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In chains I was brown,

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I was a madman on the run.

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Through the hills hills I wandered.

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I was running from the sun.

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But truth found me there.

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It was in my darkest eye.

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I traded my black heart for joy. For

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something real, some thin with

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power.

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Truth set

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me free.

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Truth came to me.

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I once was blind, and now I see

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Welcome to Tell the Truth, a weekly podcast

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about faith, current events, and life in general,

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brought to you from Mountain View Baptist Church

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live every Monday night at 6 PM Central

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Time.

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Boy, I tell you, I think, that every

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Monday night thing kinda fell by the wayside

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a little bit but hey, we were live

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during revival

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which was absolutely awesome, and we're back now.

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We've had family stuff and other things going

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on, so we took a little time off.

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We had,

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the the holiday,

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recently. Kinda had to take some time off

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for that.

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So we're back in the saddle. Brother Dennis,

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how you doing? Doing alright. Doing alright. It's

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good to be back, man. It's, yeah. I

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was missing it. Missing it a lot. Yeah.

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I had a couple of people actually ask

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me, did y'all quit doing it or something?

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I was like, no. No. This is life

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getting in the way. You know?

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Yep. And how about you, brother Brian? Yeah,

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man. Like you said, life. It's a lot

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of things going on. And,

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of course, if we got our technical guy

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here, we're we're dead in the water too.

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You know? But no. No.

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But, you know, just,

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yeah. We we gotta take care of family

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stuff sometimes and and make sure that that

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comes number 1,

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or there's no reason for us to be

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doing this. Right? Yeah. And and we we

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gotta get our priorities right. And so,

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some sicknesses and some parents and things to

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take care of, and so that's what we

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do. And,

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so but, yeah, glad to be back, though.

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Awesome. And I it is. I I didn't

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realize how much I would miss it. I

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know it's it's busy for all of us

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to get down, but, man, it it's kinda

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nice sit down and have these kinds of

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conversations and know that there are some people

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out there listening to it and getting a

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little bit from it.

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And man, we have,

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it's starting on a good note

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coming back.

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The conservatives

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have won the presidency and vice presidency,

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the house and the Senate majority, which is,

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I don't know. It's been years since 1,

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you know, since a conservative group has had

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all of that.

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So pray for our leaders as they go

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in in January, because they're going to have

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to hit the ground running because they know

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that they, they really only have 2 years

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to do anything

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because if they don't fulfill all those campaign

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promises come

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midterms,

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they're not going to be getting reelected and

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they're going to be getting ousted real quick.

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Well, it might be worse than that too.

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You know, some of the things they're talking

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about doing are going to cause some pain.

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It is the cost cutting and stuff like

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that could, could, could be painful for some

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folks. And it is it's, it's going to

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be rough. I think a lot of it's

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needed.

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You know, I don't, I don't always agree

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with everything politicians do, but I do understand

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where they're coming from and I'm excited to

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see some conservative values get back. And Hey,

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those of us that have been through

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a time in our life where maybe we

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were spending, like there was no tomorrow, and

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then we decided to start raining it in.

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It hurts.

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It hurts you suddenly. Okay. Well, I need

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to cut the TV off and I need

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to cut this off and I really don't

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need this plan on my cell phone. I

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can go with the cheaper one and and

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and that stings. So,

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feeling that as a country is gonna be

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kind of rough.

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I hope that, in this area, at least,

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I don't know about other areas of the

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country, but I hope around here,

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some of the good conservative men,

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you know, now's a really good time to

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start telling the the young guys that are

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out there trying to stir the pot and

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trying to stir up trouble.

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It's time to sit down and let the

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adults talk. Let's not be

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slinging mud on people and slinging things in

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people's faces.

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I know that was a fun couple of

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weeks as I've watched

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the spats online. We had

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a conservative guy that does not represent most

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conservatives

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out there. Really rubbing it in the faces

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a lot of of a lot of liberal

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people.

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You know, her body, my choice garbage that

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was going around. That was one person. He's

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an idiot. We don't agree with him. So

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if you're listening to us, understand

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we don't support talking like that.

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And in this area,

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I I think we might,

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us older guys might need to consider bringing

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back some woodshed conversations.

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You know, take the young men out to

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the woodshed and have a conversation around all

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those sharp implements and about 5 other guys

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that are telling them, hey, this is not

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how you act. And

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it's amazing how quick young men start straightening

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up after a conversation like that. That's right.

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So

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I pray that we can keep all of

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that in in mind and do keep keep

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as we speak truth, as we tell people

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these true things, let's try to remember that

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we're not out here to make people upset.

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We're not out here to rub things and

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rub people's nose and things. We're not out

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here to to poke and

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prod people into being angry. That's one of

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the things we talked about as parenting. You

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know, the Bible tells us, Hey fathers, don't

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provoke your children to wrath. You don't go

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around needling those kids. It's the same way

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in this situation. You don't go around needling

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people

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trying to make them mad. It doesn't mean

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that you can always find common ground. Sometimes

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there's no common ground to be found,

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but sometimes it means to just, you know,

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take a step back and not say anything

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for a second and let them get out

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whatever they're trying to say before you try

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to start arguing with them or before you

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try to convince them of anything. Let's let

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politics get in the way of the gospel.

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Exactly. And and let's try to try to

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remember that as as we go forward, and

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I'm very much looking forward to this next

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year. It's nice to have hope again in

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that. I know we're going to have a

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lot of rough times ahead of us.

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And, hopefully we can be a little bit

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of a voice of, hey, guys, let's have

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some reason here and let's look at things

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through this gospel lens and through the the

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rules that Christ gave us for life because,

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hey, he lived it. He lived it for

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us and he showed us how we're supposed

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to live. Let's try to emulate that. And

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we've been saying that this whole time and

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now we need to be saying it that

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much louder. So everybody listening,

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let's shout it from the rooftops.

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You know, we love the we love the

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people in the world. We love all of

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you and we want you to go to

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heaven with us. We're not saying that things

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you're doing are bad because we don't like

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you. We're saying it because we love you

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and we want you to have a great

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life

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here and on the other side because that's

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the only way you're gonna get both. I

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mean, you might have a little bit of

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fun here, but if you don't find your

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way to Christ, there's not gonna be anything

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waiting on the other side except a lot

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a lot of torment and a lot of

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very dark

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disappointment. And we don't wanna see you go

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through that. We love you, really and truly.

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So tonight,

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I believe you said we're talking about

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serving and sacrifice. Yeah. Yeah.

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So I guess under and under that topic,

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there's,

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I've been talking about it a lot on

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Wednesday night, but,

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I think, you know, we need we need

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to bring back a ministry of of encouragement,

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in our churches,

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among our people,

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that are that are serving.

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I think

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a lot of times today, people are getting

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tired. They're tired in ministry. They're tired in

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in the church.

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You know, they they know they've been called

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to do this certain thing,

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but they don't have a lot of backup.

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They don't have a lot of people saying,

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hey. I appreciate what you're doing. And I'm

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not saying we're doing any of this to

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get a pat on the back, but I'm

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just telling you that,

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that even in Paul's day, and and we've

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been we've been in first Thessalonians,

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for the last few weeks on Wednesday nights.

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And I just wanna I just wanna read

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just this first part of first of the

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first chapter of chapter 1 of, first Thessalonians.

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Paul says this. He says, Paul and Silvanus

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and Timotheus

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under the church of of the Thessalonians,

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which is in God the father and in

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the lord Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you

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and peace from god our father and the

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lord Jesus Christ.

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And then he talks about their work of

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faith.

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He said, we give thanks to God always

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for you,

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making mention of you in our prayers, remembering

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without ceasing your work of faith and labor

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of love and patience of hope in our

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lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of god

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and our father, knowing brethren, beloved, your election

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of god for our gospel

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came not unto you

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in word only,

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but also in power in the Holy Ghost

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and in much assurance

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as you know what manner of men we

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were among you for your sake.

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And ye

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became followers of us and of the lord,

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having received the word in much affliction with

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joy of the holy ghost so that you

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were in samples or examples

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to all that believe in Macedonia

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and Achaia.

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For from you sounded out the word of

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the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,

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but also in every place your faith to

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God toward us, our God word is spread

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abroad so that we need not to speak

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anything.

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So,

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you know, Paul and and the other apostles

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that were responsible for starting this church in

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in in Thessalonica

275
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and and if you read Paul's letters to

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the churches,

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of course, there's some times that Paul has

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to say, okay, we gotta stop this or

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we need to fix this or this thing's

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going on or that thing's going on, because

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we talked about it on here before. There's

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gotta be a balance of truth and love.

283
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But he but he always encourages. Right? He

284
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always tries to encourage them. Hey. We came

285
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to you. We brought you the gospel, and

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now I see you and you're taking the

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gospel out. And and that's just really been

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on my heart lately because,

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we need to be servants more than we

290
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ever have before. And part of serving

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people

292
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is encouraging people and encouraging people in their

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ministry.

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You may not,

295
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you may not have time to be a

296
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part of every ministry in your church or

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every part of of every ministry that that

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you're familiar with, but you always got time

299
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to pray for them. You always got time

300
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to lift those people up, and you got

301
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time to support them. And by saying, hey.

302
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Good job. I appreciate what you're doing. Continue.

303
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Go on and do the work of the

304
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Lord.

305
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Yeah. I think it's,

306
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I I know I I come up short

307
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a lot on encouraging people. I I don't

308
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I don't know why that is. I just

309
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get in my own bubble, I guess, you

310
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know, but We all do. But, we we

311
00:11:00,620 --> 00:11:01,980
gotta be better at that. It's it's like

312
00:11:01,980 --> 00:11:03,899
the the the letters to the churches in

313
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Revelation. You know, Jesus had something

314
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stern to say to him at times, but

315
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there was always encouragement with it. Yeah. If

316
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you do this, I'll give you this. That's

317
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right. Yeah. And he's he's always encouraging us

318
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and pushing us onward. Yeah. He is. He

319
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is. And,

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you know, when when we when you're in

321
00:11:20,095 --> 00:11:22,254
ministry and everybody's got when I say that,

322
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I'm not leaving anybody in the church out

323
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because everybody in the church has got a

324
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ministry. Right? You may not have figured out

325
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just exactly what that, what what that pinpoint

326
00:11:31,649 --> 00:11:34,309
ministry is or what direction that's going in,

327
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but you've got a ministry right where you

328
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are, whether it's in your workplace or whether

329
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it's in your home with your with your,

330
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your children, your wife, your husband, whatever it

331
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may be. You've got a ministry

332
00:11:45,865 --> 00:11:47,965
right where you are if you've been saved.

333
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And so,

334
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we just gotta be willing when we accept

335
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Christ as Lord and savior, we've gotta be

336
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willing to say, okay. Now, Lord, I am

337
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a servant to you. I am I am

338
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a bond slave to you, and you direct

339
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me and lead me and show me what

340
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it is that that that I need to

341
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do,

342
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to bring you glory. And so we're all

343
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servants, but there is times we get there's

344
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times we get tired. There's times we get

345
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downtrodden,

346
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and we just need somebody to come along

347
00:12:16,384 --> 00:12:18,465
and say, hey. Can I pray for you?

348
00:12:18,465 --> 00:12:20,225
Can I help you along? You know, you're

349
00:12:20,225 --> 00:12:22,945
doing a great job, but, hey. Here's here's

350
00:12:22,945 --> 00:12:25,049
how I wanna encourage you today. Boy, I

351
00:12:25,049 --> 00:12:26,730
got a a boost last night, you know,

352
00:12:26,730 --> 00:12:28,649
after our Sunday night session. I was about

353
00:12:28,649 --> 00:12:29,850
to pull out of the parking lot. I

354
00:12:29,850 --> 00:12:31,450
cranked my truck up, and I was pulling

355
00:12:31,450 --> 00:12:33,370
out. And and one of the young men

356
00:12:33,370 --> 00:12:35,529
that had been there last night, was standing

357
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out in the parking lot and waved me

358
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down.

359
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And he said, I just wanna pray for

360
00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:42,394
you. He said, I heard what you're telling

361
00:12:42,394 --> 00:12:44,235
brother Brian about your mom, and and I

362
00:12:44,235 --> 00:12:45,514
want I just want to pray for you.

363
00:12:45,514 --> 00:12:47,355
Can I pray for you? Amen. Amen. And

364
00:12:47,355 --> 00:12:49,514
and, and he prayed for me, and he

365
00:12:49,514 --> 00:12:50,875
was in tears, and he told me he

366
00:12:50,875 --> 00:12:53,195
loved me. And it just man, it blessed

367
00:12:53,195 --> 00:12:55,195
my heart. That's a ministry of encouragement. Just

368
00:12:55,195 --> 00:12:58,070
huge. Yeah. Huge. Yeah. He'll he'll never know

369
00:12:58,070 --> 00:13:00,309
what that meant to me. Yeah. Amen. Amen.

370
00:13:00,309 --> 00:13:02,230
And we man, we just need we need

371
00:13:02,230 --> 00:13:03,750
to pass that on, don't we? Because We

372
00:13:03,750 --> 00:13:05,450
do. Because even if you don't

373
00:13:06,230 --> 00:13:07,430
I don't I don't know if I have

374
00:13:07,430 --> 00:13:09,414
a ministry or not, honestly. Yeah. You do.

375
00:13:09,414 --> 00:13:12,054
But everybody's ministry is to serve. Yeah. That's

376
00:13:12,054 --> 00:13:14,214
right. Right? It's to serve. And and Jesus

377
00:13:14,214 --> 00:13:16,294
displayed that. He he came to serve, not

378
00:13:16,294 --> 00:13:18,534
to be served. Amen. And and when we

379
00:13:18,534 --> 00:13:20,695
focus on serving, that's going right back to

380
00:13:20,695 --> 00:13:23,309
this whole love one another thing. Right? Because

381
00:13:23,309 --> 00:13:25,790
when we're serving, we're serving other people. And

382
00:13:25,790 --> 00:13:27,950
by serving other people, we're serving him. That's

383
00:13:27,950 --> 00:13:30,190
right. Amen. It all works together, and it's

384
00:13:30,190 --> 00:13:32,670
just a beautiful thing. Yeah. Amen. I and

385
00:13:32,670 --> 00:13:34,850
I I appreciate what you do. I appreciate

386
00:13:34,990 --> 00:13:37,565
you, the Sunday school, the men's Sunday school

387
00:13:37,565 --> 00:13:39,345
class that you teach. I appreciate,

388
00:13:40,125 --> 00:13:42,625
when you preach, I appreciate the the,

389
00:13:43,085 --> 00:13:45,404
the men's group that you're leading on on

390
00:13:45,404 --> 00:13:46,605
Sunday nights now.

391
00:13:47,580 --> 00:13:49,580
And, yeah, you've got plenty of ministry out

392
00:13:49,580 --> 00:13:52,460
there and and and it's just it's being

393
00:13:52,460 --> 00:13:54,620
known. It's being shown and the Lord's using

394
00:13:54,620 --> 00:13:57,279
it. Appreciate Tyler, man. Yeah. Yeah.

395
00:13:58,460 --> 00:14:01,200
The the Technical guru. Oh, man. The

396
00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:03,014
the the sound guy,

397
00:14:04,134 --> 00:14:06,774
nobody nobody has anything much to say to

398
00:14:06,774 --> 00:14:08,855
the sound guy unless something happens with the

399
00:14:08,855 --> 00:14:11,335
sound and then it's all negative. Right? But

400
00:14:11,335 --> 00:14:13,514
a lot goes on behind the scenes and

401
00:14:13,654 --> 00:14:15,919
and and Tyler brings a lot also to

402
00:14:15,919 --> 00:14:17,919
the table as far as his comments and

403
00:14:17,919 --> 00:14:19,839
things that he has to say during the

404
00:14:19,839 --> 00:14:22,240
podcast and during bible study. I mean, I

405
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,079
I really appreciate that. Yeah.

406
00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:25,700
But, yeah, just,

407
00:14:26,079 --> 00:14:28,579
you know, it and it is sacrifice. Right?

408
00:14:28,639 --> 00:14:30,975
I mean, to serve is to sacrifice. It's

409
00:14:30,975 --> 00:14:31,634
to give

410
00:14:32,014 --> 00:14:33,634
up time. It's to give up,

411
00:14:35,774 --> 00:14:38,034
effort. Sometimes it may be monetarily,

412
00:14:38,894 --> 00:14:41,629
things that you sacrifice. Sometimes it's most of

413
00:14:41,629 --> 00:14:43,629
the time, it's more time than anything else.

414
00:14:43,629 --> 00:14:45,149
And Yeah. And time's one of those things

415
00:14:45,149 --> 00:14:46,990
that people don't wanna give up. No. No.

416
00:14:46,990 --> 00:14:48,590
We can't go to that time, don't we?

417
00:14:48,590 --> 00:14:50,110
Yeah. I started to say time is something

418
00:14:50,110 --> 00:14:52,029
that people hold on to tight because as

419
00:14:52,029 --> 00:14:53,789
Christians, we know that once the time's gone,

420
00:14:53,789 --> 00:14:55,549
we're not getting it back. Yeah. There is

421
00:14:55,549 --> 00:14:58,075
that recognition. And we we do teach that

422
00:14:58,075 --> 00:15:00,235
within the church. Hey, you know, you can't

423
00:15:00,235 --> 00:15:02,075
let the time slip by. And I think

424
00:15:02,075 --> 00:15:04,394
people start holding on to it. The other

425
00:15:04,394 --> 00:15:06,315
thing that that you you a lot of

426
00:15:06,315 --> 00:15:08,279
people, they hang on to their time because

427
00:15:08,759 --> 00:15:11,160
oftentimes really is money because in order to

428
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:12,120
come to church, they're going to have to

429
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,560
give up certain jobs or they're going to

430
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,720
have to give up, you know, maybe that

431
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,200
little extra time at work for the next

432
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:19,639
3 or 4 weeks so that they can

433
00:15:19,639 --> 00:15:21,879
make that extra money. And, and people don't

434
00:15:21,879 --> 00:15:23,445
like doing that because they're like, oh, but

435
00:15:23,445 --> 00:15:24,644
we got this thing going on at church

436
00:15:24,644 --> 00:15:26,884
and I gotta serve in it. And it's

437
00:15:26,884 --> 00:15:29,284
like, hey, look, you know, sometimes we do

438
00:15:29,284 --> 00:15:30,024
have to,

439
00:15:30,565 --> 00:15:32,964
you know, take that step away and say,

440
00:15:32,964 --> 00:15:35,204
okay, what's best for my family? Because god

441
00:15:35,204 --> 00:15:36,779
wants us to take care of them. You

442
00:15:36,779 --> 00:15:38,379
know, sometimes you might have to say, look,

443
00:15:38,379 --> 00:15:39,740
I can't be here this Sunday or I

444
00:15:39,740 --> 00:15:41,679
can't be here this Wednesday night or whatever.

