WEBVTT - He’s Still The Shepherd 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:05.280 Hello Evams, especially our West Coast family. We have an 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:10.760 announcement for you, Elevation Nights twenty twenty two West Coast. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.040 Are you ready for this? October twenty fifth through November third, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.480 We're coming your way so exciting. You can get your 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.280 tickets right now at Elevation Nights dot com. It's gonna 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:26.480 be me Holly, Elevation Worship. It's gonna be amazing, unbelievable 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.840 these nights. Don't want to miss So if you're in Glendale, Arizona, 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:35.920 Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, California, San 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:41.320 Diego and La or anywhere near those areas, we want 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.360 to see you. Elevation Nights dot com. Don't miss it. 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.600 Elevation Nights dot com. Get your tickets Elevation Nights dot com. 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.960 Let's see you there. Let's go to the message. If 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:59.480 you're in the chat, put a clapping emoji. How about that? Now, 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.680 don't sit down after you do this, but turn around 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:03.840 and high five five people and say you're in the 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:05.960 best section in the church right now. You're sitting in 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:16.040 my section. Thanks, y'all. Stay standing, Stay standing for the word, 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.319 Stay standing for the word. Stay standing for the word. 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.600 Stay standing for the word. Stay standing like you're on 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:28.640 your front foot, ready to receive what the Lord is 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.920 going to speak to you today. Clap your hands. If 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:33.479 you're ready for what the Lord is going to speak 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:42.319 to you today, open your heart. Thank you Jesus. All right, yeah, 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:53.440 it feels better with your playing. Thank you Jesus, Thank 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:59.840 you Jesus. Is So, I'm going to give you this scripture, 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:02.880 and it's jumping in right in the middle, So since 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:08.600 sound a little abrasive, but we'll ease into it and 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.760 get to do my favorite thing today. I'm going to 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:16.120 take a New Testament scripture and then I'm gonna, after 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.760 a little while, put an Old Testament story behind it 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.880 to illustrate what we learn. I love doing that kind 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:27.920 of bringing the principle together with a picture. Then we 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.840 can really get it. And that's my desire for us, 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:32.799 that we really get what God wants us to have. 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.280 So I'm never just trying to fill fifty minutes, y'all. 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:42.160 What a sorry goal that would be, but to really 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.400 impart faith to your heart today, and I believe the 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:51.800 Lord's going to do that. Galatians chapter three, verse three, 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:57.280 The Apostle Paul speaking. Watch how this one starts? Are 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:05.680 you so foolish? It gets better from there after beginning 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:10.320 by means of the spirit, Are you now trying to 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:15.600 finish by means of the flesh? What a question. Maybe 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:20.080 that's why I'm tired. Maybe that's why I'm discouraged. Maybe 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:23.200 that's why I'm worn out. Maybe that's why I can't 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:27.600 think clearly. Maybe that's why I can't sleep, because I'm 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:32.120 trying to finish by the flesh what began with the spirit? 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:38.040 And then verse four, have you experienced so much in vain? 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.040 If it really was in vain? And then here's the 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.400 fourth question. There's been three, here's the fourth. So again 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:50.960 I ask, does God give you his spirit and work miracles? 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.560 We're thinking about miracles. Does God give you his spirit 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.440 and work miracles among you by the works of the 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:03.240 law or by your belief? What you heard? Are you 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.520 trying to finish in the flesh what began in the spirit? 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.800 So the Lord sent me up here to remind you today. 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.280 This is a reminder for some, a revelation for others. 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:16.400 He wanted me to remind you He's still the shepherd, 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:25.640 He's still the shepherd put my title in the chat. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.000 If you're watching online, he's still the Shepherd. And if 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.640 you're standing next to somebody on your way to your seat, 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.479 tell him he's still the Shepherd, and you may be seated, 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:49.880 God bless you. He's still the Shepherd. If Paul sounds 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:57.599 unpastoral in this letter, he's really not. He'd writ into 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.480 a group of churches in modern day Turk. They're not 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.279 just one church. They're spread out. He started several of 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:08.719 them on a missionary journey, and he's like trying to 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.200 get them back on track, and so he does it 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.320 in a way. He's having a conversation with this church 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.560 that every parent has with their kid every once in 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.720 a while, and the conversation goes like this, are you crazy? 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:31.400 Ask the person next to you, are you crazy? Because 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:34.880 this was not meant to be a conversation, just a 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:39.760 rhetorical question somebody. I'll finish that question with an answer 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.279 because you know them because you live with them where 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.359 they are in Christ. But they're still crazy, and not 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.359 the kind of crazy that we ALTI often associate with 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.800 people who are getting off track. Not crazy on drugs, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.680 crazy having sex, crazy in strip club. None of that 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.800 crazy because they've had a Jesus experience, but they're trying 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:10.280 to put a Jesus experience on top of a Jewish identity. 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.760 And in the process of doing that, those two words 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:18.400 I chose them on purpose, experience and identity. The Jewish 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:23.160 identity was the cultural one. That was the religious identity, 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:28.160 that was the social identity, and it was signified by circumcision, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.600 which for most of us men is a medical procedure 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.240 that in case all the kids didn't go to eat 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.200 kids this morning, I'm just going to let you Wikipedia 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.600 all of the different benefits of circumcision. Later, to them, 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.440 it was a badge. It was like saying I'm in 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.320 and that was the custom. So then comes Paul preaching 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.760 Christ and him crucified to let them know that it 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:57.000 is in Christ. Everybody say in Christ. Next time somebody 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.880 asks you where you are, say in Christ. Now, don't 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.680 do that. They'll think you're weird. I can't stand people 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.159 who get real spiritual just out of nowhere. But just 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:11.320 know it inside of yourself, all right, in Christ. Put 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.680 it in the chat, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.560 So you're in church today, but you're in Christ when 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.600 you leave church. When you're in the grocery store, you're 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.880 still in church because you are Church and you are 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.480 in Christ, and Christ is in you, and that never 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:35.000 goes away. That's your identity, identity in Christ, identity. Now 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.560 you will have experiences every single day of your life 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:44.440 that will seem to contradict that identity, because being in 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.320 Christ doesn't exempt you from any of the normal challenges 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.760 of life. We've got to stop telling people Jesus will 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.560 make it all right, because what they assume when they 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.920 hear that is that my experiences now that I'm a Christian, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.360 will always a line with my picture, my preference, and 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.080 really my own I don't want to tell you this, 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.960 but we try to shape God like our own personality, 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.920 and all of those things have to be subject to 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.680 Christ for us to be a true disciple. Let's go 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.600 a little further. You're ready. Once you get an identity 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.360 ingrained and you think that's who I am, it is 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:30.240 very difficult to receive any experience that is different than 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:36.040 that identity. I learned that where I grew up shaped 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.080 me in amazing ways. Small town, so it taught me 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.720 how to be good with people. Because in a small 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:48.560 town you have a certain accountability socially, what's considered polite 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:54.400 and what's considered rude. Okay, when I grew up, if 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.960 you didn't wave at people, even if they were strangers, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.640 that would considered rude. In Monk's corner where I grew up, 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.079 where Holly grew up in Miami, Florida, it's perfectly acceptable 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:15.640 and maybe even safer to not make eye contact. But see, now, 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:20.360 marriage is this merger of We're walking down the street 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.040 and she's saying, who is that that? You just waved that? 