Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heather Drake (00:01):
Welcome to the
First Love Church Podcast.
This is a collection of Sundayteachings inspired by the
Revised Common Lectionary andrecorded weekly in Ocala,
florida.
In fact, we find ourselves thisparticular Sunday, the 15th day
, 15th Sunday after Pentecost,and I know, like you're saying
the same thing.
How long is this going to go onthis ordinary time?
(00:23):
And in fact, it is this veryreason that the Christian Church
has long is this going to go onthis ordinary time?
And in fact, it is this veryreason that the christian church
has given us this beautifultradition, because it is the
ordinary that we have so much of.
We look for grand gestures andbig occasions, but there are
every day that we are given thatwe can engage the sacred, the
sacred in us, sacred around us,and we can engage the Holy
(00:44):
Spirit in allowing us to leadourselves and the world into
what real living is about.
Jesus said to us I have come toset the captives free, I have
come to heal the brokenheartedand I have come that you would
know life, and know it to thefull.
So beloved, why are gatheredthis morning?
Dennis Drake (01:05):
to learn how to
live and how to love well you
know, uh, I think a lot of times, uh, people get disappointed
with being a christian when youread bible stories and you read
about these miraculous thingsthat happen to people and then
we go well, where's my partingof the red sea?
(01:25):
Where's my feeding of the 5 000?
And you, you must understandthat those stories are to show
us god's generosity, god's love,god's mercy towards us, but not
to show us that that's aneveryday occurrence.
In fact, we see it's a veryselect view of people throughout
(01:46):
all of history.
And so if you look and aretaught and think all the time
just about that extraordinary,the extraordinary, you would
miss the daily moments that, thevery, very ordinary moments
that are so glorious.
I've been on a kick lately.
I just look at clouds and then Icomment on how God did them in
(02:09):
high def Because we're soimpressed when our TVs are clear
.
If you go outside and as long asyou got decent eyesight, it is
amazing the production value outthere and I mean it's just
glorious for us to look at that.
And oh, that's just theordinary sky, is it?
(02:30):
Or is it extraordinary, or isGod really in the ordinary?
And we miss it because we'relooking for this other thing
that may never happen to you inyour lifetime, but a very moment
of consciousness connectingwith the creator of the universe
is more glorious than all thewealth you could ever obtain,
(02:52):
and we're missing that, and sowe hope that, that the ordinary
time would be a time that wewould learn how to connect with
god almighty and how to see godin the mundane, in the everyday,
and find out that that we cancelebrate and be filled with joy
, not just on certain days ofthe year, only be romantic in
(03:16):
your relationship on February14th, but what if all those days
we can have the love of Godflowing coursing through our
veins?
Heather Drake (03:29):
And we as a
people need to be reminded that
we are already made in the imageof love and that love is our
true self.
All of the other things that weput on or that we've been
handed are not our true andbeautiful self, made in the
image of God.
And in the next few weeks infact I think it's five weeks
(03:49):
we're going to hang out in thebook of James, and James is the
brother of Jesus according tolegend and history, and he has a
lot to say about what it meansto really follow Jesus.
What is it actually going tolook like?
What is it going to be whereyou people can actually have
evidence of this?
(04:10):
And I love that we can connectwith somebody from the early
church who says, hey, this iswhat it's all about and this is
what you should actually belooking for in your own lives.
Now, be mindful, becausesometimes, when you see this,
it's going to be very easy tolook at how other people aren't
doing it.
And I remind you we just talkedabout this that the scripture
(04:33):
admonishes us to take care ofyour own eyesight, to take care
of the planks and telephonepoles in your own eyes, before
you start doing surgery on thesplinters in others eyes.
Before you start doing surgeryon the splinters in others, deal
with your own heart, your ownbelovedness.
And so when we go to the bookof James, we go to James chapter
(04:55):
one, and I would encourage you,if you feel led by spirit or
want to be a part of what we'redoing together as a church, I
would love for us to read atleast this section together
every day this week, and so it'sjust James 1, 16 through 27.
And we all have apps on ourphone, or you could even take a
picture of the screen and readthem there but to read them
together, to remind us, so thatwe would be saturated in this
(05:17):
kind of knowledge.
Don't be misled, my dearbrothers and sisters, please
listen to the language of family.
Your brothers and sisters, allof us, are language of family.
Your brothers and sisters, allof us are.
Whoever reading, whoever here.
We are family, we are God'sfamily, and so this is family
language.
And again, this is James, who isthe brother of Jesus, and you
know, james was in the housewhen Mary was teaching this,
(05:38):
when Jesus learned it.
And then Jesus expounds on thisand says this is what the
Spirit has revealed to me.
And so James has this reallyunique viewpoint of really
knowing Jesus as family, and infact the early church calls him
James the brother of God, andthat's really wonderful.
And then the tradition has hadit, he's actually considered
James the lesser Because therewas a James the greater, and so
(06:02):
that's, I mean you sort that outbetween yourself.
He is not James the son, thatout between yourself.
He is not James the son ofZebedee, he is not the one
calling down thunder.
This is James, in fact, anothername that they refer to him as
James the Just.
Wouldn't that be amazing ifwhat you were known for was just
living, just thinking, justbehaving?
Don't be misled, my dearbrothers and sisters just
(06:27):
behaving, don't be misled.
Dennis Drake (06:28):
My dear brothers
and sisters, I would like to
call um to mind our attention onthis idea of family and and how
that could maybe expand in you.
Because, uh, uh, you know, Imean, it's just very natural, uh
, for us to think, okay, we, youknow, we have our children, we
want to leave something for them, we want to take care of them,
and so we kind of look in ourhouse, that's where the majority
(06:49):
of our money and our attentionand energy is going to go.
But then if we can expand outand someone's grow a little bit,
all of a sudden we starthelping, like at our school or
at our church, or or we startexpanding into the neighborhood,
you know, and then it extends.
Sometimes it can expand out towhere someone might want to do
good in some other ways ofpublic service, you know, and
(07:10):
just how that would expand.
And in the church is the sameway for us that we can be very
us for no more minded, but Ithink it helps for us.
I was sharing with Catherinebecause she's been gone.
She just left the other day forParis, but I was sharing with
(07:31):
her actually when we weredriving about my revelation.
If I plan on the people thatare cutting me off in traffic.
If that's my brother Danny,then I let him in, because
that's my brother Danny, and hemissed the sign back there for
10 miles that says it's goingdown to two lanes, the sign that
we all read and we all obeyedand went over.
