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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You're listening to Waters Church podcast, where faith meets real life. Where 1 church, many locations, and 1 mission, to see lives changed by Jesus. No matter where you're listening from, you0:12 are a part of Waters Church family. Now let's dive into today's message from our pastor.0:20 Generational influence, the title of the message is, are you fruitful? Really, you should say, am I fruitful? Now we're talking about some financial stewardship issues. It's the0:31 fall. We're headed towards the holidays, and we're going to have an offering on December 20 first. I want you to write that date down at the top of your notes. Go ahead right now. December 200:43 first is our 10 week offering for generational influence. We are raising money for parking here in North Adderberal. Big problem with parking. All kinds of congestion. We don't want that anymore.0:56 We wanna raise money for our school here at North Idaho. We wanna raise money for land over there in Apollo Beach right next door to our facility there, looking for a future location at Woonsocket and something that we1:07 can own. So we got lots of plans. Also, South Carolina starting January eighteenth. Give it give prayer to that date. Amen. Praise the lord. Yeah. We're gonna believe god for that. So all of this1:18 is, is gonna take some money. And when when I think about talking about money in the church, I I wanna give you a frame of reference because so many people, you know, immediately, the1:30 walls go up. Immediately, you just shut down. Maybe, again, your first time here, you're like, oh my oh my lord. First time back in church, and he's talking about money. Listen. Jesus wants to bless you, not to curse1:42 you. Amen. I mean, do you really do you believe that? Like, that's that was a tepid that was like a golf amen? Like, this is not the masters, anybody? We got I know we got a football game that we're all crazy about1:54 coming up today. Unfortunately, we're a house divided this morning. We got New England up here. We got Tampa down there. I don't know if I should say anything about that. I wanna pastor all of2:06 you faithfully. Go patriots. Anyway, we we we wanna how did I get on that? God wants to bless you, not to curse you. How2:18 about this? God does not need anything from you. Here's the other thing. God already has everything that you already think you own. It's already his. So just for a second,2:30 relax. And remember that when it comes to money, oftentimes, money can play God in our hearts, and it's a terrible god. It's a terrible god. Have you ever been let down by2:41 money? They say money talks. It does not. It just gets up quietly and walks away. And I think about the people who are working for our government right now, and2:53 they have no money coming in. I think that the legislatures should have the the legislators should have no money coming in. This is this is insanity to me. You know? Pro3:05 and cons are opposites, so the opposite of progress is congress. Come on, somebody. Why are they getting paid when they're holding out on all the people who are working in? Can we just give a hand to anybody working for3:17 the government that is doing it without money? My gosh. They're gonna get back pay, hopefully. God God bless them. Oh, and also happy Veterans Day. And, can we just have all the veterans stand in the house at every3:29 location, please? So all the veterans stand, wanna say we love you and thank God for you and celebrate you. I hope you don't mind. I hope you don't mind. We love you and so thankful for you. They3:42 they didn't let us down, but money will let us down. Money will let you down. When I was growing up, there was a commercial that would come on the television, and and you would also get a mailer in the mail, like, almost3:54 every other week. And it was featuring Johnny Carson's right hand man, Ed McMahon. How many remember that? And he and on the envelope, it4:06 would say, you may have already won. Oh, man. Music to the American's ears. You may have already won 10000000 dollars or win4:17 5000 dollars a week for life. It was called Publishers House. Publishers Clearing House. Guess what happened? They went bankrupt.4:29 They were bought out by another company. They had 490000 dollars in their account. 490000 dollars in their account. They had 40000000 dollars in liabilities. Here's the catch. The company that bought them is4:41 not responsible to maintain payouts to previous winners. So people who had trusted in that payout are now up a creek. There's a4:53 guy by the name of John Wiley, 61 years old, Bellingham, Washington. He won 5000 dollars a week for life in 2012, 13 years ago. For 13 years, he's been getting 50005:05 dollars a week, and now the money is gone. And at 61, John finds himself selling his possessions and hunting for a job after being out of the workforce all that time.5:17 It's kind of interesting how quickly money can let us down. Even promised money, even won money. The bible says in Proverbs 25 23 verse 5, in the5:29 blink of an eye somebody blink your eyes. That's how fast wealth