Lord Teach Me How To Fast

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Good morning, real life Church.
Great to see you in the house

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today.
I just want to invite you to

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stand to your feet today as we
kick things off with some

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worship.
So much, so many promises of

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God.
And so I just hope that you will

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just sing this with all your
heart today and don't be afraid

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to clap along your word.
Is.

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To my feet your way is the only
way for me that leads to life

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beyond it.
It's a narrow Rd. but the mercy.

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Let's sing this out.
I'll take you at your word if

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you say leaving.
I've seen how good if you

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started at your word.
Amen.

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It's keeping you.
Spoke in the chaos, fell in

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life.
I've seen it's a narrow Rd. that

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leads and I want to yes the tide
is high water take you at your

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world.
You said it, I believe it.

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I've seen how good it completed.
I'll take you

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if you're starting.
Please take you out your world.

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You said your love will never is
always heart would never forget

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or forsake me.
Saved you yours.

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You hope you've never failed, so
I know that you'll never fail

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me.
Come on, Church, declare this

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today.
Please, enough, you said.

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Your heart me.
You said he goes future and

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you'll never fail.
I'll take you out.

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Your work in those hands.
Come on.

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If you stand in I If you stop.
If you stand in I, I've seen how

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good if you started.
Your.

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'Cause you get on your promise.
You promise.

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Come on Church, do you believe
you can take Him at His word

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today for you?
So come on, give it all you've

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got as we lift up a shot of
prayer.

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Come on, we can trust Him, but
His words are true, faithful,

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and even when we fall short,
when He wants us, He's chasing

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us.
We're going to continue just to

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worship in that.
Truth this morning.

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I spoke a word you were saying
to me.

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You have been so, so good to me,
for I took a breath.

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You were life in me.
You have been so, so fine.

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All the overwhelming, never
always chases me without

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fighting.
When the father leaves the moon

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and I couldn't hardly, I told
the servant.

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Still you give yourself.
I was your fault still you love

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far from me.
You hate good to me.

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I felt nowhere.
You paid it all for me.

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Thank you Jesus made to me.
The.

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There's no shadow.
You won't light up mountain, you

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won't climb up coming after.
Me.

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Snow you won't kick down.
Lie You won't take down coming

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after me.
Snow Shadow, you won't light it.

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Mountain, you won't climb.
I am coming after me.

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Snow you won't kick down.
Lie you won't take down coming

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after me.
Snow Shadow.

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Mountain coming after me.
Some praise this morning, His

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grace and his love.
It's so good.

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You know, there's going to be a
moment, hopefully we get a taste

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of it here on earth, but a
moment in eternity when we're

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all surrounding the throne, just
singing out.

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And in God's Word, it says that
we're going to sing holy, holy,

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holy is the Lord Almighty.
And so in my mind, this song is

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just a glimpse of that, that we
can close our eyes and listen in

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as we all sing praises to God
together to lift up his holy

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name.
So let's continue to praise

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him.
Thousand generations falling

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down in worship to sing the song
of ages to the Lamb.

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And all Thrones and dominions,
all powers in positions, your

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name stands above them.
And the angels cry holy, all

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creation cries holy, and you
will lift it high holy.

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You're holy forever
if you've been forgiven, if

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you've been redeemed.
Sing the song forever to the

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land.
You're holy and you are lifted

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high holy.
You're holy for hear people sing

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holy to the king.
Holy.

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Always be you're holy.
Forever you're holy.

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Sing your prayers.
'Cause your name is the highest

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your name, it's the greatest.
Your name, it stands above the

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moon.
Do you believe it?

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That all Thrones in dominions,
all powers in positions, Your

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name.
It stands above the moon.

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Your name is the highest.
Your name is the greatest.

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Your name, It stands above them
all.

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And all Thrones and dominions,
all powers and positions.

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Your name stands above them all.
It's your name.

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Is the high is a great name that
stands above them all.

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Don't roll to me is your name is
your name is the greatest.

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Don't grow in Dominion power.
Stay.

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Holy or creation, Christ holy
and you were lifted.

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High Holy you were holy forever.
Hear your people sing holy to

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the King of Kings holy 'cause
you will always be holy, you're

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holy forever.
Amen.

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As I think through worship this
morning, each of those songs was

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a very distinct promise of God
that we can take Him at His

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Word.
His Word reigns true, Amen.

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And that'll never leave us or
forsake us.

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He'd leave the 99 just to find
us, Amen.

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And then finally, that He is
holy forever.

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And if that doesn't give you
hope, man, I don't know you just

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give it up for Jesus this
morning that we can take him at

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his word.
He's, he never leaves us or

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forsakes us.
Man.

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It has been such a blessing for
us to worship with you today,

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just to see you raise your hands
and just give it.

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What an.
And can I just say, welcome to

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Real Life Church.
We're so glad you're here, each

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and everyone of us in the
building and online.

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And I want to recognize some
people.

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I want to recognize I'm online.
And anyone who's brand new with

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us this morning, can we just
give it up for those people

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today?
Amen.

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That's so good.
Hey, I want you to take 30

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seconds and greet those around
you.

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Look for some new faces, say
hello, learn a name.

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About 30 seconds.
See.

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Amen.
So good.

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Hey, as you find your way back
to your seats, this is just a

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friendly reminder that hey,
continue these conversations.

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Invite someone to coffee this
week.

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Make sure you remember that name
you just learned right?

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It's all good.
We all get it, We all, we all

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get forgetful sometimes.
But continue that conversation

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in the Hub right after this
gathering.

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It's open for you.
We'd love to see you just do

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that.
Grab a cup of coffee while

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you're out.
It's pretty good.

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It's very good actually.
Man, it is awesome to see you

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this morning at Real Life
Church.

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I hope you've been blessed so
far this morning.

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I know we have and I just want
to say that especially if you're

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brand new, this whole gathering,
this whole preparation for

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Sunday morning throughout the
week is really done with you and

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mine.
And so I would love for you to

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just do a couple things this
morning.

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We're not going to ask a thing
from you today, except we would

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love to just for you to
introduce yourself, love to get

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to learn your name and share as
much info as you want.

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A great way to do that is that
card that's on your chair.

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Maybe it's on the ground.
There's a card and a pen and I

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said.
Out.

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Mark the box that says first
time guest.

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Hold on to that till the very
end.

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You can throw it in the bucket.
And and we would just love to

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reach out to you this week.
Now, if you're getting a little

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nervous about some of the info
on there, like, you know, an

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address or a phone number, I
promise, OK, I'm going to raise

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my right hand and say no one
from real life will ever show up

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at your door unannounced because
that's weird.

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And we don't do that.
And we're not going to blow up

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your phone with a bunch of texts
and, and, and call you all hours

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of the day.
We're not going to do that at

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all.
But man, just want to open up

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that door, really let you know
how honored we are to have you

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here, answer any questions you
might have, and just really do

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anything we can to make you feel
welcome in real life because you

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truly are welcome here.
And why do why do we care so

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much?
Why do we stress that?

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Why have I been talking about
that for a while?

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It's because we're at church on
a mission.

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Real life is all about seeing
people far from God, discovering

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their real life and purpose in
Jesus.

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So we believe that every single
week God is just moving in

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people.
We see the evidence of that when

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people raise their hand and just
give their life to Jesus.

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Like last week we celebrated
baptisms, Amen.

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Wasn't that amazing?
Like that's just the fruit of

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your labor, the fruit of your
effort and inviting people and

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just sharing the gospel.
So just pray that you'll

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continue to do that and just
join us on mission at real Life

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Church.
That's because today we're going

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to start a brand new message
series called Lord Teach Me How

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to Fast.
And I don't know about you, but

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I really need this message
because I don't know about you,

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but I'm pretty good at going on
a slow.

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That's where you just eat a lot
and hang out and just, you know,

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have a good time.
So I need to get myself right.

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And maybe you're like me, you're
ready to turn that slow into a

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fast.
Sorry for the dad jokes.

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I got to got to get him in.
But for real, though, I really

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want you to lean in on this idea
this morning because Barry's

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going to dive in so deep on this
that it's not a focus on what

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you're giving up.
It's not about that at all.

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It's easy to kind of go there,
but it's really this focus on

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growing closer to God.
And so I really just want you to

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keep that in your mind as you
hear the word today.

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I know Barry's got a huge word
for us, so can you give a huge

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real life welcome to Barry
Hardy?

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Come on.
Can we give it up for Drew?

