What are you doing with what you've been given?

In Daniel 5, King Belshazzar has wealth, power, influence, and seemingly complete control. But during an extravagant banquet, he takes sacred objects from God's temple and uses them to mock the very God who gave his kingdom its blessings.

Then a hand begins writing on the wall.

In Weighed, Kyle Lounsbury explores this dramatic moment and what Belshazzar's story reveals about our own lives. The gods may look different today, but we're still tempted to build our lives around money, comfort, desires, image, and the illusion that we're ultimately in control.

When Daniel interprets the words Mene, Tekel, Parsin, Belshazzar receives a sobering verdict: his life has been weighed and found wanting.

This message challenges us to consider how we're stewarding what God has entrusted to us, the convictions we're passing to the next generation, and the responsibility of mature Christians to help those coming behind them with both truth and love.

But being "weighed" isn't where the message ends. When our own strength isn't enough, we're reminded of the promise of 2 Corinthians 12:9: God's grace is sufficient.

Chapters

00:00 Intro and Theme

00:16 Daniel in Babylon

01:37 Belshazzar's Feast

03:43 Modern-Day Idols

06:51 Bobblehead Lesson

12:53 Writing on the Wall

16:08 Daniel Interprets

18:24 Next-Generation Convictions

22:25 A Charge to Older Disciples

27:07 Weighed and Found Wanting

30:56 Grace Is Enough

31:41 Communion Reflection

36:45 Prayer and Closing

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OC Church of Christ

Today I wanna share a message with us from the Book of Daniel.

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All right?

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So you can start turning your

Bibles to the Book of Daniel.

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We're gonna be in chapter five,

and the title of today's lesson

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is called "Weighed: What Will You

Do With What You've Been Given?

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In Daniel chapter five is where

we're gonna pick up, and a little

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context and background to Daniel for

those who maybe need a refresher.

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Uh, Daniel was taken into captivity in

Babylon under the King Nebuchadnezzar.

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Anybody ever hear of that name?

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It's a funny name, right?

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Nebuchadnezzar.

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And he was tested many times

in this Babylonian empire,

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in this Babylonian culture.

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He was tested, uh, in his convictions.

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And one of the things I love about

Daniel more than anything is he did not

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allow the culture of Babylon to impact

or influence or change his convictions.

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Amen.

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You know, we're gonna talk a little

bit about that concept today, but

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we, I believe we live in a modern

Babylon in some way, shape, or form.

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That there's a spiritual battle taking

place, a spiritual war happening

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here in America, here in this modern

world that we're in, and we must

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not compromise our convictions.

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Amen.

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But God showed Daniel favor, and he

actually gave Daniel this ability

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to be able to interpret dreams.

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And so King Nebuchadnezzar on, on

several accounts had Daniel interpret

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dreams for him, and then other kings

inter- he interpreted for them.

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And today we're gonna pick up in

Daniel chapter five where he comes

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on the scene and interprets a

dream, a dream for King Belshazzar.

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Let's look at Daniel 5:1.

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It says, "King Belshazzar gave a

great banquet for a thousand of his

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nobles and drank wine with them.

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While Bel- Belshazzar was drinking

his wine, he gave orders to bring

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in the gold and silver goblets that

Nebuchadnezzar, his father, had taken

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from the temple in Jerusalem, so that

the king and his nobles, his wives and

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his concubines might drink from them.

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So they brought in the gold goblets

that had been taken from the temple

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of God in Jerusalem, and the king

and his nobles, his wives and

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his concubines drank from them.

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As they drank the wine, they praised

the gods of gold and silver, of

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bronze, iron, wood and stone."

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I'm gonna stop here for a moment.

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So let's set the scene,

let's set the stage.

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King Belshazzar says, "I'm

gonna throw a great banquet.

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Over a thousand people are gonna come."

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Take a moment and just look

around this room for a minute.

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This isn't even 1,000.

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Hopefully one day we'll have 1,000

in here, but 1,000 people at this

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great banquet, and he's saying,

"I am the king of this empire.

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We're gonna have a feast.

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We're gonna drink wine.