disappears. For it will sprout wings and fly away like an5:41 eagle. It will leave you just as quickly as it found you. And when it comes to the church, you gotta understand, I know this. Write this down on the top of your notes just so we could get the get the elephant out of the5:52 room. People get funny when the preacher talks about money. There you go. We're all out. It's out there in the open. We can all address it. I don't wanna hear about money. Okay. Listen very carefully to me. You do not6:04 have to give a dime to what we're doing here. And you can still come, and you can still enjoy everything that we are doing, and you can still be part of it. And I probably won't even know that you don't give a dime until6:14 you complain, then I check. I will leave you alone with what you are doing financially with our church until you start moaning, then I will6:26 check the giving record. And the reason why is because I have found most often the people with the loudest complaints do not give a dime, which is kind of interesting. What are you6:38 complaining about? You're not paying for anything. Imagine going to McDonald's and getting the food for free and saying, this burger stinks. It'd be like, so? You didn't pay for it. I mean, you know what I'm saying? So6:50 we gotta understand that the people here who give I'm talking to you. And the people here who are about to give because there are people who are gonna give as a result of this series. I believe with all of my heart. I've7:01 done this before many, many years, and I've learned something about our church, that when people leave the church because we talked about money, we don't actually lose anything. Like, somebody's gonna be, I'm out of7:12 here. Oh, okay. You just made room for somebody else. We got a parking problem. Maybe that's how God's gonna solve all this. You said, don't want the preacher talking about money. It's a7:24 very sensitive topic. Jesus talked about money a lot. Yep. He he shares 38 parables in the gospels. 19 of them are about money. 19 out of 38. A7:36 a full, anywhere from estimates are rough because sometimes he's just addressing money. Sometimes he's just using money as an illustration. But but, about 15 to 20 percent of words refer to7:48 money and our hearts toward it. He knew more than anybody else that money, not romance, not our7:59 children, not the devil or demonic spirits, money could be the chief opponent for the affections of our hearts against God.8:11 Because he says in Luke 16, he says these words, no 1 can serve 2 masters. Okay. He's setting us up here. No 1 can serve 2 masters. No 1 can root for both the bucks and the patriots.8:25 He will either hate the 1 and love the other, or he will be devoted to the 1 and despise the other. And then notice this line. He you cannot serve God and people think, oh, the devil is the anti God.8:37 No. Money is the anti god. Money is the anti god. If we will not serve God, we will serve money. Now you don't have to have money8:49 to serve money. So that's that's that's the big misnomer of our con our country right now. New York City just elected itself a democratic socialist for mayor. This is a9:01 man who said already, I want to seize the means of production. He's not a socialist. He's a communist. And, communism has failed everywhere it's been. It leads to mass poverty, mass9:12 starvation, bread lines, and I we have to keep learning this lesson, I guess, as a people. It does not work. It destroys countries. The USSR is a is a9:24 tragedy tale of what happens when centralized government takes care of people. Anyway, I got lot more to say about that this week, so tune in. But nonetheless, we got this idea, however, that the government should9:36 be providing for our needs. That's not what scripture says. The scripture says if you don't work, you don't eat. And by the way, for anybody who's complaining about housing costs in New York City, there's9:48 a real simple answer to housing costs in New York City. Here it is. Are you ready? Don't live there. I don't live in New York City. Do you know why? Because I can't afford it. And10:00 I don't wanna give 45 percent of my income to the state government and the local government. I don't wanna do it. I I like freedom. I like being in control of my money, not the government being in control of my money.10:10 Anyway, you don't have to have money to serve money. You can have no money and still be serving money by demanding the government take other people's money to give to you. That's what's happening in10:22 our country, and especially amongst young people. Young people, oh, young people who are strapped with debt and all kinds of financial worry because the government got involved in your student loans and then came along10:32 to be the prince charming who would bail you out of them? Pay attention. That's how government works. It does what money does. Write this down. Money makes promises only God can keep.10:46 Money promises protection. Only God can give you true protection. Money promises significance. Only God can give you true significance. It's amazing how many people think when I get a lot of money, I'll10:58 feel