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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these

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Speaker 2: new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today.

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Speaker 3: So good to be with you guys today. My name

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Speaker 3: is Jonathan. Everyone calls me JJ. I get to serve

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Speaker 3: here as our Valentine campus pastor, and I'm grateful to

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Speaker 3: be able to share God's word with you today.

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Speaker 1: You know, I'm so we're just sinking God.

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Speaker 3: I'm just grateful for you, and I feel so grateful

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Speaker 3: this week, not only grateful for the opportunity to share

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Speaker 3: God's word.

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Speaker 1: But I was just thinking too.

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Speaker 3: In just a couple of weeks, we'll celebrate ten years

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Speaker 3: since this Valentine location opened.

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Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy? Ten years already?

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Speaker 3: And even as I look around this room, I'm so grateful.

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Speaker 3: I see people who have, you know, come at different

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Speaker 3: points along the journey, but so many OG's in the room.

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Speaker 3: Katrina and Antonio all ten years you've been serving with

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Speaker 3: us here. Yeah, and whoel Tom and Lisa are on

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Speaker 3: the floor and Craig name you've been here all ten too? Yeah, Yeah,

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Speaker 3: it's amazing.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.

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Speaker 3: And Anna said in the car, She's like, can you

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Speaker 3: believe that you were just twenty nine years old when

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Speaker 3: Pastor Steven asked you to come help launch this Valentine campus.

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Speaker 3: And I don't know what he was thinking, but I'm

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Speaker 3: so glad that he saw something in me and believed.

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Speaker 3: I'm so grateful for a pastor who would let me

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Speaker 3: grow with the ministry, and these last ten years, being

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Speaker 3: able to be a part of so many of your

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Speaker 3: lives has been such a privilege, and I want to

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Speaker 3: thank Pastor Stephen for the opportunity to preach today. And

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Speaker 3: even as I look back over the ten years, I've

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Speaker 3: been a part of the church longer than that, but

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Speaker 3: so many moments where the messages that God gave him

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Speaker 3: hit me exactly in the place that I needed the most.

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Speaker 3: Even on this Father's Day weekend, I was getting teary

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Speaker 3: thinking about how my firstborn, when I first became a dad.

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Speaker 3: Just a week later, we ended up back in the

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Speaker 3: hospital with him. Remember turning on ugh, oh man, excuse me,

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Speaker 3: but turn it on the stream in that hospital room,

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Speaker 3: watching Pastor preach in the series called How to Be Brave,

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Speaker 3: And at a moment where I needed courage. How his

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Speaker 3: words gave me courage and so many other moments along

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Speaker 3: the way when I wanted to give up and he

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Speaker 3: preached moments sermons like staying power, or where I felt

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Speaker 3: lonely and he preached lonely places.

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Speaker 1: All these amazing messages that.

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Speaker 3: Have just carried me through season to season, glory to glory,

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Speaker 3: strength to strength.

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Speaker 1: Or He's so grateful for our pastors.

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Speaker 3: Can we thank the Lord for them? And this whole

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Speaker 3: summer has been amazing so far. I mean, we've had

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Speaker 3: so many great people bringing the Word of God to us.

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Speaker 3: Pastor Jabon preached a powerful word for us last week,

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Speaker 3: and Pastor Robert mcdou what was that mess?

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Speaker 1: Unbelievable?

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Speaker 3: And who else I'll be preached one weekend. I'll be

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Speaker 3: at a great word for us and Forriscilla Shire, like

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Speaker 3: what was Oh my.

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Speaker 1: Goodness, Oh my goodness.

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Speaker 3: So but I have a scripture I'm excited to share

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Speaker 3: with you today. I've never preached on a psalm, and

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Speaker 3: I just came across the Psalm in my daily reading

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Speaker 3: and administered to me so much that I thought I

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Speaker 3: want to preach that. And as I begin to study

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Speaker 3: this passage, the Lord begin to reveal more and more

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Speaker 3: to me through it, and really challenged me in a

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Speaker 3: way that was pretty profound and personal. It's a long

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Speaker 3: passage of scripture. You good to stand for a little

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Speaker 3: bit while we read this together. I want to read

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Speaker 3: Psalm one thirty nine, and it's so rich. I don't

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Speaker 3: know what the sermon will bless you today, but I

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Speaker 3: know this passage of scripture will bless you today. Let's

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Speaker 3: read this together. The Psalmist said, you have searched me, Lord,

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Speaker 3: and you know me. You know when I sit and

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Speaker 3: when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You

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Speaker 3: discern my going out and.

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Speaker 1: My laying down.

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Speaker 3: You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word

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Speaker 3: is on my tongue, you Lord know it completely. You

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Speaker 3: hem me in behind, and before you lay your hand

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Speaker 3: upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too

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Speaker 3: lofty for me to obtain. Where can I go from

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Speaker 3: your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? When

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Speaker 3: I go up to the heavens, you are there. If

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Speaker 3: I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

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Speaker 3: If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if

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Speaker 3: I settle on the far side of the sea, even there,

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Speaker 3: Your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold

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Speaker 3: me fast. If I say surely, the darkness will hide me,

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Speaker 3: and the light become night around me. Even the darkness

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Speaker 3: will not be dark to you. The night will shine

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Speaker 3: like the day, For darkness is as light to you.

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Speaker 3: For you created my inmost being. You knit me together

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Speaker 3: in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am

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Speaker 3: fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Speaker 1: Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My

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Speaker 1: frame was not hidden from you when I was made

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Speaker 1: in the secret place.

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Speaker 3: When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

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Speaker 3: your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained

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Speaker 3: for me were written in your book before one of

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Speaker 3: them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts? God,

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Speaker 3: How vast is the sum of them. Where I had

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Speaker 3: to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.

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Speaker 3: When I awake still I am with you. Search me, God,

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Speaker 3: and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

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Speaker 3: See if there is any offensive way in me, and

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Speaker 3: lead me in the way everlasting. Before I give you

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Speaker 3: my title, would you just make David's words your prayer

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Speaker 3: this morning? Would you just say search me God. Now

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Speaker 3: say it to your father in heaven, say search me God.

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Speaker 3: The title of my message today is I left that out.

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Speaker 1: I left that out. You may be seated.

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Speaker 3: This is always a big week in our household. Two

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Speaker 3: of my kids had birthdays this week and of course

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Speaker 3: Father's Day, and then just a week ago, me and

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Speaker 3: Anna celebrated sixteen years of marriage. Praise the Lord. They

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Speaker 3: said we wouldn't make it look at us. One of

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Speaker 3: the things we've really made a priority in our marriage

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Speaker 3: and our life over the last several years now is

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Speaker 3: doing a marriage counseling together.

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Speaker 1: So helpful. Every time I say that, people go like, oh, no,

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Speaker 1: what's wrong, But for.

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Speaker 3: Us, it was, you know, we just saw, wouldn't it

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Speaker 3: be good to talk with someone regularly, get perspective, get

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Speaker 3: healthy before something goes wrong, you know, especially as life

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Speaker 3: becomes more complex, is we're trying to raise kids and

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Speaker 3: all that, and so we've been doing this for a

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Speaker 3: few years now and it's been so helpful for us.

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Speaker 3: Ninety nine percent of our time with the counselor is

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Speaker 3: Anna working through things. But now and then there's something

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Speaker 3: that comes up that pertains to me and anyone who

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Speaker 3: knows this knows that's very far from the truth, okay.