(07:53):
But my brother Danny, he missedit somehow and so he got all
the way up and now he's throwingon his blinker, cutting in
front of everyone, and insteadof me wanting to use my car as a
Mad Max bumper thing thing, car, I slow down and let him, and
then the other guy that swervedaround him and let those.
And I'm beginning.
(08:13):
What I'm doing is I'm wantingto allow God to let me see the
truth that all these people aremy brothers and sisters, that
all these people are my brothersand sisters.
But we tend to look I gotenough on my plate taking care
of the people around me and wedon't understand that as our
(08:34):
heart expands, so does the loveof God in us, so does the power
of God through us, and so thereis a transformation.
And so I'm really challengingyou on this thing that I believe
God is challenging me on.
Is that could you grow past,wherever your border is, of who
is acceptable, who deserves yourlove, who deserves your
(08:54):
generosity, who you know,because think about it If you
have some friend or some familymember that's gone on to be with
the Lord and you miss them somuch, wouldn't you let them pass
in front of you as many timesas it took in traffic?
Because that's you know yourbrother, your sister, your aunt,
your father, your parent.
You know, and these peoplearound us are truly.
(09:15):
What God is telling us is thatthese folks are really our
family and something willtransform in you when you allow
that kind of love.
And you know what you say to me.
I feel the pushback now.
Oh, I'll just be takingadvantage of.
Yeah.
And so when?
When has that ever been a baddeal for us as followers of
(09:36):
christ?
When have we ever given and notgod returned to us 30, 60, 60,
100 fold?
Heather Drake (09:45):
Well, I remind
you, as I remind all of us if we
are all brothers and sisters,then we do all have a loving
father who, according to Jesusin the book of Matthew, says you
don't give a cup of cool waterto a child without God seeing it
and rewarding you.
So, our loving God, our truecreator, the father that all the
(10:07):
fathers on earth are namedunder, is our father and our
father.
In fact, jesus teaches us topray this way Our father, who is
in heaven, honored be your name, may your kingdom come, may
your will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
But we don't even pray thatprayer, my father, it is in our
father.
It is this remembering offamily.
(10:29):
And then James goes on to saywhatever is good and perfect is
a gift coming down to us fromGod, our father.
Everything that we have that isgood is from God.
In fact, this is what the birthof generosity is from is that
we recognize that everythinggood that we have has actually
been given to us.
Everything good, even the nextbreath that we have, it is a
(10:52):
gift to us.
And because we recognize thatit is not our earning, it is not
our working, it is not ourstriving that allows us to have
any of these good things.
It is because of the love ofGod that is so incredible and is
so abundant that we actuallyhave things.
And so, because of that love,when we recognize that it causes
(11:13):
in us a generosity and thisalso confronts, for the people
that are listening there, thisidea that you can judge whether
something is good or someone isgood or bad based on their life.
In fact, james is reminding usthat only good things are from
God, because in this particulartradition I don't know if you
can imagine it, but if somebodyhad some kind of issue, they
(11:37):
would assume that it was becausethey had displeased God and God
had withheld or God had takenaway something.
If you had a child that died,they believe it was because
somehow you upset God, asopposed to saying and James is
reminding the people of thatevery good thing you have is
from God.
And then he begins to remind usof who God is, who created all
(11:58):
the lights in the heavens.
Beloved, go outside at night,away from the fake lights that
we have, and stand under thestars, or use your cell phone or
your laptop and look at theJames Webb telescope and find
the wonder in the galaxies andin the cosmos.
(12:18):
I mean, he's reminding us letnature testify to you of who the
Father is, that he created allthe lights in the heavens and he
never changes or casts ashifting shadow.
He chose to give birth to us bygiving us his true word.
Again, we see that James isalso reminding us that Jesus is
(12:40):
the word made flesh, that Jesusis the way that we interpret
everything.
In fact, jesus is the lens forflesh, that Jesus is the way
that we interpret everything.
In fact, jesus is the lens forhow we even understand love and
we, out of all creation, becamehis prized possession.
Understand this, my dearbrothers and sisters.
At first he calls us brothersand sisters, and now he's
(13:03):
reminding us of the affection,our dear brothers and sisters,
you must all.
Now, this is the point that Ilike to go back to the original
language, and though I don'tspeak the original language, I
do have an app that will let usgo back and read the original
language, and I want to tell youthat, no matter what language
(13:24):
you spoke or you speak now, allmeans all.
It simply does In every singletranslation, in every single
language, all means all.
And so the choice here theinstruction here you must all
that includes all of us.
That means no one is exemptfrom this you must all be quick
(13:45):
to listen.
And that's where things got alittle hairy for us, because we
didn't understand that we wereto be quick to listen.
We have been taught to be quickto respond, to speak, to
regurgitate, to have prejudice,to do whatever, to quickly judge
, to decide what is right.
And the apostle here isreminding us you must all be
quick to listen.
(14:06):
Now, quick to listen is a skill,quick to listen is a practice,
quick to listen is a ritual.
And quick to listen starts likethis.
That's how quick to listenstarts by putting your lips over
your teeth.
Now, it's a hard one.
I'm not sure you've all workedon that, but that's how you're
(14:27):
quick to listen, because youknow what we want to do In any
situation.
We want to open our mouth andwe want the air to flow from us.
Beloved.
The breath that we need is fromGod, not from you, not from me.
Close your mouth for a minute.
This is how we practice.
Now, this is not the only stepin listening is closing your
mouth, because you actually haveto pause, because for many of
us, when we close our mouth,what we do is load up what we're
(14:48):
going to say and we're goingthrough a ton of arguments in
how we're going to say all thesethings.
That's not quick to listen.
Beloved, you are armingyourself for an argument and I
want to tell you something ifyou arm yourself for war, you
will find it, and the invitationis for us to be people of peace
, to be people of love, and soan intention here, a ritual here
(15:10):
, a practice here that will leadto true life, is working on
being people who can listen.
Dennis Drake (15:19):
I wanted to
address something that we spoke
about in verse 17.
I want to share a quick story.
Over the past couple of years,I feel like God's been dealing
with me about like just idols inmy personal life that you know,
just my ego is so attached to,like my convertible, you know.
And yet you know that desirethat I have just caused me
(15:43):
heartache Sometimes, the desiresand those things that we have,
that you know that it's aboutour ego and stuff, and the
heartache it caused me is everytime I would go out in the
garage it wouldn't start upbecause the battery was dead.
It needed a new something orsomething.
And so it was like this thingthat I propped up my, my
childhood, my ego, everything injust kept failing.
(16:04):
And finally I just felt veryclear.
The Lord told me to let go of it, to get rid of it, and so I got
rid of it, and with the moneythat I had I got rid of my old
Jeep no AC.