valuable. Why? Don't you understand how that's gonna change your relationships? If you get a lot of money if you were 1 of the people who won a 1000000 dollars through Publishers Clearing House or the lottery,11:08 understand how everybody who knew about you winning that money would suddenly look at you completely differently? They wouldn't then you would have this, like, wall up about, do you like me because of my money or do you11:18 like me because of me? Money can only promise what God can actually provide. Money promises, joy and pleasure. The Bible says there are pleasures at God's right hand. I have been on11:30 the mission field. I have been to the outskirts of society. I have been where they are planting churches amongst the poorest of the poor. People who have no frame of reference about the things that we11:42 struggle with, have no idea what an iPhone is, have no idea what it feels like to lose Wi Fi in the midst of a download. In other11:53 words, people with actual problems. And I have been to huts made out of aluminum corrugated siding with no carpet, no12:05 hardwood flooring, just dirt. And I have seen young little girls sleeping on a bed on top of dirt and more joy on their12:17 face than the average American 12 year old at stinking Disney World. You know I mean? We12:29 live in a country where kids scream and cry at Disney World. Think about that. The happiest place on earth is the most miserable experience for a family. Anybody know what I'm talking12:41 about? If you wanna enjoy Disney World, wait until you're an adult and go by yourself. Don't even go with your spouse because you won't even agree on rides. Just go alone. Sometimes12:52 they let you skip because you're a single rider. Single rider, single rider, whoop, right under the front. Money makes promises only God can keep. Billy Graham said if a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it13:03 will straighten out almost every other area of his life. Why? Because money and God will compete for our hearts. Which one's winning the battle for you? When we talk about this text in Mark chapter 4, Jesus is going to13:15 illustrate something in a parable. He said it says, he began to teach them by the sea, a large crowd underline that in your notes. Large crowd gathered. Now this is this13:27 is what Jesus is doing. He is a master teacher, and he understands fully that just because there's a large crowd there doesn't mean that everybody in the crowd is actually being converted.13:40 And that is the truth for every church. Not everybody in every church is actually following Jesus. So Jesus decides to do something now because he's been healing the sick. He's been casting out demons. He's been13:52 doing wonderful works of miracles. And and still people are, you know, calling him demon possessed and denying the miracles and arguing with what he's doing and having a problem with the fact that he's breaking their14:02 traditions instead of, instead of living according to them. And so Jesus decides to thin the herd. He's actually going to do this intentionally. He's going to thin the herd. But the way he's gonna thin the herd is by14:14 teaching a parable on what actually happens when the herd gets thinned. And so it says, he got into a boat on the sea. Jesus knows about acoustics because he made it. And, so he knows that sound14:26 travels over water better than land. So he's out there, and this is a fact. Water will travel sound far better than land. So he's out in the water so that as many people can hear him. In verse 2, it says this, and he was14:37 teaching them many things in parables, circle parables. I wanna do a mini sermon within the sermon on parables. Why did Jesus talk in parables? What is a parable? A parable is a a short illustration14:48 story that you cast alongside a spiritual truth. In fact, the word para bole in Greek, it means para to come alongside, bole cast. So you15:00 cast alongside spiritual truth, this illustration. And and when that runs parallel, the eyes are gonna be open. Ears are gonna be open. Hearts are gonna be open. So 3 things about parables. Number 1, write this down.15:12 They paint kingdom principles. This is gonna teach us about the kingdom in illustrative ways. And so Jesus cast this story of a sower sowing seed to make a point about what15:24 it means to hear the word. And, it says he was teaching them many things in parables. And in verse 11, he says, it's called these are the secrets or the secret of the kingdom of God. So there are things15:36 that God conceals in parable. And and listen, some of you, this is gonna knock you out. But sometimes, God does not reveal certain things to certain people. Sometimes God holds back from15:47 certain people. You say, why? Because God knows their heart. God Jesus is the 1 who said, don't cast your pearls before swine. Because some people, when they hear spiritual truth, all they do is15:59 stomp on it. All they do is reject it. All they do is scoff at it. You know what God does? He says, if you're gonna scoff, I'm gonna withhold. That's what happens. So this is concealing secrets, and there are people who16:11 are gonna catch it, and people are not gonna