WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.259 You know, all my life, as long as I can remember, I've always considered myself to be one of 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:08.199 those people that worries a lot. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:11.160 I've always thought to myself, well, I just am a worrier. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:17.960 But more recently, I've realised that actually there are only two things, just two things 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.679 ever that I worry about. 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:29.440 First thing I worry about is those things that I probably have reason to worry about. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.480 The second is those things that I have no reason to worry about. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.200 Other than those two, I'm absolutely fine, I'm cool. 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:46.899 Whether we consider ourselves innate worriers or not, we all worry from time to time. 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:52.980 And so we shouldn't be surprised that because it's such a fundamental human theme, that it 00:00:52.980 --> 00:00:56.260 appears quite a lot in the teaching of Jesus. 00:00:56.259 --> 00:01:03.099 As does, as we've said already in this series, Jesus' teaching on money. 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:11.120 And so it shouldn't surprise us that we find those two themes united in his teaching. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.599 That is what happens here. 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:21.879 Worry and our relationship with money seem very closely related themes in this passage. 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:25.699 And it's not the only time that we find that. 00:01:26.839 --> 00:01:31.759 Think, for example, of Jesus' teaching, the parable of the sower. 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.659 And he talks of how the kingdom is like a farmer that goes out and sows seed. 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:41.399 And the seed, as he sows it, falls on different types of ground. 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:47.080 Some of it lands in good soil and it takes root and it grows and it flourishes. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.460 But not all seed does. 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:55.540 And he goes on and describes how some fell on stony ground, some fell on the path. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:04.560 One of the things that Jesus said in that parable was that some seed fell among thorns. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:11.099 And he said, the thorns grew up and choked the plants. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:17.500 Now most of the time in Jesus' teaching, he didn't explain his parables. 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:25.199 I think that's what's so intriguing, what's so brilliant about his, one of the many things that's not only about what he said, but how he said it. 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:26.020 What's so engaging. 00:02:26.379 --> 00:02:27.920 Because he didn't go on to explain it. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:33.679 He left it to his listeners, his readers, to think it through and figure it out for ourselves. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:43.719 But this is one of those rare occasions where Jesus actually gives an explanation as to what the parable means. 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:49.240 And as he goes on and talks about the thorns, he says, 00:02:49.639 --> 00:03:00.539 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears God's word, but, and listen to this, 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:12.479 the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:15.840 What a powerful, powerful image. 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:23.020 That Jesus has this image of God's intentions, his purposes for us. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:24.919 He wants us to live life to the full. 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:25.919 He wants us to flourish. 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:29.719 But that growth, that flourishing can be choked. 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:31.520 That's the image he uses. 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:32.520 Choked. 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:32.620 Choked. 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:37.560 By the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:40.860 Worry and wealth in the same sentence. 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:51.680 And so, Jesus goes on to say that if we want to know what this really looks like, what it means in our own individual lives, 00:03:52.220 --> 00:03:53.420 we need to ask this question. 00:03:55.700 --> 00:03:57.740 Or rather reflect on these words. 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:03.080 Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:13.840 Where you experience anxiety or worry, ask yourself that question and it will point you to where your heart really is. 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:22.020 So before we go any further, I just want to pause just for a few moments as we pray and ask God to open up what that means to each of us. 00:04:22.080 --> 00:04:22.600 Let's pray. 00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:31.920 Lord, as we think about your word here, we hear the words of Jesus. 00:04:32.140 --> 00:04:35.140 Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:42.879 Reveal to us, we pray, where our treasure is and where our hearts are. 00:04:50.320 --> 00:04:50.840 Amen. 00:04:50.840 --> 00:04:50.980 Amen. 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:57.920 We're thinking about obstacles to giving. 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:00.460 Thinking about the theme of giving over these few weeks. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:01.620 But what gets in the way? 