445
00:15:41,980 --> 00:15:43,600
Sure. But that's not

446
00:15:44,059 --> 00:15:46,620
that shouldn't be the default answer. The default

447
00:15:46,620 --> 00:15:48,379
answer is we're here to serve. I mean,

448
00:15:48,379 --> 00:15:49,519
it goes back to

449
00:15:51,804 --> 00:15:54,044
Solomon's writings when he said, you know, our

450
00:15:54,044 --> 00:15:56,684
purpose is to fear the Lord and keep

451
00:15:56,684 --> 00:15:59,404
his commandments. That's what we are here for.

452
00:15:59,404 --> 00:15:59,904
And

453
00:16:00,365 --> 00:16:02,284
I think maybe sometimes we just we we

454
00:16:02,284 --> 00:16:04,445
really don't wanna we get miserly with the

455
00:16:04,445 --> 00:16:05,964
time, and we're not supposed to be miserly

456
00:16:05,964 --> 00:16:07,879
with it. You're supposed to manage it appropriately.

457
00:16:08,340 --> 00:16:10,740
Don't be miserly. Yeah. I agree. Most of

458
00:16:10,740 --> 00:16:12,360
us just wanna be served.

459
00:16:12,899 --> 00:16:14,420
Yeah. I think so. You know? I think

460
00:16:14,420 --> 00:16:16,340
so. I wanna show up to the church

461
00:16:16,340 --> 00:16:19,059
on Sunday morning and feed me. Yeah. Right.

462
00:16:19,059 --> 00:16:20,980
You know? Feed me on Wednesday night if

463
00:16:20,980 --> 00:16:23,384
I happen to make it. Right. And, and

464
00:16:23,384 --> 00:16:25,304
what, what are you giving? Right. Well, and

465
00:16:25,304 --> 00:16:27,065
I heard it said once that church is

466
00:16:27,065 --> 00:16:29,465
a, it, it was equated to a filling

467
00:16:29,465 --> 00:16:31,625
station. You know, when your tank's empty, you

468
00:16:31,625 --> 00:16:33,644
go to get filled. And I'm like,

469
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:35,899
Who's doing the filling.

470
00:16:36,279 --> 00:16:39,179
God's doing the filling, but he uses us

471
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,720
to help fill other people. And he uses

472
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:42,779
us to do things

473
00:16:43,159 --> 00:16:45,179
and has a purpose for us. It's like

474
00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:47,100
sometimes getting filled means

475
00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:48,299
serving

476
00:16:48,845 --> 00:16:50,845
and doing being the one pumping the gas,

477
00:16:50,845 --> 00:16:52,605
but you're also getting something out of it.

478
00:16:52,605 --> 00:16:54,605
Sure. Yeah. Well, you know, what I see

479
00:16:54,605 --> 00:16:57,404
what I see today in in not not

480
00:16:57,404 --> 00:16:59,404
just at our church, but at church in

481
00:16:59,404 --> 00:17:00,384
church in general,

482
00:17:01,250 --> 00:17:02,309
I see people

483
00:17:03,169 --> 00:17:04,470
in this place where,

484
00:17:04,769 --> 00:17:07,169
okay. Hey. I like this person, and I

485
00:17:07,169 --> 00:17:08,150
like their ministry.

486
00:17:08,609 --> 00:17:10,289
And a lot of times because I like

487
00:17:10,289 --> 00:17:12,289
that person. You know? I like what they're

488
00:17:12,289 --> 00:17:13,589
doing because I'm

489
00:17:14,585 --> 00:17:16,744
I'm friends with them. I'm related to them.

490
00:17:16,744 --> 00:17:19,724
I'm, you know, something. There's some connection there.

491
00:17:20,184 --> 00:17:22,025
You know? I'm not that worried about this

492
00:17:22,025 --> 00:17:24,365
ministry over here, this ministry over here.

493
00:17:24,904 --> 00:17:27,724
So I see those ministries get neglected sometimes.

494
00:17:28,250 --> 00:17:30,410
And I as a pastor, I try

495
00:17:30,970 --> 00:17:32,730
I don't always get to do it, but

496
00:17:32,730 --> 00:17:35,049
I try to be at least a little

497
00:17:35,049 --> 00:17:37,470
bit a part of all those different ministries

498
00:17:37,610 --> 00:17:39,869
in some way, shape, form, or fashion and

499
00:17:39,930 --> 00:17:41,769
try to be an encouragement to them because

500
00:17:41,769 --> 00:17:44,625
I see sometimes I'm sitting there, I'm watching

501
00:17:44,625 --> 00:17:45,525
these people because

502
00:17:45,904 --> 00:17:47,684
I'll be honest with you there. I mean,

503
00:17:48,865 --> 00:17:50,805
my my church people, they're they're

504
00:17:51,184 --> 00:17:52,785
I I feel like the Lord has has

505
00:17:52,785 --> 00:17:53,924
given me the church,

506
00:17:54,785 --> 00:17:57,525
to care for, to love, to encourage.

507
00:17:58,190 --> 00:18:00,349
And and so when I see somebody get

508
00:18:00,349 --> 00:18:02,509
discouraged, it hurts. It hurts me, you know,

509
00:18:02,509 --> 00:18:04,829
as a pastor. And I'm like, okay. I

510
00:18:04,829 --> 00:18:07,650
know we everybody can't show up for everything,

511
00:18:08,509 --> 00:18:09,009
but

512
00:18:09,789 --> 00:18:11,869
but I wanna see people encouraged in their

513
00:18:11,869 --> 00:18:14,845
ministry. And when when somebody playing something and

514
00:18:14,845 --> 00:18:16,525
they put their heart and their soul into

515
00:18:16,525 --> 00:18:18,525
it and and they're just like and then

516
00:18:18,525 --> 00:18:21,005
nobody shows up or nobody, you know, wants

517
00:18:21,005 --> 00:18:23,404
to help or you know, and again, I

518
00:18:23,404 --> 00:18:25,585
know everybody is so busy,

519
00:18:26,019 --> 00:18:28,179
but we've got to think about each other.

520
00:18:28,179 --> 00:18:30,259
Right? We've got to think about somebody other

521
00:18:30,259 --> 00:18:32,579
than ourselves. We've got to think about, hey.

522
00:18:32,579 --> 00:18:34,259
Yeah. You know what? I I don't have

523
00:18:34,259 --> 00:18:35,940
all the time I need for that ministry,

524
00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:38,099
but maybe I can do something. Maybe I

525
00:18:38,099 --> 00:18:39,714
can stop and pray with you in the

526
00:18:39,714 --> 00:18:42,035
parking lot. Maybe I can, you know,

527
00:18:42,355 --> 00:18:44,674
maybe I can give some money towards that

528
00:18:44,674 --> 00:18:46,355
ministry. Maybe I can say, hey. I'm sorry.

529
00:18:46,355 --> 00:18:49,154
I can't be there that day, but, you

530
00:18:49,154 --> 00:18:51,554
know, here's here's what I can do. That

531
00:18:51,634 --> 00:18:54,220
those are the things that people just want

532
00:18:54,220 --> 00:18:56,460
encouragement so that they'll keep on keeping on

533
00:18:56,460 --> 00:18:58,960
because what happens is and what I see

534
00:18:59,259 --> 00:19:01,579
is Satan gets in people's minds and it

535
00:19:01,579 --> 00:19:03,339
gets in their heads and they say, well,

536
00:19:03,339 --> 00:19:05,019
you know what? This ministry is not doing

537
00:19:05,019 --> 00:19:07,579
any good. Nobody's supporting my ministry. This is

538
00:19:07,740 --> 00:19:09,295
my heart's here, and I feel like this

539
00:19:09,295 --> 00:19:10,894
is what I'm supposed to do, but maybe

540
00:19:10,894 --> 00:19:12,975
it maybe maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's just

541
00:19:12,975 --> 00:19:15,215
me thinking this. And so Satan talks him

542
00:19:15,215 --> 00:19:16,815
out of it, and when he talks him

543
00:19:16,815 --> 00:19:17,555
out of it,

544
00:19:17,855 --> 00:19:19,634
he talks him out of spreading the gospel.

545
00:19:19,934 --> 00:19:20,755
Yeah. Tough.

546
00:19:21,215 --> 00:19:23,990
Yeah. It's, it's it's it's easy to discouraged

547
00:19:23,990 --> 00:19:25,930
and stuff like that. I know, you know,

548
00:19:26,470 --> 00:19:28,730
you know, we we were doing, bread life

549
00:19:28,950 --> 00:19:30,950
years ago and that COVID thing hit and

550
00:19:30,950 --> 00:19:33,029
it changed everything. Yeah. And we got so

551
00:19:33,029 --> 00:19:34,710
discouraged with it. It was just, you know,

552
00:19:34,710 --> 00:19:36,984
it got down to handing out boxes in

553
00:19:36,984 --> 00:19:39,625
the parking lot and couldn't couldn't really minister

554
00:19:39,625 --> 00:19:41,544
to anybody other than just handing them some

555
00:19:41,544 --> 00:19:43,224
food and saying God bless you. Yeah. That's

556
00:19:43,224 --> 00:19:45,704
right. And, it but it's easy. It's so

557
00:19:45,704 --> 00:19:47,544
easy to get down on yourself. It is.

558
00:19:47,544 --> 00:19:49,464
And Satan like you said, Satan is always

559
00:19:49,464 --> 00:19:50,819
whispering in your ear. Yeah.

560
00:19:51,299 --> 00:19:53,619
Is this really doing any good? You know?

561
00:19:53,619 --> 00:19:54,899
Well, you know, and I mean, it's one

562
00:19:54,899 --> 00:19:56,599
of those things. If you look even

563
00:19:56,980 --> 00:19:59,460
in the world and and at businesses and

564
00:19:59,460 --> 00:20:01,319
things like that, one of the things that

565
00:20:01,619 --> 00:20:03,139
a lot of businesses take a lot of

566
00:20:03,139 --> 00:20:04,579
time trying to figure out is how do

567
00:20:04,579 --> 00:20:07,215
we make sure that every employee knows what

568
00:20:07,215 --> 00:20:09,295
their contribution is and what they're doing and

569
00:20:09,295 --> 00:20:10,835
that how it's affecting things.

570
00:20:11,215 --> 00:20:12,894
Because the fact of the matter is while

571
00:20:12,894 --> 00:20:14,894
most people are more than more than happy

572
00:20:14,894 --> 00:20:16,095
to just go in and collect a paycheck,

573
00:20:16,095 --> 00:20:17,615
they don't really care if they're contributing. They

574
00:20:17,615 --> 00:20:19,475
don't really, you know, don't give a rip.

575
00:20:19,950 --> 00:20:21,309
They're going to be a little bit better

576
00:20:21,309 --> 00:20:23,710
at their job if they know, oh, that

577
00:20:23,710 --> 00:20:25,470
thing that that guy asked me to do

578
00:20:25,470 --> 00:20:27,230
actually made a difference. And it's the same

579
00:20:27,230 --> 00:20:29,470
way in our Christian walk, just knowing that

580
00:20:29,470 --> 00:20:31,149
I did this thing and this is the

581
00:20:31,149 --> 00:20:32,210
impact it had.

582
00:20:32,589 --> 00:20:33,089
And,

583
00:20:33,535 --> 00:20:35,555
you know, everybody talks about

584
00:20:36,015 --> 00:20:37,694
the sound person and the people doing the

585
00:20:37,694 --> 00:20:40,255
tech stuff. And, and I always kind of

586
00:20:40,255 --> 00:20:41,855
smile when I hear people say that, because

587
00:20:41,855 --> 00:20:43,694
on the one hand, I, you're exactly right.

588
00:20:43,694 --> 00:20:44,894
You know, it's one of those things that

589
00:20:44,894 --> 00:20:47,214
goes totally unnoticed until things aren't working. And

590
00:20:47,214 --> 00:20:48,830
then everybody's like, oh, what, what happened? What

591
00:20:48,830 --> 00:20:49,410
happened? Yeah.

592
00:20:50,430 --> 00:20:51,970
What happened? I don't understand.

593
00:20:52,589 --> 00:20:53,089
But

594
00:20:53,710 --> 00:20:55,549
it's also one of the places where it's

595
00:20:55,549 --> 00:20:58,269
really easy to see when you're doing it,

596
00:20:58,269 --> 00:21:00,109
what you're doing and how it's impacting. Because,

597
00:21:00,109 --> 00:21:01,470
you know, when you forget to turn the

598
00:21:01,470 --> 00:21:02,130
mic up

599
00:21:02,444 --> 00:21:04,204
and you turn it up, you know, yep.

600
00:21:04,204 --> 00:21:04,704
That

601
00:21:05,005 --> 00:21:06,605
that old person sitting over here in the

602
00:21:06,605 --> 00:21:08,365
corner had no clue what was just being

603
00:21:08,365 --> 00:21:10,125
said. Yeah. Or if you're doing the video

604
00:21:10,125 --> 00:21:11,724
and you're like, yep. That the the people

605
00:21:11,724 --> 00:21:13,404
that were watching online, they have no clue

606
00:21:13,404 --> 00:21:14,924
what just happened over here because we didn't

607
00:21:14,924 --> 00:21:16,365
have the camera turn right. Or they have

608
00:21:16,365 --> 00:21:18,670
no clue what that person was doing when

609
00:21:18,670 --> 00:21:20,369
they were singing this song or whatever.

610
00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:22,990
It's super easy to see, but then you

611
00:21:22,990 --> 00:21:25,090
think about the person that plays the piano

612
00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:26,369
or or,

613
00:21:26,750 --> 00:21:28,590
you know, play a guitar player or something,

614
00:21:28,590 --> 00:21:31,394
you know, your instrument players. Sometimes you're like,

615
00:21:31,555 --> 00:21:34,055
okay I'm over here in the background

616
00:21:34,835 --> 00:21:35,335
drummer.

617
00:21:36,035 --> 00:21:37,575
Yeah. I'm over here in the background

618
00:21:38,035 --> 00:21:39,555
what happens if I'm not here you know

619
00:21:39,555 --> 00:21:42,055
and it's like it may not be this,

620
00:21:42,674 --> 00:21:43,734
this spotlight

621
00:21:44,035 --> 00:21:45,960
shined on it but I tell you there's

622
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,640
a spotlight there when it's missing and people

623
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,480
have been used to hearing it. And it's

624
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,480
and if you're singers and it's like, okay,

625
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,180
we get the choir up and we have

626
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,839
200 people in the choir. Well, what does

627
00:21:54,839 --> 00:21:56,440
it matter if I'm not there? Yeah. Well,

628
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:57,480
you know what? If you're one of the

629
00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:58,839
if you happen to be one of the

630
00:21:58,839 --> 00:22:01,615
people that sings pretty loud, it sounds empty.

631
00:22:01,615 --> 00:22:03,295
It doesn't sound good. And if you're not

632
00:22:03,295 --> 00:22:05,315
one of the people that sounds sings loud,

633
00:22:05,775 --> 00:22:07,535
there are other people that are there with

634
00:22:07,535 --> 00:22:10,414
you and together you become loud and it

635
00:22:10,414 --> 00:22:12,929
sounds a little less. And people don't see

636
00:22:12,929 --> 00:22:15,089
that. But see, Satan takes those people out

637
00:22:15,089 --> 00:22:17,009
one at a time because he said he

638
00:22:17,009 --> 00:22:18,769
gets this person over here and he starts

639
00:22:18,769 --> 00:22:21,429
discouraging them and nobody says anything to them

640
00:22:21,490 --> 00:22:22,929
and am I making a difference? So I'm

641
00:22:22,929 --> 00:22:24,529
just gonna slip out and I'm gonna sit

642
00:22:24,529 --> 00:22:26,289
back down here, you know. I'm not gonna

643
00:22:26,289 --> 00:22:28,105
be up there anymore. And then there's one

644
00:22:28,105 --> 00:22:30,265
person gone, and then somebody else follows, and

645
00:22:30,265 --> 00:22:32,184
then somebody else and somebody else. You know?

646
00:22:32,184 --> 00:22:34,265
Some people get discouraged just because somebody else

647
00:22:34,265 --> 00:22:36,664
is discouraged. And, you know, and and it's

648
00:22:36,664 --> 00:22:38,204
just a tactic of Satan.

649
00:22:38,904 --> 00:22:41,819
And and and sometimes all it takes that's

650
00:22:41,819 --> 00:22:43,579
all I'm saying tonight is all it takes

651
00:22:43,579 --> 00:22:45,180
is just a little bit of word of

652
00:22:45,180 --> 00:22:45,680
encouragement.

653
00:22:46,539 --> 00:22:48,880
You know, just call somebody, text somebody,

654
00:22:49,180 --> 00:22:50,940
say something to them at church or after

655
00:22:50,940 --> 00:22:53,904
church. Appreciate what you're doing. I love I

656
00:22:53,904 --> 00:22:55,605
love when everybody's together

657
00:22:55,904 --> 00:22:56,965
on on Sundays.

658
00:22:57,904 --> 00:23:00,144
I love when everybody's together and and, you

659
00:23:00,144 --> 00:23:01,984
know, we got Dennis on the drums and

660
00:23:01,984 --> 00:23:03,585
we got Clay on the guitar and we

661
00:23:03,585 --> 00:23:06,724
got, you know, other people up there, playing,

662
00:23:08,029 --> 00:23:10,349
you know, bass and different things like that.

663
00:23:11,309 --> 00:23:13,630
And and, you know, those those things, those

664
00:23:13,630 --> 00:23:15,549
things, Steven Clements, you know, when he's here,

665
00:23:15,549 --> 00:23:17,549
man, he don't he don't know what a

666
00:23:17,549 --> 00:23:20,049
blessing he is Yeah. To this church.

