September 21, 2025 • 76 mins
🎙️ Unmasking Church: Is It Worship or Just a Show?
What if Jesus walked into your church today—would He recognize it? This episode dives headfirst into the uncomfortable, necessary conversation about modern-day worship, performative religion, and what it really means to follow Jesus with authenticity.
“Church isn’t a building filled with fancy lights and perfect people. It’s a bunch of broken, messy souls who’ve chosen to lean into love and truth—together.”
We’re talking sheep and goats, dry drunks and Pharisees, and the powerful difference between a faith that shows up for others… and one that just shows off.
“If all you’re doing is throwing a verse at someone and walking away, are you really showing them who God is?”
Whether you've been hurt by the church, searching for real faith, or just trying to figure out how to live out love in a noisy world—this message is for you.
🎧 Listen now on SoberNotBoring.Podbean.com ❤️ Share it with someone who needs it 🔔 And don’t forget to subscribe for more unfiltered faith talks from Outreach 419.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Father God, I am so grateful tobe here today, back in this space
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that is like my second home.
It is good to be back.
I'm grateful in spite of everything,I am grateful for this past week
for the lessons learned, for theopportunity to serve, but even
more so Father, to be served.
It's been, it has been an awesomeprivilege to be part of this community.
(00:28):
You've put me in.
Father, we have a lot ofheaviness in this space.
We have people that are sufferingthemselves or enduring hardships of every
different kind, but they also carry withthem people that they love and care about.
(00:50):
And Father, you knowthis and we pray, father.
We pray for Grandpa George.
Grandpa George has lived a very long life.
Father and I pray for peace in thistime of transition as he prepares to go
home and I pray peace over the family.
I pray for our Gary Kay andcontinued healing that you will.
(01:12):
God please just help 'em see the wisdomand staying put here with us for a while.
Pray for Dear Mary as she strugglesthrough this addiction with her
children and family around her father.
We know that this affects so manypeople more than just the one going
through it, but we also know whata hard battle that this is, and we
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pray freedom from that for Mary.
I pray that for Steve and for thosejust struggling father to find their
way to the other side of this 'cause.
Boy, this just can grab hold andit's just such difficult thing.
I pray for art that the T cells.
That those will multiply, thatthis will work, that this will be
(01:57):
a successful procedure and that itwill go better on the other side.
And Father, we wait for answers on that.
Pray.
Peace over Rusty and his father.
Give Rusty senior peace in this time.
Father, you know the plans that you have.
(02:20):
We pray for Dawn.
We pray for David.
Cancer is just such a heavy thing,and to have two at the same time is
just overwhelming in so many ways.
Pray for Jacob who's just struggling inlife and I pray that there will just be
a clear light shown that the way willjust manifest and show itself and I.
(02:46):
And, and for Fred mentalillness is a bondage father.
And I pray freedom from that.
There there will be clarity.
He's in a place, father, whereit's hard, but you're in those hard
places and often so fully present.
And I pray that he willfeel that right now.
(03:09):
Pray for Keith.
We pray for Rick as theytoo are battling cancer.
Father, there's so much cancer in thisfallen and broken world and I pray.
I pray for healing andrestoration in your name.
And we especially, weremember our beloved Dave.
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We pray peace over that situation.
That all will go well withthis tiny baby that's.
That's coming to join this familyfor Dave as he is down there
to help hold down the fort,
And we pray that he can return to ussooner rather than later, but I pray
blessings over him and peace and safetyand wisdom as he is down there and
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return him to us quickly for thosewho have those unspoken requests.
Father, we may not know them, butI know that you do and we entrust
those also, and especially to you.
I have my own and you know what those are,and I'm so thankful to hand those to you.
Be with me today as we givethis word and this message.
(04:14):
I know for a fact this is all youGod, because you wouldn't let me
go the direction I wanted to go.
So I have handed that to you andI know you show up as always, and
I pray above all things that thisspace is so filled with your spirit.
And not only this space.
Father, I pray especially that thosewithin this space is especially
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filled because we know that it is us.
That is the church.
It's not this building.
Be with us in the re rest of this day.
Pray this food downstairs goes.
Well be with all of us as we just sharesome fellowship and we talk about you.
I'm so grateful for your sonJesus as he is the only reason
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that we are here gathered.
We are so grateful for what he hasprovided through the sacrifice of his
life, and it's in His name that we pray.
Amen.
All righty.
Yeah, we're gonna betalking about sheep today.
I fully had intended to start a proverbseries, and I was so excited to do that.
In fact, I even told you that's whatI was gonna do and how funny of me
(05:18):
because, uh, yeah, that didn't work.
So, um, I sat in the hospital, likeI said, desperately trying, and I'm
trying to force an outline and tryingto force it, this and that, and duh.
And like, I just like, okay, I shutit all down and I just sat in some
stillness and it was as plain as day.
(05:42):
And I'm like, the more I sat withit, the more I think right now this
is kind of, it's not kind of, Iknow this is an important thing.
I'm hearing nonstop on social media.
In the news, there's thismassive return to church.
People in droves are returning to church.
Bibles are flying off the shelf,people are purchasing Bibles and
(06:05):
they've never purchased them before.
It's this huge thing.
I'm not gonna go into the whole shootingthing, but it's been, after that there's
been this massive thing and people areproclaiming this is this great revival.
And I sat with this for quite a while andI started watching and looking and paying
(06:28):
attention to what I'm hearing and seeingaround me because returning to church is a
beautiful and wonderful thing, as long asit's the church that you're returning to
and not just an idea, and not just becauseit's a trend or a cool thing to do.
Or because it begins to soundmilitant and you're ready to just
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take a firm stand and go at it.
So that's what I wanna talkabout today because Jesus
said, my sheep hear my voice.
Not social media voice, not aninfluencer voice, not a preacher
voice, not anything else.
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They hear my voice.
So we're gonna take a dive into this andwe're gonna talk about the sheep that
hear his voice and sheep that perhapsaren't actually sheep because it's far
more than just an action of walking intoa church building and purchasing a Bible.
So that's where we're gonna go today.
(07:35):
And God, I'm depending on youfor every word 'cause here we go.
So I did write today, all the versesI'm using are gonna be up there.
I'm gonna be doing more readingthan I usually do, and I'm
not apologizing for that.
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And because it's easier for me to read offthis with my old eyes, I'm gonna do that.
So John 15, five through 10,
I am the vine and you are the branches.
And I'll remind her again.
I read from the message version Bible.
So if it looks different than aversion that you may have or is
in the pews, it's just a differentversion so it will sound different.
(08:22):
So follow along however you want.
I am the vine and you are the branches.
When you're joined with me and I with you,the relation, intimate and organic, the
harvest is sure to be abundant, separated.
You can't produce a thing.
Anyone who separates from me is dead woodgathered up and thrown on the bonfire.
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But if you make yourselves at home withme and my words are at home in you,
you can be sure that whatever you askwill be listened to and acted upon.
This is how my father shows who he is.
When you produce fruit, when youmature as my disciples, I've loved
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you the way my father has loved me.
Make yourselves at home in my love.
If you keep my commands, you'llremain intimately at home in my love.
That's what I've done, kept myfather's commands, and I made
myself at home in his love.
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That was Jesus speaking.
Trying to explain to a bunchof humans what the relationship
is between Father God and us.
How can we have that relationship?
We have to remember at this time wedid not have the spirit yet poured out.
We have a population that wasdependent on priests at a temple to
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sacrifice, to atone, to intercede.
And Jesus is letting peopleknow that's coming to an end.
It's why he was hated.
Religious leaders didn't likehearing that their way of doing
things was on the way out.
Jesus was saying, no longer are yougonna have to go to a place to find me
'cause I will be with you and in you.
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He had to prepare for them for that.
He had to prepare us that were to come.
Also for that relationship that's to come.
It's what changes Religion.
To relationship because that by the rule,the sacrifice need an inter cedar for you.
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That's religion, that's not relationship.
And Jesus came to bring relationship.
So what we're gonna do is we'regonna look at, we're gonna contrast
and compare a bit as we talk aboutthis, starting with the Pharisees.
The Pharisees werethose religious leaders.
They were the church in Israel.
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It was the only place before Jesuswhere you could go, where God
dwelt, he dwelt in the most holy.
In that most holy of holyplaces in the temple.
Only one high priestcould enter that space.
Anybody else entering would die.
That priest carried in with him.
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All the sins of the people becausethey had to come, they had to bring
their offerings, they had to confesstheir sins, they had to somehow make
atonement, sacrifices were made.
And that high priests would go intothat Holy of Holies and act as a
inner theory, inter I, that whateverthat word is, he wouldn't intercede
for us on our behalf, us and God.
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And it was required.
It was absolutely required.
So the Pharisees now were thatruling class, and they got really,
really, really used to that power.
Really used to it.
They called the shots.
They watched for the rule breakers.
They were all holier than that.
I keep all the rules, all thelaws, and if you read in the
(12:12):
Bible, there were a lot of 'em.
There's books of the Bible, somereally good riveting reading.
You start getting into the nittygritty law, law, law, law, law, law.
But then it's also, thisis how you have to pay.
This is what you have to bring.
There was so much to do in the Pharisees.
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They loved it.
Many of them loved it.
I refuse to believe that everyPharisee became egotistical or
arrogant in their carrying out.
I have to believe there were prieststhat fully, fully brought honor to
their job because it was necessary.
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But I'm talking about thePharisees after Jesus.
The Pharisees after Jesus continued.
To expect that people were gonna bringmoney, sacrifices, come to the temple,
that it was going to continue onbecause they said Jesus was a heretic.
They were the ones thatsaid he needs to die.
They were the onesthrowing money to get this.
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I mean, you know, they'rethe church, right?
No, they were not.
And yet people would look tothem to emulate, this is how
we have to act and behave.
We have to keep rules.
We have to make sureour appearance is right.
Jesus called them out on that over andover and over, and they killed him for it.
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Let's contrast that with Mary ofBethany, not Mary Jesus' mother.
Mary had a sister named Martha, andthey were at a home, people were
there and Jesus was coming, and it wasvery busy, and at that time, a woman
would be preparing the food to serve.
That is what the expected role ofwomen and where she should have been.
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This Mary, Martha Mary's sister, gotincredibly frustrated because she's
like, why do I have to do all this?
Mary's just sitting there on the floor,just doing nothing, not helping me at all.
Very angry.
And some of us were like, well,of course, because now poor
Martha has to do all of it.
But what did Jesus say?
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Jesus said, Mary chose wisely becauseMary recognized who she was hearing.
Mary recognized the importanceof listening and taking the
time to hear God, to hear Jesus.
She is set up as the example,not the one busy in the kitchen
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making all the food and servingbecause that's a beautiful thing.
Serving people through the preparingof food and making sure everybody has
their needs met is a beautiful thing.
But what Jesus pointed out is atpales into comparison to leaning
into God, out of that desire to knowmore, to know me, he was saying,
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this is what church is going tolook like no more than the temple.
It's not through your actions of serving.
You don't have to earn anythingbecause I've paid for it.
Sit and take it in.
Let's move on to, because so many ofus are in recovery, white knuckling.
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Has anybody here ever had to whiteknuckle it through some recovery?
We know what that's like.
That's called I'm sober,but you're not in recovery.
You're just getting through it.
You're just doing the actions, right?
And that's great.
I'm not taking away from that, not usinga substance, not feeding your addiction,
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whatever it may be, because I will neversay addictions or drugs and alcohol
because we all, we all have an addiction,whether you use drugs or alcohol or not.
But white knuckling means we'veliterally just stopped using
what it is that is our addiction.
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We haven't healed, we haven'taddressed the reason why we ever
started in the beginning, butwe're doing all the right things.
Look at me.
I'm showing up for meetings.
I'm getting my slipform, I'm dropping clean.
