WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.260
 Hey guys, let's try this.

00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:07.020
 Well, I'm glad everybody, I feel like one of the things I forgot last week,

00:00:07.100 --> 00:00:11.939
 we were packed out, but I forgot to say that we were meeting here again this week.

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 And so I was like, oh man, and I hope no one went to Cyberport or one of those other places.

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 So we're meeting here this week, okay, just so if you don't know that.

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 And next week we're at ISF, so the school right by Cyberport.

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 So we won't be here next week, but we're here this week.

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 Okay, so if you're here this week, you're in the right place, okay?

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 You can tell what the sermon's going to be like today, right?

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 Hey, what I want to do is I want to bring all the kiddos down here,

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 so we're going to dismiss the kids, but I want all the kids who are about to go off to class,

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 can you come join me for one minute?

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 And we're just going to pile right around here.

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 Hey, you.

00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:57.060
 Hey, why don't you guys sit down?

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 And I'm going to ask Aaron and I, come on, to come up here and baby Jackson, all the kiddos.

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 And let's scoot aside, let's scoot just right there, yep.

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 Okay, everybody here, almost?

00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:23.340
 Okay, how you guys doing?

00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:25.799
 Toby, how you doing?

00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:26.599
 Good.

00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:27.659
 Good, okay.

00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:30.759
 Okay, I have a hard question for you, a trick question.

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 Can anybody tell me what this is?

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 A baby.

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 A baby.

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 A baby.

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 A baby.

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 You guys, man, you're with it this morning.

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 Okay, so I need your help today.

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 If you're new to Watermark or this is your 10th time but you've never seen a baby dedication,

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 here at Watermark we dedicate babies with the hope and prayer that they would come to know

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 the Lord at a later age and they would make a profession of faith on their own and then

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 enter into the family.

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 And so dedication is a time when we bring the parents up, we ask them a lot of hard questions

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 and then we let you see baby Jackson and we're going to pray for him and we're going to pray

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 for everybody, okay?

00:02:12.020 --> 00:02:13.060
 Can you guys help me do that?

00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:14.000
 Yeah.

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 Yep.

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 Okay, good.

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 Okay, so Aaron and I and grandmother, so thank you Marie for coming all the way from, yeah.

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 Nana.

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 Okay, Nana.

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 Okay, Nana.

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 Everybody has their special names.

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 We have a Nana too.

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 We have a Mimi and a Nana, I think, right?

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 Okay, so Nana, Marie, thanks for coming all the way from Arizona to be a part of this.

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 And so Aaron and I, I'm going to ask you the questions we ask everybody.

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 You are so cute, dude.

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 That brings a child here today, in coming today and bringing baby Jackson, do you, because

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 this is your family, right?

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 This is your church family.

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 And you're going to make me cry.

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 That's good.

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 I love it.

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 In coming today and bringing baby Jackson, do you confess your faith and your belief in

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 Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

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 And is it your desire to raise up Jackson in a home that always knows him, that always

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 points him to Christ, filled with love and grace and God's mercy?

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 You will.

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 Okay.

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 And then I'm going to ask, can I hold on to him?

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 Dude, you are a chunkola.

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 Hey.

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 Hey.

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 Oh.

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 And I'm going to ask you guys, in bringing baby Jackson today, guys, this is your brother,

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 right?

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 This is your brother?

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 Yeah.

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 I'm going to ask all the church family, do you guys covet to take care of baby Jackson,

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 to guard him, to protect him, to pray for him, that when you see him getting in trouble,

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 which happens all the time, I know you guys never get in trouble, but when you see him

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 get him into trouble, would you promise to gently correct him and show him the right

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 way?

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 Will you guys do that?

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 As a church family, will you do that?

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 Say, we do?

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 Okay.

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 So let me pray for us.

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 Father, we just thank you for this day.

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 We thank you for this precious young boy, and we thank you for this precious family, for

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 Aaron and I, and we just pray that your blessings would be upon them.

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 We pray that they would know your presence, they would feel your mercy and your grace daily.

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 We pray for Jackson, Lord, that he would come to know you at an early age, that he would

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 do mighty things for your kingdom.

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 And as we look at Jackson and all these other little kids around here, Lord, we just thank

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 you that you are doing something in our midst, and you're giving us these precious, precious

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 gifts.

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 I'm just mindful of so many kids you're bringing to us, even without their parents.

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 Help the rest of us.

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 Help the singles, and help those without kids, and help those not married, and help those

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 married.

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 Help us all look at these kids as our kids, and help us to be good stewards of them.

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 So Father, we love you, and we pray these things in your son, Jesus' name, amen.

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 Amen.

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 Thank you, guys.

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 Thank you.

00:05:02.280 --> 00:05:02.820
 Thank you.

00:05:03.820 --> 00:05:04.220
 Okay.

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 So Watermark kids, find your teacher with your sign, and you are dismissed.

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 We're going to turn now just to praying for Watermark, for Hong Kong, and for the world.

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 This is our privilege to talk to our Heavenly Father.

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 So as we lead, just please pray along with us.

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 Let's pray.

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 Father, we thank you so much for being our loving Heavenly Father.

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 Father, we thank you so much that because of Jesus, that we as Watermark can be a family.

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 We thank you that you've made us a family, and that we pray that you would help us to

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 live and reflect you as the family that we are.

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 We pray, Lord, for our community groups, that you would help us to have Jesus right at the

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 center of them.

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 We pray that you would teach us how to love one another, how to serve one another, how

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 to encourage one another, how to forgive one another, and how to point each other back

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 to you.

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 We pray that you would amaze us so much by your grace, by the sacrifice that you've paid

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 for us, that we also would be willing to lay down our lives for each other.

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 Father, we pray that we would also be a family that looks outward to those who don't know

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 you, that seeks to love our neighborhoods, that seeks to care for the broken, that seeks

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 to serve the poor and reach out to those from different backgrounds, whether cultural, social,

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 economic, or racial.

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 We pray that we might be a people who speak your good news to them.

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 And Father, we pray that you might become greater in our lives, and we would become

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 less, that we would treasure you more dearly, and that we would delight in you more fully

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 as you lead us on this journey as a church.

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 Thank you so much for all you've done.

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 Thank you for all you are going to do.

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 And we pray this in your wonderful name.

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 Amen.

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 And pray for Hong Kong.

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 Our faithful Father, thank you for your mercy and grace and your love for Hong Kong.

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 We will sing of your love and justice.

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 To you, Lord, we will sing praise.

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 Let the Spirit of the Lord rest on all the saints in Hong Kong, because the Lord has anointed

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 us to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind the brokenhearted, and to proclaim freedom

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 for the captives.

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 We pray for all the saints in Hong Kong to arise and shine, for your light has come, and ask the

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 glory of the Lord to rise upon you.

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 Hong Kong will come to your light, and the government and leaders of Hong Kong to the

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 brightness of your dawn.

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 Father God, we ask for your gift-giveness, for the disobedience, the pride, and the idolatry

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 in Hong Kong.

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 We pray that the Spirit of God hovers over our fragrant harbor, and fill Hong Kong with

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 the presence of your Holy Spirit.

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 Hong Kong, if you obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands, the Lord

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 will set you high above all the nations and all earth.

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 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God.

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 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land, and the young of your

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 livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks.

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 Your basket and your kneading trowel will be blessed.

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 The Lord will grant the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you.

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 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to.

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 The Lord your God will bless you in the land he has given you.

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 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the

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 commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience in him.

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 The Lord will open the heavens and the storehouse of his bounty to send rain on your land in

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 season and to bless all the work of your hands.

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 We ask, Lord, that you pour out your blessings on Hong Kong, and especially on the families

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 of those who died from the Lamb of the Fairy accident.

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 We pray peace and love upon them and help them to grasp how wide and long and high and

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 deep is the love of Christ.

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 We lift them up to you, for you are able to do more than all we ask or imagine.

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 Thank you, Heavenly Father, to you and be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout

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 all generations forever and ever.

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 In Jesus' almighty name we pray.

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 We pray for the world.

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 Father God, we want to lift up all nations around the world.

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 We pray for the elections in the U.S.

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 We pray that whomever you elect to become the next president and that individual would

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 have a Christ-like viewpoint and make godly decisions.

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 Father, we also ask that your hand of mercy be upon the many Christians in the U.S. who

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 are praying for their country, praying for the nations around the world, and for the

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 lost.

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 Father, for China we pray for the political changeover and ask that the Holy Spirit would

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 inspire the new leaders in China.

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 We pray that you would bring up leaders within the government that are followers of Christ

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 and that through these godly leaders you form a morally courageous culture that permeates

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 all areas of society in China.

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 We pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are on the ground laboring for the lost

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 in China.

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 May your presence always be with them.

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 Father, for Europe, even though the situation appears challenging at this time, we believe

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 that through this your mighty hand would touch these individuals who are crying out.

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 And we pray, Lord, that through this time more people would find you.

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 God, we pray for the lost sheep in the Middle East.

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 We pray for our Jewish brothers whom you appointed to be your chosen people.

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 We also pray for our Arab brothers as well.

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 Through conflict and fighting, joy, happiness, we pray that more people in the Middle East

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 would come to know you as their Lord and Savior.

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 Father, even though we don't have time to recite a prayer for every nation around the

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 world, we are thankful for your provision for each country.

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 And we ask that you continue to bring more people around the world into the kingdom of

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 God for your glory.

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 We pray this in your son's name.

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 Amen.

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 The scripture reading today comes from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14.

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 Please follow along in your bulletins.

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 Now large crowds were going along with him.

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 And he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother,

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 wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

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 Whoever does not carry his own cross and comes after me cannot be my disciple.

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 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost

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 to see if he has enough to complete it?

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 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,

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 saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.

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 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider

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 whether he is strong enough with 10,000 men to encounter the one coming against him with 20,000,

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 or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

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 So then, none of you can be my disciples who does not give up all his own possessions.

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 Therefore, salt is good, but even if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

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 It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile.

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 It is thrown out.

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 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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 This is God's word.

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 I'm going to do something that you're not ever supposed to do, right?

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 So I'm going to change the teaching area just because we lost our kiddos.

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 So if you guys are behind me, I'm going to force you to get out of your comfort zone

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 so you can't make faces at me as I'm up here.

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 And we're going to continue on.

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 How are you guys doing?

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 This is better, I think.

00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:57.020
 Hopefully I won't spit on Jason, Emily, or anybody like that.

00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:09.200
 Hey, we are in an incredibly long journey as we're looking at the book of Luke.

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 We are in chapter 14.

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 I've got to be totally honest with you.

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 As I'm doing something else you're not supposed to do is turn your back to the congregation.

00:13:21.140 --> 00:13:22.360
 I've got to be totally honest with you.

00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:27.680
 I think Luke 14 is an incredibly difficult passage.

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 It's one of those passages where you kind of feel like, should I even teach this?

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 Because it's hard, it's difficult, and it's not necessarily fun.

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 When people hear Luke 14, they're like, wow, Luke 15 is going to get fun.

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 We're going to talk about lost things and found things and things like this.

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 So when you get to Luke 14, I think we've been at it now for four weeks.

00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.300
 We've been on this journey for two years.

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 We will probably finish Luke in 2014.

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 When you get to Luke 14, it's just, oh, wow, it's intense.

00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:07.580
 I've been trying to figure out how to present it.

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 When I get up, every time I get up, before I get up, Christina always says to me, smile and have fun.

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 Because she says, okay, relax a little, you're too intense.

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 And sometimes when you get to Luke 14, I think it is a very intense passage of what God is calling us to do.

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 I've been praying about how to present this because I look at our world and I look at Jesus' world.

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 I look at disciples and following Christ today and following Christ in Jesus' time.

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 And I realize that even as I look at my journey, that sometimes as a church, not necessarily this church, but the church,

00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:52.560
 that we tend to sugarcoat certain things as we come to church.

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 We sugarcoat what does it mean to walk with God.

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 We hide things.

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 I wouldn't necessarily say maybe it's false advertising, but maybe it's not false advertising, but it's extra.

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 To give you an example, I think our world is full of things like that, isn't it?

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 Today, I take some medicine, and so I went into the cabinet because I ran out of medicine,

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 so I went to get some new medicine.

00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:20.360
 And in the box, I opened up the medicine.

00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:22.240
 And so I opened up the medicine.

00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.240
 This was the instructions in the box.

00:15:25.220 --> 00:15:30.440
 Okay, so this part right here tells you what the medicine does and how to take it

00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.300
 and what it's made out of.

00:15:32.300 --> 00:15:34.920
 And all the rest is disclaimers.

00:15:36.460 --> 00:15:39.659
 All the rest talk about here are some studies, here are some things,

00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:42.519
 here are some things you might not want to do, here are some things you should do.

00:15:42.899 --> 00:15:46.519
 And it seems like, you know, there's a lot of hidden things here.

00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:50.320
 I mean, when you get that, who actually reads this?

