Living like Jesus requires that we decrease and He increase. Listen as Pastor Kevin shares what that exchange of increase and decrease looks like and what it requires of us.

Scriptures Referenced

John 3:30; Philippians 2:3-11; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 2:6

About Springhouse

If you’re looking for a church in Smyrna, TN that is focused on Loving Big, Living Truth, and Healthy Family, we’d love to connect with you. We are home to a vibrant children’s ministry, powerful middle school and youth ministries, and incredible ministries for men and women of all ages. Our local and global outreaches include partnerships with missionaries in the US and abroad, Isaiah 117 House, local retirement communities, and more. 

Additionally, we are home to Springhouse Theatre, an award-winning theatre in the Nashville area. Through the theatre, we serve both the greater Nashville theatre community, and thousands of patrons each year, and we are expanding our vision to impact the culture through the arts into additional mediums and through an expanding network of relationships.

We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Additional Resources

• Follow the podcast to listen on the go
• Tithes & Offerings
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• Church website
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• Connect card
• Download the app

Gathering Times

• Sundays, 9:00 AM
• Sundays, 10:30 AM
• Thursdays, 6:00 PM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

CCLI License 2070006

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**Automated Transcription** Kevin O'Dea: Good morning. It's a good day to be in the house.

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Kevin O'Dea: If you're joining us on livestream, thank you for joining us today.

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Kevin O'Dea: Well, I think it's Super Bowl Sunday. I had to get that out of the

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Kevin O'Dea: way because, I mean, you know, at some point, I Ghost, you have to say

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Kevin O'Dea: that. And I'm not gonna tell you who I'm going

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Kevin O'Dea: for. Alright. Stand with me. Actually, don't stand with me yet. Let me

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Kevin O'Dea: get through these quick business things. We've got a

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Kevin O'Dea: Spirit house conference coming up, March 7th through 10th. So we hope that your

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Kevin O'Dea: calendar is marked, for that. I wanna draw your attention specifically

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Kevin O'Dea: though to this on March 9th, during the conference,

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Kevin O'Dea: we're gonna have something called the business collective. This is gonna be a

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Kevin O'Dea: group of people who gather together, who own businesses, Who are

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Kevin O'Dea: managers of businesses, leaders of businesses, aspiring owners, and

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Kevin O'Dea: managers of of businesses. If that fits you and you're in that demographic,

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Kevin O'Dea: we'll invite you to come to a very special gathering That morning, there's gonna be

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Kevin O'Dea: a free breakfast. Tim Hooper's gonna be here to speak. There's gonna be a couple

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Kevin O'Dea: other speakers as well. But I wanna invite you to be a part of this

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Kevin O'Dea: As a collaborative and an opportunity for, those who are

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Kevin O'Dea: in that demographic to be able to come together and worship and also

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Kevin O'Dea: be able to be ministered to at that level. So If that you make,

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Kevin O'Dea: a point to come on on March 9th. Seeing

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus, I said in the early gathering, we're gonna seeing Jesus on Thursday. That

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Kevin O'Dea: didn't sound right, so that's not what we're doing. We're gonna continue to see Jesus,

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Kevin O'Dea: but pastor Wayne Berry is gonna continue to teach our last,

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Kevin O'Dea: Thursday night in our 6 week series this week, and I encourage you to come

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Kevin O'Dea: and be a part of that. If you come this Thursday night, we're actually gonna

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Kevin O'Dea: be meeting in the Fellowship hall as opposed to meeting in here

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Kevin O'Dea: because this coming weekend, Jane Eyre opens. And so want you

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Kevin O'Dea: to make plans to come and be a part of Of that, I know that

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Kevin O'Dea: the the the cast has been working very hard, and it's going to be a

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Kevin O'Dea: great show. So come and Jesus coming next weekend and the weekend,

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Kevin O'Dea: after and then, of course, we're gonna continue to travel through the New Testament. I

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Kevin O'Dea: pray that you are reading with us 5 by 5 by 5. If you need

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Kevin O'Dea: this resource, it is on our website. It is on planning

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Kevin O'Dea: center, our church center as well. And we just want to be Abigating

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Kevin O'Dea: through the New Testament together as a church. And so I encourage you to

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Kevin O'Dea: be reading, in the New Testament. If you haven't started or maybe you've

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Kevin O'Dea: lapped up, Start this week. It's not too late to

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Kevin O'Dea: to start or to start again. Does that sound good? Alright.

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Kevin O'Dea: Lastly, Theatre is a meeting for those who are going on a mission trip today

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Kevin O'Dea: at 12:30 in the fellowship hall. Alright. Got all of that information out

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Kevin O'Dea: of the way. Alright. Now would you stand with me? We're God read a very

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Kevin O'Dea: short verse. We're gonna take a beat from what John the Baptist,

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Kevin O'Dea: learned in his life. So Let's read this with some Ghost, shall we? Here

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Kevin O'Dea: we go. He must increase and I

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Kevin O'Dea: must decrease. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank

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Kevin O'Dea: you that it gives life, and I thank you that the most profound

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Kevin O'Dea: truths are very simple. Let us lean into it today in Jesus'

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Kevin O'Dea: name. Amen. And you may be seated.

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Kevin O'Dea: Well, last week, we began, our new section of

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Kevin O'Dea: our 3 part series, His word, his life, and his church.

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Kevin O'Dea: And I have since had multiple people contact me about them

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Kevin O'Dea: giving up their Netflix account and Having people stop paying for

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Kevin O'Dea: their Spotify and things like that. And, and if that's you, praise

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Kevin O'Dea: the lord. And if you still haven't gotten that conviction, I pray that it sets

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Kevin O'Dea: in today. And, but we're we're continuing down the

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Kevin O'Dea: road in this series, his word, his life. And last

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Kevin O'Dea: week, we were uncovering the truth About

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus and his purpose here on earth, and what we what we

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Kevin O'Dea: learned was that Jesus was always about his father's business.

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus was always about his father's business. When we look in scripture, it's as

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Kevin O'Dea: if Jesus woke up each day and said, dad, what do you wanna do today?