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He's not slow.
Do you see how fast he was, man?

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Drew, you're my hero.
You know that, man?

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What's up real life, man?
I'm still on a high from last

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week.
Did you guys have fun at the

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birthday party last week, man?
Eight years Hey, your birthday

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party and what a way to
celebrate you guys killed it.

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There was I I know the hall is
going to give some of the

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metrics a little bit, but I
think with seven people

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baptized.
Can you guys believe that man?

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Can we get, for those that got
baptized, man, we had six people

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commit their lives to Christ,
Man, can we give it up for those

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people?
That is why we exist.

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That's our mission.
That's we're here to get people

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connected back to, to God.
And just the number of new

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people we saw come in.
I, it's been a long time since

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I've ever seen a line get
divided up at the new hero

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booth.
But man, we have so many new

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people.
I know we have a lot of new

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people again with us today.
So, man, thank you guys so much

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for being here.
We're excited that you came

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back.
Yeah, we give it up for them.

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So before we get started, I want
you guys to to know the reason I

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am up here is Pastor Sean had
his shoulder surgery.

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And I want you guys to know I
told the group this morning to

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set up one of my prayers that
I've been praying and fasting

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for all week was that Sean would
come out of surgery alive

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because you guys don't want me
as a pastor and God's given us a

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great 1.
So if reach out, send him a

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message this week, let him know
that you care about him, that

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you love him.
And I think he's recovering

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well.
So hopefully we'll get to see

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him again soon.
So I know when you guys heard

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the word fast, were you guys
excited?

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Oh, yeah, right.
Can I tell you, this is the very

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first time that I've ever
preached on this topic because

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as a recovering Baptist, as a
Baptist, we love our food,

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right?
If you grew up Baptist yet

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potlucks, you had afterglows,
you had desserts, man.

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This is what we did.
This is what we focused all our

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worship and our meetings around,
right?

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And I don't remember, I know
that fasting had to get gotten

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mentioned.
I don't ever really remember

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talking about it.
So I want you guys to buckle in

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today.
My prayer for you guys is that

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this is an encouragement today
and a challenge as well.

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And fasting is, is what I like
to call a spiritual discipline.

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So when you guys think of the
word discipline, what do you

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guys think of?
There's probably a lot of things

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that come into your mind.
Think of something that you

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you've dreamed about, something
that you've prepared for, that

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you've trained for, it required
what to get there.

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Discipline, right?
Think of a sports team maybe

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that you you practice and you
practice and you practice.

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I know, I think Jermaine might
be in here.

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He had a head basketball coach
and there's some other coaches

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in here.
What you guys are doing is

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instilling discipline in your
team, right?

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What about when you went to
school?

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I know we have some pH DS in
here, but even getting out of

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high school wasn't easy for all
of us.

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Was it right there?
Took some discipline to study,

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to buckle down and, and pass
those courses.

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I, I look at, I look, I'm, I'm a
construction guy.

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So I look at guys that do and
work in the trades with a high

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level of skill and I'm always
impressed, even if it's not the

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one thing that I do because I
knew what it took to get there.

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It didn't happen overnight took
time, it took training, it took

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encouragement, it took
discipline.

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One of my favorite things I love
is just see people that just

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they go through and they they
conquer odds that I can't

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00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,640
imagine.
Remember a story from a single

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00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,520
mom who was raising two kids,
was working basically 1 1/2

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jobs.
And she decided that that God

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had called her to do something
different, but she was going to

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00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:29,560
have to go back to school to do
it.

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And her support structure was
very, very minimal.

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And as I heard her story and
what her schedule look like to

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to prepare and raise her
children, to feed them, clothe

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them, take care of them, love
them the way that our mother

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does, and then work those jobs.
And then on top of that really

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study all night and go to go to
classes in between online.

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And can you guys imagine the
amount of discipline that it

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took to do that?
So anytime we have discipline on

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our lives, it's always for a
reason.

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Anything that's worth
accomplishing never comes easy

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and it doesn't just happen.
And it's the same thing with

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fasting or any spiritual
discipline.

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So when I say the word spiritual
discipline, it puts a little bit

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different spin on it.
And so this is your opportunity

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00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:13,880
to give me some feedback when I
say the word spiritual

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discipline.
What are some spiritual

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00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,040
disciplines that you guys either
do or have heard of?

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Can you guys throw something out
for me besides fasting, tithing?

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All right, so you give money,
generosity, right?

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That's a type of a spiritual
discipline.

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What else?
All right, I'm old.

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00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,400
So one at a time.
Would you say to him studying,

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All right, studying the Bible,
you read, you're trying to

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00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:36,400
figure out what God's got for
you in the Bible.

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00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:39,360
So you, my mom's going through a
thing where she's like mapping,

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00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:41,320
go through the book of Romans
and figuring out what this

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means.
So yeah, that's great.

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What else?
Prayer.

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And what a good one, I think.
I think we're in a.

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00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,440
So today we're kicking off
fasting and we're going to talk

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00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:50,800
a little bit more about it next
week.

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00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:53,240
And I think next we're going to
add a little bit more of the

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00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,360
aspect of prayer with it.
The man prayer, what a spiritual

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00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,640
discipline.
And some of the best prayer

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00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,800
warriors that I've ever met.
You'll never know their names

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00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,600
because they weren't on a stage.
They were, they were the retired

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00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,360
little old ladies that were at
the back of the church and

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00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:11,560
literally prayed for every
person during the service,

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00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,200
during a gathering and at home
all week.

301
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,760
They would get those prayer, the
prayer requests and they would

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00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,880
write those down.
I mean, they had journals of

303
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:20,640
them.
So awesome prayer.

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00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,360
Anything else, man?
Patience.

305
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,960
Something I'm working on.
Don't ask my wife.

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00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:29,520
She's not in here, is she?
Yeah.

307
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,920
I mean, patience.
It's it's it's one of those

308
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:33,200
things.
It's a spiritual discipline.

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00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:34,120
It does.
It does happen.

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Hospitality.
There's a lot of these other

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00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:37,880
spiritual disciplines that we
think of.

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00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,520
And some of them come easy to us
and some of them don't.

313
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,600
Right.
And one of the other, the ideas

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00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,960
that I think about discipline
that that pops into my mind.

315
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,320
One of my favorite series ever.
You guys know Band of Brothers.

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00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,880
So Band of Brothers early in the
early in the series, I'm going

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00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,000
to say the I'm going to, I'm
going to start the phrase to see

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00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,680
if you guys can finish it.
And this is in the boot camp,

319
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,120
right?
And at the beginning it says 3

320
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:08,200
miles up, 3 miles down.
So if you haven't seen it, what

321
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,520
it was, it was a training on a
mountain at Camp Toccoa and they

322
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:15,040
would run up a mountain called
Curahi and they would run 3

323
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,000
miles to the top and three miles
down.

324
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,200
And then an Easy Company, which
was the series was about, was

325
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,920
about how their, their, their,
their commanding officer, his

326
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,480
name was Sobel, just punished
these guys and brutalized these

327
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:29,640
guys.
And he viewed it as what

328
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,280
discipline was right?
That's how he saw he was going

329
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,160
to make these guys better.
In a lot of ways.

330
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:38,720
He actually did help these guys.
But for, for, for these guys

331
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,520
that are going the midst of
that, they appreciated it later,

332
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,000
but in the midst of it, the
reasons why it was being used

333
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,720
was punishing.
And they, in fact, some of these

334
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:50,080
guys were ready to kill the guy,
like literally ready to figure

335
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,880
out how to murder him the first
opportunity they got.

336
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,680
So for us, when we, when we're
looking at a spiritual

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00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,320
discipline, what we need to do
is figure out number one, and

338
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,200
this is to be the first set what
fasting is not.

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00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:04,360
And then we're going to lead
into what fasting is.

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00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:09,120
So what fasting is not.
So if you guys know me at any

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00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,400
level, I tell a lot of stories.
I watch a lot of movies, I

342
00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,040
listen to a lot of podcasts.
And one of the things that that

343
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,520
in the last several years that
I've gotten into are all the

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00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,720
fads on the Internet for health,
right?

345
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,560
Somebody's laughing over me.
All right, You guys ever do

346
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,080
sauna?
You guys ever do cold plunge?

347
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,200
Those aren't my favorite.
And I found a third one that I

348
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,440
don't like, but it's called
intermittent fasting.