00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:51.800
 Do you read this?

00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:52.259
 I don't.

00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:56.220
 I start thinking, well, maybe I should start reading this because it has all these studies

00:15:56.220 --> 00:15:59.379
 from Harvard and Yale and different demographics and age groups.

00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:05.799
 And it seems like there's all these hidden things, but it's all around us.

00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:11.039
 You know, when you go buy that $99 airplane ticket, and it ends up being $300 U.S. dollars.

00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:13.820
 But online, it's advertised as $89.95.

00:16:14.680 --> 00:16:16.460
 But when you buy it, it's $300.

00:16:16.640 --> 00:16:19.000
 I kind of go, what happened there?

00:16:19.020 --> 00:16:23.460
 And you go get a hotel room, and it's advertised as $44.88.

00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:26.280
 And when you leave, it's like $80.

00:16:26.660 --> 00:16:32.560
 And when I subscribed to my telephone provider, I got the best deal I thought I could get, right?

00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.740
 I got the best deal, and it's like, you'll never pay more.

00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:35.600
 This covers everything.

00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.340
 But every month, my bill is different.

00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:44.460
 And I'm trying to figure out what is going on there, and why is it so different?

00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:46.940
 What's happening in our world?

00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:52.880
 And we get to these stories in this passage that Christ talks about.

00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:56.740
 And he's very clear about what it means to walk with him.

00:16:58.020 --> 00:17:00.240
 I mean, there's no hidden agenda.

00:17:00.400 --> 00:17:01.760
 There's no fine line.

00:17:01.920 --> 00:17:05.779
 There's no things that you've got to learn later on.

00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.580
 In this Luke passage, remember, he just got out of this story.

00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:13.019
 He got out of this dinner with these Pharisees, and the Pharisees tried to set him up,

00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:15.380
 and he basically knew their heart.

00:17:15.380 --> 00:17:17.180
 Luke 14 is all about your heart.

00:17:18.820 --> 00:17:22.020
 I mean, if you want to wonder how your heart's doing, you start reading Luke 14,

00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.780
 and God kind of rips your chest open, and he shows you your heart.

00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:30.340
 And in Luke 14, he's at this meal, and he just goes after these Pharisees.

00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:35.900
 And it always seems like every time that Jesus does that, that his crowd gets bigger.

00:17:37.360 --> 00:17:40.300
 I mean, every time he goes after the authorities, more and more people follow him.

00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:47.139
 And so he gets to his place, and we read in the passage, it says a multitude is this massive number of people

00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:49.740
 who are following Christ, and they want to be with him.

00:17:49.800 --> 00:17:51.640
 They want to get things from him.

00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:54.520
 They want to be an influence with him.

00:17:54.580 --> 00:17:55.380
 They want food.

00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:57.020
 Some of them want to be healed.

00:17:57.340 --> 00:17:58.620
 Some of them want to see miracles.

00:17:59.060 --> 00:18:00.100
 Some of them want power.

00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:01.340
 Some of them want positions.

00:18:01.780 --> 00:18:05.060
 I mean, they're all coming to Christ for different reasons.

00:18:07.540 --> 00:18:08.440
 And I thought about that.

00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:11.320
 You know, I've thought, what if Jesus was beside you right now?

00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.100
 And he turned to you, and he asked you, why are you here today?

00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:26.500
 He turned to you and says, why in your business place do you call yourself a Christian?

00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:36.279
 Is there an expectation in this to get something more than me?

00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:39.799
 Than Jesus.

00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:46.420
 And Jesus is incredibly bold.

00:18:47.320 --> 00:18:50.920
 Because he has these massive, he has like, he has 10,000 people in a way.

00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:53.299
 He has automatic church following him.

00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.900
 But he knows people's hearts, and he doesn't want us to get lost.

00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:00.400
 He doesn't want us to make the wrong choices.

00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:01.539
 He doesn't want to do these things.

00:19:01.840 --> 00:19:06.000
 And so he does something that no one could ever accuse Christ of false advertising.

00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:10.819
 You can never say in the Bible, well, Jesus didn't say that.

00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.039
 Or, you know, you might say, my church didn't say that.

00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.339
 And that is something that keeps me up late at night.

00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.180
 I worry about what people hear when they come away from this, and what do they think?

00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:26.019
 And will someone say, well, I never heard that the gospel was the only way?

00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:31.960
 But Jesus in his passages, he's very clear, and this passage is incredibly difficult.

00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:37.379
 You know that because at the end of it, he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:39.420
 That's a Hebrew idiom.

00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:44.839
 Whenever you hear that, it means the passage you just heard is incredibly difficult.

00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:48.379
 It means it's not at face value.

00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:52.059
 It means there's something else going on there, and you need to be careful.

00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:59.679
 I've grown up my whole life, after I became a Christian, involved in communities and churches.

00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:06.980
 And really early, I had this thought in my mind that there's super Christians, and then there's normal Christians.

00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:10.220
 And I've been watching those.

00:20:10.259 --> 00:20:11.759
 I watched the super Christians, right?

00:20:12.399 --> 00:20:13.799
 Because I was just a normal Christian.

00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:18.559
 And the super Christians are the people, they come to church every Sunday.

00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:21.000
 They do all the right things.

00:20:21.059 --> 00:20:21.899
 They study the Bible.

00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:22.940
 They serve.

00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:23.960
 They pray.

00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:25.359
 They take the 2-7 classes.

00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:26.599
 They take the Crusade classes.

00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:28.259
 They take the BSF classes.

00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:30.000
 They tithe their money.

00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:31.299
 They're the super Christians.

00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:34.299
 And then they're just people like me.

00:20:34.379 --> 00:20:35.259
 I'm a normal Christian.

00:20:36.639 --> 00:20:39.379
 And I just come whenever it's convenient.

00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:43.660
 Or I come whenever I didn't stay out too late Saturday night.

00:20:44.600 --> 00:20:46.840
 Or whenever it was easy, and I always prayed.

00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:48.860
 But I usually prayed when I needed something.

00:20:50.220 --> 00:20:57.900
 But in this passage, Jesus talks about discipleship, and he's basically saying there's not different levels of being a disciple of Christ.

00:20:59.580 --> 00:21:03.960
 He's saying to all of us that there's only one type of Christian.

00:21:04.060 --> 00:21:05.980
 There's only one type of follower.

00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:10.039
 There's not super Christians and Christians.

00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:15.380
 There's not those who know the secret handshakes and know the secret books and know all the secret things.

00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:16.519
 And there's not those who don't.

00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.180
 And I worry sometimes as a church because we go on this journey.

00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:24.539
 And sometimes I get these messages from people like, I want to go into this class because I want to learn more.

00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:25.299
 I want to study more.

00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:26.279
 I want to get deeper.

00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:29.579
 I want to learn the things that I don't know, the secret things, the hidden things.

00:21:29.579 --> 00:21:37.240
 And I need to tell you that as a staff person, as elders, we don't sit back and go, okay, now this is the really good, good stuff.

00:21:37.439 --> 00:21:38.500
 This is the really hard stuff.

00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:44.139
 We don't want to tell this to people until they get to this age because if we tell them and they're too young, it will freak them out.

00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:45.639
 And they'll leave.

00:21:46.879 --> 00:21:48.919
 But there's nothing like that in Christianity.

00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:53.560
 Christianity, I was talking to a guy who's following and he's in a cult.

00:21:54.300 --> 00:21:59.580
 And he came to us and he started asking about Christianity and why is it different than what he believes.

00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:05.400
 And so as I started to talk to him, I started to say some things that were secrets within his following.

00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:08.519
 And he looked at me and goes, how do you know that?

00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:14.259
 Like, well, I have a friend who used to be in that kind of church and they left.

00:22:14.560 --> 00:22:16.480
 And he goes, wow, they're not supposed to say those things.

00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:20.099
 And we talk a little while longer and I say something a little more secret.

00:22:20.200 --> 00:22:22.420
 He goes, how do you know that?

00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:24.380
 That's a secret.

00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:25.539
 You're not supposed to know that.

00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:30.120
 I said, well, I have a friend and he's got out of it and he's in a Christian church now and he told me all these things.

00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:33.259
 But what Jesus is saying here is that there aren't any secrets.

00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:37.120
 That this is what it means to follow the Lord.

00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:39.400
 I mean, he just lays it straight out.

00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:46.460
 And what I want to look at this passage really briefly because we got to fly is that there, I want to see in this passage, Luke 14, 25 through 34,

00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:48.660
 there's two things that we're going to learn.

00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:51.759
 I think you're going to be locked.

00:22:51.860 --> 00:22:52.420
 Okay, you got it.

00:22:54.519 --> 00:22:56.140
 There's two things that we're going to learn.

00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.519
 We're going to learn these things about discipleship.

00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:02.220
 We're going to learn the demands of discipleship and we're going to learn the decisions of discipleship.

00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:07.200
 The demands of discipleship are found in verses 26 and 27 and verses 33.

00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:12.660
 And then we're going to look really briefly at the decisions of discipleship and see what we have to learn from that.

00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:19.100
 So if you take out your bulletin and you look at verses 25, 26, and 27, and we can read that.

00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.039
 And I think I can even read it without my glasses here.

00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.960
 Now, the large crowds are going along with him and he turned to them and he said,

00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:33.000
 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, and child, and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own wife, he cannot be my disciples.

00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:37.420
 Now, the word disciple there just means follower.

00:23:37.579 --> 00:23:38.500
 It's not super Christian.

00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:39.460
 It's not a special Christian.

00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:40.700
 It's a follower of Christ.

00:23:41.539 --> 00:23:44.819
 And so Jesus lays out this demand for us as Christians.

00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:50.079
 And when, I don't know how you feel when you heard this, but when Jesus said this in his culture,

00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:53.680
 everybody would have been very, very, very upset.

00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:58.720
 They would have been very upset because a family was everything.

00:23:59.339 --> 00:24:02.700
 And to say you hate your family was, man, that's really hard.

00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.900
 Now, in Hebrew and in the Bible, did Jesus mean hate your family?

00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.680
 In Hebrew, in Scripture, and in Greek, there's two words for hate.

00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.160
 The first word is just you hate.

00:24:16.039 --> 00:24:17.299
 Like, I hate cats.

00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:20.920
 Well, I'm not, I'm just, that's an example, okay?

00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:26.099
 Don't, all you cat lovers, I have had cats and I do love cats, okay?

00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:29.539
 But, so you can say I hate cats.

00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:37.599
 But you can also say I hate cats when I compare my love for dogs for my love for cats.

00:24:38.180 --> 00:24:42.399
 That my love for dogs are so much greater than my love for cats that if you were to look at me,

00:24:42.460 --> 00:24:44.180
 you would say that guy really hates cats.

00:24:45.019 --> 00:24:46.200
 But I don't hate cats.

00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:48.319
 I love cats.

00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.619
 But I just love dogs a lot more.

00:24:51.379 --> 00:24:56.319
 And so when Jesus talks about this, he's sharing these thoughts and these ideas about family.

00:24:56.399 --> 00:24:58.379
 And these, these, these ideas are all through the Bible.

00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:00.759
 We get to the story of Jacob.

00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.139
 And Jacob is working seven years to get a wife.

00:25:03.140 --> 00:25:06.900
 And when it's come time to get the wife from the father, the father tricks him and he gives him Leah.

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.900
 Now, Leah, we're told is weak, has weak eyes.

00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.160
 In Hebrew, it actually means she's not very attractive.

00:25:15.460 --> 00:25:20.380
 But, but, but Jacob marries her and he works another seven years for Rachel.

00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:26.740
 And so we're told in this passage that Jacob looks at them and he loves both of them,

00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:30.059
 but he, he loves Rachel and he hates Leah.

00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:35.720
 And what we're told there is when you compare Jacob's love for Rachel,

00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:39.120
 it's, it's so much more than his love for Leah.

00:25:40.339 --> 00:25:45.559
 And Jesus says to you and me as followers of Christ, as followers of him,

00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:48.039
 that that's how our love should be for everybody else.

00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.839
 That's how our love should be when we compare our love for God,

00:25:53.380 --> 00:25:56.599
 for our love for our family and our friends and our family.

00:25:56.740 --> 00:26:00.120
 In the church, that our love for God should be so huge, so massive.

00:26:01.859 --> 00:26:06.720
 That everybody to look at will say, wow, he, they really hate, hate those other things.

00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:10.859
 My friend, Francie, when I was in high school, she was Jewish.

00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:13.160
 And she came to know the Lord.

00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:18.099
 And we're in youth group and she said, I really feel like I need to get baptized in obedience to God.

00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:20.700
 Will you pray for me?

00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:23.920
 And so our whole youth group prayed for her for a long time

00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:26.640
 because her father was a well-known businessman in Montgomery.

00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:29.940
 And so it came down to the time where she went to share with him

00:26:29.940 --> 00:26:31.360
 because she was going to be baptized that Sunday.