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Kevin O'Dea: Dad, what do you want today do today? Oh, that we would be a people

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Kevin O'Dea: who would wake up each moment, in every encounter,

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Kevin O'Dea: In every business meeting, in every relational conversation,

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Kevin O'Dea: in everything we put our hand to, would we be a people that say, god,

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Kevin O'Dea: what do you want me to do in this moment? What do you want me

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Kevin O'Dea: to say in this moment? How do you want me to respond in

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Kevin O'Dea: this moment? Jesus was always about his father's

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Kevin O'Dea: business. Ought to be about the father's business as well. Well, if Jesus

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Kevin O'Dea: is about the father's business, it begs the question, what is the

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Kevin O'Dea: father's business? And god's is in the business of loving

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Kevin O'Dea: people. He's in the business of loving people, and the problem is is

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Kevin O'Dea: that we're not very good at this. And so we need the Holy

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Kevin O'Dea: Spirit to give us the strength To love the unlovable. Have you

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Kevin O'Dea: encountered anyone unlovable this week? This morning,

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Kevin O'Dea: sitting next to them. We need the strength of the

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Kevin O'Dea: Holy Spirit to help us to love people

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Kevin O'Dea: we don't want to love Because god is in the

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Kevin O'Dea: business of loving people. Aren't you glad that god did not give

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Kevin O'Dea: up loving you? Despite your challenges, despite you act,

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Kevin O'Dea: Despite how you respond, aren't you glad that the heavenly father, the God

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Kevin O'Dea: who breathes stars, continue to pursue you relentlessly, and

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Kevin O'Dea: he pursues you today? God is in the business of loving

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Kevin O'Dea: people. And in that same vein, isn't this crazy?

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Kevin O'Dea: God uses people to accomplish his purpose.

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Kevin O'Dea: He uses messed up people like you and me to

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Kevin O'Dea: accomplish his purpose. Can you just think about that for just

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Kevin O'Dea: a moment? Think about how Flawed and messed up you are?

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Kevin O'Dea: Well, I am. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty messed up. And and

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Kevin O'Dea: and well, Kurt, you're in the spotlight here. So it's just like a just Kurt,

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Kevin O'Dea: how messed Dubbed you are.

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Kevin O'Dea: But you're a mess, and the god of the universe

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Kevin O'Dea: Desires to use you to fulfill his purpose here on earth.

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Kevin O'Dea: How humbling is that? How amazing, how magnificent

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Kevin O'Dea: is that? And so as Christians, which the word

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Kevin O'Dea: Christian means to be like Ghost, if we are Christians, we have a

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Kevin O'Dea: commission to be like him and so we need to know him over. In Ghost

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Kevin O'Dea: John, it says this, whoever claims to live in him must live as

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus did. Well, in order for us to live like Jesus did, we need to

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Kevin O'Dea: be In the word, understanding how he lived. What did he do?

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Kevin O'Dea: How did he respond in situations? What did he

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Kevin O'Dea: say? What was his life like? And so we're just

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Kevin O'Dea: doing somewhat of a flyover of over these next few weeks, but I

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Kevin O'Dea: encourage you to get into the word. If you are wanting to be like Christ,

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Kevin O'Dea: you gotta get into the word to know What Christ was like.

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Kevin O'Dea: We are to be like Christ. And so as a church, we've been

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Kevin O'Dea: talking about being Refined. And if you remember last week,

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Kevin O'Dea: I've sifted out a few of these things. And so often,

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Kevin O'Dea: we we end up choosing the things that are

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Kevin O'Dea: Sparkly and shiny and momentary

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Kevin O'Dea: and and feel good, taste good, look good in the moment

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Kevin O'Dea: because they draw our attention. They They catch our attention, and

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Kevin O'Dea: we end up picking these things as opposed to the things that

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Kevin O'Dea: are everlasting. The flesh counts for nothing. The spirit counts

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Kevin O'Dea: for everything. And when we choose to live by the Spirit,

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Kevin O'Dea: he will do extraordinary things in our lives. Guys, I

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Kevin O'Dea: believe that salvation is just the Starting point to a

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Kevin O'Dea: pathway toward complete healing in your life. God

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Kevin O'Dea: wants you to be whole. He wants to use you. He

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Kevin O'Dea: wants to See you perfected and completed.

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Kevin O'Dea: You don't have to stay in the mess that you're in. You can be

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Kevin O'Dea: liberated. You can be set free, But you have

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Kevin O'Dea: to choose the spirit over the flesh. And today, as we

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Kevin O'Dea: continue to step into leaning or lean into, Who

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus is and how he lived his life, today, we're gonna talk

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Kevin O'Dea: about living a selfless life. Living

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Kevin O'Dea: a selfless life. Jesus lived a selfless life. And I have to tell you guys,

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Kevin O'Dea: I'm a bit scattered this morning because I think the lord chose the most selfish

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Kevin O'Dea: person in the room to deliver a message about selflessness.

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Kevin O'Dea: Because I'll tell you right now, Kevin O'Day is pretty selfish.

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus desires us To be selfless and it's not a far

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Kevin O'Dea: stretch if you know anything about Jesus to know

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Kevin O'Dea: that he is selfless because it is this selflessness That drove him to the cross

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Kevin O'Dea: of Calvary on your behalf. The sacrifice that

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Kevin O'Dea: he made. And so many examples in scripture where

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus Was acting in a selfless posture.

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Kevin O'Dea: Don't, children, bother Jesus. He doesn't have time for you. No. Let

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Kevin O'Dea: them come to me. Let them be a distraction to my

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Kevin O'Dea: schedule. Jesus, selfless.

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Kevin O'Dea: The beggars And the blind men who are sitting on the road, Jesus passes the

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Kevin O'Dea: people passing them by. Jesus sees them and renders dignity

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Kevin O'Dea: to them. Jesus, selfless.

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Kevin O'Dea: Are you living a life that is selfless? When people look

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Kevin O'Dea: at your life, do you look like him?

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Kevin O'Dea: Do you look like him? So

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Kevin O'Dea: the question that I want us to kind of war with, at

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Kevin O'Dea: least initially here, It's a simple question that

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Kevin O'Dea: may have a complex complex answer. And the question is this, who or

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Kevin O'Dea: what is at the center of your life?

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Kevin O'Dea: Who or what is at the center of your life?

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Kevin O'Dea: Make it personal. Ask it with your name. Who or what is at the center

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Kevin O'Dea: of Kevin's life. Well, when I examine my life, I think of

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Kevin O'Dea: a lot of things that at times have taken the center place of my

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Kevin O'Dea: my life. And if you've been here for quite some time, this is gonna be

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Kevin O'Dea: a little bit of a repeat, but that's okay because we need to probably hear

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Kevin O'Dea: this again, and it's true about about me. And so

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Kevin O'Dea: many of us put these things In the center of our life, you know, I

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Kevin O'Dea: really love to travel. Anybody like to travel? If I get a chance

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Kevin O'Dea: to travel, man, sign me up. I love to experience new

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Kevin O'Dea: places. I like to meet new people. I like to experience new things.

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Kevin O'Dea: If you're close to me, you know the very best gift, I think, is the

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Kevin O'Dea: gift of experience, new experiences. And I really love to

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Kevin O'Dea: travel. And there could be a time in my life or periods where travel is

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Kevin O'Dea: at the center of my life. Everything

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Kevin O'Dea: revolves around the opportunity to go go and travel. But it's

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Kevin O'Dea: not supposed to be in the center of my life.