349
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,680
So you guys ever heard of that?
So fasting, this type of

350
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,800
fasting, something for health,
this isn't a spiritual

351
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:40,600
discipline.
And I'm not saying it's a bad

352
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:41,840
thing.
It's something that, you know,

353
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,880
depending on your health or
whatever your doctor tells you

354
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,480
need to do, maybe something that
that is good for you.

355
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,560
But but a spiritual fast is not
a diet, right?

356
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,960
It's not just something that we
do to make ourselves look good,

357
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,160
just even get a little modicum
of health.

358
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,800
It's not something that we do
to, to, to be the latest and the

359
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,200
greatest.
I, you know, when I started

360
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:05,080
getting intermittent fasting,
they're like, well, how, how

361
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,280
long are you fasting?
I'm like, I'm shooting for like

362
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:09,680
12.
They're like, Ah, that's weak

363
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:11,480
sauce.
You need to go for like 24 hour

364
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,320
fast.
And so like there's like this

365
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,760
one upmanship right in that
world at some level.

366
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,440
And so the first thing that it
is not, it's not a diet.

367
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:22,720
And again, nothing wrong with it
being if you do it for those

368
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,480
health reasons, but that's not
what a spiritual fast is.

369
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,720
Because when, when you do an
intermittent intermittent

370
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,000
fasting, what are you guys
focusing on this right here,

371
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,880
right?
And so that's not the point of

372
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,240
of a spiritual fast #2 it's not
how we make God love us.

373
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,240
And so a lot of us when we do a
spiritual discipline, we do it

374
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,000
for a reason, because we think
that's going to give us brownie

375
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,160
points with God, right?
We've all been there.

376
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,200
All right.
Well, if I perform for God, or

377
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,000
if I say the magic words, God's
going to show up and he's going

378
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,640
to do exactly what I want him to
do.

379
00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,400
We get to lead a group here.
It's and we're not doing it this

380
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,440
semester, probably next.
It's called freedom Group.

381
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:06,800
And how many people have been
through freedom group?

382
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:08,720
Can you guys give a shout out?
Raise your hands.

383
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,960
Yeah.
Then when you go through freedom

384
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,800
group, what we do is we start
off with this basis of

385
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,360
identifying what God really
wants from you.

386
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,920
And for so many of us, depending
on how you were raised and what

387
00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,040
you were taught, we think that
we have to, we have to have like

388
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,720
this, the gold stars adding up
for us, right?

389
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,920
And that's how we get to heaven.
That's how we please God.

390
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,280
That's how we make him love us.
And so it's really easy to fall

391
00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,040
into that trap, whether it's
coming to your church, whether

392
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,160
it's reading your Bible or
whether it's praying or whether

393
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,360
it's even fasting.
Is is this really how we please

394
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,880
God?
And the answer is no, because I

395
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,360
want you guys to know the truth
right now.

396
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,840
God loves you exactly where you
are now.

397
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,600
He may want something better for
you than where you are at the

398
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,200
moment, whether you have
brokenness in your life, whether

399
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,640
you have an addiction of your
life, whether you're far from

400
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,720
God.
Have you walked in here today

401
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,600
and you this been years since
you've been at church?

402
00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,680
Can I tell you that God isn't
coming in here wanting you to

403
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,440
clean yourself up.
He's here to reconnect you to

404
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:16,600
the purpose that he has for you.
So the issue is this is that we

405
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,600
take something that's good, like
a spiritual fast and something

406
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:24,160
that's a discipline and we turn
it on its head and we try to use

407
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,640
it to make God love us.
And there's nothing you can do

408
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,160
to make God love you anymore.
And there's nothing you can do

409
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,040
to make God love you any less.
In the freedom group, we we use

410
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,320
these metaphors and it comes
from the book of Genesis, living

411
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:37,840
out of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil and living out of

412
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:40,360
the tree of life.
And God calls us to live out of

413
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,520
the tree of life because that's
what God has for you.

414
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,760
So a fast isn't a way to make
you know, isn't a way to make

415
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,680
God love you more.
So the third thing that a fast

416
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,960
isn't, it's not a way to make
ourselves look good for

417
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:58,520
everybody else, right?
Again, I, I, I always joke about

418
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,080
my background and the, the
church that I, that I was raised

419
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,480
in so many godly people.
And actually I was at a funeral

420
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,840
yesterday for a minute and I got
to see some of them.

421
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,760
And these men and women made
such an impact on me.

422
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:15,159
And I, I, I would not be where
I'm at today had they not

423
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:18,719
followed God to do what they,
that God had called in their

424
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,120
lives.
But having said that, there's a

425
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,239
lot of ways that we fell short
in, in, in the churches that I

426
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,880
grew up in and a lot of the
churches that I, that I was at

427
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,320
up till now, because a lot of
emphasis was put on what

428
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,800
appearances, right, what we look
like, how we performed, what we

429
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,120
did.
And a lot of it was as like, all

430
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,239
right, who gave the most amount
of money?

431
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,679
All right, who is at church the
most?

432
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,199
You know, who was praying the
best?

433
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:48,440
Because honestly, like, if you
guys don't know me, like this is

434
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,040
not the spot that I enjoy being
in.

435
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,760
Now may God's given me an
opportunity to do it.

436
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:54,760
And, and, and I'm getting a
little more used to it.

437
00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:57,960
But some people crave this stage
because it puts them on a

438
00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,840
platform, but puts them in, in
in a position of authority.

439
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:02,600
And that's what they're looking
for.

440
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:06,840
And what I found was this is
that a lot of people that were

441
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,840
using that to make themselves
look good and they were in it

442
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:11,960
for the wrong reasons, right?
It's the wrong motivation.

443
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,920
It's just the wrong intentions.
And Jesus preached so many times

444
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,800
against that.
And in his, one of his most

445
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,040
famous sermons, and it's the
Sermon on the Mount, he really

446
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,760
lays into why do you do what you
do?

447
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,160
And he talks about when you give
money, don't let your left hand

448
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:28,400
know what your right hand is
doing.

449
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:31,160
And, and, and he tells a lot of
the stories about money where

450
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,760
even the widow's might, he takes
the, the, the, the guys, the

451
00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,160
disciples to the, to the temple.
And you see all these guys just

452
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,120
throwing in huge amounts of
cash, right?

453
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,880
And then he points out this
little lady who throws in

454
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,520
basically the, the equivalent of
a penny or two pennies.

455
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,440
And Jesus makes this statement
and he still points out this

456
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:51,880
fact.
He goes, he goes, see all these

457
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,760
people, they're thrown in these
hundreds and thousands and

458
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,200
hundreds of thousands of
dollars.

459
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,080
But this lady that put in one
penny, she put in more than

460
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,560
everybody because that was all
she had.

461
00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,520
So the you know, everybody else
looks on the outside what you

462
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:12,800
can see, but God, Jesus looks in
on the heart and that's what

463
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,120
God's calling us to do today in
in the sense of a spiritual

464
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,200
fast.
So a fast isn't something that

465
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:19,680
we do to show off.
Now I want you guys to read with

466
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,320
me in Matthew chapter 6 and this
comes from the Sermon on the

467
00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,120
Mount.
Jesus is giving us some

468
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,120
instruction right here says when
you fast.

469
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,480
This is verse 16.
When you fast, do not look

470
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,880
somber as the hypocrites do for
they disfigure their faces to

471
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,840
show others they are fasting.
Truly, I tell you, they have

472
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:41,040
received their reward in full.
So when you fast, put oil on

473
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,360
your head, wash your face so
that will not be obvious to

474
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,360
others that you are fasting, but
only to your Father who is

475
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:50,560
unseen, and your Father who sees
what is done in secret will

476
00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:54,120
reward you.
So Can you imagine somebody

477
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,720
that's fasting and they come in,
their hair is all messed up and

478
00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:00,200
they've been up all night and
their bags underneath it and

479
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:02,520
they're like, what's up?
What's going on?

480
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,080
Oh, and I've been fasting for
God.

481
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:08,120
And what are they looking for?
They're looking for some

482
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,760
recognition, right?
They're looking for like, look

483
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:12,920
how good I am.
They want you to give them a pat

484
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:16,160
on the back.
Now, I haven't seen that in with

485
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,360
fasting very much.
Again, recovering Baptist.

486
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,880
So nobody was bragging about
skipping a meal, right?

487
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,480
But I've seen it with so other
many different things, right?

488
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:27,960
You know, guilt trips like,
well, where were you at?