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Speaker 3: But one of the things that the counselor's been really

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Speaker 3: trying to work with me on that I can tell

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Speaker 3: she keeps nudging and it's taken me a while to

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Speaker 3: get the hint, is just being more open and being

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Speaker 3: a little bit more vulnerable. I can be a pretty

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Speaker 3: guarded person. I'm a nice person, but I can be

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Speaker 3: a pretty guarded person. And I can tell the counselor's

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Speaker 3: been working with me, trying to work with me on that,

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Speaker 3: because even in mine and Anna's relationship, it's like I'll

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Speaker 3: come home from work and I'm so interested in her

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Speaker 3: day and what the kids are up to, and we'll

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Speaker 3: listen to her stories from throughout the day, and when

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Speaker 3: she asked me, how was your day, I normally give

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Speaker 3: her this answer it was good, it was good, and

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Speaker 3: it's not a lie, it's just limited. That's kind of

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Speaker 3: all I give her. And then I'm realizing something's wrong

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Speaker 3: with me when I see her using little tricks on

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Speaker 3: me that she uses on our boys, Like she'll ask

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Speaker 3: them around the dinner table, what were your.

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Speaker 1: Highs and lows?

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Speaker 3: And they seemed to talk a little bit more so

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Speaker 3: when she started asking me what was your highs and lows?

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Speaker 3: I go, oh, my goodness, I need to grow. God

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Speaker 3: help me. And so the counselor's been she's been trying

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Speaker 3: to help me in this. And I had a friend

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Speaker 3: this week he said it this way. He said, full

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Speaker 3: intimacy requires full access. Full intimacy requires full access.

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Speaker 1: And even as I.

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Speaker 3: Think about it in my relationship with Anna and other

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Speaker 3: relationships in my life, I'm realizing more and more that

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Speaker 3: even when it comes to my relationship with God, there's

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Speaker 3: a lot of things that I leave out when it

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Speaker 3: comes to my prime.

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Speaker 1: And prayer with Him, my walk with him.

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Speaker 3: Thing is that I think, oh, that's just too small

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Speaker 3: for God to care about. Other people are going through

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Speaker 3: way harder things than that. Why would God care about this?

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Speaker 3: I'll just leave that out. Or things that I feel

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Speaker 3: are too messy, too shameful to bring to God, so

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Speaker 3: I just leave that out. But more and more I'm

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Speaker 3: realizing that to have an intimate relationship with God, to

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Speaker 3: really know him, it requires that I give him full

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Speaker 3: access to my life. This time last year, I'm father's

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Speaker 3: dad preached a message called All I Know. It was

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Speaker 3: about personally experiencing the power of God, the testimonies we

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Speaker 3: build through. That really is such a theme of my

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Speaker 3: life because I think that deep down I have such

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Speaker 3: a desire to know the Lord. One of my favorite

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Speaker 3: scriptures my life Versus Philippians three ten, where Paul says,

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Speaker 3: my one purpose is that I would know Christ.

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Speaker 1: It resonates with me. That really resonates with me.

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Speaker 3: And yet I think, as deeply as I desire to

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Speaker 3: know the Lord, there's a part of me that really

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Speaker 3: hesitates to let the Lord know me. But full intimacy

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Speaker 3: requires full access. This psalm is so beautiful because David

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Speaker 3: is laying forth a theology that tells us so much

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Speaker 3: about God. There's a simple structure to this. It goes

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Speaker 3: six verses, six verses, six verses. For the first six verses,

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Speaker 3: he's talking about this simple idea that God knows everything.

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Speaker 3: The theological term for that is God is omniscient. It

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Speaker 3: means there's nothing that he doesn't know. David says, you know,

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Speaker 3: you know when I lie, You know the words I

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Speaker 3: speak before they even come out of my mouth. Let

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Speaker 3: your neighbors say, God knows everything. God knows everything. So

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Speaker 3: he spends six verses talking about how God knows every

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Speaker 3: single detail of your life. And then the next six

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Speaker 3: verses he talks about the how God is everywhere. The

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Speaker 3: word for that is He's omnipresent. Everyone say, God is everywhere.

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Speaker 3: He says, Even if I go to the darkness, you're there.

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Speaker 1: God. It becomes light to you. If I go to

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Speaker 1: the heavens, You're there.

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Speaker 3: If I go to that, there's nowhere I can go

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Speaker 3: that your presence doesn't go with me.

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Speaker 1: And then for the next six.

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Speaker 3: Verses, David begins to talk about the power of God.

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Speaker 3: He's omnipotent. He says, God, you're the one who made

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Speaker 3: me in the depths. Only you can for me and

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Speaker 3: declare over me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

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Speaker 3: David gives this beautiful structure. God knows everything. God's the

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Speaker 3: one who created me. God is everywhere. And yet so

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Speaker 3: I read through this psalm as beautiful as it was.

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Speaker 3: You know, every single one of these lines you could

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Speaker 3: put on a T shirt and sell them, and sell

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Speaker 3: them and sell a coffee mug, sell a T shirt.

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Speaker 3: It's filled with so many amazing verses. And yet as

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Speaker 3: I was reading this Psalm, I don't know if you notice,

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Speaker 3: But there is a part that I left out when

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Speaker 3: I read it to you. I left it out because

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Speaker 3: it was dark. I left it out because it gets messy.

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Speaker 1: I left it out.

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Speaker 3: Because, honestly, as I read through this psalm, I thought,

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Speaker 3: I don't know how that'll work on a Sunday morning.

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Speaker 3: I left it out because it almost feels so random,

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Speaker 3: like David goes just right off track in the midst

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Speaker 3: of all these beautiful words that David is saying, you know,

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Speaker 3: he ends in verse eighteen, where where I had to

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Speaker 3: count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand.

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Speaker 3: When I awake, I am still with you. And then

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Speaker 3: here's what I left out. If only you God would

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Speaker 3: slay the wicked away from me, You who are blood thirsty.

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Speaker 3: They speak of you with evil intent, Your adversaries misuse

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Speaker 3: your name.

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Speaker 1: Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord?

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Speaker 3: And abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

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Speaker 1: I have nothing but hatred for them. I count them

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Speaker 1: my enemies.

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Speaker 3: Search me, Oh God, and know my heart, Test me

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Speaker 3: and see you're like whoa David once gets aphrendic them, David,

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Speaker 3: where did that?

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Speaker 1: Where did that come from?

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Speaker 3: All this amazing scripture telling us about who God is,

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Speaker 3: how God knows everything, the intricate details of my life.

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Speaker 3: There's nowhere I can go, know where I can run

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Speaker 3: that God isn't with me. And then you're going into

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Speaker 3: I hate my enemies. I wish you would kill them, David,

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Speaker 3: Where did that come from? And yet I'm so thankful

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Speaker 3: that God.

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Speaker 1: Didn't leave that part out.

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Speaker 3: So I was thinking through, how do I preach this message.

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Speaker 3: I'll just have to leave that part out. God began

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Speaker 3: to speak to me more and more he goes, no, no, no, no.

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Speaker 3: I left that in for a reason. I'm so glad

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Speaker 3: he left that part in because it teaches me something

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Speaker 3: about how I relate to God. I wonder if, when

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Speaker 3: God was putting together the scriptures through the inspiration of

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Speaker 3: his spirit, whether they were the ones writing it or

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Speaker 3: whether someone was writing it. How many times some of

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Speaker 3: these Bible characters are like, hey, God, can you leave

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Speaker 3: that part out? Like I wonder if Moses was like cool,

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Speaker 3: tell them about how I.

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Speaker 1: Was rescued out of the basket.

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Speaker 3: That's pretty cool, and how I split the Red Sea,

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Speaker 3: that's pretty cool.

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Speaker 1: But the part where I got angry and just killed

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Speaker 1: the guy. Do you think we could leave that out?

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Speaker 3: Or Abraham, the father of our faith, do you think

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Speaker 3: he was ever like, hey, do you think you could

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Speaker 3: leave the part out where I've mistreated Hagar and or

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Speaker 3: when I conceived I was too impatient to wait with Sarah,

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Speaker 3: so I conceived the child with Hagar, Or how I

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Speaker 3: lied about who my wife was a couple of times.