00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:36.019
 And she went to her daddy and she said, Daddy, I'm going to get baptized

00:26:36.019 --> 00:26:37.840
 because I'll become a Christian.

00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:43.079
 And the dad's response immediately was, what have I done?

00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:48.379
 How can you hate your mother and me so much?

00:26:49.059 --> 00:26:50.119
 How can you do that?

00:26:50.159 --> 00:26:51.899
 How can you just despise us so much?

00:26:52.879 --> 00:26:54.859
 And Francie goes, I don't despise you.

00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:56.599
 I love you.

00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:59.639
 But I love Jesus more.

00:27:01.379 --> 00:27:03.480
 And so she went ahead and she got baptized.

00:27:03.619 --> 00:27:06.599
 And that Sunday afternoon when she came home, she walked in the front door

00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:10.139
 and the pictures of the kids were on the table and her picture was face down.

00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:15.559
 Which meant that her father, in his eyes, that she was dead.

00:27:18.439 --> 00:27:19.779
 That she no longer existed.

00:27:19.779 --> 00:27:26.720
 And for as long as I remember when I walk into their house, her picture is face down.

00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:34.759
 And Jesus says, your love for me should be so great, so intense, so massive

00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:37.799
 that it pales your love for everybody else.

00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:42.779
 Again, when they heard this, they would have been freaking out.

00:27:43.779 --> 00:27:46.139
 Because a family was responsible for your status.

00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:48.740
 A family was responsible for your security.

00:27:48.740 --> 00:27:50.680
 You know, you didn't really worry about your money.

00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:53.099
 You worried more about your family in Jewish days.

00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:55.380
 Because through your family, you had security.

00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:57.519
 Your family was responsible for your salvation.

00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:00.180
 You were a child of Abraham.

00:28:00.539 --> 00:28:02.620
 Through your family, you became saved.

00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:04.880
 It was everything.

00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.759
 And Jesus looks at them and he looks at us and he says,

00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:10.960
 hey, you cannot depend on your family.

00:28:12.019 --> 00:28:13.779
 You can't depend on them for your status.

00:28:14.059 --> 00:28:15.460
 You can't depend on them for your security.

00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:17.259
 You can't depend on them for your salvation.

00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.500
 You have to depend on me totally.

00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:21.220
 That is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:22.779
 That's what it means to be a follower of Christ.

00:28:23.220 --> 00:28:29.920
 You have to love me and your love for me in comparison to everybody else has to look like hate.

00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:37.279
 A disciple, a Christian, is one who follows Christ and is totally dependent upon him.

00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:40.980
 So the question for us today is what are we dependent on?

00:28:44.299 --> 00:28:45.099
 Be honest.

00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:48.740
 What are you depending on in your life?

00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:53.940
 What is there in your life that if it was taken away that your life would fall apart?

00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:55.740
 Is it your reputation?

00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:57.059
 Is it your job?

00:28:57.119 --> 00:28:57.720
 Is it your family?

00:28:58.119 --> 00:28:58.899
 Is it your health?

00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:01.559
 Is it your kiddos?

00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:04.759
 What is it that if it was taken away that you would crumble?

00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:12.819
 And if it's not God, then we need to recheck our hearts, Jesus says.

00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:15.359
 Does that make sense?

00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.099
 So a question would be like this.

00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:21.579
 What does it look like for me to love Jesus more than my parents?

00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:27.599
 What does it look like for me to love Jesus more than my family?

00:29:29.059 --> 00:29:31.419
 What does it look like for me to love Jesus more than my job?

00:29:31.899 --> 00:29:34.199
 What does it look like for me to love Jesus more than my stuff?

00:29:35.379 --> 00:29:39.759
 What does it look like for me to love Jesus more than everything else?

00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.480
 I don't know how you answered that.

00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:48.240
 But this passage beckons us, it begs us,

00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.660
 it tells us that as Christ's followers,

00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:52.880
 we have to answer that.

00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:57.940
 He who has ears, let him hear.

00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:01.360
 And the demands for following Christ are huge.

00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:03.420
 The demands are you have to love God

00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:04.839
 more than everything else.

00:30:06.860 --> 00:30:08.500
 In verse 27, he gives another demand,

00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:11.019
 and this demand is incredibly hard.

00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:12.799
 When everybody in Jesus' congregation

00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.039
 following him, it says about 20,000 people

00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:16.799
 were following him, when they heard him say

00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.019
 that you have to pick up your cross and carry it,

00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:20.079
 everybody would have went,

00:30:20.919 --> 00:30:24.099
 because the cross was terrible.

00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:27.879
 No one wanted to see the cross.

00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:30.419
 The cross was a death sentence.

00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:32.559
 The cross, if you carried the cross,

00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:34.139
 there was only one outcome.

00:30:34.419 --> 00:30:35.819
 The minute you picked up that beam,

00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:38.379
 you were stripped naked, and you were walked

00:30:38.379 --> 00:30:40.139
 through your city or village,

00:30:40.299 --> 00:30:41.779
 and you were totally humiliated.

00:30:41.779 --> 00:30:44.139
 And carrying that cross meant that you were

00:30:44.139 --> 00:30:46.160
 under judgment, you were under submission

00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:48.539
 to the authority, and that there was only one outcome

00:30:48.539 --> 00:30:49.879
 that was going to happen with that cross.

00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.920
 No one picked up the cross, and as they're walking

00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:55.639
 to Calvary, you say, oh, this is uncomfortable.

00:30:55.779 --> 00:30:56.379
 I can't do this.

00:30:56.420 --> 00:30:57.920
 Sorry, I'll see you later.

00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:02.460
 And Jesus says for us as followers of him

00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:04.279
 that when we come to him,

00:31:04.420 --> 00:31:07.480
 we need to pick up the cross and follow him.

00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:11.839
 Everybody would have been freaking out.

00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:15.240
 And what Jesus is saying to them,

00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:17.019
 and what he's saying to us is that you need

00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:19.799
 to understand, and you need to identify with me

00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:21.839
 and who I am, and you need to realize

00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:23.980
 that I've taken the cross for you,

00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.700
 that I've died on Calvary for you,

00:31:27.799 --> 00:31:29.240
 and that you need to walk with me.

00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:32.460
 You realize that your acceptance is based on Jesus

00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:33.519
 and nothing else.

00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:36.680
 You realize that because of what Jesus has done,

00:31:36.879 --> 00:31:38.019
 you have nothing to prove.

00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:39.720
 You realize that what Jesus has done,

00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:41.759
 that you have nothing to lose.

00:31:42.700 --> 00:31:45.500
 To take up the cross meant to totally identify

00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:48.220
 with Jesus and his death and resurrection.

00:31:49.220 --> 00:31:51.720
 So when we do baptisms, we see buried in Christ's death,

00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:53.619
 resurrected in Christ's life.

00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:55.139
 It's his total symbolism.

00:31:55.460 --> 00:31:57.240
 It's his idea of identifying with Christ

00:31:57.240 --> 00:31:58.160
 in everything we do.

00:31:59.639 --> 00:32:01.339
 So again, Jesus gives us this demand.

00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:02.099
 We're following him.

00:32:03.879 --> 00:32:05.240
 So what does it look like for you

00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:09.200
 to take up your cross at your work tomorrow?

00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:15.960
 He who has ears, let him hear.

00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:20.379
 What does it look like for you to identify with Christ

00:32:20.379 --> 00:32:22.339
 and to take up your cross and to love Jesus more

00:32:22.339 --> 00:32:24.440
 when you go to your next family reunion?

00:32:27.379 --> 00:32:29.639
 Then everybody's mocking you because you're a Christian.

00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:35.380
 What does it look like to take up the cross,

00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:36.900
 to follow Christ, to love him more

00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.580
 when you go to the ceremony and you're sweeping the tombs?

00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:44.160
 What has Christ called you to do?

00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:48.460
 How are you to love him more when that happens?

00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:50.120
 What does it look like to love Christ,

00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:52.340
 to take up the cross when you went into your office

00:32:52.340 --> 00:32:53.920
 and your boss is a total jerk?

00:32:53.920 --> 00:33:01.420
 What does it look like to love God more than your job?

00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:03.100
 And what does it look like to take up that cross

00:33:03.100 --> 00:33:05.220
 and to hold it in front of your boss

00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:08.539
 and to identify so completely with Jesus

00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:09.620
 and everything that he's done?

00:33:09.820 --> 00:33:11.220
 What does that look like for us?

00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:16.220
 I don't know what it looks like for you.

00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:17.660
 I don't know what it might look like.

00:33:17.860 --> 00:33:19.680
 What does it look like when you walk into your marriage

00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:21.220
 and you...

00:33:21.220 --> 00:33:23.299
 I think the kids are gone.

00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.880
 You haven't had sex like in two years

00:33:25.880 --> 00:33:27.200
 because your wife hates you

00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:29.440
 and you've been treating her like crap.

00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:31.720
 And so every time you think,

00:33:31.819 --> 00:33:33.640
 well, let's spend some time together,

00:33:33.700 --> 00:33:34.660
 she's like, no way.

00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:37.600
 There's no way I'm going to do it.

00:33:37.600 --> 00:33:38.480
 You don't deserve that.

00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:42.240
 What does it look like as a man when you do that?

00:33:42.279 --> 00:33:43.220
 Or what does it look like as a woman

00:33:43.220 --> 00:33:43.960
 when you're looking like

00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:45.339
 and your husband's been treating you like crap

00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:48.180
 for two years and he wants to...

00:33:48.180 --> 00:33:49.480
 In my family, we say, get busy.

00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:50.740
 He wants to get busy with you.

00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:53.140
 We'll erase it from the tape.

00:33:53.860 --> 00:33:55.200
 And you're like,

00:33:55.259 --> 00:33:57.099
 there's just no way I want to do that.

00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.180
 There's just no way I want to give myself to that person.

00:34:00.339 --> 00:34:02.380
 There's just no way I want to love that person.

00:34:02.460 --> 00:34:03.759
 There's no way I want to care for my husband

00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.400
 because he's been treating me terribly.

00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:06.900
 What does it look like to do that?

00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:11.079
 Because in all those settings,

00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:14.340
 Jesus says that we have a responsibility to him.

00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:17.539
 And the responsibility is to walk with him,

00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:18.079
 to love him,

00:34:18.240 --> 00:34:19.380
 and to point people to him

00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:22.000
 and to realize that he's in control of all those things.

00:34:23.619 --> 00:34:24.679
 So we have the demands.

00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:26.380
 The demands are to love your neighbor

00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:28.280
 and love everything else less than you love.

00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:29.840
 Love God, love God for everything.

00:34:30.179 --> 00:34:31.119
 The second one is demand,

00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.519
 is to pick up your cross and carry it.

00:34:32.820 --> 00:34:33.639
 And then the passage says

00:34:33.639 --> 00:34:35.260
 that we have a couple decisions we have to make.

00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:36.440
 A couple decisions.

00:34:36.580 --> 00:34:37.540
 And you see that in there.

00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:39.660
 He gives these two stories.

00:34:40.080 --> 00:34:42.300
 The first story is of a guy who's building this tower.

00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:45.600
 Now everybody would have caught on to this.

00:34:45.660 --> 00:34:47.040
 Everybody would have understood what he was saying

00:34:47.040 --> 00:34:48.540
 because they're being built everywhere.

00:34:49.180 --> 00:34:50.780
 The second story was of this king

00:34:50.780 --> 00:34:51.680
 who's about to go to war.

00:34:52.100 --> 00:34:55.320
 And all of these stories have layers upon layers

00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:56.420
 of meaning and understanding

00:34:56.420 --> 00:34:57.780
 to everybody in Jesus' audience.

00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:01.260
 Two years before Jesus shared this,

00:35:01.520 --> 00:35:03.080
 this huge coliseum collapsed

00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:04.699
 and over 50,000 people were killed.

00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:07.860
 That year that Jesus shares this,

00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:09.920
 King Herod went to war with a king

00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:10.639
 that he should have beat,

00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:11.739
 but he got destroyed

00:35:11.739 --> 00:35:12.980
 and made a laughing stock

00:35:12.980 --> 00:35:14.119
 and a mocking stock of everybody

00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:15.199
 around the Middle East.

00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:17.599
 And so the minute Jesus shared this,

00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:19.319
 everybody would have connected with this

00:35:19.319 --> 00:35:20.539
 and understood what was going on.

00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:22.159
 And what you see about these stories is

00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:23.239
 within these stories,

00:35:23.400 --> 00:35:24.679
 these guys had decisions.

00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:26.139
 They had decisions.

00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:27.920
 They were free to choose or not to choose.

00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:29.319
 They needed to count the cost.

00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:30.279
 They needed to understand

00:35:30.279 --> 00:35:30.940
 what they were going to do.

00:35:31.019 --> 00:35:32.319
 Did they have the resources to do that?

00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:33.740
 That they needed to spend

00:35:33.740 --> 00:35:35.740
 careful time reflecting.