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:24.800 And I say, I don't know, And she said, well, 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.600 why did you wave? Because that's what you do. How 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.439 many from the South. That's what you do. That's what 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.200 you do. You eat grits, you never put sugar in them. 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:43.600 I rebuke you, Satan, and you wait, she thought that 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.560 was so silly. So now we split the difference. I 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.120 only wave, you know, about everyone out of three times. 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.120 But you know, you can take the boy out a 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:54.960 Monk's corner, but you can't take Monk's corner out of 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.080 the boy. So I might see it one day in 0:09:58.120 --> 0:09:59.680 the mall and I just wave at you. It's not 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.440 because I know you go to this church. I was 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.719 just trained to wave at everybody, just waving at everybody, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.319 and then we've kind of come together. So why do 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.040 I bring that up, because it is a perfect example 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:16.079 of what's happening in Galatians. Right. Paul is no longer 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.559 in Turkey, this essential Turkey we're talking about. If you 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.760 want to get a modern picture, He's no longer here 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:25.439 in the flesh with the people, but he's still the shepherd. 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.959 He still sees himself, not as an influencer, not as 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:35.600 a modern guru, like how we have people who give 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:40.960 us advice, but he sees himself as their pastor and 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.960 their shepherd, even when he's writing them a letter. And 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.120 he really never stopped being a shepherd, no matter where 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.320 his travels took him, no matter how much of the 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.800 known world that he went to evangelize, no matter how 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.000 many gentiles that he preached to, he always loved these churches. 0:10:56.400 --> 0:11:00.600 You could take Paul out of Galatia, but you couldn't 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.200 get Galicia out of Paul. Every parent who has called 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:08.439 a so called empty nester understands what I'm saying. I'm 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.800 not one yet, but I imagine if they come back 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.959 after I send them away, I'll have to open the door, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.160 and I'm pacing myself for that. Right, this thing is 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:27.360 a marathon. I will still think you're doing something dumb. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.840 When you're fifty, you could be worth a billion dollars, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.080 and I'll still be like, are you sure that this 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.959 is the job that has job security for you? Right? 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.600 Don't you need something to fall back on? Because you 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.400 can take the kid out the house, but you can 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:51.840 never take the love out of the parent. Your kid 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:56.080 can discuss you, but you're still going to be devoted 0:11:56.080 --> 0:12:02.160 to him cussing them out, but you're cussing them out 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:12.160 in love. You ever cuss somebody out in love? And 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:17.599 now now we're back to Galatians three. Are you so foolish? 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:24.800 Are you falls in that high voice? Are you crazy? 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:29.160 Holly Scary voices her quiet voice. We tremble because she's 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.319 loud all the time. She's just a naturally low to talker. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:40.960 When it's quiet, that's real bad. Are you so stupid 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.840 as to really go back to circumcision the outward sign 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.080 and think that that's gonna get you to the end. 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:57.240 The foolishness of trusting in the flesh, the foolishness, And 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:00.680 so just answer your your question that your neighbor asked 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.520 you a few minutes ago. Tell him, yes, I'm that crazy. 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:05.960 Tell him, tell him, yes, I'm that crazy. I'm that 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:11.520 crazy in my flesh. I'm still crazy. How many still 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:16.000 crazy saints are honest enough to raise your hand and say, 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.120 catch me at the wrong moment with the right hit 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:25.040 the right button, sugar the right reflex, I'm still crazy. Okay, 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.959 you look crazy. So now she stood up too quick. 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:33.520 It was just too quick. Me too, Me too. I'm 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.680 still crazy, and I know that, and I'm glad that 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:43.680 I know that because God delivered me from so much. 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.040 But there's some stuff that's still in me that he's 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:52.800 dealing with. And now it's all coming together because they're 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.920 in Christ, but they're still crazy. Paul is not in 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:02.240 Galatia physically, but he's still and he is doing something 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:06.680 that shepherds do. He is directing the sheep, and he's 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:12.680 directing the sheep realizing sheep are not dolphins. Dolphins are smart, 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.760 especially the bottlenose dolphin. I was reading about the ten 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:19.160 smartest animals in the world. The bottlenose dolphin was number two. 