My old truck no AC.
My convertible no AC.
And so I thought, well, I'vegot enough money, now I'm going
to buy something with AC, youknow, a truck that works.
(16:26):
And so Heather and I reallytook a while and we prayed, you
know, and we got the truck and Ithink what happened I don't
know accusing anybody, but Ithink what happened is they put
a bunch of this stuff, thisthick oil, in it so that the
motor sounded good, so that whenI first got the next, I got my
oil changed and all of a suddenmy lifters are knocking and they
(16:49):
said it's a $12,000 repair.
But I only paid $13,000 for thetruck, so I've got a.
All of a sudden I have this.
I'll keep going.
Okay, that's not irritating,it's church bells.
Just keep going.
Oh, keep going.
Okay, that's not irritating,it's church bells.
Oh, okay, in that case it'sgood.
So I'm like pretty upset, youknow, needless to say that, and
(17:17):
the first thing I did was ranthrough my mind how did I miss
it?
Like God must be punishing me.
And it's such a dumb thoughtbecause God doesn't punish us.
(17:39):
Any of that has been dealt withthrough the completed work of
Christ on the cross.
There is nothing that you and Ihave to.
But I've been taught my wholelife through church and people
well, you must let the door openfor the devil.
I do not leave windows anddoors open in my life, first of
(18:02):
all because I don't got them inmy heart.
That's not a thing and myintention is to serve God and my
intention was to just Heatherand I to look at this, you know,
and get the best value and trythe best we can.
But guess what?
We live in a fallen world withsometimes people deceiving,
sometimes things just guess what?
(18:22):
Sometimes they just get old andbreak, and sometimes the
lifters knock on trucks, youknow, and so uh.
So stop that.
I challenge you to stop that,that chasing your tail thing
that happens every timesomething happens in your life
where you question yourconnection with the god who's
(18:43):
the god of the universe, by theway who reached down and made
connection with you that somehowyou're so powerful that you've
severed it through buying thewrong truck.
See how stupid it sounds whenyou say it out loud, but many of
us and I know I'm not the onlyone, in fact I'm confident that
almost everyone has this battleinside.
(19:04):
This is all happening because Idid something.
You know, sometimes thingshappen.
And here's what I looked at andI, like you, know what would
have been sad is if that was thelast thirteen thousand dollars
I'll ever have and I bought thattruck and now it's not, it's
lifters and that'd be a bummer.
But the truth is that's one ofthe thirteen thousand dollars
(19:25):
that I'll earn and it will betaken from me, if not by some
dealer, by uncle sam, you know.
So the point is I gotta be lessattached to that and more
attached to the one that canallow me, in the middle of my
trials, to still have joy, andin the middle of my trials, to
still have joy.
(19:46):
And in the middle of that, Iknow all things work together
for good.
And I don't just think that.
I know that.
And because I know that I haveto push away those thoughts that
somehow I've done somethingthat have failed.
You know what, if I've donesomething, that I need
adjustment, that's kind of god'sresponsibility to tell me.
(20:06):
Not take my truck.
You know, I just don't randomlysnatch stuff out of my kids
room when they do somethingwrong and then hope they figure
out what the heck they did wrong.
As a father being evil who knowshow to do good things, even I
can go hey, hey, you know Imight be shutting down the video
games if you don't get.
(20:27):
You know, get that trash outthat we've told you for three
days.
You know what I mean.
There might be something thathappens in consequence.
I'm not saying that there's noconsequence for us, but I'm
saying that God isn't notsneaking around breaking your
stuff when you step across theline.
And the minute we stop thattrain of thought, we can live in
(20:47):
peace, no matter what comesyour way.
Because here's the deal If Ihave lifters knocking on my
truck, good thing that Jesusrides with me, good thing that
my relationship is good with God, that I don't have a bad truck
and I don't know the peace fromthe universe.
That'd be a bummer.
And so I'm telling you there'sa shift, and I hope my story
(21:10):
helps you connect to the thingthat you're doing.
That really brings accusationagainst God.
I've really stood in there andsaid what are you up to, sneaky
God?
Why are you destroying my stuff?
I bring accusation against theone who's provided every good.
So what are you going tobelieve those feelings?
(21:33):
You have some weird doctrine.
Some dude told you in thehallway after church, or what
God's word has just so lovinglycommunicated over and over, that
you're loved, that you're goingto be taken care of and that
(21:53):
every good gift comes from.
So I can look for the and I caneven look in the middle of this
and find that it's still good.
There's nothing that'shappening to me.
You know and I used to justlose it that it's still good.
There's nothing that'shappening to me.
You know, and I used to justlose it.
Man, when those things wouldhappen, yell, you know, can't
believe the truck, you know.
But I don't have to live inthat type of thing and I don't
(22:16):
think I'm the only one thatstruggles in this.
I think I'm talking to somepeople.
Heather Drake (22:20):
You all must be
quick to listen.
Slow to speak let's talk aboutthat for a minute, especially
from someone who talksfrequently, who talks quickly
and who has a lot of opinions.
And so I speak to you thismorning as a person who needs
your grace, slow to speak.
Let me talk about the wisdomhere in the slow to speak.
(22:41):
Because if you speak quickly,if you speak not clearly, that's
not what I'm talking about, butI'm saying if you respond and
you don't take the slow to speak, because if you speak quickly,
if you speak not clearly, that'snot what I'm talking about, but
I'm saying if you respond andyou don't take the time to think
about it, very often we willrespond out of an emotion that
changes.
We will respond out ofsomething that we're feeling now
but we do not feel in threedays.
And so this slowness to speak isactually an invitation into the
(23:03):
process.
It's an invitation intoacknowledging our humanity.
It's an invitation to beinggentle with ourselves.
I may have a lot of opinionsand I may even have a lot of
judgments, but if I am slow tospeak, my body actually has a
chance, my brain actually has achance, the spirit of love
actually has a chance to guideme.
Rain actually has a chance, thespirit of love actually has a
(23:24):
chance to guide me.
And what this will prevent andif it does nothing else, it will
prevent this you will have toask forgiveness less if you are
slow to speak.
Dennis Drake (23:34):
Oh, come on.
Heather Drake (23:35):
And then it says
and slow to get angry.
Because very often we are quickto get angry and we are quick
to judge not only our anger butother people's angry.
And we are quick to judge notonly our anger but other
people's angry.
And so this whole beautifulpassage reminds us that maybe we
need to consider, maybe we needto interview our anger, maybe
(23:56):
we need to make space for it,but we need to be mindful that
this particular response needsto be measured and needs to be
in tandem with love spirit.