667
00:23:20,605 --> 00:23:22,204
And, you know, to to when he gets

668
00:23:22,204 --> 00:23:24,625
up and plays and how talented he is,

669
00:23:24,684 --> 00:23:27,404
man, that's just as huge. It's huge. And

670
00:23:27,404 --> 00:23:28,144
and so

671
00:23:28,764 --> 00:23:31,005
but I think sometimes, you know, people think,

672
00:23:31,005 --> 00:23:32,684
oh, I'm just this one little part over

673
00:23:32,684 --> 00:23:34,444
here. You're one little part of a big

674
00:23:34,444 --> 00:23:36,390
part. You know, we're all a hand, a

675
00:23:36,390 --> 00:23:37,509
foot, a mouth.

676
00:23:37,830 --> 00:23:39,269
You know, we're part of the body of

677
00:23:39,269 --> 00:23:40,490
Christ and it takes

678
00:23:40,789 --> 00:23:43,109
it takes every every single one of us.

679
00:23:43,109 --> 00:23:45,109
So Well, think about it. If if you

680
00:23:45,109 --> 00:23:46,650
lose if you lose

681
00:23:46,950 --> 00:23:48,904
not even a limb, if you just lose

682
00:23:48,904 --> 00:23:50,904
lose a toe Yeah. How much harder is

683
00:23:50,904 --> 00:23:52,904
it to walk? For anybody that's ever stubbed

684
00:23:52,904 --> 00:23:54,585
their toe real good and had it throbbing

685
00:23:54,585 --> 00:23:56,444
for, you know, 20 minutes Yeah.

686
00:23:56,825 --> 00:23:59,464
It's hard to walk. Yeah. So imagine going

687
00:23:59,464 --> 00:24:01,619
without that toe for years. Right. I mean,

688
00:24:01,619 --> 00:24:03,619
you think I'm just a small tiny part,

689
00:24:03,619 --> 00:24:05,700
and it's like, well, yeah. But that small

690
00:24:05,700 --> 00:24:07,940
tiny part can be big and can have

691
00:24:07,940 --> 00:24:10,259
a massive impact if you're not there. Huge,

692
00:24:10,259 --> 00:24:12,200
but I don't wanna be a stinky toe.

693
00:24:12,980 --> 00:24:15,044
You know? And that's that's how people look

694
00:24:15,044 --> 00:24:16,804
at it, but it's the little things. Yeah.

695
00:24:16,804 --> 00:24:18,804
I wanna be the face. Yeah. I wanna

696
00:24:18,804 --> 00:24:21,365
be the head. You know? Right. Not everybody

697
00:24:21,365 --> 00:24:23,365
can be the head. Right? And it's the

698
00:24:23,365 --> 00:24:26,404
little things that serve Jesus, and we serve

699
00:24:26,404 --> 00:24:28,244
him by serving other people picking up a

700
00:24:28,244 --> 00:24:30,220
wrapper off the floor. It don't matter what

701
00:24:30,220 --> 00:24:31,819
it is. The head's usually the first thing

702
00:24:31,819 --> 00:24:34,380
gets cut off. So just think about that.

703
00:24:34,580 --> 00:24:37,259
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey. I I very much

704
00:24:37,259 --> 00:24:39,660
enjoy being lower on the body as far

705
00:24:39,660 --> 00:24:41,900
down and as hidden away as possible because

706
00:24:41,900 --> 00:24:44,365
I'm the last, hopefully, the last person anybody

707
00:24:44,365 --> 00:24:46,365
comes after. That's where I'm at in my

708
00:24:46,365 --> 00:24:48,045
career, man. I'm I'm not trying to go

709
00:24:48,045 --> 00:24:50,445
around under the radar, you know? Don't yeah.

710
00:24:50,445 --> 00:24:53,325
Don't know. Don't notice. Don't notice. Don't stand

711
00:24:53,325 --> 00:24:53,825
out.

712
00:24:54,845 --> 00:24:55,345
Yeah.

713
00:24:56,009 --> 00:24:58,890
Oh, man. But but yeah. But, you know,

714
00:24:58,890 --> 00:25:01,210
but ministry is and and here's the other

715
00:25:01,210 --> 00:25:01,950
thing too.

716
00:25:02,330 --> 00:25:04,330
We we have got to get in the

717
00:25:04,330 --> 00:25:05,630
mindset individually.

718
00:25:06,650 --> 00:25:07,150
Okay.

719
00:25:07,930 --> 00:25:09,769
Maybe I didn't get the pat on the

720
00:25:09,769 --> 00:25:11,985
back. Maybe I didn't get the encouragement. Maybe

721
00:25:11,985 --> 00:25:14,644
nobody said anything to me, but does that

722
00:25:15,985 --> 00:25:18,705
does that dismiss me from doing what God's

723
00:25:18,705 --> 00:25:20,785
called me to do? And if that's your

724
00:25:20,785 --> 00:25:21,285
motive,

725
00:25:21,985 --> 00:25:23,585
you need to go back to the Bible.

726
00:25:23,585 --> 00:25:24,085
Absolutely.

727
00:25:24,545 --> 00:25:25,045
Absolutely.

728
00:25:25,345 --> 00:25:25,845
100%.

729
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,080
I'm saying people need encourage, but I'm saying

730
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:30,920
people also need to know where their place

731
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,779
is and that's to serve Jesus

732
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:34,140
no matter

733
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,460
what. If you're the last person

734
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,080
if you're the last person doing it, then

735
00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:41,080
do it because guess what? If you you've

736
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,734
heard it said before, if you were the

737
00:25:42,734 --> 00:25:44,575
only person here to die for, he would

738
00:25:44,575 --> 00:25:45,714
have died for you.

739
00:25:46,974 --> 00:25:47,474
Yeah.

740
00:25:47,934 --> 00:25:49,375
And it does. I love,

741
00:25:49,855 --> 00:25:51,795
years ago got to see 2 pastors

742
00:25:52,494 --> 00:25:52,994
with,

743
00:25:53,934 --> 00:25:56,990
not contradictory messages, but the opposite view on

744
00:25:56,990 --> 00:25:59,390
that. One of them, his whole thing was

745
00:25:59,390 --> 00:26:01,309
you're not the only person that Christ died

746
00:26:01,309 --> 00:26:02,430
for. That's why you have to go out

747
00:26:02,430 --> 00:26:04,190
and tell people. And that, that was his

748
00:26:04,190 --> 00:26:06,109
point of, of his whole message. And then

749
00:26:06,109 --> 00:26:07,630
literally the next night it was at a

750
00:26:07,630 --> 00:26:10,029
youth event. The next night a preacher got

751
00:26:10,029 --> 00:26:11,204
up. He said, if you were the only

752
00:26:11,204 --> 00:26:11,704
person,

753
00:26:12,484 --> 00:26:13,464
and it was like,

754
00:26:13,924 --> 00:26:16,244
and everybody was so confused and he stopped

755
00:26:16,244 --> 00:26:17,845
and somebody let him know because he had

756
00:26:17,845 --> 00:26:19,444
no clue what the preacher had preached throughout

757
00:26:19,444 --> 00:26:21,365
the 1st night. And they, you know, the,

758
00:26:21,365 --> 00:26:23,285
the organizers got with him and said, Hey,

759
00:26:24,130 --> 00:26:25,890
so you just said that. And he was

760
00:26:25,890 --> 00:26:27,809
just talking about how that's not the case.

761
00:26:27,809 --> 00:26:29,089
And he said, okay, guys, hang on a

762
00:26:29,089 --> 00:26:29,589
second.

763
00:26:30,130 --> 00:26:32,769
I'm talking about if you're not saved right

764
00:26:32,769 --> 00:26:33,269
now,

765
00:26:33,730 --> 00:26:35,650
and you're the only person that will ever

766
00:26:35,650 --> 00:26:37,644
get saved, get down here and get saved

767
00:26:37,644 --> 00:26:40,285
because Christ died for you. However, once you're

768
00:26:40,285 --> 00:26:40,785
saved,

769
00:26:41,565 --> 00:26:43,565
if Christ, if the next guy in line

770
00:26:43,565 --> 00:26:45,085
is the only person that was ever going

771
00:26:45,085 --> 00:26:46,605
to get saved, Christ died for him. Get

772
00:26:46,605 --> 00:26:48,924
him down here. Witness to him, tell him.

773
00:26:48,924 --> 00:26:51,184
And that's the thing. It's not about

774
00:26:52,150 --> 00:26:54,230
us. It's not about me. It's not about

775
00:26:54,230 --> 00:26:56,710
me. Well Yeah. Come on. I want I

776
00:26:56,710 --> 00:26:58,569
want the world to revolve around me.

777
00:26:58,950 --> 00:26:59,450
Yeah.

778
00:26:59,829 --> 00:27:01,509
Yeah. I'm gonna be I I'm not gonna

779
00:27:01,670 --> 00:27:04,069
this may not be the, a very encouraging

780
00:27:04,069 --> 00:27:05,930
statement, but I will say this.

781
00:27:07,285 --> 00:27:10,164
Stop having a pity party. Stop feeling sorry

782
00:27:10,164 --> 00:27:10,904
for yourself.

783
00:27:11,285 --> 00:27:14,244
Stop thinking you're you've got the Elijah syndrome,

784
00:27:14,244 --> 00:27:15,845
and you think you're the only one doing

785
00:27:15,845 --> 00:27:17,365
anything for the Lord because there's a lot

786
00:27:17,365 --> 00:27:19,200
of people out there that are serving him.

787
00:27:19,599 --> 00:27:21,679
And just do what you've been called to

788
00:27:21,679 --> 00:27:22,179
do

789
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,359
no matter what anyone else is doing around

790
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,059
you. Right? I mean, serve

791
00:27:27,519 --> 00:27:30,639
Jesus with everything you've got because he came

792
00:27:30,639 --> 00:27:32,720
to show you how to serve. He came

793
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,099
to show you how to sacrifice.

794
00:27:34,724 --> 00:27:37,045
He died for your sins. You could never

795
00:27:37,045 --> 00:27:38,724
repay him, and that's not what we're doing.

796
00:27:38,724 --> 00:27:40,964
Yeah. By serving, we're not paying him back.

797
00:27:40,964 --> 00:27:42,884
By serving him, we're loving him because he

798
00:27:42,884 --> 00:27:45,444
loved he first loved us. Well, you think

799
00:27:45,444 --> 00:27:48,105
about the the the parable of the talents,

800
00:27:48,649 --> 00:27:50,409
and you go back to to that story

801
00:27:50,409 --> 00:27:51,929
where he talks about, you know, he gave

802
00:27:51,929 --> 00:27:53,929
the first one, you know, 5 talents, and

803
00:27:53,929 --> 00:27:55,450
he gave 1, 3 talents, and he gave

804
00:27:55,450 --> 00:27:55,950
11.

805
00:27:56,569 --> 00:27:58,009
And 2 of them came back and said,

806
00:27:58,009 --> 00:27:59,929
we we grew it. We we did something

807
00:27:59,929 --> 00:28:01,289
with it. We took it out and we

808
00:28:01,289 --> 00:28:02,589
used it. Right.

809
00:28:03,154 --> 00:28:04,515
And then the other one said, Well, I

810
00:28:04,515 --> 00:28:05,794
buried it in the ark because I knew

811
00:28:05,794 --> 00:28:06,034
that,

812
00:28:06,595 --> 00:28:09,154
you know, you were kind of evil because

813
00:28:09,154 --> 00:28:10,755
you're going to reap something that you didn't

814
00:28:10,755 --> 00:28:11,255
sow.

815
00:28:11,714 --> 00:28:13,315
And he's like, What do you think I'm

816
00:28:13,315 --> 00:28:13,815
doing

817
00:28:14,275 --> 00:28:16,755
by collecting it from you? That is supposed

818
00:28:16,755 --> 00:28:18,990
to be reaping what you've sown.

819
00:28:19,930 --> 00:28:22,589
And we way, way too often

820
00:28:23,849 --> 00:28:25,630
mistake and miss that.

821
00:28:26,009 --> 00:28:28,329
But, hey, he gave us all our talents.

822
00:28:28,329 --> 00:28:29,549
Let's use them individually

823
00:28:30,009 --> 00:28:31,585
to do what we need to do. Yeah.

824
00:28:31,585 --> 00:28:32,625
Yeah. I think a lot of us tend

825
00:28:32,625 --> 00:28:34,625
to give up on on certain ministries too

826
00:28:34,625 --> 00:28:36,384
before God really has a chance to bless

827
00:28:36,384 --> 00:28:37,825
us. Oh, yeah. So we're trying to outrun

828
00:28:37,825 --> 00:28:39,825
him. That's right. You know? Yeah. Yeah. If

829
00:28:39,825 --> 00:28:41,585
we don't see what the results we think

830
00:28:41,585 --> 00:28:43,424
we should see, let's say, okay. This is

831
00:28:43,424 --> 00:28:45,690
not right. Yeah. Move on to the next.

832
00:28:45,690 --> 00:28:47,869
I found this thing online. It was, it's,

833
00:28:48,329 --> 00:28:50,730
marks of, marks of a servant. And and

834
00:28:50,730 --> 00:28:51,849
some of them are pretty good. It's a

835
00:28:51,849 --> 00:28:53,609
it's a one of them says, a servant

836
00:28:53,609 --> 00:28:55,230
seeks the glory of his master.

837
00:28:55,609 --> 00:28:57,450
Yeah. Right? We're not seeking our own glory.

838
00:28:57,450 --> 00:28:59,049
We're seeking the glory of the master. The

839
00:28:59,049 --> 00:29:00,029
the other one was,

840
00:29:01,345 --> 00:29:02,724
a servant sacrificially

841
00:29:03,025 --> 00:29:05,285
seeks the highest joy of those he serves.

842
00:29:05,744 --> 00:29:07,044
And so who do we serve?

843
00:29:07,505 --> 00:29:10,304
Jesus. We're serving Jesus by serving other people.

844
00:29:10,304 --> 00:29:12,304
Right? Yeah. Yeah. And and that's just part

845
00:29:12,304 --> 00:29:14,009
of that whole love thing. And he said

846
00:29:14,170 --> 00:29:16,570
a servant will forego his rights rather than

847
00:29:16,570 --> 00:29:19,130
obscure the gospel. That's right. Yeah. And we're

848
00:29:19,130 --> 00:29:21,369
worried about our rights Amen. All the time.

849
00:29:21,369 --> 00:29:23,869
Yeah. It says he's he's not preoccupied

850
00:29:24,170 --> 00:29:26,029
with personal visibility and recognition.

851
00:29:26,595 --> 00:29:29,255
Yeah. And that's that's huge. I mean, because

852
00:29:29,315 --> 00:29:31,234
all too often people people get involved in

853
00:29:31,234 --> 00:29:33,075
something wanting to be a Sunday school teacher,

854
00:29:33,075 --> 00:29:34,775
wanting to be wanting to be a preacher.

855
00:29:34,914 --> 00:29:37,154
Yeah. Just to be seen and heard. Yeah.

856
00:29:37,154 --> 00:29:39,494
And that's dangerous. And you've lost your mind.

857
00:29:39,714 --> 00:29:42,359
Yeah. You know? Absolutely. Because you're stepping into

858
00:29:42,359 --> 00:29:43,640
some territory that

859
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:45,419
Lord, if you could just

860
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,880
be, by the way, sir, you know, stand

861
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,200
in the background and and and not ruffle

862
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,519
any feathers and not hurt anybody's feelings and

863
00:29:52,519 --> 00:29:54,204
not be in that place, then you're better

864
00:29:54,204 --> 00:29:56,605
off, you know, but Yeah. But, yeah, don't

865
00:29:56,605 --> 00:29:59,085
don't step in anything God hasn't called you

866
00:29:59,085 --> 00:30:01,164
to. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And man, you jump

867
00:30:01,164 --> 00:30:02,765
into being a preacher. You got a burden

868
00:30:02,765 --> 00:30:04,444
on you all week before the Sunday. You

869
00:30:04,444 --> 00:30:06,899
got all that stuff going on. And Yeah.

870
00:30:06,980 --> 00:30:08,500
And and, if all you wanna do is

871
00:30:08,500 --> 00:30:11,220
be recognized and noticed, you're Yeah. You'll get

872
00:30:11,220 --> 00:30:12,839
it. Yeah. You'll get it. But

873
00:30:13,379 --> 00:30:15,539
but it's like it's like it's like Christ

874
00:30:15,539 --> 00:30:18,419
said, it's, you know, hey. This the the

875
00:30:18,419 --> 00:30:20,279
Pharisees, they they're they're,

876
00:30:20,924 --> 00:30:23,565
you know, praying out loud and so everybody

877
00:30:23,565 --> 00:30:25,565
can hear them, you know. Yeah. They're they're

878
00:30:25,565 --> 00:30:26,544
getting their recognition

879
00:30:26,845 --> 00:30:29,005
now. People are seeing them now, but God

880
00:30:29,005 --> 00:30:31,404
says, hey. Your reward is not here. Your

881
00:30:31,404 --> 00:30:33,744
reward is in heaven. And your ministry

882
00:30:34,170 --> 00:30:36,090
may not have a whole lot of and

883
00:30:36,090 --> 00:30:38,009
I'm not gonna say impact because it's got

884
00:30:38,009 --> 00:30:40,029
impact. All ministry has impact,

885
00:30:40,330 --> 00:30:42,170
but it may not be as noticeable as

886
00:30:42,170 --> 00:30:44,730
someone else's ministry. Right? It may not be

887
00:30:44,809 --> 00:30:46,970
it may not stand out as much as

888
00:30:46,970 --> 00:30:50,044
someone else's ministry, but but what you're doing

889
00:30:50,105 --> 00:30:52,664
has a purpose and and Absolutely. And you

890
00:30:52,664 --> 00:30:53,325
need to

891
00:30:53,704 --> 00:30:55,085
fulfill that purpose

892
00:30:55,704 --> 00:30:58,345
in in Christ Jesus and he will take

893
00:30:58,345 --> 00:31:00,599
it. He will increase it and you may

894
00:31:00,679 --> 00:31:02,599
not see the results of it now, but

895
00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:04,599
you will one day. Right. It's it's like

896
00:31:04,599 --> 00:31:06,140
you don't have to fill up a 100,000

897
00:31:06,359 --> 00:31:08,919
seat stadium like a Billy Graham Yeah. Revival

898
00:31:08,919 --> 00:31:11,160
or something. Right? Right. I I I honestly

899
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,179
believe that that some of the most rewarded

900
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:14,299
people in heaven

901
00:31:14,625 --> 00:31:16,625
one day will be the little old lady

902
00:31:16,625 --> 00:31:18,945
that prayed for everybody in her closet. Yeah.