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:02.800 What stands in the way? 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:03.620 What stops us? 00:05:03.900 --> 00:05:05.500 What thwarts that from happening? 00:05:06.700 --> 00:05:12.840 I want to suggest that in these words of Jesus, we find two sort of very similar things going on. 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:29.500 The first thing is really to do with Jesus talks about how following him basically means swimming upstream against our surrounding culture. 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:33.560 Now there's nothing new about this. 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:35.500 It's always been this way. 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:42.959 But our culture, at least in the West, is inherently materialistic. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:43.959 It is. 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:44.379 It is. 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:53.319 The constant message that we have, not just through advertising, but particularly bolstered by advertising in its many, many varied forms. 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:58.800 The message that we hear continually and that we are surrounded by is that you haven't got enough. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:00.459 You haven't. 00:06:00.459 --> 00:06:08.419 And in fact, enough is presented to us as what normal is. 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:12.580 But we're led to believe that we're not normal. 00:06:13.540 --> 00:06:15.480 And we won't be normal until we've got enough. 00:06:15.580 --> 00:06:16.580 But we haven't got enough. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:17.460 So we're not normal. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:23.280 Normal is always that which you have not yet got. 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:27.319 If you take that away, then the whole capitalist vision collapses. 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:28.400 But don't go there. 00:06:28.660 --> 00:06:29.560 Well, actually, we are going there. 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:30.620 It's exactly where we're going. 00:06:33.800 --> 00:06:37.040 Normal is that which we are not. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:41.720 And if we want to be normal, although it's an illusion, then we have to have more. 00:06:42.200 --> 00:06:43.200 But we will never get there. 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:44.200 And that's how it works. 00:06:44.520 --> 00:06:45.260 That's how it works. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:48.400 That principle of continual perpetual dissatisfaction. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:49.800 That sense of longing. 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.000 That thing that is at the core of our humanity. 00:06:52.580 --> 00:06:57.920 That from the cradle to the grave is there because we are really craving for God. 00:06:58.820 --> 00:07:00.720 And the things that only God can give. 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:03.320 And the things that only God can satisfy us with. 00:07:03.320 --> 00:07:06.560 That instinct won't go away. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.540 And so what we find is God's biggest rival. 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:12.840 That materialist instinct. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:18.379 That thing that tells us if only I have this or that in my life, then I just might be normal. 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:19.439 I might be complete. 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:20.280 I might be whole. 00:07:22.820 --> 00:07:30.360 Following Jesus means swimming upstream against that culture. 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:34.060 And it's not easy because that culture is everywhere. 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:38.199 The reality is we have too much. 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:50.540 And the biggest obstacles to giving is because we have to go against those instincts that are within us and that are around us that tell us that we haven't got enough. 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:57.819 It's about reversing that and actually realizing that we have too much. 00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:04.860 There is a bumper sticker around that simply says, he who dies with the most toys wins. 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:08.199 We might laugh at that. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:13.900 But is that not the basic message that defines our culture? 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:20.300 A writer called Randy Elkhorn who wrote a book called The Treasure Principle that much of this series was actually based on. 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:21.939 I said this following analogy. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.100 I was going to put it in my own words. 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:25.360 But I don't think I can put it as well as he does. 00:08:25.460 --> 00:08:26.660 So I'm just going to read to you. 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:29.920 He says, take a ride with me. 00:08:31.020 --> 00:08:37.519 After a few miles, we turn off the road, pass through a gate and fall in line behind some pickup trucks. 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:48.399 The vehicles ahead are filled with computers, stereo systems, furniture, appliances, fishing gear, toys, you name it. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:55.419 Higher and higher we climb until we reach the parking lot. 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:59.379 There the drivers unload their cargo. 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.360 Curious, you watch a man whist a computer. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:09.240 He staggers to the corner of the lot, then hurls his computer over the edge. 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:13.220 Now you've got to find out what's going on. 