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Kevin O'Dea: You know, my wife and I, we up operate a school here in town,

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Kevin O'Dea: and it takes a lot of Hours and a lot of energy

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Kevin O'Dea: and a lot of time to to to to operate the school,

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Kevin O'Dea: and and there's times when the school could be the

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Kevin O'Dea: Theater, of my life. But but it's not the center

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Kevin O'Dea: of my life. It's not supposed to be the center of my

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Kevin O'Dea: life. Spring house.

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Kevin O'Dea: There's a lot of hours and energy, emotional

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Kevin O'Dea: investment, Spiritual investment, mental investment in this place.

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Kevin O'Dea: But if I'm honest with myself, this is not supposed to be the center

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Kevin O'Dea: of my life. It's an important part of my life, but it's not the

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Kevin O'Dea: center of my life.

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Kevin O'Dea: Now this 1, I struggle with a lot.

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Kevin O'Dea: I am a foodie. I love I don't love food. I love good

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Kevin O'Dea: food. Right. Right. I love good food. And,

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Kevin O'Dea: there are people that food is the It's the

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Kevin O'Dea: center of their life.

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Kevin O'Dea: And if I'm not careful, I could easily slide that right in there.

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Kevin O'Dea: But It's not the center of my life. It's not supposed to be the

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Kevin O'Dea: center of my life. God has gifted me and and Ghost

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Kevin O'Dea: just so blessed me with friends, Multiple friends,

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Kevin O'Dea: colleagues, ministry partners. And while they are important

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Kevin O'Dea: to me and and it's important that we invest in each other's lives, they are

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Kevin O'Dea: not the center of my life nor should they

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Kevin O'Dea: be. These are my daughters.

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Kevin O'Dea: Hadassah, Lucia, Ruby and Nora.

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Kevin O'Dea: And there are many people who will spend their listen to me,

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Kevin O'Dea: will spend their lives putting their kids at the center of their

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Kevin O'Dea: life. And I'm here to tell you that your kids are not supposed to be

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Kevin O'Dea: at the center of your life. They're important. They are

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Kevin O'Dea: very important. These girls are I mean, they are just life breath to me,

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Kevin O'Dea: but but they are not at the center of

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Kevin O'Dea: my life. On March 13,

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Kevin O'Dea: 2012, the lord gave me the gift of my spouse. Beautiful,

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Kevin O'Dea: wonderful, talented, incredible Sherry. And as

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Kevin O'Dea: wonderful as she is and as much as I love her,

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Kevin O'Dea: Sherry's not the center of my life. And so many

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Kevin O'Dea: times we put our spouse at the the

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Kevin O'Dea: center of our lives.

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Kevin O'Dea: So if none of these people, including your family, Kevin, and your spouse is not

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Kevin O'Dea: the center of your life, who in the world is the center of Your life.

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Kevin O'Dea: Well, you know what the answer is supposed to be. But if I'm

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Kevin O'Dea: honest with myself, this is the person who's at the center of my life

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Kevin O'Dea: most often.

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Kevin O'Dea: This is the person who is at the center of the control,

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Kevin O'Dea: the center of decision making, the center Of actions,

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Kevin O'Dea: recourse responses, I'm at the center of

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Kevin O'Dea: my life most of the time, and here is the issue. Jesus will

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Kevin O'Dea: let me be at the center every single time when I take it.

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Kevin O'Dea: But on the same token, the minute I surrender and give him

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Kevin O'Dea: the center spot, he'll take it. And every time

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Kevin O'Dea: I've driven my car into the ditch,

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Kevin O'Dea: literal literally and figuratively,

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Kevin O'Dea: God has met me there every single

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Kevin O'Dea: time. Because god knows how to right The

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Kevin O'Dea: wrong that you've made. He knows how to right the wrong choices that you've

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Kevin O'Dea: made. He knows how to take away the shame and the guilt that you felt

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Kevin O'Dea: for the bad decisions you've made, And he knows how to write your course

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Kevin O'Dea: every single time. Because at the end of the day,

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Kevin O'Dea: friends, as Rick Warren puts in the first line of purpose

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Kevin O'Dea: driven life, It is not about you.

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Kevin O'Dea: It's not about you. And the minute we

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Kevin O'Dea: begin to make it about us, that's when we start to get off Of

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Kevin O'Dea: course. And boy, I have a propensity to make it about

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Kevin O'Dea: me so many times. Your life is not

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Kevin O'Dea: about you. When you Ask the lord Jesus Christ to be

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Kevin O'Dea: the lord of your life. He has a commission for

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Kevin O'Dea: you to advance his Kingdom. And it is all about

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Kevin O'Dea: exalting his son, Jesus. It is all about exalting

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Kevin O'Dea: his son, Jesus Christ. And so

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Kevin O'Dea: most of us as Christians, we begin to ask the question,

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Kevin O'Dea: especially right when, Possibly right when we get saved,

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Kevin O'Dea: we ask the question, god, what is your will for my life? Lord, what do

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Kevin O'Dea: you want me to do? But when

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Kevin O'Dea: we look for god's will, if we are at the center, we'll never find

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Kevin O'Dea: it. Because at the center of god's Will is always going to

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Kevin O'Dea: be exalting Christ and not exalting yourself.

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Kevin O'Dea: And so Times that means he's gonna ask you to lay down something

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Kevin O'Dea: that you've been carrying for a long time. That thing that you like, that

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Kevin O'Dea: thing that you perhaps love, that thing that you've invested so much Tymon. He

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Kevin O'Dea: says, I actually want you to render control of that. Well, god,

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Kevin O'Dea: if I I'm scared if I let that go. Yeah. I want you to trust

Speaker: 00:15:43

Kevin O'Dea: me above trusting yourself.

Speaker: 00:15:47

Kevin O'Dea: Do you trust me? Because finding god's will for your

Speaker: 00:15:51

Kevin O'Dea: life should be more about his will than your life.

Speaker: 00:15:55

Kevin O'Dea: Finding god's will for your life should be more about his will

Speaker: 00:15:59

Kevin O'Dea: than it is about your life. And at

Speaker: 00:16:03

Kevin O'Dea: every turn, every juncture in his will, his son Jesus

Speaker: 00:16:07

Kevin O'Dea: is honored. His son Jesus is exalted.

Speaker: 00:16:12

Kevin O'Dea: So Paul gives us some great instruction in his letter to

Speaker: 00:16:15

Kevin O'Dea: the Philippians. And he says this in chapter 2 of that

Speaker: 00:16:19

Kevin O'Dea: letter. He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain

Speaker: 00:16:23

Kevin O'Dea: conceit. Rather, In humility, value

Speaker: 00:16:26

Kevin O'Dea: others above yourself, not looking to your own interest but

Speaker: 00:16:30

Kevin O'Dea: each to your the interest of others.