903
00:31:18,945 --> 00:31:21,184
That's right. Like that that nobody noticed, nobody

904
00:31:21,184 --> 00:31:23,184
knew about, but God noticed them. That's it.

905
00:31:23,184 --> 00:31:25,505
That's it. A prayer warrior. Yeah. And and

906
00:31:25,505 --> 00:31:26,484
we need people

907
00:31:26,865 --> 00:31:28,545
in there and and some of some of

908
00:31:28,545 --> 00:31:30,369
our little old ladies in our church are

909
00:31:30,369 --> 00:31:32,369
some of the best encouragers that you've ever

910
00:31:32,450 --> 00:31:34,769
Oh, yeah. You know, ever been around. Yeah.

911
00:31:35,250 --> 00:31:36,769
I I mean, I I just I could

912
00:31:36,769 --> 00:31:38,930
name several people right now that come to

913
00:31:38,930 --> 00:31:42,144
my mind. They're that they're encouragers. They they

914
00:31:42,144 --> 00:31:44,464
speak encouragement into your life. They pray for

915
00:31:44,464 --> 00:31:46,865
you. They lift you up. And and again,

916
00:31:46,865 --> 00:31:49,585
that may go unnoticed. You know? Sometimes that

917
00:31:49,585 --> 00:31:51,924
may go unnoticed here on this earth, but

918
00:31:52,065 --> 00:31:53,904
but it's it's like the song said, in

919
00:31:53,904 --> 00:31:56,065
heaven now proclaimed. You know? I mean, one

920
00:31:56,065 --> 00:31:56,565
day

921
00:31:56,940 --> 00:31:59,039
one day, then you're gonna see

922
00:31:59,339 --> 00:31:59,839
what

923
00:32:00,619 --> 00:32:01,839
giving to the lord,

924
00:32:02,859 --> 00:32:03,359
has

925
00:32:04,619 --> 00:32:06,299
what the cause and effect was for the

926
00:32:06,299 --> 00:32:08,859
kingdom of god. Yeah. And we just we

927
00:32:08,859 --> 00:32:11,339
gotta we gotta develop, I guess, find ways

928
00:32:11,339 --> 00:32:11,919
to develop

929
00:32:12,325 --> 00:32:15,765
servant hearts. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Right? And

930
00:32:15,765 --> 00:32:17,525
people that aren't doing it for the recognition,

931
00:32:17,525 --> 00:32:18,725
people that are doing it,

932
00:32:19,365 --> 00:32:21,365
not even for the recognition of the Lord

933
00:32:21,365 --> 00:32:23,445
later, you know, you're just doing it because

934
00:32:23,445 --> 00:32:25,924
you're you're following Jesus. Right. And and your

935
00:32:25,924 --> 00:32:27,809
motives are pure. And that can only come

936
00:32:27,809 --> 00:32:30,049
from this this real deep relationship we have

937
00:32:30,049 --> 00:32:32,529
with God. Mhmm. And and that's why those

938
00:32:32,529 --> 00:32:35,250
prayer warriors, they got that deep relationship going

939
00:32:35,250 --> 00:32:37,490
on. Yes. They do. Yes. They do. They're

940
00:32:37,490 --> 00:32:40,450
constantly going to the father. They're bringing they're

941
00:32:40,450 --> 00:32:42,455
bringing these things before the throne of God

942
00:32:42,455 --> 00:32:44,934
boldly before the throne of God, and it

943
00:32:44,934 --> 00:32:45,434
makes

944
00:32:45,975 --> 00:32:47,894
a difference. It makes a difference in your

945
00:32:47,894 --> 00:32:50,375
church, in your church's ministry, and in in

946
00:32:50,375 --> 00:32:51,835
the people in your church.

947
00:32:52,615 --> 00:32:54,475
Yeah. They they just they don't understand

948
00:32:54,855 --> 00:32:56,829
what what a impact they have on the

949
00:32:56,829 --> 00:32:59,069
kingdom of God. No. And they may never

950
00:32:59,069 --> 00:33:01,390
understand it until they're until they're there before

951
00:33:01,390 --> 00:33:02,829
the Lord one day. No. I think we'll

952
00:33:02,829 --> 00:33:04,269
all find out some things that we did

953
00:33:04,269 --> 00:33:06,269
in our life and, like, what? I did

954
00:33:06,269 --> 00:33:09,150
that? Yeah. Yeah. And it did that? That

955
00:33:09,150 --> 00:33:11,445
was a result of that. You know? We'll

956
00:33:11,445 --> 00:33:13,625
just connect these dots and go wow. Yeah.

957
00:33:13,845 --> 00:33:15,684
And again, I know I've mentioned it before,

958
00:33:15,684 --> 00:33:17,525
but it it it I think about that

959
00:33:17,525 --> 00:33:19,285
song. I grew I grew up hearing the

960
00:33:19,285 --> 00:33:20,964
song, thank you for giving to the Lord,

961
00:33:20,964 --> 00:33:22,919
you know? And, I mean, I was a

962
00:33:22,919 --> 00:33:25,179
life that was changed, and he talks about

963
00:33:25,319 --> 00:33:27,319
a Sunday school teacher that made a difference.

964
00:33:27,319 --> 00:33:29,159
He talks about a missionary that made a

965
00:33:29,159 --> 00:33:31,179
difference, you know, or given to a mission.

966
00:33:31,399 --> 00:33:33,399
And because he gave to that missionary, then

967
00:33:33,399 --> 00:33:36,054
this person in some other country got saved

968
00:33:36,054 --> 00:33:38,694
and they're in heaven now. You just never

969
00:33:38,694 --> 00:33:39,194
know,

970
00:33:40,214 --> 00:33:41,974
where where that's gonna go.

971
00:33:42,375 --> 00:33:43,674
We had the the ladies,

972
00:33:44,054 --> 00:33:44,875
of the summit.

973
00:33:45,815 --> 00:33:48,210
That's a local ministry here in in Fort

974
00:33:48,210 --> 00:33:49,650
Payne, Alabama that,

975
00:33:50,130 --> 00:33:50,950
they serve,

976
00:33:51,809 --> 00:33:54,289
they serve young ladies who have been through

977
00:33:54,289 --> 00:33:54,789
some,

978
00:33:55,490 --> 00:33:58,369
addiction problems and issues and different things like

979
00:33:58,369 --> 00:33:59,669
that and been in trouble,

980
00:34:00,154 --> 00:34:02,554
maybe in some shape, form, or fashion, and,

981
00:34:02,794 --> 00:34:05,534
and they pour Jesus into these ladies.

982
00:34:05,994 --> 00:34:07,454
And and, man,

983
00:34:08,234 --> 00:34:10,554
you know, the the impact that they're having

984
00:34:10,554 --> 00:34:12,890
and the impact that they will have, some

985
00:34:12,890 --> 00:34:14,809
of it they may never see, but the

986
00:34:14,809 --> 00:34:17,289
generations. Right? They do the some of these

987
00:34:17,289 --> 00:34:19,610
ladies may be the mom of the next

988
00:34:19,610 --> 00:34:22,170
Billy Graham, you know, the the next generation

989
00:34:22,170 --> 00:34:24,410
of of men of God to stand up

990
00:34:24,410 --> 00:34:26,824
and stand in the gap that you never

991
00:34:26,824 --> 00:34:28,905
know what what difference they're gonna make. And

992
00:34:28,905 --> 00:34:30,844
the one young lady that gave her testimony,

993
00:34:31,144 --> 00:34:33,784
wow. Yes. Oh my goodness. What she had

994
00:34:33,784 --> 00:34:35,625
been through. Yeah. You know, it it might

995
00:34:35,704 --> 00:34:37,065
we sit over here and have a pity

996
00:34:37,065 --> 00:34:38,505
party a lot of times if we got

997
00:34:38,505 --> 00:34:40,264
this little thing going on in our lives

998
00:34:40,264 --> 00:34:42,789
and and and and we look at other

999
00:34:42,789 --> 00:34:45,029
people who they've been impacted time and time

1000
00:34:45,029 --> 00:34:46,710
and time again in a in a negative

1001
00:34:46,710 --> 00:34:49,589
way Yeah. Negative impact and and just knocked

1002
00:34:49,589 --> 00:34:52,469
down, but then, hey. Oh, they're serving Jesus

1003
00:34:52,469 --> 00:34:54,710
and they love him. Yeah. And and we

1004
00:34:54,710 --> 00:34:56,184
we need to know that and it's that

1005
00:34:56,184 --> 00:34:58,264
kind of stuff just telling it. Yeah. Just

1006
00:34:58,264 --> 00:35:00,264
telling it, you know. I I remember, you

1007
00:35:00,264 --> 00:35:02,025
know, years ago, I was a a youth

1008
00:35:02,025 --> 00:35:02,525
leader,

1009
00:35:02,824 --> 00:35:05,304
and and I I would teach Sunday school,

1010
00:35:05,304 --> 00:35:07,304
Wednesday night to them, and they they were

1011
00:35:07,304 --> 00:35:08,744
staring at the floor the whole time I'm

1012
00:35:08,744 --> 00:35:10,820
talking. Yeah. And I'm well, I'm not doing

1013
00:35:10,820 --> 00:35:12,579
any good here, man. They're not listening to

1014
00:35:12,579 --> 00:35:14,179
me. Yeah. I mean, they weren't cutting up

1015
00:35:14,179 --> 00:35:15,780
and acting up, but they were just staring

1016
00:35:15,780 --> 00:35:17,780
at their shoes, you know? Yeah. And but

1017
00:35:17,780 --> 00:35:19,460
10 years later, one of the girls that

1018
00:35:19,460 --> 00:35:21,460
had been in there, her grandmother came up

1019
00:35:21,460 --> 00:35:23,380
to me and said, you made the biggest

1020
00:35:23,380 --> 00:35:26,335
difference in my granddaughter's life. Amen. She learned

1021
00:35:26,335 --> 00:35:28,654
so much about the Bible. I'm like, I

1022
00:35:28,654 --> 00:35:31,054
had no idea. Yeah. No earthly idea. So

1023
00:35:31,054 --> 00:35:32,974
we'll just keep going. Yeah. Just keep going

1024
00:35:32,974 --> 00:35:35,074
and being faithful to the word. Amen.

1025
00:35:35,775 --> 00:35:37,855
Mhmm. Press on. Amen. And it's not and

1026
00:35:37,855 --> 00:35:40,130
it's not just kids that do that. People

1027
00:35:40,130 --> 00:35:42,690
sometimes will be, they look like they're not

1028
00:35:42,690 --> 00:35:45,010
listening. They're not paying attention. They're not focused

1029
00:35:45,010 --> 00:35:47,670
on the service or the sermon or whatever.

1030
00:35:48,450 --> 00:35:50,530
You know, they're, they're staring into space, but

1031
00:35:50,530 --> 00:35:53,510
sometimes they're taking in everything they're hearing

1032
00:35:53,894 --> 00:35:55,735
And that that far away look is them

1033
00:35:55,735 --> 00:35:58,135
processing it and going, wait, this this applies

1034
00:35:58,135 --> 00:36:00,215
to me. Yeah. And and you don't you

1035
00:36:00,215 --> 00:36:01,815
don't know. And there's no way to know

1036
00:36:01,815 --> 00:36:04,235
unless they eventually say something to you. But

1037
00:36:06,054 --> 00:36:08,474
I I can't count the number of times

1038
00:36:08,775 --> 00:36:10,529
I've watched that happen

1039
00:36:10,989 --> 00:36:11,869
over the years,

1040
00:36:12,190 --> 00:36:14,589
working with youth, especially, but even even working

1041
00:36:14,589 --> 00:36:17,009
with adults, sometimes we're just thinking,

1042
00:36:17,549 --> 00:36:19,150
man, this guy just didn't get in it.

1043
00:36:19,150 --> 00:36:21,949
He is off outing. You know, he's thinking

1044
00:36:21,949 --> 00:36:23,569
about what he's eating for supper.

1045
00:36:24,109 --> 00:36:25,985
No. No. He was thinking about what he

1046
00:36:25,985 --> 00:36:27,825
was hearing being said in that group or

1047
00:36:27,825 --> 00:36:29,525
in that meeting or in that situation

1048
00:36:30,385 --> 00:36:32,144
and he was just soaking in. Yeah. And

1049
00:36:32,144 --> 00:36:34,144
he was going wait this this affects me.

1050
00:36:34,144 --> 00:36:35,664
How do I apply this? Here's how oh

1051
00:36:35,664 --> 00:36:37,025
this is what it affects in my life.

1052
00:36:37,025 --> 00:36:38,730
This is what I need to do. This

1053
00:36:38,809 --> 00:36:40,409
what I'm being called. This is how I'm

1054
00:36:40,409 --> 00:36:41,150
being affected.

1055
00:36:42,010 --> 00:36:43,449
And we can't we can't lose sight of

1056
00:36:43,449 --> 00:36:46,250
that. We can't let ourselves forget that God

1057
00:36:46,250 --> 00:36:49,389
doesn't allow God God does not call us

1058
00:36:49,530 --> 00:36:51,369
to throw things out into the wind for

1059
00:36:51,369 --> 00:36:53,804
it to be useless. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. His

1060
00:36:53,804 --> 00:36:56,144
word never returns void, does it? That's right.

1061
00:36:56,284 --> 00:36:59,085
That's right. Amen. I mean, if we're willing

1062
00:36:59,085 --> 00:37:00,764
to put it out there, then then he

1063
00:37:00,764 --> 00:37:02,065
will take it and

1064
00:37:02,444 --> 00:37:04,605
he will plant the seed and water the

1065
00:37:04,605 --> 00:37:06,605
seed and give it all that it needs,

1066
00:37:06,605 --> 00:37:08,364
you know. Well, when it comes also to

1067
00:37:08,364 --> 00:37:10,519
real remembering and reminding ourselves

1068
00:37:11,059 --> 00:37:12,599
and as part of that encouragement,

1069
00:37:13,140 --> 00:37:15,619
hey, it's not us that's doing something. It's

1070
00:37:15,619 --> 00:37:18,039
the holy spirit. Yeah. All we're doing

1071
00:37:18,340 --> 00:37:19,860
is just holding up a mirror and saying,

1072
00:37:19,860 --> 00:37:21,619
well, here you go. All all we're doing

1073
00:37:21,619 --> 00:37:23,219
is, you know, sometimes it's holding up a

1074
00:37:23,219 --> 00:37:24,894
mirror. I say it's holding up a mirror

1075
00:37:24,894 --> 00:37:26,655
because that's what always comes to mind is

1076
00:37:26,655 --> 00:37:28,574
we're we're we're holding up that mirror that

1077
00:37:28,574 --> 00:37:30,034
is this the word of God

1078
00:37:30,494 --> 00:37:31,855
saying, how how do you look in this

1079
00:37:31,855 --> 00:37:34,094
mirror? Yeah. Like, that that's really all we're

1080
00:37:34,094 --> 00:37:36,335
doing, but we're we're just putting it out

1081
00:37:36,335 --> 00:37:38,550
there and the holy spirit takes the rest.

1082
00:37:38,630 --> 00:37:40,390
And He just uses us to be His

1083
00:37:40,390 --> 00:37:43,210
He doesn't need us. That's the other thing

1084
00:37:43,590 --> 00:37:45,050
about serving and about working.

1085
00:37:45,510 --> 00:37:47,369
God doesn't need you to do

1086
00:37:47,829 --> 00:37:48,329
anything.

1087
00:37:49,989 --> 00:37:51,304
But He chooses.

1088
00:37:51,764 --> 00:37:54,484
He wants us. Yeah. That's that's the difference.

1089
00:37:54,484 --> 00:37:56,484
Yeah. He I mean, he wants us. He

1090
00:37:56,484 --> 00:37:57,464
wants that relationship.

1091
00:37:57,844 --> 00:37:58,565
He wants that,

1092
00:37:59,125 --> 00:38:00,824
he wants you to want him

1093
00:38:01,284 --> 00:38:03,389
and want to serve him. And and if

1094
00:38:03,549 --> 00:38:05,150
you're willing, if you're willing, I always tell

1095
00:38:05,150 --> 00:38:06,690
somebody, just be a willing vessel.

1096
00:38:07,230 --> 00:38:09,789
I if you'll if you'll say, lord, send

1097
00:38:09,789 --> 00:38:11,949
me. Here I am. Send me. You know?

1098
00:38:11,949 --> 00:38:13,710
If you do that, then you better get

1099
00:38:13,710 --> 00:38:15,469
ready because he's fixing to open up a

1100
00:38:15,469 --> 00:38:17,534
door and he's just he gonna send you

1101
00:38:17,534 --> 00:38:18,755
somewhere to do something.

1102
00:38:19,295 --> 00:38:21,295
You'll get sent and you may be surprised

1103
00:38:21,295 --> 00:38:23,135
at where you end up. Yeah. And you'll

1104
00:38:23,135 --> 00:38:25,394
be where you wanna be. Right? That's true.

1105
00:38:25,534 --> 00:38:26,835
I know I knew a couple,

1106
00:38:27,214 --> 00:38:29,135
I don't know about 4 or 5, longer

1107
00:38:29,135 --> 00:38:30,675
than that now, 10 years ago,

1108
00:38:31,534 --> 00:38:33,539
that I met at another church and we

1109
00:38:33,539 --> 00:38:35,800
were talking afterward and they were missionaries.

1110
00:38:36,180 --> 00:38:37,860
And the way it all started was one

1111
00:38:37,860 --> 00:38:39,559
day the guy was just praying

1112
00:38:41,460 --> 00:38:44,119
and, while he was praying, he just said,

1113
00:38:44,660 --> 00:38:47,114
alright. Well, Lord, I know you're calling me

1114
00:38:47,114 --> 00:38:47,855
to do something.