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We're gonna have a good time."

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And what does he end up

doing in the midst of that?

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He says, "You know what?

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When we took over Jerusalem,

I remember these gold goblets

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that were set aside for God.

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Let's bring those in.

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Let's drink wine from those.

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Let's celebrate with those.

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Let's, let's use those-"

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And he takes sacred objects

that were set apart for God,

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and he uses them for himself.

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He uses them for his own

pleasure, his own joy.

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And he not only uses it for himself and

loses the self-control to leave them

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sacred, I believe he's openly mocking God

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It says in verse four, they drank

the wine and they praised the

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gods, the lowercase G gods of what?

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Gold, silver, bronze,

iron, wood, and stone

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You know, when I read that, the

first question that popped in my head

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is, what gods do we praise today?

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The first thing I…

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Man, in my life, what

gods am I praising today?

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Right.

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What are the gods that I allow to

take my energy and my time and my

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focus, and I pour into these things?

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What are the idols that

I am distracted with?

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Maybe it's money for some of us.

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Just this pursuit of I

need to grow my finances.

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I wanna make more money.

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If I c- if I can just make

enough, then I'll be secure.

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Maybe for some of us, it's comfort.

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Oh, man, comfort.

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Look where we live.

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We were at the marriage class last

night, by the way, which was phenomenal.

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Thank you, guys, for putting that on.

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And we were talking with the Webbers, and

we were, like, sharing how we were out

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in the Midwest, and it was hot, humid,

and then the next day it was raining,

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and then the next day it was hailing,

and then it was beautiful the next day.

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It was like, man, it is

uncomfortable in the Midwest

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We live in beautiful weather, right?

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We are comfortable here

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And I think we allow that

comfort to seep into our faith.

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We allow that comfort to go,

"Hey, I don't want following Jesus

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to disrupt my life too much."

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Maybe for some of us it's desires.

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Just a desire for, for, I- your, you

know, to, to pursue a certain identity

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or, or desire to grow in your career.

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Whatever desire you have, I think

sometimes if we feel it deeply, it

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must define what is true for us, and

we allow that desire to be a god.

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And lastly, I think a very relevant one,

especially for the youth, is your image.

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I think our image of, what do I look like?

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How do I sound?

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How do I talk?

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What do I drive?

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How big's my house?

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You guys with me?

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These are gods I think we c- can sometimes

allow to have too much influence over

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our lives, and we praise these gods.

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Belshazzar's gods were gold and silver and

iron, and I believe power and influence.

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And ours maybe have different names.

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Maybe we're not literally praising

gold and silver, but our gods, I

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believe they are the same in the sense

that they offer similar promises.

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The same promise that Belshazzar's g-

gods offer, our gods offer as well.

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I'll give you security.

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I'll give you identity.

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I'll give you pleasure.

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I'll give you significance.

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Yeah.

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And we allow these small gods to

take so much of our attention,

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and we begin to fixate on them.

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Yeah.

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We worship them with our schedules,

with our finances, emotional energy.

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Whatever it is, we put way too

much into these things, and we're

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not focused and fixated on Jesus.

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And these things, let's just be

honest, they end up leaving us not

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as fulfilled and actually exhausted.

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When we pursue things that aren't

fulfilling, we leave feeling exhausted.

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You know, I wanna share, earlier

this year, I'm a huge Rams fan, I

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got to go to a game with my dad.

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And, uh, we went to Sunday night

football against the Tampa Bay

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Buccaneers, and we destroyed 'em.

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It was awesome.

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Sorry if there's any Bucs fans.

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Destroyed 'em.

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Uh, I believe that was sort of the, the

moment where people were like, "Okay,

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Stafford's probably gonna win the MVP.

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This is probably one of

the teams to reckon with."

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And you know what's funny about that

night, uh, I didn't know when I bought

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the tickets, but after I got the tickets,

it was Aaron Donald bobblehead night.

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And I love Aaron Donald.

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He's one of the, if not the

greatest, one of the greatest

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defensive players of all time.

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Uh, and he might be actually coming

back, which is really exciting.