00:35:36.660 --> 00:35:38.160
 Is this is what God wants me to do?

00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:39.220
 They needed to understand

00:35:39.220 --> 00:35:40.460
 that if they didn't do it,

00:35:40.740 --> 00:35:42.420
 if they started it and they stopped,

00:35:43.780 --> 00:35:45.660
 that they would look really bad

00:35:45.660 --> 00:35:46.680
 and be ridiculed.

00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:50.400
 And the master's name would be shamed.

00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:53.140
 And Jesus is warning them,

00:35:53.220 --> 00:35:54.980
 he's warning us as we look at this process,

00:35:55.059 --> 00:35:56.059
 as we make these decisions,

00:35:56.720 --> 00:35:57.800
 as we walk with him,

00:35:57.900 --> 00:36:00.400
 that counting the cost is everything.

00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:04.300
 We're not going to ever do this,

00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:05.760
 hey, if you want to know Christ,

00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:06.780
 come on, now's the time,

00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:07.220
 come on down.

00:36:07.460 --> 00:36:08.920
 Because sometimes people just get caught up

00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:09.960
 in emotions and they just,

00:36:10.200 --> 00:36:11.220
 they go with their emotions.

00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:13.280
 But we want you to understand as a church

00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:15.400
 that it's a massive choice

00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:17.220
 and responsibility that you're making.

00:36:18.720 --> 00:36:20.480
 But it will affect everything that you do

00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:21.660
 as you follow God.

00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:23.139
 And we're called to do that

00:36:23.139 --> 00:36:24.740
 and realize that as we choose him,

00:36:24.780 --> 00:36:25.740
 it's going to affect everything.

00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:26.740
 It's going to affect our family,

00:36:26.739 --> 00:36:28.379
 our job, our security,

00:36:28.819 --> 00:36:30.339
 our egos, our new homes,

00:36:30.479 --> 00:36:31.339
 all of these things.

00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:33.419
 And if there's anything in front of us

00:36:33.419 --> 00:36:35.039
 that says, I can't do that.

00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:37.479
 Because if I did this,

00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:40.339
 my family would disown me.

00:36:41.759 --> 00:36:42.959
 Then what the passage says

00:36:42.959 --> 00:36:44.659
 is that you're a disciple of your family.

00:36:47.779 --> 00:36:49.439
 Because we're all disciples of something.

00:36:51.899 --> 00:36:53.599
 We're all followers of something.

00:36:53.799 --> 00:36:54.899
 If you come to this point and you say,

00:36:54.900 --> 00:36:56.539
 well, I just can't do that because I like the money,

00:36:56.619 --> 00:36:57.320
 I like the lifestyle.

00:36:58.019 --> 00:36:59.900
 Christianity doesn't say that you have to be poor.

00:37:00.099 --> 00:37:00.840
 You don't, you know,

00:37:00.900 --> 00:37:02.300
 there's all these things in there

00:37:02.300 --> 00:37:04.480
 that there is a responsibility for all those things.

00:37:04.660 --> 00:37:06.139
 But if you say, I can't do that

00:37:06.139 --> 00:37:06.980
 because I like the lifestyle,

00:37:07.099 --> 00:37:08.400
 I'm saying, then what you're saying is,

00:37:08.460 --> 00:37:09.760
 I don't want to be a disciple of Christ.

00:37:09.820 --> 00:37:11.360
 I want to be a disciple of my lifestyle.

00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:14.579
 Or my work.

00:37:17.960 --> 00:37:18.880
 Or my wife.

00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:20.840
 Or my kids.

00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:24.180
 And so Jesus is saying here to everyone

00:37:24.180 --> 00:37:24.920
 and to you and I,

00:37:25.220 --> 00:37:26.960
 be really careful of what you're a disciple of

00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:28.539
 because what you're a disciple of,

00:37:28.579 --> 00:37:29.840
 that's going to enamor you,

00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:30.740
 that's going to control you,

00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:33.039
 that's going to be everything.

00:37:35.240 --> 00:37:36.460
 You see how easy this is?

00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:38.820
 You see how hard it is?

00:37:40.120 --> 00:37:40.840
 Man, I'm like,

00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:43.600
 again, you're hearing it for 10 minutes

00:37:43.600 --> 00:37:44.240
 and you're going to go home

00:37:44.240 --> 00:37:45.120
 and you're going to forget about it.

00:37:45.140 --> 00:37:46.620
 But I've been thinking about this

00:37:46.620 --> 00:37:47.440
 for like four months.

00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:53.139
 And I still realize how bad

00:37:53.139 --> 00:37:56.920
 and how poor of a follower of Christ I am.

00:37:58.380 --> 00:37:59.200
 I want to share with you

00:37:59.200 --> 00:38:00.679
 three really quick points

00:38:00.679 --> 00:38:01.579
 that have been coming into my head

00:38:01.579 --> 00:38:03.119
 over and over and over

00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:04.159
 and then we're finished.

00:38:05.720 --> 00:38:06.539
 When you came in,

00:38:06.579 --> 00:38:07.740
 you had a cross on your chair.

00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:10.539
 My hope is that you pick that up right now

00:38:10.539 --> 00:38:11.360
 and you hold that

00:38:11.360 --> 00:38:14.840
 because we're going to do something with it.

00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:17.480
 Hopefully your kids didn't take it away.

00:38:18.260 --> 00:38:18.980
 They're spread everywhere.

00:38:21.720 --> 00:38:22.840
 Here's what I want us to think.

00:38:22.920 --> 00:38:23.760
 Here's what I've been learning.

00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:25.519
 Here's three ideas

00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:26.579
 that have been going through my head

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:27.620
 over and over and over again.

00:38:29.240 --> 00:38:29.900
 Number one,

00:38:30.780 --> 00:38:31.860
 this passage tells us

00:38:31.860 --> 00:38:33.440
 that Jesus wants us to be aware

00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:34.140
 of being a Christian.

00:38:34.260 --> 00:38:35.240
 There's a huge cost.

00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.100
 That there's a cost of following Jesus

00:38:38.100 --> 00:38:40.260
 and it's not the cost of being a disciple

00:38:40.260 --> 00:38:42.680
 because the word in Hebrew and in Greek

00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:43.559
 is the same word

00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:45.119
 and it just means being a follower.

00:38:47.219 --> 00:38:48.559
 And so Jesus wants us to know

00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:50.359
 that there's this massive cost

00:38:50.359 --> 00:38:51.119
 of following him.

00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:52.759
 The cost is really high.

00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:54.599
 Again, he tells his crowd

00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:56.079
 and it's probably the last thing

00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:57.000
 you do as a pastor

00:38:57.000 --> 00:38:58.099
 because what you would probably do

00:38:58.099 --> 00:38:59.599
 when you had a crowd of 20,000 people

00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:00.799
 is you'd have a barbecue

00:39:00.799 --> 00:39:02.659
 and you'd tell really nice jokes

00:39:02.659 --> 00:39:03.319
 and you would say,

00:39:03.699 --> 00:39:05.000
 hey, if you want to be a good Christian,

00:39:05.179 --> 00:39:06.399
 you do these three things

00:39:06.399 --> 00:39:07.339
 and at the end of these three things,

00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:08.259
 God's going to bless you

00:39:08.259 --> 00:39:09.119
 and your life's going to be great

00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:09.819
 and you're going to get a Rolex

00:39:09.820 --> 00:39:11.760
 and all these great things

00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:13.760
 and that's what the Christian life

00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:14.440
 is all about, right?

00:39:14.840 --> 00:39:16.720
 But Jesus says no.

00:39:18.300 --> 00:39:19.360
 And Jesus wants us to know.

00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:20.620
 He doesn't want to false advertise

00:39:20.620 --> 00:39:21.700
 and we as a church

00:39:21.700 --> 00:39:22.700
 don't want to false advertise.

00:39:23.100 --> 00:39:23.840
 We want you to know

00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:25.500
 that there's this incredibly high cost

00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:26.160
 for following him

00:39:26.160 --> 00:39:28.080
 and all the crowd didn't realize that

00:39:28.080 --> 00:39:29.240
 and in football terms,

00:39:29.300 --> 00:39:30.320
 what we call is a gut check.

00:39:30.420 --> 00:39:31.760
 It's like your opponents

00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:32.480
 are about to score.

00:39:32.580 --> 00:39:33.220
 You can do it in rugby

00:39:33.220 --> 00:39:33.900
 and in soccer

00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:35.340
 and you're the defense

00:39:35.340 --> 00:39:37.300
 and this is where you figure out

00:39:37.300 --> 00:39:37.920
 what you're made of

00:39:37.920 --> 00:39:38.360
 and you're like,

00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:39.980
 okay, now we got to stop these guys

00:39:39.980 --> 00:39:41.139
 and so Jesus says,

00:39:41.400 --> 00:39:42.220
 this is what it means.

00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:43.360
 It means here's the cross.

00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:46.740
 I got to follow the cross.

00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:49.200
 I got to be identified with Christ.

00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:51.220
 When I go out to the emperor club

00:39:51.220 --> 00:39:52.500
 and all my friends are getting drunk

00:39:52.500 --> 00:39:54.039
 and playing with the women,

00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:55.159
 what does it look like

00:39:55.159 --> 00:39:56.519
 for me to identify with Christ there?

00:39:58.760 --> 00:39:59.440
 When I go out

00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:00.099
 and everybody's cheating

00:40:00.099 --> 00:40:02.500
 on their receipts

00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:03.460
 and sheets to put in

00:40:03.460 --> 00:40:04.099
 for per diem

00:40:04.099 --> 00:40:04.760
 and things like that

00:40:04.760 --> 00:40:06.079
 and they're making a lot of money

00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:07.420
 and I have these choices,

00:40:07.659 --> 00:40:08.559
 what am I going to do there?

00:40:08.579 --> 00:40:09.340
 What does it look like for me?

00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:10.519
 This is a gut check time.

00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:11.980
 Am I going to falsely advertise

00:40:11.980 --> 00:40:13.159
 who I am and what I do

00:40:13.159 --> 00:40:14.420
 or am I going to follow Christ

00:40:14.420 --> 00:40:15.400
 and say this is what it means

00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:17.440
 to be enamored with Jesus

00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:18.239
 and love with him

00:40:18.239 --> 00:40:18.940
 more than the money

00:40:18.940 --> 00:40:20.059
 that I get from my per diem

00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:21.860
 and identify with him

00:40:21.860 --> 00:40:22.819
 as I carry my cross?

00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:26.259
 Jesus doesn't have

00:40:26.259 --> 00:40:26.960
 false advertising.

00:40:28.159 --> 00:40:28.980
 The second thing

00:40:28.980 --> 00:40:29.539
 that I've been learning

00:40:29.539 --> 00:40:31.179
 is that when we choose

00:40:31.179 --> 00:40:32.420
 to follow Christ,

00:40:32.420 --> 00:40:33.679
 we really have to contemplate

00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:34.380
 what that means.

00:40:35.380 --> 00:40:36.059
 I mean, there's things

00:40:36.059 --> 00:40:36.880
 that we need to consider.

00:40:37.480 --> 00:40:38.780
 There's all these other options

00:40:38.780 --> 00:40:39.200
 we can do.

00:40:39.280 --> 00:40:40.000
 We can become a Buddhist.

00:40:40.140 --> 00:40:40.880
 We can become a Hindu.

00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:42.079
 We can become a materialist.

00:40:42.140 --> 00:40:42.880
 We can become an atheist.

00:40:43.019 --> 00:40:43.980
 We can become an agnostic.

00:40:44.680 --> 00:40:45.940
 I would encourage you

00:40:45.940 --> 00:40:47.079
 to look at all those views

00:40:47.079 --> 00:40:48.720
 and see what do they do?

00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:50.480
 How do they view man?

00:40:50.700 --> 00:40:52.019
 What is the problem of man?

00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:53.260
 Is there a God?

00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:55.800
 Why do we need to come to God?

00:40:55.860 --> 00:40:57.119
 How does God relate to us?

00:40:57.360 --> 00:40:58.200
 All of these things,

00:40:58.539 --> 00:40:59.900
 if you're an adult

00:40:59.900 --> 00:41:01.000
 and you're in this age

00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:01.539
 and you're struggling

00:41:01.539 --> 00:41:02.160
 through these things,

00:41:02.579 --> 00:41:03.840
 please, please look at those things

00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:04.500
 and read those things

00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:05.240
 and talk to people

00:41:05.240 --> 00:41:05.840
 who are Christians

00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:07.559
 and see where their hope is found

00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:08.579
 and see if their life,

00:41:09.220 --> 00:41:13.079
 see if their life is different.

00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:19.280
 I have so many friends

00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:19.900
 and acquaintances

00:41:19.900 --> 00:41:22.059
 who've given up on Christianity

00:41:22.059 --> 00:41:23.260
 because the life

00:41:23.260 --> 00:41:23.700
 of the people

00:41:23.700 --> 00:41:24.579
 that they were around

00:41:24.579 --> 00:41:25.880
 were no different

00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:26.519
 than the life

00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:27.340
 of everybody else

00:41:27.340 --> 00:41:28.140
 and they just realized,

00:41:28.260 --> 00:41:29.760
 why can't I just be

00:41:29.760 --> 00:41:30.500
 like everybody else?