489
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,920
At church last two weeks.
I didn't see you here.

490
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,640
Is everything OK?
Or in a prayer circle?

491
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,640
We need to pray for our sister
Sally.

492
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,200
You know, she was on a hot date
the other night and she was with

493
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,440
so and so, right?
You guys would never have ever

494
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,480
heard that, right?
And So what we do is we we take

495
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,080
these opportunities to to build
ourselves up, to make ourselves

496
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,600
look good to others.
So these are the things that a

497
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,880
fast is not about.
Again, it's not about this body.

498
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,640
It's it's not about earning our
way to heaven.

499
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,480
And it's not about making
ourselves look good to everybody

500
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,720
else.
So what is a fast?

501
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,520
And, and, and before we move on,
I want you guys to see something

502
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,360
in, in Matthew, in, in Matthew
6.

503
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:08,640
And we don't have to go back
there.

504
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:14,160
But what, what was the worst
that Jesus said when you fast,

505
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,520
when you fast?
I don't know that I ever saw

506
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,600
that.
I don't know that I ever

507
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:26,040
recognize that.
So what Jesus is kind of telling

508
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:27,800
us here, this isn't really an
option.

509
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:32,240
This is something that you will
be doing, but don't do it that

510
00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:34,360
way.
But I never heard that.

511
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:37,400
I never was raised that way.
I never got that message.

512
00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,400
Hey, when you fast, do it this
way.

513
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,080
And for this reason.
So what is a fast for?

514
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:49,880
What is a fast for #1A fast is
taking the opportunity to deny

515
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,800
our bodies the things that we
think that it wants, right?

516
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,080
From the freedom group.
One of the chapters we talked

517
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,080
about, it's called spiritual
order.

518
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,480
And I, I, I love this.
And until I read this, I, I,

519
00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:01,680
it's a biblical.
It's a biblical truth, but I

520
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:04,720
never realized it.
So what happens when you guys go

521
00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:06,280
a long time without food?
What happens?

522
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,640
Can you guys tell me?
Do you get hungry?

523
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:11,000
What happened?
What does your stomach do?

524
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,200
It growls.
Does anybody get angry?

525
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,280
You love the Snickers
commercials, right?

526
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:21,320
We get in a bad mood.
We're not happy, right?

527
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:26,640
The body yearns for food.
The body yearns for pleasure.

528
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:31,160
The body wants what it wants.
What happens when you deny it?

529
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:34,640
It gets loud.
It screams at you.

530
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:40,240
Say give me what I want.
That's what the body does.

531
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:46,800
The corollary is this, that our
true being, our soul, our

532
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,880
spirit, when we're, when we're
feasting on God's Word, when

533
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,600
we're practicing these spiritual
disciplines, whether it's prayer

534
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:58,200
or giving or serving, what
happens when we stop doing those

535
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,040
things?
And it's very interesting.

536
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:02,600
I don't know if you guys ever
thought of it this way.

537
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,040
It doesn't act the same way that
our body does.

538
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,960
Because when we don't do
spiritual disciplines and we

539
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:14,880
don't live on mission for God,
our spirit gets not loud, it

540
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:19,320
gets quiet and it kind of
recedes and it kind of moves in

541
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,120
the back.
And when I saw that in the

542
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,920
spiritual order, I'm like, man,
that is so true.

543
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,640
So when we fast, what we're
really doing is this is we're

544
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:33,480
taking authority over our flesh,
instilling a discipline that

545
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:37,120
says, hey, I am taking
responsibility.

546
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,440
I am the one making the decision
here, right?

547
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,640
And so when we deny our body
food and we fast for a certain

548
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,680
amount of time, what we're
really doing is saying is that I

549
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,440
know that I can live without
food for a certain amount of

550
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,800
time.
And you see Jesus do this time

551
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:55,920
and time again.
And I think we'll probably see a

552
00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:57,880
little bit more of that next
week, whether it's the 40 day

553
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,440
fast or whether you see the
disciples going to get food and

554
00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:03,360
you see Jesus talking to the
woman at the well.

555
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:07,120
And he said, you know, they come
back and like, I've I have food

556
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:09,000
that that you don't know about.
And they're like, what are you

557
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:10,200
talking about?
What?

558
00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:12,080
Jesus wasn't talking about
physical food.

559
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,000
He was talking about what God
called him to do, right?

560
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,640
So when we deny ourselves, we,
we, we take authority over the

561
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:21,120
flesh.
That's something that it's not

562
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,520
natural.
We never see that message in the

563
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,560
news.
We never see that on TV, in the

564
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,760
movies, in advertisements.
Everything you should ever seen

565
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:34,240
or given or exposed to is
telling that you need this, that

566
00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:36,040
you will be complete if you have
that.

567
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,040
It's focusing on the, the
pleasures that the body

568
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:42,960
automatically wants.
So that's the first thing.

569
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:47,200
It's taking authority over the
flesh #2 what fasting is this is

570
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:52,600
it's taking a position of
humility before God.

571
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:57,560
Man, I love watching our worship
team lead you guys in worship.

572
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:02,040
And then when I, I look around
and I see hands raised or hands

573
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:04,440
held out or just in a position
of prayer.

574
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:10,840
That is, that is a posture of
humility because for so much of

575
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:14,720
the world, what we're told is to
be the man, to be the woman, to

576
00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:18,240
take your spot, get what you've
earned, take what's yours.

577
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:25,680
We're in the act of humility.
We're acknowledging that we

578
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,480
aren't on the throne and that
that we serve somebody that has

579
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,640
given everything and his name is
Jesus.

580
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:37,480
And if he's done that, the most
logical thing that we can do is

581
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,600
be a humble person, a humble
servant, a humble son or

582
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:46,160
daughter of God and fall on our
knees and be humble before God.

583
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,440
So when you take these two
things of, of, of, of holding

584
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:53,200
back the flesh and taking
authority over it, and then

585
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,160
practicing humility before God,
we get to the third thing that

586
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,600
fasting is really about.
And it's a spiritual

587
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,880
breakthrough.
And I want to tell you a story

588
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:03,120
in the Scripture and we're going
to read one of the verses out of

589
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,680
it.
But a spiritual breakthrough is,

590
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:10,440
is, is the result of taking
authority over the flesh through

591
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:14,280
fasting and then having humility
before God.

592
00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:18,880
And as I tell this story, I can
imagine and I know for a fact

593
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:20,880
there are many people in here
that are looking for a

594
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,080
breakthrough.
Maybe it's a physical

595
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:26,360
breakthrough, a prayer for
health, maybe, maybe it's a

596
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:29,000
spiritual breakthrough and
you're looking for a purpose.

597
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:31,760
You're looking for meaning maybe
you've had a relationship with

598
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,320
this destroyed and you don't
know where that leaves you in

599
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:35,920
this world, but you know that
you're lost.

600
00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:39,160
So I tell this is this story of
a spiritual breakthrough that

601
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,280
happened in the Bible in Jesus's
ministry.

602
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:46,000
Put yourself in this position.
So in Mark Chapter 9 and we'll

603
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,320
read this here in a minute is
one of the best stories in in in

604
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:50,920
in Jesus's ministry in the
Gospels.

605
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:54,200
And if you don't know this
chapter, it starts off with

606
00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:58,200
Jesus with, with Peter, James
and John on the mount of

607
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:01,240
Transfiguration.
And what that was, was Jesus

608
00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:03,280
took these three disciples and
he went up on the mountain,

609
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:05,520
right?
And if you guys remember the

610
00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:10,360
story, what happened was Jesus
has this revelation to them and

611
00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:14,080
God just reveals to these
disciples who Jesus really is.

612
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:17,320
And in the midst of that
happening, Moses and Elijah show

613
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,840
up, right?
And in the, in, in this whole

614
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,840
thing going on, Peter, James and
John, they don't know what to

615
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,000
do.
I don't think I would know what

616
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:27,320
to do.
And so they just start running

617
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:29,160
their mouths because they're
just, they're like, what do we

618
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:30,040
do?
What do we do?

619
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:34,040
And they, they like, Lord, let
us make us 3 tabernacles, one

620
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:35,880
for you, one for Moses, one for
Elijah.

621
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,840
And in the midst of that, they
hear a voice and says, you know,

622
00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:44,880
this is my son.
And what a mount top experience

623
00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:49,600
literally spiritually.
How awesome is that?