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Uh, but he's retired now,

and they had this honoring.

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They were doing a bobblehead

night, and the first 50,000,

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uh, fans got a bobblehead.

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And so I'm doing the numbers

in my head like, "Okay, how

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many seats are in that stadium?

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Am I gonna get a bobblehead?

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What time do I need to get there?

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I wanna get that Aaron Donald bobblehead."

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You guys with me?

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Yeah.

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And so I was with my dad and my mom

and my cousin, and if you've ever

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tried to get anywhere on time with

a couple of women, it's not- Ooh.

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It's not easy, okay?

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Okay?

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I'm just keeping it real.

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Just keeping it real my mom was moving

a little too slow for my liking i had

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to get that bobblehead, all right?

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And so we're, we're getting ready, and we

go and we park, and my mom's like, just

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does not care about the bobblehead, right?

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She just could care less about

an Aaron Donald bobblehead.

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So she's just, "Wow, look at the stadium,"

and, "Wow, look at all the people."

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I'm like, "Mom, you're

moving too slow for me.

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We gotta go.

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I gotta get that bobblehead.

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I want it.

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You're gonna ruin the night."

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Now, looking back, I must confess, I was

not exactly, uh, displaying the fruits of

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the spirit that we've been talking about.

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And, and next week we're gonna talk

about self-control, and that was

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definitely a struggle in that moment.

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But the good news is we got there in

time, uh, and, uh, we got my bobblehead.

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It was a picture like this.

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Uh, he's saying, "Ring me."

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This was in the Super Bowl a few years

ago, and the bobblehead shows him … I

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actually brought the bobblehead.

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It's in the back.

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So if you guys want me to go

ra- run and grab it, I will.

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Uh, I forgot it, though.

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You want me to go get it?

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Okay, I'll go get it real quick.

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I'll go get it.

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Here it is.

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All right?

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So, and it's got a little, a

little goat here that says, "GOAT."

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He's the GOAT.

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And so I got my bobblehead.

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I'm, I was so proud, I was so excited, so

happy, and, uh, mission was accomplished.

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You know, so we got it, we went up

to our seats, and as you saw, uh,

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in the photo there, if we go back

there, you see we're, we're up pretty

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high in those seats there, right?

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We were, we were up in the 500 section.

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But in SoFi Stadium, it's a good stadium.

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Every seat, you can pretty much see,

uh, the game and the big screen there.

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So we were, we were fired up.

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But later in the game, about maybe

halfway through, my cousin remembered

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that her mom's boss actually has a

floor-level suite at SoFi Stadium.

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And she was like, "Hey, I wonder if

my mom could, like, text her boss

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and maybe we could go check it out."

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I was like, "Why didn't

you think of this sooner?"

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Again, self-control.

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I was struggling.

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Well, she makes the call.

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The boss says, "Yeah,

we got plenty of room.

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Some of the, the, the employees

didn't actually come tonight,

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so we got plenty of seats.

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Come on down, sit with

us, enjoy the game."

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So I'm like, wow, I get to go

down to a floor-level suite.

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So we end up going down, we walk in

there, and, uh, and we end up seeing

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the field and I'm like, wow, I was

just, like, looking on top of the field.

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Now I'm, like, looking at the field.

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I'm like, this is amazing.

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And we're there, we're sitting,

and there's a big commotion

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going on to the right of us in

the suite right next door to us.

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And we go to our seats and I sit down,

I'm like, wow, I can't believe I'm here.

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I'm looking at the game.

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And then I look to my right.

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I look to my right and I see a

big commotion, and there's TV

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cameras, there's tons of people.

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There's these big guys that are my height

but 200 pounds heavier than me and strong.

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And I'm like, what is going on?

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The commotion starts

to clear a little bit.

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And then I look, and sitting about five

to six feet away from me is Aaron Donald.

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He's sitting right there, five

to six feet, and I happen to be

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wearing my Aaron Donald jersey.

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I look at him, I go,

"Can you sign my jersey?"

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Like, I mouthed it 'cause

I didn't wanna talk, right?