I'm not using doing what I gotta do,
but are you really?
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Because it shouldn't be about whiteknuckling and saying, that's good
enough because I can tell you.
Well, I was proud of myself inmy white knuckling day because
look at me, I'm not drinking.
This is wonderful.
But what was going on up here?
What was I thinking about?
Do you think I was leaning into God?
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Or do you think I was trying notto want to pick up a bottle because
that's where my brain was, because Ihad this flood of stuff coming at me
that I had to feel without my buffer.
So I was consumed and I was hanging ontightly because I didn't wanna drink
again, and I made it through that phase.
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But let's compare that to whatbeing engaged in recovery is like.
We get to see that here all the time.
It's what happens when you sit and say,I am going to the root of it right there.
And that's often the placewe don't wanna go, right?
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Isn't that usually the placewe don't wanna look at?
Because why were we in ouraddiction to begin with?
Right?
It's not because we werecomfortable sitting with it.
It's because we didn't want to.
We couldn't or we didn't know how.
But I see people in recovery thrivingand joyful, and it's beautiful to see
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because I know the struggles stillgoing on in your life, and it's a mark.
It's a remarkable thing when youhave learned, I use because of this,
and I'm working on that, and I'mworking that in a community of people
who are working on that themselves.
And beautiful things are happenbecause I can be transparent and open
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because white knuckling, we're nottransparent open people in that we
haven't shared what's underneath it all.
We haven't shared the muck ofwhat that addiction grew out of.
We keep that close, right, andwe just try to get through it.
Engaged in recovery.
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We don't hide that becausewe know we don't have to.
In this community of people, we know thatwe're safe, we know that we're supported.
We know that people will not lookat us and say, you can't be here.
You will find that people will lean in.
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Recovery is beautiful because I'm findingthat the community in recovery models so
closely the community that Jesus calls usto, what a beautiful thing that happens.
I don't have to preachhere seven days a week.
I can be up here on Sunday morning andthat's it, and I don't have to preach
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another word because this communitymodels what community should be love
and support and caring through the junk.
We're not here for just the good stuff.
We're actually herefor the not good stuff.
So you can get to the good stuff, right?
It's what you need to get to recovery.
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You have to go to the root.
There is no avoiding it.
There is no avoiding the hardness of that.
There's no getting past the feelingof feeling those things, of looking
at your past and working throughthat and owning every piece of it.
And you don't have to do it with shame.
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You don't have to look backat your life with shame.
In researching and thinking aboutthis, I had this amazing, and it's
so funny, I was like, why don'tthose light bulbs go off way before?
'cause I have had Bible crammed inmy head since I was a wee wee fresh
out of the womb, you could say.
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But.
Jesus did not cover our sin.
So we could sit and look at them andjust feel the weight and the shame.
And we have a wonderful example,even in the Old Testament of
what happens when you look back.
Can anybody think of who I'm Falcon about?
Who looked back?
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Lots wife.
Lot's wife.
She was looking back at her old life, shewas looking back at where she came from.
She was looking back where therest of her family and friends
were knowing they were dying.
She was looking back atwhat she was rescued from.
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And how many of us do that in recovery?
Sometimes I do.
I look at my past and I stillhave those moments of like,
oh, if anybody would find out.
And now I'm like, who cares?
Am I there?
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Is it covered?
Yeah.
So doesn't that make myhere and now just amazing.
It's why testimony and transparentsharing is as important as it is
because people need to understandthat shame is never a part of church.
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You don't have to come hereto gather on a Sunday morning.
I encourage you to go where you feel ledbecause God is not confined to one space.
He is everywhere you are.
But if you go to a space wherepeople are gathered for church
and you are made to feel shamed oryou're made to feel, you can't share
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or speak openly, ask yourself whereis God and where is the spirit?
Because God's family is built forthe hard times and God's family
is not there to shame you, butto remind you, don't look back.
Don't look back there
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ahead.
If God doesn't see it,why are you looking at it?
I have to remind myselfof that all the time.
He said, as far as the east is fromthe West, that's how far it is from me.
I don't see it.
You're beautiful.
You are perfect and you'rebeautiful, and I love you so much.
What are you talking about child?
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You're mine
because the Bible in Psalm says, Godwould give up the entire universe for
you, but he went further than that.
He gave his son because ourhuman minds can see the universe.
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And we can kind of imagine you'rewilling to give all of that up.
Look at that beautiful starry sky.
All of it, God says, is nothingcompared to what I think about you.
It says, and sounds.
I would give that all up for you.
He didn't give that up for us.
He gave up his son, hisvery own son for us.
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So I remind myself and I remindyou, stop looking at your
past as a place to find shame.
Look at your past, asked with joybecause of what God brought you out of.
If we read this Bible, we see somany people who have been brought
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out of horrible situations andwe hold them up as great things.
And we don't allow that same grace for us.
We just sit.
But my past, if people would knowthat's not God in your head, you can
safely say, be gone and I will nothave anything more to do with you.
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Get your chin up.
Lift that head up.
Don't you walk around in shame anymorefor anything that you have done.
And I swear if you saw a film goingof my past, people would probably
fall out of the pews here today.
And you know what?
It's not that I would want that toplay, but guess what wouldn't be here?
My shame wouldn't be because all I wouldsee through my tears is, thank you God.
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He allowed me.
He allowed me and everyone here theprivilege of learning beautiful lessons
through what he carried us through becausehe knew people in your life further
down the road would need you for that.
Why do you think the Bibleis filled with broken, messy
people and not perfect people?
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The only perfect onein the Bible was Jesus.
That was it.
That was it.
Just Jesus King David, man, aftermy own heart was a murdering rapist
and we know how we talk about that.
Oh, kill him.
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And God looked at him and said,this is a man after my own heart.
And that's what he callsus to, to love like that.
So we get down to this bottom oneand it says, compare and contrast
church, which is people shouldnever be legalism and rules.
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I grew up in a denomination that islegalism and rules, and the damage it does
to people's walk with God is horrific.
Answers will be made for that.
That weight is on me always to guardagainst legalism and rule keeping
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as a way to God because it isn't.
You can keep every rule perfect, doeverything right, and if you don't
have love like Jesus, you aren't his.
It's not about legalism and rules.
It's about relationship
us to our father, because afterJesus died for you and for me,
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we no longer need a priest.
We don't need somebodyto be our go-between.
We can simply gopersonally to God ourself.
It is that relationship.
It's knowing the love that he has.
For us, it's knowing that we're sonsand daughters, that anything and
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everything is available to us if we ask.
But remember how you'reasking in relationship?
You don't go to Godwith a list of demands.
Here's my list, God, things are goingreal bad, so fix this, fix this, fix
this, and then it's gonna be great.
And then if things get fixed, we putit in the pocket and we walk on and
do we bring anything to God anymore?
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You know, it's like, you know,we keep God in our pocket to bail
us out of the hard sticky times.
Keep God in your pocket all the timeand make Him first in everything.
I'm not saying be on a streetcorner with your signs.
Don't be screaming at people, butin your everyday comings and goings,
just say, Hey, God, be with me today.
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Help me do the right thing.
Talk to 'em.
Trying to make a decision is like, God, Icould use your help making this decision.
It's as easy as that.
You don't have to sit down in achair and fold your hands or kneel
or be in a room by yourself or beparticularly, I pray everywhere.
I pray in Walmart.
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I pray at Meyer.
I pray going down the road.
I pray here.
I'm praying while you're singing.
It's just talking to God.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
It doesn't have to be fancy and formal.
I, one of the worst things somebody didto me is try to teach me how to pray
properly by breaking down the Lord'sprayer and setting up the template.
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And you start this way, andthen you do this, and then you
do this, and then you do that.
And then I found myself justsimply worried that I prayed wrong.
What do you think God felt?
He's my dad and he was heartbroken.
He's like, just talk to me.
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Just talk to me the same way I'mtalking or the same way we converse.
It's the same thing.
It feels funny at first if you're usedto formal, but it's the same thing.
Just talk to 'em.
And guess what?
If you're really angry and mad,you can even come to God that way.
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He often sees me, my God, Ineed you to take this 'cause,
get the traffic out of the way.
Or I'm gonna run everybody over'cause I can't deal with it.
And he's like, I put them infront of you for a reason.
Trust me.
I'm like,
we talk a lot when I'm driving.
Ask my husband, it's not good.
I don't like driving.
So, you know, 'cause I talkto him too while you driving.
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I know, I know.
I'm sure.
I'm so sure.
Yeah.
It's, it's a, it's, it'sa pro, it's a problem.
It is a problem and I have to work onit every time I get behind the wheel.
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I've had to drive back and forth toGrand Rapids every morning and every
night, every single day for a week.
This past week, grand Rapids trafficis worth in downtown Greenville
on an every red light day.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yes.
Sitting at a light and it takesthree or four cycles before you creep
up and creep up, and then you'regetting mad because now you are
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letting more people in this line.
I've been here forever andI'm like, it's not about me.
Everybody else driving a car alsohas some place they wanna be.
Why is my getting someplacemore important than them?
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I hate that conviction, and yet I love it.
So I have been challenging myself.
I'm glad you weren't in the car.
When I first did this,
ready for this
on my drive to the hospital Saturdaymorning, I drove the speed limit and
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never faster, and I never went inthe passing lane to pass somebody.
I had the praise music cranked.
I was talking to God, I'm like,it's gonna take Grand Rapids.
It's like 14 hours away now.
But you know what?
It wasn't In halfway through,I was singing the songs.
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I smiled at somebody at astoplight and I'm like, who is
this driving my car right now?
It was better.
It was just better.
And I use that as anexample of relationship.
God is with you through the bumpy stuff.
And the good stuff.
He's like, just talk to me.
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Just talk to me withoutshame, without guilt.
Just tell him already what youhave to tell him, because remember
we've said before, he's not waitingto find out from you because he
kind of already saw what you did.
Already knows he was right there.
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He's been my, he's been in thecar with me every single time.
He's seen me playing the fool.
He's seen it.
He's heard my language.
I used to be a paramedic andsometimes that language comes out
and I'm like, oh God, I'm so sorry.
Cleaning up again.
I do clean up a lot, but it'sabout that kind of relationship.
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That's what church corporateshould be telling you about.
That's what they should be saying.
That's what your goal is.
Relationship.
Moving on to Philippians.
It has to be about a transformation ofyour heart, not just an external people
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watching you think, oh, look at them.
Going to church now.
So we're gonna read Philippians,
Philippians two.
If you've gotten anything at all outof following Christ, if his love has
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made any difference in your life, ifbeing in a community of the Spirit
means anything to you, if you have aheart, if you care, then do me a favor.
Agree with each other.
Love each other.
Be deep spirited friends.
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Don't push your way to the front.
Don't sweet talk your way to the tap.
Put yourself aside and help others.
Get ahead.
Don't be obsessed withgetting your own AB advantage.
Forget yourself long enoughto lend a helping hand.
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Think of yourselves the wayChrist Jesus thought of himself.
He had equal status with God, butdidn't think so much of himself that
he had to clinging to the advantagesof that status no matter what.
Not at all.
When the time came, he set aside theprivileges of deity and took on the
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status of slave and became human.
There's moments when I just sitand wonder of what he chose to
do for us having become human.
He stayed human.
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It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn't claim special privileges.
Instead, he lived a selfless, obedientlife and then died A selfless,
obedient death, and the worstkind of death at that crucifixion.
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I can't comprehend
what it would be like for Godhimself to confine himself
in a human body like we have.
Every single one of us walks inhere with our aches and pains and
bodily functions and emotions andall this stuff, and that's what God
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put himself into.
Deity confined by nothing canfind confined, not by time.
Not by space, not by anything, puthimself into a human body and not even
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an already grown up adult human body.