1115
00:38:48,315 --> 00:38:49,434
Just let me know what it is, and

1116
00:38:49,434 --> 00:38:50,715
I'm and we'll go. And he talked to

1117
00:38:50,715 --> 00:38:51,914
his wife about it, and she said, alright.

1118
00:38:51,914 --> 00:38:53,135
Yep. We'll we'll be ready.

1119
00:38:53,594 --> 00:38:54,094
And

1120
00:38:54,394 --> 00:38:56,414
all of a sudden, this mission missionary opportunity

1121
00:38:56,474 --> 00:38:58,795
came along. And they went, well, alright. Well,

1122
00:38:58,795 --> 00:38:59,775
Lord, you know,

1123
00:39:00,949 --> 00:39:02,170
I'm not too sure

1124
00:39:02,469 --> 00:39:04,230
now that that's what got and and, you

1125
00:39:04,230 --> 00:39:06,150
know, they kinda they kinda bought for a

1126
00:39:06,150 --> 00:39:07,510
little bit, and they said it just kept

1127
00:39:07,510 --> 00:39:09,349
getting harder and harder to say no. And

1128
00:39:09,349 --> 00:39:11,529
finally, they went, alright, Lord. Obviously,

1129
00:39:11,909 --> 00:39:13,750
like, things just started working out like they

1130
00:39:13,750 --> 00:39:15,894
were like, oh, we got we got these,

1131
00:39:15,894 --> 00:39:17,494
these debts over here that we just got,

1132
00:39:17,494 --> 00:39:18,394
oh, they're gone.

1133
00:39:18,775 --> 00:39:20,694
Yeah. Oh, well, we got this, this thing

1134
00:39:20,694 --> 00:39:21,894
on the house. We got to get it

1135
00:39:21,894 --> 00:39:23,434
fixed up for weeks. Oh, somebody

1136
00:39:23,974 --> 00:39:25,574
came, an opportunity came along and get it

1137
00:39:25,574 --> 00:39:27,800
fixed. Yeah. And it was like, okay. Alright,

1138
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:29,480
God. You're you've made it pretty obvious. It's

1139
00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:31,719
we're we're going. And they ended up in

1140
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:34,139
China, and they ended up there for, like,

1141
00:39:34,199 --> 00:39:36,280
5 years. And when they came home, we're

1142
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:37,739
talking about I mean, I was

1143
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:38,780
stunned

1144
00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:41,074
because they did not

1145
00:39:41,855 --> 00:39:43,775
want. Yeah. When they when they say God

1146
00:39:43,775 --> 00:39:46,175
uses, they didn't want to go to one

1147
00:39:46,175 --> 00:39:48,255
of the more dangerous places for Christians to

1148
00:39:48,255 --> 00:39:50,655
go. Sure. Yeah. There there are a handful

1149
00:39:50,655 --> 00:39:52,335
of places on on earth that are a

1150
00:39:52,335 --> 00:39:54,255
little bit more dangerous. Couple of islands out

1151
00:39:54,255 --> 00:39:56,190
in the out in the ocean that are

1152
00:39:56,190 --> 00:39:59,090
extremely dangerous to anybody who's fairer of skin,

1153
00:39:59,630 --> 00:40:01,550
but China's one of the more dangerous places.

1154
00:40:01,550 --> 00:40:04,349
I mean, you you are very possibly going

1155
00:40:04,349 --> 00:40:06,929
to end up in a Chinese prison or

1156
00:40:06,989 --> 00:40:07,489
vanishing.

1157
00:40:07,789 --> 00:40:09,135
Yeah. If you get caught

1158
00:40:09,534 --> 00:40:11,375
witnessing to people and and spreading the word

1159
00:40:11,375 --> 00:40:13,695
of God there. And they were like, alright,

1160
00:40:13,695 --> 00:40:15,295
well, God, if this is what you're sending,

1161
00:40:15,295 --> 00:40:16,974
we we we just believe that you're gonna

1162
00:40:16,974 --> 00:40:19,875
protect us. And they said every time

1163
00:40:20,255 --> 00:40:22,014
there was always that hedge of protection, there

1164
00:40:22,014 --> 00:40:24,769
was always some opportunity and I thought

1165
00:40:25,469 --> 00:40:26,769
man how incredible.

1166
00:40:27,230 --> 00:40:29,809
But even at that it's it's not always

1167
00:40:29,950 --> 00:40:32,210
that that hedge of protection is there.

1168
00:40:32,670 --> 00:40:34,635
Oh, yeah. You know I mean and and

1169
00:40:34,795 --> 00:40:36,795
and it may be it may be that

1170
00:40:36,795 --> 00:40:38,894
you die on the mission field. You know?

1171
00:40:39,114 --> 00:40:41,994
And so and I God's presence is always

1172
00:40:41,994 --> 00:40:43,675
there. Please don't get me wrong when I

1173
00:40:43,675 --> 00:40:44,974
say that. That's God's,

1174
00:40:45,434 --> 00:40:48,155
God's always with you. It's it's like when

1175
00:40:48,155 --> 00:40:50,070
Stephen was stoned to death and he looks

1176
00:40:50,150 --> 00:40:52,630
up and he's got this comfort and this

1177
00:40:52,630 --> 00:40:55,050
peace about him that Paul I can imagine

1178
00:40:55,110 --> 00:40:57,289
Paul just looking over there and he's thinking,

1179
00:40:57,510 --> 00:40:59,510
what in the world is he looking at?

1180
00:40:59,510 --> 00:41:01,269
Why is he looking up like that? He's

1181
00:41:01,269 --> 00:41:03,269
lost his mind. Yeah. What's he what's he

1182
00:41:03,269 --> 00:41:05,784
doing? He's supposed to be begging. Yeah. We're

1183
00:41:05,784 --> 00:41:08,105
stoning him to death and he's bleeding. He's

1184
00:41:08,105 --> 00:41:09,784
got head injuries, you know, and all these

1185
00:41:09,784 --> 00:41:12,105
things going on. What's going on with him?

1186
00:41:12,105 --> 00:41:13,784
But there was a peace of God that

1187
00:41:13,784 --> 00:41:16,344
passed all understanding that was in Steven's life

1188
00:41:16,344 --> 00:41:18,045
that very time, that very moment.

1189
00:41:18,380 --> 00:41:19,900
And and I I say this because I

1190
00:41:19,900 --> 00:41:21,579
don't want people to go into it thinking,

1191
00:41:21,579 --> 00:41:23,019
oh, this is all gonna be great. It's

1192
00:41:23,019 --> 00:41:25,099
all gonna be good because it's not. No.

1193
00:41:25,099 --> 00:41:27,179
You know? Yeah. I mean, ministry is not

1194
00:41:27,179 --> 00:41:28,860
all great. It's not all good. There's gonna

1195
00:41:28,860 --> 00:41:30,380
be ups and downs. There's gonna be hurt

1196
00:41:30,380 --> 00:41:31,364
times. There's gonna be

1197
00:41:32,005 --> 00:41:34,085
things that are gonna try to knock you

1198
00:41:34,085 --> 00:41:36,565
down, tear you away, and kill sometimes kill

1199
00:41:36,565 --> 00:41:38,885
you, you know, but it's all worth it.

1200
00:41:38,885 --> 00:41:39,784
Every single

1201
00:41:40,244 --> 00:41:42,724
every single thing that he calls you to

1202
00:41:42,724 --> 00:41:45,059
is worth it. I think think about that

1203
00:41:45,059 --> 00:41:47,220
with Stephen. Yeah. You know, here he is

1204
00:41:47,220 --> 00:41:49,059
getting stoned. He's he looks up and starts

1205
00:41:49,059 --> 00:41:50,820
saying, hey, look who I see up here.

1206
00:41:50,820 --> 00:41:52,579
Yeah. You know, he's saying, I see Jesus

1207
00:41:52,579 --> 00:41:54,500
right there. Yeah. And all that just making

1208
00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:56,099
them more mad. Yeah. And here they are

1209
00:41:56,099 --> 00:41:57,400
slinging the stones harder.

1210
00:41:58,175 --> 00:41:59,795
And if it hadn't been for him

1211
00:42:00,655 --> 00:42:01,155
dying

1212
00:42:01,454 --> 00:42:02,675
in the way he did,

1213
00:42:03,295 --> 00:42:06,015
this little boy named Saul Yeah. Yeah.

1214
00:42:06,414 --> 00:42:07,954
Would have would have never

1215
00:42:08,414 --> 00:42:08,914
had

1216
00:42:09,215 --> 00:42:10,195
that experience

1217
00:42:10,750 --> 00:42:13,390
that Christ used and built on later that

1218
00:42:13,390 --> 00:42:15,390
when he appeared to Saul, Saul knew he

1219
00:42:15,390 --> 00:42:17,309
was in trouble. Oh, yeah. I mean, there

1220
00:42:17,309 --> 00:42:19,469
were I I don't think there was any

1221
00:42:19,469 --> 00:42:22,110
doubt in Saul's mind when Jesus of Nazareth

1222
00:42:22,110 --> 00:42:23,469
appears in front of him and he was

1223
00:42:23,469 --> 00:42:25,390
sitting there thinking, oh, he's here to kill

1224
00:42:25,390 --> 00:42:27,454
me. Yeah. I know what I know what

1225
00:42:27,454 --> 00:42:28,815
he was looking at. I know what Steven

1226
00:42:28,815 --> 00:42:29,875
was looking at now.

1227
00:42:30,414 --> 00:42:32,494
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's what Paul was

1228
00:42:32,494 --> 00:42:34,414
thinking. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know what Steven

1229
00:42:34,414 --> 00:42:36,655
was looking at, and, man, he's he's mad.

1230
00:42:36,655 --> 00:42:38,429
He's mad at me, and he's here he's

1231
00:42:38,429 --> 00:42:40,109
here to end it. And Christ says, okay.

1232
00:42:40,109 --> 00:42:41,889
Now it's time for you to serve. Yeah.

1233
00:42:42,349 --> 00:42:43,010
And, again,

1234
00:42:43,949 --> 00:42:46,589
Steven had no he had no clue. 13

1235
00:42:46,909 --> 00:42:49,070
little young I don't know, 13 to 20

1236
00:42:49,070 --> 00:42:51,329
year old young man Yeah. Sitting there

1237
00:42:51,949 --> 00:42:52,965
collecting the coats.

1238
00:42:53,445 --> 00:42:55,925
Yeah. Stephen had no clue that his death

1239
00:42:55,925 --> 00:42:58,025
was gonna have that kind of an impact.

1240
00:42:58,244 --> 00:43:00,184
Yeah. We would not have,

1241
00:43:01,285 --> 00:43:03,545
what, 3 quarters of the New Testament

1242
00:43:03,925 --> 00:43:05,765
Yeah. If it hadn't have been for that,

1243
00:43:05,765 --> 00:43:07,739
if it hadn't have been for Paul, we

1244
00:43:07,739 --> 00:43:10,619
would not have had the gospel spread quite

1245
00:43:10,619 --> 00:43:12,539
the way it did had it not been

1246
00:43:12,539 --> 00:43:13,980
for Paul. I mean, you look back, it

1247
00:43:13,980 --> 00:43:16,139
would have spread. It was spreading even without

1248
00:43:16,139 --> 00:43:17,980
him, but it wouldn't have spread the same

1249
00:43:17,980 --> 00:43:20,234
way. We wouldn't have had a lot of

1250
00:43:20,234 --> 00:43:22,795
the the peace and the knowledge that's that

1251
00:43:22,795 --> 00:43:25,194
he gives us and the example. Hey, here

1252
00:43:25,194 --> 00:43:26,815
I am sitting in prison. Yeah.

1253
00:43:27,114 --> 00:43:29,194
Yeah. Here's a here's a question for you.

1254
00:43:29,434 --> 00:43:30,795
How do you know when God's calling you

1255
00:43:30,795 --> 00:43:31,375
to something?

1256
00:43:32,795 --> 00:43:34,795
Outside of, you know, this miraculous chain of

1257
00:43:34,795 --> 00:43:36,690
events that you described a minute ago,

1258
00:43:37,170 --> 00:43:39,170
that makes it a little obvious. Right? Right.

1259
00:43:39,170 --> 00:43:40,530
But if God's saying, hey. I want you

1260
00:43:40,530 --> 00:43:42,389
to go serve in this place right here,

1261
00:43:43,809 --> 00:43:45,409
and you better be in tune with him.

1262
00:43:45,409 --> 00:43:47,170
You really do. You've got you've got to

1263
00:43:47,170 --> 00:43:49,329
be it can't just be a random thing

1264
00:43:49,329 --> 00:43:50,230
where you say,

1265
00:43:50,530 --> 00:43:52,414
yeah, God. I I wanna be used by

1266
00:43:52,414 --> 00:43:54,574
you. And then, you know, I I think

1267
00:43:54,574 --> 00:43:56,574
a lot of times we see we get

1268
00:43:56,574 --> 00:43:57,554
in church and

1269
00:43:58,014 --> 00:44:00,655
we see revivals and different things going on.

1270
00:44:00,655 --> 00:44:02,815
We hear this great message or we go

1271
00:44:02,815 --> 00:44:04,974
to some men's conference or something like that

1272
00:44:04,974 --> 00:44:07,510
and we're just we're fired up and ready

1273
00:44:07,510 --> 00:44:09,190
to take on hell with water pistol, you

1274
00:44:09,190 --> 00:44:11,510
know, all those stuff, all that stuff. And

1275
00:44:11,510 --> 00:44:13,190
and we and so we're ready to go

1276
00:44:13,190 --> 00:44:15,349
and we say things sometimes that we're

1277
00:44:15,989 --> 00:44:18,150
Yeah. Maybe we don't mean, maybe we're not

1278
00:44:18,150 --> 00:44:20,954
serious about, or maybe we want that, but

1279
00:44:20,954 --> 00:44:22,394
we're really not where we need to be

1280
00:44:22,394 --> 00:44:24,155
with the Lord, like you said, where we

1281
00:44:24,155 --> 00:44:26,315
can see it. You gotta be sensitive to

1282
00:44:26,315 --> 00:44:28,394
the spirit. Yeah. And I'm not saying I'm

1283
00:44:28,394 --> 00:44:30,954
a 100 a 100% all the time sensitive

1284
00:44:30,954 --> 00:44:32,974
to the spirit. I miss things, you know,

1285
00:44:33,194 --> 00:44:34,094
but that's where

1286
00:44:34,699 --> 00:44:37,019
that's where prayer comes in. That's where reading

1287
00:44:37,019 --> 00:44:38,400
God's word comes in.

1288
00:44:38,859 --> 00:44:41,099
That's where focusing on him. That's where being

1289
00:44:41,099 --> 00:44:42,239
around other believers,

1290
00:44:42,699 --> 00:44:44,299
because there's a lot of because there's a

1291
00:44:44,299 --> 00:44:46,844
lot of times when we're talking or, you

1292
00:44:46,844 --> 00:44:48,764
know, we're talking with other brothers and sisters

1293
00:44:48,764 --> 00:44:49,425
in Christ

1294
00:44:49,885 --> 00:44:50,385
that,

1295
00:44:51,644 --> 00:44:54,445
they say something that God God sends them

1296
00:44:54,445 --> 00:44:56,525
to say something. Right? Yeah. You know, maybe

1297
00:44:56,525 --> 00:44:58,445
it's something little that they don't even think

1298
00:44:58,445 --> 00:45:00,820
about it. Oh, okay. Well, wait a minute.

1299
00:45:00,820 --> 00:45:02,659
Maybe that is what I'm supposed to do.

1300
00:45:02,659 --> 00:45:04,420
I I think God God will for some

1301
00:45:04,420 --> 00:45:06,420
things, I I think he'd he'll just put

1302
00:45:06,420 --> 00:45:08,099
a big passion in your heart for something.

1303
00:45:08,099 --> 00:45:10,099
Yeah. Yeah. And and we checked that against

1304
00:45:10,099 --> 00:45:11,835
the Bible, of course. You know, this It's

1305
00:45:11,835 --> 00:45:13,695
not something that's, you know, wrong,

1306
00:45:14,315 --> 00:45:16,554
obviously wrong or whatever. But I I think

1307
00:45:16,554 --> 00:45:18,635
you'll put a passion for for for something,

1308
00:45:18,635 --> 00:45:21,514
and the results may not always be the

1309
00:45:21,514 --> 00:45:24,099
impact you think they're gonna be. Yeah. Yeah.

1310
00:45:24,099 --> 00:45:25,880
You know, and that's where people get disappointed.

1311
00:45:26,019 --> 00:45:27,940
Yeah. I think so. Well, God didn't really

1312
00:45:27,940 --> 00:45:29,639
call me to that. And but,

1313
00:45:30,099 --> 00:45:31,619
on the other hand, I think I think

1314
00:45:31,619 --> 00:45:32,119
sometimes,

1315
00:45:32,579 --> 00:45:34,179
you we gotta be a little bit like

1316
00:45:34,179 --> 00:45:36,579
Peter in the boat. Right? And say, hey,

1317
00:45:36,579 --> 00:45:37,940
I can walk on the water if you'll

1318
00:45:37,940 --> 00:45:40,545
call me. Right. Right. Yeah. Right? And and

1319
00:45:40,545 --> 00:45:42,864
Jesus said, come on. Yeah. Yeah. Step out

1320
00:45:42,864 --> 00:45:44,465
here. It turns out Jesus ain't the only

1321
00:45:44,465 --> 00:45:46,945
person who ever walked on water. Right. That's

1322
00:45:46,945 --> 00:45:49,025
right. Yeah. We we just sometimes I think

1323
00:45:49,025 --> 00:45:50,304
we just gotta get out of the boat

1324
00:45:50,304 --> 00:45:51,445
and go. Yeah.

1325
00:45:51,905 --> 00:45:53,985
Amen. Amen. And he will he will set

1326
00:45:53,985 --> 00:45:57,050
before us what we need. Yeah. And I

1327
00:45:57,050 --> 00:45:58,590
mean, yeah. Just be again,

1328
00:45:59,130 --> 00:46:02,570
being willing to to Yeah. Whatever comes along.