00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:31.900
 It's because the Christians

00:41:31.900 --> 00:41:32.460
 around me

00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:33.900
 aren't living like that.

00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:35.559
 And Jesus says,

00:41:36.079 --> 00:41:36.860
 you need to be careful

00:41:36.860 --> 00:41:38.059
 before you make these choices.

00:41:38.219 --> 00:41:39.039
 You need to understand

00:41:39.039 --> 00:41:40.800
 what it costs

00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:41.559
 to follow Christ

00:41:41.559 --> 00:41:42.579
 and when you follow him

00:41:42.579 --> 00:41:42.940
 and you say,

00:41:43.019 --> 00:41:43.860
 I'm going to follow him,

00:41:44.099 --> 00:41:45.079
 you move towards him

00:41:45.079 --> 00:41:45.699
 very deliberately.

00:41:46.820 --> 00:41:47.659
 That's why baptism

00:41:47.659 --> 00:41:48.340
 is the first thing

00:41:48.340 --> 00:41:49.079
 that Christians do

00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:51.159
 because it's a step

00:41:51.159 --> 00:41:52.619
 of taking this step of faith

00:41:52.619 --> 00:41:52.980
 and saying,

00:41:53.420 --> 00:41:54.159
 this is who I am,

00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:55.900
 this is who I'm being identified with,

00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:56.800
 and this is why

00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:57.860
 I need Jesus desperately

00:41:57.860 --> 00:41:59.660
 and I want to give him everything.

00:42:01.860 --> 00:42:02.820
 And Jesus is saying here,

00:42:02.860 --> 00:42:03.320
 be careful.

00:42:05.620 --> 00:42:06.840
 I'm not preaching to you guys,

00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:07.579
 I'm preaching to me.

00:42:09.019 --> 00:42:09.480
 Jesus said,

00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:10.340
 be careful, Tobin,

00:42:10.860 --> 00:42:13.019
 because you can fool yourself.

00:42:15.180 --> 00:42:16.220
 You can say you've given

00:42:16.220 --> 00:42:17.220
 everything to Christ,

00:42:18.599 --> 00:42:19.519
 but what you really mean

00:42:19.519 --> 00:42:20.240
 is you've given everything

00:42:20.240 --> 00:42:20.860
 to him that you feel

00:42:20.860 --> 00:42:21.860
 comfortable giving to him.

00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:25.780
 But there's other things

00:42:25.780 --> 00:42:26.840
 you don't want to give to him yet.

00:42:27.860 --> 00:42:31.760
 Be careful.

00:42:33.140 --> 00:42:34.140
 Examine your hearts.

00:42:35.120 --> 00:42:36.480
 Ask God what's going on there

00:42:36.480 --> 00:42:37.440
 and try to figure out

00:42:37.440 --> 00:42:38.280
 what's happening there.

00:42:40.440 --> 00:42:41.140
 And finally,

00:42:43.220 --> 00:42:43.840
 this is,

00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:44.660
 I've been praying

00:42:44.660 --> 00:42:45.460
 about how to say this,

00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:46.400
 I don't know how to say this.

00:42:47.160 --> 00:42:48.099
 This is what I would say

00:42:48.099 --> 00:42:48.640
 to myself.

00:42:50.220 --> 00:42:51.140
 This passage,

00:42:51.420 --> 00:42:51.980
 I think,

00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:54.099
 teaches us over and over

00:42:54.099 --> 00:42:56.120
 that Christ is not looking

00:42:56.120 --> 00:42:57.019
 for people who have

00:42:57.019 --> 00:42:57.700
 the right stuff.

00:42:57.860 --> 00:43:01.420
 Christ,

00:43:01.500 --> 00:43:02.380
 when he yells this out

00:43:02.380 --> 00:43:03.140
 to everybody around him,

00:43:03.140 --> 00:43:03.820
 he's not looking at,

00:43:04.079 --> 00:43:05.140
 I'm looking for super Christians.

00:43:05.240 --> 00:43:05.920
 If you're a super Christian,

00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:06.620
 will you follow me?

00:43:09.620 --> 00:43:11.980
 He's not saying that.

00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:12.160
 I mean,

00:43:12.180 --> 00:43:13.180
 I think in the stories

00:43:13.180 --> 00:43:13.960
 and in the passages

00:43:13.960 --> 00:43:15.059
 and you read other parts

00:43:15.059 --> 00:43:15.460
 of scripture,

00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:17.139
 it's really clear that

00:43:17.139 --> 00:43:19.340
 everybody who comes to Christ

00:43:19.340 --> 00:43:21.579
 doesn't have the right stuff.

00:43:24.780 --> 00:43:26.880
 They know that they need God.

00:43:28.639 --> 00:43:29.420
 And it's not just

00:43:29.420 --> 00:43:30.639
 they need God for salvation,

00:43:30.880 --> 00:43:31.800
 they need God

00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:33.639
 for every day of their life.

00:43:36.740 --> 00:43:38.320
 So don't enter into a Bible study

00:43:38.320 --> 00:43:38.539
 and say,

00:43:38.619 --> 00:43:39.159
 I want to get smarter,

00:43:39.240 --> 00:43:39.820
 I want to get stronger,

00:43:39.880 --> 00:43:40.699
 I want to get all this information,

00:43:40.800 --> 00:43:41.500
 I want to get all these things

00:43:41.500 --> 00:43:43.240
 so that I can be the type of Christian

00:43:43.239 --> 00:43:44.359
 that God wants me to be.

00:43:47.759 --> 00:43:49.439
 The Pharisees had all that down.

00:43:52.099 --> 00:43:53.939
 But they're exactly the opposite

00:43:53.939 --> 00:43:55.779
 of what Christ wanted them to be.

00:43:56.859 --> 00:43:58.000
 Am I saying Bible studies are bad?

00:43:58.079 --> 00:43:58.259
 No.

00:43:58.319 --> 00:43:59.419
 Am I saying discipleship is bad?

00:43:59.479 --> 00:44:00.059
 No, I'm not.

00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:01.500
 I think all those things are great.

00:44:01.759 --> 00:44:02.479
 We do them here.

00:44:02.579 --> 00:44:03.279
 We're going to encourage you

00:44:03.279 --> 00:44:03.679
 to do them.

00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:05.019
 But we want you to understand

00:44:05.019 --> 00:44:06.079
 that it doesn't make you

00:44:06.079 --> 00:44:06.779
 a better Christian.

00:44:09.319 --> 00:44:10.619
 It doesn't make you holy.

00:44:12.739 --> 00:44:13.759
 It doesn't make God

00:44:13.759 --> 00:44:14.819
 more happy with you.

00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:17.859
 And I think it's a church,

00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:18.679
 the church,

00:44:18.839 --> 00:44:19.659
 universal church,

00:44:19.839 --> 00:44:21.059
 we've really done

00:44:21.059 --> 00:44:22.219
 a terrible job with this.

00:44:23.539 --> 00:44:25.419
 But what Jesus wants to do, guys,

00:44:26.319 --> 00:44:27.539
 is he wants us

00:44:27.539 --> 00:44:29.159
 to take us to a place

00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:30.679
 where we understand

00:44:31.199 --> 00:44:33.259
 how desperately we need him.

00:44:33.679 --> 00:44:39.419
 When Gideon went to battle,

00:44:39.839 --> 00:44:41.919
 he had a lot of men.

00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:44.559
 He was going to fight 30,000 men.

00:44:44.859 --> 00:44:45.559
 Do you know how many men

00:44:45.559 --> 00:44:46.319
 God left him with

00:44:46.319 --> 00:44:47.440
 to fight 30,000 men?

00:44:48.559 --> 00:44:49.000
 300.

00:44:50.799 --> 00:44:52.059
 Why do you think God did that?

00:44:55.899 --> 00:44:57.099
 Because God wanted Gideon

00:44:57.099 --> 00:44:58.579
 to realize that he desperately,

00:44:58.739 --> 00:45:00.259
 desperately needs Jesus.

00:45:00.260 --> 00:45:03.400
 I think what Jesus

00:45:03.400 --> 00:45:04.360
 is trying to share us

00:45:04.360 --> 00:45:05.020
 in this passage

00:45:05.020 --> 00:45:06.260
 is that none of us

00:45:06.260 --> 00:45:06.960
 have the resources

00:45:06.960 --> 00:45:07.840
 to walk with him.

00:45:08.300 --> 00:45:09.500
 None of us have the resources

00:45:09.500 --> 00:45:10.500
 to be a good Christian.

00:45:11.660 --> 00:45:12.380
 None of us.

00:45:13.240 --> 00:45:13.900
 And none of us

00:45:13.900 --> 00:45:14.900
 are going to get those resources

00:45:14.900 --> 00:45:15.960
 no matter how hard you work,

00:45:16.040 --> 00:45:16.940
 no matter how hard you study,

00:45:17.340 --> 00:45:18.460
 no matter how devoted you are,

00:45:18.520 --> 00:45:19.400
 no matter how much you pray.

00:45:19.860 --> 00:45:21.300
 Those things cannot come

00:45:21.300 --> 00:45:22.180
 in and of yourself.

00:45:22.179 --> 00:45:29.119
 Jesus is saying

00:45:29.119 --> 00:45:30.440
 that this passage starts

00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:31.719
 and begins with this idea

00:45:31.719 --> 00:45:33.099
 and I think that's why he says

00:45:33.099 --> 00:45:34.779
 you have to hate these things

00:45:34.779 --> 00:45:37.059
 because he's trying to knock away

00:45:37.059 --> 00:45:37.739
 everything that we're going

00:45:37.739 --> 00:45:38.539
 to rely on.

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:41.039
 Knock away your family,

00:45:41.480 --> 00:45:42.299
 knock away your money,

00:45:43.099 --> 00:45:44.099
 knock away your status.

00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:45.059
 Finally, he says,

00:45:45.139 --> 00:45:45.859
 knock away yourself.

00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:48.059
 Why does he do that?

00:45:48.139 --> 00:45:48.980
 Does he hate those things?

00:45:48.980 --> 00:45:49.420
 No.

00:45:53.360 --> 00:45:54.539
 He wants us to realize

00:45:54.539 --> 00:45:56.559
 how desperately we need him.

00:45:58.179 --> 00:45:59.240
 As we walk with him,

00:45:59.360 --> 00:46:00.300
 he's the only choice,

00:46:00.400 --> 00:46:01.079
 he's the only hope

00:46:01.079 --> 00:46:02.340
 and if we don't have him,

00:46:02.420 --> 00:46:03.019
 we're lost.

00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:05.400
 Jesus isn't trying to get us

00:46:05.400 --> 00:46:07.280
 passionate and on fire

00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:08.280
 and doing these retreats

00:46:08.280 --> 00:46:09.019
 and we come back and say,

00:46:09.099 --> 00:46:09.980
 okay, I'm ready to do everything.

00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:11.460
 Jesus wants us to get to a place

00:46:11.460 --> 00:46:11.840
 where we say,

00:46:12.360 --> 00:46:14.059
 man, this stuff is incredibly hard.

00:46:16.039 --> 00:46:16.860
 He who has ears,

00:46:16.960 --> 00:46:17.400
 let him hear.

00:46:18.980 --> 00:46:20.059
 There's no way I can do

00:46:20.059 --> 00:46:21.199
 these things on my own.

00:46:22.500 --> 00:46:23.420
 He who has ears,

00:46:23.519 --> 00:46:23.960
 let him hear.

00:46:25.240 --> 00:46:26.679
 I desperately need God

00:46:26.679 --> 00:46:27.139
 in my life.

00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:27.880
 If I'm going to make it,

00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:28.599
 if I'm going to be the type

00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:29.619
 of person that God wants me to be,

00:46:29.980 --> 00:46:30.740
 God is going to have

00:46:30.740 --> 00:46:31.320
 to do it through me.

00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:32.019
 I'm going to have to surrender

00:46:32.019 --> 00:46:32.699
 my life to him.

00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:33.539
 I'm going to have to say,

00:46:33.579 --> 00:46:34.920
 God, I cannot do these things.

00:46:35.179 --> 00:46:36.340
 I cannot be a follower

00:46:36.340 --> 00:46:36.960
 or a disciple

00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:38.280
 or the way this scripture says,

00:46:38.420 --> 00:46:39.400
 I need you.

00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:44.599
 And that's what Jesus is saying.

00:46:44.599 --> 00:46:48.980
 Let me say it one other way

00:46:48.980 --> 00:46:49.619
 and we'll close.

00:46:52.619 --> 00:46:54.539
 I think that sometimes for me,

00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:57.239
 I want to train myself up.

00:46:57.299 --> 00:46:58.500
 I want to take all the courses.