Like literally from first separationof cells and that forming before birth
and then being born needing somebodyto change a diaper, teach you how to
crawl, teach you how to sit, teachyou how to walk, learn how to talk.
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Because as fully human, youhave to learn those things.
Little young me used to literallybelieve, well, he must have just like
been born walking and talking andbeing perfect and knowing all this
stuff because I couldn't fathom that.
Cannot fathom that.
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And our human minds will neverbe able to understand this
concept of how can that be.
But the example that sets for us of whathe means by serving we so up and think
like, you expect me to do that for them?
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So step out of yourshoes and step into Gods
before Jesus.
What can find him?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
And if that was you right now, wouldyou willingly say, I'm gonna go
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into that human body and get treatedhorribly and die horribly because I
want things better for everyone else?
That is not something humanly speakingthat we could even fathom doing.
I've had to humble myself before.
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But it doesn't begin to approachthe humbling that Jesus was
willing to do on our behalf.
And it's important that we understandthat and know that because that
tells us how much we're loved.
It helps us in those times whenwe really don't wanna do it the
Jesus way to do it, the Jesus way.
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Because if Jesus was willingto do that and he did that
for me, who am I to refuse?
We have some examples
of what it is like to just dothings surface and what it is
like to have a heart change.
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An Ananias and Sapphira were amarried couple in the New Testament.
This would've been after Jesusdied and they were coming and
they were gonna give money.
To the church, this new church thing,and they were just all about, we're
gonna sell this piece of land andwe're gonna say, we gave all the money,
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but we're gonna keep some of that.
But we're gonna say, this ishow much we got for it and we're
gonna look real good, real good.
They're like, okay.
So husband goes there and he's,you know, with the plane, we sold
a piece of land and we wanna giveit so other people can be helped.
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They were specifically asked morethan once, is this how much you sold?
This is it.
This is how much I sold itfor, and I'm giving it to you.
I'm giving it to you.
There was a problem though.
The Holy Spirit is fully present now.
There's discernment and wisdom andunderstanding and who they were giving to.
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Very well knew, but you keptmoney out of this for yourself.
There was nothing wrongwith them doing that.
That's the problem.
They were fully able to keep part ofthat money and give the rest, but they
chose to make themselves more by saying,we sacrificed and we gave it all to you.
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They lied deliberately.
They formulated and made a plan of deceitto give to God, and guess what happened?
Ananias dropped dead on the spot.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Anani is like,what has taken him so long?
(40:16):
Like he should have been back already.
Where is he?
So she's now gotta go and, and that,and she doesn't know he's dead.
Like they had literallyjust carried him out.
Enter her picture, that scene, andthey're like, and she's again, affirms.
Yes.
That was all the money, all of it.
(40:39):
We sold this land and wewanna give it to the church.
All of it.
Did you really?
Is that real?
Yes.
She joined her husband because shebrought deceit and lies to God, not
open, honest, giving from the heart.
What they were doing wassuperficial and surface so
people would see them as better.
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Like, look how good they are.
They're giving all of thatto us, but they didn't.
They choose and chose to lead withdeceit and a lie, and they paid for
it dearly because she also died.
It was a hard lesson.
Don't bring deceit andlies to God as an offering.
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He wants heart offerings.
Contrast that with Paul.
Paul had been one ofthose religious leaders.
In fact, one of the highest.
Extremely educated in the law.
Pharisee, remember we talked about them.
He came from that religious rulers andhis job was persecuting, imprisoning
(41:48):
and killing new followers of Jesus.
That's what he did, and he did itwith great joy and in fact, he was
on his way to do exactly that whenhe had his experience and he came
fa face to face with the one he waspersecuting with God, with Jesus.
His entire life was changedradically, and he became outspoken
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in his zeal and love of Jesus.
Do you think people really believe that?
Do you think the Jesus followersfelt comfortable when Paul
showed up at their house?
I can tell you they did not.
Because they knew what he had done.
Do you think they're believing his wordsand that was what he had to overcome.
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Paul knew he was not gonnabe trusted immediately.
He knew that, but his heart was soconvicted and so changed that he
continued on and on and on and on, andthis Bible is filled with his writings.
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We read about Paul all the time,and so much so that we often
forget how he started, but what aradical example of heart change.
He didn't become superficial and justgo through the motions because that's
what that legalistic law religion becameis just going through the motions now
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because that's not how we worship.
Paul got that.
So he abruptly went from, I am alegalistic rule keeping leader that
demands people do the same thing.
To I am a fierce and staunch advocatefor Jesus willing to die for this.
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That's a true heart change.
And people were saved because of him.
God picks so specifically those,he calls to carry his word
and often the most unlikely.
And I found that out personallybecause the idea I'd ever sit up
here doing this is like, there'stimes it still leaves me shocked.
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Like me, me with my, oh, becauseof my past and my background.
God, I hear you.
You expect me to use that to speak.
And that's what Paul was called to do.
That's what we're all called to do.
Maybe not up here.
But in your life, in theway, God, God calls you too.
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And then we'll move onto the recovery example.
The dry drunk attitude.
You can be in recovery.
And I dry drunk at like we talked aboutmy driving on the road that that's, that's
dry drunk driving, that's what I'm doing.
Dry drunk driving.
And you get tickets for thattoo because you go too fast.
'cause yeah, we had to pay a big one.
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That was a learningexperience, not another one.
Still that one I hadtold you about before.
But that dry drunk attitude, youknow, we can get in recovery and we're
feeling all comfortable so we don'tstay plugged in 'cause I got this.
Now what happens when you getto the, I got this and you kinda
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go it alone doing your thing.
Don't you find yourself startingto act in those old behaviors and
reactions and you snap at people.
It can be rude.
Maybe I'm just talking aboutmyself, but that happens to me.
All those things that we work sohard to put aside, to move into
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recovery, to live this life offreedom and joy still shows itself.
The problem is only if you choose to staythere, if you're content with your dry
drunk, because you'll explain it away.
Well, did you see how they treated me?
They had it coming.
Humanly speaking, we get it.
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But remember, our bar that sathere loved me the way I loved
you, and I loved you the way I didbecause that's how God loved me.
So if you're choosing to stay in yourdry drunk because you want to, you
need to have a come to Jesus, you do.
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Because people that have truly cometo Jesus don't eagerly want to stay
in those dry drunk mentalities.
You want that recovery attitude,the one that catches it, the one
that says, I'm not going back there.
Remember the don't look back.
That can include those attitudes too.
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The recovery attitude says, I'm gonna livea life of service because I have learned
how much that heals me and helps me,
and also helps other people.
I'm gonna stay in a communityof like-minded people because
it keeps me moving forward.
Not that we have to hide andonly be with like-minded, but we
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should seek that out regularly.
It's being willing to change theareas of yourself that have to change.
I've had so many people say to me,it's like you are just, you know,
love everybody and this is great.
Well, you're a minister and you knowthat sometimes things are not just,
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you know, there's right and wrong.
And I'm like, I know that.
I never said there wasn't.
What I said is, you must alwayslead with love, even when you have
to have those hard conversations.
I'm not afraid to have hard conversationsanymore because I'm not going at it
in an attitude of hate or anger when Ihave a hard conversation with somebody.
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It's because I love youenough to have those
right there is right and wrong.
But I also,
I also understand it is notmy place to judge anybody that
doesn't know Jesus as if they do.
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If somebody does not know Jesus ordoes not follow Jesus, it is not my
place to judge them like somebody whohas openly professed that they do.
Do you?
Are you understanding the difference inthat we can have grace and mercy and love?
We do not exclude peoplethat are not just like us.
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I will never exclude peoplethat don't think just like me.
I will not one exception.
If you wanna worship the devil inhere, you're not welcome in my space.
'cause I do not.
I pray I am right on outta here, so wewouldn't come in here with you anyways.
But I'm not here to makeyou think just like me.
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If you want to know Jesus, the HolySpirit will show you your path.
You just have to lean into thatand trust him and listen to that.
But that recovery attitude says,I can love everybody that comes
into my space no matter what.
I can forgive everybody no matterwhat, because I recognize that that
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forgiving is releasing me from theweight of what they've done to me.
It's not saying what you did was allright, and I've talked about that before.
I have freely, openly, fully forgiventhe pedophile that destroyed my
life and the church that hid it,and parents that didn't help me.
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It's all forgiven.
I literally mean it when I say Ihave no anger towards any of 'em.
I have a great deal of sadness becausemy abuser died with nobody loving
her enough to bring Jesus to her.
They allowed her to live this way,carrying on in this sin and covering
it up and harming dozens of people.
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I, my heart hurts for herbecause nobody loved her enough.
And if you think that was an easy thingfor me to get to, it was the hardest thing
I've ever done in my entire life becausethat's not how I felt for a long time.
I had dried drunk.
I wanted them all to go to hell.
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They can all go to hellfor what they've done.
And I have told God howsorry I am for that.
I don't want anybody to go to helland I don't care what they've done
because I want everybody to know God.
And I want everybody to know Jesusbecause the freedom is beautiful.
And in saying that, I'm not saying thereis no consequences for choices in sin.
(50:46):
You can be fully forgiven andredeemed and still need to maybe sit
in prison for the rest of your life.
I am not saying it's a free for all.
Oh, just forgive 'em and move on becausethat is not right and it's not biblical.
And then moving on to thechurch, contrast and compare.
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Is it a, you just say all the right words.
It looks right.
The liturgy is great, the outlines aregreat, the bullet points are perfect.
You say all the right thing.
You've got all your i's dotted and T'scrossed and you've driven the point home.
Your words are great.
(51:32):
And then you walk out and it's like,
life doesn't really match the words.
I, you know, the Sunday words, Sundaymorning words, I call 'em everybody.
Sunday.
Nice.
Everybody Sunday saying the right thing.
Everybody.
Oh, bless you.
I'll pray for you.
Did you.
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How often do we say, oh, I'll prayfor you, and then you walk away
and you don't even think about it.
What that person asked for, and yousaid you would do, is, I'm gonna
talk to my father, God about yoursituation, and ask him for healing or
help or that, and then you just treatit like a, oh, I'm just gonna say
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the words, but I'm not gonna do it.
And that gets easy to dowhen things are familiar.
It's why I have given myself a Sabbathand I'm not sure how long this will last
where I am not making myself memorizeanything in the Bible right now.
I grew up having to memorize over andover and over and over and over vast
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amounts of the Bible from memory,book and verse, recite it on a D.
And then the Heidelberg Catechism.
A lot of that, I can still verbatim wordfor word, recite it, but do you think
I'm thinking about it while I'm doing it?
You know, muscle memory, howyou just can automatically do
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something without thinking about it.
Sometimes we can be so comfortable inour Christian walk that it becomes a
bunch of words that we just recite.
Somebody comes up to uswith this awful problem.
Oh, I got a verse for that.
And then you walk away.
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Jesus didn't do that whenthey came to him with leprosy.
Do you think?
He read a verse and sent'em back to the leper camp?
He served them by healing them.
He didn't throw verses at them.
People would use the Bibleto try and trip him up.
He didn't play that game either.
(53:48):
We need to be.
Fruit of the spirit.
People love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness,
self-control, all of those things.
And the only way we can be those thingsis if we're actively serving each other,
not just saying words at each other.
Oh, here, let me find a verse to say.
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And there you go.
Should be better sayingyou'll pray for people and no
intention of actually doing it.
Church needs to be a church of fruit.
Full of love, full of joy.
(54:29):
If there's no joy present, why?
Look what we have.
Like look what we have.
And we don't have joy because ofthe inconvenience of this temporary
earthly life we have to get through.
When you look at it in the big pictureperspective, I've often said, draw
a line from here, that wall to thatwall, and take a tiny little pin,
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make a little pin dot someplace on it.
That's not even an example of how tinyour human life is in the perspective
of what it actually is gonna be.
And we worry endlessly about this life.
