for me but for you and you and you maybe you over there, depending on the day. Okay, she's my daughter. Okay, some days I live for her. Other days she hit a certain age in her life and things went screwy. Just saying no, it is every day. But when I live to pour out for others, can I ever exhaust that? No, but see, we live in this time where the devil has convinced us to believe the lie, that we just look out for ourselves like that's what we believe.
Speaker 1:And I'm sitting here going. If you are here today and want to know what God's life is, here, it is empty yourself and live for others. Practically speakingically speaking. Here's what that means. Give of your time, your talent and your treasure. That is what that means. Give of your time, volunteer. If you're sitting here going, I don't know where to volunteer, I'll tell you right now. I will gladly. At any point, let you come in here After I've taught the lesson. You don't even have to do anything. All you got to do is make sure the kids don't kill themselves. Okay, just come in here and sit with the kids. Let me go outside Anytime you want to. If you have prior like CO experience, like you know, corrections officer's experience, even better.
Speaker 1:Kevin, kevin, you want to read to some kids. I am sure that elementary has no problem If you get your background check. See notice, I didn't even say a background check from middle and high school. I don't care. Like, come in, okay. But if you're going to elementary okay, you need a background check. Go up there and read, just sit and read with the kids. Reading is fundamental and if you can learn to read, you can learn to do anything right. If you struggle with reading, come in and sit with the elementary and just read. It's cool. Be man enough to admit I don't read very well. I'm telling you, some of these kids, they're smart enough to sit down with you and go hey, just look at the pictures now and we'll work on the words I'm telling you. So it can help you too.
Speaker 1:But volunteer, give of your time and I go, I get it. If you're sitting here and you're like I have a job, okay, I can't just drop everything and come out and volunteer. Oh, sharing center, that's another place to volunteer. I'm telling you we're going to need some volunteers over there, hopefully April, because that's when we're looking to open. But we can't open if we don't get enough food. So it's kind of on y'all now. But anyway, volunteer. And if you're sitting here going, I have a job. I can't get up here Like I work, I get it. I'm not trying to guilt, trip you into going. Hey, you should spend more time actually doing, but give of your treasure. I'm telling you, any dollar that comes in here, you, at any time, can go. I want to know where it goes and Debbie can show you exactly where everything goes.
Speaker 1:We have like five different people attached to our bank account. One of them doesn't even live in the state because we went. No, we want to be as transparent and open because it's your money, not mine. It's actually God's money. But tomato, tomato, right, y'all like to think it's your money, but I go, cool, here's where it goes. We pay employees at the school, we pay rent, electric and utilities here and we buy a lot of stuff for the kids at the school. There's where your money goes.
Speaker 1:Notice, I didn't say anything about the church, because no one at the church gets paid. We are all volunteers. Not that I think it's wrong to pay churches. That's not what I'm. Or like employees at churches, that's not what I'm getting at like you can go all the way. We're studying leviticus, right? Women like how did the priest eat by the offerings that came in, right, I'm not saying that's wrong, that's how God set it up, but understand this too the priests weren't allowed to have other jobs. I don't know if you guys covered that too, so Debbie might want to look into that, okay, now, that being said, give of your time, give of your time, give of your talent, give of your treasure.
Speaker 1:And lastly, the last practical way or two I'm going to look at is this Number one super easy, ready have dinner with people. It's super easy. We went out to eat last night with some friends. Oh, by the way, I told you guys last week. My goal this week was I knew we had to eat dinner with other people. I did it twice this week, okay, once on Wednesday and once last night.
Speaker 1:Now, that being said, go out to dinner with people. And here's all you have to do have a conversation. People I went out with last night. We didn't sit down and go. Okay, hey look, we're going to walk through Philippians 2. Like, go ahead, open up your Bibles. We're done eating now. Now it's time to get into the small group study. You know what? We didn't even go. Hey, look Like I've been reading this chapter and fighting shadows. Let's like, let's dig into this now so you can look like the superstar on Wednesday. Probably should have.
Speaker 1:Now that I think about it, they would have had all the answers come Wednesday. Everyone would have looked at them and been like man, I want to be like him. You know what happened, though. We just had a conversation and you know what came up in that conversation Jesus More than once too. It was crazy Like we were talking and then Jesus came into it. We were talking about like parenting Next thing I know, like Jesus is in the conversation. Then we kind of backed out of that conversation and we started talking about like jobs, and you know what. Jesus came up in that too, and it was like whoa, hold up, like this is a lot of Jesus conversation for like tacos.
Speaker 1:But that's what happens, right, because if we put it in, it comes back out, because we are what we consume. And I'm not saying be that weird Christian right, where like everything out of your mouth is well, if the Lord, not saying be that weird Christian right, where like everything out of your mouth is well, if the Lord, you know, desires, then don't be that person. Have real conversations with people and if it's in here, it'll come out here. And if you're noticing while you're eating with people that it's not coming out of here, stop and go. Is it in here? Because that's a question maybe we should answer first and then get back to that.