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:17.659 You scramble out of the car and you peer over the precipice. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:23.720 At the bottom of the cliff is a giant pit filled with stuff. 00:09:25.319 --> 00:09:26.720 Finally, you understand. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.699 This is a landfill site. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:31.240 A junkyard. 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:35.459 The final resting place for the things in our lives. 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:41.720 Sooner or later, everything we own ends up there. 00:09:43.319 --> 00:09:45.319 Christmas and birthday presents. 00:09:45.699 --> 00:09:47.759 Cars, boats and hot tubs. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:51.039 Clothes, stereos and barbecues. 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:54.539 The treasures that children quarrelled about. 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:56.899 Friendships were lost over. 00:09:57.500 --> 00:09:59.519 Honesty was sacrificed for. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:01.980 And marriages broke up over. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.419 All end up there. 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:16.360 Later on, in the same book, Alcorn goes on to paint another picture. 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:22.679 He says, imagine that you live in, your home is in, say, France. 00:10:23.319 --> 00:10:25.240 But you're visiting the United States. 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:26.439 The countries are irrelevant. 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:27.039 It could be anywhere. 00:10:27.139 --> 00:10:27.959 You're in another country. 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:31.980 The purpose of this illustration, imagine that your home is in France. 00:10:32.060 --> 00:10:33.500 You're visiting the States. 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:39.100 And you're told that you can't take anything, anything back on the flight with you, 00:10:39.160 --> 00:10:40.900 other than the clothes that you're wearing. 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:42.680 Perhaps your passport. 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:47.759 He said, what would you then do? 00:10:48.539 --> 00:10:55.099 By the way, you are allowed to earn money and to send money back onto your account back home. 00:10:55.599 --> 00:10:56.739 But that's all you can do. 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:04.480 Who on earth, in that situation, would decide, therefore, they're going to buy as much stuff 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:09.440 and fill and decorate their hotel room where they're staying with that stuff? 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:16.120 Who would go out and buy loads of antiques and furniture and wall hangings and decor 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:20.820 and just try and fill that hotel room that they know that they're going to leave, 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:22.019 that is not their home? 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:22.919 Who would do that? 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:27.779 Truth is, we do. 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:29.960 If you're honest. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:42.879 Swimming upstream isn't necessarily, though, to do with greed. 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:46.899 And this is where it's far more subtle and more complex. 00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:49.480 And for that reason, I think, more challenging. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:54.060 Because I don't think it's naive to say that. 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:57.039 Actually, probably most of us wouldn't consider ourselves to be particularly greedy. 00:11:57.979 --> 00:12:04.639 And yet, we still find it hard to swim against that cultural stream 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:09.179 and to resist the materialism and that instinct that surrounds us. 00:12:11.659 --> 00:12:15.679 I'd like to suggest that it's not so much, perhaps, necessarily to do with greed, 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.000 but more to do with a sense of worry. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.840 And here we come to those words of Jesus. 00:12:22.019 --> 00:12:25.620 That sense of worry that holds us back from giving. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:34.360 We think to ourselves that if we give, then somehow we're going to compromise the security of our future. 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:42.259 Are we going to be okay if we let go of this and if we give it to God and if we trust in that kind of way? 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.580 That inherent worry. 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:48.080 Are we going to have enough? 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:57.180 And therefore, we resist that openness to giving that God wants for us in order to truly flourish as human beings 00:12:57.180 --> 00:13:00.519 that are daily dependent on him. 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.399 What's the answer to that? 00:13:05.539 --> 00:13:11.179 Well, Jesus gives us a really, really, really helpful answer here. 00:13:12.819 --> 00:13:14.779 He points us to God. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:24.360 In one sentence, one sentence, Jesus starts to pile up the images of who God is and what God is like 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:29.200 and why we can trust him when we're feeling worried about our future 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:31.840 and when that becomes an obstacle to our giving. 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:37.019 Could we, perhaps, Luke 12, 32, which we just had back up on the screen there. 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:37.500 Thank you. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:43.940 In that one sentence, Jesus piles up three images of God. 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:51.000 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:53.340 We've got three images of God there. 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:58.240 Firstly, we've got the reference to the flock of sheep, the shepherd, God our shepherd. 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:02.960 Secondly, God our father and then the reference to the kingdom, God as king. 00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:07.240 Let's just think about those because they're really, really important when it comes to this subject. 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:14.659 First thing, we're to understand that God is like a shepherd. 00:14:16.180 --> 00:14:17.740 Don't be afraid, little flock. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.720 When I was training for ministry in the late 1990s, I can remember that in our postural care studies, 00:14:26.019 --> 00:14:31.379 we were told that we would be really careful when it comes to using language like this 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:36.980 to talk about people as sheep. 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:47.379 Because sheep are kind of stupid creatures and it's not exactly a helpful thing, perhaps, 00:14:47.539 --> 00:14:50.560 to talk about people in that kind of way. 00:14:50.860 --> 00:14:57.820 You know, I won't deny that sheep are stupid. 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:04.740 Before I came here, we were in Mid-Devon for eight years working in a farming community. 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:09.980 The house where we lived was surrounded on all sides by fields full of sheep. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:12.360 So I saw quite a lot of sheep. 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.960 In fact, I'm not sure if it's true that there are more sheep than people in Devon. 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.139 But sometimes it felt like it because all you could see is sheep in all directions. 00:15:20.620 --> 00:15:22.759 And they would behave in the most stupid way. 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:27.259 They would be, suddenly, two of them would suddenly start fighting over something and you couldn't quite work out why. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:29.519 And then they'd forget about that and they'd start fighting with somebody else. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.740 One would bolt off in one direction and all the others would follow. 00:15:32.059 --> 00:15:35.159 And then they'd suddenly stop and then another one would run off and then they would all follow. 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:44.699 I can remember, on more than one occasion, dairy farmers telling me that they would never, ever even consider farming sheep. 00:15:44.819 --> 00:15:48.500 And couldn't understand how anyone could do so because you needed so much patience. 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:50.480 Basically, because they're stupid. 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:59.159 So when it comes to using that image, and let's remember, the word pastor and pastoral are all to do with that image. 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:04.580 When it comes to that, it's perhaps, we can find that quite difficult. 00:16:05.539 --> 00:16:07.159 To think of ourselves as sheep. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:09.080 If they're stupid. 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:11.659 Well, we've got to get over it. 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:13.419 Because we are. 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:16.959 We live in a culture which is stupid. 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:20.819 Where we chase over things that really, frankly, ultimately aren't important. 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:22.000 And yet we think, ah. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:26.279 But Jesus isn't saying this to tell us that we're stupid. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.899 He's telling us to point to God. 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:31.539 Who is like the shepherd. 00:16:32.339 --> 00:16:39.240 A shepherd who, even though the sheep might be stupid, the shepherd knows and understands what their needs are. 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:44.039 The shepherd that would lay his life down to save those sheep. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.820 Even though those sheep haven't a clue what's going on. 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:50.539 They just don't understand what the shepherd can understand. 00:16:51.180 --> 00:16:54.519 The shepherd knows, knows what is best for them. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:56.940 And takes care of them. 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:00.019 If you're worried about your future. 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:02.659 Because it's the unknown. 00:17:03.580 --> 00:17:04.599 It is unknown. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:06.480 But know this. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:11.120 God, according to Jesus, is like the shepherd who knows the future that we don't know. 00:17:11.779 --> 00:17:12.740 And we can trust him. 00:17:15.360 --> 00:17:17.779 For your father has been pleased to give. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.759 Now, depending on our experience, our human experience of fatherhood, that can be a positive. 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:25.640 It may not be a positive experience. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.000 We need to know this. 00:17:27.860 --> 00:17:33.259 Whatever our experience of fatherhood is in this life, Jesus redefines it. 00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:40.160 And says to us that God is like the most loving father you can ever possibly imagine. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:42.059 Why? 