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I didn't wanna, like, startle him.

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He goes, "Yeah, I will."

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Wow.

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And he ended up signing

my jersey that night

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It was awesome.

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Great memory.

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That's him right there

after the game signing it.

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You know, I spent the beginning of that

night afraid I would miss a bobblehead

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But by the end of the night, I met the

man that the bobblehead represented.

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I think sometimes in our

faith, brothers and sisters, I

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think we can do that with God.

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We get so fixated on this.

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If I just get a little more

money, if I just get a little

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more comfort, if I just…

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I want the bobblehead, right?

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And God's going, "Dude, I'm right here.

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I'm ready to meet with you.

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I wanna give you so much more."

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You know, OC Church, I, I really want

us to develop a conviction to go,

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we're not gonna be fixated on this.

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This is what the world's focused on.

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But can we be focused on God himself?

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We don't need to worship the

gods of gold and silver and

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bronze and things of this earth.

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Let's fix our eyes on Jesus.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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Let's not focus on the bobblehead when

God wants to offer us so much more.

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Let's continue on in our

story here in Daniel.

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Verse five, "Suddenly the fingers

of a ha- human hand appeared and

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wrote on the plaster of the wall."

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Let me just stop for a second.

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What?

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So, okay, so great banquet.

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They're hanging out, they're

drinking wine, having food,

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got the goblets, and then bam!

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A hand is on the wall,

writing on the wall.

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Oh my goodness.

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The king watched the hand as it wrote.

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His face turned pale and he was

so frightened that his legs became

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weak and his knees were knocking.

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The king summoned the enchanters,

astrologers, and diviners.

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Then he said to them, then he said to

these wise men of Babylon, "Whoever

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reads this writing and tells me what

it means will be clothed in purple

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and have a gold chain placed around

his neck, and he will be made the

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third highest ruler in the kingdom."

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Then all the king's wise men came in,

but they could not read the writing or

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tell the king what it meant, so King

Belshazzar became even more terrified,

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and his face grew even more pale.

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His nobles were baffled.

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So this hand appears, and the king is

probably scared out of his living mind.

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He's probably going, "Oh my gosh.

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I was so caught up in this moment, so

caught up worshiping the, these foreign

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gods, and then God himself appears."

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One moment he's the most powerful man

in the room, the next moment he's the

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most terrified, and everything that

he was trusting in became useless.

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His wealth didn't matter.

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His title of king couldn't help him.

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His comfort, his, the people he ruled, his

gods that he worshiped could not help him.

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And the God, the one true God,

interrupted him in that moment

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and showed him who he was.

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You know, brothers and sisters, God

interrupts our illusion of control.

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That's right.

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He interrupts it.

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There should be an S there.

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Sorry for the typo.

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God interrupts our illusion of control.

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We think we're in control.

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We think we've got it all together.

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We think our life's good, and then God

goes, "I'm gonna show you who I am.

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I am actually in control."

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Right.

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"I am actually the one true God."

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Yeah.

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Your money can't save you.

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Your image can't truly

tell you who you are.

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Your pleasure cannot give lasting meaning.

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Every false god eventually fails.

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And I just wanna give

a charge this morning.

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If you have not yet made the choice

to make Jesus Lord of your life, if

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you've not yet surrendered the gods

of this wor- this world, and you've

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not yet repented of your sin and

been baptized, I wanna encourage you,

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implore you, and beg you, surrender.

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Surrender to Jesus before

you're out of time, before the

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writing on the wall appears.

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Destroy the false gods in your life

and give your heart to Jesus completely

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I know many of you in here have done that.

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I know many of you have made that choice.

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Let's not lose sight of that.

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Let's stay focused and

let's finish the race.

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Let's continue in verse 18.

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We're gonna jump ahead here.

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Daniel jumps on the scene.

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Daniel then explains and interprets

what this writing on the wall means.

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Verse 18, "Your Majesty, the

Most High God gave your father

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Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and

greatness and glory and splendor.

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Because of the high position he gave

him, all the nations and peoples of

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every language dreaded and feared him.

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Those the king wanted to put

to death, he put to death.