Speaker: 00:16:34

Kevin O'Dea: Each to the interest of others. That humility word sometimes

Speaker: 00:16:38

Kevin O'Dea: tricks us because we tend to look at the word

Speaker: 00:16:42

Kevin O'Dea: And we tend to define it as us cowering

Speaker: 00:16:46

Kevin O'Dea: away from the things that god has actually called us to

Speaker: 00:16:50

Kevin O'Dea: or that we're gifted in or that we're Really good at do you know that

Speaker: 00:16:53

Kevin O'Dea: you're actually good at some stuff? Cole, you are actually good at some stuff,

Speaker: 00:16:56

Kevin O'Dea: buddy. Ben, you are good at some stuff. God has wired you

Speaker: 00:17:00

Kevin O'Dea: at some sedan. You're you're good. There are some things that god has wired

Speaker: 00:17:04

Kevin O'Dea: inside you that you are actually God. I'll dare say excellent in

Speaker: 00:17:08

Kevin O'Dea: Because he's placed them there. And then there's some things

Speaker: 00:17:12

Kevin O'Dea: that you're just rotten at, that you're not good at.

Speaker: 00:17:16

Kevin O'Dea: And sometimes we like to be posers and say that we're good at things that

Speaker: 00:17:19

Kevin O'Dea: we're not good at.

Speaker: 00:17:23

Kevin O'Dea: But humility is simply confidence

Speaker: 00:17:28

Kevin O'Dea: in knowing what you can and cannot do.

Speaker: 00:17:32

Kevin O'Dea: Humility is being confident in what you can and cannot

Speaker: 00:17:35

Kevin O'Dea: do. I am a good administrator. I'm a

Speaker: 00:17:39

Kevin O'Dea: good administrator. The lord has given me that gift. I am not good at

Speaker: 00:17:43

Kevin O'Dea: playing golf yet.

Speaker: 00:17:46

Kevin O'Dea: One day, but not yet. What

Speaker: 00:17:50

Kevin O'Dea: are the things that god has placed in your life and wired you

Speaker: 00:17:55

Kevin O'Dea: to lean into Theater you're good at.

Speaker: 00:17:59

Kevin O'Dea: When you say, well, Kevin, what does this have to do with being selfless? Has

Speaker: 00:18:03

Kevin O'Dea: a lot to do with being selfless because The gifts he's given

Speaker: 00:18:06

Kevin O'Dea: you are not for you. The gifts he's given

Speaker: 00:18:10

Kevin O'Dea: to you are to be used as a sacrificial offering

Speaker: 00:18:14

Kevin O'Dea: to him. It's not to advance the world in

Speaker: 00:18:18

Kevin O'Dea: its agenda, but it's to advance the kingdom

Speaker: 00:18:21

Kevin O'Dea: and god's will and agenda and purpose,

Speaker: 00:18:25

Kevin O'Dea: And ultimately, to exalt Jesus Christ.

Speaker: 00:18:29

Kevin O'Dea: And so Jesus modeled this. And in and in Paul's

Speaker: 00:18:33

Kevin O'Dea: letter to the Philippians in chapter 2, he continues, and he

Speaker: 00:18:37

Kevin O'Dea: says this. In your relationships with one another,

Speaker: 00:18:40

Kevin O'Dea: In your relationships with one another in your

Speaker: 00:18:44

Kevin O'Dea: relationship with one another, Have

Speaker: 00:18:47

Kevin O'Dea: the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Okay. So what is the mindset of

Speaker: 00:18:51

Kevin O'Dea: Christ Jesus? Here it is. Who being in very nature

Speaker: 00:18:55

Kevin O'Dea: God, Did not consider equality with God something

Speaker: 00:18:58

Kevin O'Dea: to be used to his own advantage.

Speaker: 00:19:02

Kevin O'Dea: Rather, He made himself nothing by taking on the very

Speaker: 00:19:06

Kevin O'Dea: nature of a servant being made in human

Speaker: 00:19:10

Kevin O'Dea: likeness. God almighty coming in the form

Speaker: 00:19:13

Kevin O'Dea: of man. Ponder that. Think about that.

Speaker: 00:19:17

Kevin O'Dea: And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled

Speaker: 00:19:21

Kevin O'Dea: himself. It's one thing to say I'm appearing to you as you

Speaker: 00:19:25

Kevin O'Dea: are, But then I'm going to humble myself,

Speaker: 00:19:28

Kevin O'Dea: says Jesus, to the point of

Speaker: 00:19:32

Kevin O'Dea: serving the the one who's going to nail me to the cross.

Speaker: 00:19:35

Kevin O'Dea: That's who I'm here to serve, by becoming

Speaker: 00:19:39

Kevin O'Dea: obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Speaker: 00:19:43

Kevin O'Dea: And because of Jesus's obedience

Speaker: 00:19:47

Kevin O'Dea: to his selfless posture here on earth, here's what God

Speaker: 00:19:51

Kevin O'Dea: did. He exalted him to the highest place and

Speaker: 00:19:54

Kevin O'Dea: gave Jesus the name that is above every name. That at the name

Speaker: 00:19:58

Kevin O'Dea: of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven And on earth and under the

Speaker: 00:20:02

Kevin O'Dea: earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Christ Jesus is lord to the

Speaker: 00:20:06

Kevin O'Dea: glory of god the father. God is in

Speaker: 00:20:09

Kevin O'Dea: really, he has this uncanny knack of rewarding those who

Speaker: 00:20:13

Kevin O'Dea: will humbly serve him. But the

Speaker: 00:20:17

Kevin O'Dea: motivation is not the reward. The motivation is the lord.

Speaker: 00:20:21

Kevin O'Dea: The motivation is the lord. And

Speaker: 00:20:25

Kevin O'Dea: so when it comes to being selfless, when it comes to

Speaker: 00:20:29

Kevin O'Dea: having a selfless Posture about our lives, we have to understand

Speaker: 00:20:33

Kevin O'Dea: a few things about selflessness. The first thing is this, selflessness

Speaker: 00:20:36

Kevin O'Dea: requires sacrifice. If you're

Speaker: 00:20:40

Kevin O'Dea: going to live a selfless life, if you are in Christ Jesus,

Speaker: 00:20:44

Kevin O'Dea: and you are about living a life that is like Christ, Then

Speaker: 00:20:48

Kevin O'Dea: you have to understand that your selflessness is going to

Speaker: 00:20:51

Kevin O'Dea: require you to sacrifice. Now we, like little

Speaker: 00:20:55

Kevin O'Dea: children, many have more than 1 kid? I've got more than 1 kid at home.

Speaker: 00:20:58

Kevin O'Dea: And when it comes to them having something that belongs to them, it is very

Speaker: 00:21:02

Kevin O'Dea: hard for them to pry their claws off of it To allow another kid the

Speaker: 00:21:05

Kevin O'Dea: theater sister to have it. Anybody ever struggle with that? Hello. And if there

Speaker: 00:21:09

Kevin O'Dea: are moments whenever one of the siblings will Freely and

Speaker: 00:21:13

Kevin O'Dea: liberally render that toy or that thing to the other sister, but I

Speaker: 00:21:16

Kevin O'Dea: tell you what, it makes my heart explode.