catch it. Number 2, parables prove true believers. It separates the wheat from the chaff. Separates people from really getting it to those who are not getting it.16:23 Are you a true believer? This parable will come alive to you. You will nod in agreement as I preach it if you're a true believer. And then and and this is what he says in verse 9. He who has16:35 ears to hear, let him what? Hear. Circle that word hear because it's a big theme in this passage. Hearing God speak. And number 3, parables prompt self reflection. The16:47 point of the parable is to see yourself in the parable. The point of the story is to say, okay. Which soil am I? Which soil is my heart?16:59 Am I hearing? And so Jesus says to the disciples in this story in Mark 4 through 13, it says, do you not understand this parable?17:11 How will you understand all the parables? That's kind of an interesting passage about this parable. Because what Jesus is saying is this parable is the key to unlock all the other parables. If you get this 1,17:23 you're gonna understand every other parable that I teach. And you say, wow. Why? How? Because this parable is going to thin the herd from those who are receiving and hearing and those who are true17:34 disciples from those who are not. And in every church, listen to me. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some you gotta hear In every church, there are true believers and there are false believers. In every17:46 church, there are surface y Christians and there are real Christians. And this parable is an invitation from the Lord to check which 1 are you. And maybe this scares17:58 you. Maybe you're scared about this idea. I don't know. Maybe I'm on the outside looking in. How do I know if I'm a true believer, pastor? I wanna be a true believer. Okay. I got a word for you. And we gotta go to18:08 Matthew's gospel. It's a parallel passage to this passage in Mark 4. Matthew 13, here's what happens. The real disciples, verse 10, it says, the disciples18:20 came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? And here, all I want you to know is this. Here's what Jesus is illustrating in this text, because then he's gonna unpack this parable. He's gonna he's18:32 gonna explain this parable. But who does he explain this parable to in the following verses? Here's who he explains it to. The people who want to know more.18:44 You know what separates a true believer from a non believer or a true believer from a false believer? The people who say, I wanna know more. This is what happens in18:56 Mark chapter 4 too. They come to Jesus and say, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. What's going on here? Now you're, like, teaching things are flying over our heads. We want to know. So here's the first test when19:08 it comes to money. Here's the first test because money's gonna be a part of this parable as well. You're gonna see it in just a moment. The question that you gotta ask about every area of your life is do I really want to19:20 know what Jesus teaches? You don't wanna know what I teach. You wanna know what Jesus teaches. What I think about money does not matter.19:32 What he says about money is really what matters. I can't give you spiritual truths other than what God has revealed in his word about money that will help you. I19:44 can give you advice, but my advice might fail you. So the real question about your life and and by the way, let's put money aside for a second. Because some of you, that's not your19:56 struggle. Do you really wanna know what Jesus teaches about relationships? Do you really wanna know what Jesus teaches about raising children? Do you really wanna know what Jesus teaches about marriage and love?20:08 Do you really wanna know what Jesus teaches about how do you handle difficult people in your life who don't like you? In other words, a true believer says, yes. I wanna know.20:20 A true believer does not come to church and check the box and say, thanks. I'm gonna go do life my own way now, Monday through Saturday. I'll be I'll be back next Sunday. They hear all somebody else got to say. A true20:32 believer says, no. I wanna get in. I wanna jump in. I want to know because Jesus alone has the eternal words of life. You believe that?20:43 There's nowhere else you can go. By the way, his words have stood the test of time. This book is the best selling book every single year on record. They don't even20:55 include it in the best seller list because it's a foregone conclusion that more Bibles will be sold every year than any other book. It's 2000 years old at its newest. It's 3500 years old at its oldest. 