1329
00:46:02,570 --> 00:46:04,809
Okay, lord. And and and here's what we

1330
00:46:04,809 --> 00:46:06,730
miss. Here's what we miss. We look at

1331
00:46:06,730 --> 00:46:07,724
ministry as

1332
00:46:09,405 --> 00:46:12,065
a Sunday school class or sound

1333
00:46:12,445 --> 00:46:15,265
person or the pastor, the preacher, the evangelist,

1334
00:46:15,325 --> 00:46:17,244
or the, you know, all the, all these

1335
00:46:17,244 --> 00:46:20,219
different things. We would that's that's that's our

1336
00:46:20,219 --> 00:46:21,260
picture of ministry.

1337
00:46:21,820 --> 00:46:23,420
Okay, Lord. What are you gonna call me

1338
00:46:23,420 --> 00:46:24,699
to do? Am I gonna be a deacon

1339
00:46:24,699 --> 00:46:26,219
of the church? Am I gonna be a

1340
00:46:26,219 --> 00:46:27,900
pastor, a preacher, a son's what am I

1341
00:46:27,900 --> 00:46:28,639
gonna do?

1342
00:46:29,739 --> 00:46:32,139
But we gotta be willing to serve right

1343
00:46:32,139 --> 00:46:34,159
where we are. Exactly. Exactly.

1344
00:46:34,539 --> 00:46:37,005
We we can have most most men or

1345
00:46:37,005 --> 00:46:38,844
most people, I believe, in the world have

1346
00:46:38,844 --> 00:46:41,085
a ministry at their job Yeah. At their

1347
00:46:41,085 --> 00:46:43,164
work. Yeah. They can spread the word. They

1348
00:46:43,164 --> 00:46:45,244
can show the kindness of Christ to people.

1349
00:46:45,244 --> 00:46:46,764
That's right. And they can make a difference

1350
00:46:46,764 --> 00:46:49,905
in job site. Amen. Amen. You know,

1351
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:53,640
I've I've for 18 years now, I'm going

1352
00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:55,099
on 19 years now.

1353
00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:57,340
I have been by vocational,

1354
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,219
and there has been times in my career,

1355
00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:03,800
in my work career that I thought, you

1356
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:04,539
know, lord,

1357
00:47:04,894 --> 00:47:06,894
I wanna be full time, and we've talked

1358
00:47:06,894 --> 00:47:08,815
about it. You know? We've discussed it. The

1359
00:47:08,815 --> 00:47:10,755
deacons have discussed it, things like that.

1360
00:47:11,295 --> 00:47:13,295
And and but, you know, god just never

1361
00:47:13,295 --> 00:47:14,275
gave that release.

1362
00:47:14,894 --> 00:47:16,694
And I I never felt like it was

1363
00:47:16,694 --> 00:47:18,140
a thing. Well, Brian, you're not doing it

1364
00:47:18,140 --> 00:47:20,300
because you're not stepping out on faith. That

1365
00:47:20,300 --> 00:47:22,380
just didn't open that door. Yeah. You know?

1366
00:47:22,380 --> 00:47:24,460
And and and I and I look back

1367
00:47:24,460 --> 00:47:24,960
and

1368
00:47:25,579 --> 00:47:27,019
I I see some things that I know

1369
00:47:27,019 --> 00:47:27,680
that God,

1370
00:47:28,699 --> 00:47:30,380
you know, I was able to be used

1371
00:47:30,380 --> 00:47:32,984
by him in in my workplace in different

1372
00:47:32,984 --> 00:47:34,045
places like that,

1373
00:47:34,585 --> 00:47:36,184
and that I wouldn't have been able to

1374
00:47:36,184 --> 00:47:38,505
be if I had been full time in

1375
00:47:38,505 --> 00:47:40,984
ministry, you know, or full time full time

1376
00:47:40,984 --> 00:47:41,804
at the church.

1377
00:47:42,824 --> 00:47:44,425
That you know, my heart was there, but

1378
00:47:44,425 --> 00:47:46,949
that wasn't what God wanted. So, and he

1379
00:47:46,949 --> 00:47:48,730
finally I had to I had to

1380
00:47:49,030 --> 00:47:51,510
gain enough wisdom through other men and other

1381
00:47:51,510 --> 00:47:53,750
people around me to say, you know what?

1382
00:47:53,750 --> 00:47:55,829
I mean, you you got something right there

1383
00:47:55,829 --> 00:47:57,269
that God wants you to do. So why

1384
00:47:57,269 --> 00:47:58,789
don't you just do that? Yeah. And a

1385
00:47:58,789 --> 00:48:00,070
lot of times people will look at a

1386
00:48:00,070 --> 00:48:01,289
full time pastor like

1387
00:48:01,734 --> 00:48:03,655
that can't do nothing else. Right? Yeah. Dude,

1388
00:48:03,655 --> 00:48:05,655
you're having a collar on and walking around

1389
00:48:05,655 --> 00:48:08,214
saying, oh, man. All the time. Right? Right.

1390
00:48:08,214 --> 00:48:09,614
But Yeah. If you're part of the world

1391
00:48:09,714 --> 00:48:11,355
I've got 2 o'clock on Tuesday.

1392
00:48:11,734 --> 00:48:12,234
Yeah.

1393
00:48:13,494 --> 00:48:15,255
But but you're in you know, we're we're

1394
00:48:15,255 --> 00:48:16,695
not of the world, but we're in the

1395
00:48:16,695 --> 00:48:18,539
world. Right. And if we're sitting right on

1396
00:48:18,539 --> 00:48:19,519
a job site,

1397
00:48:19,900 --> 00:48:21,680
those are people that ain't coming to church.

1398
00:48:22,860 --> 00:48:25,280
That's a powerful ministry you can have. Amen.

1399
00:48:25,660 --> 00:48:26,160
Amen.

1400
00:48:26,619 --> 00:48:27,840
Amen. Yeah. You've got

1401
00:48:28,619 --> 00:48:30,640
I think, too, the other thing is

1402
00:48:32,755 --> 00:48:34,454
to recognize that when

1403
00:48:34,914 --> 00:48:37,175
we talk about these miraculous things, where God

1404
00:48:37,235 --> 00:48:39,894
prepares these ways and just opens these doors,

1405
00:48:40,114 --> 00:48:42,594
the thing is God still opens the doors

1406
00:48:42,594 --> 00:48:43,954
when He's calling you to do something. It

1407
00:48:43,954 --> 00:48:45,900
may not be so amazing as, Oh, my

1408
00:48:45,980 --> 00:48:47,359
house just got paid off.

1409
00:48:47,739 --> 00:48:49,500
It may not be something like that, but

1410
00:48:49,500 --> 00:48:51,359
it may be something more like

1411
00:48:52,299 --> 00:48:53,679
all of a sudden you find

1412
00:48:54,299 --> 00:48:57,039
that it's just it makes sense

1413
00:48:57,579 --> 00:48:58,079
that

1414
00:48:59,099 --> 00:49:01,034
you've been praying about it. You've been saying,

1415
00:49:01,034 --> 00:49:02,234
God, I need to be in a position

1416
00:49:02,234 --> 00:49:04,875
and maybe you've been pre making yourself ready

1417
00:49:04,875 --> 00:49:06,234
for some of these things. And you've been

1418
00:49:06,234 --> 00:49:07,835
doing these things saying, God, I know you're,

1419
00:49:07,835 --> 00:49:10,155
you've got something for me and I'm going

1420
00:49:10,155 --> 00:49:11,434
to be ready to go in a minute

1421
00:49:11,434 --> 00:49:14,239
and you've been preparing and you've been because

1422
00:49:14,619 --> 00:49:17,099
God doesn't expect us to just twiddle our

1423
00:49:17,099 --> 00:49:19,099
thumbs and let him provide everything. He, he,

1424
00:49:19,099 --> 00:49:20,780
he does call us to have a little

1425
00:49:20,780 --> 00:49:22,719
common sense and go out and do things.

1426
00:49:22,780 --> 00:49:23,280
But

1427
00:49:23,820 --> 00:49:26,835
those doors sometimes are just, okay, I've I've

1428
00:49:26,835 --> 00:49:28,275
got all these things in line and I'm

1429
00:49:28,275 --> 00:49:30,675
ready. And all of a sudden the the

1430
00:49:30,675 --> 00:49:31,175
opportunity,

1431
00:49:31,474 --> 00:49:33,235
either you hear about something or you see

1432
00:49:33,235 --> 00:49:35,554
something, you get exposed something, and it's right

1433
00:49:35,554 --> 00:49:37,394
in line with your talents. Yeah. And it's

1434
00:49:37,394 --> 00:49:39,235
right in line with what you're, you know,

1435
00:49:39,235 --> 00:49:42,190
and it's like, okay. Because the thing is,

1436
00:49:42,889 --> 00:49:44,809
yeah, God sometimes calls us out of our

1437
00:49:44,809 --> 00:49:46,589
comfort zone and often does.

1438
00:49:46,969 --> 00:49:48,969
Because I I don't know about y'all. You

1439
00:49:48,969 --> 00:49:51,469
can be very talented as a singer. Yeah.

1440
00:49:52,025 --> 00:49:53,545
But you may not like getting up in

1441
00:49:53,545 --> 00:49:56,045
front of people. Amen. Yeah. And

1442
00:49:57,144 --> 00:49:58,605
you look at at, Moses.

1443
00:49:59,945 --> 00:50:02,105
Yeah. You know? Well, God, I got I

1444
00:50:02,105 --> 00:50:04,664
I I got this stutter here, and I

1445
00:50:04,664 --> 00:50:06,510
I I can't quite talk right.

1446
00:50:06,829 --> 00:50:08,110
And he says, alright. Fine. I'll send your

1447
00:50:08,110 --> 00:50:10,670
brother with you. Yeah. And then Moses didn't

1448
00:50:10,670 --> 00:50:11,250
need him.

1449
00:50:11,710 --> 00:50:13,309
I'll tell you tell you a recent example,

1450
00:50:13,309 --> 00:50:16,190
and and our sister, Casey, really blessed my

1451
00:50:16,190 --> 00:50:17,789
heart the other one one of Wednesday nights

1452
00:50:17,789 --> 00:50:19,469
by saying talking about this. And I'm not

1453
00:50:19,469 --> 00:50:21,284
saying this to brag, but I did not

1454
00:50:21,284 --> 00:50:22,964
want to teach an 11, 12 year old

1455
00:50:22,964 --> 00:50:25,045
boys class in VBS this year. Yeah. And

1456
00:50:25,045 --> 00:50:27,364
I resisted and resisted, and Casey kept bringing

1457
00:50:27,364 --> 00:50:29,284
it up and kept bringing it up. And

1458
00:50:29,284 --> 00:50:31,204
and I I prayed about it, and it's

1459
00:50:31,204 --> 00:50:33,619
like, okay, I gotta do this. Yeah. Yeah.

1460
00:50:33,619 --> 00:50:34,980
And I jumped out of the boat. Yeah.

1461
00:50:34,980 --> 00:50:35,480
Amen.

1462
00:50:35,940 --> 00:50:38,420
Amen. And 3 kids got saved. Amen. Praise

1463
00:50:38,420 --> 00:50:40,500
the Lord. Wow. Yes. Okay. Yes. May maybe

1464
00:50:40,500 --> 00:50:41,380
I just need to get out of the

1465
00:50:41,380 --> 00:50:41,880
boat.

1466
00:50:42,180 --> 00:50:43,320
Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes.

1467
00:50:43,780 --> 00:50:45,490
And it's not me. It's not me. Yeah.

1468
00:50:45,490 --> 00:50:47,635
It's not me. And, man, I'm so frustrated

1469
00:50:47,635 --> 00:50:50,275
with those boys most almost every night. Yeah.

1470
00:50:50,275 --> 00:50:52,434
They're rowdy, man. Yeah. Can't get them to

1471
00:50:52,434 --> 00:50:55,175
be quiet, but they were listening. Yeah. Preteens,

1472
00:50:55,394 --> 00:50:57,635
they got hormones going on. They stink and

1473
00:50:57,635 --> 00:50:58,855
smell good. Man,

1474
00:50:59,234 --> 00:51:01,230
they won't shut up. Yeah. Yeah.

1475
00:51:02,010 --> 00:51:02,829
Man. But

1476
00:51:03,690 --> 00:51:05,530
yeah. I don't know. But see, brother Dennis

1477
00:51:05,530 --> 00:51:07,210
thinks he's had a rough time. He doesn't

1478
00:51:07,210 --> 00:51:08,809
realize my son's coming up on that age.

1479
00:51:08,809 --> 00:51:10,090
So the next time he does it, he's

1480
00:51:10,090 --> 00:51:11,530
gonna have Connor in there with him. Yeah.

1481
00:51:11,530 --> 00:51:13,289
This is gonna get interesting. Yeah. Oh, was

1482
00:51:13,289 --> 00:51:14,489
he in there? Yeah. Yeah. He was in

1483
00:51:14,489 --> 00:51:16,964
there. Yeah. He was okay. He was. Connor

1484
00:51:16,964 --> 00:51:18,885
was okay. There was just like a handful.

1485
00:51:18,885 --> 00:51:19,704
There was like,

1486
00:51:20,005 --> 00:51:23,464
man, just stop talking. They'll try. They'll try.

1487
00:51:24,244 --> 00:51:26,244
But that's the thing. God, God opened that

1488
00:51:26,244 --> 00:51:28,085
door. And it's something that, that you do

1489
00:51:28,085 --> 00:51:30,070
have a talent at is is getting people's

1490
00:51:30,070 --> 00:51:31,909
attention. Whether you realize it or not, it

1491
00:51:31,909 --> 00:51:33,190
is something you do have a talent at.

1492
00:51:33,190 --> 00:51:34,969
Face lock is, I'll do that for you.

1493
00:51:35,429 --> 00:51:38,010
That's it. But, gosh, but God sometimes

1494
00:51:38,309 --> 00:51:39,210
pushes us.

1495
00:51:40,070 --> 00:51:41,625
Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I've been in

1496
00:51:41,625 --> 00:51:43,864
those I've been in those classes before with

1497
00:51:43,864 --> 00:51:45,545
with that with that age group and those

1498
00:51:45,545 --> 00:51:47,945
kids, you know, and and and you're I

1499
00:51:47,945 --> 00:51:50,525
mean, in the middle of the most serious

1500
00:51:50,664 --> 00:51:51,164
moment

1501
00:51:51,704 --> 00:51:52,765
in in your thinking,

1502
00:51:53,799 --> 00:51:56,599
the lord is just pouring the words out

1503
00:51:56,599 --> 00:51:59,000
through my mouth right now. Yeah. And you

1504
00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:00,859
see one of those hands slip up.

1505
00:52:01,159 --> 00:52:01,980
Brother Brian,

1506
00:52:03,159 --> 00:52:05,079
can we pray for my rabbit, please, right

1507
00:52:05,079 --> 00:52:05,579
now?

1508
00:52:06,119 --> 00:52:07,034
Can we just

1509
00:52:07,434 --> 00:52:09,214
stop and pray for my rabbit?

1510
00:52:09,514 --> 00:52:11,594
He got loose yesterday, and I'm afraid he's

1511
00:52:11,594 --> 00:52:13,355
gonna get loose again. Yeah. Or or go

1512
00:52:13,355 --> 00:52:14,954
handle shit. Can I go to the bathroom?

1513
00:52:14,954 --> 00:52:15,934
Yeah. Yeah. Or

1514
00:52:16,474 --> 00:52:18,315
Yeah. Or couple of them start hitting each

1515
00:52:18,315 --> 00:52:21,835
other. Yeah. Yeah. Donnie. Donnie just pooted over

1516
00:52:21,835 --> 00:52:22,335
here

1517
00:52:23,030 --> 00:52:24,969
Round of mine. It stinks.

1518
00:52:25,309 --> 00:52:25,809
You

1519
00:52:26,150 --> 00:52:26,650
know?

1520
00:52:26,989 --> 00:52:27,489
Her

1521
00:52:27,829 --> 00:52:29,609
heart back to the holy spirit.

1522
00:52:32,789 --> 00:52:33,909
And, you know, and that's one of the

1523
00:52:33,909 --> 00:52:35,750
things when you're working with kids or with

1524
00:52:35,750 --> 00:52:38,105
people in general, sometimes stuff like that happens.

1525
00:52:38,565 --> 00:52:39,364
I remember,

1526
00:52:40,085 --> 00:52:41,364
I don't remember if it was a vacation

1527
00:52:41,364 --> 00:52:43,125
Bible school or a Sunday school class one

1528
00:52:43,125 --> 00:52:45,204
time and we had a boy literally fell

1529
00:52:45,204 --> 00:52:46,105
asleep and,

1530
00:52:46,565 --> 00:52:48,565
you know, Tara leaned back out in the

1531
00:52:48,565 --> 00:52:49,380
floor. He went

1532
00:52:49,859 --> 00:52:52,759
right in the middle of this serious conversation.

1533
00:52:52,819 --> 00:52:53,799
And I thought,

1534
00:52:55,779 --> 00:52:57,859
oh, and Ms. Debbie, by the way, was

1535
00:52:57,859 --> 00:52:58,359
our

1536
00:52:58,739 --> 00:53:00,420
teacher at the time. And she handled it

1537
00:53:00,420 --> 00:53:02,659
with perfect poise and grace. So get up

1538
00:53:02,659 --> 00:53:04,585
out of that that floor right now. I'm

1539
00:53:04,585 --> 00:53:06,664
just shocked enough I would have laughed with

1540
00:53:06,664 --> 00:53:08,825
them. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It did just right

1541
00:53:08,825 --> 00:53:10,925
back into it, though. And I mean,

1542
00:53:13,785 --> 00:53:15,385
if I if I told the story about

1543
00:53:15,385 --> 00:53:16,684
the about the the reincarnation

1544
00:53:16,985 --> 00:53:19,109
story in VBS, if I so No. I

1545
00:53:19,109 --> 00:53:20,329
don't know. So

1546
00:53:20,949 --> 00:53:22,710
so we we were at Union Hill and

1547
00:53:22,710 --> 00:53:23,150
and,

1548
00:53:23,589 --> 00:53:26,309
myself and and another guy was, we were

1549
00:53:26,309 --> 00:53:26,809
teaching

1550
00:53:27,509 --> 00:53:30,150
we were teaching a teenage class or they

1551
00:53:30,150 --> 00:53:32,230
may have been preteens. I can't remember exactly,

1552
00:53:32,230 --> 00:53:32,655
but,

1553
00:53:33,614 --> 00:53:35,695
the holy spirit was moving. And and in

1554
00:53:35,695 --> 00:53:37,614
fact, we had we had 1 girl get

1555
00:53:37,614 --> 00:53:38,675
saved that night,

1556
00:53:39,054 --> 00:53:40,594
but but it was a struggle.