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Speaker 1: Tell them the good things about how you know I.

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Speaker 3: Left the city I knew in faith believing God for

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Speaker 3: some tell him that part, but the parts about my mistakes?

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Speaker 3: Could you leave that out? Or if Rehab was like, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 3: tell them about how I helped rescue the spies, how

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Speaker 3: I helped save them, but about my career choices, do

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Speaker 3: you think you could leave that out? Or even saw,

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Speaker 3: Oh Paul, the guy who planted so many churches and

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Speaker 3: reached the gentile world with the gospel, do you think

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Speaker 3: he was like, hey, yeah, tell them about the leaders

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Speaker 3: I raised up and the churches I planted, But God,

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Speaker 3: maybe don't tell them about how I was the one

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Speaker 3: standing there when they stone Stephen. All these moments in

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Speaker 3: the scripture that people we read about. I'm so grateful

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Speaker 3: that God left those details in because it tells me

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Speaker 3: about tells me something about the way God wants to

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Speaker 3: relate to us. I'm so glad that David left this

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Speaker 3: part of the Psalmen in the midst of all his

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Speaker 3: language about who God is and the characteristics of God.

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Speaker 3: I'm so grateful that he got to a moment of

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Speaker 3: vulnerability and honesty where he said, God, I want to

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Speaker 3: tell you where I really am right now. It's so

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Speaker 3: deeply personal that it almost feels like uncomfortable for us

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Speaker 3: on a Sunday morning. I hate the bloodthirsty people. I

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Speaker 3: wish you would kill them. God, You're like, what What

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Speaker 3: you have to remember is this is David's personal diaries

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Speaker 3: that they turned into songs that the whole nation would sing.

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Speaker 1: That's wild, y'all.

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Speaker 3: Imagine coming to church on a Sunday morning and tif

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Speaker 3: gets done singing, God, You've been so so good to me,

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Speaker 3: and then we go.

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Speaker 1: Next song and I grab Eric.

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Speaker 3: Eric's journal would be too messing, Okay, I grab Deanna's journal.

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Speaker 3: I say, all right, I throw these up on the screens.

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Speaker 3: We're all gonna sing it together, y'all. The whole nation

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Speaker 3: would sing this psalm And I'm so glad that David

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Speaker 3: left it in He left in the parts that we

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Speaker 3: want to leave out. And I wonder sometimes if the

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Speaker 3: reason we come into God's presence, the reason we come

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Speaker 3: to church sometimes and hear a powerful word and leave unchanged.

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Speaker 3: I wonder if the reason we leave unchanged is because

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Speaker 3: we're leaving out some of the things that we're meant

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Speaker 3: to bring to God. There's things that we left in

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Speaker 3: the car this morning. There's issues you're going through that

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Speaker 3: you left at home. And I wonder what it would

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Speaker 3: look like for us to bring those things into God's

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Speaker 3: presence in prayer and submission and worship. What would it

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Speaker 3: look like to bring the parts to God that were

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Speaker 3: so tempted to leave out time and time again because

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Speaker 3: we think they don't belong, because we think God can't

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Speaker 3: handle it, because we think they're too messy, too dark,

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Speaker 3: too ugly. What would it look like to bring those

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Speaker 3: very things into the presence of God and lay them

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Speaker 3: down at the altar and say, God, would you meet

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Speaker 3: me in this place where I need a touch of

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Speaker 3: your presence right now, where I need your healing power,

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Speaker 3: where I need your hand to deliver me. And yet

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Speaker 3: the enemy will fight so hard to keep us stuck,

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Speaker 3: running and running and running and hiding, and hiding and hiding,

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Speaker 3: so we never bring those things into the presence of God.

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Speaker 3: And like I said earlier, though, but full intimacy requires

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Speaker 3: full access.

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Speaker 1: What does it look like to say, God, here, I

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Speaker 1: am have everything.

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Speaker 3: I want to relook at this scripture together through that

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Speaker 3: lens of some of the things that we do, because

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Speaker 3: one by one David is giving us a theology that

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Speaker 3: leads us to a place of honesty.

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Speaker 1: See.

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Speaker 3: I read those verses and I thought those are too random,

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Speaker 3: And yet I realize everything David is laying out from

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Speaker 3: verses one through eighteen, He is laying a belief about

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Speaker 3: God that actually leads him to the place where he

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Speaker 3: can say those things.

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Speaker 1: Do you understand what I'm saying?

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Speaker 3: His theology, his view of who God was, let him

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Speaker 3: to the place where he says, God, I can trust

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Speaker 3: you with all this. I can tell you how I

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Speaker 3: really feel, I can tell you what I'm going through

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Speaker 3: right now. And so one by one he dismantles it.

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Speaker 3: And the first point that I want to talk to

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Speaker 3: you about from those.

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Speaker 1: First six verses is this.

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Speaker 3: He says, Essentially, what's the point in hiding? If God

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Speaker 3: knows everything? What's the point of hiding. If God knows everything,

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Speaker 3: One of our tendencies in our relationship with God is

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Speaker 3: to hide, And David keeps going, why would you hide

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Speaker 3: from God?

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Speaker 1: If he knows when you sit, he knows when you stand,

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Speaker 1: If he.

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Speaker 3: Knows every word that comes out of your mouth before

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Speaker 3: you even speak it, what's the point in hiding? If

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Speaker 3: God knows everything? When I read these verses to my

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Speaker 3: oldest son on the porchrain day, I read those verses, said,

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Speaker 3: and what do you think this means? He goes, God

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Speaker 3: sees everything I do. And he said it like that,

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Speaker 3: and he said, I don't know a way that I

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Speaker 3: think a lot of us feel. When we think about

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Speaker 3: the omniscience of God, how he knows everything, we still

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Speaker 3: think that God is like the Nessay, just surveilling us,

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Speaker 3: waiting for us to mess up. Where he's Santa Claus.

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Speaker 3: He knows when you're sleeping, he knows when you're away,

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Speaker 3: he knows if you've been bad or good. And we

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Speaker 3: think God is out to catch us, and so we

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Speaker 3: keep trying to hide, hide, hide from God because we

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Speaker 3: think he's a father waiting for us to mess up

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Speaker 3: so he can strike us.

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Speaker 1: But that's not what David is saying.

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Speaker 3: He's saying God knows every God is so intimately connected

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Speaker 3: to our lives. When it says that you hen me

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Speaker 3: in before and behind, some of us view that like

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Speaker 3: a prison, But David wants you to see this as

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Speaker 3: an embrace. He's saying, God's right there with you. Whatever

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Speaker 3: you're walking through, whatever you're going through, He's right in

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Speaker 3: it with you. He knows everything already, So what's the

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Speaker 3: point in hiding. If God knows everything, you can tell

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Speaker 3: him the truth. He already knows everything you've been through,

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Speaker 3: everything you're going through, everything you're feeling. You can bring

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Speaker 3: it to God. There's a story in John chapter four

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Speaker 3: where Jesus goes. He sits down at a well in

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Speaker 3: an area called Samaria, and at noon, in the heat

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Speaker 3: of the sun, a woman comes up to catch walk

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Speaker 3: kid to get some water. She's coming at noon because

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Speaker 3: she's hiding. She's hiding from people. She doesn't want to

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Speaker 3: be seen by anybody else, so she goes to the

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Speaker 3: well at a time when she knows nobody else will

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Speaker 3: be there. She's hiding from her mistakes, she's hiding from

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Speaker 3: her past. And yet when she gets to this well,

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Speaker 3: Jesus is there waiting for her, and Jesus asks her

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Speaker 3: a simple question, he says, as they're interacting, he says,

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Speaker 3: where's your husband?