Speaker: 00:21:21

Kevin O'Dea: Because when my children sacrifice for one another, it's an expression of

Speaker: 00:21:25

Kevin O'Dea: love. Selflessness is a derivative of love.

Speaker: 00:21:30

Kevin O'Dea: Sacrifice is required when it comes to selflessness, and

Speaker: 00:21:34

Kevin O'Dea: that will mean that it's going to take some of your time.

Speaker: 00:21:38

Kevin O'Dea: It's gonna take some of your energy. It's gonna take some of your money,

Speaker: 00:21:41

Kevin O'Dea: your resources. It might even take some of your desires.

Speaker: 00:21:45

Kevin O'Dea: But selflessness requires sacrifice.

Speaker: 00:21:50

Kevin O'Dea: And selflessness is rarely convenient.

Speaker: 00:21:54

Kevin O'Dea: It's rarely convenient.

Speaker: 00:21:58

Kevin O'Dea: Over in Galatians 2/20, it says, I have been crucified with Ghost,

Speaker: 00:22:02

Kevin O'Dea: And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives

Speaker: 00:22:05

Kevin O'Dea: in me. When we are crucified with Christ, that means we wake up

Speaker: 00:22:09

Kevin O'Dea: Every day when we say, not my life, not my agenda, not my

Speaker: 00:22:13

Kevin O'Dea: plan, but yours, lord.

Speaker: 00:22:16

Kevin O'Dea: So as people who desire to be like Christ, is your prayer

Speaker: 00:22:20

Kevin O'Dea: each morning that you wake up crucified with Christ

Speaker: 00:22:24

Kevin O'Dea: so that you can look like him in the ensuing conversations with your

Speaker: 00:22:28

Kevin O'Dea: spouse, with your kids, with your coworkers, with the people you

Speaker: 00:22:31

Kevin O'Dea: encounter. Because God is in the business of loving people, and it starts

Speaker: 00:22:35

Kevin O'Dea: with you at your home. It starts before you even get out

Speaker: 00:22:39

Kevin O'Dea: the door. But you have been crucified with

Speaker: 00:22:42

Kevin O'Dea: Christ. You are no one. And guys, this is a daily,

Speaker: 00:22:45

Kevin O'Dea: daily, daily prayer Because my flesh likes to rear

Speaker: 00:22:49

Kevin O'Dea: its head every single morning when I wake up. Kevin, what do you want to

Speaker: 00:22:52

Kevin O'Dea: do? What's your agenda for today?

Speaker: 00:22:56

Kevin O'Dea: Don't worry about what that person needs or what that person has asked you

Speaker: 00:23:00

Kevin O'Dea: to do. What do you want to do today?

Speaker: 00:23:05

Kevin O'Dea: Every day I want my desire to be to serve

Speaker: 00:23:09

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus Christ. Every day I want my

Speaker: 00:23:12

Kevin O'Dea: life to look like him. And part of my

Speaker: 00:23:15

Kevin O'Dea: looking like him is to operate my life in a

Speaker: 00:23:19

Kevin O'Dea: selfless manner. In a way that doesn't

Speaker: 00:23:22

Kevin O'Dea: have People looking at me has people

Speaker: 00:23:26

Kevin O'Dea: looking at him.

Speaker: 00:23:30

Kevin O'Dea: Selflessness requires you to pay attention.

Speaker: 00:23:34

Kevin O'Dea: Requires us to pay attention. Guys, if there's anything we don't do,

Speaker: 00:23:37

Kevin O'Dea: it's pay attention. We are not good at paying attention.

Speaker: 00:23:41

Kevin O'Dea: You ever been in a conversation with somebody and they're saying something to you, and

Speaker: 00:23:45

Kevin O'Dea: there are all types of context clues of what they need you to do and

Speaker: 00:23:47

Kevin O'Dea: what they need from you, but you are just oblivious to it? And you just

Speaker: 00:23:50

Kevin O'Dea: look at them and go, Or actually, I guess the one who's giving all the

Speaker: 00:23:53

Kevin O'Dea: context clues, you're like, they're not getting this one bit. Right? Then the

Speaker: 00:23:56

Kevin O'Dea: person would say, well, just shoot straight with me. Stop making me

Speaker: 00:24:00

Kevin O'Dea: try to figure it out. Right? But even if we figured it out and

Speaker: 00:24:04

Kevin O'Dea: even if we shot straight with him, the question still remains, would we be in

Speaker: 00:24:07

Kevin O'Dea: a selfless posture be able to execute what the other person is needing.

Speaker: 00:24:13

Kevin O'Dea: I think the most missed opportunities are simple because we don't pay

Speaker: 00:24:16

Kevin O'Dea: Attention. Jesus is always paying attention to the needs of the

Speaker: 00:24:20

Kevin O'Dea: people around him. People are on Ghost those disciples,

Speaker: 00:24:24

Kevin O'Dea: Those those selfish disciples, who's gonna be the greatest in the

Speaker: 00:24:28

Kevin O'Dea: kingdom, god? Who's gonna come out on top? Who's gonna sit at your

Speaker: 00:24:32

Kevin O'Dea: right hand? Guys, we are so often like that. We are so fickle. We

Speaker: 00:24:36

Kevin O'Dea: are so easy, Lord. What am what is the what is in this for me,

Speaker: 00:24:39

Kevin O'Dea: god? Because my

Speaker: 00:24:42

Kevin O'Dea: selflessness to you, god, only is going to come if I get rewarded.

Speaker: 00:24:49

Kevin O'Dea: But true selflessness in the kingdom means that he gets the

Speaker: 00:24:53

Kevin O'Dea: acknowledgement. He gets the he gets the highlight. He gets the

Speaker: 00:24:56

Kevin O'Dea: exaltation and not us. And so like I

Speaker: 00:25:00

Kevin O'Dea: said last week, I think the biggest culprit in us being about the father's business

Speaker: 00:25:04

Kevin O'Dea: and living in this way Is that we have a limited availability to

Speaker: 00:25:07

Kevin O'Dea: him. And I believe god wants our availability

Speaker: 00:25:11

Kevin O'Dea: to be wide for him. That our yeses, when we put them on the

Speaker: 00:25:15

Kevin O'Dea: table, are Holy spirit yeses that we are able to lean into and fully

Speaker: 00:25:19

Kevin O'Dea: commit to. And that's what I wanna talk about for just a second here. You

Speaker: 00:25:22

Kevin O'Dea: know, we All have lives in this room, every one of us. And our

Speaker: 00:25:25

Kevin O'Dea: lives are comprised of all types of different

Speaker: 00:25:29

Kevin O'Dea: things. And and and the things that are are comprised in

Speaker: 00:25:32

Kevin O'Dea: our life aren't necessarily bad things. In fact, I think the lord's put a lot

Speaker: 00:25:36

Kevin O'Dea: of the things there. But If you look at this, you know, we've got devotions.