00:46:58.639 --> 00:46:59.679
 I want to get all the knowledge.

00:46:59.759 --> 00:47:00.679
 I want to do all these things.

00:47:00.739 --> 00:47:01.639
 I want to get the skill

00:47:01.639 --> 00:47:02.599
 and the ability

00:47:02.599 --> 00:47:04.619
 so that I can be the type of person

00:47:04.619 --> 00:47:06.519
 that God wants me to be.

00:47:06.519 --> 00:47:10.099
 And then I come to a passage

00:47:10.099 --> 00:47:11.920
 which is the most basic passage

00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:12.780
 of discipleship.

00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:15.079
 Love the Lord your God

00:47:15.079 --> 00:47:15.679
 with all your heart,

00:47:15.800 --> 00:47:16.679
 mind, soul, and body.

00:47:18.380 --> 00:47:19.739
 Love your neighbor as yourself.

00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:23.139
 I've been a Christian

00:47:23.139 --> 00:47:24.300
 for 28 years.

00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:26.699
 38 years.

00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:30.340
 How am I doing in that passage?

00:47:32.340 --> 00:47:33.019
 How am I doing

00:47:33.019 --> 00:47:34.099
 with loving the Lord your God

00:47:34.099 --> 00:47:35.440
 with all my heart, mind, soul, and body

00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:36.679
 and loving my neighbor as myself?

00:47:37.900 --> 00:47:38.940
 I've done all the studies.

00:47:39.980 --> 00:47:40.920
 I've done all the curriculum.

00:47:43.820 --> 00:47:44.700
 How are you guys doing

00:47:44.700 --> 00:47:45.320
 with that commandment?

00:47:47.700 --> 00:47:49.260
 That commandment is so huge

00:47:49.260 --> 00:47:49.659
 and heavy

00:47:49.659 --> 00:47:52.220
 that if you try to pick it up,

00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:54.079
 it'll crush you.

00:47:59.760 --> 00:48:00.559
 Jesus says,

00:48:01.519 --> 00:48:02.400
 to be my disciple,

00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:03.260
 to walk with me,

00:48:03.320 --> 00:48:04.059
 to follow me,

00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:07.119
 that you surrender your life to me.

00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:07.740
 You trust me.

00:48:07.760 --> 00:48:08.159
 I'm good.

00:48:08.260 --> 00:48:09.039
 I want your best.

00:48:09.119 --> 00:48:09.619
 I'm there.

00:48:10.059 --> 00:48:11.179
 I'm walking with you.

00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:13.679
 You're right, Tobin.

00:48:13.700 --> 00:48:14.740
 You're never going to have the power.

00:48:14.820 --> 00:48:15.679
 You're never going to have the knowledge.

00:48:15.780 --> 00:48:16.659
 You're never going to be at that place

00:48:16.659 --> 00:48:17.800
 where you've arrived

00:48:17.800 --> 00:48:18.980
 and you are the super Christian.

00:48:19.320 --> 00:48:20.380
 Don't ever fool yourself

00:48:20.380 --> 00:48:21.200
 in thinking that.

00:48:21.199 --> 00:48:25.639
 But there's one standard for all of us.

00:48:26.839 --> 00:48:28.759
 As we walk on a journey as a church,

00:48:28.839 --> 00:48:29.619
 as we trust the Lord,

00:48:29.659 --> 00:48:30.500
 as we walk with him,

00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:33.719
 we realize that the key to discipleship

00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:35.179
 is not knowledge and growth

00:48:35.179 --> 00:48:36.319
 and learning Greek and Hebrew,

00:48:36.699 --> 00:48:38.099
 but the key to walking with God,

00:48:38.179 --> 00:48:39.419
 the key to being a Christ follower

00:48:39.419 --> 00:48:40.579
 is dependence.

00:48:40.579 --> 00:48:40.819
 dependence.

00:48:45.179 --> 00:48:46.420
 So my question for us today

00:48:46.420 --> 00:48:47.440
 as a church and as individuals

00:48:47.440 --> 00:48:49.440
 is how dependent are we

00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:52.239
 on Jesus?

00:48:57.699 --> 00:48:58.699
 What does it look like for us

00:48:58.699 --> 00:49:00.519
 to really depend on him?

00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:01.299
 What does it look like for us

00:49:01.299 --> 00:49:02.559
 to really trust him?

00:49:02.619 --> 00:49:03.380
 What does it look like for us

00:49:03.380 --> 00:49:04.940
 to understand that without him,

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:06.159
 we can do none of these things?

00:49:06.259 --> 00:49:06.980
 We are nothing.

00:49:06.980 --> 00:49:07.059
 Nothing.

00:49:07.059 --> 00:49:07.099
 Nothing.

00:49:10.579 --> 00:49:13.159
 I love how the passage ends

00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:13.980
 and we don't have time for it,

00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:15.460
 but he talks about salt.

00:49:16.539 --> 00:49:17.420
 And salt is amazing

00:49:17.420 --> 00:49:18.940
 in Eastern, Middle Eastern terminology.

00:49:19.739 --> 00:49:20.779
 It has so many purposes,

00:49:20.940 --> 00:49:21.739
 but one of the big purposes

00:49:21.739 --> 00:49:22.639
 is it gives flavor

00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:23.460
 and it gives life.

00:49:25.219 --> 00:49:26.079
 The other thing I think

00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:27.019
 is interesting about salt

00:49:27.019 --> 00:49:28.380
 is it only takes a little salt.

00:49:30.519 --> 00:49:31.159
 And sometimes we think

00:49:31.159 --> 00:49:32.860
 we need this massive amount of salt.

00:49:32.960 --> 00:49:33.940
 We need these huge churches.

00:49:34.059 --> 00:49:34.880
 We need all these things

00:49:34.880 --> 00:49:35.739
 to make a difference.

00:49:35.779 --> 00:49:36.159
 But guys,

00:49:36.319 --> 00:49:37.599
 in the history of the world,

00:49:37.900 --> 00:49:38.679
 large churches

00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:39.779
 and large congregations

00:49:39.780 --> 00:49:41.260
 have done very little

00:49:41.260 --> 00:49:42.400
 for the call of Christ.

00:49:44.900 --> 00:49:46.040
 What's changed the world,

00:49:46.120 --> 00:49:47.260
 what's changed people's lives,

00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:48.160
 what's started revivals

00:49:48.160 --> 00:49:49.560
 are a few individuals

00:49:49.560 --> 00:49:52.280
 who are very salty

00:49:52.280 --> 00:49:55.140
 and they understand

00:49:55.140 --> 00:49:55.860
 that as a disciple

00:49:55.860 --> 00:49:56.900
 they can't do anything

00:49:56.900 --> 00:49:59.420
 unless they depend on Christ,

00:50:00.420 --> 00:50:02.920
 unless they trust him.

00:50:05.800 --> 00:50:07.060
 Giving you this cross

00:50:07.060 --> 00:50:08.420
 is not expensive.

00:50:09.780 --> 00:50:10.860
 My prayer for you

00:50:10.860 --> 00:50:11.700
 is that you would carry it

00:50:11.700 --> 00:50:13.420
 in your pocket this week

00:50:13.420 --> 00:50:15.320
 and that you would do

00:50:15.320 --> 00:50:16.440
 a little exercise with you

00:50:16.440 --> 00:50:18.920
 as you walk into your work.

00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:22.180
 Maybe touch it

00:50:22.180 --> 00:50:22.640
 or hold it

00:50:22.640 --> 00:50:23.320
 or look at it.

00:50:24.460 --> 00:50:25.180
 Before you walk

00:50:25.180 --> 00:50:26.140
 into your office this Monday,

00:50:26.280 --> 00:50:26.440
 say,

00:50:26.519 --> 00:50:27.160
 what does it look like

00:50:27.160 --> 00:50:27.540
 for me

00:50:27.540 --> 00:50:29.320
 to carry the cross

00:50:29.320 --> 00:50:29.980
 of Christ here?

00:50:33.640 --> 00:50:34.380
 What does it look like

00:50:34.380 --> 00:50:35.240
 when things get really difficult?

00:50:35.360 --> 00:50:35.840
 What does it look like

00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:36.880
 when everybody's getting fired?

00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:38.160
 What does it look like

00:50:38.160 --> 00:50:39.240
 when everybody is

00:50:39.240 --> 00:50:40.700
 biting each other's backs

00:50:40.700 --> 00:50:41.400
 and there's a lot of

00:50:41.400 --> 00:50:42.519
 power plays going on?

00:50:42.740 --> 00:50:43.400
 What does it look like

00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:44.079
 for me to carry

00:50:44.079 --> 00:50:45.480
 the cross of Christ?

00:50:45.559 --> 00:50:46.059
 What does it look like

00:50:46.059 --> 00:50:46.920
 for me to be salt?

00:50:47.280 --> 00:50:47.900
 What does it look like

00:50:47.900 --> 00:50:49.680
 for me to love God

00:50:49.680 --> 00:50:50.640
 more than anything else?

00:50:54.860 --> 00:50:55.960
 When you go home tonight

00:50:55.960 --> 00:50:58.940
 and you're walking

00:50:58.940 --> 00:50:59.579
 into a family

00:50:59.579 --> 00:51:00.480
 that maybe is hostile

00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:01.480
 or indifferent

00:51:01.480 --> 00:51:03.019
 to the call of Christ,

00:51:04.079 --> 00:51:06.340
 remember this cross

00:51:06.340 --> 00:51:07.079
 and ask the question,

00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:07.400
 God,

00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:08.119
 what does it look like

00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:08.860
 for me to be here?

00:51:09.860 --> 00:51:10.360
 What does it look like

00:51:10.360 --> 00:51:11.159
 for me to honor you?

00:51:11.920 --> 00:51:12.280
 What does it look like

00:51:12.280 --> 00:51:13.079
 for me to trust you?

00:51:13.880 --> 00:51:14.320
 What does it look like

00:51:14.320 --> 00:51:15.199
 for me to be salt

00:51:15.199 --> 00:51:15.960
 and light here?

00:51:17.179 --> 00:51:18.159
 And realize

00:51:18.159 --> 00:51:20.320
 that God doesn't want you

00:51:20.320 --> 00:51:21.579
 to be a super Christian there.

00:51:23.619 --> 00:51:24.539
 What you need to say

00:51:24.539 --> 00:51:25.500
 right after you say that

00:51:25.500 --> 00:51:26.240
 is you need to say,

00:51:26.699 --> 00:51:26.980
 God,

00:51:27.059 --> 00:51:27.639
 I realize

00:51:27.639 --> 00:51:28.719
 I cannot do that.

00:51:28.719 --> 00:51:32.139
 Will you do that

00:51:32.139 --> 00:51:32.519
 through me?

00:51:35.459 --> 00:51:35.779
 God,

00:51:35.819 --> 00:51:36.159
 I realize

00:51:36.159 --> 00:51:37.099
 I can't be the father

00:51:37.099 --> 00:51:38.219
 that you want me to be.

00:51:40.399 --> 00:51:41.199
 Would you do that

00:51:41.199 --> 00:51:41.619
 through me?

00:51:43.619 --> 00:51:43.939
 God,

00:51:43.980 --> 00:51:44.679
 I can't be the husband

00:51:44.679 --> 00:51:45.159
 or wife

00:51:45.159 --> 00:51:45.859
 that you want me to be.

00:51:45.939 --> 00:51:46.459
 Will you do that

00:51:46.459 --> 00:51:46.759
 through me?

00:51:46.839 --> 00:51:47.659
 I know that I'm called

00:51:47.659 --> 00:51:48.059
 to be here.

00:51:48.099 --> 00:51:48.599
 I know I'm called

00:51:48.599 --> 00:51:49.159
 to be salt.

00:51:49.419 --> 00:51:49.959
 I know I'm called

00:51:49.959 --> 00:51:50.399
 to be light.

00:51:50.480 --> 00:51:50.939
 I know I'm called

00:51:50.939 --> 00:51:51.639
 to carry a cross.

00:51:51.879 --> 00:51:52.539
 I know I'm called

00:51:52.539 --> 00:51:53.359
 to love you more

00:51:53.359 --> 00:51:54.779
 than all these other things.

00:51:56.059 --> 00:51:56.859
 I can't.

00:51:58.719 --> 00:52:01.879
 But you can.

00:52:04.419 --> 00:52:05.299
 Will you do that

00:52:05.299 --> 00:52:05.699
 through me?

00:52:07.759 --> 00:52:09.399
 Jesus calls this mass

00:52:09.399 --> 00:52:10.159
 of people together

00:52:10.159 --> 00:52:11.500
 and he basically says

00:52:11.500 --> 00:52:12.419
 this is the essence

00:52:12.419 --> 00:52:13.500
 of being a Christian.

00:52:15.219 --> 00:52:16.359
 Not a super Christian.

00:52:18.359 --> 00:52:19.779
 Not a disciple disciple.