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Speaker 1: And she says, ah.

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Speaker 3: He doesn't ask her that question because he needs information.

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Speaker 3: He's asking her that question because he wants access.

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Speaker 1: Access.

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Speaker 3: Full intimacy requires full access. Where's your husband? She says, Oh,

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Speaker 3: I don't have a husband. He says, you're right, You've

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Speaker 3: had five and the man you're living with isn't your husband.

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Speaker 3: He didn't bring all this up to condemn her, but

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Speaker 3: he brought it up so he could offer her something better.

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Speaker 3: He offers her living water so that she wouldn't have

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Speaker 3: to keep running to other people to find satisfaction.

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Speaker 1: He brings it up to say, already know everything you've done.

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Speaker 3: I already know everything you're going through, so why don't

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Speaker 3: you just be honest about it so I can give

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Speaker 3: you the solution to what you've been going through. And

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Speaker 3: something so powerful happens in this story because after Jesus

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Speaker 3: brings up everything she's done, it says in John chapter four,

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Speaker 3: verse twenty eight. Then leaving the water jar, the woman

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Speaker 3: went back to the town and said to the people, well,

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Speaker 3: what people, the very people she was hiding from.

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Speaker 1: She's now running too, and she.

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Speaker 3: Says, come, come and see a man who told me

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Speaker 3: everything I ever did, the very things.

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Speaker 1: That she was trying to hide.

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Speaker 3: She says, come see a man who told me all

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Speaker 3: about the things I was trying to keep hidden. He

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Speaker 3: already knew at all, She said, Could this be the Messiah?

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Speaker 3: And this woman who was hiding in shame became an

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Speaker 3: evangelist for the goodness of God? Is it possible today

439
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,520
Speaker 3: that the things that we're trying to leave out are

440
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,240
Speaker 3: actually the places that not only does God want to heal,

441
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:57,600
Speaker 3: but that God wants to use in our lives to

442
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,960
Speaker 3: impact and reach other people. What does it look like

443
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,760
Speaker 3: to bring the things that we've been hiding to God

444
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,359
Speaker 3: and lay them out at his feet? But the enemy

445
00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,199
Speaker 3: will tempt us to view God the wrong way, so

446
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,879
Speaker 3: that we keep things hidden because he knows that what

447
00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:16,119
Speaker 3: goes in the dark grows in the dark. And God

448
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,719
Speaker 3: cannot heal what you keep hidden. So what does it

449
00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:23,879
Speaker 3: look like to bring everything to God? Because David says,

450
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,800
Speaker 3: he already knows. He knows everything. Before a word ever

451
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,119
Speaker 3: came out of your mouth, he knew about it. The

452
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,200
Speaker 3: next thing David wants to confront is our tendency to run,

453
00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 3: and for six verses he talks about how God is everywhere,

454
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:43,040
Speaker 3: Touch your neighbor against say, God is everywhere, and what's

455
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,000
Speaker 3: the point in running?

456
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:45,720
Speaker 1: If God is everywhere?

457
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,760
Speaker 3: All of us have a tendency to run, whether that's

458
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,200
Speaker 3: from God, whether that's from our reality, whether that's from

459
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,760
Speaker 3: our emotions or situations in our lives that get heavy.

460
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,880
Speaker 3: But what's the point in running if God is everywhere?

461
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:00,960
Speaker 3: You know, running only where if there's a place that

462
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:05,160
Speaker 3: God can't go, And the Psalma says there isn't even

463
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,040
Speaker 3: if I go into the depths, You're there, even darkness.

464
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:09,720
Speaker 1: If you show up, it just becomes light.

465
00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,720
Speaker 3: There's nowhere I can't go that His presence hasn't already gone.

466
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 3: So what's the point in trying to run if His

467
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,879
Speaker 3: presence goes with me?

468
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,440
Speaker 1: As I was reading this passage, I don't know why.

469
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 3: I think it was the Holy Spirit, but it brought

470
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,840
Speaker 3: to mind a memory of a woman I already mentioned,

471
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:29,760
Speaker 3: a woman named Hagar. Her story in Genesis is so powerful.

472
00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 3: Hagar was Abraham's Egyptian slave.

473
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:33,440
Speaker 1: She's an Egyptian.

474
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,840
Speaker 3: She's outside of the Covenant, and Abraham and his wife

475
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,280
Speaker 3: Sarah really mistreated her. And there's a moment in the

476
00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:43,080
Speaker 3: scriptures where she starts running to escape her situation. See,

477
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:45,760
Speaker 3: sometimes we're hiding from the things that we've done. Other

478
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,639
Speaker 3: times we're running because of the things that have been

479
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,119
Speaker 3: done to us. She's running from the mistreatment, the betrayal,

480
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,880
Speaker 3: the abuse, and she's on the run in the wilderness.

481
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 3: And even in her running it's so beautiful. God meets

482
00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:00,080
Speaker 3: her there and he calls her in the wilderness and

483
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 3: he says, Hagar, where are you coming from?

484
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:03,920
Speaker 1: And where are you going again.

485
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,119
Speaker 3: He's not asking because he needs the information. He's asking

486
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,959
Speaker 3: because he wants access, and he encounters her in her running.

487
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,679
Speaker 3: He encounters her in the wilderness, her trying to escape

488
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 3: everything that she's going through. God meets her there and

489
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,480
Speaker 3: calls her by name, and she becomes the first person

490
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 3: in all of Scripture to give God a personal name.

491
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 3: She calls him el Roy, the God who sees me.

492
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 3: Not a priest, not a patriarch, not someone not a Hebrew.

493
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,360
Speaker 3: The first person in all of Scripture to give God

494
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 3: a personal name is an Egyptian slave who on the

495
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 3: run encounters the Lord and says, I found the God.

496
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: Who sees me. How beautiful is that?

497
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 3: And later she ends up going back to Abraham's household,

498
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 3: and fast forward a little bit. She has a son

499
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,640
Speaker 3: with Abraham and they're on the run. Abraham and Sarah

500
00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 3: eventually kick her out of the house. And this ministered

501
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 3: to me so much when I saw it, because she's

502
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 3: back in the wilderness again, running, running, not because it

503
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 3: was her own fault, but just the realcy of her

504
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 3: life caused her to run, and she's running out of water,

505
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,399
Speaker 3: and she realizes her son is about to die, and

506
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 3: so she places him under a bush and walks away.

507
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,600
Speaker 3: She wants to be at a distance because she doesn't

508
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,639
Speaker 3: want to watch her son take his last breath. And

509
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,159
Speaker 3: once again, the Lord shows up for her in the

510
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,439
Speaker 3: middle of the wilderness, because remember, friends, there's nowhere you

511
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 3: can go that his presence can't find you.

512
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 1: And she says that look at this.

513
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 3: In Genesis twenty one seventeen, it says, and God heard

514
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,240
Speaker 3: the voice of the boy, and the Angel of the

515
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,479
Speaker 3: Lord called the hagar from heaven and said to her,

516
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: what troubles you, hagar?

517
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:35,440
Speaker 1: Fear not look at this?

518
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 3: For God has heard the boy's cry from where he is,

519
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 3: from where he is. That blessed me to know that

520
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 3: God will hear you from where you are, not where

521
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 3: you pretend to be, not where you think you should be,

522
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 3: not with all your polished words that you clean up

523
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,160
Speaker 3: for church. God will hear you from where you are.