Speaker: 00:25:40

Kevin O'Dea: We got kids. We have spouses. We have responsibilities.

Speaker: 00:25:44

Kevin O'Dea: We have friends. Do you know god's put your friends in your life? You spent

Speaker: 00:25:47

Kevin O'Dea: a community in your life? Guys, fun is not a bad thing. You should

Speaker: 00:25:51

Kevin O'Dea: have fun. Fun is a part of life. Me, having some

Speaker: 00:25:54

Kevin O'Dea: time just For you, what does that mean? That sounds really self serving

Speaker: 00:25:58

Kevin O'Dea: and selfish and kinda opposite of what I'm just saying here today. But what I

Speaker: 00:26:01

Kevin O'Dea: mean whenever I put me here is me is your mental health. Being

Speaker: 00:26:05

Kevin O'Dea: being in a place where you can ask the lord to show you things about

Speaker: 00:26:08

Kevin O'Dea: yourself so that you can grow and become more like him. Everybody needs the capacity

Speaker: 00:26:12

Kevin O'Dea: to do that. Family, work, Your ministry, god has called

Speaker: 00:26:16

Kevin O'Dea: you to do something. We talked about that last week. Recreation,

Speaker: 00:26:20

Kevin O'Dea: rest, all of these things, and there's more, All a part of life, and

Speaker: 00:26:23

Kevin O'Dea: here's what we end up doing when we're not if we're not careful. We go

Speaker: 00:26:27

Kevin O'Dea: and we build this life, and we pray, here's my life. These are all the

Speaker: 00:26:30

Kevin O'Dea: things that I'm involved with. These are all the things I want to do, and

Speaker: 00:26:34

Kevin O'Dea: I don't mind living a selfless life, lord, as long as none

Speaker: 00:26:38

Kevin O'Dea: of these things are affected.

Speaker: 00:26:44

Kevin O'Dea: I will be selfless when that need comes my way, but don't

Speaker: 00:26:48

Kevin O'Dea: take any of my recreation away from me. I will be

Speaker: 00:26:52

Kevin O'Dea: selfless when, lord, you bring somebody into my path but

Speaker: 00:26:55

Kevin O'Dea: don't take any of my my work time or my Responsibility or

Speaker: 00:26:59

Kevin O'Dea: my ministry time away, these are too important to me. Lord, don't you know I

Speaker: 00:27:02

Kevin O'Dea: have built this life here, god?

Speaker: 00:27:06

Kevin O'Dea: I have put this stuff together, god. Look what I have

Speaker: 00:27:10

Kevin O'Dea: built, god. Please don't mess with my life, god. I will give you the

Speaker: 00:27:14

Kevin O'Dea: left dovers instead of the Ghost fruit.

Speaker: 00:27:20

Kevin O'Dea: But what God would desire Would be for you to wake up

Speaker: 00:27:23

Kevin O'Dea: each day and say, god, you have gifted me with all of these things. But

Speaker: 00:27:27

Kevin O'Dea: if you wanna take every one of them away, be your will done.

Speaker: 00:27:32

Kevin O'Dea: Because I am after what you want, not what I want. You

Speaker: 00:27:36

Kevin O'Dea: must increase in my life. I must decrease. And I recognize that

Speaker: 00:27:40

Kevin O'Dea: I wouldn't have any of these things had it not been for you, god.

Speaker: 00:27:44

Kevin O'Dea: And so we have this life that's built here, we have this wall, Oh, and

Speaker: 00:27:48

Kevin O'Dea: and we're going fine. Everything's going great. I've got my ministry going. I God

Speaker: 00:27:51

Kevin O'Dea: recreation going fun. Family, friends, my spouse, everything's great. I got

Speaker: 00:27:55

Kevin O'Dea: my plan. I got my agenda. And then all of a sudden out of nowhere,

Speaker: 00:28:00

Kevin O'Dea: you show up.

Speaker: 00:28:08

Kevin O'Dea: And now you are a part of my life.

Speaker: 00:28:12

Kevin O'Dea: You are somebody who is broken, Who needs something,

Speaker: 00:28:16

Kevin O'Dea: who needs me to serve you, needs something from me.

Speaker: 00:28:20

Kevin O'Dea: And here you are in my life And initially, my flesh

Speaker: 00:28:24

Kevin O'Dea: sees you as a disruption to everything else that I've got going on.

Speaker: 00:28:30

Kevin O'Dea: But when people come into your life, the first thing that you ought to

Speaker: 00:28:34

Kevin O'Dea: do is ask the Holy Spirit, god, what am I supposed

Speaker: 00:28:37

Kevin O'Dea: to do with this person? Is this person

Speaker: 00:28:41

Kevin O'Dea: supposed to be somebody that I'm going to help? Because

Speaker: 00:28:45

Kevin O'Dea: not every good opportunity is a god opportunity.

Speaker: 00:28:50

Kevin O'Dea: Not every good opportunity is a God opportunity. And listen to

Speaker: 00:28:54

Kevin O'Dea: me, church, this is what I want you to understand. It is

Speaker: 00:28:57

Kevin O'Dea: very selfish and self serving when we make commitments

Speaker: 00:29:01

Kevin O'Dea: to help people and we renege on our promises. It is very

Speaker: 00:29:05

Kevin O'Dea: selfish when we commit out of a vein of feeling bad in the

Speaker: 00:29:09

Kevin O'Dea: moment without consulting the Holy Spirit, and we say, I'm gonna walk with you brother

Speaker: 00:29:12

Kevin O'Dea: through this. I'm God be there for you. I'm gonna do all this. It is

Speaker: 00:29:16

Kevin O'Dea: a mark toward Christ when you make a commitment and you

Speaker: 00:29:19

Kevin O'Dea: renege on that promise. And so

Speaker: 00:29:23

Kevin O'Dea: our mouths get ahead of what the spirit is actually saying because

Speaker: 00:29:27

Kevin O'Dea: every you that walks in my life, I'm not supposed to be the one to

Speaker: 00:29:30

Kevin O'Dea: minister to. And so I get

Speaker: 00:29:34

Kevin O'Dea: in trouble I get in trouble because when I'm trying to

Speaker: 00:29:37

Kevin O'Dea: minister to the you that's not supposed to be On my path

Speaker: 00:29:41

Kevin O'Dea: to the you who comes into my path, and I just said yes because it

Speaker: 00:29:44

Kevin O'Dea: might make me feel good or I feel like I've got the answer for you,

Speaker: 00:29:47

Kevin O'Dea: all of a Sudden, the people back here, the things that God has called me

Speaker: 00:29:50

Kevin O'Dea: to, all of a sudden, I start to sacrifice.

Speaker: 00:29:55

Kevin O'Dea: And all of a sudden, You become bigger than

Speaker: 00:29:58

Kevin O'Dea: any of these things in my life.