4021:07 different authors, farmers, poets, some criminals mixed in, tax collectors, some fishermen, some kings, some priests, some prophets, and it's all 1 central message that God came to21:19 save humans from their sin. Stood the test of time. There's no other source of wisdom that beats this book.21:32 So when it comes to your finances, why would you not want to hear what this book has to say? In many respects, this week's this week's message is21:43 simply just gonna answer that question. That's all we're doing. We're just laying a foundation for the following weeks. Do you want to know what Jesus says about money? So let's21:55 let's go there, and let's look at this parable. It is 4 kinds of responses to God's word. Which 1 are you? Okay. Number 1, write this down, the path. This is where the22:07 enemy steals the seed, the devil. So Jesus again, Mark's gospel chapter 4, and Jesus illustrates this in verse 4.22:20 Listen. And if you got a Bible out paper Bible, and I hope you have a paper Bible. Listen. A sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and22:32 devoured it. Now the birds and Jesus is going to illustrate this for us in verse 15. In verse 15, it says, and these are the ones along the path. So back this is the explanation. The first part22:44 of Mark 4 is the parable. The second part of Mark 4 is the explanation. So these are the ones among among the path where the word is sown when they hear, Satan, what?22:56 Immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. You have to know something. Satan hates the seed. Satan hates you hearing23:08 from God. Now some of you help Satan out. You do. He does not need your favors. Anybody believe that?23:20 He doesn't need your assistance. But you gotta understand something. Every time you pick up this book, Satan hates it. Sometimes when I23:31 don't it is a bad confession from a pastor. But is it alright if I just give you a bad confession? Because I'm like you as well? And sometimes I don't wanna pick it up. But I have I have learned23:43 through many experiences that when I have trouble remembering things, all I need to do is pick up this book and start reading it. And it's23:55 amazing how many things and listen to me. This is gonna sound weird. The devil will come and remind me that I have to do. It's a bad confession24:07 that sometimes I read the bible just so that the devil will remind me of the things I gotta do. Because because sometimes I forget. And then what I'm trying to say is no. No. Listen. That's a that's a bad24:19 confession. Don't practice that. The point is is that he's always trying to steal what god wants to sow in your heart. And and the reason why24:31 is because he knows that this book will give you tools to take him down. See, this book tells you that the devil really isn't your problem.24:43 This book tells you that the devil is already defeated. Colossians chapter 2 tells me that Jesus at the cross disarmed the devil and the rulers of the principalities in the heavenly realms. I24:55 have a defeated enemy that is coming into the I this book tells me, in the last couple of chapters that the devil and his angels are gonna be cast into the lake of25:07 fire forever. This book reminds me of the devil's future so that every time he reminds me about my past, I could tell him about his future. Come on, somebody. Amen.25:19 This book tells me that God is for me, not against me. This book tells me that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. This book tells me that I am the head, not the tail. This book tells me that25:31 greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I what I'm trying to tell you is that this book is my secret Dakota ring to success in life in every area. The saint wants to steal it.25:42 Now some of you do them a favor. You don't even bring it to church. You left it at home today. If you're a if you're a bible believer, bring it to church so you can do what I'm telling you. Circle words, underline25:54 things, scribble in it, write in it, wear out that sucker. Yeah? Because I say it all the time. A bible that's worn out is in the hands of life of a person whose life is not worn out.26:07 Stretch yourself. Put it out there. See fathers fathers, let your kids see you bring the bible to church. Amen. Amen. How does Satan steal the seed? Well,26:19 if you got a bible, go with me to Genesis chapter 3, and this is not on screen. And And that's why I want you to bring your bible, because sometimes I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna go I'm gonna riff. Is it alright26:26 if I riff? Yes. Here's how Satan steals the seed. Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts of field that the Lord God had made. Here it is. And he said to the woman, did God actually26:38 say, you shall not eat any tree of the garden? Did you see what he did right there? He's questioning the word of God. He's dismissing the word of God. Did God26:49 actually say that? Really? God really said, the Bible is and this is what our young people wrestle with in college. The Bible. God's27:01 word. What are you? Living in the 15 hundreds? He dismisses. By the way, he also twists because he said, did did did God say you shall not eat any tree? Did God say that they should not27:13 eat any tree of the garden? No. What did God actually say? He said you can eat every tree except 1. There's only 1 tree off limits. Boy, doesn't the devil do27:25 that with us all the time. This is how he steals the seed. Following Jesus is just so restrictive. God just wants to keep you from all the fun things in life. Fun things.27:37 It's amazing how many times we fought we've bought into that lie, isn't it? How many of you have got the battle scars on your heart from