524
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,360
Speaker 3: Henry now, and he said it this way, I hope

525
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 3: I can find it in. He says, crying out to

526
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 3: God is not a sign of weakness, It's a sign

527
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 3: of faith. Cries out to God. I have heard the

528
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 3: boys cry from where he is. Just the other day,

529
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 3: it was such a God moment. I'd been reading this

530
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 3: psalm just personally, not knowing if I was going to

531
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 3: preach it, and I decided to reach out to a

532
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:20,959
Speaker 3: friend of mine who lives in the UK. She used

533
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,920
Speaker 3: to work for us here at the church. A few

534
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 3: years ago, while she was still here, her mom had

535
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:30,160
Speaker 3: a brain aneurism and passed pretty quickly, so tragic. And

536
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:31,960
Speaker 3: I texted her the other day just to check in,

537
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,480
Speaker 3: and she said, I'm so glad you've reached out.

538
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: I've been meaning to text you.

539
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,639
Speaker 3: She said, my dad just got diagnosed with brain cancer

540
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 3: and had surgery on Wednesday.

541
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 1: He just got out of the hospital today.

542
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 3: She said, they're giving them twelve months to live. So

543
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 3: I pick up the phone, I call her. Parents were amazing,

544
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 3: They've served their life, served God their whole life.

545
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: Their pastors over there, and I pick up the phone

546
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:51,879
Speaker 1: and I call her, and she's.

547
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:53,800
Speaker 3: Just talking me through all the details, and she said,

548
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,840
Speaker 3: you know, my dad's so amazing. He's so full of

549
00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 3: faith right now, believing that God is fully going to

550
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 3: heal him. And she said, but I'm really struggling, she said,

551
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:03,640
Speaker 3: I don't feel like I have the faith he does.

552
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,600
Speaker 3: She said, because when my mom got sick, I prayed

553
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 3: and believed for her healing and God didn't heal her.

554
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,359
Speaker 3: So she said, So, if I'm being honest right now,

555
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 3: I don't know if I believe God can heal my dad.

556
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,119
Speaker 3: And I said, Dear, she said that I know that

557
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 3: kind of sounds like weak faith at faith. I said, Gabby,

558
00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:29,679
Speaker 3: that's not weak faith, that's honest faith. And it blessed

559
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:31,840
Speaker 3: me to know that God will hear you from where

560
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 3: you are, not where you think you should be. See,

561
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,679
Speaker 3: sometimes when we come to God, we think we have

562
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,400
Speaker 3: to have it all cleaned up. But God will hear

563
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,239
Speaker 3: your cry from the realest place. God will hear your

564
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 3: cry when you say, God, I don't know how to

565
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 3: believe you for this right now because last time you

566
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 3: left me disappointed. How powerful is that to think that

567
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 3: faith isn't just certainty and his promises, It can be both.

568
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 3: You can say, God, I believe you have the power

569
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,159
Speaker 3: to heal. God, I believe you have the power to deliver.

570
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,359
Speaker 3: But if God is big enough to do all those things,

571
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,080
Speaker 3: what does it look like to trust his character and

572
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,439
Speaker 3: believe that he's big enough to handle our doubts, handle

573
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 3: our fears, handle our questions, handle our concerns. Do you

574
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 3: think God is big enough to handle all that?

575
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:14,400
Speaker 1: And so I loved her.

576
00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 3: Honesty because she says, God, last time I believed you

577
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 3: for it, and you didn't do it. So I'm struggling

578
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,359
Speaker 3: to trust you right now. That's the type of faith

579
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 3: that God responds to. She gave him access. And God

580
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,159
Speaker 3: will always hear your honest prayer. God will hear you

581
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 3: church from where you are. And David says, you don't

582
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,359
Speaker 3: have to keep running. You don't have to keep running

583
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 3: away from everything that you're facing. Just bring it to

584
00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,840
Speaker 3: God and he will meet you in that place.

585
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 1: Amen. Amen.

586
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 3: That really ministered to me because I think sometimes in

587
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 3: church we can be come so conditioned to always bring

588
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 3: God the right answer.

589
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: You know.

590
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 3: It's like maybe there's someone in this room who time

591
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 3: and time again, it's been your fourth time going to

592
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,640
Speaker 3: the fertility doctor and they said not this time, and

593
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:03,040
Speaker 3: your tendency is just to go God, I trust your timing,

594
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 3: And it's okay to say, God, I do trust your timing,

595
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 3: but I'm also really disappointed right now.

596
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 1: It's okay to say, and God.

597
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,480
Speaker 3: It's really hard for me to be happy for other

598
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,600
Speaker 3: people while we're going through this ourselves.

599
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:17,000
Speaker 1: God can handle all that.

600
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 3: Some of us come to church and we can't even

601
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 3: lift our hands because we're white knuckling our way through

602
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 3: in an addiction. And God is saying, you don't have

603
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 3: to hide all that. You can say it over and

604
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 3: over again. God, I believe you for deliverance and it

605
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:30,440
Speaker 3: didn't happen and I relapsed again. You can bring all

606
00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 3: that to God, and I want you to know that

607
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 3: He will hear you from where you are. David says,

608
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,320
Speaker 3: there's nowhere I can go that God isn't with me,

609
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 3: And then perhaps most powerfully David. In the next few verses,

610
00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,600
Speaker 3: he addresses our tendency to pretend, and he says, what's

611
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,200
Speaker 3: the point in pretending?

612
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:50,719
Speaker 1: If God's the one who made me?

613
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,800
Speaker 3: You created my inmost being, You knit me together in

614
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 3: my mother's womb. Every day of my life was ordained

615
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 3: and written in your book of life. He's saying, God

616
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 3: already knows everything about you. He's the one who made you,

617
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,639
Speaker 3: So what's the point in pretending? You know, pretending is

618
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,359
Speaker 3: some in some ways one of the most sophisticated ways

619
00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:14,119
Speaker 3: that we leave things out from God's presence. You know,

620
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 3: running running can be exhausting. The thing about running is

621
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,639
Speaker 3: that we end up circling the same issues and running

622
00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 3: away from the very person who can heal.

623
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: See. I don't know a lot about running.

624
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 3: The one thing I know is and the most important

625
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 3: thing is that it's exhausting.

626
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:29,720
Speaker 2: We run.

627
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 1: We run.

628
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 3: Someone just testified over there, Okay, can run, we can run.

629
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 3: We can try to hide. But maybe one of the

630
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 3: most sophisticated things we do is we try to pretend.

631
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 3: And I think we do it to preemptively avoid rejection.

632
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 3: Sometime there's a belief that if people really knew who

633
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 3: we were, they would reject us. And maybe we built

634
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,800
Speaker 3: that defense mechanism because it's true, maybe people have rejected you.

635
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 3: But what David wants you to know is God will

636
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 3: never reject you. He's the one who made you, and

637
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 3: when He created you with all your quirks, he declared

638
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 3: over you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. So

639
00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:06,440
Speaker 3: when it comes to God, you don't need to pretend.

640
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 3: You don't need to act like you have it all together.

641
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 3: You don't need to act like you don't have hang ups,

642
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 3: you don't need to act like there's things that you're

643
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 3: not ashamed of. You can bring it all to him

644
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 3: because he created you. He kniche you together by his

645
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,959
Speaker 3: power and by his will. He designed you, He placed

646
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,760
Speaker 3: you here and every single thing you've gone through and

647
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 3: every single day of your life, he says it was

648
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,920
Speaker 3: written in his book. His sovereign hand has been guiding

649
00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 3: you the whole time. And so David's saying, you don't

650
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 3: have to pretend. This is the God who created you.

651
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 3: And yet I think so often, and maybe I'm just

652
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 3: speaking for myself, I come into church and I feel

653
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 3: like I need to pretend with God.

654
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,840
Speaker 1: Anybody else that I need to act like I have

655
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 1: it all together.

656
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 3: There's a parable that Jesus gives in Luke chapter eighteen.