624
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:53,920
And in the midst of that, as
they finish that up, that vision

625
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:57,320
that that experience, they come
off the mountain and in Matthew

626
00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,760
picks up some of the details.
They run into a crowd and the

627
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:03,480
rest of the disciples are there.
And the disciples are arguing

628
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,240
with Pharisees, Sadducees, men
of the law.

629
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:09,040
And there's a whole crowd
gathered around them.

630
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:12,480
And Jesus walks down.
He goes, what is going on?

631
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:17,280
And in about that time, a guy
steps forward and he said, Hey,

632
00:45:17,560 --> 00:45:21,840
here's what's going on.
My son is possessed by a demon

633
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:23,840
and I brought him to your
disciples.

634
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:26,680
But they couldn't, they couldn't
do anything about it.

635
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:31,200
They couldn't cast her out.
And you got to know that before

636
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,560
this, like the disciples have
been sent out two by two to the

637
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,440
heal the sick to, to cast out,
to cast out demons and devils.

638
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:40,760
But in this situation, they
couldn't do it.

639
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:44,320
And they're confused.
And so they're arguing with the

640
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,120
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
I can't imagine what that

641
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,240
argument look like.
And there's a crowd gathering

642
00:45:49,240 --> 00:45:52,480
around in the midst of it.
You have this guy that's broken

643
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:56,080
hearted.
His son is, is, is captivated by

644
00:45:56,080 --> 00:46:00,000
this, this spiritual force that
he doesn't understand that he

645
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,760
can't control.
And as you read the story, you

646
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,360
see the boy has a history of
being convulsed and thrown down

647
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:09,680
and being violent and, and, and
the demon has tried to kill him

648
00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:12,760
with water and fire.
And so Can you imagine being a

649
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,840
parent that situation?
I mean, that's not something

650
00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:17,800
I've ever experienced, really
I've ever seen.

651
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:22,000
And Jesus makes this, this
statement says, you unbelieving

652
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,600
generation, how long can I
suffer with you?

653
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:28,120
And he steps up and he casts out
the demon.

654
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,920
I mean, the boy convulses, falls
down like he's dead.

655
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,720
And then Jesus raises him up,
picks him up and the demons gone

656
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:41,680
and the disciples come up to him
after and they're like, what is

657
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:45,040
going on?
We've done this before.

658
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:47,960
How come we couldn't throw this
demon out?

659
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,680
How come we couldn't do this,
this exorcism, if you want to

660
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:54,760
use that word.
And in, in, in in chapter 29 of,

661
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:59,280
of, of verse 29 of Chapter 9,
Jesus says this.

662
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:04,120
He says, so he said to them,
this kind can come out by

663
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:12,160
nothing but prayer and fasting.
This kind can only come out by

664
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:15,360
prayer and fasting.
I don't know what those details

665
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:20,440
are, but what it means is this
is that there's a spiritual

666
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,880
breakthrough that you're facing
that can only come out through

667
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:29,000
prayer and fasting.
It can't, it can't come out just

668
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:32,400
by doing your daily routines of
just like, hey, I'm just going

669
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:34,680
to show up on Sunday.
I'm going to give a little here.

670
00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:36,680
I'm going to do a little there
and hopefully that's enough for

671
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:40,640
God.
What what Jesus is saying is

672
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:45,360
this is that you need to have a
relationship with your Father to

673
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,840
be on mission with him, to be
connected so closely with the

674
00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:52,480
Holy Spirit that this is
something that you can do.

675
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:57,160
And again, I look across the
room, I'm guessing there's

676
00:47:57,160 --> 00:47:59,400
probably not a lot of demons for
you guys to cast out.

677
00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,160
But what I can tell you is this
is that that spiritual

678
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:07,120
breakthrough that you're looking
for, that you've looked for

679
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:12,320
deliverance for and through for
days, weeks, and maybe some

680
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:17,200
situations for years.
And you don't know why God

681
00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:19,920
hasn't answered your prayer or
you don't know why God hasn't

682
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:21,800
shown up in a certain way that
you expect.

683
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:26,680
It could be that you're in the
midst of a battle you don't

684
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:28,920
understand.
It could be that you're in the

685
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:32,200
midst of a battle you're not
prepared for, that you don't

686
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:36,680
have the discipline yet in your
life to face head on.

687
00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:39,680
And so when we look at these
spiritual disciplines and we

688
00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:44,400
look at fasting and we look at
prayer, maybe these are the

689
00:48:44,400 --> 00:48:48,200
things that we don't earn our
way to God for and we don't

690
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:49,880
please everybody else around us
for.

691
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:56,800
But maybe these are the things
that God uses to help grow us.

692
00:48:57,360 --> 00:48:59,240
Because really, what is a
spiritual discipline?

693
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:05,360
It's a way for us to grow in our
walk with God, to grow closer to

694
00:49:05,360 --> 00:49:09,640
what God's called us to do what
God has called us to be.

695
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,760
And again, I can't answer that
question for anybody in here.

696
00:49:13,760 --> 00:49:15,440
I can only answer that question
for myself.

697
00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:19,760
But I know that God has a
purpose for each person here.

698
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:22,920
You are not here on accident.
You are here for a reason.

699
00:49:23,520 --> 00:49:25,320
And maybe as you walked in here,
you don't even know what that

700
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:26,640
reason is.
And that's fine.

701
00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:32,880
But you are here for a purpose.
And so when we, when we, when we

702
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:36,160
get into the idea of spiritual
fasting, there, there, there are

703
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,600
so many things that that can
that can hold us back.

704
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:41,400
But it's a spiritual
breakthrough.

705
00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:42,960
I can think of a lot of
different reasons.

706
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:47,280
As individuals, we need
something as a country.

707
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:54,600
I'm not going to rehash what
Sean, if you guys want to go

708
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,440
back and look what's happened in
the country for the last three

709
00:49:57,440 --> 00:50:01,520
or four weeks.
And Sean did such a great job of

710
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:05,880
calling the church here in in
real life in this gathering to

711
00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:09,920
unity, not uniformity, unity and
not being divisive over

712
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:12,640
political issues and taking a
stand for what God's called us

713
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:15,640
to take a stand on.
But I've had a lot of

714
00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:18,960
conversations in the last
several weeks of like, I can't

715
00:50:18,960 --> 00:50:21,760
believe this political group
does this, or I can't believe

716
00:50:21,760 --> 00:50:24,600
that political group on the
opposite side would do this.

717
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,480
And we all see the same screen,
but we're all seeing different

718
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:33,080
movies.
And I can't help but think that

719
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:36,880
we're probably all missing the
truth at some level, because I

720
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:40,400
don't think that we're looking
at things through God's eyes.

721
00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:43,160
And really, that's what God's
called us to do here in real

722
00:50:43,160 --> 00:50:45,680
life, and he does it and through
so many churches.

723
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:50,280
But I also can't help but think
that if we were on our knees in

724
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:54,600
prayer and we were taking
moments of humility and fasting,

725
00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:59,280
there would be a spot where we
would come together in unity for

726
00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:01,800
the things that God had really
called us to stand on together.

727
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:05,360
And so when we look to solve
problems across the world,

728
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:09,000
across our country, I don't have
a lot of great reasons or a lot

729
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,360
of great solutions.
There's no law I think we can

730
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:13,000
pass to change people's
behavior.

731
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,360
I don't think there's a
punishment that I can give you

732
00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:19,200
that's going to make all these
school shootings or the

733
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:22,680
shootings at ICE detentions or
people that walk into into

734
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:27,440
politicians houses and kills
them or had a place where a

735
00:51:27,440 --> 00:51:29,800
guy's going to have a dialogue
at a college campus.

736
00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:32,480
I don't think I can give you a
punishment or law that fixes

737
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:36,960
those things.
But within the four walls where

738
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:42,440
people of God gather, whether
it's a Kentucky trail or whether

739
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:46,920
it's in a life group at
somebody's house, I know that a

740
00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:50,400
people that are focused on God
and having a spiritual

741
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,920
discipline to please God to to
to take authority over this

742
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:56,080
flesh, to have humility before
God.

743
00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:58,880
Those are the things that bring
a spiritual breakthrough.

744
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:05,080
And so as I finish up, my
challenge for you guys is this

745
00:52:05,080 --> 00:52:07,240
is this, this is, this is where
the rubber's going to hit the

746
00:52:07,240 --> 00:52:09,680
road.
Why don't we do spiritual

747
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:11,480
disciplines?
Why don't I pray the way that I

748
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:13,160
should?
Why don't I read my Bible the

749
00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:16,200
way that I need to?
Or why do I do it for the wrong

750
00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:18,600
reasons?
And so then let's add fasting on

751
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:21,040
there.
Why am I scared to fast?