Speaker: 00:30:02

Kevin O'Dea: And God says, it never was supposed to be that way because you're operating on

Speaker: 00:30:06

Kevin O'Dea: your own Strength. And here's the

Speaker: 00:30:10

Kevin O'Dea: thing, you were never supposed to be the hero. You were never supposed to

Speaker: 00:30:13

Kevin O'Dea: be the shero.

Speaker: 00:30:18

Kevin O'Dea: When somebody brings when God brings somebody into your

Speaker: 00:30:21

Kevin O'Dea: life and he wants you to minister to them, He is the one that's

Speaker: 00:30:25

Kevin O'Dea: going to do the change, not you. He's using you as

Speaker: 00:30:29

Kevin O'Dea: a vehicle. He's using you as the pathway, And here's

Speaker: 00:30:33

Kevin O'Dea: the thing, when he has given you someone to minister to,

Speaker: 00:30:37

Kevin O'Dea: you don't have the privilege to walk out of their life. It doesn't matter

Speaker: 00:30:40

Kevin O'Dea: how they treat you. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they

Speaker: 00:30:44

Kevin O'Dea: do. It doesn't matter when they poo poo on everything you've done because here's the

Speaker: 00:30:47

Kevin O'Dea: thing. We are called to be doormats for Christ Jesus when he's called us to

Speaker: 00:30:50

Kevin O'Dea: people. We are called to serve. We are called to be

Speaker: 00:30:54

Kevin O'Dea: present. What are you gonna do? Tell the lord, no, I'm not gonna be there

Speaker: 00:30:57

Kevin O'Dea: anymore because they didn't give me the accolade that I needed when I helped them?

Speaker: 00:31:00

Kevin O'Dea: They didn't recognize me for the gift that I gave them? When God

Speaker: 00:31:04

Kevin O'Dea: has called you to walk alongside somebody, you better do exactly what god

Speaker: 00:31:08

Kevin O'Dea: tells you to do no matter what they say, no matter what they do. Because

Speaker: 00:31:12

Kevin O'Dea: here's the thing. The man left the 1

Speaker: 00:31:15

Kevin O'Dea: left the 99 to go after the 1, and you were the

Speaker: 00:31:19

Kevin O'Dea: 1 at some point. And

Speaker: 00:31:23

Kevin O'Dea: sometimes when we are the 1 or when they are the

Speaker: 00:31:27

Kevin O'Dea: 1, they don't necessarily want to be rescued.

Speaker: 00:31:31

Kevin O'Dea: But we have a God who is an ever present help in times of trouble.

Speaker: 00:31:36

Kevin O'Dea: And sometimes when we get into that place of trouble,

Speaker: 00:31:40

Kevin O'Dea: It's then when we call out on the name of Jesus for salvation.

Speaker: 00:31:44

Kevin O'Dea: And you might be the person the Lord wants to use when they actually cry

Speaker: 00:31:48

Kevin O'Dea: out for help. And if you are thinking about

Speaker: 00:31:51

Kevin O'Dea: yourself and you abandon the person the Lord has put in your

Speaker: 00:31:55

Kevin O'Dea: life, then you will not be there when they call out.

Speaker: 00:31:59

Kevin O'Dea: He does the work. He does the change, but you are the vehicle. Are you

Speaker: 00:32:02

Kevin O'Dea: being obedient to him? You are not called to

Speaker: 00:32:06

Kevin O'Dea: help every person on this planet. And church,

Speaker: 00:32:11

Kevin O'Dea: may I just say that there are people here that God has placed

Speaker: 00:32:15

Kevin O'Dea: somebody in your life, But you are so distracted that you don't

Speaker: 00:32:18

Kevin O'Dea: see it right in front of you. One of the most

Speaker: 00:32:22

Kevin O'Dea: liberating things that I have un I have come to realize over the last two

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Kevin O'Dea: and a half, 3 years Is that it is

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Kevin O'Dea: much better it's far better to listen to the Holy Spirit and go deep in

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Kevin O'Dea: the relationships he has called Me too. As opposed to have a bunch of

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Kevin O'Dea: shallow relationships and he's not a part of it.

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Kevin O'Dea: As the body of Christ, as people who are supposed

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Kevin O'Dea: to be like Christ, everyone should have

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Kevin O'Dea: Someone that that they can go to, that god has placed in their life because

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Kevin O'Dea: there are a multitude of people that could be used. The question is, are we

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Kevin O'Dea: listening? And are we doing the things that God has told us to

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Kevin O'Dea: do? Are we selflessly serving in the areas he has

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Kevin O'Dea: asked us to? Not the areas that we want to, not the areas that we

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Kevin O'Dea: feel responsible for, but in the areas that he has told us

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Kevin O'Dea: to. If somebody comes into your life and says I need Holy,

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Kevin O'Dea: And you asked the Holy Spirit, holy spirit, am I supposed to help this person?

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Kevin O'Dea: What am I supposed to do? And the answer is no. Might I encourage you

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Kevin O'Dea: to instead of hey. I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna be there for you.

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Kevin O'Dea: All this stuff. Instead of all those lies, that's what they are.

Speaker: 00:33:31

Kevin O'Dea: Instead of all of those things, look to them eyeball to eyeball, pray with

Speaker: 00:33:34

Kevin O'Dea: them, and say, I'm going to believe that God is going to bring somebody in

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Kevin O'Dea: your path. Somebody in your life who's gonna minister to your need.

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Kevin O'Dea: And more times than not for me, the Lord brings somebody to mind.

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Kevin O'Dea: And I go and I introduce them and and then it takes off

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Kevin O'Dea: from there. Guys, God does not need

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Kevin O'Dea: you to be the hero of the story. He wants you to serve selflessly so

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Kevin O'Dea: he gets the honor, so that he gets the glory.

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Kevin O'Dea: You're not supposed to be Superman or Superwoman in everybody's life. In

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Kevin O'Dea: fact, you're enough of a mess. You're enough of a mess that you

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Kevin O'Dea: don't have what it takes clean up everybody else's mess.

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Kevin O'Dea: Not every good thing is a god thing.

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Kevin O'Dea: And lastly, worship team, you can come back. And lastly,

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Kevin O'Dea: selfless love requires nothing in return.

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Kevin O'Dea: If God has called you to be in somebody's life to

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Kevin O'Dea: serve them, to help them, to minister to

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Kevin O'Dea: them, It does not matter what they do or what

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Kevin O'Dea: they say because you weren't doing it for them in the 1st place. You were

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Kevin O'Dea: doing it for the lord. You were doing it out of obed can you imagine

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Kevin O'Dea: Jesus god saying, I want you to go to the cross and Jesus saying, well,

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Kevin O'Dea: look what look how they're treating me, god. Look what

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Kevin O'Dea: they're saying about me, god. Dad, look

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Kevin O'Dea: look look how they're treating me. And

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Kevin O'Dea: instead, he said none of that matters because

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Kevin O'Dea: I'm not doing it for them. Dad, I'm doing it because you told me to.