Sometimes anger is absolutelyessential.
It is necessary, in fact.
The world around us right now ispresenting us with many reasons
(24:18):
.
We should be angry If you readthe news as I read the news.
Angry If you read the news as Iread the news aid food is being
stolen from children Beloved.
We cannot say that that is okay.
We must be angry with this, buthow?
What we do with our anger, then, is what makes the difference
between righteousness andunrighteousness and this
(24:39):
invitation to be slow to anger.
To look at this Now, anotherthing that we often do is see
someone else's anger and we sayto them you should be slow to
anger, beloved, you do not knowhow long they have dealt with
that or with that thing and weshould just be mindful about our
own anger.
Slow to get anger.
Dennis Drake (24:57):
I want to talk
about this for a minute because,
you know, church even if westopped right here and didn't
preach anymore and just reallyjust, you know focused in on
this anger.
This is something that eitheryou are struggling with and is
polluting your life, or you'reliving with somebody is is
polluting your life, or you'reliving with somebody that's
polluting your life with anger.
Anger is such a real issue andand and if we don't address this
(25:22):
in church and let god go to it,and you know, and go to that,
let let god into that ugly placethat we're hiding and we're
pretending and really let thisgo.
You know, I got to tell youthat something happened to me.
I don't know, maybe it's almost10 years ago now, but Heather
and I went to Chicago and I wasjust enjoying myself in the city
of Chicago.
We're from there, and so whenwe go back, we just basically go
(25:45):
on a culinary tour of all ofour favorite restaurants and
gain about 10 pounds in sevendays and just have the time of
our life.
You know, just enjoying this,because the food there is
exceptional.
And so we were downtown walkingand a guy was, um, you know, one
of these bikers uh, bicyclebikers and he had his little
(26:06):
shorty shorts on and was, youknow, had his bike and and he's
riding by and and we werewalking this way and in front of
me was a guy with a cerebralpalsy, and I mean severe, and he
had a swing to him and he wascarrying his groceries or his
bag or whatever.
And as he was walking, thebiker was coming on the in the
walkway this way and that thatdude, just at the moment he came
(26:29):
by, he took his swing this wayand he whacked that biker with
his groceries and that biker gotoff his bike, threw his bike
down and he's like pushing thishandicapped dude and pushing and
this biker was like you know,maybe 100 pounds, soaking wet or
(26:51):
whatever.
And that's not why I did it.
But I saw the injustice of thishandicapped guy and I said, hey
, if you want to pick on someone, pick on me.
And the guy's like you're notinvolved.
And I said that guy, you know,and so I'm defending the guy,
you know, that guy didn't meanto do that, he was walking and
you walked into, you know.
And then the guy's like get outof here, get your, you know.
(27:12):
And then, and pretty soon Irealized you know how loud I was
being and aggressive that wewere at the.
You know, in Chicago there'slike 50 people around waiting
for the light and all 50 peoplewere like boo, dennis, boo, and
they were yelling at me, leavehim alone.
And they all of a sudden weredefending the biker who threw
his bike down and pushed thehandicapped guy.
(27:33):
And I'm like what is going on?
You know, I mean and, and so II'm like I have this righteous
indignation from god to call todefend all of the weak and and
and and.
You know, downtrodden, and I'mdefending and all of a sudden
the whole climate is turningagainst me and I'm like what is
(27:54):
going on?
And finally, the handicappedguy didn't have anything to do
with my crazy.
He took off and the lightchanged and everybody dispersed
and I'm like and I'm sittingthere and I felt like the
biggest piece of garbage that ahuman being could feel, because
(28:15):
I had see when anger comes.
It's a door that opens on atrain, a locomotive, and some of
us willingly get on board andin fact we like to get on board,
and wherever that freakingtrain goes and whatever damage
(28:37):
it does, we just go along forthe ride, but inevitably you get
off the train at the next stopand you're overwhelmed with
shame I know I'm talking to somepeople Overwhelmed with shame
and guilt or whatever, and atthat moment I could not have
felt lower.
I couldn't even look Heather inthe face and she grabbed my
hand and she said I love you somuch.
She said you tried, you triedto defend that man and she goes.
(29:03):
She looked at me.
I looked at her then and shelooked at me and she said you
did it all wrong.
Heather Drake (29:08):
Because sometimes
the truth speaks, love speaks.
That was wrong.
Dennis Drake (29:12):
She was not
endorsing said behavior or
encouraging for one moment thatI act like a psycho in the
street anymore.
But she knew my heart and I'mjust trying to figure this out
Ten years ago and maybe I'm alittle bit further down the road
a little bit.
But I'm telling you, you know,to bully a bully is not how we
(29:35):
respond to anger, and that'swhat I did.
There was a bully in the streetand so I said today I'm a
bigger bully.
Now, if the guy had been 350pounds, seven feet tall, I would
have said sir, please don'tpick on that handicapped fella.
(29:59):
And so we have to look at whywe're doing what we're doing and
stop just getting on the trainthat is destroying your family,
it's destroying relationshipsand it causes you nothing but
sorrow and shame, and we decideI'm not going to do that, I'm
going to do something different.
Heather Drake (30:19):
We pause here for
a moment to thank you for
joining us today.
If you're finding this episodemeaningful, would you take a
moment to share it with a friend?
This podcast is made possiblethanks to the generosity of
people just like you.
If you would like to supportthe ongoing work of First Love
Church and the continued work ofour podcast, visit us online at
(30:42):
firstlovechurchorg, remindingyou to like, follow and
subscribe.
Dennis Drake (30:47):
And so we had
these conversations.
You know and you talk about.
You know, because I'd say Idon't know, I just get mad and I
black out.
And that was true.
But we started talking aboutcan you find a trigger, can you
get back from?
Because I believe there aresome people that you go from
zero to 10 or so you think, butthere is a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
(31:08):
eight, nine.
You just haven't learned toidentify them and with God's
help, I promise you you can findthat place where it doesn't
have to just blow up in yourface and hurt everyone.
You know how many jobs have youlost because you satisfied that
thing.
How many relationships have youbroken?
How many people that you loveyou have hurt Because we have
(31:29):
allowed anger to just be.
And here's the rub anger is partof who I am.
I spent so much time beingashamed of me and what I need to
distance myself from is mywillingness to just get on that
train and take it wherever itgoes.
But I need to feel the feelings.
(31:50):
What is it like?
Because if I really thoughtabout it for a second, what hurt
my heart is?
I remember being a little kidand I remember being picked on
like that.
Where was anyone that woulddefend me?