752
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:24,400
Why don't I fast?
And I think there's probably 3

753
00:52:24,400 --> 00:52:30,240
simple reasons why we don't do
it #1 is I'm scared.

754
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:32,960
What if it's one more thing that
I fail at?

755
00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:36,400
What if it's one more thing that
I know that God wants me to try?

756
00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:40,960
And if I screw this up, God's
done with me.

757
00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:44,840
I just want you guys to know
that is not true.

758
00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:48,240
God calls us to do something big
sometimes, and he's there to

759
00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:50,560
pick us up when we fail.
And we all fail.

760
00:52:51,880 --> 00:52:55,360
I don't care if you've been in
church for two days or or 20

761
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:57,360
years.
We all have spots in our life

762
00:52:57,360 --> 00:53:00,640
where we fall down.
God's always faithful to pick us

763
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:04,320
back up.
So fear is not a great reason #2

764
00:53:05,440 --> 00:53:07,000
this is probably the truth for a
lot of us.

765
00:53:07,840 --> 00:53:11,160
It's a pride issue.
I don't need that in my life.

766
00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:15,960
I'm good enough without it.
You know, I do my, my set things

767
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:18,720
that I've already had developed
in my life and these, and I'm

768
00:53:18,720 --> 00:53:21,240
not saying those things are bad
things, but I don't really need

769
00:53:21,240 --> 00:53:24,400
to add 1 more thing.
You know, I know that you said

770
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:27,720
when you fast, but that's for
that's for somebody else that

771
00:53:27,720 --> 00:53:32,040
needs it.
That's pride and that's the

772
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:35,240
opposite of humility.
If we want that spiritual

773
00:53:35,240 --> 00:53:37,400
breakthrough, we can't have
pride in our lives.

774
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:42,240
The third one is this, and this
is I see this in a lot of people

775
00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:44,640
outside of these these walls.
The reason I love real life.

776
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:48,160
I mean, you guys are passionate,
but in so many areas of of where

777
00:53:48,160 --> 00:53:50,920
I work or where.
I, I, I do.

778
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:52,920
Whatever.
I see something called apathy.

779
00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:57,280
And in some ways, apathy is just
as dangerous as pride because

780
00:53:57,280 --> 00:53:59,160
apathy is.
This is like, I just don't care.

781
00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:05,880
I just don't care.
I'm busy, I'm tired, and it's

782
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:07,120
not really going to matter
anyway.

783
00:54:08,320 --> 00:54:11,800
And so these are all three lies
that the enemy uses just to hold

784
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:13,680
us back.
Fear, pride, apathy.

785
00:54:14,240 --> 00:54:16,400
Don't fast.
Don't listen to the guy on the

786
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:18,680
stage.
Don't listen to the Holy Spirit,

787
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,080
you know, giving you an
opportunity to say, Hey, maybe

788
00:54:22,080 --> 00:54:25,520
this is something you can use
to, to start finding those

789
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,320
spiritual breakthroughs, because
that's really what the enemy

790
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:31,880
doesn't want you to have.
He doesn't want you to have the

791
00:54:31,880 --> 00:54:35,320
one simple thing that will put
you on your knees before God and

792
00:54:35,320 --> 00:54:38,760
say ABBA father.
And I don't know what that looks

793
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:41,800
like for you guys in here.
What that, what that what a fast

794
00:54:41,800 --> 00:54:43,600
looks like.
I would encourage you something

795
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:45,920
simple like this.
If you've never ever fasted, if

796
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:48,760
you've never ever tried it,
don't go crazy.

797
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,080
I see this all the time with,
all right, I'm going to read my

798
00:54:51,080 --> 00:54:53,240
Bible.
I'm going to read it from cover

799
00:54:53,240 --> 00:54:55,600
to cover and I'm going to give
myself a month to do it right.

800
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:57,200
Has he ever made that promise to
God?

801
00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:00,560
It doesn't work.
It just doesn't work.

802
00:55:01,240 --> 00:55:04,320
And So what happens then is
like, oh, I didn't do what I set

803
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:05,720
out to do.
All right, I'm giving up.

804
00:55:05,720 --> 00:55:07,960
I'm done.
Don't do this with fasting.

805
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:11,200
So if you've never fasted, do
something small.

806
00:55:12,320 --> 00:55:17,240
Take a sun up to a sundown time
frame, whatever that is, and in

807
00:55:17,240 --> 00:55:20,480
that space, whatever that's a
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

808
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:22,480
Thursday, Friday, it doesn't
matter.

809
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,600
But I want you guys to think
about this challenge, pray about

810
00:55:27,600 --> 00:55:31,720
it.
You've got an opportunity just

811
00:55:31,720 --> 00:55:36,120
to do something in your life.
And any time that you ever, ever

812
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:38,680
do that, you will never walk
away disappointed.

813
00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:42,240
You may walk away with something
you didn't expect to happen.

814
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:46,480
Now, it may not be a miraculous
answer to prayer in that moment.

815
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:49,680
It may be something as simple as
a realization that you're not

816
00:55:49,680 --> 00:55:52,760
the center of the universe.
And that's the simple thing that

817
00:55:52,760 --> 00:55:57,280
sometimes that that I need like,
Hey, hey, bud, it's not all

818
00:55:57,280 --> 00:56:01,480
about you.
Maybe it's that homeless person

819
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:05,960
that you're running into at the
at the, at the place that you're

820
00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:08,800
getting some food and you and
looks at you with those eyes and

821
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:16,040
says, do you see me?
Do we take that opportunity to

822
00:56:16,040 --> 00:56:18,760
help those around us?
And I tell you what, if we don't

823
00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:20,920
prayer and we don't pray, we
don't fast, we don't have a

824
00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:24,080
spiritual discipline, we don't
see anybody else.

825
00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:28,440
So maybe that's the simple part
that somebody needs to hear

826
00:56:28,440 --> 00:56:31,800
today is that taking the
opportunity to do something

827
00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:35,720
you've never done before, a
simple fast for a short amount

828
00:56:35,720 --> 00:56:40,800
of time is a way to allow God to
open your eyes.

829
00:56:42,160 --> 00:56:44,200
That's my prayer for you.
That's my challenge for you.

830
00:56:44,720 --> 00:56:48,040
Would you guys pray with me?
Father, we come before you.

831
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:52,600
God, what an awesome
opportunity, not only just to

832
00:56:52,600 --> 00:56:55,800
celebrate what you've done in
the last eight years and the

833
00:56:55,800 --> 00:57:00,600
opportunity we had to celebrate
that last week, but God as we as

834
00:57:00,600 --> 00:57:05,760
we hone in on what you've got
for us next as individuals, as a

835
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:08,080
church.
God, I pray for several

836
00:57:08,080 --> 00:57:08,920
different things.
Got it.

837
00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:12,680
First of all, I want to pray for
your people here today that call

838
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:15,680
your that call you father.
They have committed their lives

839
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:21,320
to you and God.
My prayer for them today, people

840
00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:24,240
that take on the name of Jesus
and call themselves Christians

841
00:57:24,240 --> 00:57:26,880
is this is that they start
looking at a spiritual

842
00:57:26,880 --> 00:57:33,560
discipline in a new way, a way
that's biblical, a way that

843
00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:39,200
connects them to your heart.
So God, as your people are here

844
00:57:39,200 --> 00:57:43,880
listening today, God help help
them take this challenge to, to,

845
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:47,520
to find the time to fast start a
spiritual discipline that maybe

846
00:57:47,520 --> 00:57:49,720
they've never looked at before.
They never thought that was

847
00:57:49,720 --> 00:57:52,360
possible.
Or maybe they believe the lies

848
00:57:52,360 --> 00:57:54,920
of the enemy that had fear or
they had some pride in their

849
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:58,560
life or some apathy.
God give them this dedication at

850
00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:02,680
this moment just to take some
humility on and follow you in

851
00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:04,160
this in this spiritual
discipline.

852
00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:07,720
I want to pray for one more
group of people.

853
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:15,440
Maybe you walked in here today
and again, you've never heard of

854
00:58:15,440 --> 00:58:17,480
fasting.
You've barely, barely heard the

855
00:58:17,480 --> 00:58:19,880
name Jesus and you really don't
know why you're here.