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Those he wanted to spare, he spared.

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Those he wanted to promote, he promoted.

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And those he wanted to humble, he humbled.

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But when his heart became arrogant

and hardened with pride, he was

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deposed from his royal throne

and stripped of his glory.

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He was driven away from people

and given the mind of an animal.

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He lived with the wild donkeys

and ate grass like the ox.

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And his body was drenched with the

dew of heaven until he acknowledged

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that the Most High God is sovereign

over all kingdoms on earth, and

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sets over them anyone he wishes."

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So Daniel starts to

explain this, this story.

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He's telling King Belshazzar, who some

historians, uh, you know, it says his son.

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It's not necessarily his direct son.

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It could be either a, a great

distant grandfather or, in that

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time, what, what father meant was

he was the successor to the king.

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And he knew exactly

what Daniel was sharing.

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All this story of King Nebuchadnezzar

and the power he had and what was

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going on and what was taking place,

King Belshazzar already knew.

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He knew very well and clear.

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He was fully aware of what

had happened previously

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But pride consumed Belshazzar.

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His pride, his arrogance,

his ego consumed him.

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And even though he knew all

this, he still decided to throw

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this banquet and defile God.

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And in verse 22 it says, "But you,

Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled

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yourself, though you knew all this."

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You know, when I was reading this,

brothers and sisters, and as I was

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studying this out, I got so emotional.

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I started weeping as I read this

because I truly felt like that phrase,

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"Though you knew all this," was so

sobering to me, so humbling to me.

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And I wanna speak for a moment to the

younger generation in here, and when

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I mean younger, I don't just mean the

campus or the teens, I mean my peers,

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the young marrieds, the singles, those

who have been a part of this church

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but are not necessarily from years

and years of being a faithful saint,

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and I wanna speak to you this morning.

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You see, Belshazzar did

not lack information.

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He knew what happened.

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He knew the story.

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He knew what God had done.

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He inherited knowledge.

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But he did not inherit conviction

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That should sober us, and here's why.

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It's possible for the next generation

to know our history, to know what

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happened, to know how we've got

here without knowing our true God

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See, we can know what

happened back in the day.

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We can know how our movement was started.

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We can know how people became Christian.

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We can know how much was sacrificed.

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We can know how much was given to build

this church, yet not believe it ourselves.

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To not have that same

conviction- Right … ourselves.

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We must develop a conviction of

our own, brothers and sisters.

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Youth, young people, we need this

to continue to build this church.

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We cannot continue to just rest

on the laurels of years before.

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We have to step into a new era

and go, "This is our church,

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and we have the conviction.

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And we're gonna lead it forward."

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We're gonna have the conviction

that Jesus is Lord of my life.

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That's right.

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Not just when I feel close to God, not

just when obedience is convenient, not

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just when I agree with him, but Jesus is

Lord when I feel like it and when I don't.

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Right.

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A conviction that goes, "I'm

gonna seek first the kingdom.

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I'm gonna build it.

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I'm gonna serve it.

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I'm gonna give my best to God's kingdom."

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Amen.

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Not whatever's leftover from

my time or energy or finances.

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My schedule, it belongs to God.

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Right.

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My gifts, they belong to God.

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My energy, it belongs to him.

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Right.

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My life is available to him

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I will give sacrificially.

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We've talked about this a lot.

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There's studies going around that

says, and not just in our church,

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people who are 40, 35 to 40 years

old and younger do not have the same

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conviction to give sacrificially.

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It is just proven in the data,

it's proven in the facts, and

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we have lost that conviction.

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Not just whatever happens to be left

over in my pocket when the basket

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comes through, but a conviction

to go, "God's given me everything.

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I wanna do whatever I

can to give back to Him."

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That's right.

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And lastly, a conviction that

goes, I was bought at a price.

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I've been c- I've been called

to be an ambassador for Jesus.

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I'm gonna seek and save the lost.

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I'm gonna study the Bible with people.

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I'm gonna share the good news of

how Jesus saved me, and I'm gonna

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go into my communities and say, "How

can I show you the love of Jesus-

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Amen … and make disciples, and help

people fall in love with Jesus again?"