So where does that anger comefrom?
It comes from a place of reallyjust desiring protection.
So now, instead of lashing outin the street, I can say God,
(32:13):
will you protect me?
Are you going to keep me safe?
Yeah, even when clicking startsin your motor and they tell you
you need a new one, you don'thave to worry.
You don't have to be afraidthat you're going to lose
everything, because that's whatwe think, don't we sometimes?
Oh, this is it.
I've been keeping my nose thismuch above water financially and
(32:33):
now that thing hit me.
And then we just get so mad, wesurrender to anger, we start
saying things that we can't takeback, being slow to speak.
What if we took that and workedon this church together?
I'll help you If you call me.
I'll help you.
If you're too far, I'll askCourtney to get on the other
(32:58):
line.
But listen, we can get throughthis and, in the power of God,
we don't have to do this topeople and to ourselves anymore.
Are you listening to me?
There's you know.
Are you listening to me?
Church, there is hope for us inthis, but we got to take this,
this word to us today be slow tospeak and slow to anger, even
(33:20):
when we were taught by, by thepeople that we love, maybe that
parent that you so admire, butthat's how they took care of
anger.
So that's how I'm going to doit.
There's a a better way for uschurch.
Do you hear me?
Heather Drake (33:36):
This is
reminiscent in this particular
version, and your story leads meto think about Moses, who's
called by God to deliver thepeople of Israel and he knows
that, like this vocation hasbeen in him since he is a child.
I mean, maybe in hindsight thestory is much clearer, but he
knows that there is purpose forhim and he sees an injustice and
(34:00):
without training, without thesafeguards in place, he simply
kills the Egyptian that he seesharming his brother, and I think
that's what many of us arestuck in our lives.
We're busy killing Egyptiansand let me tell you that that
will put you on the backside ofthe mountain, if it won't end up
in jail.
I mean, like, this is thesituation where God is saying,
(34:23):
even to Moses there's anotherway to deal with injustice.
Injustice must be dealt with,but not with the same wicked
anger that it's actuallyinflated by.
So this idea, this scarcitythat we, that anger comes from
this idea, god is saying there'sanother way, there's an
(34:43):
abundance.
And when he is drawing Mosesand the children of Egypt out of
this bondage, he's saying Ineed to show you sonship, I want
to show you what it's like tobe children of a God who is so
good and so generous and soabundant in life that there is
another way to live.
(35:04):
Human anger does not produce therighteousness that God desires.
In another translation it sayshuman anger cannot be a tool
that brings about the kingdom ofheaven.
God does not need our humanresponse in that way, in anger.
I want to tell you what changesthe world beloved.
It is love.
Love changes everything.
(35:25):
In fact, we see this in themessage of Jesus, in how he
lives his life.
It is this cruciform-shapedlove.
Dennis Drake (35:31):
I like in 20, one
translation I read it was it can
never produce the righteousnessof God, human anger.
So we need to be able tounderstand that there is an
emotion of anger and that's partof who you are and that's okay.
But for us to be, you know, Isaid for so long, you know, I
would say, and I've heard otherpeople say it and it's crazy
(35:51):
when you say it, but for me Ijustified it.
It's like you know, I knowanger is wrong, but if you push
me too far, or I know anger iswrong, but you got to understand
, everyone's got a line.
So what I was saying is there'san excuse and there's at some
point where my cork gets to blowand whatever damage that does
(36:13):
to you, it's kind of your faultbecause you pushed me there, or
it's kind of your fault becauseyour collateral damage hey, just
warning in advance, chernobylis about to blow or at any
moment it might because I'mgiving myself that kind of
leeway.
And the bottom line was Ithought that that was okay
(36:33):
because the people in my lifewho I looked up to did it that
way and so I was trained thatway and so I was trained and I
was trained very well, but I hadto hear God saying there is
another way, that that thathuman anger will never produce
(36:56):
the righteousness of God, and Ineed that in my life.
And so you know what I'velearned?
That that, um, it's okay, and Ieven kind of need to really set
and lean in to those feelingsof anger.
Why am I angry, you know, andjust kind of sit in my car and
(37:18):
be angry for a little bit, notindulge myself in the human
anger which manifests in youknow, even to the point that, as
your pastor, I'm ashamed to sayit, but I'm pretty good at
profanity.
I'm skilled in the it, but I'mpretty good at profanity.
I'm skilled in the craft.
I'm not Samuel L Jackson level,but I'm right up there.
And the thing is I alwaysjustified that.
(37:43):
I know the scripture said yourwords, but we're freed from all
that.
So why am I putting myself inbondage?
But the truth is, I have come torealize this painful truth for
me, that profanity is thelanguage of the angry.
When you're angry you'll cussand what you're doing is you're
(38:06):
spinning yourself into an energy.
I've heard recently I don'tknow if it's true or not, but I
think it's cool that bees flaptheir wings to create a
frequency that causes them tofloat.
They really can't flyphysically.
Now, I don't know if that'strue, but even if it's not,
leave me with my internetfantasy, because I think that's
cool sounding, but I'm convincedthat I.
(38:27):
Is it true?
You're a bee expert?
Oh, don't tell me.
Don't tell me.
If it's not true, that's right,I want to keep it.
Don't tell me, but I want I.
I'm here to tell you that Ibuzzed myself into a, an anger
frenzy.
That frequency and my cussingjust brought me right to that
(38:48):
place.
Now, I'm not saying anythingabout you.
I'm saying saying here, if youlook and you'll find these
things going hand in hand, whydo I allow myself this?
Why do I indulge myself?
If I look over when I startusing those words and I look at
Silas, he's cringed.
You know what I mean.
He's all tensed up.
(39:10):
He doesn't know what's going tohappen next.
He's 11 years old.
What about the people aroundyou?
What is the fallout for us?
Indulging ourselves?
And that's what it is.
It's hard work to go.
Okay, I'm feeling these things.
I need to feel them and then Ineed to.
Let God help me to take anotherpath, besides the path of human
(39:33):
anger.
Heather Drake (39:35):
Verse 21 says so
get rid of all the filth and
evil in your lives.
Now, this is back to.
This is your job, see, becausea lot of times we want God to
rid us of things that God hasalready told us, that that's on
us.
I mean, we want God to rid usof the hunger that I still can't
believe it.
I mean, I live in this placeand I try very hard.
It is my intention not to arguewith reality but, beloved, I do
(39:59):
it all the time.
I can't believe that we'restill here and the children are
starving.
Do you know how much food wastethere is in the world?
There's plenty.
God gave us all enough, butbecause of greed and many, many
other things, there are stillstarving children.