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:23.040 That dolphin is so smart. Can recognize this self in 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.040 the mirror smarter than me. Sometimes I don't even know 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.400 who I am. And yet the Lord didn't talk about 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.480 a dolphin. He said. He said, you are my sheep, 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.080 and my sheep know my voice. And Jesus said, I'm 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.280 the good shepherd. And so Paul is realizing watch this. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:47.080 If I am a shepherd, sometimes I have to direct 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.920 the sheep where to go, assuming that they don't know 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:54.920 where to go. Are you so foolish? Yes, the moment 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.960 you answer no to that question, you're in danger. The 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:01.200 moment is, like you said, foolish, Nah man, I'm actually 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.840 you know, pretty much pretty much got some stuff figured out. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.480 I'm praying for you. I don't mean not being confident. Yeah, 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:09.160 you know things, you know skills. I'm not talking about 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.600 being insecure. I'm not talking about downplaying yourself. Those people 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.760 are most annoying people in the world. You know, I'm 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.240 not good at anything really like that, and I can't 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.640 really do anything like that. Just shut up. What God 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:20.520 gave you. He gave you what you're good at. You're 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.280 good at. You know, you're seven foot two, and I'm like, 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.640 you're tall, well not really, you know the Lord you know, yes, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:32.720 you're tall. There's nothing worse than false humility. It's awful. 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.960 It's not really humility. It's just drawing more attention to 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.880 yourself through an act of humility. But you're just acting. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:45.160 You're just acting. You're just acting. Sing a solo and 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.120 you say, oh, that was good, you sang good today. No, no, no, 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:54.000 it wasn't me. It was the Lord. And see, do 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.760 you're wrong about that? Because it would have been much 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.200 better if it was the Lord. It was just good. 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.400 I didn't say it was perfect. I just said it 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.200 was good. Let's bring it down to notedge anyway, it's 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:13.480 the power of realizing. Everybody say in Christ, still crazy? 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.280 This side, do in Christ? This side, do still crazy? 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.320 This side, do in Christ? Spirit? This side do still crazy? 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:28.800 Flesh this side do in Christ spirit? This side do 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:37.080 still crazy? Yeah, faith flesh both inside of me? Does 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.160 not explain a lot that makes a lot of sense. 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.720 How some of y'all will road rage even before you 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:51.880 get off the church property today, And it's all right, 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.680 And you can keep your elevation church sticker on the car. 0:16:56.720 --> 0:17:02.920 You don't have to take it off because I'm still crazy. Well, 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:07.920 I think we have the right as the children of God, 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.800 not in an entitled way, but in an expectant way 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.760 that if Jesus lives in us and we are in him, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:26.520 I expect God to direct me. I expect God to 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.919 direct me. You say, well, he's God, how can you 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.879 tell him what to do? No, No, that's what he 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.680 told me he wanted to do for me. So I 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:40.960 expect God to direct me. When I'm getting ready to preach, 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.280 I expect God to lead me to the passage he 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.040 wants me to preach. I don't come to this Bible 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.160 thinking I've got it figured out, and I don't come 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.280 to the passage thinking that I know what it means. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:56.680 I expect God to direct me. Everybody say, I expect 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.360 God to direct me. Now put it in the chat 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.359 and say it out loud. If you're here, I expect 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.399 God to direct me. I expect him to direct me 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.920 in my relationships. I expect that he's going to bring 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.800 the right people in my life in this season. I 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.600 not only want him to be the bouncer at the entrance, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.639 but the exit. I want him to decide and direct 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.960 in my life who gets in and who goes out. 