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:46.839 Because God, as a loving father, wants the best for you. 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:53.980 A good parent will always, always pursue the best for their child. 00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:56.440 Even though that child may not always understand it. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:04.360 Even though there will be times when what the parent is trying to do will cut against every instinct that the child is going for, is pursuing. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.799 There will be times when the child may even hate that parent because of what they're doing or telling them to do. 00:18:11.340 --> 00:18:15.320 But a decent father won't give up. 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:23.139 Because they know, they know that they only ever want the best for their child that they love unconditionally. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.259 Now, as human beings, we mess that up. 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:28.939 But God doesn't. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:30.639 He doesn't. 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:38.419 God is our father who can be trusted because he knows what the best is for us. 00:18:39.099 --> 00:18:40.539 And will do anything for us. 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:48.039 And last, Jesus says that the father is pleased to give us the kingdom. 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:50.059 He is the king. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:52.220 The kings have authority. 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:56.359 They have power to get things done. 00:18:57.099 --> 00:19:00.159 And they have command over all resources. 00:19:01.159 --> 00:19:02.099 Over all resources. 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:06.539 And so we're invited to see all the resources that we have. 00:19:06.679 --> 00:19:09.299 Not as our own, but those that God entrusts to us. 00:19:09.959 --> 00:19:11.740 One last story and then we're going to pray. 00:19:12.439 --> 00:19:13.740 It's a story that I've shared before. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:14.639 You may remember it. 00:19:14.679 --> 00:19:17.799 But it's a story about a lady who was at an airport catching a flight. 00:19:17.919 --> 00:19:18.639 The flight was late. 00:19:18.980 --> 00:19:20.019 And she was getting hungry. 00:19:20.699 --> 00:19:26.579 She remembered that she had bought with her a little box of those little tiny ring donuts. 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:28.980 It was about 10 or 15 or so in this packet. 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:30.720 She remembered they were in her bag. 00:19:30.819 --> 00:19:32.099 So she scrambled around for them. 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:35.079 And she opened up this packet and she was eating these little donuts. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.160 She put the packet on the seat. 00:19:37.980 --> 00:19:42.539 She was really surprised when she saw a man who sat next to her in the corner of her eye. 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.360 Reached down and take one of these donuts and start to eat it. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.200 She thought, no, just imagine that. 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.039 She carried on eating her way through these donuts. 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:52.599 And then he saw he did it again. 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:53.799 There was no mistaking this time. 00:19:53.860 --> 00:19:55.980 He was just eating away at them. 00:19:55.980 --> 00:20:01.440 And she couldn't believe how a stranger she'd never met before could have the audacity to do this. 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:11.240 So she grabbed up all of the donuts except for one and stuffed them into her mouth and stared at this man fiercely while she eventually managed to eat them. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:14.880 The man was totally nonplussed by this. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:20.120 He took the last remaining donut, broke it in half, gave her half and put the other half in his mouth and winked. 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:21.279 She was furious. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.519 Several hours later, she was boarding her flight. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:26.259 She was on the flight. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:27.039 She was up in the air. 00:20:28.139 --> 00:20:37.460 She opened up her bag and to her horror, she discovered one unopened pack of donuts. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.019 She hadn't been eating hers back at the airport. 00:20:43.019 --> 00:21:13.000 She was on the air. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:42.980 She was on the air. 00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:48.920 Help us to have courage that even though we do not know what lies ahead in the future, you do. 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:51.240 Because you are the loving shepherd. 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:53.480 You are the loving father and you are the loving king. 00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:57.360 Help us to remember that you own all things. 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:06.279 That you are the creator of all things and that there's nothing that we've got or think we've got that isn't there because you've given it to us. 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:13.579 Help us to remember that everything comes from you and that you just appoint us as stewards over those things. 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:18.579 So Lord, may we walk in freedom. 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:21.279 Freedom to trust in you. 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:26.319 And freedom to give knowing that we can always trust in you. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.279 In Jesus' name. 00:22:30.619 --> 00:22:30.939 Amen.