657
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,560
Speaker 3: He says two men went up onto the temple to pray,

658
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 3: one a pharisee and the other the tax collector. He's

659
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 3: talking about the best and the worst. Right here, he's

660
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 3: given a contrast, and the pharisee good by himself and

661
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,840
Speaker 3: prayed God. I thank you that I'm not like other

662
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 3: people robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

663
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 1: How awkward is this?

664
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 3: The guy can probably hear him. God, I thank you

665
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 3: so much that I'm not an adulterer. I thank you

666
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 3: that I'm not a tax collector. I thank you that

667
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:21,400
Speaker 3: I'm not a pharisee. God, I thank you so much

668
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 3: that I'm not like Chris sitting over there. God, I

669
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 3: just I don't know if I have a lot to

670
00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:26,560
Speaker 3: praise you for, but I'm just glad I'm not like

671
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 3: that guy.

672
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,720
Speaker 1: That's what he's doing. It's so arrogant, it's crazy. He says.

673
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 3: I'm thank you that I'm not like this tax collector.

674
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: I fast twice a.

675
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 3: Week, and I give a tenth of all I get y'all.

676
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:43,400
Speaker 3: He's treating his prayer time like a performance review. He's

677
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,200
Speaker 3: coming to God and he's listing all the things. Do

678
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 3: you ever do that? Sometimes negotiating with God. Hey, God, Hey,

679
00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 3: I'm here, just checking in. I want to let you

680
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 3: know I've been doing I've been doing really good lately.

681
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 3: And God, I've been going to church a lot more regularly.

682
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 3: I even started tyed. I signed up for an e team.

683
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,360
Speaker 3: I'm going to start serving at the church. And God

684
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,400
Speaker 3: just want to let you know. See what the pharisees

685
00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 3: say is.

686
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: Not a lie. It's just limited.

687
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 3: He probably did fast, he probably did tithe. The question

688
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 3: is not what he did. The question is what is

689
00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 3: he leaving out? What were the secret things that he

690
00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 3: was struggling with that he didn't bring before God? What

691
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 3: about the pride he was carrying? You notice he left

692
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 3: that out? He says, God, I just think you that

693
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:24,800
Speaker 3: I'm not like these other people. Look at all the

694
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 3: things I do. And then Jesus, by contrast, shows us

695
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 3: the tax collector says he wouldn't even look up to heaven,

696
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 3: but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me.

697
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,200
Speaker 3: A sinner. Jesus says, I tell you that this is

698
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 3: the man who will walk away justified? Why because he

699
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 3: was honest. One man came before God saying, Hey, God,

700
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:44,920
Speaker 3: this is what I've done.

701
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 1: Look at me. But he left the lot out.

702
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 3: The other came before God and said, God, I just

703
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 3: got to be real with you. I need your mercy.

704
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 3: I need you God. I'm a sinner. I don't deserve this,

705
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 3: but this is who I am, and.

706
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 1: You know me.

707
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 3: Would you meet me in this place just as I am?

708
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 1: One man walked away justified?

709
00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:05,320
Speaker 3: And I think sometimes in our walk with God, we

710
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 3: do the same thing where we come before him and

711
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 3: we feel like we need to pretend to earn his love.

712
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 3: We feel like we need to pretend to convince them

713
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 3: that we're worth blessing. We feel like we need to

714
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,920
Speaker 3: pretend to convince them that we have it all together.

715
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,680
Speaker 3: And David saying, are you joking me? He knitch you

716
00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:23,640
Speaker 3: together in your mother's womb. He knows everything about you.

717
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 3: He saw when you stood up, he saw when you

718
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 3: laid down. He knows everything already. So what are we

719
00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 3: pretending for? And I wonder what encounter would look like?

720
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 3: What kind of encounters with God we would have? What

721
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 3: kind of intimacy with the Father we would experience if

722
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,760
Speaker 3: we came to God and refuse to pretend. It's wild.

723
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 3: It's wild. There's a story back to Genesis. You know

724
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 3: I've mentioned Abraham. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac

725
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 3: had a son named Jacob. Tracking with me. Jacob was

726
00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,600
Speaker 3: the second born, but he wanted the firstborn blessing, and

727
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 3: there's a story in Genesis thirty two where he goes

728
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,400
Speaker 3: to his father, or sorry in Genesis twenty seven, where

729
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 3: he goes to his father and he wants the firstborn blessing,

730
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 3: and to get that he has to pretend to be

731
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 3: his older brother, Esau. So he puts fur on his

732
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 3: back because his.

733
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: Brother was Harry.

734
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 3: Abraham's gone blind at this point, but he goes, if

735
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 3: my dad touches me out, he'll feel the fur, He'll

736
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 3: think I'm Esau. And he changes his voice, and so

737
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,920
Speaker 3: he goes to his father and he asks, and Jacob

738
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,720
Speaker 3: asks his father Isaac for the blessing, and Isaac.

739
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: Go, what's your name? Who are you?

740
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,880
Speaker 3: That's the question he asked, and he answered, I'm Esau.

741
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,360
Speaker 3: He was pretending to be someone else, and in his

742
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 3: pretending he's got his blind father's blessing. But the rest

743
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 3: of it, I don't know if it was really a blessing,

744
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:45,920
Speaker 3: because he would spend from that four point forward having

745
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 3: to outrun and live in the consequences of his deceit,

746
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 3: living in the consequence.

747
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 1: See the thing about pretending.

748
00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 3: Is you got to keep up that image time and

749
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,480
Speaker 3: time of goet day after day. He had to keep

750
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 3: it up. He spends his life on the run. But

751
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 3: there's this beautiful moment of redemption that happens in Genesis

752
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 3: thirty two, because remember when he went to his father

753
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 3: with fur on his back, with his voice change, pretending

754
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,680
Speaker 3: to be something else. His father asked him a simple question,

755
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:10,680
Speaker 3: who are you?

756
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 1: And he said, my name is Esau. But later in.

757
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:16,600
Speaker 3: Genesis thirty two, God shows up with him and is

758
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 3: running and meets with him and they begin to wrestle

759
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 3: in the wilderness. And as they wrestle, as an angel

760
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 3: of the Lord wrestles with Jacob, he asks them the

761
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 3: same question that his father asked him. He says, what's

762
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 3: your name? And this time Jacob. This time he answers Jacob.

763
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,399
Speaker 3: The last time he was asked this question, he said Esau.

764
00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 3: This time he's done pretending. He says, my name is Jacob,

765
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,080
Speaker 3: and the scripture says that God blessed him there. Because

766
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,799
Speaker 3: there is a blessing that you can only receive through

767
00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:52,920
Speaker 3: being honest. There's a blessing that you can only receive

768
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 3: when you decide to be who God really created you

769
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 3: to be. Sae, I want you to know today that

770
00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,480
Speaker 3: God does not love the version of you that you created.

771
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 3: He loves the version he created. That's the version God

772
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 3: wants to counter. And Jacob says, my name is Jacob,

773
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,360
Speaker 3: and the Lord bless them there. What a beautiful moment

774
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,000
Speaker 3: of redemption to know that at any moment we can

775
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 3: come before God and be completely honest. God, I've been pretending.

776
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 3: I've been trying to have it all together. I've I've

777
00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,600
Speaker 3: been wearing a mask. I've been showing up time and

778
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 3: time again, trying to be something I'm not.

779
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 1: But God, you created me.

780
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,600
Speaker 3: You know me, You know exactly who I am, and

781
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 3: you love that version of me. So God, when you

782
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: ask me you're my name, I'm gonna tell you my name. See,

783
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:38,440
Speaker 3: you might be able to fool your kids, you might

784
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 3: be able to fool your spouse, You might be able

785
00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,840
Speaker 3: to fool your blind father, but you can't fool the

786
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,279
Speaker 3: father who created your eyes. He knows exactly who you are.