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:30.280 And I expect God to direct me. I believe that 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.400 every good and perfect gift comes from above, So I 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:37.240 expect God to bring opportunities into my life. You say 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.280 that sounds cocky. No, no, no, I'm crazy. So I 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.639 expect God to give me the opportunity because I know 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.600 that it wasn't by my own power. It wasn't by 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:50.600 my own strength. Nothing in my life makes much sense. 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.000 When we wrote the lyric, I think it over and 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.480 it doesn't add up. That's the math. When I think 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.920 of what God has done, how many have the same testimony, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.480 And when I know, oh how crazy I am, how 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:06.160 crazy I can be, how many ways I've wandered along 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.040 the path, how many left turns were a part of 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.280 God getting me to the right place. You don't understand. 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:16.040 I expect God to direct me in my future because 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:18.879 the only reason I'm here right now is because of 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:22.399 His faithfulness. So when something comes in my way, I 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.920 don't stick my chest out. I bow on my knee 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.000 and I say God, thank you for another gift, thank 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.400 you for another opportunity, thank you for another reason, thank 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.200 you for another level. Thank you for another harvest, thank 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:36.879 you for another breakthrough, thank you for another open door, 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.359 thank you for another open road. Thank you, thank you, 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:44.159 thank you, thank you, thank you. I expect some of 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:47.320 y'all came to church needing to hear from God today. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:52.240 Well expected. He's a speaking God. He's a talking God. 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.520 He's a way making God. He'll show you something you 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.919 didn't even know. Asking for now one time him who is? 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:05.879 He's able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.080 WHOA I expect a blessing today. I expect God to 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.199 be good to me. I expect my needs met. I 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:18.440 expect him abundantly supply good measure, rest out, shake it together, 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.960 run it over. I expect it. I'm ready for it. 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:28.840 I'm stretching my hands to heaven. I expect it. I 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:32.600 expect it. Touch three people, I expect it. I expected 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.439 that y'all touching each other lately because COVID. But we 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:38.600 need to touch somebody right now so it can be contagious, 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.240 because somebody next to you lost their expectation because of 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.240 their experience. If I don't come to God off and experience, 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:47.719 I come to him because I know who he is. 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.040 He said, I'm the bread of life. That said all. 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:54.320 If he's the bread, I expect to be bad. He said, 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:59.000 I'm resurrection. So he is resurrection. I expecting to raise me. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:08.239 I expect expected, I expected, and I'm bracing for it, 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.760 and I'm believing for it, and I'm trusting for it, 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:16.320 and I'm grateful for it. I expected. He said he 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:18.640 was the vine, So that means if I'm in him, 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:22.320 he's in me, and I will bear much fruit. I expected. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:32.560 I expected, And since I expect the good Shepherd to 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.320 direct me, I have to be willing to accept when 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:46.160 he corrects me. Yeah, sit down on that one. Some 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:51.919 stuff you stand up about. Oh No, the Lord just 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:55.520 set us up, didn't he. Why'd you do that to us? Lord? 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.399 It felt so good? Let's see, miss. You know, the 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:04.120 expectator of direction from God without the acceptance of correction 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:10.359 from God is delusional. I can't expect God to direct 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:14.959 me and then not accept when he corrects me. Oh, 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.520 we love Paul. Paul's preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Paul 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.200 is so awesome. Paul's so amazing. Let's go over here 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.080 and let's continue to Let's continue to trust in the 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:25.359 old stuff. Let's continue to be justified by faith, and 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.000 then maybe we can have both, and then maybe we 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.480 can have our Jewish identity and our Jesus experience instead 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:33.880 of having a Jesus identity and a Jewish experience. We're 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.760 not conformed to the world. My experience is not the 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.120 definition of my potential in Christ. So if I try 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.680 to make it about something that, it's not. Like the 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:47.000 hymn writer said, the arm of flesh will fail you. 0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:55.959 This side of the room flesh, you feel me. And 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:04.520 so salvation starts with this spirit. You can't complete or 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.720 finish in the flesh. What God started in the spirit. 