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Yeah.

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We must develop a conviction of our own.

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Amen?

423

And I wanna give a challenge this, this,

for this week to the younger generation.

424

You guys ready?

425

Here's the challenge.

426

Reach out this week to one older disciple

in this congregation and ask them about

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a deep conviction they've developed.

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What's a deep conviction you've developed

that I need to work on in my life?

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What's something I can

imitate from your faith?

430

Can we do that?

431

Yeah.

432

Amen, brother.

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Okay Now older disciples,

can I share something to you?

434

Amen.

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We need a few things from you.

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We really do.

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We need you to understand the world

that this generation's living in.

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We need you to understand the

Babylon that's taking place.

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Every generation has its Babylon.

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When you were coming up, your

Babylon may have looked different

441

than what this Babylon looks like.

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You guys with me?

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Yeah.

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This generation's being formed by

messages like this: consumerism

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tells you life's about you.

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They're, they're living in, in a

social media age where it says life

447

is about your image, how you look.

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And so they develop people-pleasing

in their character n- naturally.

449

And lastly, I think something that

maybe we haven't talked about quite,

450

um, enough, and I think we will

more, is this idea of post-modernism.

451

Have you guys ever heard of that?

452

What post-modern- modernism is, is a way

of thinking that is skeptical of universal

453

truth and questions whether anyone can

understand reality completely objectively.

454

I believe it's an attack on truth.

455

Truth is personal.

456

What matters is what is true for me.

457

It emphasizes that our understanding

of truth is often shaped by

458

culture, language, personal

experience, and power structures.

459

So does scripture get to challenge my

convictions, or do my feelings get to

460

challenge the validity of the scripture?

461

That's what we're living in now.

462

That's the culture these

young people are dealing with.

463

Our culture, it's become

suspicious of anyone claiming

464

to possess a universal truth.

465

Christianity agrees that human

beings are limited and biased, right?

466

We don't know everything.

467

But it argues that truth

ultimately comes from God

468

Rather than being constructed by us.

469

Right.

470

Truth is not constructed by us.

471

That's right.

472

We must hold to the

truth that God is just.

473

Yeah.

474

God is righteous.

475

God is holy

476

But I believe, I believe beneath all

this, be- beneath the consumerism,

477

the image, this new way of

thinking, is one simple thing.

478

It's who gets to be God.

479

That's all it is.

480

Who gets to be God?

481

Is it our feelings, our desires,

our politics, our traditions?

482

See, the culture says express

yourself, but what does God say?

483

He says, "Deny yourself."

484

Yeah.

485

Culture says, "Follow your

heart, your desires, your

486

wants," but what does Jesus say?

487

"Follow me."

488

Right.

489

Culture says to protect whatever is

comfortable to you, and if anything

490

interferes with that, reject it.

491

But what does Jesus say?

492

"Take up your cross daily."

493

This is not rocket science,

but this is the attack that's

494

being placed on our youth.

495

And what we need from you is we need

the, the faithful saints in this

496

congregation to go, "We're gonna

stand in the gap, and we are going

497

to raise up the next generation.

498

We're gonna teach them these convictions.

499

We're gonna help them who, who need the

help that is in, in desperate need."

500

We're gonna go, "How can I step in

there and show them what's true?"

501

Yeah.

502

And show them, "Hey, I've

seen trends come and go.

503

I've seen culture shift and change.

504

I've been through battles.

505

I've been through tough things,

but Jesus is still Lord."

506

Right.

507

Jesus is still Lord, and

He will never change.

508

Amen?

509

And also, one other thing, older

generation, we need a little tough love.

510

So we're gonna give you

the pass, okay, Rusty?

511

We need a little tough love.

512

Don't water down the

convictions that are biblical.

513

Right.

514

Let's not water things down.

515

Don't water the convictions that have

been instilled in you that are good

516

and righteous, and I know maybe they

were abused in the past, and maybe they

517

were not used in, in, in the right way.

518

But if they're Bible, do not change them.

519

Right.