787
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:51,759
Speaker 3: And David says, if he knows you, what's the point

788
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:52,240
Speaker 3: of pretending?

789
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 1: You see?

790
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 3: I think Dad's and maybe I'm stereotyping, but I think

791
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:55,880
Speaker 3: sometimes as.

792
00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:57,960
Speaker 1: Men, we have a tendency to do this more.

793
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,240
Speaker 3: And I want you to know, even on this Fire's

794
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,800
Speaker 3: Day weekend, that your kids don't need you to pretend.

795
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,000
Speaker 3: We're so wired to pretend to be strong, to pretend

796
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,839
Speaker 3: we have it all together, to pretend.

797
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 1: Like we have all the answers, and then.

798
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 3: Our kids start to grow up and they start to

799
00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,120
Speaker 3: see through all those cracks, don't they They see it anyway.

800
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:16,719
Speaker 3: And I've been really challenged because my kids don't need

801
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:18,480
Speaker 3: to see my strength. Why am I trying to build

802
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 3: their confidence around my strength, my perfection, my ability. I

803
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,040
Speaker 3: want to be honest and show them my doubts, and

804
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 3: show them my fears and show them my struggles, so

805
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 3: that their confidence isn't in.

806
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 1: My strength, but in God's strength.

807
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 3: That's what it means to stop pretending and to just

808
00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:38,560
Speaker 3: be honest and allow them to experience the blessing of

809
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 3: the Lord that comes from only from his hand. When

810
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,680
Speaker 3: we get real with him, David says, you search me,

811
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:46,440
Speaker 3: you know me, you know my heart, you know when

812
00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:47,919
Speaker 3: I sit, you know when I lie down.

813
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:50,279
Speaker 1: Says, if I go to the heavens, you're there. If

814
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:51,640
Speaker 1: I go to the depths, you're there. If I go

815
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:52,919
Speaker 1: to the edge of the sea, you're there.

816
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,400
Speaker 3: You created me in the depths, you knit me together

817
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:56,359
Speaker 3: in the secret place.

818
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 1: God. That was all you, That was all you. And

819
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 1: then he gets to the point where he says, and so.

820
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,960
Speaker 3: If all that's true, if all that's true about you, God,

821
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 3: I might as well be honest. And he says, can

822
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:08,879
Speaker 3: I tell you where I am right now? Because it's

823
00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 3: likely that David is writing the Psalm while he was

824
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:12,960
Speaker 3: hiding in a cave from people who are trying to

825
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:14,920
Speaker 3: kill him. But even though he was hiding from people,

826
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,759
Speaker 3: I love that he refused to hide from God. And

827
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,759
Speaker 3: David begins to say, I hate these people who hate you, Lord.

828
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,799
Speaker 3: He starts processing what he's going through with the Lord.

829
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 3: You see, David's trying to say, I don't want the

830
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 3: evil that's happening to me to become evil within me,

831
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 3: So I need to bring this to you Lord, and

832
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:35,480
Speaker 3: he starts laying it all out there. He's being honesty.

833
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:37,920
Speaker 3: I love that the Bible says that David was a

834
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,239
Speaker 3: man after God's own heart. I always wrestled with what

835
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,960
Speaker 3: that meant, because David had a lot of mistakes in

836
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 3: his life, the infidelity, a lot of poor decisions that

837
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 3: David made in his life, and yet Scripture says he

838
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:49,759
Speaker 3: was a man after God's own heart.

839
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: And I think, as I read this passage, I'm.

840
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 3: Starting to realize more and more that what made David

841
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 3: a man after God's own heart is that he was

842
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,080
Speaker 3: a man who is willing to let God into his.

843
00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:01,920
Speaker 1: And I want to be like that.

844
00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:04,799
Speaker 3: I want to be the type of person who says, God,

845
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,120
Speaker 3: come on in and have all of me. So David

846
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 3: starts saying, God, I'm just gonna be honest.

847
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,399
Speaker 1: I hate them. I wish you would kill them. That's

848
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 1: where I am right now.

849
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,760
Speaker 3: But this is not a message about authenticity because David

850
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 3: doesn't say all that to stay there. He brings it

851
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,799
Speaker 3: to God so God can lead him somewhere else. And

852
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,600
Speaker 3: he moves on from that place and he ends with

853
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:31,359
Speaker 3: search me, God, and know my heart, Test me and know.

854
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 1: My anxious thoughts.

855
00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,759
Speaker 3: See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead

856
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,359
Speaker 3: me in the way everlasting God, in my running? Would

857
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,279
Speaker 3: you find me in my search, in my pretending God?

858
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 3: Would you see me in my hiding?

859
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 1: God? Would you know me? And God, would you lead me?

860
00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:53,160
Speaker 3: It's interesting this psalm ends similar to the way it begins.

861
00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,600
Speaker 3: At the beginning of the psalm, David says, you have

862
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,640
Speaker 3: searched me, and you know me. Now he ends the

863
00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:02,239
Speaker 3: psalm with saying, so search me, God, and know my heart.

864
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:03,799
Speaker 1: I wondered if.

865
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:05,799
Speaker 3: David was saying it that way, because really, when it

866
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,319
Speaker 3: comes to being honest with God, is not a one

867
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:08,879
Speaker 3: time thing.

868
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:10,400
Speaker 1: It's a cycle.

869
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,160
Speaker 3: You search me once before, God, you knew me once before.

870
00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:16,359
Speaker 3: I need you to seach me once, search me once again,

871
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,520
Speaker 3: know me once again. I wonder if that's the reason

872
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:21,839
Speaker 3: he ended the psalm the same way he started it,

873
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,239
Speaker 3: or or isn't it interesting that what he first declared

874
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,239
Speaker 3: as a fact about God, you have searched me, you

875
00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:35,279
Speaker 3: know me God, he now turns into an invitation. So

876
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,520
Speaker 3: search me, God, So search me God and know my heart.

877
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:43,520
Speaker 1: Test me, see lead me God, he says, God, I

878
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:44,640
Speaker 1: want to invite you in.

879
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 3: I want to give you full access because I want

880
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 3: to experience full intimacy with you. What does that look

881
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 3: like for us to approach God differently, not out of

882
00:39:58,120 --> 00:39:59,840
Speaker 3: fear of what He might do when he sees us,

883
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 3: catches us, not trying to run, not trying to hide,

884
00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:05,080
Speaker 3: not trying to pretend, but to come before God and say, God,

885
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,480
Speaker 3: you already know, you, already see, You're already with me.

886
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:12,440
Speaker 3: So here I am, and lay those things down at

887
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 3: the altar. Would you stand to your feet as I close?

888
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:21,920
Speaker 3: And I know we started this way, but one more time?

889
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:23,640
Speaker 3: Would you make it a prayer? Would you say, search

890
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:26,240
Speaker 3: me God, Search me God?

891
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 1: Tim Keller. He said, to be loved.

892
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,360
Speaker 3: But not known, it's comforting, but superficial.

893
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:37,400
Speaker 1: You catch up.

894
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:40,600
Speaker 3: To be loved but not known, it's comforting but superficial.

895
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 3: To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.