Like this is it, but it's not.
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It's not.
We are here to be fruit on thisearth so others will know God.
And if all we're doing is saying wordsand throwing a verse out with nothing
else, are we telling people who he is?
We're not.
You're just saying words.
Oftentimes it's out of the King James too.
(55:37):
And who talks King James around here.
I don't go to Meyer and hear peopletalking in d and thou and wither
forever, thou egoist, whateveris, we don't speak that way.
We just don't.
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We need to be far beyond just using theBible to fix somebody up real quick so we
can move along because it's convenient.
Here you go, pat on the head, there's agood verse for, you gotta read the Bible.
There you go.
I'll pray for you.
But I have no intention of actuallydoing that in a meaningful way.
And in fact, why don't we stopand pray with them right there.
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I had the opportunity todo that unexpectedly at the
hospital Saturday night.
There was a woman next to us whosehusbands had collapsed at a auto
race and it wasn't going well at all.
And they were calling familyin and she was distraught and
her family was a long way out.
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We didn't cross paths by accident.
There.
I needed her and she needed me.
That's what church is.
Those moments are more churchthan we often get sitting in a
building on a Sunday morning.
We need to be people thattake the time then and there.
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If somebody needs prayer, why don'tyou do it with them right there?
Why do you say, I'll prayfor you and walk away.
Why don't you include them whenwe go to God and bring them?
'cause they're often desperate and theydon't know where to turn or what to do.
Be people that aren't just words.
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Be people in action that are serving.
That's what we're called to dobecause that's all Jesus did
his entire life here on Earth.
It was service from day one.
Till the day he died here on earth, always
last reading,
selfless serving.
(57:46):
Are you seeking the spotlight?
Matthew 25.
When he finally arrives blazingin beauty and all his angels with
him, the son of man will takehis place on his glorious throne.
(58:06):
Then all the nations will be arrangedbefore him and he will sort the
people out much as a shepherd.
Sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheepto his right and goats to his left.
Then the king will say to thoseon his right, enter, you who are
blessed by my father, take what'scoming to you in this kingdom.
(58:28):
It's been ready for you since theWorld's Foundation and here's why.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.
I was homeless and you gave me a room.
I was shivering and you gave me clothes.
I was sick and you stopped to visit.
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I was in prison and you came to me,and then those sheep are gonna say,
but master, what are you talking about?
When did we ever see you hungry andfeed you thirsty and give you a drink?
And when did we ever see you sickor in prison and come to you?
The king will say, I'mtelling the solemn truth.
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Whenever you did one of thesethings to someone overlooked
or ignored, that was me.
You did it to me.
Then he will turn to the goats, theone on his left and say, get out.
You are worthless goats.
You're good for nothingbut the fires of hell.
And why?
Because I was hungryand you gave me no meal.
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I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
I was homeless and you gave me no bed.
I was shivering and you gaveme no clothes, sick and in
prison and you never visited.
Then those goats are gonna say, butmaster, what are you talking about?
When did we ever see you hungry orthirsty or homeless or shivering or
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sick or in prison and didn't help?
And he will answer them.
I'm telling the solemn truth.
Whenever you failed to do one ofthese things to someone who is being
overlooked or ignored, that was me.
You failed to do it to me.
(01:00:20):
And those goats will be herded totheir eternal doom, but the sheep
to their eternal reward ward.
Things are gonna be very, very,very real when Jesus comes back.
(01:00:41):
And if you're a believer and believethat that will happen, are you living
your life like it's gonna happen?
And what I mean when I say that,are you living your life in a way
that you want everyone to know this,that you want everyone to be with
you, that you want everyone blessedand with you where you're going?
(01:01:01):
Because if you belong to Jesus,that should be your heart's desire.
In the Bible, James and John,they were disciples and they got
to bickering along with their momwho was all like in it with 'em.
Who's gonna be the greatest?
Who's gonna be the greatest?
Mom is like, I want my sonson the throne with you.
(01:01:23):
Jesus.
Can one be on one sideand one on the other?
Like they're picturing Jesus, you know,walking up the steps to this giant throne
sitting there coupled chairs on eitherside with her two boys right there.
Oh, this is gonna be amazing.
'cause you know, they followedyou and they deserve that.
(01:01:46):
And what did Jesus say?
Those who want to be first and noticedand recognized are going to be last.
It doesn't make a lot of sense in ourworld, especially in our country, because
we are, uh, the big dog gets it right.
(01:02:06):
The one on top is the greatest, theone with the most toys, the most
money, the most accomplished, the most.
We always focus on being the greatest,being recognized, being a star,
being a celebrity, being a, you know.
Look at me, look at me, and livesget consumed with that pursuit.
(01:02:39):
And then there's Jesus,
the literal king of the universe,who with just a word, has
everything at his disposal.
Just a word.
Say it and it's done.
Touch his garment in faithand be healed like bat Jesus.
(01:03:02):
But he walks on the scene humble.
I am here to serve.
I am here to wash feet.
I am here
to pay the price for everything you'vedone ever and everything you will do.
And for this generation andthe next, and the next and
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the next, I'm covering it all.
You never again have to go to a priest.
You never again have to go to the temple.
You never again have tosacrifice an atonement.
I'm the atonement.
How can I serve you?
So he went and found the brokenin the outcast, and he sat with
them where they were at, speakingto them and ministering to them.
(01:03:50):
Jesus also demonstrated anger,
and it makes me realize that so often asChristians are, anger is very backwards.
We're angry at the wrong peoplebecause Jesus' anger was at the
religious leaders who stood inthe way of relationship with him.
He flipped those tables andmade a ruckus in that temple.
(01:04:11):
You know why?
Because they were making it impossiblefor the poor to come to God.
They stood in the way of the poor and theoppressed, and Jesus wasn't having it.
It's why I am so excited to bein a ministry that serves this
community that I'm part of, becausewe are the poor and the broken.
(01:04:33):
We are the one that are oftenkept away because of what we've
done and where we've been.
And Jesus would flip tables forus too, to make sure I'm for them.
That's the Jesus we follow.
That's a true sign of atrue church like that.
And in going with that wholecontrast thing, the newbie know
(01:04:59):
it all in recovery, I'm sober.
This is how it's done.
I'm gonna make sure everybodyknows this is how you do it.
You don't need that.
You do it this way my way.
And then meanwhile, you got people that30 years in 40 years in going, ugh.
Brand new and know it all.
(01:05:20):
Not teachable, but I'm gonnatell all these 24 hours, this
is how it's gonna be done.
It's a dangerous thing to hold yourselfup that way when you're brand new in
something, it's a far better thingto be that old timer who in his
wisdom, is just there to support whenneeded, who shares what it was like
(01:05:45):
for them, who shares openly, this iswhat worked for me, but I'm here to
help you with how it works for you.
That is encouraging.
That's on the phone, that'ssupporting in all things.
Not sitting there telling you how yougotta do it, but how can I support you?
Not afraid to have hard conversationsbecause they care enough, not because
(01:06:08):
they want everybody to look at youlike you got it all figured out.
It's the heart.
What's going on in your heart?
What is your reason for it?
'cause you need to be the big dogbecause you wanna get noticed in group.
Well then you're in groupfor the wrong reason.
We're not in group to get noticed.
We're in group to be healed.
(01:06:30):
We're in group to be community,to support people that need it.
We're not there to fix anybody that hasto be done on their own terms, but we are
there to listen, to support, to share,
and then church.
(01:06:52):
I'm really sad about churchin America right now.
I truly am.
The more my relationship with Jesusis just growing and getting closer,
the more I feel like church corporatein America is just way off the rails.
(01:07:13):
It's become about branding.
It's slick and flashyin a show in technology.
And I'm not saying that's bad,
I'm not,
but I'm saying it often comes atthe expense of true community.
(01:07:33):
Are people known at a mega church?
Are they known?
Does a pastor know you?
Do they know your struggles?
Does anybody,
does anybody know youwere there or not there?
How do you do that when there'shundreds or a thousand people
(01:07:58):
in a space, or does it becomeabout the production in the show?
And I'm just saying these things becauseI can't judge what's at the heart.
And if God brings 'em, that's beautiful.
And if it's a spirit filledplace and people are there
because man, I sure love Jesus.
Give me more.
Or does it become this such a cool place?
That band was great.
(01:08:20):
It was amazing.
Look at this beautiful building.
Oh man, it's fantastic.
Tell me about the message.
Tell me about the community of peopleand how you interact with each other.
Tell me about your presence inthe community outside your doors.
(01:08:40):
Are you there for those outside yourdoors as much as those that walk in
and throw money at you, or are youkind of a bubble or people go a day a
week and then those doors are closeduntil groups of those people come
back and sit with the same peopleweek after week after week after week.
(01:09:09):
I'm not hating on churches rightnow, but what I'm saying is we are.
In huge danger in this country because
following Jesus looks a lotdifferent than what I'm seeing.
(01:09:32):
Following is sacrificial.
And in a communities like ours that areso filled with churches, we shouldn't
have poverty and homelessness and peoplegoing without, because where's the church?
When I was hungry, when I neededclothes, when I was sick, when I
(01:09:58):
was in prison, that was me, not me.
Jesus said that.
Why do we have all this stuffhappening in our country when
we have so many Christians here?
I'm struggling greatly with this.
Every need would be filled if Christiansstepped up like we're supposed to
(01:10:24):
for the messy people.
Right.
I had the awful experience of a churchactually saying to me that they don't
wanna do addiction ministry becausewe're too expensive to the church.
(01:10:46):
Too expensive to thechurch to help people.
It's not about the money.
Right.
God calls you to it.
He provides
so congregations of people in beautifulneighborhoods and beautiful homes and.
(01:11:08):
Plenty of food and a couple carsand great jobs and vacations.
If you have that, you're called to notice.
Those who don't.
That's our calling because likeJesus said, when you help, that's me.
That's being the hands and feet of Jesus.
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That's what church is.
It's active serving.
So the reason I wanted to talk somuch about this this week is because
going back to how I started it,there's been this whole big thing.
Everybody's talking aboutit going back to church.
Everybody's going back to church indroves, and all I sit here thinking
(01:11:52):
is, but are they, or are they justgoing to a building to say words?
Or are they ready for the realnessof it, for the relationship of it?
Do they really want Jesus?
Because if you really want Jesus,it's hard because it flies in the
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face of what society says is a goal.
It's not gonna be about you anymore.
It's not gonna be about your success.
It's not gonna be that your life is gonnaget so easy now because I promise you
it's everything, but it's sacrificing toserve everyone you come in contact with.
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Not just people just like you.
It means being willing toserve people who hate you.
It means forgiving people who hateyou, loving people who hate you.
That's real church.
So my heart really hopes people arecoming back not to church, but to Jesus,
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that it's a heart change andnot just an external thing.
That people are buying Bibles because theywant to know, not because they can pick
and choose weapons to hate people with.
Because I'm gonna say it againand we're gonna close with this.
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If in this revival it becomes thismilitant hate-filled thing, we need
to be prepared to stand against itand say, Uhuh, this isn't Jesus.
And I can tell you it's not received well.
But what did Jesus doand who did he come for?
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The answer to that iseveryone, not a select few.
So I pray that this return toGod is a heart return to God.
I pray for that because Iknow if that was the case.
There's no stopping the ripples of that,and it's gonna be beautiful, but if it's
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not a heartfelt thing, it's gonna be ugly.
And that's what sits so heavy on me.
My challenge is to stand upas true followers of Jesus.
You don't have to returnto a building to do that.
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Just look at your own heart.
What is your reason?
People who have never sat through achurch service and have died are filling
heaven because God is everywhere.
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Sitting in a church building isn't anabsolute requirement for getting there.
So if you use church that way, andI'm not saying don't attend a church
service, I'm not saying that, but don'tuse it wrongly attend because you love
fellow believers who are loving Godand loving others, and you just like
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spending time together talking about it.