520

If they are from God, let's hold

to them and let's pass that on.

521

Amen?

522

Amen.

523

So my challenge to you guys, begin to

connect just with one younger disciple.

524

Set up a coffee with them, go on a prayer

walk with them, and just listen to them.

525

"Hey, what are you going through?

526

What are the things you're learning?

527

What are the things that are

challenging for your faith, and

528

how can I be a resource for you?"

529

Amen?

530

Amen.

531

Amen.

532

Let's get back to the story here.

533

Verse 23.

534

It says, "But you did not honor

the God who holds in His hand

535

your life and all your ways."

536

Wow, we don't want that

to be said of us, right?

537

The deeper problem, we want God's

blessings without God's lordship,

538

and we've talked about that.

539

But verse 24 is where this

all, I believe, culminates.

540

He says, "Therefore he sent the

hand that wrote the inscription."

541

This is the inscription that was

written: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin."

542

Here is what these words mean.

543

Mene: God has numbered the days of

your reign and brought it to an end.

544

Tekel: You have been weighed on

the scales and found wanting.

545

Peres: Your kingdom is divided and

given to the Medes and Persians.

546

Daniel finally interprets the dream.

547

He tells him what it means, and

this is a tough truth, I'm sure,

548

for King Belshazzar to hear.

549

And he says something there, "You

have been weighed on the scales

550

and have been found wanting."

551

God says, "I have weighed your life.

552

I've weighed what you did with what

I gave you, and you came up short."

553

Brilliant tactics overcame

the Babylonian Empire.

554

It was Persia.

555

Yet it still, I believe, fell from within.

556

The armies of the Medes and the Persians

could only conqu- conquer Belshazzar

557

and his kingdom use from within.

558

And so as we think about this

concept, you've been weighed

559

on the scales and found wanting

560

I think it leads to a

question for us this morning

561

What if God weighed you?

562

What if God weighed the

OC Church on this scale?

563

How would we be found?

564

Good worship are, are

565

The, the speakers and…

566

No, no, no.

567

What did you do with what God gave you?

568

What did you do?

569

How did you steward the, the blessings he

570

come up short on the scale.

571

Now ultimately, I wanna be clear

572

Bought with the blood of Christ.

573

But that's not what I'm talking about

574

Have you been a good steward

of what God's blessed you with?

575

Faithful with much.

576

Right.

577

He says, "I gave you the gospel.

578

I gave you a community.

579

I gave you a church building.

580

I gave you homes in a beautiful area.

581

What did you do with them?"

582

If you were weighed on the scales, OC

Church, would you be found wanting?

583

I don't think any of us wanna

be found wanting, right?

584

Or would you be found content?

585

Content with Christ, content in your

walk with Him, content with what

586

He's blessed you with, content even

in the midst of the tough challenges

587

You know, this is the land of

consumerism, which we've talked about.

588

And I w- it's, it's all about I want

more, I need more, I need to get more.

589

But are we gonna be different

from the place we live in?

590

Than Orange County?

591

Yeah.

592

Are we gonna be a light to Orange County?

593

Can we be a light?

594

Can we be different?

595

Yeah.

596

Our lives content with Christ.

597

Yes.

598

You know, as we close

out, I want us to consider

599

If God is enough for you.

600

And I believe the scripture that

really ties this together in

601

the New Testament that really is

awesome is in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

602

It says, "But he said to me,

'My grace is sufficient for you.

603

It's enough.

604

For my power is made perfect in weakness.'

605

Therefore, I will boast all the

more gladly about my weaknesses so

606

that Christ's power may rest on me."

607

God is enough.

608

His grace is sufficient, amen?

609

Let's trust and rest in God's grace.

610

And as we turn our heart and our, and

our, and our minds right now to the

611

cross, and as we get prepared to take

communion, I've asked one of our campus

612

sisters, Mia Milliken, to share a little

bit of what the cross has meant for her.

613

So let's give a round of applause

for Mia as she comes up to share

614

Speaker 3: Hi, guys.

615

Um, as he said, my name's Mia, and

I'm a part of the campus ministry.