896
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:49,520
Speaker 3: But to be fully known and truly love, well, that's

897
00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:53,759
Speaker 3: a lot like being loved by God. What do you

898
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:55,520
Speaker 3: need to bring to the Lord today? What have you

899
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 3: been leaving out that you need to surrender in His

900
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 3: presence today? What have you been trying to keep out

901
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,640
Speaker 3: of the story because it was too dark? Too messy,

902
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:06,160
Speaker 3: too shameful. Maybe it felt too small, Maybe it's too

903
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,000
Speaker 3: hard to pray. What were the things that you've been

904
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,760
Speaker 3: leaving out that you need to bring into God's prices

905
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:12,480
Speaker 3: today so that he can touch it, so that he

906
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:14,719
Speaker 3: can heal it, so that he can redeem it, so

907
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,160
Speaker 3: that he can set you free. Just with your hands

908
00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:19,920
Speaker 3: out where you are right now, just bring that thing

909
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:23,560
Speaker 3: to mine. Not going to make you tell your neighbor

910
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,319
Speaker 3: right now, it's not for them to know. But you

911
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 3: can let your father know. Can't you Just lay that

912
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:32,600
Speaker 3: thing before him and say, God, I trust you, I

913
00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:36,000
Speaker 3: trust your character. The things I believe about you lead

914
00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,080
Speaker 3: me to the place where I can be confident God

915
00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 3: that you are compassionate enough and big enough and merciful

916
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,240
Speaker 3: enough that I can be real with you and bring

917
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,960
Speaker 3: these things to you. There's someone in the room it's

918
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:47,800
Speaker 3: so hard to show up to your married e group

919
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,520
Speaker 3: and have conversations because you and your spouse haven't talked

920
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 3: for three weeks. There's someone in the room who feels

921
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,160
Speaker 3: like they can't be used by God because you keep

922
00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 3: going back to the same thing over and over again.

923
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 3: What's that thing that you've been trying to leave out.

924
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:05,440
Speaker 3: Would you bring it to the Father today? So, Father,

925
00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 3: we want to give you full access to our lives,

926
00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 3: full access to our hearts.

927
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:10,440
Speaker 1: You're the one who made us. You're the one who.

928
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,520
Speaker 3: Knows us, and you declared over us that we're fearfully

929
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:16,360
Speaker 3: and wonderfully made. You love us, Lord, You love us, Lord,

930
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,279
Speaker 3: So we don't have to hide, and we don't have

931
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:19,120
Speaker 3: to be ashamed.

932
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,120
Speaker 1: We don't have to keep pretending to be something that

933
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:22,879
Speaker 1: we're not. God.

934
00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,480
Speaker 3: But Lord, we know that you bless us when we

935
00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:27,439
Speaker 3: come before you just as we are.

936
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,399
Speaker 1: God. I want to know your heart, and.

937
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:35,160
Speaker 3: So today I invite you to know mine. Hmmm, bring

938
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 3: these things before you God. I refuse to keep putting

939
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 3: fur on my back. I refuse to keep trying to

940
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,799
Speaker 3: trick other people. God, Lord, I want to come to

941
00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:44,759
Speaker 3: you just as I am and ask that you would

942
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,920
Speaker 3: meet the real me, the version of me that you

943
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:50,439
Speaker 3: made in this place today. I don't know what's coming

944
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:52,480
Speaker 3: to mind for people in this room, God, but with

945
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,040
Speaker 3: our hands out, we just lay them at the altar

946
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,840
Speaker 3: before you, and we ask God that these would be

947
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,560
Speaker 3: the places that you would touch, that you heal, that

948
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,440
Speaker 3: you administer to in your perfect presence today.

949
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:05,000
Speaker 1: Thank you Lord.

950
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,640
Speaker 3: Right now, I want to give an invitation to someone

951
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 3: who's been running from God. You've never made a decision

952
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:15,520
Speaker 3: to place your faith in Him, And maybe the message

953
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:17,759
Speaker 3: today was simply to let you know that you have

954
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,959
Speaker 3: a father in heaven who's never left your side. Maybe

955
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 3: you thought you were too far gone. Maybe you thought

956
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:25,959
Speaker 3: the things that you've been through, the mistakes that you've made,

957
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,359
Speaker 3: made you unlovable, and that God couldn't find you there.

958
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 3: But the word of the Lord for you today is

959
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:34,239
Speaker 3: that God's been there the whole time. And I want

960
00:43:34,239 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 3: to give you an invitation to make a decision to

961
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,919
Speaker 3: surrender your life to Him. When you give your life

962
00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:42,319
Speaker 3: to Jesus because of what He did for us on

963
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,040
Speaker 3: the cross, when he died for the forgiveness of our sin,

964
00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,960
Speaker 3: It wiped the slate clean his His death on the

965
00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:52,879
Speaker 3: cross is what makes you righteous because of what he did.

966
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:54,319
Speaker 1: And the Bible says that.

967
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:55,920
Speaker 3: If you are in Christ, one day, you're going to

968
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 3: get the heaven up and you're going to stand before God,

969
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,320
Speaker 3: and God's not going to bring up all the mistakes

970
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,680
Speaker 3: you made. He's gonna look at you and say, well done,

971
00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:04,960
Speaker 3: good and faithful servant.

972
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:05,680
Speaker 1: You're gonna be like God.

973
00:44:05,719 --> 00:44:07,759
Speaker 3: You left some things out and he said no, no, no, no, no.

974
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:12,720
Speaker 3: Well done, good and faithful servant. Not because of anything

975
00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,680
Speaker 3: we've done, but because of His grace, his mercy, and

976
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:18,120
Speaker 3: the work of Jesus on the cross. If you've been

977
00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,319
Speaker 3: far from God, you've been running, you've been hiding, you've

978
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,879
Speaker 3: been pretending. But today is your day to come into

979
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:26,759
Speaker 3: a relationship with your heavenly Father, who knows you, created you,

980
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:27,680
Speaker 3: and loved you.

981
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:28,319
Speaker 1: I want to give you.

982
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:31,720
Speaker 3: An invitation to receive the gift of His grace and mercy.

983
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,800
Speaker 3: We're gonna pray out loud together as a church family

984
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 3: today for the benefit of those who are making the

985
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:39,279
Speaker 3: decision to come to Christ. Can we pray together with

986
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,160
Speaker 3: heads bowed and eyes closed, repeat out there me say,

987
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:46,600
Speaker 3: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God

988
00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:48,600
Speaker 3: and the savior of the world.

989
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:53,840
Speaker 1: I believe he died and rose again to forgive my.

990
00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:59,880
Speaker 3: Sin and give me life. I receive your grace by faith,

991
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 3: Come into my life and make me new.

992
00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:05,680
Speaker 1: Head still bowed, eyes still close.

993
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:07,840
Speaker 3: If you just made that decision today, when I count

994
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:09,880
Speaker 3: the three, would you throw your hand up in the air.

995
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,080
Speaker 3: I want to celebrate the work the Lord has done

996
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:12,880
Speaker 3: in your life today.

997
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:14,400
Speaker 1: Don't hesitate even online.

998
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 3: Let us know in the chat at other campuses. Shoot

999
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:20,080
Speaker 3: your hand up in the air there too, one, two, three.

1000
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 3: If that was for you today, hands up in the air, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1001
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:24,640
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord.

1002
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:28,719
Speaker 3: God bless you, God bless you. Yeah, keep your hand up,

1003
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:30,759
Speaker 3: God bless you. Us are awesome coming around with the

1004
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 3: gifts for you.

1005
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:37,319
Speaker 2: Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,

1006
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,480
Speaker 2: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can

1007
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:43,120
Speaker 2: get you all of these new messages as soon as

1008
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,920
Speaker 2: they're available. I also want to take a moment and

1009
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:47,800
Speaker 2: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.

1010
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:51,600
Speaker 2: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or

1011
00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,719
Speaker 2: just share these messages, it's because of you that we're

1012
00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:57,719
Speaker 2: able to reach people all around the world. And if

1013
00:45:57,719 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 2: you want more information on how to be a part

1014
00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:04,160
Speaker 2: of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again

1015
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:07,160
Speaker 2: for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message,

1016
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:17,640
Speaker 2: and subscribe. God bless you.