1557
00:53:40,894 --> 00:53:42,974
We had we had 1 young man in

1558
00:53:42,974 --> 00:53:43,474
there,

1559
00:53:44,094 --> 00:53:46,094
and, and we were all we were in

1560
00:53:46,094 --> 00:53:47,934
that serious moment, you know, and we were

1561
00:53:47,934 --> 00:53:48,434
sharing,

1562
00:53:49,429 --> 00:53:51,269
Christ with him and his death and his

1563
00:53:51,269 --> 00:53:51,769
resurrection

1564
00:53:52,469 --> 00:53:54,469
and and and how he paid for our

1565
00:53:54,469 --> 00:53:56,969
sins and comparing it to, you know,

1566
00:53:57,829 --> 00:53:59,989
someone what if someone took your place if

1567
00:53:59,989 --> 00:54:01,429
your mom or your dad got on to

1568
00:54:01,429 --> 00:54:03,109
you and was gonna whip you or whatever,

1569
00:54:03,109 --> 00:54:05,434
you know, Just trying to make that connection

1570
00:54:05,494 --> 00:54:07,974
and make that comparison to it. And this

1571
00:54:07,974 --> 00:54:10,055
little boy just lifts his hands up for

1572
00:54:10,055 --> 00:54:10,875
me. He goes,

1573
00:54:11,335 --> 00:54:11,974
he goes,

1574
00:54:12,934 --> 00:54:13,675
my dad,

1575
00:54:16,179 --> 00:54:17,559
he lost his dad,

1576
00:54:18,340 --> 00:54:18,820
about,

1577
00:54:19,539 --> 00:54:20,599
15 years ago,

1578
00:54:20,900 --> 00:54:23,480
and we had this dog that came up,

1579
00:54:24,340 --> 00:54:27,079
in in about 3 or 4 weeks ago,

1580
00:54:27,460 --> 00:54:28,155
and and

1581
00:54:28,554 --> 00:54:30,875
and and dad said that that dog is

1582
00:54:30,875 --> 00:54:32,574
his dad that has been reincarnated,

1583
00:54:32,875 --> 00:54:34,655
and he's came back to us now.

1584
00:54:35,114 --> 00:54:36,954
And he got all these little kids, in

1585
00:54:36,954 --> 00:54:39,034
the middle of sharing Jesus. Now we've got

1586
00:54:39,034 --> 00:54:39,695
to explain

1587
00:54:40,230 --> 00:54:41,130
the reincarnation

1588
00:54:42,230 --> 00:54:44,469
and the fact that your daddy's crazy, you

1589
00:54:44,469 --> 00:54:45,989
know, that he don't know what he's talking

1590
00:54:45,989 --> 00:54:47,989
about in in a in a good way.

1591
00:54:47,989 --> 00:54:51,030
Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah. You gotta okay.

1592
00:54:51,030 --> 00:54:54,085
Let's debunk that, you know, and let's let's

1593
00:54:54,085 --> 00:54:55,925
get back to Jesus' sin. It's like yeah.

1594
00:54:55,925 --> 00:54:58,565
Yeah. Look. I know your daddy means well,

1595
00:54:58,565 --> 00:55:00,005
and I know what he's saying, but but

1596
00:55:00,005 --> 00:55:01,525
that dog is just a dog, son. Cow.

1597
00:55:01,525 --> 00:55:02,025
Yeah.

1598
00:55:04,405 --> 00:55:05,555
But yeah.

1599
00:55:06,119 --> 00:55:08,460
Oh, man. That that would have been a

1600
00:55:09,160 --> 00:55:09,660
interesting,

1601
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:12,440
experience to see. I think,

1602
00:55:13,240 --> 00:55:14,680
somebody come up with something like that in

1603
00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:16,680
the middle of vacation Bible school. Oh, yeah.

1604
00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:17,180
Yeah.

1605
00:55:18,039 --> 00:55:18,539
But,

1606
00:55:19,559 --> 00:55:21,105
yeah. And so man,

1607
00:55:21,644 --> 00:55:23,485
we just gotta be ready, don't we? Yeah.

1608
00:55:23,485 --> 00:55:25,425
You know? And and and if somebody's

1609
00:55:25,805 --> 00:55:27,425
begging for help, help them.

1610
00:55:27,724 --> 00:55:30,864
Amen. I've been part out this past VPS.

1611
00:55:31,005 --> 00:55:32,945
That's it. That's it. Serve them.

1612
00:55:34,204 --> 00:55:36,329
You know, be who God's called you to

1613
00:55:36,630 --> 00:55:38,650
be. Be that be that willing vessel.

1614
00:55:40,309 --> 00:55:42,630
You know, be willing to sacrifice. I mean,

1615
00:55:42,630 --> 00:55:44,230
I know we're that's what we're gonna talk

1616
00:55:44,230 --> 00:55:46,010
about tonight, serving and sacrificing.

1617
00:55:46,550 --> 00:55:48,469
And it is. It's it is a sacrifice,

1618
00:55:48,469 --> 00:55:50,744
whether it's money, whether it's time, whether it's

1619
00:55:50,985 --> 00:55:53,305
whatever it may be, you know, whether it's

1620
00:55:53,305 --> 00:55:55,224
taking a job where you make less money

1621
00:55:55,224 --> 00:55:56,825
to be able to do more. You know,

1622
00:55:56,825 --> 00:55:58,985
I I'm not saying that's what everybody has

1623
00:55:58,985 --> 00:56:01,065
to do, but whatever that is that God's

1624
00:56:01,065 --> 00:56:03,305
calling you to do, don't let anything stand

1625
00:56:03,305 --> 00:56:05,219
in the way of it because Right. Just

1626
00:56:05,460 --> 00:56:07,619
all this other stuff is never gonna mean

1627
00:56:07,619 --> 00:56:09,000
anything in the end. It's

1628
00:56:09,300 --> 00:56:11,539
all gonna burn up. All the all the

1629
00:56:11,539 --> 00:56:13,480
best jobs and the money in the world,

1630
00:56:13,699 --> 00:56:15,300
it's all gonna burn up. You know, when

1631
00:56:15,300 --> 00:56:17,139
I was talking about that couple that that

1632
00:56:17,139 --> 00:56:19,215
ended up being missionaries, you know, they both

1633
00:56:19,215 --> 00:56:21,474
gave up some very lucrative careers

1634
00:56:22,015 --> 00:56:23,535
to go do that. And, you know, when

1635
00:56:23,535 --> 00:56:24,735
I talked to, you know, I mentioned all

1636
00:56:24,735 --> 00:56:26,434
the things that just kind of worked out,

1637
00:56:26,735 --> 00:56:28,414
but the thing is, right as they were

1638
00:56:28,414 --> 00:56:30,659
getting ready to go, he's getting job offers

1639
00:56:31,219 --> 00:56:32,519
of here, you make

1640
00:56:32,900 --> 00:56:33,880
a 150, $200,000

1641
00:56:34,260 --> 00:56:36,179
a year, come work for us. Right. And

1642
00:56:36,179 --> 00:56:38,260
it's like, he's given that up to go

1643
00:56:38,260 --> 00:56:40,659
to China. Yeah. You know? And that's the

1644
00:56:40,659 --> 00:56:42,579
thing. That is a sacrifice. And it it

1645
00:56:42,659 --> 00:56:43,719
let me tell you something.

1646
00:56:44,605 --> 00:56:46,844
If you've never been in a position like

1647
00:56:46,844 --> 00:56:49,644
that, that is a massive sacrifice to go,

1648
00:56:49,644 --> 00:56:50,144
wow.

1649
00:56:50,445 --> 00:56:51,744
All I have to do

1650
00:56:52,445 --> 00:56:53,265
is just

1651
00:56:53,565 --> 00:56:54,625
say no to something

1652
00:56:55,085 --> 00:56:55,585
else

1653
00:56:55,965 --> 00:56:57,980
and I'm gonna be set. I'm not gonna

1654
00:56:57,980 --> 00:56:59,339
have to worry about things. That is a

1655
00:56:59,339 --> 00:57:01,500
sacrifice. And when it comes to what God's

1656
00:57:01,500 --> 00:57:02,619
calling you to do when it comes to

1657
00:57:02,619 --> 00:57:04,780
your family, sometimes the only answer you can

1658
00:57:04,780 --> 00:57:06,619
give to those situations is, I'm sorry. I've

1659
00:57:06,619 --> 00:57:09,440
got I've got other responsibilities. Money isn't everything.

1660
00:57:09,579 --> 00:57:11,114
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, this

1661
00:57:11,675 --> 00:57:14,474
servanthood and sacrifice all comes down to Jesus

1662
00:57:14,474 --> 00:57:16,155
command to us. Right? It is. Like we

1663
00:57:16,155 --> 00:57:17,855
were talking about last night in John

1664
00:57:18,155 --> 00:57:20,094
14, 15, 16, or 14,

1665
00:57:20,394 --> 00:57:20,894
15.

1666
00:57:21,275 --> 00:57:23,355
He he he's a, he's he's a new

1667
00:57:23,355 --> 00:57:25,034
commandment I give to you that you love

1668
00:57:25,034 --> 00:57:26,369
one another just as I've

1669
00:57:26,670 --> 00:57:28,030
loved you. Yeah. And and the word he

1670
00:57:28,030 --> 00:57:30,429
uses is agape. It's a it's a hardcore

1671
00:57:30,429 --> 00:57:32,349
sacrificial love. It's like he showed us on

1672
00:57:32,349 --> 00:57:34,670
the cross. Yeah. And we can't love him

1673
00:57:34,670 --> 00:57:37,010
without loving other people and that means sacrificing

1674
00:57:37,070 --> 00:57:38,804
for other people. That's right. And serving other

1675
00:57:38,804 --> 00:57:40,244
people. He tells us that we've gotta put

1676
00:57:40,244 --> 00:57:41,844
our hand to the plow. Right? If you're

1677
00:57:41,844 --> 00:57:43,925
not willing to leave father and mother behind

1678
00:57:43,925 --> 00:57:46,005
and all. And when he says that, he's

1679
00:57:46,005 --> 00:57:47,684
not saying, hey. I want you to neglect

1680
00:57:47,684 --> 00:57:48,344
your parents.

1681
00:57:48,644 --> 00:57:50,565
But what he's tell what he's saying there

1682
00:57:50,565 --> 00:57:53,039
is you've gotta have a mindset that wherever

1683
00:57:53,039 --> 00:57:54,640
I call you, you know that that's gonna

1684
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:56,000
be the right thing to do. Yeah. And

1685
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:57,200
you need to step out and you need

1686
00:57:57,200 --> 00:57:58,960
to do that. And what he was getting,

1687
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:00,800
he was going he had people going, hey.

1688
00:58:00,800 --> 00:58:02,640
I'll follow you, Jesus. I'll go with you

1689
00:58:02,640 --> 00:58:04,394
wherever you want me to go. And He

1690
00:58:04,394 --> 00:58:06,074
said the foxes have holes and the birds

1691
00:58:06,074 --> 00:58:07,594
have nests, but the son of man have

1692
00:58:07,594 --> 00:58:09,114
no place to lay his head. In other

1693
00:58:09,114 --> 00:58:11,434
words, we're gonna be sleeping on rocks out

1694
00:58:11,434 --> 00:58:13,215
in the middle of the desert sometimes,

1695
00:58:13,515 --> 00:58:15,454
and it's not gonna be the best situation

1696
00:58:15,594 --> 00:58:16,974
in the world. And they're like,

1697
00:58:17,515 --> 00:58:19,275
oh, okay. Well, I better go back and

1698
00:58:19,275 --> 00:58:20,719
take care of dad.

1699
00:58:21,420 --> 00:58:23,579
Now dad's not really sick yet, and he's

1700
00:58:23,579 --> 00:58:26,500
only about 45 years old. You know? But

1701
00:58:26,500 --> 00:58:29,099
but but in case dad gets sick, so

1702
00:58:29,099 --> 00:58:31,260
in about 20 or 30 years, then maybe

1703
00:58:31,260 --> 00:58:33,054
after dad passes away and I don't have

1704
00:58:33,054 --> 00:58:35,454
that obligation anymore, I'll come serve you, lord,

1705
00:58:35,454 --> 00:58:37,695
then. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And think and do

1706
00:58:37,695 --> 00:58:39,934
think about that. Christ was out there calling

1707
00:58:39,934 --> 00:58:41,795
people and telling them these things,

1708
00:58:42,574 --> 00:58:44,815
and they were. They were thinking, well, few

1709
00:58:44,815 --> 00:58:46,380
years down the road, we'll do this. He

1710
00:58:46,380 --> 00:58:49,199
had 3 years. Yeah. His ministry was 3

1711
00:58:49,339 --> 00:58:51,579
years. Yeah. And within that 3 years when

1712
00:58:51,579 --> 00:58:52,799
he called his disciples,

1713
00:58:53,260 --> 00:58:55,179
there was 2 different times. You can go

1714
00:58:55,179 --> 00:58:56,859
back and read this and see the difference

1715
00:58:56,859 --> 00:58:59,019
in this, but there was 2 different times

1716
00:58:59,019 --> 00:59:01,119
that he found them back fishing again.

1717
00:59:01,724 --> 00:59:03,164
Right? And I know there are 2 different

1718
00:59:03,164 --> 00:59:05,244
stories because one of them was before he

1719
00:59:05,244 --> 00:59:07,244
died, he goes back and he finds them

1720
00:59:07,244 --> 00:59:07,744
fishing

1721
00:59:09,085 --> 00:59:10,525
and he tells them, he said, cast your

1722
00:59:10,525 --> 00:59:12,285
net over here. And he kept, they cast

1723
00:59:12,285 --> 00:59:13,980
the net over there and they got so

1724
00:59:13,980 --> 00:59:16,159
many fish, the net breaks. Okay?

1725
00:59:16,460 --> 00:59:19,099
The the second time that you see them

1726
00:59:19,099 --> 00:59:21,500
was after he died, he went back and

1727
00:59:21,500 --> 00:59:23,500
there they were. It's like Christ is dead.

1728
00:59:23,500 --> 00:59:24,159
You know?

1729
00:59:24,460 --> 00:59:26,219
What are we gonna do? He was gonna

1730
00:59:26,219 --> 00:59:28,425
he was gonna bring us back, put Israel

1731
00:59:28,425 --> 00:59:30,425
on a map again, and and so they

1732
00:59:30,425 --> 00:59:32,425
goes, like, whatever. We're going back to fishing

1733
00:59:32,425 --> 00:59:34,105
again. Well, he finds them this time, and

1734
00:59:34,105 --> 00:59:36,905
he says hold up. He said, cast your

1735
00:59:36,905 --> 00:59:38,985
net over there. He said, I've done something

1736
00:59:38,985 --> 00:59:39,724
this time

1737
00:59:40,265 --> 00:59:42,184
that can't be broken, and when they cast

1738
00:59:42,184 --> 00:59:43,660
their net that second time,

1739
00:59:44,280 --> 00:59:45,880
they pull the fish in and the net

1740
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:47,960
doesn't break. Yeah. I mean, it's full, you

1741
00:59:47,960 --> 00:59:49,880
know, but so they're 2 different stories, but

1742
00:59:49,880 --> 00:59:52,940
but but two different times where the disciples

1743
00:59:53,239 --> 00:59:55,239
went back to their old job, their old

1744
00:59:55,239 --> 00:59:58,119
way of life to within 3 years. Come

1745
00:59:58,119 --> 01:00:00,684
on, guys. You know? And and and we're

1746
01:00:00,684 --> 01:00:02,844
like that. Right? We're like, oh, gosh. You

1747
01:00:02,844 --> 01:00:05,085
know? Well, I I you know, so and

1748
01:00:05,085 --> 01:00:05,585
so.

1749
01:00:05,965 --> 01:00:08,125
It's not serving with me anymore, so I

1750
01:00:08,125 --> 01:00:09,405
I I don't think I can do it.

1751
01:00:09,405 --> 01:00:11,244
So and and we just we just throw

1752
01:00:11,244 --> 01:00:13,280
our hands up, and we go back the

1753
01:00:13,280 --> 01:00:14,800
way we were before. And the second one

1754
01:00:14,800 --> 01:00:15,599
was different because,

1755
01:00:16,239 --> 01:00:19,280
there was an empty tomb. Yes. Amen. Yes.

1756
01:00:19,280 --> 01:00:21,359
Empty tomb. That's right. Amen. And what has

1757
01:00:21,359 --> 01:00:23,780
he been saying for 3 years? Yes. Yes.

1758
01:00:23,839 --> 01:00:26,159
Amen. And Yeah. I I know I'm I'm

1759
01:00:26,159 --> 01:00:28,934
not very sharp either. But Yeah. Man. Yeah.

1760
01:00:29,094 --> 01:00:31,255
You tear this down in 3 days. I'll

1761
01:00:31,255 --> 01:00:34,135
build it up again. Yeah. It blows my

1762
01:00:34,135 --> 01:00:35,655
mind when I go back and I read

1763
01:00:35,655 --> 01:00:37,035
those stories of the disciples,

1764
01:00:37,574 --> 01:00:40,375
and it says the number of times after

1765
01:00:40,375 --> 01:00:41,114
his resurrection

1766
01:00:41,519 --> 01:00:44,000
and their eyes were open. Yeah. And they

1767
01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:46,239
remembered. Yeah. And their eyes were open. And

1768
01:00:46,239 --> 01:00:47,840
and it was different groups of them. I

1769
01:00:47,840 --> 01:00:49,039
get it. What not all of them at

1770
01:00:49,039 --> 01:00:50,260
once, but

1771
01:00:51,119 --> 01:00:52,880
every single one of them had to be

1772
01:00:52,880 --> 01:00:53,380
reminded

1773
01:00:54,239 --> 01:00:56,644
who it was they were following. Yeah. Yeah.