Speaker 1:So number one, two, three, four is this share. We have service here every Sunday and every Wednesday. Right For right now we're doing two book studies during Wednesday Ladies are doing one, men are doing the other, kids are doing something. They do crafts. Okay, they were supposedly. You guys told me you were going through the book of Genesis. I don't know what happened with that. Of course she can't even defend herself. That's gossiping. But again, share stuff.
Speaker 1:Go, hey, you want to go out to breakfast? Cool, come to church with me and then we'll go get breakfast. If you came in here, I promise you, okay, this is how I roll. If you came in here and you're like, hey, I brought a friend with me, all right, I need you to go shorter today so we can get out to go to breakfast, I will be like, cool, how much did you donate this week? And if you donated high enough, I will be like cool, I can knock off like 10 minutes. How's that work? Okay, we can have a whole negotiation thing. It'll be fun. None of that is true, okay? That being said, though, yeah, go, hey, like you want to do this, come to church with me. We can go do this afterwards, right? Hey, wednesday night. No, you know what, why don't you come with me? And then we can go get dinner afterwards. Or, if you hit it on the right Wednesday like someone and again, they don't like when I call them out, mandy, but like they were nice enough to bring in a charcuterie board I was like a chalkboard Nope, that's not the right word and we all got to experience what that was for the first time, because not all of us are fancy and eat stuff like that. Like some of us were looking for the hamburger helper and I go, but hey, those are the kind of things we get to experience with one another.
Speaker 1:Another easy thing to invite people to Any event we're doing. Do you know why we do events? Because it's a lot easier for you to invite a friend and go hey, you want to go camping? Than it is to go hey, you want to go to a church? Because, let's be honest, your friends are like dude. You're part of a cult, let's be honest. And you don't eat dinner with them enough, so they don't hear the other side of that. See how that works together. But it's super easy to go. Hey, we went out fishing. Do you want to go fishing? Hey, we're having a trivia night and I really want to beat this one guy because he wins all the time. I welcome the challenge, guys Bring it, but I go those things we do because they're easy ways for you to go. Hey, why don't you come do this with us?
Speaker 1:The last way share. I'm going to tell you right now I hate social media with a passion and, like I've told you many times, I don't have an account. And if you were friends with me remember you were friends with Debbie pretending to be me. Okay, you're not friends with me Now. That being said, share. I know Debbie, every once in a while, puts something up there. If you like it, share is only this far away on the computer from it. You like it, share is only this far away on the computer from it. Just like share, like share, because the more you do that, the more the machine, the AI, the antichrist, is going. Hey, this actually gets out to people. Let's put it to other people, because people seem to like this, like that's how it works and it's super easy. Like, share, and if you don't like it, first of all send me a message and go hey, I don't like this. This is why Okay, that's a joke, no one laughed at it.
Speaker 1:Okay, moving on, wrap it up on, wrap it up, right. So those are all the ways that we can really, in practicality, do this. It's not super hard. Stop making it more complicated than what it is. Here is God's will for your life. Glorify me in everything you do. That is God's will for your life. Doesn't matter what it is you're doing. Bring glory to God. So, as we wrap up today, understand this the will of God is to seek and save what is lost, to bring glory to his name, and you can do this at your job, at the store, at the ball field, okay, and I know there's a lot of talking that happens at ball field, so you could probably talk about other things. You could do it at your house. To quote the famous theologian Shakira wherever, whenever. Okay, some of y'all started singing it, so we're meant to be together, right, you can bring glory to God wherever, whenever, because that is the will of god for your life.
Speaker 1:So this week, how are you going to live out the will of god in your life? What is one thing you can do? One person you can serve, one person you could eat dinner with. What is that one thing you can do? Because if you start with one, two comes pretty easy. The hardest one is one. That's why one is the loneliest number. So I will pray and then we will wrap up.
Speaker 1:Father, we thank you so much for this day and I thank you, god, for your message. Father, we thank you for your word and I ask and I pray that, as we go through the rest of today, as we go through this week coming up, that, father, we understand. Your will is simple and easy for us. Your will is that we are lights in the world, that we bring glory to you, that we are Jesus to those we are around.
Speaker 1:Now, father, I ask and I pray that, as this week comes up, that you put people in our path that force us, god, to do your will. I ask and I pray, god, that you put people in our lives that are going to force us, god, to do your will. I ask and I pray God, that you put people in our lives that are going to force us to get out of our comfort level, that are going to force us to have to work, that are forcing us to serve, that are forcing us to do what it is that you have called us to Father, regardless of what we have going on in our lives. I ask and I pray God that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do for your glory, father. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.