856
00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:23,040
Or maybe you're here today
because you're your ropes end.

857
00:58:23,520 --> 00:58:25,680
Maybe you don't know where else
to turn and you went to church

858
00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:29,120
as a kid, as a child, and it's
been a long time since you've

859
00:58:29,120 --> 00:58:33,520
been in a church gathering, but
you've never committed your life

860
00:58:33,520 --> 00:58:35,760
to Christ.
It's always just been something

861
00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:38,520
maybe my parents did or my
grandparents did, but it was

862
00:58:38,520 --> 00:58:42,400
never real for you.
And again, can I remind you that

863
00:58:42,520 --> 00:58:46,720
you aren't here on accident.
And God's given you an

864
00:58:46,720 --> 00:58:51,320
opportunity to say yes to Him,
to find life in the purpose that

865
00:58:51,320 --> 00:58:54,680
you were created to have and
that you've lost it and not had

866
00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:58,440
your whole life because you've
lived alive, that you've seen

867
00:58:58,440 --> 00:59:00,440
everything stripped away,
everything that you thought was

868
00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:02,280
going to give you hope,
everything you thought was going

869
00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:05,240
to give you a purpose.
And they all came up short.

870
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:09,680
And so if that's you today, I
want you to know that God is

871
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:12,000
looking for you.
God loves you.

872
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:16,160
And in this moment, I'm going to
give you an opportunity to join

873
00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:19,480
the family of God.
And this isn't just some crazy

874
00:59:19,480 --> 00:59:22,000
magic words.
This is an opportunity to

875
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:25,960
connect to the Creator of the
universe and put him on the

876
00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:29,160
throne where he's always been.
But you finally did it in your

877
00:59:29,160 --> 00:59:34,200
life.
And so if that's you today and

878
00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:37,240
you want to take that next step
and you're ready to make Jesus

879
00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:39,760
number one in your life, I'm
going to give you a prayer and

880
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:42,000
you can pray along something
along the lines of what I'm

881
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:44,720
going to pray with you.
And again, these words aren't

882
00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:46,720
magic.
They're not anything special.

883
00:59:46,720 --> 00:59:50,560
But what they do is they reveal
what you are feeling in your

884
00:59:50,560 --> 00:59:53,400
heart and your being and what
you're telling God.

885
00:59:53,800 --> 00:59:55,240
And that's what God's looking
for.

886
00:59:55,600 --> 00:59:58,760
It's a prayer of humility.
So if that's you, pray something

887
00:59:58,760 --> 01:00:02,200
along these lines, Father.
Man, I have screwed my whole

888
01:00:02,200 --> 01:00:05,960
life up.
God, I've tried to do the right

889
01:00:05,960 --> 01:00:09,920
thing and it's turned out wrong.
God, I've pursued wrong things

890
01:00:10,720 --> 01:00:13,840
and it's destroyed me.
And God, I don't know where else

891
01:00:13,840 --> 01:00:16,600
to turn.
And in this moment, I come

892
01:00:16,600 --> 01:00:19,600
before you with a humble heart,
a broken spirit.

893
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:26,080
And God, I am praying to claim
you as my Lord, my Savior.

894
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:28,480
God, bring me into your Kingdom
today.

895
01:00:28,960 --> 01:00:31,040
Make me a part of the family of
God.

896
01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:34,520
And I pray this in Jesus name,
Amen.

897
01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:37,080
Can we give it up for everybody
that prayed that prayer to

898
01:00:37,080 --> 01:00:42,160
receive Christ today.
Thank you guys so much for

899
01:00:42,160 --> 01:00:44,840
allowing me to share my heart.
We'll continue this next week,

900
01:00:45,360 --> 01:00:49,080
but as we continue next week and
we lean into a little bit more

901
01:00:49,080 --> 01:00:53,440
of how God moves the people of
God, take that challenge series

902
01:00:53,440 --> 01:00:56,600
this week.
Don't allow the enemy to jerk

903
01:00:56,720 --> 01:01:00,880
this truth from your heart.
Take that humility, that act of

904
01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:04,360
service, that spiritual
discipline and man follow God.

905
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:06,520
And take just one small act of
faith this week.

906
01:01:06,840 --> 01:01:13,280
Thank you.
What just a powerful and

907
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:18,000
encouraging reminder that in the
midst of our chaotic lives, of

908
01:01:18,000 --> 01:01:22,320
our daily routine, that Jesus
truly is all that we need.

909
01:01:22,800 --> 01:01:26,160
And some of you recognize that
today that Jesus is all that you

910
01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:27,960
need in your life.
And you committed your life to

911
01:01:27,960 --> 01:01:30,920
Jesus this morning.
We are so excited for you.

912
01:01:31,320 --> 01:01:33,520
Welcome to the family.
We love that you made that

913
01:01:33,520 --> 01:01:35,400
decision.
We would love to walk alongside

914
01:01:35,400 --> 01:01:38,080
you and resource you this week
if you would let us know your

915
01:01:38,080 --> 01:01:40,160
decision.
You can do that by just grabbing

916
01:01:40,160 --> 01:01:42,120
that connection card that's on
your seat, fill out your

917
01:01:42,120 --> 01:01:45,680
information on there, but check
the box that says I committed my

918
01:01:45,680 --> 01:01:47,880
life to Jesus.
And you can drop that in the

919
01:01:47,880 --> 01:01:49,600
giving buckets here in just a
few minutes.

920
01:01:49,600 --> 01:01:52,200
But by doing that allows us to
get you a few things.

921
01:01:52,200 --> 01:01:54,600
And the first is this a free
book will drop in the mail

922
01:01:54,600 --> 01:01:56,440
tomorrow that we would love to
get to you.

923
01:01:56,440 --> 01:01:58,960
It's called begin.
It really will help you as

924
01:01:58,960 --> 01:02:01,840
you're taking this journey with
Jesus as you're diving into

925
01:02:01,840 --> 01:02:03,320
God's word and figuring that
out.

926
01:02:03,320 --> 01:02:05,160
Also, if you pray that prayer
and you're right here at

927
01:02:05,160 --> 01:02:08,320
Kentucky Trail as you exit the
worship center, there is a table

928
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:10,800
with some red bags.
Please feel free to grab one of

929
01:02:10,800 --> 01:02:14,520
those inside is a Bible for you
some other resources that we

930
01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:17,640
know will just be a blessing to
you as you start your journey

931
01:02:17,640 --> 01:02:20,520
with Jesus this week.
And hey, I want to share

932
01:02:20,520 --> 01:02:22,560
something with you, something
exciting in the life of our

933
01:02:22,560 --> 01:02:24,200
church.
And that's this.

934
01:02:24,200 --> 01:02:29,120
On October 12th, we begin what
we believe is the most important

935
01:02:29,120 --> 01:02:32,800
series that we have ever done in
the life of real life church and

936
01:02:32,800 --> 01:02:35,240
that is called our difference
maker series.

937
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:39,600
And this series is about so much
more than just a building about

938
01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:42,920
a monument in our city.
It truly, it is about a movement

939
01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:46,240
of God.
It is about eternity.

940
01:02:46,320 --> 01:02:48,800
And so together over those six
weeks in the series, we're

941
01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:51,840
really going to lean in to the
vision that we believe God has

942
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:55,160
for our church and for our city.
And that is what this looks

943
01:02:55,160 --> 01:02:57,240
like.
So it looks like your faith, and

944
01:02:57,240 --> 01:03:00,480
that's trusting in God,
believing in God for some big

945
01:03:00,480 --> 01:03:03,280
things and maybe some bold new
ways.

946
01:03:03,400 --> 01:03:05,320
That also looks like our
generosity.

947
01:03:05,600 --> 01:03:09,400
It's coming together as a
family, united in mission and

948
01:03:09,400 --> 01:03:12,640
it's for their forever, which is
to impact the lives of

949
01:03:12,640 --> 01:03:16,760
generations to come.
And so we invite you, if at all

950
01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:19,520
possible, to be here for all six
of those weeks.

951
01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:23,280
And we truly believe that what
God does in US and in our hearts

952
01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:27,400
through this series truly will
impact and shape of the next

953
01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:29,760
chapter that God is writing for
our church.

954
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:31,200
So mark that down in your
calendars.

955
01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:34,000
It's October 12th.
It's a six week series, but

956
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:37,160
don't miss the opportunity to be
here as we launched this most

957
01:03:37,160 --> 01:03:41,120
important series that we will do
here at Real Life Church.