the things the devil told you would be fun and turned out to27:48 be fail. Hurts and wounds that you're still living with today. He dismisses the word. But oh, let's let's do this. Let's go to Mark chapter Matthew chapter 4. We're in Mark 4.28:00 Let's go to Matthew chapter 4 because here's another way the devil steals the seed. This is in the this is in the wilderness, and Jesus is being tempted by the devil. And,28:12 here's what happens. Second temptation, the devil took him to the holy city, verse 5, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you're the son of god, throw yourself down for it is written. This is the28:22 devil talking. The devil is talking to Jesus. The devil is having a convo with Jesus, and he says, by the way, Jesus, it's written in the Bible.28:34 You know that the buy that the devil can quote the Bible? The devil can quote the Bible. In fact, this is an another huge way the enemy steals the seed from your heart.28:46 He uses the Bible improperly. Yep. Oh, yeah. He will quote the Bible at the wrong moment of your life to deceive you. You have to28:58 understand that the devil knows this book better than you. So he says, he it is written, Jesus, and he's quoting Psalm 91, he will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands, they will bury you up. So you can29:09 throw yourself off the temple because, you know, the the the Lord promised he's gonna protect you anyway. So Jesus, go ahead. And Jesus has to come back with him and say, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord29:19 your God to the test. In other words, he knew the scriptures better than the devil knew the scriptures. That's because he wrote the scriptures. But nonetheless, you gotta understand that when it comes to this word, what29:30 the devil wants to do most of all is keep you out of this book. Don't do him any favors. Amen, brother. Some of you would do a great disservice for29:42 your life for the rest of the year and get into this habit now. Let's not wait until the New Year to start this. Wake up and first thing in the morning, put this book in your ears.29:54 Put it in your ears. I've I've told you this many times just to release you into doing it. First thing I do is I get my dogs out on a walk, and I put my earbuds in, and I play the bible. I just let the word just get30:06 in. Just hear. Because scripture says, faith comes by hearing. I love it doesn't say faith comes by reading. That's actually good because for the first 1200 years of Christian history, people couldn't read.30:18 So the only way they could get the word of God was to hear it. And so faith comes by hearing. I just wanna put it in my head. Sometimes I don't even necessarily pay attention, but it's still going in. Come on, somebody.30:28 This word never returns void. Okay. Number 2, the rocks where the shallow where shallow faith falls away. This this is the enemy called the world. So the first enemy is the flesh I'm sorry. The first enemy30:40 is the devil. The second enemy is the world. And so here's how Jesus teaches us about this in Mark chapter 4. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil30:52 and immediately sprang up since it had no depth of soil. Hey. Here's a question. Are you getting deeper? When it comes to God's word, are you31:04 just, you know, surface y kind of like hearing it, or are you trying to go deeper into it? Because God you're you have to understand. You're a deep person. The scripture says31:16 that a man's heart is like a deep well. And some of you, I'm gonna help someone out here today. There are things in your life that you keep doing that you hate doing because31:28 you've never let this word touch the deep parts of your heart. You've never let this word go down and heal that wound from when you were a child. You never let this31:39 word get down deep and start to shape your identity from the depths of your being so that everything about you has been resolved with God.31:52 Some of you young ladies, if you don't get deep with God, you'll seek for that depth in a man who can't really meet that deep need. And32:04 I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with a man in your life. Absolutely. God commends marriage. That's wonderful. But don't go to marriage looking for something from him that only God can actually touch in your32:14 life. So there's a depth that we have to embrace when it comes to God's word. Okay. So Jesus illustrates this 1. I'm sorry. He explains this 1 in verse 16, and he says, these are the32:26 ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who when they hear the word, and check this out, recently baptized people, I'm not picking on you, but please check this out. Immediately, they receive it with32:38 joy. Like, there's an initial euphoria to walking with Jesus. Amen? There's an initial kind of, wow, God loves me, and32:49 I found this church, and I I love the people, and and God is speaking into my spirit. And I feel for the first time, like, I'm really connecting with with the eternal and significant thing. And I just got33:01 baptized, and I post my picture on Facebook, and everybody celebrated. It gave me praise hands and clap hands