00:52:20.919 --> 00:52:21.799
 But a Christian.

00:52:23.539 --> 00:52:24.799
 A Christian is a person

00:52:24.799 --> 00:52:25.819
 who loves the Lord

00:52:25.819 --> 00:52:26.179
 their God

00:52:26.179 --> 00:52:26.939
 with all their heart,

00:52:27.139 --> 00:52:27.419
 mind,

00:52:27.559 --> 00:52:27.779
 soul,

00:52:27.780 --> 00:52:28.240
 and body

00:52:28.240 --> 00:52:29.340
 who loves God

00:52:29.340 --> 00:52:30.380
 more than their neighbor,

00:52:30.519 --> 00:52:30.960
 their family,

00:52:31.060 --> 00:52:31.540
 their friends.

00:52:31.840 --> 00:52:32.780
 What does it mean to love?

00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:34.100
 It means to think

00:52:34.100 --> 00:52:35.000
 less of them

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:35.880
 compared to your love

00:52:35.880 --> 00:52:36.480
 for God.

00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:38.840
 I asked Kip last night.

00:52:38.900 --> 00:52:39.500
 I read the passage

00:52:39.500 --> 00:52:40.080
 to my son,

00:52:40.160 --> 00:52:40.720
 10 years old.

00:52:40.980 --> 00:52:41.560
 I probably should have

00:52:41.560 --> 00:52:42.120
 just said that

00:52:42.120 --> 00:52:42.480
 because it would have

00:52:42.480 --> 00:52:43.040
 been the whole sermon.

00:52:43.160 --> 00:52:43.280
 I said,

00:52:43.340 --> 00:52:43.440
 Kip,

00:52:43.460 --> 00:52:43.960
 what does this mean?

00:52:43.980 --> 00:52:44.400
 He goes,

00:52:44.980 --> 00:52:46.640
 don't put anything

00:52:46.640 --> 00:52:47.300
 before God.

00:52:49.640 --> 00:52:50.140
 I'm like,

00:52:50.180 --> 00:52:50.560
 you're right.

00:52:51.860 --> 00:52:52.580
 So what happens

00:52:52.580 --> 00:52:53.140
 if I put you

00:52:53.140 --> 00:52:53.760
 before God?

00:52:55.280 --> 00:52:55.580
 He goes,

00:52:55.640 --> 00:52:55.760
 well,

00:52:56.060 --> 00:52:56.660
 ultimately you're not

00:52:56.660 --> 00:52:57.100
 going to treat me

00:52:57.100 --> 00:52:57.560
 very well.

00:52:57.559 --> 00:53:00.980
 because you're

00:53:00.980 --> 00:53:01.400
 going to expect

00:53:01.400 --> 00:53:02.219
 things from me

00:53:02.219 --> 00:53:03.820
 that only God

00:53:03.820 --> 00:53:04.659
 can give you.

00:53:07.279 --> 00:53:08.000
 That's pretty good

00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:08.519
 for a 10-year-old,

00:53:08.559 --> 00:53:08.840
 isn't it?

00:53:10.539 --> 00:53:11.219
 I have him

00:53:11.219 --> 00:53:11.980
 preach the next sermon.

00:53:14.840 --> 00:53:15.739
 God has called

00:53:15.739 --> 00:53:16.559
 all of us here

00:53:16.559 --> 00:53:17.259
 at Watermark

00:53:17.259 --> 00:53:19.880
 to be his followers

00:53:19.880 --> 00:53:21.480
 and his disciples.

00:53:22.619 --> 00:53:23.239
 He's called

00:53:23.239 --> 00:53:23.940
 every one of us

00:53:23.940 --> 00:53:25.579
 here to love him

00:53:25.579 --> 00:53:26.500
 more than other things

00:53:26.500 --> 00:53:27.059
 in our life.

00:53:28.039 --> 00:53:28.539
 He's called

00:53:28.539 --> 00:53:29.239
 every one of us

00:53:29.239 --> 00:53:29.599
 in here

00:53:29.599 --> 00:53:30.440
 to walk

00:53:30.440 --> 00:53:30.980
 in the shadow

00:53:30.980 --> 00:53:31.599
 of the cross

00:53:31.599 --> 00:53:32.139
 and identify

00:53:32.139 --> 00:53:32.539
 with him

00:53:32.539 --> 00:53:33.260
 so closely

00:53:33.260 --> 00:53:34.039
 and so perfectly

00:53:34.039 --> 00:53:35.199
 that we walk

00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:35.840
 and when God

00:53:35.840 --> 00:53:36.440
 looks at us,

00:53:36.539 --> 00:53:37.420
 he sees Jesus.

00:53:39.059 --> 00:53:40.099
 And as he shares

00:53:40.099 --> 00:53:40.559
 those with us,

00:53:40.579 --> 00:53:40.880
 he says,

00:53:40.960 --> 00:53:41.300
 you're right,

00:53:41.340 --> 00:53:42.000
 it's impossible

00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:45.079
 to be my disciple.

00:53:46.960 --> 00:53:47.760
 You have to depend

00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:48.160
 on me.

00:53:53.240 --> 00:53:54.500
 He who has ears

00:53:54.500 --> 00:53:58.000
 let him hear.

00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:02.740
 Father, we thank you

00:54:02.740 --> 00:54:03.180
 for this day.

00:54:03.260 --> 00:54:03.540
 We thank you

00:54:03.540 --> 00:54:04.020
 for your goodness

00:54:04.020 --> 00:54:04.520
 in our life.

00:54:04.580 --> 00:54:04.900
 We thank you

00:54:04.900 --> 00:54:05.660
 that your mercy

00:54:05.660 --> 00:54:07.480
 that is new

00:54:07.480 --> 00:54:08.260
 every morning.

00:54:09.140 --> 00:54:09.680
 We thank you

00:54:09.680 --> 00:54:10.440
 that you put

00:54:10.440 --> 00:54:11.600
 these passages in us

00:54:11.600 --> 00:54:13.020
 and you show us

00:54:13.020 --> 00:54:13.860
 and you laugh

00:54:13.860 --> 00:54:14.560
 when we first start

00:54:14.560 --> 00:54:15.380
 to understand them

00:54:15.380 --> 00:54:16.039
 and get our hold

00:54:16.039 --> 00:54:16.380
 on them

00:54:16.380 --> 00:54:18.079
 because they always

00:54:18.079 --> 00:54:18.860
 come out centered

00:54:18.860 --> 00:54:19.380
 on me

00:54:19.380 --> 00:54:19.800
 and centered

00:54:19.800 --> 00:54:20.340
 on Tobin

00:54:20.340 --> 00:54:20.680
 and centered

00:54:20.680 --> 00:54:21.180
 on what Tobin

00:54:21.180 --> 00:54:21.740
 needs to do

00:54:21.740 --> 00:54:22.400
 and centered

00:54:22.400 --> 00:54:22.960
 on how well

00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:23.599
 Tobin does

00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:24.380
 and how well

00:54:24.380 --> 00:54:25.240
 we do as a church

00:54:25.240 --> 00:54:26.640
 and you look at us

00:54:26.640 --> 00:54:27.019
 and you say,

00:54:27.140 --> 00:54:28.400
 no, no, no, no.

00:54:29.840 --> 00:54:30.840
 It's about me.

00:54:32.220 --> 00:54:33.119
 It's about Jesus.

00:54:34.400 --> 00:54:35.460
 It's not about your church.

00:54:35.519 --> 00:54:36.360
 It's about Christ.

00:54:37.320 --> 00:54:37.700
 No, no,

00:54:37.720 --> 00:54:38.140
 it's not about you

00:54:38.140 --> 00:54:39.019
 doing all these things

00:54:39.019 --> 00:54:39.720
 well and doing them

00:54:39.720 --> 00:54:39.880
 great.

00:54:39.980 --> 00:54:40.800
 That's great

00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:43.240
 unless you do them

00:54:43.240 --> 00:54:44.019
 in your own power.

00:54:45.380 --> 00:54:47.579
 Lord, I pray

00:54:47.579 --> 00:54:48.480
 even as I know now

00:54:48.480 --> 00:54:49.280
 there are some people here

00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:50.059
 who have no idea

00:54:50.059 --> 00:54:50.820
 what I just said

00:54:50.820 --> 00:54:52.820
 and I pray

00:54:52.820 --> 00:54:53.180
 that you would

00:54:53.180 --> 00:54:53.960
 open their hearts

00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:54.920
 and their minds

00:54:54.920 --> 00:54:55.619
 and their eyes

00:54:55.619 --> 00:54:56.800
 to your son Jesus Christ

00:54:56.800 --> 00:54:58.800
 and just as we

00:54:58.800 --> 00:54:59.920
 walk in faith

00:54:59.920 --> 00:55:00.700
 as his disciples

00:55:00.700 --> 00:55:01.440
 I pray that they

00:55:01.440 --> 00:55:02.360
 would walk in faith

00:55:02.360 --> 00:55:03.840
 as his new children.

00:55:04.840 --> 00:55:05.559
 Help them, Lord,

00:55:05.599 --> 00:55:06.300
 not to leave here

00:55:06.300 --> 00:55:07.360
 without asking questions

00:55:07.360 --> 00:55:08.579
 and to ask questions

00:55:08.579 --> 00:55:09.380
 of me and the others

00:55:09.380 --> 00:55:10.000
 around here

00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:10.820
 or the people

00:55:10.820 --> 00:55:11.480
 that brought them.

00:55:13.260 --> 00:55:13.840
 Lord, I know

00:55:13.840 --> 00:55:14.380
 there are some of us

00:55:14.380 --> 00:55:15.160
 in here right now

00:55:15.159 --> 00:55:16.239
 who have been living

00:55:16.239 --> 00:55:17.399
 a life that is so

00:55:17.399 --> 00:55:18.779
 self-centered

00:55:18.779 --> 00:55:21.500
 and yet we claim

00:55:21.500 --> 00:55:22.519
 to be Christians.

00:55:23.799 --> 00:55:25.299
 Lord, I just repent

00:55:25.299 --> 00:55:27.359
 and I confess that

00:55:27.359 --> 00:55:28.059
 in my life

00:55:28.059 --> 00:55:29.299
 and in the life

00:55:29.299 --> 00:55:29.719
 of my brothers

00:55:29.719 --> 00:55:30.539
 and sisters here.

00:55:31.759 --> 00:55:33.000
 Lord, change us.

00:55:33.879 --> 00:55:34.639
 Show us.

00:55:36.460 --> 00:55:37.199
 Don't let us

00:55:37.199 --> 00:55:38.079
 go to sleep tonight

00:55:38.079 --> 00:55:38.779
 without understanding

00:55:38.779 --> 00:55:39.899
 how much you love us,

00:55:40.179 --> 00:55:41.319
 how much you care for us,

00:55:41.559 --> 00:55:42.259
 how much you want

00:55:42.259 --> 00:55:43.039
 the best for us

00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:44.000
 and that best

00:55:44.000 --> 00:55:45.079
 centers upon us

00:55:45.079 --> 00:55:45.779
 being dependent

00:55:45.779 --> 00:55:46.539
 on you

00:55:46.539 --> 00:55:49.739
 and not on ourselves.

00:55:52.059 --> 00:55:52.659
 So Lord,

00:55:52.679 --> 00:55:53.500
 we come before you

00:55:53.500 --> 00:55:56.460
 and we are needy

00:55:56.460 --> 00:55:57.219
 and we are hurting

00:55:57.219 --> 00:55:58.219
 and we are broken

00:55:58.219 --> 00:55:59.940
 and we are not super

00:55:59.940 --> 00:56:01.179
 and I don't feel super

00:56:01.179 --> 00:56:03.300
 but I feel loved

00:56:03.300 --> 00:56:05.980
 and I feel your grace

00:56:05.980 --> 00:56:06.619
 and I understand

00:56:06.619 --> 00:56:07.880
 how amazing you are

00:56:07.880 --> 00:56:09.599
 because you don't give up

00:56:09.599 --> 00:56:10.400
 on any of us.

00:56:10.400 --> 00:56:13.039
 and so we come before you

00:56:13.039 --> 00:56:14.280
 and we just worship you.

00:56:15.639 --> 00:56:16.820
 May you change us.

00:56:16.900 --> 00:56:18.180
 May you change this church.

00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:18.960
 May you change

00:56:18.960 --> 00:56:20.340
 these community groups.

00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:21.360
 May you change

00:56:21.360 --> 00:56:22.559
 this city

00:56:22.559 --> 00:56:24.700
 as we just walk

00:56:24.700 --> 00:56:25.240
 with you

00:56:25.240 --> 00:56:26.260
 in dependence

00:56:26.260 --> 00:56:28.260
 and trust you

00:56:28.260 --> 00:56:28.880
 to be God.

00:56:31.019 --> 00:56:32.139
 Father, we love you

00:56:32.139 --> 00:56:34.460
 and we pray these things

00:56:34.460 --> 00:56:35.500
 in your son Jesus' name.