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Kevin O'Dea: So selfless living. Do we look like Christ's

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Kevin O'Dea: church? I want us

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Kevin O'Dea: to be the hands and feet of Christ To each other and to a

Speaker: 00:35:25

Kevin O'Dea: dying world. But it starts with

Speaker: 00:35:28

Kevin O'Dea: us having the ability to open our ears and hear from the Holy

Speaker: 00:35:32

Kevin O'Dea: spirit. About which area and who we're supposed to be ministering

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Kevin O'Dea: to. Because when we

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Kevin O'Dea: listen to him And he brings somebody

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Kevin O'Dea: into our life and we serve them fully

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Kevin O'Dea: selflessly. God will do extraordinary

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Kevin O'Dea: things through you, in you, and I will

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Kevin O'Dea: even say for you in the process.

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Kevin O'Dea: And many people will come to

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Kevin O'Dea: know him Because of your obedience and the Holy

Speaker: 00:36:08

Kevin O'Dea: Spirit's work through you, and you get to experience

Speaker: 00:36:11

Kevin O'Dea: abundant life. You're not stressed.

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Kevin O'Dea: You're not stressed. You're not overwhelmed because all of

Speaker: 00:36:19

Kevin O'Dea: these things back here are still intact. All these things that god has

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Kevin O'Dea: asked you to or given in your life, and, yeah, it might require a

Speaker: 00:36:26

Kevin O'Dea: sacrifice here and there, But you haven't sacrificed everything. You

Speaker: 00:36:30

Kevin O'Dea: haven't given up everything because god didn't necessarily ask you to. God, you're asking me

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Kevin O'Dea: to abandon my family a 100% of the time for this joker over here.

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Kevin O'Dea: Well, if he tells you to do that, then do that. But likely

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Kevin O'Dea: not. Likely not.

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Kevin O'Dea: We've Ghost stop having people be the heroes and let the Lord do his

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Kevin O'Dea: job, and we need people to step up and actually recognize that God

Speaker: 00:36:55

Kevin O'Dea: has placed you to be in people's lives as well.

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Kevin O'Dea: So is your yes on the table? Do you look like him? Are you living

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Kevin O'Dea: a life about you? Are you in the center of your life or is he

Speaker: 00:37:05

Kevin O'Dea: in the center of your life? When he's in control, he'll take here's the thing.

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Kevin O'Dea: I don't have to try to get people to come in my life who who

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Kevin O'Dea: need help. I don't have to look for them. They just they just they show

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Kevin O'Dea: up. There's there they are. And I go lord,

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Kevin O'Dea: Help me here. And I'll dare even say, guys,

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Kevin O'Dea: maybe this isn't true. I don't know. This is how I feel. I think the

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Kevin O'Dea: lord sometimes puts somebody in my life I'm not supposed to help to test me

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Kevin O'Dea: to see what my answer will be. And the

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Kevin O'Dea: other side of the coin, I pray this person in your life,

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Kevin O'Dea: and it's the last person you want to help, Kevin. But I've placed you in

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Kevin O'Dea: your life because you've got a gift and a calling in your life That they

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Kevin O'Dea: are supposed to benefit from. So

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Kevin O'Dea: what you God do, Kev? You're gonna get in control

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Kevin O'Dea: And dismiss them, are you God embrace them the way that

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Kevin O'Dea: I embraced you? The last thing I want

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Kevin O'Dea: to say today, and we'll stand in worship, is this.

Speaker: 00:38:04

Kevin O'Dea: There may be somebody in here who you feel like you are the one,

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Kevin O'Dea: the sheep of the 99.

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Kevin O'Dea: And you have had too many Christians come up to you and break their

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Kevin O'Dea: promise to you. Can I just tell you that people will always

Speaker: 00:38:19

Kevin O'Dea: let you down, but the lord Jesus Christ will never let you down?

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Kevin O'Dea: He sees you. He knows you. And the fact

Speaker: 00:38:26

Kevin O'Dea: that you are here this morning is the gift and the grace of the Holy

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Kevin O'Dea: Spirit saying, I have not forgotten about your life.

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Kevin O'Dea: And I ask on behalf of those who have lied to you, unintentionally

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Kevin O'Dea: or intentionally, who were supposed to be here, I apologize on their behalf

Speaker: 00:38:41

Kevin O'Dea: because it is a mark And a scar to Christ Jesus, but don't let that

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Kevin O'Dea: define who he is because he is so much bigger and so much greater than

Speaker: 00:38:48

Kevin O'Dea: the person who failed you or let you down. So

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Kevin O'Dea: if you're here this morning and you are the one who has is

Speaker: 00:38:55

Kevin O'Dea: feeling lost and you're the one who is out there and you you're dealing with

Speaker: 00:38:59

Kevin O'Dea: Shame and guilt and you felt like body gonna be there but they failed you,

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Kevin O'Dea: I would ask this morning that you might open your heart to the

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Kevin O'Dea: possibility that god is raising Somebody else ought to be in your

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Kevin O'Dea: life, to really show

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Kevin O'Dea: the love of Christ, To be there

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Kevin O'Dea: and to shine for him, but ultimately, he's the one that's gotta

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Kevin O'Dea: do the work. Would you stand with me this morning?

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Kevin O'Dea: So here's 3 things that we're gonna pray. If you're gonna pray, come on up

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Kevin O'Dea: with people. Come on up. Ghost thing is this.

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Kevin O'Dea: If you're that lost sheep and maybe

Speaker: 00:39:40

Kevin O'Dea: you're abandoned god, maybe you're running from god because some person has hurt

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Kevin O'Dea: you, I I want you to come and ask the lord to heal that wound.

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Kevin O'Dea: The second thing is maybe you're a hero, a shero, a superman, a

Speaker: 00:39:51

Kevin O'Dea: superwoman, And you need to repent and ask God,

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Kevin O'Dea: lord, I have filled my schedule. I have filled my life. I

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Kevin O'Dea: have gotten too many people On my on my

Speaker: 00:40:03

Kevin O'Dea: agenda, on in front of my face, and I'm not supposed to be the 1,

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Kevin O'Dea: god, for all these people. Would you give me clarity So that I

Speaker: 00:40:10

Kevin O'Dea: don't cause hurt and pain and shame. And then lastly,

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Kevin O'Dea: some of you are just here and you have needs. And just like somebody said

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Kevin O'Dea: earlier, I think Jonathan, the book of Hebrews tells us that because

Speaker: 00:40:22

Kevin O'Dea: of Christ Jesus, we can approach his throne of grace in our time of

Speaker: 00:40:25

Kevin O'Dea: obedience mercy for us. So you come today, if that's you, any

Speaker: 00:40:29

Kevin O'Dea: of those 3 things. Today is a sweet day in the presence of the lord.

Speaker: 00:40:32

Kevin O'Dea: He is god and he is good all the time. Let's worship.