and prayer hands and all these things. And I love what's going on in my life. Woah.33:13 K. That's what happens. But if you don't go deeper, you only endure for a while. If you don't take it deeper than the surface y33:24 emotional aspect of faith, which is real, and I don't decry it. I'm glad for the people who are recently baptized, recently saved because, frankly, some of33:36 us old timers, we need your joy. That's what I love about our church, all the baptisms every week, the people standing for salvation every week, the people coming to Christ excited.33:48 Man, the young newbies in the faith give the old timers some joy. Like grandparents you know how grandparents love their their grandchildren more than their own children?34:01 That's how it is in the faith. Right? The old timers love the new ones. Like, I love it. Look what God is doing. Okay. But if you don't go deeper, you're only doing it for a while. And then this is what happens. The34:11 world steps in, and tribulation or persecution arises on account on account of the word and immediately look at that. Oh, what a tragedy. They fall away. They34:23 weren't actually saved. They were seduced by the emotional aspect of faith, but they weren't actually saved. And so here34:35 here's something that's gonna heal somebody. I really believe this. Just because you don't feel it doesn't mean it's not real. I have gone through and hear my own34:46 testimony. I have gone through peaks and valleys of the Christian faith. Now when you look at a when you look at a horizon of mountains and we were just in34:58 Greece, and I saw this, and I was, like, reminded of this. It's gorgeous to see the mountains, but what you notice about mountains is that the peaks are very sporadic and rare.35:10 Right? You go up the peak, and it's it's almost as if you get to the peak and immediately start coming down again. That is the life of faith. The life of faith is filled with peaks, but the peaks35:22 are temporary, and they are short, and they don't come along that often. And when they come, enjoy them. That's to get you rolling through that valley. Come on, somebody. The valleys35:34 are far more far longer than the peaks. And in our emotional response to Jesus, be careful that you don't worship the35:46 peak. Because God is always with you even when you don't feel him. Even when the emotions aren't there,35:58 he's still there. And sometimes he's not making you feel it so that your faith goes deeper than feelings. Because if you're a feelings oriented36:10 person, then all you need to do is be made to laugh or be made to, you know, be, you know, inspired, and somebody could deceive you just by being clever, just by36:21 being inspirational, just by having the gift of gab. And what God wants is he wants depth so that you're not swayed by the peaks, by by the pleasures of the36:33 world, but your depth and your faith is real and significant because no matter what you feel, you believe that Jesus is there with you.36:45 That's deep faith. That's true faith. I've got praise even when I don't feel it in my mouth. I've got a reason to celebrate even36:57 in the midst of hardship because God is still on the throne. I don't need you to praise me for me to be praising my Jesus. In other words, my faith is not37:09 tied to feelings, it's tied to the truth of God's word. Amen. And here's the truth about our world It's constantly changing. So the37:21 first enemy, when it comes to the path, is the devil. The second enemy, when it comes to the to to the rocky soil, is the world. You have to understand the world's always changing. The world's always shifting. The37:30 world's always adjusting. William Inge said it like this, he who marries the spirit of the age will be a widower in the next because the world's always changing his mind.37:43 15 minutes ago, there were 72 genders. 15 minutes ago, there were 72 genders according to Facebook.37:55 5 minutes ago, everybody kinda just woke up and said, oops. And, hopefully, we're still waking up. 15 minutes ago this might hurt somebody, but I'll say it anyway.38:06 15 minutes ago, we actually believed that depression was a chemical imbalance. And 5 minutes ago, we learned that SSRIs just numb the neurons in the brain. That's all they do.38:19 What what what are you what are you marrying in the world with your mind, with your thoughts? Because it's not tethered to God's word. There's no depth. I used to say this stuff 20 years ago about38:31 depression and anxiety and chemical imbalance, and people would come at me with such vitriol. How dare you? What are you talking about? And I would say, I I think these issues are whole life experiences.38:43 I think your depression might be because you've got some issues with sin you've got some unmet expectations or you've got some, you know, some you know, I don't know. It's everything. Right? Or you're not eating right,38:53 and and people would just you know, and now I'm like, I've been proved right because of what I did, I stood with the with the word of god. Amen. Where I you know, right right now, the spirit of the age is that 2 men canShow more
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