And with that, I'm finished.
So for whatever reason, God took awayProverbs until next week, and this
is what he's brought to my mouth.
So I hope that made some sense.
But being a Jesus follower isbeautiful, but it's really, really.
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Hard.
So we'll finish with one last song.
We'll pray and we're going to eat.
Father God, I am so grateful tobe here today, back in this space
(00:06):
that is like my second home.
It is good to be back.
I'm grateful in spite of everything,I am grateful for this past week
for the lessons learned, for theopportunity to serve, but even
more so Father, to be served.
It's been, it has been an awesomeprivilege to be part of this community.
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You've put me in.
Father, we have a lot ofheaviness in this space.
We have people that are sufferingthemselves or enduring hardships of every
different kind, but they also carry withthem people that they love and care about.
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And Father, you knowthis and we pray, father.
We pray for Grandpa George.
Grandpa George has lived a very long life.
Father and I pray for peace in thistime of transition as he prepares to go
home and I pray peace over the family.
I pray for our Gary Kay andcontinued healing that you will.
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God please just help 'em see the wisdomand staying put here with us for a while.
Pray for Dear Mary as she strugglesthrough this addiction with her
children and family around her father.
We know that this affects so manypeople more than just the one going
through it, but we also know whata hard battle that this is, and we
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pray freedom from that for Mary.
I pray that for Steve and for thosejust struggling father to find their
way to the other side of this 'cause.
Boy, this just can grab hold andit's just such difficult thing.
I pray for art that the T cells.
That those will multiply, thatthis will work, that this will be
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a successful procedure and that itwill go better on the other side.
And Father, we wait for answers on that.
Pray.
Peace over Rusty and his father.
Give Rusty senior peace in this time.
Father, you know the plans that you have.
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We pray for Dawn.
We pray for David.
Cancer is just such a heavy thing,and to have two at the same time is
just overwhelming in so many ways.
Pray for Jacob who's just struggling inlife and I pray that there will just be
a clear light shown that the way willjust manifest and show itself and I.
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And, and for Fred mentalillness is a bondage father.
And I pray freedom from that.
There there will be clarity.
He's in a place, father, whereit's hard, but you're in those hard
places and often so fully present.
And I pray that he willfeel that right now.
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Pray for Keith.
We pray for Rick as theytoo are battling cancer.
Father, there's so much cancer in thisfallen and broken world and I pray.
I pray for healing andrestoration in your name.
And we especially, weremember our beloved Dave.
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We pray peace over that situation.
That all will go well withthis tiny baby that's.
That's coming to join this familyfor Dave as he is down there
to help hold down the fort,
And we pray that he can return to ussooner rather than later, but I pray
blessings over him and peace and safetyand wisdom as he is down there and
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return him to us quickly for thosewho have those unspoken requests.
Father, we may not know them, butI know that you do and we entrust
those also, and especially to you.
I have my own and you know what those are,and I'm so thankful to hand those to you.
Be with me today as we givethis word and this message.
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I know for a fact this is all youGod, because you wouldn't let me
go the direction I wanted to go.
So I have handed that to you andI know you show up as always, and
I pray above all things that thisspace is so filled with your spirit.
And not only this space.
Father, I pray especially that thosewithin this space is especially
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filled because we know that it is us.
That is the church.
It's not this building.
Be with us in the re rest of this day.
Pray this food downstairs goes.
Well be with all of us as we just sharesome fellowship and we talk about you.
I'm so grateful for your sonJesus as he is the only reason
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that we are here gathered.
We are so grateful for what he hasprovided through the sacrifice of his
life, and it's in His name that we pray.
Amen.
All righty.
Yeah, we're gonna betalking about sheep today.
I fully had intended to start a proverbseries, and I was so excited to do that.
In fact, I even told you that's whatI was gonna do and how funny of me
(05:18):
because, uh, yeah, that didn't work.
So, um, I sat in the hospital, likeI said, desperately trying, and I'm
trying to force an outline and tryingto force it, this and that, and duh.
And like, I just like, okay, I shutit all down and I just sat in some
stillness and it was as plain as day.
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And I'm like, the more I sat withit, the more I think right now this
is kind of, it's not kind of, Iknow this is an important thing.
I'm hearing nonstop on social media.
In the news, there's thismassive return to church.
People in droves are returning to church.
Bibles are flying off the shelf,people are purchasing Bibles and
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they've never purchased them before.
It's this huge thing.
I'm not gonna go into the whole shootingthing, but it's been, after that there's
been this massive thing and people areproclaiming this is this great revival.
And I sat with this for quite a while andI started watching and looking and paying
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attention to what I'm hearing and seeingaround me because returning to church is a
beautiful and wonderful thing, as long asit's the church that you're returning to
and not just an idea, and not just becauseit's a trend or a cool thing to do.
Or because it begins to soundmilitant and you're ready to just
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take a firm stand and go at it.
So that's what I wanna talkabout today because Jesus
said, my sheep hear my voice.
Not social media voice, not aninfluencer voice, not a preacher
voice, not anything else.
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They hear my voice.
So we're gonna take a dive into this andwe're gonna talk about the sheep that
hear his voice and sheep that perhapsaren't actually sheep because it's far
more than just an action of walking intoa church building and purchasing a Bible.
So that's where we're gonna go today.
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And God, I'm depending on youfor every word 'cause here we go.
So I did write today, all the versesI'm using are gonna be up there.
I'm gonna be doing more readingthan I usually do, and I'm
not apologizing for that.
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And because it's easier for me to read offthis with my old eyes, I'm gonna do that.
So John 15, five through 10,
I am the vine and you are the branches.
And I'll remind her again.
I read from the message version Bible.
So if it looks different than aversion that you may have or is
in the pews, it's just a differentversion so it will sound different.
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So follow along however you want.
I am the vine and you are the branches.
When you're joined with me and I with you,the relation, intimate and organic, the
harvest is sure to be abundant, separated.
You can't produce a thing.
Anyone who separates from me is dead woodgathered up and thrown on the bonfire.
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But if you make yourselves at home withme and my words are at home in you,
you can be sure that whatever you askwill be listened to and acted upon.
This is how my father shows who he is.
When you produce fruit, when youmature as my disciples, I've loved
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you the way my father has loved me.
Make yourselves at home in my love.
If you keep my commands, you'llremain intimately at home in my love.
That's what I've done, kept myfather's commands, and I made
myself at home in his love.
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That was Jesus speaking.
Trying to explain to a bunchof humans what the relationship
is between Father God and us.
How can we have that relationship?
We have to remember at this time wedid not have the spirit yet poured out.
We have a population that wasdependent on priests at a temple to
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sacrifice, to atone, to intercede.
And Jesus is letting peopleknow that's coming to an end.
It's why he was hated.
Religious leaders didn't likehearing that their way of doing
things was on the way out.
Jesus was saying, no longer are yougonna have to go to a place to find me
'cause I will be with you and in you.
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He had to prepare for them for that.
He had to prepare us that were to come.
Also for that relationship that's to come.
It's what changes Religion.
To relationship because that by the rule,the sacrifice need an inter cedar for you.
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That's religion, that's not relationship.
And Jesus came to bring relationship.
So what we're gonna do is we'regonna look at, we're gonna contrast
and compare a bit as we talk aboutthis, starting with the Pharisees.
The Pharisees werethose religious leaders.
They were the church in Israel.
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It was the only place before Jesuswhere you could go, where God
dwelt, he dwelt in the most holy.
In that most holy of holyplaces in the temple.
Only one high priestcould enter that space.
Anybody else entering would die.
That priest carried in with him.
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All the sins of the people becausethey had to come, they had to bring
their offerings, they had to confesstheir sins, they had to somehow make
atonement, sacrifices were made.
And that high priests would go intothat Holy of Holies and act as a
inner theory, inter I, that whateverthat word is, he wouldn't intercede
for us on our behalf, us and God.
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And it was required.
It was absolutely required.
So the Pharisees now were thatruling class, and they got really,
really, really used to that power.
Really used to it.
They called the shots.
They watched for the rule breakers.
They were all holier than that.
I keep all the rules, all thelaws, and if you read in the
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Bible, there were a lot of 'em.
There's books of the Bible, somereally good riveting reading.
You start getting into the nittygritty law, law, law, law, law, law.
But then it's also, thisis how you have to pay.
This is what you have to bring.
There was so much to do in the Pharisees.
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They loved it.
Many of them loved it.
I refuse to believe that everyPharisee became egotistical or
arrogant in their carrying out.
I have to believe there were prieststhat fully, fully brought honor to
their job because it was necessary.
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But I'm talking about thePharisees after Jesus.
The Pharisees after Jesus continued.
To expect that people were gonna bringmoney, sacrifices, come to the temple,
that it was going to continue onbecause they said Jesus was a heretic.
They were the ones thatsaid he needs to die.
They were the onesthrowing money to get this.
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I mean, you know, they'rethe church, right?
No, they were not.
And yet people would look tothem to emulate, this is how
we have to act and behave.
We have to keep rules.
We have to make sureour appearance is right.
Jesus called them out on that over andover and over, and they killed him for it.
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Let's contrast that with Mary ofBethany, not Mary Jesus' mother.
Mary had a sister named Martha, andthey were at a home, people were
there and Jesus was coming, and it wasvery busy, and at that time, a woman
would be preparing the food to serve.
That is what the expected role ofwomen and where she should have been.
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This Mary, Martha Mary's sister, gotincredibly frustrated because she's
like, why do I have to do all this?
Mary's just sitting there on the floor,just doing nothing, not helping me at all.
Very angry.
And some of us were like, well,of course, because now poor
Martha has to do all of it.
But what did Jesus say?
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Jesus said, Mary chose wisely becauseMary recognized who she was hearing.
Mary recognized the importanceof listening and taking the
time to hear God, to hear Jesus.
She is set up as the example,not the one busy in the kitchen
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making all the food and servingbecause that's a beautiful thing.
Serving people through the preparingof food and making sure everybody has
their needs met is a beautiful thing.
But what Jesus pointed out is atpales into comparison to leaning
into God, out of that desire to knowmore, to know me, he was saying,
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this is what church is going tolook like no more than the temple.
It's not through your actions of serving.
You don't have to earn anythingbecause I've paid for it.
Sit and take it in.
Let's move on to, because so many ofus are in recovery, white knuckling.
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Has anybody here ever had to whiteknuckle it through some recovery?
We know what that's like.
That's called I'm sober,but you're not in recovery.
You're just getting through it.
You're just doing the actions, right?
And that's great.
I'm not taking away from that, not usinga substance, not feeding your addiction,
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whatever it may be, because I will neversay addictions or drugs and alcohol
because we all, we all have an addiction,whether you use drugs or alcohol or not.
But white knuckling means we'veliterally just stopped using
what it is that is our addiction.
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We haven't healed, we haven'taddressed the reason why we ever
started in the beginning, butwe're doing all the right things.
Look at me.
I'm showing up for meetings.
I'm getting my slipform, I'm dropping clean.
I'm not using doing what I gotta do,
but are you really?
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Because it shouldn't be about whiteknuckling and saying, that's good
enough because I can tell you.
Well, I was proud of myself inmy white knuckling day because
look at me, I'm not drinking.
This is wonderful.
But what was going on up here?
What was I thinking about?
Do you think I was leaning into God?
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Or do you think I was trying notto want to pick up a bottle because
that's where my brain was, because Ihad this flood of stuff coming at me
that I had to feel without my buffer.
So I was consumed and I was hanging ontightly because I didn't wanna drink
again, and I made it through that phase.
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But let's compare that to whatbeing engaged in recovery is like.
We get to see that here all the time.
It's what happens when you sit and say,I am going to the root of it right there.
And that's often the placewe don't wanna go, right?