And do you know what I want tosay to God?
Please fix it.
Please have mercy on us.
And you know what God saidBeloved, you fix it.
(40:20):
It's our responsibility.
Do you know?
God does not need us to endslavery.
That's our job.
God does not need to come inand do the things he's saying.
You get rid of the evil.
You get rid of it.
You've been given the power.
Stop behaving in a way thatmeans that you don't understand
your scarcity, that you don'tunderstand your abundance, that
(40:40):
there is nothing that you haveneed of that God will not
provide.
And so we live in this placeand we point our fingers at God
and say, well, I don't know whyGod didn't do it, because,
beloved, you're there, do it,feed your neighbors.
That's why we get together andwe feed our neighbors and we do
the works that we have.
In fact, james says this alittle bit later.
In fact, if you haven't alreadyread it, he says if you have
(41:01):
faith and you don't have works,your faith is dead.
Don't even say you have faithif you don't have this evidence.
And so the invitation is for usto say what will we do to rid
these things around us that wecall evil?
And it says and humbly, acceptthe word that God has planted in
your heart, for it has thepower to save your soul.
(41:27):
The word of life, the wisdom ofChrist, the love of God, has the
power to save us.
To save us from ourselves, tosave us from the patterns that
we're in, to save us from waysthat we oppress brothers and
sisters, to save us in the waythat we can't even imagine.
(41:48):
Beloved, we need the HolySpirit to give us a holy
imagination.
What would it look like for usto live in a world where no
child goes to bed hungry?
That's heaven on earth.
Beloved.
What would it look like for usto no longer train our sons for
war?
Beloved?
The prophet Amos from Africa,thousands of years ago, said can
(42:12):
you imagine this is the way ofGod, that you would no longer
train your sons for war, thatyou would take your weapons and
you would beat them intoplowshares, into pruning hooks,
so that together we could farmthis beautiful land and feed
everyone?
He said what would that be?
It's thousands of years laterand we're still making weapons
and we're still killing ourbrothers and sisters.
(42:32):
Beloved, what would that be?
It's thousands of years laterand we're still making weapons
and we're still killing ourbrothers and sisters Beloved.
This should not be, and it's ourresponsibility to get rid of
the evil, and we do it notthrough human anger.
We're not going to make abigger bomb.
We can't bomb our way to peace.
That's not how it works.
The truth of it is we need toallow love to be formed in us,
hope to be formed in us, theevidence of God's spirit.
(42:55):
Love, joy, peace,long-suffering, hope, patience,
all these things to be so formedin us that we understand what
God has always been telling usthere is another way to live,
there is another path, and it isthe path of love.
Dennis Drake (43:14):
And humbly accept
the word of God as planted in
your hearts, for it is the powerto save your souls.
You know, I think that we lookat this sometimes and go, oh,
look at the poor, miserablesouls that need to be saved by
God.
And so God saves souls.
But I wonder if, with any kindof Bible study at all, you could
understand that soul means mind, will and emotions, that God is
(43:37):
not talking about the sweet byand by, because in heaven you
know what.
You're not going to have ananger problem.
It's going to be done away with.
What you need is help with yourmind, will and emotions now.
And he's saying that his wordin us, that God, by the power of
(43:58):
the Spirit of God coming intous, can help us now with my mind
, with my will, because I wantto be like Jesus.
Not my will, but yours be done,and we can say that to God
Almighty, that my emotions wouldnot be so out of control and
(44:20):
just tossing me where some daysI can't even get out of bed and
some days I can believe that Godis instructing us, that these
are the offers of followingafter him and of these practices
of the ordinary.
How is it?
I don't know, come to churchweekly.
How does that equate totransformation?
(44:46):
I don't know, you know, but itdoes.
That's one of the practiceshaving regular communion,
fasting once in a while, thesekind of things, they're not, you
know, a cloud coming down, youknow, and kissing the mountain
and us walking around withtablets of things.
(45:06):
Sometimes it's just, you know.
I showed up for church andpastor said that one thing that
stirred in my spirit and it'schanging me, you know, and so we
can embrace this.
I don't know how those ordinarythings do it, but you string
those ordinary things together.
I had a pastor come, a friend ofmine and he I've known him.
(45:29):
He's been a pastor at severaldifferent mega churches and he's
the reason why he's went toseveral different churches.
He'd do real well for a whileand then he'd get amnesia and
forget who his wife is, and thenhis current wife will remind
him that that one he's withisn't his wife and then he'll
(45:49):
fall from grace and then he'llmarry that one and just rinse
and repeat.
And he came here a few yearsago and he just stood here after
everybody left and he cried.
He said I don't know what itwould be like to have what you
have.
You've been here for 20 yearsand he goes.
(46:12):
Those people love you and theyappreciate you.
And Heather, he goes.
I'm from church to church.
Listen, he's been on all themagazines, all the Christian
magazines.
He's been on all the Christianrecording labels.
He's done all that cool stuff,that successful stuff.
But what his heart was longingfor was some.
(46:34):
What do they call that time,good time?
Not even that one Game time.
All the people who have been introuble with the law don't
shout out right now Ain'tlooking at anybody.
(46:55):
But just that time where we'rein the ordinary plugging away
and no one sees you, but youdecide that you're going to
praise him.
No one sees you, but you're notgoing to flip that guy off in
your car, you're just going todecide to be generous.
Those that are ordinary watchthe transformation sneak up on
you and make you just adifferent person.
Heather Drake (47:18):
But don't just
listen to God's word.
You must do what it says.
And there's the difference,beloved, because we could all
listen to a good thing, but whoactually wants to do what we're
told?
I mean, come on, we want to dowhat we want, not what we're
told.
And here's what the apostle istelling us Listen, if it's going
to make a difference.
Do what you're told, otherwiseyou are only fooling yourself.
(47:41):
The invitation is to new life.
The invitation is actually toremember who you really are.
The invitation is to return tolove.
The invitation is to live outof the holy that you are.
Otherwise, we are just foolingourselves that what we are doing
(48:05):
we're entitled to, or this isan excuse for this, beloved.
We are love.
We are to be people trained inlove.
Don Don't just listen to theword.
Do what it says.
Now the question is well, whatdoes the word say?
What does the law actually say?
I mean, let's start argumentshere, beloved.
We can go back and forth, andthat's why Jesus said this is
the truth of it Love the Lord,your God, with all your heart,
(48:28):
with all your mind, with allyour soul, with all your
strength, and love your neighboras yourself.
The whole law is summed up inlove.
And so you must ask yourself, Imust ask myself is what I'm
thinking?
Love Is what I am meditating onloving?