616

Um, and I have the amazing opportunity

to share for communion today.

617

Um, so I wanted to start off with a little

question for you guys to ponder on while

618

I'm sharing, and that question is what

voice is louder than the voice of Jesus,

619

and what voice is louder than the cross?

620

So for me, um, the voices of

insecurity, fear, anxiety are

621

oftentimes more tempting to believe

in rather than the truth of Jesus,

622

rather than, um, the way of the cross.

623

So in those moments, those

feelings, they feel so real.

624

Um, and so they're tempting

to believe in rather than the

625

actual truth that Jesus tells me.

626

Um, this is a challenge that I

face throughout my day-to-day life.

627

Minor inconveniences, comments, and

even the smallest of concerns are

628

gateways for the enemy to work, and

I'm sure many of us can relate to this.

629

So this actually showed up

in my life pretty recently.

630

Um, and as many of you guys know, I

did-- I-- 'cause I keep talking about it.

631

Um, I went to Greece, a little

vacation, um, with my family, and

632

genuinely one of the best trips

I've ever been on in my life.

633

Um, so pretty, so beautiful.

634

Um, and yet while I was in one of the

most desirable vacation spots, um, it

635

was-- there were moments where my mind

was distracted and not focused on what was

636

right in front of me, um, and the beauty

that was placed right in front of my eyes.

637

And this-- throughout this trip, I

was being consumed by insecurities

638

and to be a bit vulnerable too.

639

Physical insecurities is something

that I've always struggled with, and

640

on this trip, all of these lies and all

of these negative thoughts were really

641

consuming my mind and taking over.

642

And it's just funny how we can

have something so perfect, so

643

amazing right in front of our eyes.

644

Mm.

645

But if our mind is so consumed on the

wrong thing, we can completely miss it

646

and miss what is right in front of us.

647

And I really do think that our

relationship with Jesus can be like this.

648

Um, we have something so perfect and

so amazing, which is Jesus, which is

649

the sacrifice that He made on that

cross, um, in dying that brutal death.

650

But we can be so consumed by the world,

by our own thoughts, by everything

651

going on around us, that we miss

that perfect gift, which is Jesus.

652

And I think we can, we can just really

lose sight, um, by what people think,

653

by, for me, these insecurities, um,

being consumed by whether it's your

654

job or whatever, you fill in the blank.

655

But But Romans 6, 6 through 7 says, "For

we know that our old self was crucified

656

with him so that the body ruled by sin

might be done away with, that we should

657

no longer be slaves to sin because anyone

who has died has been set free from sin."

658

So we are no- So the switch that I

had to make, especially during my

659

vacation, um, was truly understanding

the gift that Jesus gave us and

660

truly understanding the cross and

the sacrifice that he made for us.

661

And so I just want to ask you guys,

what area of your life are you giving

662

more power and authority than the

power and authority found in Jesus

663

Christ and what he did on the cross?

664

We are free in Christ because of

his sacrifice, so I encourage you to

665

reflect and see the areas of your life

that are louder than Christ's love

666

and bring them up against the freedom,

strength, and power found in the cross.

667

So let's not fall into consumerism

668

Fully content with the cross

669

Of what Jesus did, and I pray that

we can all be fully rooted in that

670

truth- Mm-hmm … that when any of

these thoughts or any of these lies

671

from the enemy come up, that we can

combat that and they fully ricochet off

672

Um, so thank you

673

Kyle Lounsbury: And amen.

674

Good job.

675

All right, let's say a

prayer for communion.

676

Father, thank you so much for this

morning, this time, as we reflect

677

on the cross and reflect on the

sacrifice of Jesus, that we would

678

humble ourselves before that reality.

679

Lord, I pray that no matter where we're

at, wherever, uh, however we came in

680

this morning, that we would just put

everything at the foot of the cross, that

681

we would be men and women that live for

your glory, not for the, the false gods

682

of this world, and that we can be men

and women that when we're weighed on the

683

scales, we will not be found wanting,

that we will be found content with you.

684

We love you.

685

We thank you.

686

In Jesus' name.