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Isn't that usually the placewe don't wanna look at?
Because why were we in ouraddiction to begin with?
Right?
It's not because we werecomfortable sitting with it.
It's because we didn't want to.
We couldn't or we didn't know how.
But I see people in recovery thrivingand joyful, and it's beautiful to see
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because I know the struggles stillgoing on in your life, and it's a mark.
It's a remarkable thing when youhave learned, I use because of this,
and I'm working on that, and I'mworking that in a community of people
who are working on that themselves.
And beautiful things are happenbecause I can be transparent and open
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because white knuckling, we're nottransparent open people in that we
haven't shared what's underneath it all.
We haven't shared the muck ofwhat that addiction grew out of.
We keep that close, right, andwe just try to get through it.
Engaged in recovery.
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We don't hide that becausewe know we don't have to.
In this community of people, we know thatwe're safe, we know that we're supported.
We know that people will not lookat us and say, you can't be here.
You will find that people will lean in.
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Recovery is beautiful because I'm findingthat the community in recovery models so
closely the community that Jesus calls usto, what a beautiful thing that happens.
I don't have to preachhere seven days a week.
I can be up here on Sunday morning andthat's it, and I don't have to preach
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another word because this communitymodels what community should be love
and support and caring through the junk.
We're not here for just the good stuff.
We're actually herefor the not good stuff.
So you can get to the good stuff, right?
It's what you need to get to recovery.
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You have to go to the root.
There is no avoiding it.
There is no avoiding the hardness of that.
There's no getting past the feelingof feeling those things, of looking
at your past and working throughthat and owning every piece of it.
And you don't have to do it with shame.
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You don't have to look backat your life with shame.
In researching and thinking aboutthis, I had this amazing, and it's
so funny, I was like, why don'tthose light bulbs go off way before?
'cause I have had Bible crammed inmy head since I was a wee wee fresh
out of the womb, you could say.
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But.
Jesus did not cover our sin.
So we could sit and look at them andjust feel the weight and the shame.
And we have a wonderful example,even in the Old Testament of
what happens when you look back.
Can anybody think of who I'm Falcon about?
Who looked back?
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Lots wife.
Lot's wife.
She was looking back at her old life, shewas looking back at where she came from.
She was looking back where therest of her family and friends
were knowing they were dying.
She was looking back atwhat she was rescued from.
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And how many of us do that in recovery?
Sometimes I do.
I look at my past and I stillhave those moments of like,
oh, if anybody would find out.
And now I'm like, who cares?
Am I there?
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Is it covered?
Yeah.
So doesn't that make myhere and now just amazing.
It's why testimony and transparentsharing is as important as it is
because people need to understandthat shame is never a part of church.
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You don't have to come hereto gather on a Sunday morning.
I encourage you to go where you feel ledbecause God is not confined to one space.
He is everywhere you are.
But if you go to a space wherepeople are gathered for church
and you are made to feel shamed oryou're made to feel, you can't share
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or speak openly, ask yourself whereis God and where is the spirit?
Because God's family is built forthe hard times and God's family
is not there to shame you, butto remind you, don't look back.
Don't look back there
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ahead.
If God doesn't see it,why are you looking at it?
I have to remind myselfof that all the time.
He said, as far as the east is fromthe West, that's how far it is from me.
I don't see it.
You're beautiful.
You are perfect and you'rebeautiful, and I love you so much.
What are you talking about child?
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You're mine
because the Bible in Psalm says, Godwould give up the entire universe for
you, but he went further than that.
He gave his son because ourhuman minds can see the universe.
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And we can kind of imagine you'rewilling to give all of that up.
Look at that beautiful starry sky.
All of it, God says, is nothingcompared to what I think about you.
It says, and sounds.
I would give that all up for you.
He didn't give that up for us.
He gave up his son, hisvery own son for us.
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So I remind myself and I remindyou, stop looking at your
past as a place to find shame.
Look at your past, asked with joybecause of what God brought you out of.
If we read this Bible, we see somany people who have been brought
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out of horrible situations andwe hold them up as great things.
And we don't allow that same grace for us.
We just sit.
But my past, if people would knowthat's not God in your head, you can
safely say, be gone and I will nothave anything more to do with you.
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Get your chin up.
Lift that head up.
Don't you walk around in shame anymorefor anything that you have done.
And I swear if you saw a film goingof my past, people would probably
fall out of the pews here today.
And you know what?
It's not that I would want that toplay, but guess what wouldn't be here?
My shame wouldn't be because all I wouldsee through my tears is, thank you God.
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He allowed me.
He allowed me and everyone here theprivilege of learning beautiful lessons
through what he carried us through becausehe knew people in your life further
down the road would need you for that.
Why do you think the Bibleis filled with broken, messy
people and not perfect people?
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The only perfect onein the Bible was Jesus.
That was it.
That was it.
Just Jesus King David, man, aftermy own heart was a murdering rapist
and we know how we talk about that.
Oh, kill him.
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And God looked at him and said,this is a man after my own heart.
And that's what he callsus to, to love like that.
So we get down to this bottom oneand it says, compare and contrast
church, which is people shouldnever be legalism and rules.
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I grew up in a denomination that islegalism and rules, and the damage it does
to people's walk with God is horrific.
Answers will be made for that.
That weight is on me always to guardagainst legalism and rule keeping
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as a way to God because it isn't.
You can keep every rule perfect, doeverything right, and if you don't
have love like Jesus, you aren't his.
It's not about legalism and rules.
It's about relationship
us to our father, because afterJesus died for you and for me,
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we no longer need a priest.
We don't need somebodyto be our go-between.
We can simply gopersonally to God ourself.
It is that relationship.
It's knowing the love that he has.
For us, it's knowing that we're sonsand daughters, that anything and
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everything is available to us if we ask.
But remember how you'reasking in relationship?
You don't go to Godwith a list of demands.
Here's my list, God, things are goingreal bad, so fix this, fix this, fix
this, and then it's gonna be great.
And then if things get fixed, we putit in the pocket and we walk on and
do we bring anything to God anymore?
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You know, it's like, you know,we keep God in our pocket to bail
us out of the hard sticky times.
Keep God in your pocket all the timeand make Him first in everything.
I'm not saying be on a streetcorner with your signs.
Don't be screaming at people, butin your everyday comings and goings,
just say, Hey, God, be with me today.
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Help me do the right thing.
Talk to 'em.
Trying to make a decision is like, God, Icould use your help making this decision.
It's as easy as that.
You don't have to sit down in achair and fold your hands or kneel
or be in a room by yourself or beparticularly, I pray everywhere.
I pray in Walmart.
(28:17):
I pray at Meyer.
I pray going down the road.
I pray here.
I'm praying while you're singing.
It's just talking to God.
It doesn't have to be complicated.
It doesn't have to be fancy and formal.
I, one of the worst things somebody didto me is try to teach me how to pray
properly by breaking down the Lord'sprayer and setting up the template.
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And you start this way, andthen you do this, and then you
do this, and then you do that.
And then I found myself justsimply worried that I prayed wrong.
What do you think God felt?
He's my dad and he was heartbroken.
He's like, just talk to me.
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Just talk to me the same way I'mtalking or the same way we converse.
It's the same thing.
It feels funny at first if you're usedto formal, but it's the same thing.
Just talk to 'em.
And guess what?
If you're really angry and mad,you can even come to God that way.
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He often sees me, my God, Ineed you to take this 'cause,
get the traffic out of the way.
Or I'm gonna run everybody over'cause I can't deal with it.
And he's like, I put them infront of you for a reason.
Trust me.
I'm like,
we talk a lot when I'm driving.
Ask my husband, it's not good.
I don't like driving.
So, you know, 'cause I talkto him too while you driving.
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I know, I know.
I'm sure.
I'm so sure.
Yeah.
It's, it's a, it's, it'sa pro, it's a problem.
It is a problem and I have to work onit every time I get behind the wheel.
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I've had to drive back and forth toGrand Rapids every morning and every
night, every single day for a week.
This past week, grand Rapids trafficis worth in downtown Greenville
on an every red light day.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yes.
Sitting at a light and it takesthree or four cycles before you creep
up and creep up, and then you'regetting mad because now you are
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letting more people in this line.
I've been here forever andI'm like, it's not about me.
Everybody else driving a car alsohas some place they wanna be.
Why is my getting someplacemore important than them?
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I hate that conviction, and yet I love it.
So I have been challenging myself.
I'm glad you weren't in the car.
When I first did this,
ready for this
on my drive to the hospital Saturdaymorning, I drove the speed limit and
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never faster, and I never went inthe passing lane to pass somebody.
I had the praise music cranked.
I was talking to God, I'm like,it's gonna take Grand Rapids.
It's like 14 hours away now.
But you know what?
It wasn't In halfway through,I was singing the songs.
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I smiled at somebody at astoplight and I'm like, who is
this driving my car right now?
It was better.
It was just better.
And I use that as anexample of relationship.
God is with you through the bumpy stuff.
And the good stuff.
He's like, just talk to me.
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Just talk to me withoutshame, without guilt.
Just tell him already what youhave to tell him, because remember
we've said before, he's not waitingto find out from you because he
kind of already saw what you did.
Already knows he was right there.
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He's been my, he's been in thecar with me every single time.
He's seen me playing the fool.
He's seen it.
He's heard my language.
I used to be a paramedic andsometimes that language comes out
and I'm like, oh God, I'm so sorry.
Cleaning up again.
I do clean up a lot, but it'sabout that kind of relationship.
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That's what church corporateshould be telling you about.
That's what they should be saying.
That's what your goal is.
Relationship.
Moving on to Philippians.
It has to be about a transformation ofyour heart, not just an external people
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watching you think, oh, look at them.
Going to church now.
So we're gonna read Philippians,
Philippians two.
If you've gotten anything at all outof following Christ, if his love has
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made any difference in your life, ifbeing in a community of the Spirit
means anything to you, if you have aheart, if you care, then do me a favor.
Agree with each other.
Love each other.
Be deep spirited friends.
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Don't push your way to the front.
Don't sweet talk your way to the tap.
Put yourself aside and help others.
Get ahead.
Don't be obsessed withgetting your own AB advantage.
Forget yourself long enoughto lend a helping hand.
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Think of yourselves the wayChrist Jesus thought of himself.
He had equal status with God, butdidn't think so much of himself that
he had to clinging to the advantagesof that status no matter what.
Not at all.
When the time came, he set aside theprivileges of deity and took on the
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status of slave and became human.
There's moments when I just sitand wonder of what he chose to
do for us having become human.
He stayed human.
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It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn't claim special privileges.
Instead, he lived a selfless, obedientlife and then died A selfless,
obedient death, and the worstkind of death at that crucifixion.
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I can't comprehend
what it would be like for Godhimself to confine himself
in a human body like we have.
Every single one of us walks inhere with our aches and pains and
bodily functions and emotions andall this stuff, and that's what God
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put himself into.
Deity confined by nothing canfind confined, not by time.
Not by space, not by anything, puthimself into a human body and not even
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an already grown up adult human body.
Like literally from first separationof cells and that forming before birth
and then being born needing somebodyto change a diaper, teach you how to
crawl, teach you how to sit, teachyou how to walk, learn how to talk.
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Because as fully human, youhave to learn those things.
Little young me used to literallybelieve, well, he must have just like
been born walking and talking andbeing perfect and knowing all this
stuff because I couldn't fathom that.
Cannot fathom that.
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And our human minds will neverbe able to understand this
concept of how can that be.
But the example that sets for us of whathe means by serving we so up and think
like, you expect me to do that for them?
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So step out of yourshoes and step into Gods
before Jesus.
What can find him?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
And if that was you right now, wouldyou willingly say, I'm gonna go
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into that human body and get treatedhorribly and die horribly because I
want things better for everyone else?
That is not something humanly speakingthat we could even fathom doing.