And firstly, we need to loveourselves before we can even
(48:51):
love our neighbors.
And so the invitation is thatthe Spirit would help us.
For if you listen to the word,will you help us with that?
Will you go to the next screen,please?
To the word, will you help uswith that?
Will you go to the next screen,please?
(49:12):
Nope, go back to 24, please Nowtry 23 for me, thank you.
If you listen to the word anddon't obey, it's like glancing
at your face in a mirror and thenext one you see yourself, you
walk away and you forget whatyou look like.
(49:34):
Now we're at the end of theservice and we're going to come
to communion in just a moment,and he's reminding the people
here, and he says somethingincredible.
He said it's the perfect law ofliberty.
Dennis and I were talking aboutthis this week that one of the
core values of Jesus was liberty.
I've come to set captives free.
(49:56):
Liberty.
Love liberates, love alwaysliberates.
Love does not bind us, lovedoes not control us.
Love does not hold over us.
Love is a liberator.
It always has been.
We see this in the message ofJesus.
When you look at the law ofliberty, you see who you really
(50:16):
are.
But very often we walk away andwe forget what we look like.
We forget we are made in theimage of love.
We forget whose we are and whowe are.
I have a terrible story ofsomething that happened to me
and I will remind you of itbecause it was a humility for me
, and in following the saintsthey ask for one great humility
every day.
(50:37):
I have found mine.
It has happened more than oneoccasion, but we were on a team
overseas and we were bringinghelp to people and for more than
seven hours that ride I wasstanding in the back of a pickup
truck holding on to theoverhead bar like a city bus,
but it was a bar that somebodyhad rigged up and we were
(50:58):
traveling down mountain roadsthat were filled with dust and
terrible things and the exhaustof the fumes and whatever.
And we got to the place that wewere going to and I went into
the bathroom and I washed myhands and I looked at my face in
a very, very old mirror and Itell you that it was old because
it was one of those mirrorswhere you can't see yourself
clearly it's.
(51:19):
You know, sometimes they havelike black behind them and you
see yourself, but you don'treally see yourself.
And that's the mirror I lookedin and I washed my hands and I
looked at myself and I was fineand I went out and I met
everybody that was going to beon my team and with joy and with
expression I talked to everyoneand beloved.
(51:40):
When I turned around, one ofthe people on my team said
turned around.
One of the people on my teamsaid your face is filthy, not
dirty, beloved, not justtravel-worn.
My face was filthy, like I hadintentionally put filth on my
face.
Dennis Drake (52:00):
It's like a
raccoon.
Heather Drake (52:02):
It was horrible.
It was horrible not because Iwas dirty, because that's fine,
but because with such confidence, I went in there like I had a
clean face.
I'm not talking about my makeupwas moved, beloved, I was just
filthy.
I mean, if I would have seen achild, I would have been like
let's wash your face before wetalk about anything.
Don't go in there telling whatyou're going to do when you look
like this.
Clean yourself up.
But I had looked and what I hadlooked at it was not the
(52:25):
mirror's fault that I lookedlike that.
That was myself.
That was a fine mirror, I foundout later.
But I looked at that mirror andit wasn't an old mirror.
That was the filth that was onme and I said the mirror is
wrong.
I looked at that quickly and Ithought, oh, that's a broken
mirror.
And I continued in my way andthis is why I'm talking.
(52:46):
It's a great humility.
I looked at something I said oh, that's, oh God, put a curtain
over that mirror.
And you know, this is what wedo all the time.
We hear something like don't beangry and allow your anger to
harm people, and we're like well, you know, just put a mirror or
a cover over that mirror.
That's not me.
Allow yourself.
The mirror should have said tome, because the mirror is just
(53:08):
the mirror Wash your face,beloved, you know.
Clean up before you do this.
I mean, this is again what weteach small children.
But I went with such confidenceand I would say not just
confidence, arrogance I am hereto help with a filthy face.
I feel like they would havesaid you know how about you wash
your face first after sevenhours of travel like that.
But I had judged that themirror was not correct, instead
(53:29):
of looking at myself and going,maybe I need to clean this.
And I'm saying this is what theapostle is telling us the word
of liberty, the word that istruth, tells us that we are
loved, that we are always lovedby God, and nothing we will do
will separate us from God's love.
And Jesus is saying look atyourself.
The Apostle James is sayingtake a look, go inward and pay
(53:51):
attention here and compare it tothe perfect law of liberty.
Dennis Drake (53:56):
I wanted to ask
you to think about.
You know, like, what is thereal you, you know, and what is
it when you walk away, you know,I think that that's something
that the spirit of god, uh,already lets you know, like you
(54:16):
don't have to, really, you canfight it and argue it, but you
know that you know what whenyou've walked away from it, and
what I'm beginning to reallyunderstand at this age, and I'm
so ashamed for not, you know,not have been willing to bend my
(54:38):
knee to this so much earlier,but there's such arrogance and
pride and selfishness in mydesires and for me to for
whatever, to be noticed bysomeone, to be recognized, to be
valued.
You know, and here Christ showsus, lay down your life, you
(55:01):
know, but I want to, you know,just even to say something.
Oftentimes, you know, as apastor, I want my life to matter
for something, you know, but Iwant to, you know, just even
even to say something.
Oftentimes, you know, as apastor, I want my life to matter
for something.
You know, uh, uh, it's all, itsounds good and all, all noble,
but there's still that placewhere I am being recognized, and
I think that.
I think that for all of us ifwe'd recognize.
Where is it that we are pullingaway from God's way and we want
(55:27):
our own way?
And in that way we walk awayand we forget who we really are,
because who you really are,you're made by God, from God,
all of your stuff.
Where did he go?
Did he go to the Walmart andpick up sage material, or did
(55:51):
God himself make sage?
You are God, so if you'll justbe you, that's the best version
you know and that's theintention he made you.
God knows what he's doing whenhe made me, but when I try to
steer the ship because of what Iwant, I pull away and I forget
(56:15):
who I really am.
Now it's not just me.
Each one of us, church.
We struggle in this place.
Is this too deep?
Are you done?
This is some good stuff nowthat we walk away and we forget
who we really are, and then westart acting like that one
that's mean and angry or selfish, and we walk away from who God
(56:45):
made us to be.
Heather Drake (56:47):
If you look
carefully into the perfect law
that sets you free and if you dowhat it says and don't forget
what you have heard, then Godwill bless you for doing it.
If you claim to be religiousbut don't control your tongue,
you are fooling yourself andyour religion is worthless.