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:15.239 And Paul's bringing correction to the Galatians and correction to us, 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:19.080 because we're not running around talking about circumcision, but we're 0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:26.120 running around counting followers, thinking how popular you are, how 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.359 many likes something get. I want to teach a Bible 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:31.760 study one day. It won't work on a Sunday, to 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:35.000 take about three hours, and I would do it over 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:37.119 a series of weeks, but you forget everything by the 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:38.920 time I get back to next week, so that don't 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:42.280 work either. And one day I'll just I'll just turn 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:43.840 on the camera one day and I'll just teach it 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:45.520 in my I'll teach you, I'll teach it on. I'll 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:50.800 teach it. I recorded on my phone. How how to 0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:56.000 be led by the shepherd in a culture of like 0:23:56.200 --> 0:24:04.159 and subscribe? How to be led by the shepherd in 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:11.480 a culture of like and subscribe? We like to be led? 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:13.520 Doesn't it feel good every once in a while for 0:24:13.560 --> 0:24:16.280 somebody to take charge and it doesn't have to be you. 0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:19.560 How many of you are over your company or over 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:21.639 your division, or you're over your small business, or you're 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:25.040 over your family, You're over something. Don't you just love it? 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:28.760 Sometimes when somebody's like, here's what we're doing, here's when 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:33.159 we're doing it, don't ask about it. You're like, that's 0:24:33.280 --> 0:24:37.360 kind of cool. You marry somebody like that. I'm serious. 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:40.560 It just feels good sometimes when you're over alive and 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:42.679 somebody will just decide. How many of you like to 0:24:42.720 --> 0:24:50.600 be led? Like to be led? Now you have a 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:53.760 mental model of what it means to be led, and 0:24:53.800 --> 0:24:59.000 it's based on technology. Your mental model of God in 0:24:59.040 --> 0:25:04.320 a modern context is the woman on the GPS who 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:10.439 makes suggestions. If you don't do what she tells you 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.280 to do, she doesn't stop the car, but God will 0:25:16.880 --> 0:25:21.280 because he's a shepherd, a good shepherd. What's a good shepherd? 0:25:21.640 --> 0:25:23.840 That's what Jesus said in John ten eleven. If you 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:25.720 want to look up the reference, he said, I am 0:25:25.760 --> 0:25:28.200 the good Shepherd. All that other stuff, he's that too, 0:25:28.400 --> 0:25:34.400 But he is a good shepherd, So that must mean 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:38.800 that he knows something I don't know, and that he's 0:25:38.840 --> 0:25:43.200 going to get me there sometimes against my own human 0:25:43.240 --> 0:25:49.200 will or my sorry, y'all, fleshly desires. It just had 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.080 to be one side or the other. I just chose, y'all. 0:25:51.119 --> 0:25:53.960 There is no spiritual significance to that. Everybody on the 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:56.720 side of the room looks so hurt, y'all. Maybe we'll 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:58.560 switch it up next week or something. I don't know. 0:25:59.840 --> 0:26:04.600 And I thought about would it be a good GPS 0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:08.960 system in my car? If if when I made the 0:26:09.000 --> 0:26:13.639 wrong turn it was like, okay, cool, would it be 0:26:13.680 --> 0:26:17.720 a good GPS? And then I thought about would it 0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:22.600 be a good physical trainer if when you came in 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:24.520 and you said I don't feel like it, they were like, great, 0:26:25.280 --> 0:26:27.360 I don't really feel like training you either. Let's eat 0:26:28.720 --> 0:26:32.560 unless eat sugar. Unlet's eat crap because I really don't 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:34.560 feel like counting your reps today either. So we're both 0:26:34.600 --> 0:26:39.560 on the same page. Let's go. Would it be would 0:26:39.600 --> 0:26:43.480 it be a good God if he didn't put conviction 0:26:45.000 --> 0:26:50.919 alongside comfort? And is what you're going through in your 0:26:50.960 --> 0:26:55.439 life right now a correction not from the devil, but 0:26:55.520 --> 0:26:59.960 from the good shepherd. Do we give the devil credit 0:27:00.600 --> 0:27:05.800 for the shepherd's directions? Everything bad that happens is the devil? 0:27:06.080 --> 0:27:12.840 Not necessarily he's a good shepherd. Now that we've had 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:16.800 that New Testament perspective, let's go to the Old Testament. 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:24.760 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.920 know that song that is I was at a funeral recently, 0:27:28.200 --> 0:27:30.960 and of course that was the song that was shared, 0:27:31.280 --> 0:27:34.000 because for most of us it's our favorite, and even 0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:36.080 if only by process of the fact, that's kind of 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:39.159 the only one we know that's our song. The Lord 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:43.960 is my shepherd. I shall not want. He's going to 0:27:44.480 --> 0:27:47.600 direct me. You remember all the things that says, green grass, 0:27:47.880 --> 0:27:51.840 still waters, restoreth my soul. His rod and his staff 0:27:52.040 --> 0:27:54.280 they comfort me. That's verse four. Put up verse four, 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:57.880