I've had to humble myself before.
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But it doesn't begin to approachthe humbling that Jesus was
willing to do on our behalf.
And it's important that we understandthat and know that because that
tells us how much we're loved.
It helps us in those times whenwe really don't wanna do it the
Jesus way to do it, the Jesus way.
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Because if Jesus was willingto do that and he did that
for me, who am I to refuse?
We have some examples
of what it is like to just dothings surface and what it is
like to have a heart change.
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An Ananias and Sapphira were amarried couple in the New Testament.
This would've been after Jesusdied and they were coming and
they were gonna give money.
To the church, this new church thing,and they were just all about, we're
gonna sell this piece of land andwe're gonna say, we gave all the money,
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but we're gonna keep some of that.
But we're gonna say, this ishow much we got for it and we're
gonna look real good, real good.
They're like, okay.
So husband goes there and he's,you know, with the plane, we sold
a piece of land and we wanna giveit so other people can be helped.
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They were specifically asked morethan once, is this how much you sold?
This is it.
This is how much I sold itfor, and I'm giving it to you.
I'm giving it to you.
There was a problem though.
The Holy Spirit is fully present now.
There's discernment and wisdom andunderstanding and who they were giving to.
(39:31):
Very well knew, but you keptmoney out of this for yourself.
There was nothing wrongwith them doing that.
That's the problem.
They were fully able to keep part ofthat money and give the rest, but they
chose to make themselves more by saying,we sacrificed and we gave it all to you.
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They lied deliberately.
They formulated and made a plan of deceitto give to God, and guess what happened?
Ananias dropped dead on the spot.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Anani is like,what has taken him so long?
(40:16):
Like he should have been back already.
Where is he?
So she's now gotta go and, and that,and she doesn't know he's dead.
Like they had literallyjust carried him out.
Enter her picture, that scene, andthey're like, and she's again, affirms.
Yes.
That was all the money, all of it.
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We sold this land and wewanna give it to the church.
All of it.
Did you really?
Is that real?
Yes.
She joined her husband because shebrought deceit and lies to God, not
open, honest, giving from the heart.
What they were doing wassuperficial and surface so
people would see them as better.
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Like, look how good they are.
They're giving all of thatto us, but they didn't.
They choose and chose to lead withdeceit and a lie, and they paid for
it dearly because she also died.
It was a hard lesson.
Don't bring deceit andlies to God as an offering.
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He wants heart offerings.
Contrast that with Paul.
Paul had been one ofthose religious leaders.
In fact, one of the highest.
Extremely educated in the law.
Pharisee, remember we talked about them.
He came from that religious rulers andhis job was persecuting, imprisoning
(41:48):
and killing new followers of Jesus.
That's what he did, and he did itwith great joy and in fact, he was
on his way to do exactly that whenhe had his experience and he came
fa face to face with the one he waspersecuting with God, with Jesus.
His entire life was changedradically, and he became outspoken
(42:14):
in his zeal and love of Jesus.
Do you think people really believe that?
Do you think the Jesus followersfelt comfortable when Paul
showed up at their house?
I can tell you they did not.
Because they knew what he had done.
Do you think they're believing his wordsand that was what he had to overcome.
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Paul knew he was not gonnabe trusted immediately.
He knew that, but his heart was soconvicted and so changed that he
continued on and on and on and on, andthis Bible is filled with his writings.
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We read about Paul all the time,and so much so that we often
forget how he started, but what aradical example of heart change.
He didn't become superficial and justgo through the motions because that's
what that legalistic law religion becameis just going through the motions now
(43:22):
because that's not how we worship.
Paul got that.
So he abruptly went from, I am alegalistic rule keeping leader that
demands people do the same thing.
To I am a fierce and staunch advocatefor Jesus willing to die for this.
(43:44):
That's a true heart change.
And people were saved because of him.
God picks so specifically those,he calls to carry his word
and often the most unlikely.
And I found that out personallybecause the idea I'd ever sit up
here doing this is like, there'stimes it still leaves me shocked.
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Like me, me with my, oh, becauseof my past and my background.
God, I hear you.
You expect me to use that to speak.
And that's what Paul was called to do.
That's what we're all called to do.
Maybe not up here.
But in your life, in theway, God, God calls you too.
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And then we'll move onto the recovery example.
The dry drunk attitude.
You can be in recovery.
And I dry drunk at like we talked aboutmy driving on the road that that's, that's
dry drunk driving, that's what I'm doing.
Dry drunk driving.
And you get tickets for thattoo because you go too fast.
'cause yeah, we had to pay a big one.
(44:51):
That was a learningexperience, not another one.
Still that one I hadtold you about before.
But that dry drunk attitude, youknow, we can get in recovery and we're
feeling all comfortable so we don'tstay plugged in 'cause I got this.
Now what happens when you getto the, I got this and you kinda
(45:12):
go it alone doing your thing.
Don't you find yourself startingto act in those old behaviors and
reactions and you snap at people.
It can be rude.
Maybe I'm just talking aboutmyself, but that happens to me.
All those things that we work sohard to put aside, to move into
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recovery, to live this life offreedom and joy still shows itself.
The problem is only if you choose to staythere, if you're content with your dry
drunk, because you'll explain it away.
Well, did you see how they treated me?
They had it coming.
Humanly speaking, we get it.
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But remember, our bar that sathere loved me the way I loved
you, and I loved you the way I didbecause that's how God loved me.
So if you're choosing to stay in yourdry drunk because you want to, you
need to have a come to Jesus, you do.
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Because people that have truly cometo Jesus don't eagerly want to stay
in those dry drunk mentalities.
You want that recovery attitude,the one that catches it, the one
that says, I'm not going back there.
Remember the don't look back.
That can include those attitudes too.
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The recovery attitude says, I'm gonna livea life of service because I have learned
how much that heals me and helps me,
and also helps other people.
I'm gonna stay in a communityof like-minded people because
it keeps me moving forward.
Not that we have to hide andonly be with like-minded, but we
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should seek that out regularly.
It's being willing to change theareas of yourself that have to change.
I've had so many people say to me,it's like you are just, you know,
love everybody and this is great.
Well, you're a minister and you knowthat sometimes things are not just,
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you know, there's right and wrong.
And I'm like, I know that.
I never said there wasn't.
What I said is, you must alwayslead with love, even when you have
to have those hard conversations.
I'm not afraid to have hard conversationsanymore because I'm not going at it
in an attitude of hate or anger when Ihave a hard conversation with somebody.
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It's because I love youenough to have those
right there is right and wrong.
But I also,
I also understand it is notmy place to judge anybody that
doesn't know Jesus as if they do.
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If somebody does not know Jesus ordoes not follow Jesus, it is not my
place to judge them like somebody whohas openly professed that they do.
Do you?
Are you understanding the difference inthat we can have grace and mercy and love?
We do not exclude peoplethat are not just like us.
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I will never exclude peoplethat don't think just like me.
I will not one exception.
If you wanna worship the devil inhere, you're not welcome in my space.
'cause I do not.
I pray I am right on outta here, so wewouldn't come in here with you anyways.
But I'm not here to makeyou think just like me.
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If you want to know Jesus, the HolySpirit will show you your path.
You just have to lean into thatand trust him and listen to that.
But that recovery attitude says,I can love everybody that comes
into my space no matter what.
I can forgive everybody no matterwhat, because I recognize that that
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forgiving is releasing me from theweight of what they've done to me.
It's not saying what you did was allright, and I've talked about that before.
I have freely, openly, fully forgiventhe pedophile that destroyed my
life and the church that hid it,and parents that didn't help me.
(49:39):
It's all forgiven.
I literally mean it when I say Ihave no anger towards any of 'em.
I have a great deal of sadness becausemy abuser died with nobody loving
her enough to bring Jesus to her.
They allowed her to live this way,carrying on in this sin and covering
it up and harming dozens of people.
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I, my heart hurts for herbecause nobody loved her enough.
And if you think that was an easy thingfor me to get to, it was the hardest thing
I've ever done in my entire life becausethat's not how I felt for a long time.
I had dried drunk.
I wanted them all to go to hell.
(50:21):
They can all go to hellfor what they've done.
And I have told God howsorry I am for that.
I don't want anybody to go to helland I don't care what they've done
because I want everybody to know God.
And I want everybody to know Jesusbecause the freedom is beautiful.
And in saying that, I'm not saying thereis no consequences for choices in sin.
(50:46):
You can be fully forgiven andredeemed and still need to maybe sit
in prison for the rest of your life.
I am not saying it's a free for all.
Oh, just forgive 'em and move on becausethat is not right and it's not biblical.
And then moving on to thechurch, contrast and compare.
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Is it a, you just say all the right words.
It looks right.
The liturgy is great, the outlines aregreat, the bullet points are perfect.
You say all the right thing.
You've got all your i's dotted and T'scrossed and you've driven the point home.
Your words are great.
(51:32):
And then you walk out and it's like,
life doesn't really match the words.
I, you know, the Sunday words, Sundaymorning words, I call 'em everybody.
Sunday.
Nice.
Everybody Sunday saying the right thing.
Everybody.
Oh, bless you.
I'll pray for you.
Did you.
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How often do we say, oh, I'll prayfor you, and then you walk away
and you don't even think about it.
What that person asked for, and yousaid you would do, is, I'm gonna
talk to my father, God about yoursituation, and ask him for healing or
help or that, and then you just treatit like a, oh, I'm just gonna say
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the words, but I'm not gonna do it.
And that gets easy to dowhen things are familiar.
It's why I have given myself a Sabbathand I'm not sure how long this will last
where I am not making myself memorizeanything in the Bible right now.
I grew up having to memorize over andover and over and over and over vast
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amounts of the Bible from memory,book and verse, recite it on a D.
And then the Heidelberg Catechism.
A lot of that, I can still verbatim wordfor word, recite it, but do you think
I'm thinking about it while I'm doing it?
You know, muscle memory, howyou just can automatically do
(53:03):
something without thinking about it.
Sometimes we can be so comfortable inour Christian walk that it becomes a
bunch of words that we just recite.
Somebody comes up to uswith this awful problem.
Oh, I got a verse for that.
And then you walk away.
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Jesus didn't do that whenthey came to him with leprosy.
Do you think?
He read a verse and sent'em back to the leper camp?
He served them by healing them.
He didn't throw verses at them.
People would use the Bibleto try and trip him up.
He didn't play that game either.
(53:48):
We need to be.
Fruit of the spirit.
People love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness,
self-control, all of those things.
And the only way we can be those thingsis if we're actively serving each other,
not just saying words at each other.
Oh, here, let me find a verse to say.
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And there you go.
Should be better sayingyou'll pray for people and no
intention of actually doing it.
Church needs to be a church of fruit.
Full of love, full of joy.
(54:29):
If there's no joy present, why?
Look what we have.
Like look what we have.
And we don't have joy because ofthe inconvenience of this temporary
earthly life we have to get through.
When you look at it in the big pictureperspective, I've often said, draw
a line from here, that wall to thatwall, and take a tiny little pin,
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make a little pin dot someplace on it.
That's not even an example of how tinyour human life is in the perspective
of what it actually is gonna be.
And we worry endlessly about this life.
Like this is it, but it's not.
(55:16):
It's not.
We are here to be fruit on thisearth so others will know God.
And if all we're doing is saying wordsand throwing a verse out with nothing
else, are we telling people who he is?
We're not.
You're just saying words.
Oftentimes it's out of the King James too.
(55:37):
And who talks King James around here.
I don't go to Meyer and hear peopletalking in d and thou and wither
forever, thou egoist, whateveris, we don't speak that way.
We just don't.
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We need to be far beyond just using theBible to fix somebody up real quick so we
can move along because it's convenient.
Here you go, pat on the head, there's agood verse for, you gotta read the Bible.
There you go.