Pure and genuine religion inthe sight of God the Father
(57:10):
means caring for orphans andwidows in their distress and
refusing to let the values ofthis world corrupt you.
This is true religion that wewould actually live out when we
see this category widows andorphans.
Years ago, thousands of yearsago, this was a group of people
who were vulnerable.
(57:31):
I can't imagine this kind ofthing.
I say this in horrible jest.
Widows and orphans are still interrible vulnerability and he's
saying to us that, as peoplewho follow Jesus, we have to
care for the vulnerable and lookaround, because the groups have
gotten larger.
Look for the margins and go tothem and be Christ to them, be
(57:53):
right there with them.
Pure and genuine religion inthe sight of God the Father
means caring, means the doing,means being a part of that.
I told the story of myhumiliation with looking at a
mirror and deciding the mirrorwas broken, instead of the filth
on my own face and I want totell you how I changed.
(58:14):
I was a part of community.
I had some good friends whowere also looking at me and said
to me she didn't say your faceis smudged.
She didn't say you're dusty.
She looked at me and mouthedyou're filthy.
I knew exactly what I was whenshe said that Community actually
(58:36):
allowed me to come to a freedomwhere I could go and wash my
face.
Sometimes we need our brothersand sisters.
We have convinced ourselvesthat we're fine the way that we
have.
We convinced ourselves that themeasuring tool of God is
somehow broken and we needcommunity to look at us and go.
You got to stop.
You have to wash your face,beloved, you have to do what you
(58:57):
know to do, and the invitationis that we would come to the
table.
This is the message of Jesus.
This is the practice of holycommunion.
This is why we come every week.
We enter into the table.
This is the message of Jesus.
This is the practice of HolyCommunion.
This is why we come every week.
We enter into the mystery, wepractice the holy, we remind
ourselves that we are welcomedat the table of God.
In fact, it is, in fact, whyJesus starts the meal, and we're
(59:19):
reminded of this, that this isthe truth for us.
We are reminded that Jesusremoves from us anything that
separates us from the table.
Our dirty feet he's washed themfor us.
Our filthy hands he has washedthem for us.
But we have to allow it.
Very often we are like Peter.
He was like I'm not going tolet you do that for me because
you are too holy.
And Jesus said listen, if youdon't let me do this for you,
(59:41):
you can't even eat here.
Let me do this.
And Jesus is offering this samething for us.
Let these practices in us, letthis generosity in us.
If you hear the word and don'tdo it, your religion is useless.
Beloved, do what you know to do.
Be generous, be loving, be kind, be compassionate toward
(01:00:02):
yourself and toward others.
Dennis Drake (01:00:09):
This is how the
world changes, you know, I, I
want to, before we move on, andwe will here.
Uh, it's just, uh, you know,look at means caring for orphans
and widows, those, those thatwere the lowliest.
This is what God is, you know.
(01:00:32):
Reminding us is important, okay, and I wanted to share a quick
story as we close in.
And there was a lady that was ashut-in at a church in
California.
She was connected with thechurch, but she could never come
because she just was sodepressed, and so she wouldn't
(01:00:54):
leave her house to go to churchor go anywhere.
In fact, people were bringingin her groceries.
She was very wealthy andinherited money and could
function financially, but as faras emotionally, she just was
trapped.
And someone in the church saidif you'll just come meet with
the pastor, we believe thatyou'll get a breakthrough.
And so somehow this womanmustered the courage to come to
(01:01:18):
the church and the pastor saidI'll meet with you in the
kitchen in a moment.
And she was standing therewaiting for him and he came in.
And when he came in, he had ajar of peanut butter, a jar of
jelly and a couple loaves ofwhite bread, and he said I want
you to make peanut butter andjelly sandwiches and uh, so she
took about 20 minutes and madethe sandwiches and she says, oh,
(01:01:40):
he said okay, get in the vanwith me.
And uh, they got in the churchvan and they drove like about a
block from the church and theyjust stopped and they got out
and there was all these homelesspeople right there on the
corner, just right by the church, and they started handing out
these sandwiches to people andshe said I couldn't figure out
(01:02:05):
what you were doing, but I mean,this is incredible.
I am enjoying myself so muchand just think, just a block
from where we worship, thesepeople are here and look how
grateful they are.
So she goes, can we do thisagain?
He said, yeah, if you'll meetme here, I'll do this every day
(01:02:27):
with you.
And so she met every day and goback and do this and eventually
led to her running and takingcare of one of the largest food
banks there in the city inCalifornia, there.
And what had happened is shefound the purpose Because she
can have all the stuff and haveall the provision, but there's
(01:02:49):
something missing and for usthat you know, the secret is is
is kept from us, it's, it'staking care of other people.
It's not about you when youmake it about you, and you're
the idol.
God's not on the throne andit's never going to go well with
you and you and and so, uh, ifJesus is on the throne, that
(01:03:09):
means we got to get off, and andif we're off the throne, that
means we're a servant, just likeeverybody else, and servants do
what they serve.
And so I'm asking you, if youdon't already know who are your
widows and orphans, who are themarginalized, who are the people
that that God is sending you toto pour out on them as a drink
offering.
Who is it?
Because the people that I doknow that are satisfied at work
(01:03:33):
are the people that have foundtheir place to just give for
people.
Wherever you are, I'm tellingyou that that god has probably
put you there and there, and theand those widows and orphans,
those, those people are aroundyou.
(01:03:56):
You know, that's one thing I'venoticed about thomas.
You know you, thomas, beenmissing for a while.
You know he's living in puertorico now, but but my son Thomas,
no matter where he goes, he'sgot his congregation, his
friends, his workplace, you know, and he's always roping me in
(01:04:18):
to help in his congregation.
Remember one time he goes, getin the car, we gotta go.
I'm like, where are we going?
And we showed up at this littlegirl's house that had a baby and
she couldn't put her cribtogether.
And so all of a sudden, I wasin the back room of this hot
(01:04:39):
house putting a crib together,and there was no place I wanted
to be on the earth more thanwith my son serving some one of
God's daughters who couldn'teven put her crib together.
What did it cost me?
A couple hours I sweat in theback room, but she's got a crib.
(01:05:03):
Now she can put her baby inBecause we use the little gift
that we have that we can putsome stuff together.
Between the two of us, wefigured the directions out, but
you know, will we go anywherewith this message today?
Will we look for who is it thatwe can serve and where is it
that we can hold our tongue andnot allow that human anger to
(01:05:28):
continue?
And let God move through uschurch.
Heather Drake (01:05:32):
We hope you've
enjoyed this week's sermon.
If you would like moreinformation about us, visit us
online at firstlovechurchorg.