00:56:36.260 --> 00:56:36.559
 Amen.

00:56:38.940 --> 00:56:39.340
 Amen.

00:56:39.340 --> 00:56:39.519
 Amen.

00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:41.420
 Hey, next week

00:56:41.420 --> 00:56:42.220
 we are not here.

00:56:42.400 --> 00:56:43.740
 We're at ISF, okay?

00:56:43.860 --> 00:56:45.099
 So make sure you go there

00:56:45.099 --> 00:56:47.760
 and so we're kind of

00:56:47.760 --> 00:56:49.320
 traveling as nomads,

00:56:49.420 --> 00:56:49.619
 you know,

00:56:49.680 --> 00:56:50.340
 and we did that

00:56:50.340 --> 00:56:51.579
 for the first 10 years

00:56:51.579 --> 00:56:52.619
 at Island ECC

00:56:52.619 --> 00:56:54.019
 and we're doing that

00:56:54.019 --> 00:56:54.920
 for the first two years

00:56:54.920 --> 00:56:55.599
 so you can always pray

00:56:55.599 --> 00:56:56.760
 for us as leaders

00:56:56.760 --> 00:56:57.240
 trying to figure out

00:56:57.240 --> 00:56:57.639
 what to do

00:56:57.639 --> 00:56:59.940
 and we have a couple videos.

00:57:00.200 --> 00:57:00.559
 So Millen,

00:57:00.639 --> 00:57:01.180
 you're going to show

00:57:01.180 --> 00:57:02.539
 videos that say better

00:57:02.539 --> 00:57:02.920
 than I do.

00:57:03.059 --> 00:57:03.599
 Please be seated.

00:57:05.360 --> 00:57:06.820
 Okay, so you heard

00:57:06.820 --> 00:57:07.800
 the most important videos.

00:57:07.800 --> 00:57:08.120
 It's a,

00:57:08.620 --> 00:57:09.280
 every day,

00:57:09.560 --> 00:57:10.200
 every Sunday

00:57:10.200 --> 00:57:10.880
 before,

00:57:11.039 --> 00:57:12.019
 even on Saturday night,

00:57:12.100 --> 00:57:12.519
 a group of us

00:57:12.519 --> 00:57:13.440
 are in here setting up

00:57:13.440 --> 00:57:15.080
 and so it just doesn't happen.

00:57:15.220 --> 00:57:15.340
 You know,

00:57:15.340 --> 00:57:16.140
 it's not like a little fairy

00:57:16.140 --> 00:57:16.620
 goes doop

00:57:16.620 --> 00:57:17.760
 and it pops up here like that.

00:57:18.260 --> 00:57:19.620
 So we need your help

00:57:19.620 --> 00:57:20.700
 if you want to serve

00:57:20.700 --> 00:57:21.140
 in that way.

00:57:21.220 --> 00:57:21.680
 Community groups

00:57:21.680 --> 00:57:22.200
 have been serving

00:57:22.200 --> 00:57:22.820
 in that way

00:57:22.820 --> 00:57:23.900
 and so if you're interested

00:57:23.900 --> 00:57:24.660
 in learning

00:57:24.660 --> 00:57:25.920
 the technical side

00:57:25.920 --> 00:57:26.280
 of everything

00:57:26.280 --> 00:57:27.100
 and how to use

00:57:27.100 --> 00:57:27.680
 all these things,

00:57:28.019 --> 00:57:29.160
 please contact Millen.

00:57:29.500 --> 00:57:29.960
 The Marriage,

00:57:30.080 --> 00:57:30.900
 Love and Respect course

00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:31.640
 actually started

00:57:31.640 --> 00:57:32.460
 last Tuesday

00:57:32.460 --> 00:57:33.640
 but we're at a place

00:57:33.640 --> 00:57:34.400
 where we can still

00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:35.500
 invite a couple more couples.

00:57:35.500 --> 00:57:36.480
 It was actually,

00:57:36.940 --> 00:57:38.619
 I thought it was great.

00:57:38.840 --> 00:57:39.960
 Married 15 years

00:57:39.960 --> 00:57:42.079
 and it's one of the best ones

00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:42.780
 we've ever done, right?

00:57:43.300 --> 00:57:44.239
 And so that was,

00:57:44.340 --> 00:57:45.239
 so please sign up

00:57:45.239 --> 00:57:46.099
 on the table out here.

00:57:46.460 --> 00:57:47.500
 Also on November 1st,

00:57:48.559 --> 00:57:50.059
 so that last week

00:57:50.059 --> 00:57:50.500
 of October,

00:57:51.940 --> 00:57:53.460
 a guy kind of mentored me

00:57:53.460 --> 00:57:54.460
 and we were talking

00:57:54.460 --> 00:57:55.320
 about the Israel trip,

00:57:55.840 --> 00:57:56.420
 Dr. Hannah,

00:57:56.539 --> 00:57:56.960
 John Hannah

00:57:56.960 --> 00:57:57.420
 and his wife

00:57:57.420 --> 00:57:58.059
 are going to be here

00:57:58.059 --> 00:57:59.579
 and that Thursday night,

00:57:59.679 --> 00:58:00.500
 November 1st,

00:58:01.380 --> 00:58:01.739
 Colin,

00:58:01.960 --> 00:58:02.679
 write this down

00:58:02.679 --> 00:58:03.440
 for your wife.

00:58:03.840 --> 00:58:04.039
 Okay,

00:58:04.039 --> 00:58:05.219
 we're having a date night.

00:58:05.739 --> 00:58:06.480
 So it's anybody,

00:58:06.880 --> 00:58:07.400
 everybody,

00:58:08.739 --> 00:58:09.079
 Aaron,

00:58:09.639 --> 00:58:10.219
 everybody,

00:58:10.320 --> 00:58:10.860
 all the guys,

00:58:10.940 --> 00:58:11.539
 we need help

00:58:11.539 --> 00:58:13.079
 and so it's November 1st,

00:58:13.159 --> 00:58:14.440
 it's at the Cricket Club,

00:58:14.880 --> 00:58:16.079
 it's an all-you-can-eat meal,

00:58:16.279 --> 00:58:17.519
 there's a program involved

00:58:17.519 --> 00:58:18.320
 about marriage

00:58:18.320 --> 00:58:19.219
 and Hannah's been married

00:58:19.219 --> 00:58:20.279
 for over 30 years

00:58:20.279 --> 00:58:22.000
 and talking about raising kids

00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:22.920
 and it's going to be

00:58:22.920 --> 00:58:23.559
 a fun time

00:58:23.559 --> 00:58:24.820
 so we want to encourage you

00:58:24.820 --> 00:58:25.659
 to do that.

00:58:25.739 --> 00:58:26.880
 That's actually me dancing

00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:28.279
 and Christina,

00:58:28.500 --> 00:58:28.900
 that's,

00:58:29.039 --> 00:58:29.199
 yeah.

00:58:29.639 --> 00:58:29.960
 Anyway,

00:58:30.099 --> 00:58:30.659
 so it's going to be

00:58:30.659 --> 00:58:31.119
 a great night.

00:58:31.199 --> 00:58:31.579
 It's one of those

00:58:31.579 --> 00:58:32.820
 money-back guarantee things.

00:58:32.820 --> 00:58:33.580
 If you come

00:58:33.580 --> 00:58:34.360
 and you don't feel like

00:58:34.360 --> 00:58:36.180
 this really built into us,

00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:37.160
 then we'll give you

00:58:37.160 --> 00:58:37.740
 your money back,

00:58:37.760 --> 00:58:38.019
 okay?

00:58:38.320 --> 00:58:38.720
 Seriously.

00:58:39.240 --> 00:58:39.440
 Okay,

00:58:39.740 --> 00:58:40.720
 and the final thing

00:58:40.720 --> 00:58:43.680
 is just the cross.

00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:45.160
 I didn't give it to you

00:58:45.160 --> 00:58:46.300
 just so to give you something

00:58:46.300 --> 00:58:47.480
 but I really want us

00:58:47.480 --> 00:58:48.600
 this week as a church

00:58:48.600 --> 00:58:49.940
 to come before the Lord

00:58:49.940 --> 00:58:50.240
 and say,

00:58:50.340 --> 00:58:51.100
 what does it look like

00:58:51.100 --> 00:58:53.440
 for me to hold this cross

00:58:53.440 --> 00:58:54.160
 up in my work?

00:58:55.460 --> 00:58:56.420
 What does it look like

00:58:56.420 --> 00:58:58.760
 for me to hold this cross

00:58:58.760 --> 00:58:59.740
 up in my marriage,

00:58:59.739 --> 00:59:02.000
 to sacrificially give

00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:03.479
 to people around me?

00:59:03.479 --> 00:59:04.159
 What does it look like

00:59:04.159 --> 00:59:05.219
 for me to love God

00:59:05.219 --> 00:59:06.439
 more?

00:59:07.939 --> 00:59:08.699
 And I think that's

00:59:08.699 --> 00:59:09.379
 very comforting,

00:59:09.519 --> 00:59:09.719
 right?

00:59:09.819 --> 00:59:10.759
 It's like Kip said,

00:59:11.239 --> 00:59:12.479
 if Christina loved me

00:59:12.479 --> 00:59:13.539
 more than she loved God,

00:59:13.659 --> 00:59:14.859
 I would be terrified.

00:59:17.199 --> 00:59:18.659
 I feel very comforting

00:59:18.659 --> 00:59:20.019
 to know that she loves God

00:59:20.019 --> 00:59:21.319
 more than she loves me

00:59:21.319 --> 00:59:22.879
 because she's going to do

00:59:22.879 --> 00:59:23.439
 the right thing

00:59:23.439 --> 00:59:24.239
 if she loves God.

00:59:24.239 --> 00:59:26.319
 She's not if she loves me

00:59:26.319 --> 00:59:26.639
 more,

00:59:27.239 --> 00:59:28.139
 right?

00:59:29.339 --> 00:59:30.139
 What does it mean

00:59:30.139 --> 00:59:31.039
 for us to love God

00:59:31.039 --> 00:59:31.979
 as we walk around

00:59:31.979 --> 00:59:33.899
 Hong Kong this week?

00:59:34.759 --> 00:59:35.119
 By the way,

00:59:35.159 --> 00:59:36.000
 we thank you for this day.

00:59:36.079 --> 00:59:36.939
 We thank you for my

00:59:36.939 --> 00:59:38.079
 brothers and sisters here.

00:59:38.719 --> 00:59:40.079
 We thank you for your word

00:59:40.079 --> 00:59:41.159
 even though it was

00:59:41.159 --> 00:59:43.079
 incredibly challenging

00:59:43.719 --> 00:59:45.239
 in chapter 14

00:59:45.239 --> 00:59:46.819
 where we pray that we would

00:59:46.819 --> 00:59:48.699
 never not look at our hearts.

00:59:48.859 --> 00:59:50.019
 We would never not examine

00:59:50.019 --> 00:59:50.559
 our motives.

00:59:50.799 --> 00:59:51.959
 We would never not examine

00:59:51.960 --> 00:59:54.619
 our love for you

00:59:54.619 --> 00:59:56.320
 and our service

00:59:56.320 --> 00:59:57.460
 to those around us.

00:59:58.240 --> 00:59:59.079
 And so on this journey,

00:59:59.199 --> 00:59:59.860
 we just thank you

00:59:59.860 --> 01:00:00.800
 that you take us

01:00:00.800 --> 01:00:01.360
 baby step,

01:00:01.579 --> 01:00:02.099
 baby step,

01:00:02.260 --> 01:00:02.800
 baby step,

01:00:02.920 --> 01:00:03.440
 baby step.

01:00:03.720 --> 01:00:04.800
 You're not asking us

01:00:04.800 --> 01:00:05.639
 to be perfect.

01:00:05.800 --> 01:00:06.460
 You're not asking us

01:00:06.460 --> 01:00:07.000
 to be super.

01:00:07.539 --> 01:00:08.420
 You're just asking us

01:00:08.420 --> 01:00:09.619
 to surrender to you

01:00:09.619 --> 01:00:10.940
 and baby step,

01:00:11.159 --> 01:00:11.699
 baby step,

01:00:11.900 --> 01:00:12.400
 baby step.

01:00:13.460 --> 01:00:14.559
 He who has ears,

01:00:14.980 --> 01:00:15.519
 let him hear.

01:00:16.579 --> 01:00:17.440
 Lord, we love you.

01:00:17.720 --> 01:00:18.240
 We pray these things

01:00:18.240 --> 01:00:19.240
 in your son Jesus' name.

01:00:19.639 --> 01:00:19.860
 Amen.

01:00:20.280 --> 01:00:20.940
 God bless you.

01:00:21.019 --> 01:00:21.740
 We'll see you next week

01:00:21.739 --> 01:00:22.459
 at ISF.

01:00:22.959 --> 01:00:23.339
 Take care.

01:00:23.339 --> 01:00:23.399
 Thank you.