I'll pray for you.
But I have no intention of actuallydoing that in a meaningful way.
And in fact, why don't we stopand pray with them right there.
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I had the opportunity todo that unexpectedly at the
hospital Saturday night.
There was a woman next to us whosehusbands had collapsed at a auto
race and it wasn't going well at all.
And they were calling familyin and she was distraught and
her family was a long way out.
(56:42):
We didn't cross paths by accident.
There.
I needed her and she needed me.
That's what church is.
Those moments are more churchthan we often get sitting in a
building on a Sunday morning.
We need to be people thattake the time then and there.
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If somebody needs prayer, why don'tyou do it with them right there?
Why do you say, I'll prayfor you and walk away.
Why don't you include them whenwe go to God and bring them?
'cause they're often desperate and theydon't know where to turn or what to do.
Be people that aren't just words.
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Be people in action that are serving.
That's what we're called to dobecause that's all Jesus did
his entire life here on Earth.
It was service from day one.
Till the day he died here on earth, always
last reading,
selfless serving.
(57:46):
Are you seeking the spotlight?
Matthew 25.
When he finally arrives blazingin beauty and all his angels with
him, the son of man will takehis place on his glorious throne.
(58:06):
Then all the nations will be arrangedbefore him and he will sort the
people out much as a shepherd.
Sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheepto his right and goats to his left.
Then the king will say to thoseon his right, enter, you who are
blessed by my father, take what'scoming to you in this kingdom.
(58:28):
It's been ready for you since theWorld's Foundation and here's why.
I was hungry and you fed me.
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.
I was homeless and you gave me a room.
I was shivering and you gave me clothes.
I was sick and you stopped to visit.
(58:49):
I was in prison and you came to me,and then those sheep are gonna say,
but master, what are you talking about?
When did we ever see you hungry andfeed you thirsty and give you a drink?
And when did we ever see you sickor in prison and come to you?
The king will say, I'mtelling the solemn truth.
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Whenever you did one of thesethings to someone overlooked
or ignored, that was me.
You did it to me.
Then he will turn to the goats, theone on his left and say, get out.
You are worthless goats.
You're good for nothingbut the fires of hell.
And why?
Because I was hungryand you gave me no meal.
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I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
I was homeless and you gave me no bed.
I was shivering and you gaveme no clothes, sick and in
prison and you never visited.
Then those goats are gonna say, butmaster, what are you talking about?
When did we ever see you hungry orthirsty or homeless or shivering or
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sick or in prison and didn't help?
And he will answer them.
I'm telling the solemn truth.
Whenever you failed to do one ofthese things to someone who is being
overlooked or ignored, that was me.
You failed to do it to me.
(01:00:20):
And those goats will be herded totheir eternal doom, but the sheep
to their eternal reward ward.
Things are gonna be very, very,very real when Jesus comes back.
(01:00:41):
And if you're a believer and believethat that will happen, are you living
your life like it's gonna happen?
And what I mean when I say that,are you living your life in a way
that you want everyone to know this,that you want everyone to be with
you, that you want everyone blessedand with you where you're going?
(01:01:01):
Because if you belong to Jesus,that should be your heart's desire.
In the Bible, James and John,they were disciples and they got
to bickering along with their momwho was all like in it with 'em.
Who's gonna be the greatest?
Who's gonna be the greatest?
Mom is like, I want my sonson the throne with you.
(01:01:23):
Jesus.
Can one be on one sideand one on the other?
Like they're picturing Jesus, you know,walking up the steps to this giant throne
sitting there coupled chairs on eitherside with her two boys right there.
Oh, this is gonna be amazing.
'cause you know, they followedyou and they deserve that.
(01:01:46):
And what did Jesus say?
Those who want to be first and noticedand recognized are going to be last.
It doesn't make a lot of sense in ourworld, especially in our country, because
we are, uh, the big dog gets it right.
(01:02:06):
The one on top is the greatest, theone with the most toys, the most
money, the most accomplished, the most.
We always focus on being the greatest,being recognized, being a star,
being a celebrity, being a, you know.
Look at me, look at me, and livesget consumed with that pursuit.
(01:02:39):
And then there's Jesus,
the literal king of the universe,who with just a word, has
everything at his disposal.
Just a word.
Say it and it's done.
Touch his garment in faithand be healed like bat Jesus.
(01:03:02):
But he walks on the scene humble.
I am here to serve.
I am here to wash feet.
I am here
to pay the price for everything you'vedone ever and everything you will do.
And for this generation andthe next, and the next and
(01:03:24):
the next, I'm covering it all.
You never again have to go to a priest.
You never again have to go to the temple.
You never again have tosacrifice an atonement.
I'm the atonement.
How can I serve you?
So he went and found the brokenin the outcast, and he sat with
them where they were at, speakingto them and ministering to them.
(01:03:50):
Jesus also demonstrated anger,
and it makes me realize that so often asChristians are, anger is very backwards.
We're angry at the wrong peoplebecause Jesus' anger was at the
religious leaders who stood inthe way of relationship with him.
He flipped those tables andmade a ruckus in that temple.
(01:04:11):
You know why?
Because they were making it impossiblefor the poor to come to God.
They stood in the way of the poor and theoppressed, and Jesus wasn't having it.
It's why I am so excited to bein a ministry that serves this
community that I'm part of, becausewe are the poor and the broken.
(01:04:33):
We are the one that are oftenkept away because of what we've
done and where we've been.
And Jesus would flip tables forus too, to make sure I'm for them.
That's the Jesus we follow.
That's a true sign of atrue church like that.
And in going with that wholecontrast thing, the newbie know
(01:04:59):
it all in recovery, I'm sober.
This is how it's done.
I'm gonna make sure everybodyknows this is how you do it.
You don't need that.
You do it this way my way.
And then meanwhile, you got people that30 years in 40 years in going, ugh.
Brand new and know it all.
(01:05:20):
Not teachable, but I'm gonnatell all these 24 hours, this
is how it's gonna be done.
It's a dangerous thing to hold yourselfup that way when you're brand new in
something, it's a far better thingto be that old timer who in his
wisdom, is just there to support whenneeded, who shares what it was like
(01:05:45):
for them, who shares openly, this iswhat worked for me, but I'm here to
help you with how it works for you.
That is encouraging.
That's on the phone, that'ssupporting in all things.
Not sitting there telling you how yougotta do it, but how can I support you?
Not afraid to have hard conversationsbecause they care enough, not because
(01:06:08):
they want everybody to look at youlike you got it all figured out.
It's the heart.
What's going on in your heart?
What is your reason for it?
'cause you need to be the big dogbecause you wanna get noticed in group.
Well then you're in groupfor the wrong reason.
We're not in group to get noticed.
We're in group to be healed.
(01:06:30):
We're in group to be community,to support people that need it.
We're not there to fix anybody that hasto be done on their own terms, but we are
there to listen, to support, to share,
and then church.
(01:06:52):
I'm really sad about churchin America right now.
I truly am.
The more my relationship with Jesusis just growing and getting closer,
the more I feel like church corporatein America is just way off the rails.
(01:07:13):
It's become about branding.
It's slick and flashyin a show in technology.
And I'm not saying that's bad,
I'm not,
but I'm saying it often comes atthe expense of true community.
(01:07:33):
Are people known at a mega church?
Are they known?
Does a pastor know you?
Do they know your struggles?
Does anybody,
does anybody know youwere there or not there?
How do you do that when there'shundreds or a thousand people
(01:07:58):
in a space, or does it becomeabout the production in the show?
And I'm just saying these things becauseI can't judge what's at the heart.
And if God brings 'em, that's beautiful.
And if it's a spirit filledplace and people are there
because man, I sure love Jesus.
Give me more.
Or does it become this such a cool place?
That band was great.
(01:08:20):
It was amazing.
Look at this beautiful building.
Oh man, it's fantastic.
Tell me about the message.
Tell me about the community of peopleand how you interact with each other.
Tell me about your presence inthe community outside your doors.
(01:08:40):
Are you there for those outside yourdoors as much as those that walk in
and throw money at you, or are youkind of a bubble or people go a day a
week and then those doors are closeduntil groups of those people come
back and sit with the same peopleweek after week after week after week.
(01:09:09):
I'm not hating on churches rightnow, but what I'm saying is we are.
In huge danger in this country because
following Jesus looks a lotdifferent than what I'm seeing.
(01:09:32):
Following is sacrificial.
And in a communities like ours that areso filled with churches, we shouldn't
have poverty and homelessness and peoplegoing without, because where's the church?
When I was hungry, when I neededclothes, when I was sick, when I
(01:09:58):
was in prison, that was me, not me.
Jesus said that.
Why do we have all this stuffhappening in our country when
we have so many Christians here?
I'm struggling greatly with this.
Every need would be filled if Christiansstepped up like we're supposed to
(01:10:24):
for the messy people.
Right.
I had the awful experience of a churchactually saying to me that they don't
wanna do addiction ministry becausewe're too expensive to the church.
(01:10:46):
Too expensive to thechurch to help people.
It's not about the money.
Right.
God calls you to it.
He provides
so congregations of people in beautifulneighborhoods and beautiful homes and.
(01:11:08):
Plenty of food and a couple carsand great jobs and vacations.
If you have that, you're called to notice.
Those who don't.
That's our calling because likeJesus said, when you help, that's me.
That's being the hands and feet of Jesus.
(01:11:30):
That's what church is.
It's active serving.
So the reason I wanted to talk somuch about this this week is because
going back to how I started it,there's been this whole big thing.
Everybody's talking aboutit going back to church.
Everybody's going back to church indroves, and all I sit here thinking
(01:11:52):
is, but are they, or are they justgoing to a building to say words?
Or are they ready for the realnessof it, for the relationship of it?
Do they really want Jesus?
Because if you really want Jesus,it's hard because it flies in the
(01:12:13):
face of what society says is a goal.
It's not gonna be about you anymore.
It's not gonna be about your success.
It's not gonna be that your life is gonnaget so easy now because I promise you
it's everything, but it's sacrificing toserve everyone you come in contact with.
(01:12:37):
Not just people just like you.
It means being willing toserve people who hate you.
It means forgiving people who hateyou, loving people who hate you.
That's real church.
So my heart really hopes people arecoming back not to church, but to Jesus,
(01:12:59):
that it's a heart change andnot just an external thing.
That people are buying Bibles because theywant to know, not because they can pick
and choose weapons to hate people with.
Because I'm gonna say it againand we're gonna close with this.
(01:13:20):
If in this revival it becomes thismilitant hate-filled thing, we need
to be prepared to stand against itand say, Uhuh, this isn't Jesus.
And I can tell you it's not received well.
But what did Jesus doand who did he come for?
(01:13:45):
The answer to that iseveryone, not a select few.
So I pray that this return toGod is a heart return to God.
I pray for that because Iknow if that was the case.
There's no stopping the ripples of that,and it's gonna be beautiful, but if it's
(01:14:09):
not a heartfelt thing, it's gonna be ugly.
And that's what sits so heavy on me.
My challenge is to stand upas true followers of Jesus.
You don't have to returnto a building to do that.
(01:14:32):
Just look at your own heart.
What is your reason?
People who have never sat through achurch service and have died are filling
heaven because God is everywhere.
(01:14:53):
Sitting in a church building isn't anabsolute requirement for getting there.
So if you use church that way, andI'm not saying don't attend a church
service, I'm not saying that, but don'tuse it wrongly attend because you love
fellow believers who are loving Godand loving others, and you just like
(01:15:17):
spending time together talking about it.
And with that, I'm finished.
So for whatever reason, God took awayProverbs until next week, and this
is what he's brought to my mouth.
So I hope that made some sense.
But being a Jesus follower isbeautiful, but it's really, really.
(01:15:41):
Hard.
So we'll finish with one last song.
We'll pray and we're going to eat.
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