1774
01:00:56,644 --> 01:00:58,644
Yeah. Amen. Maybe that's what we're doing here

1775
01:00:58,644 --> 01:01:01,284
tonight. Right? Amen. Let's remind everybody listening. This

1776
01:01:01,284 --> 01:01:03,605
this is who we're following. Let's remind everybody.

1777
01:01:03,605 --> 01:01:06,405
Let's remind ourselves. Let's remind Brian. You know,

1778
01:01:06,405 --> 01:01:09,284
let's Brian, remember what you've been called to.

1779
01:01:09,284 --> 01:01:11,525
Remember the purpose that you have in Jesus,

1780
01:01:11,525 --> 01:01:13,739
and it may not be glamorous. It may

1781
01:01:13,739 --> 01:01:14,400
not be,

1782
01:01:15,099 --> 01:01:16,860
it may not be all over the world.

1783
01:01:16,860 --> 01:01:19,099
Right? But it's it's right here where god's

1784
01:01:19,099 --> 01:01:21,180
got you right now. Yeah. Well, how glamorous

1785
01:01:21,180 --> 01:01:22,320
you think Paul felt

1786
01:01:23,019 --> 01:01:23,760
in prison?

1787
01:01:24,059 --> 01:01:26,539
Yeah. Shipwrecked a few times hit by a

1788
01:01:26,539 --> 01:01:28,244
snake, you know. Beaten.

1789
01:01:28,545 --> 01:01:31,264
Stoned. All kinds of stuff. Man, love it.

1790
01:01:31,264 --> 01:01:33,585
Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't a very glamorous lifestyle.

1791
01:01:33,585 --> 01:01:35,585
No. You know? No. And and that's why

1792
01:01:35,664 --> 01:01:37,264
that's part of the reason he said, hey.

1793
01:01:37,264 --> 01:01:38,945
For me to live is your gain because

1794
01:01:38,945 --> 01:01:40,625
I'm gonna keep telling you about Jesus. I'm

1795
01:01:40,625 --> 01:01:42,509
gonna keep sharing the gospel here. Yeah. For

1796
01:01:42,509 --> 01:01:44,150
me to die is my game because I've

1797
01:01:44,150 --> 01:01:45,750
been going through hell while I've been here

1798
01:01:45,750 --> 01:01:48,150
on this. Exactly. You know? I mean, that's

1799
01:01:48,150 --> 01:01:50,469
the truth, you know? And and and and

1800
01:01:50,469 --> 01:01:52,469
so that and and sometimes that's the way

1801
01:01:52,469 --> 01:01:54,789
it is for us. It's it's not glamorous.

1802
01:01:54,789 --> 01:01:55,449
It's not

1803
01:01:55,805 --> 01:01:58,285
all fun and games. There's blessings in it.

1804
01:01:58,285 --> 01:01:59,985
In the midst of it, there's,

1805
01:02:00,285 --> 01:02:02,605
there's, the power of God that you get

1806
01:02:02,605 --> 01:02:03,744
to see in ministry,

1807
01:02:04,204 --> 01:02:06,765
but, you know, it's not always it's not

1808
01:02:06,765 --> 01:02:09,985
always glamorous, but it's it's, man, it's,

1809
01:02:10,779 --> 01:02:13,259
I'm not building anything here because nothing that

1810
01:02:13,259 --> 01:02:15,579
I have here is gonna last. I'm taking

1811
01:02:15,739 --> 01:02:17,579
I wanna take something with me that's gonna

1812
01:02:17,579 --> 01:02:18,559
last throughout eternity.

1813
01:02:18,859 --> 01:02:21,179
Right. That's right. It it's not always glamorous,

1814
01:02:21,179 --> 01:02:24,135
but, boy, it is worth every

1815
01:02:24,835 --> 01:02:26,595
minute of what we go through because we

1816
01:02:26,595 --> 01:02:27,335
have something

1817
01:02:27,875 --> 01:02:28,775
so much better

1818
01:02:29,155 --> 01:02:30,135
waiting for us.

1819
01:02:30,434 --> 01:02:31,795
And that's the thing that we need to

1820
01:02:31,795 --> 01:02:33,795
remember. That's the thing that we, we have

1821
01:02:33,795 --> 01:02:35,555
to remember is who it is that we're

1822
01:02:35,555 --> 01:02:37,715
serving. We're not doing this for us. He

1823
01:02:37,715 --> 01:02:39,155
gave us all of our talents. He gave

1824
01:02:39,155 --> 01:02:41,380
us a your the time that we have

1825
01:02:41,599 --> 01:02:43,700
is his anyway. He gave it to us.

1826
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:46,239
Amen. So don't don't be miserly with your

1827
01:02:46,239 --> 01:02:48,480
time because it belongs to God already. Don't

1828
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:51,280
be miserly with your money, and I'll go

1829
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:53,065
on that one. Just remember that we're not

1830
01:02:53,065 --> 01:02:55,385
promised tomorrow. And we say that, and that's

1831
01:02:55,385 --> 01:02:57,065
the reason people get miserly with their time.

1832
01:02:57,065 --> 01:02:58,825
But remember who controls whether or not you're

1833
01:02:58,825 --> 01:03:00,825
leaving today or tomorrow or 10 years from

1834
01:03:00,825 --> 01:03:02,585
now is the one you ought to be

1835
01:03:02,585 --> 01:03:03,085
serving.

1836
01:03:03,625 --> 01:03:05,545
You know, I mean, you gotta keep that

1837
01:03:05,545 --> 01:03:07,289
in mind. The time is his. You're just

1838
01:03:07,369 --> 01:03:09,210
you're just borrowing it for a little while.

1839
01:03:09,210 --> 01:03:11,449
The, the money is his. You're just borrowing

1840
01:03:11,449 --> 01:03:13,469
it for a little while. The things

1841
01:03:13,769 --> 01:03:15,530
that he gives you, they're all his. You're

1842
01:03:15,530 --> 01:03:16,890
just getting to use them for a little

1843
01:03:16,890 --> 01:03:17,869
bit. The kids,

1844
01:03:18,650 --> 01:03:20,349
your family, they're his.

1845
01:03:20,684 --> 01:03:22,684
You're just put in response you're given the

1846
01:03:22,684 --> 01:03:25,005
responsibility of tending to them for a little

1847
01:03:25,005 --> 01:03:25,505
while.

1848
01:03:25,805 --> 01:03:28,045
And don't forget that. So when we go

1849
01:03:28,045 --> 01:03:30,125
into ministry, let's try to keep that in

1850
01:03:30,125 --> 01:03:30,625
mind.

1851
01:03:31,005 --> 01:03:33,324
And if you are in a church and

1852
01:03:33,324 --> 01:03:35,724
maybe maybe the ministry that you are being

1853
01:03:35,724 --> 01:03:37,340
called to is to be the prayer warrior.

1854
01:03:37,340 --> 01:03:39,420
Maybe it is to be in there praying

1855
01:03:39,420 --> 01:03:41,179
for all the other people that are making

1856
01:03:41,179 --> 01:03:43,599
these very obvious and very big sacrifices.

1857
01:03:44,219 --> 01:03:46,219
Pray for them and encourage them. Tell them

1858
01:03:46,219 --> 01:03:47,840
thank you. Tell them, you know,

1859
01:03:48,219 --> 01:03:50,380
we appreciate what you're doing. We appreciate the

1860
01:03:50,380 --> 01:03:52,625
job you're doing, and and you're doing a

1861
01:03:52,625 --> 01:03:55,344
good job because it never hurts to be

1862
01:03:55,344 --> 01:03:56,085
told that.

1863
01:03:56,385 --> 01:03:58,224
It's not why people do it. It's not

1864
01:03:58,224 --> 01:03:59,744
why we get into ministry. And if you're

1865
01:03:59,744 --> 01:04:01,425
in it for that reason, go back to

1866
01:04:01,425 --> 01:04:02,484
the Bible and reevaluate.

1867
01:04:03,344 --> 01:04:04,085
But man,

1868
01:04:04,625 --> 01:04:07,059
it really helps sometimes to have some church

1869
01:04:07,059 --> 01:04:08,339
members come up and say, Hey, we love

1870
01:04:08,339 --> 01:04:10,420
you and we love what you're doing. And

1871
01:04:10,420 --> 01:04:11,859
both of these men sitting right here, brother,

1872
01:04:11,859 --> 01:04:13,699
Brian, brother, Dennis, we love y'all and we

1873
01:04:13,699 --> 01:04:15,780
love everything y'all do for our churches, our

1874
01:04:15,780 --> 01:04:17,859
church here. And we love everything you're doing

1875
01:04:17,859 --> 01:04:19,460
in the podcast. I love getting to hear

1876
01:04:19,460 --> 01:04:20,945
you guys every week

1877
01:04:21,244 --> 01:04:22,724
and sit down and talk with y'all. So

1878
01:04:22,765 --> 01:04:23,505
We pontificate.

1879
01:04:25,325 --> 01:04:26,065
Hey, pontification

1880
01:04:26,684 --> 01:04:27,905
is perfectly fine.

1881
01:04:29,565 --> 01:04:32,065
But we thank everybody for tuning in. We've

1882
01:04:32,285 --> 01:04:35,160
hit our hour and, we look forward to

1883
01:04:35,460 --> 01:04:37,460
the the good lord willing being back again

1884
01:04:37,460 --> 01:04:39,400
next week, and hopefully everything's

1885
01:04:40,099 --> 01:04:41,940
kinda smoothed out for us for a little

1886
01:04:41,940 --> 01:04:44,980
while. We'll be probably wrapping up a little

1887
01:04:44,980 --> 01:04:47,214
early before Christmas because once we get into

1888
01:04:47,214 --> 01:04:49,135
the Christmas season, things get kinda crazy. So

1889
01:04:49,135 --> 01:04:50,734
I don't know quite how many we're gonna

1890
01:04:50,734 --> 01:04:52,175
do next month, but I know we'll be

1891
01:04:52,175 --> 01:04:54,815
wrapping up fairly soon. Maybe another 2 or

1892
01:04:54,815 --> 01:04:55,554
3 episodes

1893
01:04:56,094 --> 01:04:57,315
would be about the max.

1894
01:04:57,694 --> 01:04:59,375
We talked about getting the choir in here

1895
01:04:59,375 --> 01:05:02,014
maybe 1 1 Monday and and doing some

1896
01:05:02,014 --> 01:05:04,300
songs or whatever. So yeah. Yeah. I'm hoping

1897
01:05:04,300 --> 01:05:05,739
that we can get everybody in. We'll go

1898
01:05:05,739 --> 01:05:07,099
out, and we'll just have it out there

1899
01:05:07,099 --> 01:05:09,500
on the stage and get everybody, and and,

1900
01:05:09,500 --> 01:05:11,339
you know, people come in and have have

1901
01:05:11,339 --> 01:05:13,119
a fellowship and a great night.

1902
01:05:13,820 --> 01:05:15,420
Hopefully, we'll get to do that. We'll see

1903
01:05:15,420 --> 01:05:16,859
how it goes. I know we've got a

1904
01:05:16,859 --> 01:05:19,285
busy month coming up with, December because we

1905
01:05:19,285 --> 01:05:21,605
have Christmas carol and Christmas parade, you know,

1906
01:05:21,605 --> 01:05:22,105
and

1907
01:05:22,485 --> 01:05:25,045
and very exciting stuff. And we hope that

1908
01:05:25,045 --> 01:05:28,025
all of you, we're going in. Thanksgiving is

1909
01:05:28,085 --> 01:05:28,744
is Thursday.

1910
01:05:29,519 --> 01:05:31,679
Spend some time with your families. Be grateful

1911
01:05:31,679 --> 01:05:33,679
and be thankful for what God has given

1912
01:05:33,679 --> 01:05:35,920
you. It's a wonderful holiday. We were the

1913
01:05:36,159 --> 01:05:38,099
America was the 1st country to recognize

1914
01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:40,480
that we needed to have a day of

1915
01:05:40,480 --> 01:05:42,824
giving thanks for what God gave us.

1916
01:05:43,385 --> 01:05:45,065
And a lot of people forget that's why

1917
01:05:45,065 --> 01:05:46,984
we do it. It's not about anything with

1918
01:05:46,984 --> 01:05:49,224
the Native Americans or anything we took. It

1919
01:05:49,224 --> 01:05:51,005
is about being thankful because

1920
01:05:51,304 --> 01:05:53,964
those Native Americans participated in that first Thanksgiving.

1921
01:05:54,025 --> 01:05:55,625
You know, they were they were right there

1922
01:05:55,625 --> 01:05:57,809
with us and they were grateful that they

1923
01:05:57,809 --> 01:05:59,030
were able to help

1924
01:05:59,329 --> 01:06:01,170
these, these people that were coming into the

1925
01:06:01,170 --> 01:06:02,849
country. And we want to, we want to

1926
01:06:02,849 --> 01:06:04,050
do the same thing. We want to be

1927
01:06:04,050 --> 01:06:05,269
grateful for those things,

1928
01:06:05,570 --> 01:06:07,110
offer help where it's possible.

1929
01:06:08,050 --> 01:06:09,650
If you know, people that are doing stuff

1930
01:06:09,650 --> 01:06:11,985
for Thanksgiving churches and stuff, I know some

1931
01:06:12,065 --> 01:06:14,385
churches have meals that they give away. Go

1932
01:06:14,385 --> 01:06:15,204
help them out.

1933
01:06:15,505 --> 01:06:16,785
Take take a few minutes out of your

1934
01:06:16,785 --> 01:06:18,065
day to go by and help hand out

1935
01:06:18,065 --> 01:06:19,825
some meals to some people. If you, if,

1936
01:06:19,825 --> 01:06:21,664
if you know of a place in your

1937
01:06:21,664 --> 01:06:23,345
area that's doing it, please join in with

1938
01:06:23,345 --> 01:06:25,845
that. There's something about that. That's just very,

1939
01:06:25,985 --> 01:06:27,430
it's a blessing to be able to give

1940
01:06:27,430 --> 01:06:28,869
that to people that, you know, have very

1941
01:06:28,869 --> 01:06:30,230
little. And if you know people that don't

1942
01:06:30,230 --> 01:06:32,070
have anywhere to be for Thanksgiving, invite them

1943
01:06:32,070 --> 01:06:33,430
over and give them some turkey. There you

1944
01:06:33,430 --> 01:06:35,289
go. It'll be great. There you go.

1945
01:06:35,670 --> 01:06:38,824
Smoked turkey, not crack. That's right. That's right.

1946
01:06:39,204 --> 01:06:40,105
Toast and popcorn.

1947
01:06:40,484 --> 01:06:42,484
There you go. Charlie Brown way. I like

1948
01:06:42,484 --> 01:06:42,984
it.

1949
01:06:44,244 --> 01:06:44,744
Brother,

1950
01:06:45,284 --> 01:06:47,925
Brian, would you, pray for us tonight? And

1951
01:06:47,925 --> 01:06:50,005
we'll see everyone next week. Thank you all

1952
01:06:50,005 --> 01:06:52,150
for joining in. Sure. Father, we love you,

1953
01:06:52,150 --> 01:06:53,750
and, God, we're so thankful for who you

1954
01:06:53,750 --> 01:06:56,489
are, and we are thankful for every opportunity

1955
01:06:56,630 --> 01:06:58,869
that we have to serve you. And, God,

1956
01:06:58,869 --> 01:07:00,630
we just ask you that you just,

1957
01:07:01,269 --> 01:07:03,349
let us see those opportunities. Let us have

1958
01:07:03,349 --> 01:07:04,570
our eyes wide open,

1959
01:07:05,094 --> 01:07:05,675
our hearts,

1960
01:07:06,055 --> 01:07:07,434
Lord, ready to serve,

1961
01:07:07,735 --> 01:07:10,215
and, look. God bless do that by ever

1962
01:07:10,215 --> 01:07:11,515
growing closer to you,

1963
01:07:12,375 --> 01:07:15,094
digging into your word, praying, and and seeking

1964
01:07:15,094 --> 01:07:17,094
your face, Lord God, as to what you

1965
01:07:17,094 --> 01:07:18,454
would have us to do on a daily

1966
01:07:18,454 --> 01:07:19,434
basis, Lord.

1967
01:07:19,839 --> 01:07:21,679
We love you, and we can't wait to

1968
01:07:21,679 --> 01:07:23,199
spend eternity with you,

1969
01:07:23,519 --> 01:07:25,440
God, but we're thankful that you live inside

1970
01:07:25,440 --> 01:07:27,679
our hearts right now. Give us a servant's

1971
01:07:27,679 --> 01:07:28,179
heart,

1972
01:07:28,800 --> 01:07:31,119
just like you. And, Lord, for that, we

1973
01:07:31,119 --> 01:07:33,920
give thanks in all things in Jesus' name.

1974
01:07:33,920 --> 01:07:34,420
Amen.

1975
01:07:35,735 --> 01:07:37,675
Special thank you to Carter Pridemore,

1976
01:07:37,974 --> 01:07:40,074
Brian Harris, Waverly Henderson,

1977
01:07:40,454 --> 01:07:43,414
Tatum Harris Spears, and to Josie Partain for

1978
01:07:43,414 --> 01:07:45,515
our theme song, Truth Set Me Free.

1979
01:07:45,894 --> 01:07:48,235
I've been Tyler Goes on production and audio.

1980
01:07:48,614 --> 01:07:50,690
We hope you can join us live next

1981
01:07:50,690 --> 01:07:52,309
Monday at 6 PM CST.

1982
01:07:52,690 --> 01:07:55,329
Thank you for listening. But truth found me

1983
01:07:55,329 --> 01:07:55,829
there.

1984
01:07:56,609 --> 01:07:58,789
It was in my darkest hour.

1985
01:07:59,409 --> 01:08:02,130
I traded my black heart for joy for

1986
01:08:02,130 --> 01:08:04,684
something real, something with power.

1987
01:08:06,905 --> 01:08:07,405
Truth

1988
01:08:07,704 --> 01:08:09,085
set me free.

1989
01:08:09,785 --> 01:08:10,285
Truth

1990
01:08:10,664 --> 01:08:12,045
came to me.

1991
01:08:12,505 --> 01:08:15,244
I once was blind, and now I see