958
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:43,840
And if you are new with this,
thank you so much for being here

959
01:03:43,840 --> 01:03:45,840
today.
We love you chose to spend your

960
01:03:45,840 --> 01:03:48,320
morning right here with us.
I hope you heard from God today.

961
01:03:48,600 --> 01:03:51,520
I know that you felt welcome
this morning, but we would love

962
01:03:51,600 --> 01:03:53,040
just for you to introduce
yourself to us.

963
01:03:53,040 --> 01:03:55,600
And you can do that by grabbing
that card that's on your seats.

964
01:03:55,920 --> 01:03:57,160
Just fill out your information
there.

965
01:03:57,160 --> 01:04:00,160
Check first time here.
You can drop it in the giving

966
01:04:00,160 --> 01:04:02,400
buckets, but also you could take
it to the new here booth on your

967
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:05,320
way out this morning.
They would have a free gift for

968
01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:06,640
you.
Just our way of saying thank you

969
01:04:06,640 --> 01:04:10,240
so much for being here today.
Hey, I want to just take a

970
01:04:10,240 --> 01:04:14,400
minute and say go God and thank
you to those of you who give

971
01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:16,680
faithfully here at Real Life
Church.

972
01:04:17,040 --> 01:04:20,960
And we got to witness some first
hand impact of you faithfully

973
01:04:20,960 --> 01:04:23,560
giving here last week when we
celebrated baptisms.

974
01:04:23,560 --> 01:04:26,920
We had seven people get baptized
last week, which is awesome.

975
01:04:26,920 --> 01:04:30,120
We had six people commit their
lives to Jesus in both

976
01:04:30,120 --> 01:04:32,920
gatherings.
And then we also had eight first

977
01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:34,800
time guests here last week.
It was so cool.

978
01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:37,720
I don't know if you caught it,
but the New Year booth, the line

979
01:04:37,720 --> 01:04:40,080
for the New Year booth was so
long, people couldn't get out

980
01:04:40,080 --> 01:04:42,000
the front door.
We kind of had to part the seas

981
01:04:42,400 --> 01:04:44,200
to make way for that.
But that is huge.

982
01:04:44,200 --> 01:04:46,280
Can you give it up for all that
God is doing here.

983
01:04:47,160 --> 01:04:49,320
Thank you so much to those of
you who give here.

984
01:04:49,320 --> 01:04:53,360
You really do you really do pave
the way for the gospel to go out

985
01:04:53,360 --> 01:04:55,600
into our church, into our city.
So thank you so much.

986
01:04:55,880 --> 01:04:58,000
If you call real life church
home, there's so many ways that

987
01:04:58,000 --> 01:05:00,960
you can take part in generosity.
You can check out the screen

988
01:05:00,960 --> 01:05:03,360
there, scan that QR code you can
text to give.

989
01:05:03,640 --> 01:05:06,720
You can head to our website.
The giving buckets will pass

990
01:05:06,720 --> 01:05:08,840
here in just a few minutes.
You can drop cash or check in

991
01:05:08,840 --> 01:05:12,040
there or there's a giving box in
the back as well if that is more

992
01:05:12,040 --> 01:05:14,840
convenient for you.
And as always, if you or your

993
01:05:14,840 --> 01:05:19,080
family find yourself in any need
this week, whether it be food or

994
01:05:19,080 --> 01:05:21,240
clothing or shelter or whatever
that looks like for you, would

995
01:05:21,240 --> 01:05:24,440
you please return to those
buckets and grab any loose cash

996
01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:26,640
as they pass?
Because we do want to be a

997
01:05:26,640 --> 01:05:28,800
blessing to you and your family
this week.

998
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:31,880
All.
Right, man, you guys excited to

999
01:05:31,880 --> 01:05:34,880
take the challenge this week,
the fasting.

1000
01:05:35,160 --> 01:05:36,400
Yeah, it's going to be awesome,
right.

1001
01:05:36,640 --> 01:05:38,760
So man, Barry, thanks for
bringing that word.

1002
01:05:39,480 --> 01:05:43,000
Want to give you another
challenge if if you haven't

1003
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:47,040
already is to dive into a fall
life group.

1004
01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:49,880
You know we are we are not only
highly encouraged, we're

1005
01:05:49,880 --> 01:05:53,040
commanded basically to just not
do life alone.

1006
01:05:53,040 --> 01:05:55,560
It's so it's so lonely in this
world as it is.

1007
01:05:55,840 --> 01:05:59,640
And life groups are just such an
amazing way to find community

1008
01:05:59,920 --> 01:06:04,240
with believers In the book of
James in chapter 5, it, it talks

1009
01:06:04,240 --> 01:06:07,240
about, you know, when we, we
confess our sins to each other,

1010
01:06:07,240 --> 01:06:10,760
when we pray for each other and
encourage each other that that

1011
01:06:10,760 --> 01:06:14,000
basically we're, we're doing
what we're called to do as the

1012
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:16,680
righteous and so important for
our growth.

1013
01:06:16,680 --> 01:06:19,360
And so if you've already joined
a life group, man, that's

1014
01:06:19,360 --> 01:06:21,440
amazing.
I know that's going to just be a

1015
01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:24,440
huge blessing, not only for your
life, but you're blessing the

1016
01:06:24,440 --> 01:06:27,200
other people in your group,
their lives as well.

1017
01:06:27,200 --> 01:06:30,200
And so to help give you a
visual, if it's kind of hard to

1018
01:06:30,200 --> 01:06:33,560
kind of, you know, maybe see
that or, or think about what

1019
01:06:33,640 --> 01:06:35,000
might be like.
If you think about, you know,

1020
01:06:35,000 --> 01:06:37,120
you guys are sitting in rows
right now.

1021
01:06:37,440 --> 01:06:41,120
If these rows just turn into
some circles, right?

1022
01:06:41,120 --> 01:06:42,760
That's kind of the whole vibe
right there.

1023
01:06:42,760 --> 01:06:45,720
You're chatting with each other,
you're you're sharing life with

1024
01:06:45,720 --> 01:06:48,480
each other.
So I just encourage you to take

1025
01:06:48,480 --> 01:06:50,600
a step today, maybe a little
anxious about it.

1026
01:06:50,600 --> 01:06:52,960
Totally normal.
All right, Maybe you're not

1027
01:06:52,960 --> 01:06:55,600
super outgoing.
Again, totally normal.

1028
01:06:55,840 --> 01:06:59,320
But just look at that board out
there, Look for the nights, look

1029
01:06:59,320 --> 01:07:03,240
for the topics, the people that
just, you know, God just sort of

1030
01:07:03,240 --> 01:07:07,000
nudge you in that direction.
Scan the QR code and the leaders

1031
01:07:07,000 --> 01:07:09,160
of those groups will be
thrilled.

1032
01:07:09,160 --> 01:07:11,960
They'll probably do a cartwheel
when that comes through on their

1033
01:07:11,960 --> 01:07:14,200
phone, like, oh, hey, they want
to join my group.

1034
01:07:14,400 --> 01:07:16,760
And they'll text you and they'll
give you all that information.

1035
01:07:16,760 --> 01:07:19,240
For real though, would love for
you to join a life group.

1036
01:07:19,240 --> 01:07:22,680
It's never too late.
So get on that today.

1037
01:07:22,880 --> 01:07:24,520
And hey, if you want some
prayer, we'll have people down

1038
01:07:24,520 --> 01:07:26,080
in front that would love to pray
for you.

1039
01:07:26,600 --> 01:07:29,720
Other than that, hang out in the
Hub for a while, connect, and

1040
01:07:29,720 --> 01:07:32,920
we'll see you next week at 9:00
AM or 10:45.

1041
01:07:32,920 --> 01:07:36,960
And remember, whoever finds
Jesus discovers real life and

1042
01:07:36,960 --> 01:07:38,680
purpose.
Join a life group and have a

1043
01:07:38,680 --> 01:07:39,680
great week.
See ya.

1044
01:07:44,920 --> 01:07:47,760
This is the end of this podcast.
We hope you've enjoyed it.

1045
01:07:47,880 --> 01:07:50,600
If you have, be sure to hit the
subscribe button so you don't

1046
01:07:50,600 --> 01:07:52,480
miss another inspirational
podcast.

1047
01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:54,680
For more great content and
updates, visit

1048
01:07:54,680 --> 01:07:56,720
reallifechurchkc.com.